What's New In August

And it's about time! Feel like I have been waiting forever for Bake Off to return. First Sewing Bee was late and now Bake Off. To be fair it held off due to the Olympics. I can't really complain about that. There has been some press releases already showing the new bakers. Next Wednesday I am off and my day is booked! I will be on twitter no doubt while watching and my weekly Bake Off posts will be back. If you are interested you can follow me on twitter @Karencrafts.

Something else that's back is Life Drawing. Or rather I have been back. My sister and I returned on Monday night which is the first time since it moved to Sloans. I quite liked the new venue and I have the next few Mondays free and so I will be back. There is also one going near where I live so look out for more Life Drawing posts.

Like a lot of people out there I am a fan of Liberty of London. I love the fabrics and I have a few. I saw that there was a cross stitch book out and of course I ordered a copy. I have had a flick through it and I was a tiny bit disappointed with it. That was my initial reaction. I need to go back through it and then I'll review it for the blog. I got my copy from Waterstones.

I came across a new blog via facebook. There is a facebook group page which is for beginner sock knitters. It encourages people to knit socks and helps people from the start of the sock right to the end. The creator of the group is Winwick Mum who has her own blog and Sockalong. It doesn't matter that the sockalong started in 2015 you can join in any time. I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to take up sock knitting.

Last but not least is an etsy shop I came across thanks to Homemaker magazine. The shop is by Made By Mrs M. It has a small range of London themed fabrics which I love for their bold colours. I haven't ordered any yet bu I am sorely tempted. The owner also has some items made with the fabrics. It gives a good idea of what the fabrics look like if you are only interested in making something with it yourself. Or you can buy a cute little gift for yourself or a friend.

July WIP

With most of my things still at my dad's I feel that I am limited on what I can work on just now. As a result I have been spending very little time crafting even though there are things that I can be working on. Instead I have been spending most of my free time with my nose in a book. I changed that the last few days and picked up my mushroom cross stitch. This came with me in the initial move but it hasn't been touched until now. I now want to get it finished although that might prove a problem as I don't have my sewing machine with me. However, I can get the actual cross stitch finished and I have just two mushrooms (although large ones) to go. I'm going to be sad when this is finished as I have enjoyed stitching them. Might have to make another.

July's socks are also on the pins and I went for a mosaic pattern this time. I am almost at the heel but put it aside when I wasn't feeling to well last week. Think I will have to get back on them tonight if I want them finished on time. They will also need blocked when done.

I am also working on August's socks. I'm not cheating. The yarn isn't on the pins yet. In fact I just got it today and it's special. It's the pattern that I am working on. I'll reveal more on that in August.

So that's it. I have sock yarn that I have been meaning to wind. I plan on knitting a basic pair of my sister. However, if I wind it I will cast it on. If I cast it on I will start knitting and then goodbye July socks.

Anyone working on something exciting? Inspire me.

May WIP

Last month came and went without a WIP post. Although lets face it, it also came and went with only four posts in total. The last few weeks my crafting productivity has increased a fraction and I actually have something to show you. This months socks is the first of the list. As I mentioned before I am doing just a basic sock this time. I am loving it because I am enjoying the yarn and the little flashes of rainbow. I don't want to say too much on it as I will post about it when finished. However, I can say that I am taking my time with them and just enjoying it. It helps that this is my favourite colour.

Speaking of favourite colour, I have also picked up the needle. This is a little project I have promised myself for a while. I love little mushrooms and I especially love the fact that they are teal. This is a project that I got from Cross Stitcher magazine. I've made a few changes to it though and for that you'll have to wait.

I am also working on a little (or not so little) project for my new home. I decided to try my hand at some Sashiko. Something I haven't done since I first attempted it during a class hosted by my old knitting group (if you want a reminder of that you can see it here). I am having fun with it and I can see myself trying different patterns. I actually have some plans for more posts on Sashiko so watch this space.

Oh and the garden may finally be about to display some colour!

I have some more plans for the blog too. So I guess you could list that as a WIP too. Coming up I have another mini Skein related post which was inspired through chat with the lovely Lisa. I also have  more plans but you will see what they are in my next What's New post. Until then I hope you are all enjoying your projects too.

Craft Goodies #2

Is it possible to be both good and bad? So April will be the first month in, well, months that I haven't added to my stash. That doesn't mean I haven't looked but I haven't bought anything yarny. I did buy some crafting goodies and since my last post on crafting goodies was back in September I think that' not too bad. 

First up we have a blocking board that I have been trying to get my hands on for months. I thought this would be an ideal way to block all of those little squares that I have. The board is by Daisy Boo Creations. The reason they are so hard to come acrosss is that they are extremely well made and they are done by hand. As you all know these things take time to create and they have quite the reputation so everyone is wanting one. It was first come first served but now you can join a waiting list so long as you are willing to wait and happy to pay a deposit up front. I was more than happy to do this and my patience paid off cause look what I now have. It made for a very pretty parcel too which you can see on my instagram feed if you are interested. Now I just need for my wrist to get better so that I can crochet all those squares together.

I have long been an admirer of needle minders ever since I saw one from my old knitting group with one. I have since seen them about Instagram and I have always meant to purchase one for myself. I then came across Arty Moments and I could no longer resist. She has a whole host of different needle minders but it was the scrabble tiles that appealed to my not so inner geek. I then spotted the dominos tile and the next thing I knew there were two winging their way to me (oops).

These are fab for stitchers. I am very guilty of threading the needle through my fabric when I'm not using it. Other stitchers will tell you that this is not good for the fabric. These little minders will hold onto the needle without fear of distorting your fabric. It's also a good way of holding onto extra needles if you have a lot of colour changes. Saves you from constantly rethreading your needle. I will warn you that the magnets are strong so you should always keep them seperated otherwise you might separate the magnet from the front piece. Something that the lovely Stacey warns you of if you are ordering from Arty Moments. And did I start a new project just so that I could show these off? Don't be silly, pfft!

Lastly I treated myself to some washi tape because I really don't have enough! Moving on. I got these tapes from etsy too. These are by Unwrap Colour who do a whole host of lovely washi tapes. It was actually a challenge not to go mad. I even bought one with little cats for my sister. For myself I stuck with little houses, biscuits, hot air balloons and little pineapples.

I'm going to be honest. The houses are my favourite. I can't wait to use it.

All of these pages have been added to my craft shopping page as well as linked here. If anyone has any new crafting toys I would love to hear about them.

Camper Van Cross Stitch - with hoop backing tutorial.

I finished another WIP. I have been slow with these but at least I have another one finished.  The design is by Jane Prutton (same designer as the Folksy Fowl). It was in an issue of Cross Stitcher but sadly it doesn't tell me which issue it originated or which issue the booklet came free with. I can't imagine it would be too difficult to track down should you wish to stitch it yourself. As for the crochet frame. I did this as part of my bucket list from 2 years ago. It's been waiting that long to be used.

Although it may not look like it there actually wasn't much left to stitch in this. The bulk of the camper van had been done. Just the bunting, flowers and back stitch really. The back stitch is of course the irritating part but it's definitely not one of those designs that can go without it.

I also made a cover for the back of the hoop so that it hid the back of the design. I have seen a few tutorials on this when I first looked at using hoops as frames but I can't remember where. So instead I will just tell you what I did.  First of all you will need a hoop, card, fabric and a glue gun (oh and scissors). Use the inner hoop as a template. draw round the inside onto the card and then cut out.

Get your fabric and this time use your card as a template. Cut the fabric so that there is an inch to spare round the card. It would probably help if you iron your fabric first. Don't be lazy like me. Then use your glue gun to secure the fabric onto the card by folding the fabric round the card. Make sure it is nice and taught but not so much that you warp the card.

This is roughly how it should look when finished (ignore the pointed edge I managed to create on mine). 

I then trimmed the aida of the design I planned to frame. Not too much though. I secured the excess by using the glue gun and folding it down over the edges of the hoop (glue the hoop and not the design).

Lastly place your fabric covered card inside the hoop and thus the back of your stitching is now covered. Remember to ensure that the design of you fabric is right way up. I chose one where that didn't really matter but you can bet it is something I wouldn't think about at the time. I then attached some ribbon to the top of the hoop for hanging. You don't have to do that though as most hooks will hold it without the ribbon. I just like ribbon. Most tutorials I have seen use padding but I didn't feel that was necessary.

Folksy Fowl

There is nothing like seeing a photo enlarged to make you realise you should have taken  the photo after you hoovered. Lesson learned, well, maybe. This blue bird cross stitch was finished at the end of 2014 and has been waiting to be framed ever since. When hunting out WIP's last week I found it patiently waiting in the confines of a folder. Since this is the month of finishes I decided it was time that I framed it.

The pattern is from an issue of Cross Stitcher from early 2013. It's part of a series of birds (entitled Folksy Fowls) by Jan Prutton. I remember when I saw it that I instantly thought of my sister. Not because she is particularly fond of fowls but because of the colours. The matched her living room perfectly and I thought the pattern was kind of cute. Over a year later I actually started working on it.

That was in 2014 and this image was the first and last that was seen of it here (I may have shown updates on instagram).  It was actually very easy to stitch thanks to the large blocks of solid colour. It stitched up quickly. You would think I would like a challenge of lots of colour changes and I don't shy from those types of patterns. However, I do like to see a pattern develop despite the use of few colours (or in this case shades of blue and green). It also involved no back stitch. In my view any pattern that doesn't require backstitch is pretty much perfect. I used evenweave fabric rather than aida. I love working with evenweave. It's a softer material and the stitches flow much more smoothly.

I wish I had thought of photographing this before I framed it as the frame softens it a little thanks to the glare of the light. My sister was delighted with it. It helps that she was unaware that she was waiting on it. I may have told her I was working on something for her but I spend a lot of my time working on something for her so she would have been none the wiser. She has already picked out a space to hang it.

If you are wanting to try a large cross stitch project for a beginner then I recommend it. You can find the pattern in issue 263 March 2013 of Cross Stitcher. You might be able to get it direct from the publisher.

January WIP

January's WIP post will be a little larger than previous months. Usually I will only post the projects that I have spent time on that month. Which might seem like I'm kidding myself. That's part of it but also I didn't want to re-post the same images each month since there were no changes to the projects.

January is different. January will be a WIP only month as I mentioned in my first post of the year.  It's part of my getting organised theme. It seemed fitting that I used that as an opportunity to actually get organised. So here they all are in all their glory. Well, most of them. I am sure there are more squirrelled away and completely forgotten.

First up we have the Halligarth shawl which featured in August's WIP post. This is a shawl featured by Brooklyn Tweed and designed by Gudrun Johnston. When I first saw it I instantly fell in love with the pattern. I loved knitting it. So much so I didn't mind having to start over after not tracking the pattern. Despite that it hasn't been touched since that last post. However, I did track the pattern this time. I have spent a good part of today working on it. I have fallen in love again. I am now past the small size (9 repeats of the pattern) and I am going to finish on the large (12 repeats). I have plenty of the yarn so I might as well keep going (even if there are so many stitches it takes 5 minutes to knit 1 row).

This sock was also featured in August.  A pattern I spotted on pinterest by Kirsten Hall called, Far Into the Forest. I actually picked this up first thinking that it could be this months socks for operation sock drawer. I remember that I had finished at the start of the heel and I had kept a note of where I was. I had put it down because it would need more concentration than I could give it at the time. Sadly, when I read the heel in the pattern it made no sense to me whatsoever. I blame night shift brain. I'll need to read the pattern over a couple of times I think.

Yet another project that last showed up in August. It's the Lucidity Shawl by Beata Jezek. The yarn is a lace weight by my friend Lisa. Thankfully, I have tracked this one too so fingers crossed I will be able to ease back into it.

This is my favourite. My blanket for my new flat. I love the willow squares and I am loving the orange and teal together. I only have two more strips and then the border and this is finished. Not long at all. AND all the ends were stitched in as I went. I might have to pick this up after the Halligarth is finished. I actually started this in 2014 and I think it was this time last year that I last touched it. I stopped to work on a baby shower gift and never went back to it.

Thankfully this blanket has been changing. It was last shown in November. If you remember this was for my gran but is now going to be donated instead. Over Christmas I finished all of the cream squares and last week I moved onto the border. I'll talk more on all of that when it's finished. What I will say is that I was a little overzealous with my choice of border and joining. As a result it has used up all of the yarn and I am going to have to order more. Oops!

Another project from 2014. I don't think it has even featured here on the blog, although the crochet border has.  This is a camper van design from Cross stitcher. There is absolutely no reason, that I can think of, why I put it down. I've been in the mood to get some stitching done. This is definitely at the top of my list to finish. Especially since it already has a frame.

Another cross stitcher design. This clock I also started last year. I am sure it was put down because of the same baby shower project as my blanket. Like my blanket, this was also part of my project new home. At the time I liked the idea of making my own clock. I've still to get the hands for it and of course the frame.

There was another cross stitch pattern which featured here too. It's almost finished which is why I haven't posted an image. All it needs is a frame. This one is for my sister and I stitched it because it was both pretty and matched my sister's living room. I will get it framed this month and get an image of it posted.

Last but not least we have my hexies. Also featured in November but not touched since. Which is a shame because I really don't have many to go. I should get the cushion finished and give it to my sister along with her finished cross stitch.

So that's my plan for the month. I'm not unrealistic. I am very aware that I won't get it all finished. I'm going to make a good attempt though. Anyone else got a WIP list they want to share?

My Crafting 2015

Let's face it 2015 has been a rubbish year for my family. I'm not going to focus on that though. Instead I am looking back at my crafts of 2015. This is after all a craft blog. I gathered all my photo's of my crafts over the last year and put them into their own folder. Unsurprisingly there weren't that many of them. I am sure it would beat 2014 though as I was trying to finish my degree back then.

What surprised me this year was how many pairs of socks I did manage to get finished. There were 8 of them. A whole 8. I was sure there would be far fewer. I give myself a pat on the back for that one. Especially since only 2 of those pairs was done in the basic sock pattern. Only 3 out of the 8 were not made with Lisa's yarn. I'm not sure I can pick a favourite. The last pair in the collage was the last pair I made for my mum so they have a soft spot. It's also one of my favourite patterns which I have used over and over again. You can see the socks more clearly here. The ones that really pop is the yellow and green which was a pair that I did for my gran. Sadly it doesn't looked like I blogged about those socks and I have no idea what pattern I used. I didn't document it anywhere (this is where those organisational posts will come in handy).

As for crochet, I think this has mainly been a year for it. I managed to crochet two blankets. One for a baby shower and another for my mum (funnily enough it's the red one). I also crocheted a couple of squares which contributed to a blanket being given to someone as a leaving gift. There are another three blankets in that montage all of which are unfinished. The first image shows a blanket I started for myself. It's for when I buy my new home (next year people). It's almost finished but I haven't touched it in a long time. As you know the brown and beige squares were originally going to become a blanket for my gran. I am now donating it to someone else who is in the same situation my gran would have been in had she still been with us. The last, is of course the blanket club. I have loved taking part in that. Since my mum worked on some of those squares too it feels like it's a project we have done together, which was why we originally joined up.  The other good thing about this blanket is that I have learned a lot of crochet skills from it and so felt comfortable enough to sign up for the Acer crochet along. I thoroughly enjoyed that and hope to take part in others.

The end of the year has been when I have been at my most productive. I got quite a few things finished and as a result both my sister and I ended up with a set of winter woollies. I quite enjoyed working on this. I plan on doing a set for my sister each year. I want to use different patterns so will have to get searching for next year. The hat will have to have a pom pom though as my sister will insist on it.

Sadly, I have done very little in the way of sewing. I embroidered a bag for Lisa's little boy which was a gift from my mum and I. I stitched a few magazine freebies. I started a clock. And I started a hexie cushion. That's it. I have dozens of other unfinished sewing projects from previous years. I don't think I should start any more until at least one or two are finished.

It doesn't seem like I have had a particularly productive year. I spent most of my focus during the spring and summer on my mum's garden. Most of the work was hers though and I can't take the credit for it. I very much enjoyed photographing the results though.

I was busy with the blog itself. It's had the most traffic this year than any other and I have been trying to evolve the blog into something that people can use as a tool whether it's to try a new idea or to get some inspiration from others. My favourite post is probably the most boring which is the one with tips on blogging. I hope that other people will find it useful and I hope that it will also encourage some of you talented lot to get writing. I've added pages to the top of my blog which I hope that people will find useful and that I hope to continue to add to.

So that's pretty much my 2015. Looking forward to 2016. Please look out for my post at the end of the week. I hope to post about my plans for next year. Oh, and remember, if you would like to be a guest blogger next year let me know.

New York! New York!

Starting off with an image that shows a very blank piece of aida isn't the best way to gain attention for a post. There is a reason for it though, I promise. A few years ago I posted this photo on instagram. I was on a break from my blog so it wasn't posted here. The point was that I was starting a new project and this would be the first and last progress photo for fear that a very good friend of mine would see it (as a fellow instagramer she would have and would have known instantly it was for her).

 

That blank aida became this New York scene (a kit from DMC). As soon as I saw this I knew that I had to make it for my friend who is New York obsessed. My one visit to this city was with her and she herself has been many many times.  Well, I started this in 2013. Finished it late in 2014. My poor friend finally received it last week. Thankfully she was unaware that she was waiting on it.

I loved stitching this project. Despite all the many shades of grey (possibly 50). I deliberately left all the colour until the end. I thought it would give me something to look forward to. Maybe if I hadn't taken such huge breaks between it would have been a problem. As it is I actually enjoyed watching this New York scene reveal itself. More importantly my friend seemed to like it.

Cake Off and One Last Drawing.

It has been a while and a lot has happened in the last few weeks. Well, not really, just in the last week. Everything I needed to start working has come through and my first shift as a staff nurse is tomorrow (NEED to remember not to answer the phone student nurse). Other than that I have been a lazy bum. Each day I have the days programming all planned out. This is not healthy! Thank goodness I start working tomorrow.

One of the things that happened over the last few weeks is that I made it back to my knitting group. My sister started her creative writing classes which clashes with the life drawing (and I certainly wasn't going myself). On the plus side I got to see some of my crafting friends and caught up with what they were up to before I disappear into the wards.

One of the things we did was celebrate the end of Bake Off by having our own Cake Off event. We baked and raised £80 for the Beatson while we were at it. Not too shabby and the cake was tasty. You can read more about the evening on the knitting group blog.

I planned on making my banana bread which went down well.  I wasn't going to add anything to it this time. I thought plain old banana bread would make a nice change. However, a few packs of chocolate chips fell out the cupboard and I decided to try it with that. I think it could have used a wee bit more of the chips otherwise I was pleasantly surprised.

My attempt at a jaffa cake style Swiss roll didn't quite work as I thought it would. It tasted good but you couldn't tell that there was orange curd in there. It just tasted like the chocolate butter icing was orangey. I maybe spread the chocolate on too thickly.

Do you think Mary Berry would have approved of the swirl? I'm not so sure. To be honest I wasn't thinking when I rolled this and once I did it it was too late. Next time I might attempt a basic Swiss roll and pay attention to the swirl.

Speaking of Bake Off, I loved it this year. I was very happy with the end result. I feel bad for Nancy that there are many people out there who claim she didn't deserve it. In my humble opinion they all deserved it. This years talent far surpassed last years AND they were all nice to each other. Nancy did better on the day and congrats to her.

I have also been working on this. I had so many other plans. Like getting started on my Christmas makes. Attempting to make bread. Have a gut out (I at least started that one). Oh and I had a few blog post ideas too. Instead I have been plonked in front of the tv making these square. But look how pretty they are.

I also made this which sadly doesn't count as preparing for Christmas. It came free with this months Cross Stitcher magazine. It's supposed to be a broach but it is much too large for that so I attached ribbon instead and then handed it over to my mum.

Now though I am off to chill before tomorrow and I may start my sister's birthday socks.

For not though I leave you with my last sketch from the life drawing club. I did this in charcoal and it has become one of my favourites.

Almost Having Withdrawal!

Thanks to secret projects and finishing my degree I have had virtually no sock knitting time. I almost ALWAYS have socks on the go so this was quite hard for me. I don't mind telling you there were some rocky moments there when I was about to throw caution to the wind and just cast on a pair. Thankfully I remained strong and somehow got through this terrible time. You have no idea how good it was to cast on those socks. Even when I did it a second time after deciding that I wanted to use a smaller needle size.

I am just glad that the first pair was using this yarn. I am not going to rave about it because I do it all the time. Like here,  here and here. It can't be helped. You have no idea how good it is to knit with until you do it yourself. It makes the loveliest, softest and silkiest of socks. AND they sparkle. Okay, I promised I wouldn't rave about it.

These are the auction socks and I finally contacted the lady to let her know they would be with her next week. Thankfully she was so patient that she actually forgot all about it until I contacted her. I hope she won't mind the wait. She had said that she liked purples and blues and I hope this will be to her liking. I love the striping of the yarn and I don't mind admitting that if they weren't a size too small I would be tempted to keep them. Again it's the yarn.

Also look at the heel! Just look! Striping perfection. You couldn't plan it better (and with variegated yarn I never try to).

In case you can't tell all of my secret projects are finished. You saw the first two with the baby showers. The last one though you will have to wait until I get the chance to pass it on to the person it is meant for. Now I plan to go back to the colourwork socks I started many moons ago. I just hope I remember where I am in the pattern.

Meanwhile I have started a stitching project. This is one I promised to do for my sister about a year ago (oops) cause the colours match her living room. It's nice to be stitching on evenweave again.

In other new my GBBO obsession is growing now that I actually have time to enjoy it. I'm not going to give you a runnin commentary but I will say I rather enjoyed the European bakes. I could see myself attempting one or two of them. Even if I had never heard of any of them. This week I was on twitter while it was viewing. It meant not a lot of sock knitting got done (I was turning the heel on the second sock) but I liked that involvement. It also led to a discovery of geeking out proportions. I found and followed the twitter account of the GBBO illustrator. His name is Tom Hovey and you can find him @twistedloaf  (Norman is also on twitter @Normcalder). This image is from the GBBO facebook page. It appealed to me because I had to read that chocolate cake recipe at least four or five times to make sure I was following it correctly.

Don't think my lack of a full blow by blow means this is the last you will here of GBBO. Remember I am obsessed. Plus I am now organising a cake off for my knitting group (no judging just lots of cake).

Oh and today I taught my friend to crochet. That will be the next update.