And the Winner is....

Big fanfare and round of applause for the winner of my 100th blog post celebratory giveaway who is........ Louise Carswell! Congratulations Louise, it will be coming to you very soon. Louise is a fellow MISI shop proprietor. Her venture is called Loubie Jewels and she sells very pretty handmade jewellery. After considering using random number technology, as used in other blog giveaways, I did as recommended by Kitty Ballistic and used husband-power to make the draw instead... more lo-tech, but effective all the same (most of the time...). Thanks everyone who took the time to write a lovely comment or become a Fan on Facebook (or both!) - I feel very excited to have 61 fans, and am just hoping you don't all de-fan me now the chance of winning a bag is over! And while we're here, I thought I'd include a little picture of what I've been working on over the weekend. A couple of friends have requested knitting needle storage rolls from me, and I have been thinking about making one for myself for a while, so I thought I'd get going with a prototype that I could make use of even if it didn't work out! I wanted to have 2 sets of pockets, one for my knitting needles and the other for crochet hooks. I also needed some wider pockets for scissors, stitch markers etc. I've used some grey wool suiting material, which I hope will make it good and sturdy. The accent fabric is a Liberty print called Bourton, which long time readers of my blog might remember is my favourite fabric. Although since I have seen it used on a pair of wellies I have slightly gone off it. They are the most ugly thing I have ever seen - why would Liberty allow such a thing???! (....and breathe.....). On a brighter note - my potential customers are keen on the design, so I'm now going to try and make versions using some yummy big florals and batiks. Lucky me - more fabric buying... Thanks again everyone!

Three More Stockings..

I'm back and I'm blogging! Only a short post today because I'm absolutely cream-crackered and need to go and have a sit down and a cup of cocoa (with a gap*, of course). I had a fantastic time down in London catching up with old friends from student days and with some of my old workmates. We realised yesterday that it's 9 years or so since we all worked together at Senate House in London (designed by one of my heroes, Charles Holden). It's great that we've managed to stay in touch for so long - something to do with being thrown together by adversity I think...

Before I went off to catch my train I sped round to the Post Office to send these 3 stockings off on their way to their new owners. I can't take credit for the design, but I am happy that I managed to embody the customer's design idea pretty successfully. It can be quite tough to translate someone else's pictures into a 3D form - and what's more, with this project I had to do it 3 times! I really hope they bring a lot of Christmas cheer to the recipients, and of course that they get filled with presents from Father Christmas.

While I was in London I decided to spend some time at the craft stalls at Spitalfields market. I was quite amazed at how much the market had changed since we used to visit regularly a decade ago. It's all spruced up, less Bohemian, and the people you see browsing around are a bit different too. However there was still some really inspirational crafters doing their thing (but maybe not as many as I remember) - will post about what I bought very soon.

*with a gap - means leave a gap that you can fill with alcohol of your choice, e.g. cointreau, rum, brandy...

Finished Another Christmas Stocking!

Here's another Christmas commission all done and ready to be posted, as soon as I've finished another one for Daisy's big sister!

Working from my friend's specification I've used pink corduroy in the main body and Michael Miller's Yule Trees fabric to form the lining and the cuff. The name and the Christmas tree applique are made using wool felt, embellished with vintage buttons. There's also medium interfacing in the body of the stocking & the cuff also has a layer of fusible fleece to give it structure when the stocking is hanging.

I've really enjoyed making this, it worked out almost entirely how I'd hoped, although rather different from the original design. And I was pleased that the method I used for putting the stocking together worked too! I'm now just hoping that Daisy Rose and her mum like it.

I'm still here, crafting away!

I haven't had a lot of time to blog here over the last few days, so I thought I'd just do a quick 5 minute post on what I've been up to. I've just finished this cute little hippo as a commission for a Christmas gift. I am pleased with the result - although I'm not sure whether hippos would make the best health professionals... I'm also busy making 5 Christmas stockings and 2 ami bunnies, all sales/commission pieces - I'm really delighted that people have been making orders, and I am feeling very satisfyingly busy. Otherwise I have a couple of Secret Santas and a Christmas ornament swap to do. The ornament swap should be fun - it has to be using material that you already have in your stash. This should be interesting because I haven't got anything hugely Christmassy left after all these stockings! I've been looking at this really great Handmade Christmas Ornament group on Flickr for some inspiration. My final project at the moment is our Christmas Matters blog. It's a record of all that we are doing to prepare for Christmas, along with recipes, crafts, music and book reviews. We've made a pact to try and blog every day, which is quite hard work, but I think we've only missed a day so far. I'm really enjoying all the anticipation!

Some Commissions!

I've had some commissions lately which is really great - it's good to be working on something that you've already sold! Far better for your confidence, although it can be more stressful, especially as you have a customer's expectations to worry about too. But my customers have all been lovely so far, so fingers crossed. It's a real mixed bag of projects. Gill wanted a hat... it's just been finished, and this is me wearing it - excuse the crazed smile (see below, I'm very tired). The yarn is Colinette Point 5 in a shade called Velvet Damson. It really is lovely and a real pleasure to work with. I've also crocheted up another in a shade called Bright Charcoal (I couldn't go to the shop for just one thing could I?) - can't decide whether to sell or keep that one! I am becoming slightly obsessed by Colinette yarns, they are such blissful colours and I love the different textures and structures that they produce. I've had some requests for proper full-sized stockings, so I've been having fun working on designs. I thought it might be interesting/scary to post a picture of my initial design so that you can compare it to the final result. So, here's my design.... The customer requested pink and wanted the stocking personalised, and I suggested the applique. I think the one thing that this tells everyone is that my artistic skills are extremely limited. And don't you like the use of the pink gummed paper I pinched from my sons' craft box?! I'm going to be using pink corduroy for the main body of the stocking, and felt for the tree and the letters. The stocking is going to be lined with some gorgeous Michael Miller fabric called Yule Trees (the link will take you to Hancock's of Paducah - I warn you not to click on it if you suffer from fabric issues). We tracked down a UK supplier of this fabric on Ebay - it's been a very helpful service so far from Quilted Mouse Fabrics. Another item I've been asked for is a blue hippo amigurumi with a nurse's hat and apron. I'm thinking felt for the hat and apron - I'm hoping it's going to look pretty cute. Other stuff I have almost finished at the moment are: business card wallets made with some really funky Free Spirit fabric, 2 or 3 crochet brooches and a patchwork bag. Phew! And of course there's just the small matter of my lads' 6th birthday party at the weekend and finishing decorating the front room by Christmas. See, I told you there was a reason I look tired...

Crochet bunny for Easter

Crochet bunny for Easter

Here's my latest project... After a long break from amigurumi, Kerry set me the challenge of creating bunnies for Easter presents. It's the 1st ami that I've made that I've done from scratch without any kind of pattern, only a picture, as a guide. It was quite scary, and there was rather a lot of unravelling at first, but once I had an idea of how to make the shapes that I wanted to create, it wasn't too difficult.

Crochet bunny for Easter - back view

The yarn is Sublime Organic Merino in shade called Chalk. Terrible name but great to crochet with, and it gives the finished bunny a lovely fluffy, furry quality. I was a bit stuck when it came to the features. I really hate sewing directly onto bumpy crochet because I can never get the stitches to go just where I want them to be. So I thought I'd sew them onto lovely woolly felt first & then sew the felt pieces on to the face. It was strange to do because it's quite hard to get a real idea of how the features will look once they're sewn on, but I hoped for the best & I'm quite pleased with the result. I'll definitely use this method again next time I'm doing an ami.

The other thing I learned whilst completing this project is how to do an invisible decrease in crochet. It has always bugged me that decreases, especially on little, tightly crocheted amigurumi, look so untidy and obvious (well on my crochet they do!). So I wondered if there was a better method than the one I had been using. After a brief look round I hit gold with this tutorial with brilliant photos. It is fantastically clear, and it really makes a difference to the finished article. It's made me much more enthusiastic to do more ami. But next on my list is a wallet for myself - I'm going to decide on the fabrics I'm going to use later - can't wait!