February Stash

I both love and hate Instagram at the same time. I get to discover indie dyers and my bank balance takes a hit. I discovered Owl About Yarn via instagram and quickly followed her profile to her etsy page which was a mistake as I made a purchase straight away. I bought this stunningly pretty sparkly yarn which is part of her Sparkle Owl range. This colourway is called Quay Parade. A mix of rainbow colours against a predominantly blue background. It's almost as though it was made for me and therefore would have been rude not to pick it up. This will definitely be used for one of my monthly pairs of socks.

I am a sucker for stitch markers too. I have a large collection of them and I am always adding to my collection. I can't help it, it's a sickness. These stitch markers went straight into my basket as soon as I saw them. Dr Who stitch markers! What Whovian in their right mind could resist? I especially love the red converse.

As soon as my sock yarn and stitch markers arrived (very fast delivery by the way, I highly recommend) I went back to her etsy page. Although this time it wasn't supposed to be for me. I saw this colourway called Beach Huts and I purchased that too. I was originally going to use it for myself. However, since it arrived I can see myself knitting a pair of summer socks for my sister. I think she would like it.

I've added Owl About Yarn to my craft shopping list page. You'll find it under the Yarn list. You will also find her blog Owl About Yarn on my Craft Blog list. Each post has a podcast making it a little bit different. The author of these pages doesn't just knit, dye yarn and create stitch markers. She's also a spinner too. I know a few of you are interested in that side of things.

Not a month doesn't go by when I don't purchase something from my good friend Lisa of For the Love of Yarn. I signed up for her Valentines gift box (a gift to myself) and chose the sock option and then proceeded to forget all about it. In fact, I thought I knew what the box delivered was and so went a whole weekend without opening it (in my defence I was working that weekend). So it really was a surprise when I did finally open it. It came with yarn (of course), a sock pattern and a crochet hook, a bath bomb and a chocolate lolly (which has since been devoured).

The yarn came in what has become one of my favourite bases, donegal. It's also in my favourite colours, teal, blues and purples. Another yarn that will be used for only me. Anyone else got exciting yarn purchases?

Project Round Up!

This is the last of my catch up posts. The truth is that I haven't done a whole lot of crafting this year and so it's fairly easy to fit it all in on the one. My photo's are also a little all over the place and in some cases I have only taken and I would have much preferred a few other shots if I was posting about them on their own.

This first finish is a freebie kit from a magazine I have taken too. I stopped buying cross stitch magazines years ago in favour of knitting magazines (which I have also since stopped buying) because the tended to have almost the same things every week. Cross Stitcher seems to have changed it's style in that period and quite often there are retro or vintage designs in there that I love. This freebie keyring was one of them. I am a huge fan of Cath Kidston and I think this keyring fits in to that style. Having said that I passed it on to my mum as soon as it was finished. It was my first time stitching onto wood which felt strange and a little awkward when threading off ends.

This mini accordion scrapbook was taught to me by my friend Lyn. She gave my knitting group a class on making these whilst we were away the weekend. At first it felt a little footery. I am normally okay at papercrafts but I had to concentrate to ensure I stuck everything down the right way. I like the end result although I have yet to decorate the insides. I will post that as soon (if I every) as I do that.

This is Colin and he is one of my favourite finishes. I love instagram and someone I followed was stitching this design. I had to ask where she got the pattern from which she kindly told me. It was designed by a lady who has her own shop on etsy under the name Pickle Lady Farm. The key recommends a gold colour but as it's done in the one shade it's easy enough to change it. My sister wanted a Dalek as soon as she heard about the pattern and I got her to pick the colour. So here is her alternative Dalek. He's not the most conventional!

This photo doesn't show the true size of this blanket. I wish I had take more photo's of it. It's a large granny square which I did for my sister's best friend. I did it in aran yarn which had a fab feel to it when done. I picked out the colours special for her and I think it's one of my favourite granny projects so far. I even did the fan edging round the border.

A few people at knitting group had been learning from Laura how to do a bobble stitch in crochet. I have since learned that it is actually called popcorn stitch but we call it bobble. It was nice to learn a new crochet stitch and was surprisingly easy to do. I did this scarf in the stitch using a glittery cotton by Sirdar. I have since handed it in to the knitting group for the shoebox charity.

For a while back I was obsessed with these tiny cross stitch kits by Mouseloft. My sister can be thanked for that as she bought me a few as extra gifts for Christmas or birthdays. I now have a fair collection of them with no idea what to do with them. Any ideas? This bumble bee I actually stitched for my sister.

I stitched three animals she liked, including the bumble bee. and put them in a pencil stand. The fabric turned out to be shorter than the stand but she likes it.

So that's my project round up. I am working on other things so will have more up to date posts for you soon.