Flickr favourites June 2010

1. Nel salone d'onore!, 2. Barcelona, 3. Park Guell, 4. Park Guell, 5. Finished!!, 6. Square 5 Stitch A Long, 7. iglesia Santa Clara, Barcelona, 8. P1070512, 9. P1070515, 10. P1070509, 11. Tropical Wall Hanging, 12. Russian nesting dolls card, 13. Brown Baby Blanket, 14. IMG_0835, 15. Sewing room, 16. Roses., 17. Summer in the kitchen, 18. My daughter's tiny spa, 19. My daughter's tiny spa, 20. newly blue buddha, 21. Sofacorner june 2010, 22. pretty patches..., 23. Steve Karlisch, 24. Manny Rodriques, 25. how quickly does your stash grow?..., 26. à mi-chemin, 27. lindas, 28. Latest mobile in shop, 29. IYP 13 004, 30. The Spring corner, 31. craft studio, 32. Discover, 33. House, inspired by fabulous Yoko Saito, 34. rainbow series pink yellow 2, 35. Postcard 3

Flickr favourites

1. Peacock Corner, 2. CASA BATLLO, 3. 39 squares, 4. 030, 5. 39 squares, 6. Thirty seven and Thirty eight, 7. jeans bag, 8. 100_1637, 9. Pretty maids all in a row, 10. 2 Brooches in the hand, 11. Tweet iPhone Sleeve, 12. Andrea Schreiber, 13. Untitled, 14. stitching 40 squares, 15. crochet embelished bag, 16. Gaudi - Park Guell Salamander – Lizard, 17. Park Guell - Chameleon, 18. IMG_4369, 19. Casa Mila Sidewalks, 20. Color Me Pretty, 21. Color Me Pretty, 22. Progress Day 14-Suzitee, 23. 16 Squares So Far, 24. knotty brooch - pinks, 25. DSC02569, 26. tweet tweet! 004_crop, 27. Swatch project - part I, 28. Eco Felt Mini Owl Plushie, 29. Home Comforts, 30. Supplies table, 31. These will be pillows when I´m done., 32. Teeny Tiny Crochet Heart Bunting, 33. yukiko, 34. yoko, 35. IMG_4193

Flickr favourites

1. IMG_4193, 2. Attic24 Crochet Market Bag, 3. Sweetest birds and hearts mobile, 4. Aimi (4" Japanese Wood Kokeshi Doll), 5. Lucy Love..., 6. Bons exemplos!, 7. Two done, 8. stitching 1, 9. square four, 10. IMG_4095, 11. first eight squares, 12. "I'm stitching along" embroidery sampler, 13. 39 squares 6-11, 14. Day 4 progress, 15. Hotel Regina, 16. 078 Vierkanten - Squares, 17. STILL a wip, 18. David Garcia Photography, 19. bioform, 20. Tweet iPhone Sleeve, 21. treeB, 22. Yarn for my Attic24 hexagon!, 23. Big Box of New Yarn, 24. Jan Eleni, 25. Jan Eleni, 26. P2170008, 27. Embroidery kit's content - cornucopia, 28. Red in Winter, 29. Red in Autumn, 30. Red in Spring, 31. Star Wars Mini Amigurumi - Yoda, 32. Star Wars Mini Amigurumi - Ewok, 33. More Freeform pieces....., 34. 100_4306, 35. DETALHE...

Freehand embroidery

 

I didn't add a picture of my embroidery when I finished it last week.  I sketched the design freehand using an air erasable pen, and added extra bits as I went along.

Totoro!

  

I finished crocheting this small white Totoro, apart from his small pink feet.  The eyes are a bit far apart and the tail is a bit high.  I used a pattern available free here: http://heavens-hellcat.livejournal.com/730.html.

Flickr Favourites

 

1. Pickle Jar Cozy, 2. Home of Jan Skácelík, 3. Sewing Room, 4. Selina Lake - Pink Summer Room, 5. 106/365 She Awoke In Narnia, 6. Gustav Klimt -- The Kiss, 7. Starry Night, 8. Starry Night 2 artyarn, 9. Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhone, 10. NYC - MoMA: Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night, 11. blanket 1, 12. Wε£comε !, 13. a little late, but here´s my january challenge interior styling, 14. Color Me Pretty, 15. heart, 16. doodlestitch sampler for corinne, 17. Japanese kokeshi girls jewelry box Amigurumi Crochet Pattern ♥, 18. The Juicy Cushion Cover!!, 19. favorite yarn supply sources..., 20. kokeshi doll, 21. Blue Hexagons, 22. Passarinhos, 23. Hearts, Hearts & More Hearts, 24. [31/365] 31/01/2010, 25. Apple blossom blanket, 26. clock coaster, 27. Hexagon, 28. Crochet Lavender Heart, 29. A Jacket for a Jar, 30. vintage bedspread, 31. Whimsical Christmas Tree, 32. 27/365, 33. pajarito, birdie, 34. Peek into my garden room, 35. Chirpy chick cushion

New wool!!

I found a haberdashery in Westbury-on-Trym which has a bit of everything - paper, scrapbooking, wool, fabric, ribbon, stuffing...  So I couldn't resist buying a few cheap balls of wool that I can use for making toys, etc.

I also collected my parcel today with my delivery of King Cole Merino Blend DK wool in a range of pretty colours, which I'm going to use to create granny square cushion covers or something, in the style of this throw.

So here's the total collection of wool that I have acquired today:

It makes me very happy looking on Ravelry and seeing my 'stash' all laid out in colour order!

Yet more Flickr favourites!

I really should stop rummaging around on Flickr - there are so many lovely things that I want to make right now!!  Once I've finished the white totoro, I think slippers will be next, and then I think I'll have to start a granny square blanket, having seen all the gorgeous ones on Flickr!  It will require a whole new stash of pretty coloured yarn though... what a shame!!

1. Christmas bird, 2. Little Birdy, 3. Crochet flowers and leaves, 4. New Yarn Stash, 5. Big Bed Blanket, 6. Circles-to-Squares, 7. Granny Hearts dedicated to Lucy, 8. Birdie with wobbly legs !, 9. Pattern - crocheted slippers (adult size), 10. crochet trims on pillowcases..., 11. Crocheted Heart Stuffy, 12. Butterfly, 13. Baby Amigurumi Giraffe, 14. tiny crochet heart pattern, 15. Granny Square Blanket 1, 16. honeymoon slippers, 17. Brooch #1, 18. Sis Boom Fabric Bunting Flags!, 19. Dixieland Tree Embroidery, 20. granny squares, 21. crochet bag, 22. first crochet food!, 23. Batch of Rag Teddy Bear Plush, 24. Doodles from class, 25. My Study (so far), 26. Rescued Chair, 27. making life easier, 28. Etsy Take Five Tuesday, 29. artandghosts, 30. lvgetc 12-09 kids room, 31. Crochet bowls, 32. DSC01609, 33. ruby hex blanket 2, 34. Big Summer Garden Blanket, 35. Summer Garden Blanket

Unfortunately, the first six photos do not show up on here as the user has opted out of Big Huge Labs.  She uses the most lovely combinations of yarns!!

Andy the Alien

Andy the Alien, originally uploaded by happythoughts80.

I finally finished Andy the Alien, who I started over Christmas following a pattern in Nikki Trench's 'Super-Cute Crochet'.

At first I was a bit disappointed because mine didn’t turn out much like the photo in the book! I couldn’t get the hook into the right places to do the hair, so I crocheted it directly onto the head and worked the slip stitches into one loop only. I attached the legs and eyes in kind of the wrong places.

But he's grown on me, and I actually quite like him now. The legs in the wrong place help him to sit up better. And he certainly looks odd, which I guess is what an alien should look like!!

Another Flickr favourites set

1. SP05F4110A - Spiegel, 2. blue paisley, 3. Elphie 1, 4. pink paisley, 5. Freeform Paisleys, 6. crochet paisley #3, 7. crochet paisley #1, 8. crochet paisley #4, 9. cmbs8-box-inside2, 10. box #31 - otherworld forcible and spink, 11. DSC02848, 12. Coraline Miniyo, 13. Buttons in Blue, 14. buttons heart - day 7/365, 15. Grandma's Buttons, 16. jars-o-buttons, 17. buttons buttons buttons, 18. red buttons and linen, 19. Button Tree, 20. Amo botões!, 21. Button Wreath Ornament, 22. Totoroskit3, 23. Sootsprite3, 24. Pocket Pets, 25. Mini Birds, 26. Wicket the Ewok, 27. Totoro, 28. mini-donut, 29. Tiny Turtle - Earthquake Relief Donation, 30. A View To, 31. ~Grishko~, 32. Beauty is the Pointe, 33. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, 34. pretty!, 35. JENKINSTOWN WOOD. KILKENNY, IRELAND.

Another Flickr Inspiration

 This one very much reflects the searches I did:

• ballet
• crochet quilt
• crochet cupcake
• crochet kokeshi

plus a few other images found on blogs and other people's favourites collections!

1. ~Grishko~, 2. Beauty is the Pointe, 3. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, 4. pretty!, 5. JENKINSTOWN WOOD. KILKENNY, IRELAND., 6. rainbow, 7. Color Me Pretty, 8. The End Result, 9. Buttons, 10. Winter Fairy Tale, 11. Another look!, 12. A flor e as folhas, 13. More Colors: ready for final blocking (C365:295), 14. Crochet - work in progress, 15. Virkade grytlappar. :o), 16. Festa, travesseirinho perfumado, 17. babette's granny: ready to be blocked, 18. Untitled, 19. Cherry, Cherry Chocolate Cupcake, 20. Donut, 21. Touch of Amethyst, 22. pink & purple, 23. lavendar skies, 24. Cross Out Purple Walls, 25. Cupcake Potholder, 26. Mini Felt Donuts (Group 2), 27. Cupcake, 28. Gourmet Playtime Dessert Assortment, 29. Cupcake with Swirly Frosting Crochet Pattern, 30. Strawberry Swirl Cupcake, 31. Crochet Kokeshi Doll Side, 32. Suki And Kimiko, 33. Dudley Bird free amigurumi crochet pattern, 34. Japanese kokeshi girl doll amigurumi Crochet pattern, 35. kokeshi apaixonada

Scarf

I am crocheting this scarf using Cascade 220 Paints (shade 9921 - Carribean Sea) in a half treble stitch (UK) crocheted into the front loop and some other loop below it!  This was the first item I began to crochet, and I was still a bit confused about where the loops were.  Then by the time I realised, I was too far into the scarf and I decided I quite liked the rib effect on alternate rows.  It also gives it quite a bit of stretch.

I started this scarf ages ago (when I taught myself how to crochet), but then ran out of yarn, re-ordered and had to wait ages as it was out of stock.  Unfortunately the new yarn is a bit different - more dark turquoise than light and pink/purple patches in a completely different arrangement in the scarf.  But I'm not going to unravel it all!  It's a very relaxing project to crochet - the combination of the large hook and smooth yarn means that the stitches slide on and off the hook very easily.

Now I just need to hurry up and finish this while it's still winter (and very cold!).  It's almost scarf length now, but it's the same length as a scarf that's always annoyed me for being a little bit too short!

Bread maker - attempt number 3

This one looks like a loaf of bread!  I had to add quite a lot more water, and then the dough formed a ball which shook the machine until it fell onto the floor!  It's still a little bit denser than shop-bought bread, but I like it!

Flickr inspiration Jan 2010

I've just discovered how to use http://bighugelabs.com/mosaic.php to create mosaics of my favourite Flickr photos.  So here's my first inspiration board (click for larger view):

1. Bella Luce Photography, 2. A Creative Mint, 3. inspiration board, 4. Lori Marie, 5. Selina Lake, 6. Meet Rachel Ashwell, 7. Color Me Pretty, 8. Etsy artist The Black Apple, 9. Etsy artist The Black Apple,
10. Cath Kidston Sew_bag (I got this book for Christmas, but haven't started any of the projects yet),
11. softies_05 (This would be a great present to add to my mum's collection),
12. My Softies book cover (I have this book too),
13. Russian dolls, 14. malabrigo_turquoise,
15. Filatura di Crosa Maxime print (I'd love to find some wool in this colour combination),
16. Cascade9871_Grape (I also like this combination and it would be great for something wintery),
17. Cascade9921_Caribbean-Sea (I have this yarn and am in the middle of making a scarf with it - need to finish before the weather warms up!),
18. cascade cushion (I like this round cushion in sock yarn),
19. Amigurumi cookies (These would also be great for my mum),
20. Super Mario Star, 21. Hexagon blanket - it grows!, 22. Papier Mache Boxes, 23. beaded heart, 24. Don't keep calm and carry on., 25. Gingerbread Biscuit Bunny in blue tea cup, 26. Crocheted Cupcakes, 27. bonnie, 28. vintage kitsch, 29. bird detail.jpg, 30. Embroidery vine on white linen, 31. Pam Garrison's sampler 2, 32. design 1, 33. Little old quilt house, 34. Haikea Art Zine, 35. beata's crochet pillow cases

Bread maker - attempt number 1 & 2

We got a breadmaker for Christmas and tried it out for the first time yesterday.  We started off with the smallest loaf (1 lb) and the results were not a success!

From the bottom, when turned out of the tin, it looked a bit like bread, except for all the unmixed flour.

But the right way up, it didn't look so much like any loaf I've ever seen!

A lot of the flour got stuck in the corners of the tin and not mixed in.
When 'sliced', there were a few good bits, but also some very doughy bits.

This morning I tried a medium sized loaf (1.5 lb) and sifted the flour, then made sure there was no water around the sides of the pan for the flour to stick to.  The flour mixed in much better, but the dough was very crumbly so I added a bit more water.  It appears to have risen better than attempt 1 and tastes much more even!  But it's still a little dense.