Time flies!

I've been away from my little space for HOW LONG?? Six weeks?? Really?? SIX? How did that happen?..... Guess I must have been busy...

Busy with the beach bag I mentioned last time, that's for sure! It took a bit longer than planned as it became a bit more detailed - especially the lining. But it is now finished and listed on Etsy, should you care to take a look. Thankyou to all my lovely followers on instagram, who helped with the design process!
I'm toying with the idea of making another but doing it more slowly so I can write the pat*tern up with lots of pics - and a choice of either a detailed lining for the sewing experts, or a really simple hand sewn one for the non-sewing. But pat*tern writing takes a long time you know, so it may not happen anytime soon!

I took it down to the local beach for a little photo shoot to try and get some nice pics for Etsy. While I was there, I took some more pics of my Tooty Harmony Blanket and the Winterberry Blanket which is on Folksy. Want to see??

This last shot was designed to show just how BIG the bag is, as the ones with props made it look medium sized. It isn't - it's two feet wide!

I finally went back and finished the border on my Tooty Harmony Blanket. Just a very simple border of treble crochet which frames it nicely.

 And you can really see the little bobbles on the Winterberry Blanket in the sunshine! That's still listed on Folksy at the moment but will transfer across to Etsy soon.

You will also find the Peacock Tail Bag I crocheted a while ago - I have re-listed it on Etsy with some new photos.

The "I Love London" print project bag I showed you (6 weeks ago...) has sold and is on it's way to Oklahoma as we speak! It may even have arrived today. I will buy more of the fabric and make another as it was rather fun. It's Woodland Friends partner (see pic) is still available, if you're interested??

On the pat*tern writing front, I've been busy writing, re-writing, re-writing and yes, re-writing again, a crochet scarf pat*tern. I think I've shown you a sneak peak before. It's a long, narrow crescent shape with a nice bit of texture.

It's getting close to being ready for someone to test it for me. I can try and test the pat*tern myself but to be honest, because I know it inside out now, I might not actually do what is written but automatically do what is right. If you know what I mean?! Each version I have made has come out a bit different as I've developed the shaping of it. The increasing was soooooooo simple - the decreasing? No. Again and again and again I tried. But eventually I was happy with it.

Designed to be a one skein scarf, preferably in a beautiful soft merino 4 ply but equally nice in a soft baby 4 ply. The main reason it took so long was because I wanted it to only need one skein. Knowing exactly when to start changing your shaping for the decreasing wasn't easy at all!

It doesn't have a proper name yet - something that took so long deserves to have just the right name but I'm not quite sure what. If you have any ideas, please do drop me a line!

If you're a new visitor to my blog, perhaps you landed here via Your Crochet, one of the free pat*tern websites? My Tooty Stripey Pat*tern was picked up by them in mid April and has been very popular, with lots more people downloading it.
They gave it a lovely write up, with links to the pat*tern on Raveley,  plus my blog page - and even protected the content so the picture couldn't be copied.
 One of those people asked me for US Terms version of the key to all the stitches I used and I was very happy to oblige. I don't know why I didn't think of it before - sorry!

If you have downloaded it and made your own version, I really would love to see it, so please do get in touch - or share it on instagram and tag me. And don't forget, it has it's own dedicated page - click the button at the top of the screen.





On a sad note, I'm very sorry to say that Creative Crafts,  the craft shop where I have worked one day a week for the last two and a half years has now closed. Ridiculous rate and rent increases, coupled with the rise of internet shopping finally became too much and after a big sale, the store closed at the end of April. A great loss to the city  of Winchester.
There have been a lot of independent retailers priced out of town by greedy landlords over recent months - as it's one of the best places to live in Britain, they seem to think they can charge what they like. But the thing that makes it one of the best places is the quirkiness of all the different shops. The new retailers moving in are the big chains though, so the city will soon look just like any other.... And anyone who loves arts and crafts - like me - has lost a massive resource. Very sad indeed.....

So my Mondays now feel very empty and strange, as I'm sure is the case for Lyn the owner and the other staff - and my body clock is completely thrown out!

On the up side, I did have someone offer to sell printed copies of my Tail of Two Dragons Scarf pat*tern at a yarn fair, along with my stitch markers recently. I didn't have many stitch markers made - and they certainly weren't packaged in any way - so I spent several frantic evenings making loads of them! I've yet to hear how many sold but I enjoyed making them so much I think I'll make a batch and try them on Etsy.
The same people also suggested I might like to design some of my own knitted and crocheted items with accompanying pat*terns, that can be made up in the wool they spin themselves. My pat*tern will showcase their yarn and their yarn will showcase my pat*tern. So I now have a head absolutely BUZZING with ideas on what I could make!! I thought a man's scarf and a ladies textured shawl to begin with, preferably using yarn in its natural undyed colour. But what weight of yarn??... Decisions decisions!

Anyway, I think that's enough for today! I'll try not to leave it so long before I pop in again!!

Thanks for reading!    T   xXx

PS  Fluffy says Hi!!

A project bag for Mara

If you've been with me for a long time, you might remember when one of my friend's went out to the Philippines to visit Mara, a little girl he sponsors. Looking back , I made several things for her, including a little needlecase   - the tutorial is still on it's own tab at the top of the page. He had the most amazing and emotional time and promised her he would try and visit her again.
He will indeed be going for what will probably be his last visit to her - when she turns 18, sponsorship and therefore contact stops.
Naturally I wanted to make a little something for him to give her again and I opted for a project bag this time, which I then filled with embroidery threads, along with needles, scissors and a small hoop. I don't know if she even likes sewing, never mind embroidery but she can always pass them on to her Mum and friends. I'm sure they won't go to waste! I made it about the same size as the other project bags I've done and added a little felt label with her name (badly) embroidered on it.

I'm looking forward to hearing about his visit and seeing all the photos of their time together - what a trip it's going to be!

If you're interested in reading about what I made her before and his previous trip,  you could follow the link above , or go through the archive to around March and April 2015.
(I've just been having a look back myself and apart from it bringing back a lot of memories, I  was surprised at how much I used to write back then compared to now. I think that's down to instagram more than anything else. I've gotten so used to writing short little posts regularly,  I've sort of forgotten how to write a decent length one. Also, I normally write my posts on my tablet, so I'm doing it with one finger not a keyboard and it's hard to add links etc. I should make more effort to get the laptop powered up!!)

I wonder what the temperature is in her part of the world? It's been really cold here! It's supposedly around 6 degrees C but often feels so much colder with a biting wind. Brrr! I'm desperate to go for a long walk but I really don't want to brave the cold. At least it isn't raining today - I'm tired of the rain that seems to have been with us almost constantly for weeks. It hasn't really, it just feels like it. But the days are getting longer at least - it's so good to be able to drive to work and back in daylight - even if the traffic has been horrific!


I'll pop back later in the week with some pics of last week's dog coats being modeled by their new owners. They're a really good fit thank goodness but I'll be happier once I've heard if the buttons are easy to do up on a wriggling dog!!!

See you later.  T xXx

Zip top project bags

I keep seeing people using zip top project bags for their crochet WIP's on Instagram and felt the urge to join in and make my own. I bought this fabric several months ago with the intention of making a friend a "knitting bag" - you know the type that has a wooden frame, not just a bag?? Well, I hunted the internet for ages and just couldn't find anyone who sold just the frame and it seemed such a waste to buy a completed version and pull it apart just to use my own fabric - so that fabric never got used. Until now!

I still had the template from the zipped pouches I made a couple of years ago, so I just enlarged it a bit, then went through my stash to find a contrast fabric for the lower part and the lining. And would you believe, I also have a stash of zips...

Here's the first one I made, with a cowl I was working on at the time spilling out the top. (The yarn is lovely to work with and the stitch is crochet moss stitch. The cowl is finished but needs the ends stitching in...)

And here's a little photo shoot of the second one I made. I was going to keep the first one for me - it has lime green as the contrast and pink gingham for the lining. But once the second one started coming together with shades of greyish blue fabric, I think I might have changed my mind!!

I went back and looked at the tutorials I've bookmarked in the past for a quick refresher and how everything goes together, then I got busy getting everything cut to size and backed with iron on interfacing, so I could just crack on and sew.

If you'd like to make your own, then these are the best tutorials I found -

kelbysews

sewtogether.

handmadiya

The first is the one I found most helpful,  especially with fitting the zip. The second shows how to make your own pattern,  and finally,  the third details how to make a pouch without a seam across the bottom.


Getting everything cut to size

Adding a pin or two with the help of my pin dalek!

A little detail for the inside

Tabs on the ends of the zip

Zip installed!

Add an internal pocket - it's wide enough to lay a crochet hook in it and has a "fake" button to reduce the width of the opening

Ok. Not a good photo!  It's supposed to show the side seams where they meet the zip

Here's the corners stitched to make the flat base

Forgot to leave an opening to turn it right side out, so had to unpick a few stitches!

Turning through!

Nearly there

Ta-Dah!

I do like that blue. ... maybe I'll keep this one and list the green trimmed bag on Folksy? Or list both and see what sells first? ?

I'll take some better photos in the morning and get them listed.

I've been doing a spot of knitting this week too.

This is for my great niece - the recipient of the Tooty Fruity Blanket. I thought it might work up quicker if I made it in the round but boy, is it Slow Going! That waffle patten takes an absolute AGE! Almost wish I hadn't offered to make it...

I've started playing around with ideas for another baby blanket too. I thought a coloured centre ringed with cream, then join on round 3 with colour. But do I join with squares, or hexagons for a change??

I'll have to make some more samples, although I'm leaning towards hexagons - not made them for years.

And remember the crocheted project bag I showed you last time? Well, I have another on the go now as someone who saw it on instagram asked if I could make one for them! Woo Hoo!

Oh, and one of the harmony baby blankets has been delivered to a little cutie who arrived 5 weeks early. The grandparents  (my cousin) chose the one with all the colours.

See you again soon!  T  xXx