Crochet-Block

I've suffered artist's block many times. You know, when everything you want to draw, paint or design is just a bit 'meh'. Normally I would work in a sketchbook and work through the block. I even bought a new sketchbook specifically for one particular artist's block that was so bad I didn't want to ruin my other sketchbooks by working in them.

What I currently have is crocheter's block. I didn't know there was such a thing until the end of last week. After the triumph of winning a game of yarn chicken with a scarf, as I blogged about in my last post, I've had a few stalled starts.

The crochet items in my shop have been getting a fair bit of interest which is really exciting as I only moved my shop online in September after selling in shops locally for a few years. So, full of enthusiasm and a head full of ideas I bought a bundle of woolly goodness for projects for my shop and some for me.

The rainbow yarn is going to be a pair of socks. Squee, rainbow socks!

You know how it is when you have a bag full of delicious new goodies. You want to start using all of it all at once. I had three potential shawls, two pairs of socks, a scarf and two neck warmers in there. Which to start first?

I know what the yarn will become already as I always buy yarn and fabric with specific projects in mind to make sure I don't over spend or end up having beautiful materials languishing in cupboards and boxes. I had to learn to have this willpower when I realised I was buying lovely but unusable things.

Found a fabric that would be perfect for a little tote bag? Then buy a lining fabric to match at the same time. Want that yarn in your favourite colour? Work out what you would like it to be and buy enough for that project and no more. It can be so frustrating to be itching to make something and realise you don't have quite enough of one thing or nothing to co-ordinate with another.

So far I've made a scarf and a neck warmer, and they turned out well... Then I started on a gentlemen's scarf. That's where my crocheter's block started. It's based on a scarf I made for my husband two years ago (wow, is it that long ago already?). I designed it specifically for him and the way he likes to wear his scarves and he loved it. Way more than I thought he would. He's been telling me to make more to sell ever since as he's sure other men would love it too. So, I finally listened and bought some wool in 'manly' colours. The problem is, two years is a long time ago and I didn't think I would make another one so I didn't write any notes on how I made the original.

Long story short, some experimentation was required. I used my husbands scarf as a guide and made a start. After a few rows I realised I must have used a bigger hook the first time around. The fabric was very dense and I'd like it to have more drape. I tried to frog but the wool in the yarn had fused together a little bit so it tore away instead of unravelling normally. Arrrrgh! I can't go back so have to go forward. Only now of course, it is using a lot more wool and I will need another ball to finish it. I haven't got another ball because of my 'only buy as much as you need' rule. Sigh.

See how dense it is? At least it will be scrummy warm

Lesson learned: write notes on new designs so I can repeat it and buy wool that can be easily frogged for prototypes.

My husband's solution is to just buy more wool and finish this scarf for him. He really loves the colour and pattern. I think that's what he secretly wanted all along. 😊 He'll have to wait though, I threw it back into the stash for now.

After that I decided to start a project I've been looking forward to for ages. My first pair of socks! I found a great pattern and some nice yarn that I really love. This is going to be a luxurious treat for me. It will cost way more than I would normally spend on a pair of socks. Of course the pattern recommended doing a tension square first, but as the pattern fits a range of sizes and I'm very impatient, I skipped that. Sigh, again. 

This is the toe piece with a few rows to go. It fits my big toe. 

Shamefully, that little piece of yellow plastic? That's my stitch marker. It broke. I'm good at breaking plastic stitch markers. Now I'm using the piece that broke off. 😔 Fortunately it's easy to see where your up to with this pattern.

Here it is squished out so you can see how little it is. 

Looks like I'll be doing a tension square after all. Not now though, I've thrown this back into stash too. I'm taking a break from crochet to do some embroidery and secret sewing until my crochet mojo comes back.

I absolutely love this yarn. It is Drops Fabel and is so soft and squidgy. I've never really liked yarn that has a speckled pattern before but I decided to give it a go as it is the yarn Elin, the designer used in her pair and I really like the look. 

I love the way the colour is coming out, it's so subtle and delicate. I'm still really excited about making my first pair of socks. Watch this space.

Before I sign off, I have to share this photo of the aftermath of cutting out some fabric pieces. This is top secret, so I can't show what it will be yet. Just look at the mess this fabric has made. It leaves a trail of purple fluff everywhere it goes. 

Do you ever suffer artist's/crocheter's block? What do you do about it when it strikes? Please share in the comments if you have any tips.

                                                                             *B*

Yarn Chicken

Do you play yarn chicken?

Yarn chicken is a game of nerves and determination. It is played when you are reaching the end of your yarn and the end of a project or row and you don't know which one will end first.

When I began the final row of this scarf my chances of finishing it looked bleak but I went ahead anyway. I was amazed to reach the half way point. I crocheted on.

                                                         The yarn ball looks so small.

                                                     The end of the row looks so distant.

                                                                              Eek...

                                 

                                                                          Wait...

                                                                   This looks good...

                                                                  Ha ha ha! Woo hoo!

                                                              Eat that, yarn chicken!
                                          (eat that yarn chicken? What does that taste like?)



Bekki 1 - Yarn 0

                                                           
                                                                       *B*

embroidered brooches

Embroidering a little ATC has left me feeling all inspired to keep embroidering on a tiny scale.

I really like working with small designs but the question of what to do with them once they're made has stopped me from making more. Until now that is.

I've started making little brooches. I've made one already and that turned out pretty well (I thought so anyway 😊), so now I'm making more.

I'm sticking with fairly simple designs for now. Summery flowers and bees to stave off winter blues and one with birds and snow which is both wintry and blue! 

Embroidery is very calming. I've really enjoyed making these tiny stitches. Just focusing on each stitch as it's made. It's quite therapeutic. 

The snow flakes are such tiny details it is really tricky to photograph them.

These little brooches also have the added benefit of being relatively quick to make, compared to a larger piece. Which means WIPs quickly become finished objects. Woohoo for the satisfaction of finishing! Finishing a project and looking at the result is my favourite part of making; apart from giving it to someone and knowing that they like it too, which is also very satisfying.

Here's how they will look when they are finished

One down, two to go...

My fingers are already itching to make more.

                                                             *B*

I'm linking up with Thistlebears winter projects

PS. Anyone else have trouble taking good photos in the winter? These photos took forever to get 😒😉

Winter Sparkles ATC Swap Finish

There was a beautiful blue sky and a lovely bright autumn day outside my window today. Even with the chilly temperatures a bright day can warm the heart. It's so nice.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have joined in with a textile ATC swap. This is the forth time I've joined in the swap and I must say I really love it. Working on a tiny little artwork as a gift for a swap partner is extremely rewarding; and the excitement of waiting for the ATC you will receive is really fun.

I have a 'Ta-Da' prepared and a little showcase of the ATC's I've made so far and the ATC's I've received in the swaps.

I also have some fun news for you. I've written a guest post over at VeryBerryHandmade. Ali at veryberry very kindly let me take over her blog and write a post about design process. I have shared my top three tips on designing an ATC. In the post I talk specifically about designing ATC's, but the principles of the design process can be used when designing and planning any project. I'd love for you to read it and see if you find the tips useful.

An ATC is a little artwork meant to showcase an artists skill and style and is used like a business card. They are 2.5" x 3.5" so they really are tiny. The swap Ali runs is for textile ATC's so it's an opportunity to make a little piece of art with a needle. The size is a fun challenge and allows you to experiment and try a new technique without having to commit to a large project.

So let me show you my ATC

The first thing my husband said when he saw this was 'You should try making it straight next time'. *sigh*. Don't look closely, my ATC's are all wonky!

The theme this time round was 'winter sparkles'. I haven't got anything sparkly to stitch with so I had to think outside the box. My hope was to use teeny tiny pearls to represent snow falling between embroidered stars. What do you think? Can you see where I was going? 
I hope my swap partner likes it.
The hills and fields are made with wool felt, which is a new-to-me material I'm exploring. It gets quite thick in those layers so I cut it to the seam line underneath to reduce the bulk. Even so, it has a satisfying squishiness to it. I'm really falling in love with this wool felt. It feels sturdy and holds it's shape well but isn't as stiff as I thought it would be. It would be perfect for some soft sculptures.

These are the ATC's I've made for past swaps

Theme- 'My Favourite'. A meadow landscape

                                 

Theme- 'Winter Comforts'

Theme- 'Say Something'. This is from a poem

And these are the ATC's I've received

                                    

You can see the care and work that has been put into making these little pieces of art. I love them. The top one was made by Ann and the bottom one by Catherine.

Fran, my partner for one of the swaps struggled to make an ATC in time for the posting date so she sent me a mug rug instead. I absolutely love it. It lives on my desk, often with a little tea pot and cup sitting on it.

Now, I need some advice. While I was making my pearly, snowy landscape, I had another design in my head that wouldn't sit still until I made it. I had to leave my landscape half made and go and stitch the other design so I could get it out of my head. Does that ever happen to you?
Anyway, I started the other ATC idea. A spiderweb. I painted a background. I used some satin embroidery thread to stitch the pattern and used tiny beads to represent frozen dew. I love spiderwebs at this time of year. I need to clarify - I hate spiders and I don't like webs indoors at any time of year because of, well, spiders. But I love to see dew hanging like diamonds from the threads that are outdoors and webs are so beautiful when they are frozen.

Here it is with a card 'window' placed over it. I apologise for the shadows and the wonkiness

I'm pretty happy with the glass beads. They look like dew to me. It's missing something though. I thought of using some white thread to embroider along the web to look like frost. My mother-in-law suggested I embroider a spider, but as has been said, spiders are a big no-no for me. bleh. I even countered her suggestion with an idea of an unfortunate fly wrapped in web. She thought that was gross. So I don't know. It needs something more. Any suggestions?

                                                                              *B*


Linking up to  Link Your stuff

Winter Projects

Hi there!

I have some WIPs to show you today. Jennifer over at Thistlebear is throwing a link party every month this winter for peeps to show off what they are working on and to encourage and motivate each other to finish their projects. What a great idea! I'm joining in this month. I encourage you to go and check it out if you haven't already. There are some very lovely and inspirational projects being shared over there.

On to my WIPs

I'm taking part in an ATC swap over at Very Berry Handmade. For those that haven't heard of an ATC before, it stands for artist trading card and is a small piece of art, about the size of a business card, that is given away as a mini showcase of an artists work. Ali of very berry handmade organises a swap twice a year for textile ATC's. It's a lot of fun. I'll have more to share on that soon.
I've designed my ATC already but have only got as far as pulling the fabric and gathering the supplies I want to use. I'm going to try something a bit different this time. I'm going to have a go at layering with felt to embroider a landscape and -this is the biggest leap for me- use beads amongst the embroidery. I know that a lot of you would have done this a hundred times but using beads in an embroidery project is totally new to me. We'll see how it goes...

I'm also playing with ideas for new things to add to my shop (link in side bar). Firstly, I'm designing some arm warmers in a 4ply yarn that will give an extra layer under a winter coat but that will look nice to wear indoors too. This will be a long term project. Secondly, I've got some super chunky wool that is a pleasure to crochet with. It works up so quickly and the chunkiness is satisfyingly thick and bulky. I'm working on making some chunky necklaces. I like to have something warm to wear around my neck indoors but don't want to wear a scarf all day and I thought there are probably people out there who feel the same so I'm making one or two for my shop. Hopefully these will look chic enough for the office and will still keep the chill off. We'll see how that goes too... :)

Just for fun, I'm making a rhino softie. I really enjoy sewing sofies and soft sculptures and when I saw this online I had to make one. Unfortunately the pattern doesn't seem to be available anymore, in that the blog I found it on seems to have gone offline so I can't share it. This is going to be another long term project that I will work on bit by bit. So far, I've cut most of the pieces out, now I need to start sewing it up.

They're my winter projects. I have enough here to last me until spring. :) What are you working on this winter? Are you making something cosy to snuggle in when the nights draw in? Or are you a late night crafter with a sewing project you can rest on your lap while you work and watch telly at the same time?

                                                               *B*


Linking up with Winter Project link party at Thistlebear

Cherry Berry and Chocolate Cookies

I love baking. Sweet things are my favourite of course, but I like to bake savoury too. My favourite part of baking is seeing my family and friends enjoy the things I've made. In my past life as a healthy person I would bake bread at least once a week, and sweet treats 2 or 3 times a week and I would make ice cream all summer. Technically making ice cream isn't baking... in fact freezing something is the complete opposite of 'baking', isn't it? Oh well, you get what I mean.

Nowadays I can't bake as it's just too painful and tiring, but every now and then my husband has some free time and that free time coincides with me having an 'I wish I could bake...' thought at the same time as me having the strength to sit on a dining chair. It's a perfect storm but when that happens, *sometimes* he allows me to live vicariously through him. I tell him what to do and what ingredients and measurements to use and he makes and bakes. This has many benefits: we get to spend some time together, I get the satisfaction of seeing something baked and he gets the pleasure of eating baked goods. Of course it isn't the same as baking myself and I do miss being able to measure and mix everything but it's a close second.

Last week we had the 'perfect storm'. He took some time off work and I had some dried cherry berry mix in the kitchen and a hankering to make cookies. Here's the recipe:

100g Butter

50g Soft Brown Sugar

1/2tsp Vanilla essence

about 1/2 cup or a small handful of Dried Fruit (I used cherry berry fruit mix)

1tbsp Golden Syrup

100g Plain Flour

1/4tsp Bicarbonate of soda

Chocolate to decorate

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and light. 

Add vanilla essence and syrup and mix in with the dried fruit. Then sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into the mixture and stir to combine.

Next, lightly grease a baking tray and using two teaspoons, spoon the mixture into little mounds on the tray, spaced well apart. We got 16 cookies from this mixture. 

Bake at 180*C/350*F in a fan oven or gas mark 4 for about 10 minutes but check after 8. 

When the cookies are cool melt the chocolate (I used white chocolate) and use to decorate the biscuits. 

Dipping the bottoms into the chocolate and leaving to set on some baking paper creates a nice effect, but for my cookies, I drizzled some chocolate in a zigzag pattern on the tops.

I hope you make some of these delicious cookies yourself. They're quite easy and totally scrummy.

                                                                          *B*

Linking up with Link Your Stuff

Alpaca Victoria Shawl

One of the blogs I follow is Cherry Heart written by the lovely Sandra Paul. Sandra makes the prettiest things, whether it's knitting, crochet or sewing. I love her style. Her projects and her blog have an easy going, effortlessly pretty feel to them which makes reading her blog like a breath of fresh air. In fact cherry heart is one of the blogs that inspired me to start my own blog.

That being said, it's no surprise that when Sandra released a pattern for a crochet shawl earlier this year I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. The Victoria shawl is a good sized shawl pattern that is plenty big enough to cover your shoulders and arms.

The pattern made by the cluster stitches in the main body of the shawl is beautifully delicate and after you've completed a few repeats is easy to remember. The finishing touch is the border design which is just soo pretty. It really adds a feminine flare and frames the shawl beautifully.

Sandra recommends using a luxury yarn for this shawl and I have to completely agree. I used 100% alpaca which is buttery soft and has a wonderful drape. I think it was the perfect yarn for this pattern, not just for its softness but also because alpaca is such a warm fibre which is pretty ideal for a shawl.

Here are some modelled photos. Embarrassing, but I always appreciate bloggers modelling their makes. Mustn't be a hypocrite.

I was deliciously cosy during this photo shoot.

A bit of a cliche shawl pose, but the best way to show the full size of the shawl

Victoria pattern pros:
                                   Easy to follow instructions, well written. A crochet chart is included, which I actually didn't use this time as the written instructions were so clear but are very useful for understanding a pattern at a glance.

Cons:
          Not really a con but this pattern is marked as an intermediate level pattern which I agree with, so not for a beginner. Like I said, not really a con as those who are more experienced at crochet would enjoy making this shawl because of the intermediate level of difficulty.

Crochet is such a relaxing craft. Especially when crocheting a repetitive pattern as in a shawl. It can be quite therapeutic. If it's a craft that you've thought you might like to learn then I encourage you to get some wool and a hook and give it a go. There are plenty of places online where you can learn to crochet. In fact Sandra has some good tutorials on cherryheart for stitches and patterns here that I've found enormously useful when learning to crochet.

                                                                         *B*


Linking up with Link Your Stuff