the knitted blog

moving home

2010-06-19T15:58:00.002Z

I have had my blog at blog spot for a few years now but decided it's time to move after the spam got daft. You can find me at

This is not a Sketchbook

I set this blog up for mainly uni stuff but I have decided to put everything in one place, see you over there!

Chick, chick. chick, chick, chicken

2010-03-28T16:40:00.006Z

I have been a bit chicken obsessed recently. It doesn't usually take much to get me searching ebay for chicken runs and at this time of year I am even worse!

And today my son and I decided to make a pompom chick.

The chick is made from:

two pompoms - one 65mm, one 85mm in diameter

25g of yellow double knit yarn

a pipe cleaner

two buttons

thread for sewing eyes

card for the beak

glue for sticking on the beak

We made the two pompoms, and left the thread that you tie them round the middle with long, and used the long threads to tie the two pompoms tightly togther.
We threaded the pipecleaner through the middle thread of the larger pompom for the legs and bent the ends into feet. Sew on eyes and glue on a beak.

The nest was made last week by my other son from instructions found here.

Printed Father's Day Cards

2009-06-16T20:05:00.006Z

How to make a Father's Day card in 10 mins!

We used polystyrene pizza bases (I have a stack under the sink for such occasions) and 'E' used a pencil to draw a picture, Daddy in this case.

I went over the picture a bit harder to make the lines deeper.

Then we painted some block printing colour over our tray, but you can use any paint, I have used poster paint before.

Place your paper or card over the top and smooth it down with a flat hand and peel back to reveal your print.

First Meeting of the Forest Hill Knitters and Crocheters

2009-06-14T09:37:00.008Z

I had a great time yesterday knitting in Forest Hill Library with new and old friends.

There was a real range of knitting experience from complete beginners to very experienced. Some people stopped to ask if we were meeting again so we decided to meet again next month.

Next meeting - Saturday 18th July 2009, 12-2pm. Forest Hill Library, SE23

Come and Knit with ME!

2009-06-05T13:35:00.004Z

Come and Knit

Forest Hill Library

Dartmouth Road, SE23
Saturday 13th June 12-2pm

· Beginners and experienced knitters welcome.
· Wool and needles provided or bring your own.
· Local crafter Jo Cooper will be on hand to show basic knitting and casting on,
· Info sheets available to take away.

I've been asked to hold this workshop by the Town Centre Manager, it should be fun, come along if you can.

Student

2009-05-04T14:30:00.003Z

My blog posts stopped when I started at Univeristy in September, the spare time I had that I spent on blogging is now spent on course work.

This post is an attempt to show some of the stuff I've been doing, no major works of art have emerged yet, I'm just enjoying being aloud to experiment.

This is from my book project, I had lot's of ideas, one of which was to make a zine from random articles but I then found this machine which the library was getting rid of. I ended up make a sort of audio book using a poem and photos.

This photo is from the 'Balance and Tension' project. I was looking at the tension caused to the viewer by things not bing quite right and what could be more wrong then sharp things in your jelly?

This is a photo of a mould I've made for the 'Perfect Prop' assignment. We have to make a prop, I decided to make a replica of a stovetop coffee perculator.

No Windows!

2009-02-25T15:18:00.003Z

The windows at the back of our house are being replaced and I am trying to work. I'm off work sick but I brought some bit's home to do but it's quite had to concentrate when there are holes in the house and the hammering makes the whole house shake.

I am also trying to get my college project finished for Friday. My 1500-2000 essay is nearly there (I've had to stop for a bit due to word blindness) I've just got to have a look at my journal and finish my Power Point presentation.

Here is some fleece I blended for a bowl I made as an experimental piece for the project. I haven't managed to get a decent photo of it but when I do I'll post it.

Wow, very long time since my last post!

2009-02-22T19:44:00.004Z

I can't believe I haven't posted since September!!!

I have been busy, I used to post on a Friday which was my day off but I'm now an Art student on a Friday so all my spare time is taken up with studying, so the random knitting and blogging have fallen my the wayside.

I'll show you a bit of what I have been doing and I'll try and update more often from now on.

slides from the book project

my knitting needles photographed as part of the 'Object of Desire' project

my felt bowls which I photographed during a workshop

It has been an eventful 5 months. Arc, the childrens art project I ran closed, so I was redundant. Then I applied for another job, started college, my partner went to New York and I started a new job all in the space of about 2 weeks!! just a tad stressful, then me and the boy's went to NY for October halfterm and it all started to calm down a bit when we got back.

River Felting

2008-09-22T20:25:00.009Z

Before the summer I was investigating traditional felting techniques and thought I'd see what happens if I felted in a river.

As it so happened we went camping next to a river.

I did a bit of pre-felting so the fleece didn't just float off down the river and tried it with some bright yarn to a handy branch.

I then just left it for a few hours. I had to go back every once in a while to check it was still there.

The river flow created a really interesting shape to the end pieces.

This one is my favourite, you can see the little seed pods it picked up in the water

Wheelie Bin Wars

2008-09-22T20:07:00.004Z

I am an enthusiastic recycler so was distraught when our wheelie bin went missing!

One that looked a lot like ours found it's way into a neighbours front garden....... but anyway we ordered a new one and it took ages to arrive and when it did, the first time it was emptied it went missing again!

This time I found it in the drive way of some flats 5 houses down.

So, now I've stencilled it and every Wednesday I go looking for it!

Exercise some needle power

2008-08-19T10:12:00.002Z

For every mum, the day her child is born should be the happiest of her life. Yet, in the world's poorest countries, many mums don't survive to look after their babies.

In the next minute, lack of access to health care will claim the life of another mum. In a year, half a million mums die because of poorly equipped hospitals, or because they can't afford to pay health care fees.

World leaders have promised to end this travesty by providing enough aid to deliver the medical services needed, but as things stand they're falling well short.

Patches to fight poverty

We cannot allow this to continue. Broken promises add up to lives lost.

Oxfam are calling on all knitters everywhere to help spell out in no uncertain terms that enough is enough, that we won't sit silently while this injustice continues.

You can take part, and turn your knitting needles into poverty fighting needles by creating a patch for a giant baby blanket – a 'visual petition' we'll hand in to world leaders in September 2008.

Oxfam are aiming for 250,000 patches - one for every mum who should have survived pregnancy in the last six months.

Play your part in a giant, knitted petition

Washing Wool

2008-07-08T17:22:00.004Z

Wow, I've just spent the last 2 hours washing fleece, dying muslin and fleece and cooking dinner.
Luckily I didn't get any of it mixed up!!

I washed the fleece both by hand and in the washing machine. There are some great hand washing instructions are here.

the top left and right were washed in the machine and the
yellowy cream fleece at the bottom was washed by hand

There are lot's of instructions for top loading washing machines and not much for front loaders, I did read something yesterday saying that it is possible in a front loader with a wool cycle, so I thought I'd give it a go. (sorry can't find the site where I read it)

My wool cycle is for 'machine washable wool' at 40, so I decided to try the silk cycle and it came out really clean. I did put it in a mesh bag but the bag came open and the wool came out and a couple of little bits feel a bit felted but I don't want to fiddle to much until it's dry.

I was dying some muslin olive green, when it was done I thought I'd try and dye a piece of the washed fleece, this is it just after it came out and was cooling. I'm hoping it will stay the same colour once it's been rinsed.

Now I'm hoping the new carders I brought at the weekend on ebay come soon, then I can prepare this lot ready for a bit of felting!

Felted Bowls

2008-06-30T20:10:00.004Z

Hi all, sorry I haven't posted for ages and ages but I've been felting!

These are my first attempts to felt round a ball. They are two halves and I have felted the left handside one a bit more. The one on the right is my favorite as you can see all the fibres around the rim, it's just as it was when I cut the felted ball in half.

I have taken step by step photos for a tutorial but I'll explain quickly how I did it.

You have to make lot's of what are called in the trade - Pre-felts, which a small pieces lightly felted, you dry them, then.....................

your pin and stitch them all around the ball until you have lot's of layers built up, then you felt it. I will explain the whole process properly soon.

Then I made these bowls with good old fashioned kitchen appliances. I started felting them by hand and got bored and put them in the dishwasher. The dishwasher didn't felt them much but it made an interesting shape to the edges.

This pink and brown one is my favourite, you can't see from this photo but in the middle is a brown dot. When I had felted the two colours together a bit I cut a circle out of the middle and turned it over.

For the last few years my Mum and Dad have gone to Amsterdam to see the tulips and each year they buy an Amaryllis bulb for my nan, sister, me and one for them. We all get given them in paper bags with the colour of them written on it and every year the colours are completely different!! There follows lot's of up-date phone calls between my Mum and all the recipients letting us know what colour they really are, can't remember what colour mine was meant to be but it wasn't dusty pink.

Weaving

2008-05-16T12:36:00.004Z

I went into my 6 year old sons class today to do some weaving with them.

One of their topics is Plants and Animals so I took in some fleece, a drop spindle, knitting, felt and a woven piece of cloth and we talked about fabrics and what they are made from.

Their teacher and I had already prepared the paper plates with the warp thread and then the children choose different fabrics to weave with.

I was surprised at how conservative their choices were at first. I expected them to go straight for the cut up t-shirts and plastic bags but most of them went for the thinnest wool and it took a while for them to try weaving with the more unusual fabrics.

The result are fantastic, some aren't finished but the children are all keen to take them home and finish them off over the weekend.

A pdf of instructions of how to thread up the paper plate and finish the project off are here.

and the winner is...................

2008-04-26T12:36:00.004Z

Pants!

email me 'Pants' and I'll get a little package sent out to you.
cooperjo@talk21.com

Thank you everyone who entered and posted such nice encouraging messages. x

How To Needle Felt a Flower Brooch

2008-04-19T11:01:00.010Z

Here it is a little needle felting flower project for you.

Where am I going to get the materials from? you might be asking.

Well, I have listed a few links for companies I have used at the end of this post and you can also get supplies from various Etsy and Ebay shops.

I also thought that I would have a little competition. If you fancy having a go at the wonderful craft of needle felting, post 'I would love to have a go at this' with your comment below and I will pull a couple of names out of a hat and send you a little kit to get you started.
You can't say farer than that, can you?

**Competition closes Saturday 25th April 2008 at 1200BST**

Ok, so what you will need to needle felt a flower brooch are the following supplies;

A felting needle
merino fleece
a dense foam sponge
a cookie cutter of the shape you want
sewing supplies
a safety pin or brooch back
and a button, oh and a cup of tea (very important)

This is what a felting needle looks like, you might just be able to see from the photo that there are little nicks in the needle end. These are called 'barbs' and they are what makes the fleece felt together. They come in different gauges for different types of work. The larger the gauge the quicker it felts, but it leaves visible holes and you then need to work with a finer needle but it then depends on the fleece you are using.......... I could go into more detail but I'll leave that for another post.

For this project I used a finer needle.

Start by pulling your fleece (plucking) into small tufts and piling it into a cookie cutter, filling it up right to the top.

Poke (stab) your needle into the fleece, you want to gently push the needle through the fleece and into the sponge but not to far or hard.

Once the fleece has flattened a bit, take the cutter off.....

...........and carefully pull the shape off the sponge. Little tufts of fleece will have been poked into the sponge.

Now, your shape will look a bit of a mess, but don't worry, you still have some work to do.

Put the cookie cutter back onto the sponge, turn your shape over and put it back in the cutter.
Repeat the stabbing and turning over few more times, you will see the fleece 'felt' together, firm up and form a more solid shape.

(sorry about the rubbish photo!)

In-between taking the flower off of the sponge and turning it over you can poke the fleece round the edges.
WARNING: this is when I stab myself, so be careful!!
This will make your flower shrink a bit more and firm up the petals.

The great thing about needle felting is that you can sculpt it. If it is a bit wonky and lopsided you can felt it a bit more on that side. You can shape the petals by poking the needle in-between them.

When your flower is smooth and you feel it is firm enough to sew the pin onto firmly, it's done.

Choose a button for the centre and sew on and sew a pin onto back.

Supplies
All the materials are fairly cheap with needles around 80p-£1.00 each and the fleece is about £1.50 for 10g and the sponges range from 80p to £2.00. But you can used any dense foam, car washing or bath sponges.
You can also by kits with a variety of coloured merino fleece, needles and a sponge for around £9.50-£15.

I have brought supplies on the internet from Christy Bears and getknitted and from Art Van Go and Crafty Notions at show events.

Recently, I have been looking at ebay suppliers and there are a couple of interesting ones in the uk- KRAFT MANIA and Needdleworks Pleasures. They both have a really nice selection of colours.

FeltFinland blog has a list of suppliers, one of which is fantastic looking Wingham Wool Works, serious fleece!

These Christmas decorations were made the same way.

Hope this has given you enough info to inspire you to have a go, any questions just ask:-)

Zentangles

2008-04-17T19:13:00.004Z

I have a new obsession, Zentangles!

It's just a posh name for doodles, but check out the amazing ones on flickr and of course there is a website where you can pay £25 for a kit!!!

But all you really need is to have a read of zentangle.com (what else?) a nice pen and a piece of paper.

Mine aren't true zentangles, to be 'zen' with your 'tangle' you need to use a black fine tip pen and 3.5 inch square white card and not the back of envelope while chatting on the phone.
But hey, I've never been one for following instructions!

We did it!

2008-04-09T14:22:00.004Z

We lasted one night in the snow, it was great fun but, blimey it was cold.
The kid's loved it and didn't want to come home but it all got to much for me.
When I went to the loo before going to bed and I had so many layers on it took ages before I could actually go!

this is how it went........
Jacket up
Fleece up
Jumper up
Jeans down
Another jumper up
Top up
Woolly tights down
Long sleeve vest up
Short Sleeve vest up................
you get the idea!

Unfortunately the batteries in my camera were flat but I did take a few with my phone. The photo above was taken on Monday morning and you can still see some snow, the views of the South Downs covered in snow were amazing and there were so many birds singing and flying around.

We will be camping again this year I'm sure, but next time it will be in the summer and if I start to plan a camping trip which isn't in July or August can you point me back to this post!

Camping in the Snow

2008-04-05T13:44:00.004Z

We are going camping tomorrow and snow is forecast!!

I am not the sort of person to cancel, I am being positive and thinking about Captain Scott; if he can get to the South Pole we can get through a few days in Brighton!

The camp site looks great though and we can have camp fires, which will be blazing!!!

Edinburgh 2006 (that's me in the background in pink)

Easter

2008-03-23T11:25:00.003Z

Hope everyone is having a nice long weekend.

.............and it wouldn't be Easter without Easter Nests, ours went a bit odd with the chocolate overheating but with a bit of vigorous stirring, a night in the fridge and mini egg decoration they are now perfect.
I made some mini cheesecakes from a recipe in Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess, they are a bit of a flaff but taste v. nice!

Feeling better

2008-03-19T12:58:00.004Z

After being off with ill kids last week, I have been ill for the last three days. I am feeling a lot better today and even chanced a cup of coffee (my first since Sunday).

So I thought I'd take this chance to have a blog catch up before the Vernal Equinox celebrations (Easter) begins.

No, I'm not being clever or Pagan, I just had to look up in my 'Wheel of the Year-Living the Magical Life' book by Pauline Campanelli, and found out some interesting thing's I thought I'd share -

At the time of the Vernal Equinox, eggs are used for the creation of talismans and were also ritually eaten. There is little doubt that clutches of eggs laid by many different kinds of birds in the Spring were a welcome dietary supplement to early hunter/gatherers after the spareness of Winter. It is also possible that gathering a variety of eggs from nests of birds by our ancient ancestors gave rise to two customs still popular today-The Easter Egg Hunt and coloring eggs in imitation of various pastel colors of the eggs of wild birds.

Ahhh, that makes sense now. I often wonder why we do these strange little rituals and my Pagan handbook always gives me the answer. I am not religious, but living in a Christian Country we (our family) observe most of the festivals in some way and I like to have a overview of why we (society) do these things and what the pre-Christian festival would have been.
It also puts a non-consumerist perspective on it all which is also something I am keen to pass onto my kids.
It's not all about chocolate, kids, but let's eat some while thinking about nature.

My book also gives the natural dyes for your eggs-

Soft Orange - Single skin of a onion
Deep Rust - A handful of onion skins
Sunny Yellow - One and half teaspoons of turmeric
Pink- Beetroot juice and vinegar or pickled beetroot juice
Robins Egg Blue - Vinegar and several layers of red cabbage leaves boiled with the eggs and left to cool overnight.

Might have to give it a go, I'll report back if I do.

In the postal receiving department I got a lovely matchbox full of buttons, plus extra buttons and this most brilliant stamp from Lia at Sleepyside Farm, I have stamped everything that's not moved so far, I'm now going to start on the things that do move!

Now, do you want to see what the Easter Bunny really looks like?

Sorry Dad, hehehe!

Leaves

2008-03-19T12:45:00.005Z

Maybe it's just the time of year but I have been noticing leaves all around the place.

What is it with my Cats?

2008-03-14T18:13:00.006Z

I know they are beautiful and I tell them often, but as soon as I get my camera out to photgraph my latest craft project one of our cats will appear from nowhere and plant themselves in the picture. I had to go away and make a cup of coffee before he decided that his photo session was finished.

I have been off work most of this week with sick children, they haven't been really ill, just a tummy bug that has meant that they were all floppy and haven't eaten all week.
But it has meant that we've watched lot's of films while I did a bit of crafting.

And for some reason I decided to make an apple today (might have something to do with watching 'Lazy Town' where apples are called sports candy). I was going to make tiny ones to put in a little basket I have but my first one turn out to be about 2 inches high. I like it, it's very jolly.

Nutmeg posing for the camera

What a Wonderful World

2008-03-11T16:06:00.004Z

Thank you for all the journaling encouragement.

I started to practice on my journal and grabbed some felt pens and crayons and done a bit of colouring.

Now the reason for the title of this post is this.
I took part in a craft book swap on Swap-bot. This was back in October last year by December I was thinking that my partner had flaked and I wasn't going to receive anything.
Then the lovely Yoli contacted me. As the host of the swap she had noticed that my partner hadn't sent and she kindly offered to send me a book and this is what arrived.

Ginger checking out the 'Crafty Chica'

I have read it from cover to cover and loved it. It's full of encouragement to 'just have a go' and Kathy Cano Murillo seems like a really lovely lady. Thank you Yoli for such a lovely present.
My partner did send my book in the end, plus some extras to make up for sending late, thank you to her too.

I have been doing a lot of needle felting, trying to get some items finished so I can get my Etsy shop going.

When I grabbed the pens and crayons last night for my circle colouring I thought the colours I picked up were random, obviously not!

Journalling

2008-02-19T13:38:00.012Z

I am taking part in a 'Journal Round Robin'. There are 5 people involved and 5 journals get passed between us.
I wasn't really sure what a journal was, I assumed it was a diary/old fashioned blog entry, but as we say at work 'never assume'.

My past notebooks and diaries dating back to 1990

So, I have done a bit a journal reseach; first I searched 'journal' on flickr. While flicking through the photos I noticed a few where tagged with Wreck this Journal. I had seen this journal before and I remembered that it looked interesting so I did another search and found Kerri Smiths Blog (she's the author), scroll down a bit on her blog and there is a list of ideas which then takes you to a pdf of 100 ideas to do in your journal.

So, I printed it off and cut it up (that's what it said to do).

Some of my favorites from the list are;

10. Draw your dinner.

39. Write about your relationship with your washing machine.

48. Make a useful item using only paper and tape.

70. Do nothing.

88. Write an entry about a secret. Cut it up and glue the pieces randomly.

My current notebooks and diaries

I have never kept a journal (if I had I would have know what one was!). I have notebooks on the go all the time and if I lost my desk diary I wouldn't know what was going on. I blog sporadically, so keeping a journal is going to be interesting.

The 'Round Robin Journal' isn't starting for another month but I might have to start keeping a journal to get some practice.

Teapot Pullover

2008-02-15T14:55:00.005Z

I have knitted a sort of tea cosy.
Believe it or not but it started life as a legwarmer!

I love knitting with Sirdar Click, it knits up really quick on 7mm needles and the colours are really nice muted shades.
So, I had a few balls and I fancied a pair of legwarmers, so I could pretend I was a 'Kid from Fame', and started to knit. But as you can see from the photo I only got as far as a few rounds of rib in light green.
Then (don't ask me how this came into my head, I really don't know) I decided to turn it into a tea cosy.
I thought that the ribbed bit would be the bottom, but it became obvious by the time I started knitting the dark green stripe that that wasn't going to happen.
So the bottom became the top. I stitched it up and when I slipped it onto my teapot it became clear that it wasn't a teacosy at all, more of a pullover for a teapot, a fashion item.
You see it doesn't have a top which is really useful as you don't have to keep taking the cosy off to fill the pot. It will get a bit grubby and it might not keep the tea as warm for as long as your conventional cosy but I like it.
I'm going to knit another one and this time write down the pattern, I'll let you know how I get on.

One World One Heart

2008-02-14T11:38:00.005Z

Edit- and the winners are............................

Carol-spirits journey designs, Susan and Angela.
I have emailed them all and their flower brooches will be with them soon.

Shop Update++++ Not quite ready yet, still some photos and pricing to do.

Ode to Swap-bot

2008-02-13T19:35:00.007Z

I am hosting my first swap over on swap-bot and it's a matchbox of buttons swap.

Just a small matchbox, which you decorate how you like and then fill with nice buttons.

Here are a couple of photos of matchbox swaps I sent and recieved.

(These photos are from a swap for 'a matchbox of beads and buttons', but hopefully it will give people who are partcipating for the first time an idea of the size of the matchbox and what to expect.)

recieved

sent

Just realised that it has been about a year since my first swap on swap-bot. What a great way to celebrate with a swap of my own!

I love to swap, people who I tell about it look at me very strangly as if to say 'why do you bother?' but it is so nice to put together a gift for someone knowing that they will (hopefully) get that same warm feeling that I get when I open my parcle.

I don't join up for expensive swaps, I have done, but I like to do handmade swaps because those are the type I like to recieve. My boys enjoy the sweetie swaps.

received

I have done all sorts of swaps; 'A teabag and a magazine page' was my first, handmade bags of goodies are always fun and 'this is my foot' was the craziest but the most fun (we drew round our feet decorated them and posted one to each of our two partners) yes, it's does sound daft but I have the feet I was sent on my wall at work and they make me smile everytime I look at them and what did that cost me? the price of a stamp!

these are my feet!

I have recieved some lovely things which you can tell people have spent time on and fortunately I have only had a couple of disappointments. There was one, I can't remember the details but it looked as if my partner had emptied the contents of her bedside cabinet draw into an envelope!

received

received.

I have also 'meet' some very lovely, generous people from all over the world and I'm hoping to meet some more.

One World - One Heart ahhhhh!

2008-02-11T10:13:00.001Z

EDIT- Entry now closed, sorry. But thank you to everyone who entered.

I will randomly pick three winners (ie. ask my colleages to pick a number) and post later who are the lucky winners.

The title is a bit mushy for me but I like the sentiment and idea and decided to join in.

Here is what it's about..............

What IS ONE World-ONE Heart? It is a blog-wide giveaway event. The original idea behind this was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way. Last years event had nearly 100 participants and many connections were made because of it......friendships that are still going strong.

So, below is a photo of one of the prizes I am going to give away (I will give away 3 and they are all different colours) and to win it just leave a comment by midnight on 13th Feb and I'll pick 3 winners.

If you are one of people who normally visit this blog but don't usually comment please use this opportunity to make contact, (even if you don't have a blog) and then why not go to the ONE World-ONE Heart blog and click on a couple of the partipating blogs and have a look at what is going on around the world.

needle felted flower brooch made by me!

I'm looking forward to meeting you all!

SHOP UPDATE----hoping to have my Etsy shop up and running by Friday!!!!

Felting Leaves

2008-02-09T15:42:00.000Z

I've spent the last couple of days making a batch of needle felted leaf brooches.

Spurred on my friend Jo (who is also my best customer) I've got my Etsy shop nearly in order ready for a grand re-openning later in the week.

I've been doing lot's of Etsy research on prices and marketing and some ebay shopping for supplies.

I won't just be selling brooches, I will have some knitted cards, ribbon cut cards and scrap craft kits as well.

Watch this space!

My Accidental Valentine

2008-02-05T18:33:00.000Z

Now here is a good example of why we should all gather some craft materials, sit down for half an hour and see what happens.
I saw some greeting cards, somewhere on t'internet, made by weaving paper. So today I thought I'd have a go and when I started to collect bit's and pieces together I happened upon some ribbon and thought mmmmmm.

This is my first attempt.........

I really liked the colours next to the white card and only had long cards, so the next one I tried only had slits big enougth for one ribbon.

Now, I'm not a perfectionist and usually just dive in, have a go, then tidy up after, so when I started cutting the slits the first couple were a bit wonky so I thought I'd do the rest wonky as well as it was hard work trying to keep them straight (even with a ruler) on the first one.

Now, I'm thinking those red ones would make rather nice Valentines cards, what do you think?

French Beadwork Flower

2008-02-04T18:53:00.000Z

Here is a little flower I made today at my craft course.

Not sure I have mastered the technique yet but a few twists and a button usually solves most crafting mishaps.

I think I'm going to keep hold of it for a bit before deciding what it's final purpose will be. I did think it was going to be a brooch as it is, but now it's finished I'm now thinking it might the centre of something bigger.

Button Rings and a Year of Blogging

2008-02-03T15:43:00.000Z

I realised on Friday that I have been blogging for a whole year today!
How mad is that? and to use the old cliche - it doesn't feel like a year.

So, to start my second blogging, crafty year I finally got round to starting my 'Thing-a-Day' challenge.

Inspired by Jodie I decided to make some of my own button rings.

I threaded some craft wire through the beads, then through the buttons. I then twisted the wire tightly at the back and pressed it down flat and hot glued them onto the ring bases.

You can't really see the colours that well but the bottom one is orange with orange beads and the top one has a dark blue button. I think my favorite is the big red one.

The boy's have embraced their 'Thing-a-day' challenge and this is what I found on Saturday morning.

Inspired by my new found enjoyment of embroidery and a cool post on Craft Chi I tidied up the flosses and threads (that sounds like a good name for a craft shop, must remember that if I ever open one) that I have acquired.

and of course as soon as I get my camera out a cat turns up to try and get in the photo!

Hearts

2008-01-27T10:21:00.000Z

I have finished my first piece of embroidery! It's very basic but I really quite pleased with it.

I think I will be doing a bit more of it.

I have also been having a go at working with Polymer Clay during my Monday craft course.

I had some Fimo as a kid and making these has brought it all back, I used to spend hours making beads and charms.

These beads are made from the left over bits from another project (which was still in the oven when I left my course last week, hope it's not still there!!) I'm thinking bracklet but I think they need a coat of varnish first.

bloody blogger (excuse my French)

2008-01-25T21:24:00.000Z

is it just me or is anyone else having trouble with blogger?
I can't format my posts or post photos and can't seem to find any help in the help department!
ahhhhh, I've got photos waiting to be posted and I can't post without photos, (this is a real struggle knowing I can't post a photo)
i might have to defect if these problems don't sort themselves out soon.

My Feburary To Do List

2008-01-23T12:58:00.000Z

Here is my 'thing-a-day' to do list. It's not in any particular order and some of the things I have been meaning to do for ages, so I'm using this as an opportunity to get them done.

Re-fashion Jeans into a skirt

Sew new buttons onto cardi

Re-fashion a T-Shirt

Needle felt yellow flowers (swap)

Bake a Battenburg

Knit washcloth

Knit flower brooch

Make a Valentines Card

Play with Fimo

Make a Bookmark

Make some ATC's

Cross Stitch a rude word

Wet felt something

Make buttons into fridgemagnets (swap)

Make a totebag

Knit a coin purse

Bookbind a notebook

Sew a babies bib

Make shadow Puppets

Embroider design onto a bag

Make a peg doll

Make a dotee doll (swap)

Make a bracelet

Make Jam

Fabric Yoyos

Make felt stuffie

Body scrub

Paper weaving

Applique

Decorate Matchbox (swap)

Other things to make:

a noise

a friend

a fuss

a mess

my bed

amends

any suggestions of things to make would be greatfully recieved, also if you want to swap any of the things I make please let me know. It doesn't have to be like for like, I'll do anything for buttons!!! or a Martha Stewart Magazine.

(Blogger has gone a bit weird so I'll have to post links and photos when it's not weird.)

I'm going to make a thing a day

2008-01-22T10:10:00.000Z

Right, I've taken the plunge, bitten the bullet, grasped the nettle and signed up!

I'm getting organised and written a list of possible projects to do, most are small quick ones and most the boy's can join in with. (I'll post the complete list later)

But any suggestions of projects to try would be gratefully recieved.

I've also signed up for a couple of swaps on swap-bot to help keep the momentum going.

I'm also going to get the boy's involved, they don't usually need much encouragement though. I've been working with Fimo (I'll post some photos soon) and every time I sit down they are there asking to have a go. I finally gave in last night and they made loads of beads and covered glass beads to be made into fridge magnets.

A Thing a Day!

2008-01-17T11:30:00.001Z

mmm, will I feel a complete failiure if I sign up for this and don't manage to make anything? and would cooking dinner everyday count?

Come Swap with Me

2008-01-15T19:02:00.000Z

I've just created a Matchbox Full of Buttons Swap over on Swap-bot.

What a grey day

2008-01-11T15:07:00.000Z

Baby Cardi

Even though I haven't done anything I seem to have acheived quite a bit.
This weeks episodes of CSI and ER plus last Californication watched, read fave blogs, checked emails, Facebook & Moblog, updated Twitter and I'm now blogging. Even managed to knit a few rows.

Bye, bye droopy tree.

Nutmeg having a rest.

2008 2008 2008 2008 2008

2008-01-04T14:28:00.000Z

Peace Dove inspired by Bella Dia

Well, this is my first post of 2008! Thank you for wishing me luck with my New Year Resolutions. The plastic bag one is the one I'm going to really try hard with. It's just getting into the habit of having one on you just in case you pop into a shop. I'm fine if I leave the house to go the shop, I always grab them but it's when I'm on my way home from work and just pop in somewhere to pick something up for tea. A friend sent me the link for these cool ONYA bags which fold up small and attach to your keys, perfect!

Advent Swap

I've been deleting old emails, putting photos in files and tidying the blog (e-sweeping) and it's made me realise just how many things I've made and how many people have liked them. I want to say thank you to everyone who has read my blog and posted comments. I know it's not why we do it (blog that is) but it's so nice to get feedback. thank you.

loopy scarf made on my Craft course.

My email thingy (technical term) changed a couple of months ago, which was about the time I stopped blogging. Part of the reason I stopped was that I lost my bookmarks which stopped my usual daily read of fave blogs and these inspire my blogging.

So I've sorted that now, updated my 'to do' list and edited my 'blogs I read' list.

And here are some photos which should have been posted before Christmas, but hey! stuff happens.

Mincemeat (10lb of it), which turned into......................

yep, you guessed it, mince pies. Not the whole 10lb, the rest was sold at school.

Decoration inspired by One Crafty Mumma

Do you think he's pleased?

Meeting Huskies at the Frost Fair.

Must remember it's 2008! I haven't had to write the date yet and I usually spend January writing the wrong year!

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T16:54:00.000Z

Right, my new year resolutions:

Blog more regularly
Take my own bags to shops, no more plastic ones.
Not to buy any craft stuff (discourage my Mum from buying stuff for me as well)
Use up all the craft stuff I have
Sell craft stuff I don't need
Get Etsy shop going (watch this space!!!)
and my usual one- drink more water

Happy New Year everyone.

Denim Christmas Trees

2007-12-12T10:15:00.000Z

I am taking part in a Crazy Craft Extravaganser for Parents and under 5's, at the Limelight Family Learning Centre next Wendnesday and I needed to find something simple for Parents to do while their children played.

I started to work on a sewn, stuffed ornament to hang on the tree, but it was a bit big and lumpy and I wasn't too happy with it. Then this idea popped up on CRAFT: made by One Crafty Mumma

I have loads of scrap material from curtain samples and tons of buttons so these will be perfect. We will be handsewing them, so I will do a few examples to see if that works.

Tim, the Family Learning Officer for Limelight had the idea for the craft session; there will be Card and decoration making, decorating biscuits to hang on your tree, Christmas tree decoration making for adults, mince pies, music, baby area plus more Christmas craftyness, all for £1.00 pre child!! and Arc (arts and craft resourses for sale) will be there.

Wednesday 19th December, 10am-12noon, Limelight Family Learning Centre, Castillon Road, SE6 (if you fancy popping along)

If the session is a success, here's hoping for more in the New Year!

hello, i'm back!

2007-12-07T10:18:00.000Z

did you miss me? I haven't actually been anywhere but just haven't found it in me to blog.

I was trying to figure out why this was and one reason I can think of is that we have moved to computer from the warm, comfy spare bedroom to the drafty, wooden floored back end of the living room. I used to start to blog when the boy's were having their bath in the evening, then put them to bed and carry on into the night. Now it's all changed, if I'm down stairs I have to get up to shout 'stop drowning your brother' or 'well that will teach you not to put soap there again won't it!!' and that stops the train of thought.

And I have realised in the last week that if I'm cold I can't think or function properly.

Our boiler broke on Monday and was only fixed yesterday (don't get me started on the incompetents of British Gas, but that's a whole other blog entry and email to Watchdog) but once it was fixed and as the radiators warmed you I felt like I was coming out of hibernation and my brain started to work again.

My friend Jo and I have been organising a Winter Gift Fair at our kids school, (it's tonight btw at 6-8pm at Rathfern School in Catford) and before the boiler was fixed I couldn't seem to do anything but as the temperature rose I was ringing people, making lists and potting up 10lb of Mincemeat.

I haven't just been sitting in the cold since my last entry, I have been making things, I was trying to think of them all, I'll try and list them now-

Mincemeat

Loopy Scarves x2

Pom poms x8

Yellow Beetroot and Ginger Chutney

Washcloth

erm, I think that's it.

no, didn't make this, but saw it recently while away with friends in Camber.

but I do want to make one of these, this is by pixiegenne and it's fantastically perfect!

Flickr

2007-11-20T13:57:00.001Z

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

'Sewing'

2007-11-15T10:05:00.000Z

Metalic Marble Painting to celebrate Diwali

I feel like I been very neglectful. I haven't posted for sooooo long.
I have been so busy at work and home that I get to the evening and all I want to do is make Pom Poms. (there's a whole post about Pom Poms coming soon, bet you can't wait! ;-)
Anyway thought I'd better post something so you know I haven't forgotten about you all.

Here are two photo's of some sewing done by 2 and 3 years. I just showed them how a hole punch works and threaded their needles and off they went.

And here is a big kitten helping me work, they just can't resist a box!

Bonfires and Knitting

2007-11-08T19:07:00.000Z

My Parents Annual Bonfire Party was it's usual success.

It started in the traditional way with my Dad putting on his very old handknitted jumper that only comes out once a year.

The pyrotechnics team staged a well co-ordinated display and soup and baked potatoes were enjoyed by all.

Then something wierd happened, it all went crafty...............

My Aunty Lainey has been crocheting a jumper for my sister Laura.

So, Laura had to try on said jumper while we all discussed the length and felt the wool!

Then my mum held a knitting surgery and we all tried to figure out a pattern that Laura was trying to follow.

Now let this be a lesson to you all, this is what happens if you where a polyster woolly hat while tending a bonfire!

Just couple more things

2007-11-02T16:21:00.000Z

Just couple more things I need to say;

First Karyn's shop is now open over at the Fat Orange Cat blog.

If there is anyone who reads this and who buys me presents - I want, no, need this bag! click here and it will take you straight to the page!

I have my eye on a couple of items, I hope they don't go before I get my 'Slack-Arse' in gear.

And the second thing, in the sprirt of the handmade pledge, Sew, Mama, Sew has a 'Thirty Days of Gifts to Sew' thing going on.

Looks like lot's of fun inspration to me!

Projects planned are:
November 1 ~ Aprons

November 2 ~ Pincushions & Pins

November 3 ~ For the House

November 4 ~ Lunch Bags

November 5 ~ Tote Bags

November 6 ~ Blankets for Baby

November 7 ~ For your Purse or Pocket

November 8 ~ Whimsy

November 9 ~ Fabric Ornaments

November 10 ~ Ties and Belts

November 11 ~ Reading & Writing

November 12 ~ For the Table

November 13 ~ Placemats

November 14 ~ Kids’ Clothes

November 15 ~ Warm those Toes

November 16 ~ Gifts for the Crafter

November 17 ~ Purses

November 18 ~ For Baby

November 19 ~ Tech Gifts

November 20 ~ Gifts for Organization

November 21 ~ Pillows

November 22 ~ Fun for Hair

November 23 ~ Soft Toys & Games

November 24 ~ Sachets

November 25 ~ For the Kitchen

November 26 ~ Embellishments

November 27 ~ Gifts for Warmth

November 28 ~ Drawstring Bags

November 29 ~ Fabric Boxes

November 30 ~ Gift Compilations

Slack-arse Housewife!

2007-11-02T13:31:00.000Z

Slack-arse was a phrase coined at college to describe a co-student who; 'cut corners, was a bit lazy and lackadaisical', and that's how I feel about the domestic arts.
Don't get me wrong I love to cook, knit dishcloths and make jam but I can't be arsed with dusting and the like and don't get my partner started on my lack of ironing!

Spider cake inspired by Not Martha

But some tidying had to be done today, we had a Halloween Party on Wednesday and there was a trail of spider sequins, feathers and glitter through the house that I had ignored for long enough.

But, I think I might of found the answer - Craft Podcasts!

There is a whole list of them at Craftypod, first I listened to a couple of festive podcasts from Crafty Chica, (that was the sofa wiped (it's leather), toy's put in a pile(there still there), wand making materials put away and floor swept) then I half listened to a Craftsanity interview with Amanda Blake Soule while I swept the kitchen, moved a rug and plumped cushions.
Great!

I usually resent spending time on my day off cleaning, but this way I feel like I'm crafting and it takes my mind of the domestic drudgery!

Haven't got much crafting in during the last week or so. I have been experimenting with the felted Christmas decorations and come up with some prototypes.

I'm happy with the red heart but I think the green one needs something, I'm on the lookout for small bells and the yellow star needs a button or something.

There's a lot of chat at the moment about blogs and books making the authors lives look perfect and how this makes others feel inadequate.
When I had my first son there was a lot of mums making out that their lives and babies where great and perfect and I resolved then to tell it how it was; sick and wee covered, sore boobed, boring hard work! (that was on the good days ;-)And it's quite easy to make your bloglife look perfect in the photos you show. I love the idea of moving the camera a bit to the left or zooming out to show what's really there, so here is the corner of the kitchen where the above photo was taken.

It doesn't look that bad when you can't see the whole of the smeared bin and half eaten cat food!

We're looking forward to my Mum & Dads Annual Bonfire Party tomorrow night; three hours of fireworks followed by hot soup, baked pototoes and smoking fags with my Dad by the bonfire (shh, don't tell anyone!)

Future Project

2007-10-27T16:01:00.000Z

Inspired by Laura, I have spent most of this afternoon reseaching carding and dying fleece.

I can't really afford to buy real carders at the moment so I have been looking for a 'how to make your own carders' to no avail but Laura suggested I can use dog or hair brushes.

Laura has a really good tutorial on dying roving with Kool aid and a microwave, but I don't have a microwave (our's blow up) so I had a look for stove top instructions and found some here.

The fleece I have has been washed but found good instructions for washing fleece here and carding instructions here.

Good Crack!

2007-10-27T15:31:00.000Z

We met our friends Adam and Rachel aka DNA and their children at the Tate Modern yesterday. The boys found the crack intriguing, wanting to know how it was made, we decided it was either an earth quake or aliens!

Had an interesting chat with Rachel (she has started her MA in Fine Art!) about how everyone wanted to stradle the crack and walk the length of it, my main observation was only men and child put there feet down it!

We didn't spend much time looking at the galleries. Having children asking 'why is a big square painted red art?' all the way round is a bit wearing! Children seem to like art that looks like something, they liked the Monet and they recognised the big Matisse collage and both commented that they could make a picture like that, which I'm sure they have!

future artists of Great Britain, 'Shelter' 2007

What they do enjoy is creating their own 'installations', this one they are exhibiting outside the Tate at the moment. Rachel has some great photos of a boat they created on the beach at Easter.

Handmade Pledge

2007-10-25T09:19:00.001Z

sign the petition at BuyHandmade and pledge to buy handmade, you don't have to make it yourself, go to Etsy for 1000's of handmade goodies! and I'm hoping the Fat Orange Cat Boutique will be open soon!

German Zakka

2007-10-21T18:54:00.000Z

I am taking part in a craft book swap on Swap-bot, I have a book to swap but I thought I'd go and see what I could find in the Salvation Army charity shop in Catford. It's one of those old school charity shops; stuff comes in, they sort it and sell it, rather than the centralised sorting and creaming off of the vintage bargains we all hope to find.

Anyway, look what I brought for 10p!

German Zakka, I'm presuming it's German, it says it's printed in West Germany, please correct me if I'm horribly wrong.

I want this! I wonder if my Dad would make it for me for Christmas.

I would have died for this as a kid, look at that rug and that beaded curtain.

and I want to make this....................

and those fruit shaped cushions...............

and a rag rug loom......................

not so keen on these but I like the way the pictures are laid out.

and here's Christmas sorted....................

that shoe shaped thing that holds your glasses and pens looks v. useful to someone who wears glasses and has pens.

and tucked away in a pocket at the back are two very scary and complicated looking patterns in pristine condition. Hurray for Charity Shops!

Look what else I brought for 10p......................

That hair looks like it's been knitted! Sorry Pam Dawson but you can't blame me with the title of your book as 'Knitting Pam Dawson'!!!

But she can knit dungarees for toddlers, how cool is that?

Though, Ben's friend looks a bit uncomfortable with the way Ben is eyeing up his stripey dungies.

Where can I get a toddler to make these for? I did offer to make some for E but he wasn't too keen.

I know, I'll make one, (a toddler that is) there's a pattern for one in the German Zakka book.................. no really, there is......................

Knitted Dishcloth Debate

2007-10-15T09:34:00.000Z

I am really enjoying the knitted dishcloth debate and thought I'd join in.
First have a look at Ali's blog and then at Janet's 'stunt' sink!
Ali has some great links to fill you in on the back history.

I have to say that I am guilty of knitting a dishcloth or two as part of a 'Dishcloth swap' but I'm proud to stand up and be counted. It also doesn't mean that my house looks like a show home full of cupcakes.

One of two crocheted dishcloths made for me by Louise.

My kitchen on a good day! You can just see the other dishcloth on the righthand side.

I know some will think it's weird to 'waste' your time making something that you can just go and buy and that we are taking a step back into the slavery of domesticity. But we do these things because we can not because we have to. Thanks to our for mothers we aren't expected to spend our spare time doing housework (well, not to often and not that they would say out loud if they know what's good for them!) so why can't we can spend our evenings knitting dishcloths (and swapping them) What's the difference between making something practical and spending 2 hours on Facebook sending people monkeys. These are past times, a way of relaxing after a hard days work.

I would rather give my money to an independent yarn shop than to T***o any old day! And, when civilisation collapes we'll be able to whip up dishcloths and rag rugs and barter them for stockings!

What do you think Karyn could barter her beautiful coasters for? Thank you to her for sending these to me. I feel a real cheat because I sent Karyn one of my leaf brooches and jumped at the offer of a set of these (I have been coverting them for months). But my brooch never arrived, I got coasters and Karyn got an empty envelope!

I'll have to see what I can do, maybe I'll send her a knitted dishcloth ;-)

Finished, at last!!!!

2007-10-13T11:27:00.000Z

Hurray, I've finished it and worn it.

It's taken me 19 months to finish, yes 19 months!

[Edit: Peter has just pointed out that I could have had two babies in that time!! ]

Also, finished some leaf brooches, I've had a few requests for these so I thought I'd make a batch.

I'm trying a holly leaf, I'll let you know what happens.

Looking forward to the Knitting and Stitching Show tomorrow, I'll try and take photos. It was suggested that I wear the rabbit ears so people can spot me!

I was going to wear my newly finished shrug but is that like wearing a 'Spock' costume to a Star Trek convention?

Tagged.......again!

2007-10-10T17:56:00.000Z

I thought I'd been tagged for two different tags, but just looked properly and it's for the same one tag.
So here is how these things work;
Karyn and Coco have tagged me, I list 7 Honest/Interesting things about myself, then I tag some more people (I think it's meant to be 7 but I can only usually manage 2) by going to their blog and telling them they have been tagged and to come back to your blog to see what it's all about. I think that's it.

So, I have been trying to think of Seven Honest/Interesting things about myself, it's quite hard and I'm sure I've forgotten the more interesting/honest things!

OK, number One.

I wanted to be a chef when I was at school, but I went on work experience when I was 15 to the Theatre Royal Stratford East and changed my mind.

I decided to train as a Stage Manager and went to The Central School of Speech and Drama in London, graduated in 1993 and had a great time working in London and touring, but finally got fed up with the demands of the job and attitudes of some of the people I was working with at the time and had a baby or two. I might go back to it one day, we'll see.

2) I'm a CSI Las Vagas fan,

I have a thing for Gil Grissom, especially with the beard.

3) I believe Seabrook Crisps are the best in the World.

4) I love buttons

5) I'm a rubbish housewife

6) I can't sleep on laying on my back or sitting up.

7) Joseph Fiennes rubbed my bump when I was pregnant. (we were working together on a play at the Royal Court) I wonder if he remembers?

OK, who to tag?

How about two new blogs I've been reading recently-

greetingarts and shimandsons

The Knitting and Stitching Show

2007-10-09T18:01:00.000Z

Counting down the day's until the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally and I'm v. excited!!!

I'm going on Sunday with my Mum and Sister, Laura for her birthday. I've never been before and I have been warned that a lot of money can be spent quickly without to much trouble. I'll report back next week and I'll try and take lot's of photos. Let me know if you are going to, here is a photo if you want to try and spot us ;-)

This is a photo of Richard (my sisters partner) me, in the middle and my sister Laura on the end. This was taken about 13 years ago, before children and knitting!! (we had just watched Priscilla Queen of the Desert and I quickly knocked up a set of rabbit ears).

I don't think we've changed much, Richard still looks suprised, my bed room is still messy, I can still fashion thing's from everyday objects and we still have a thing for interesting head gear......

my niece!

Bunny T-Shirt

2007-10-06T19:10:00.000Z

I don't know what this say's about me, but I just looked through a whole page of quite funny and daft t-shirts on the snorgtees site and this is the one that tickled me.

Autumn Hedgehogs

2007-10-05T11:28:00.000Z

This is a great project to do after a Autumn walk collecting leaves and twigs.

You can also you some autumnal coloured material and paper scraps.

Please feel free to cut and paste the template to make your own 'Autumn Hedgehogs'.

The Big Draw!

2007-10-05T11:06:00.000Z

Lot's of fun was had yesterday drawing on the Arc shed!

I wrapped very thick lining paper around the shed and the children used pens, pencils, crayons, charcoal, pastels and glitter gel.

We even did a bit of chalking on the concrete.

Big Draw Info.

Crafty Gifts

2007-10-02T17:35:00.000Z

I know it might seem a bit early for Christmas present ideas but I am taking part in an 'Idea Swap for Holiday Gifts' over on Swap-bot so I have been searching t'internet for crafty ideas. I will do a post on my findings soon, but just to get you in the mood......................

Look what Euan's classmates Mum makes!

These are beautiful, I knew Marie made jewelery and today she gave me a card with her website address on, so of course I had to look as soon as I got home.

Her collection is called Ka-Ima B.Joux and you can have a look at all her beautiful things here.

Another crafty item that would make a great present, a felting kit! You know I love needle felting and I first discovered it from a kit. I have not used the Elle brand before, but it looks like good value as it includes 3 needles and 6 lots of wool roving. I saw this kit in the Diana's Knitting Yarns newsletter.

Fridays

2007-09-28T11:21:00.000Z

V.glad it's Friday. Earlier on this week I was sitting trying to think about all the things I needed to do and I thought to myself 'what day is it?' and I realized it was only Monday!!!!!

This doesn't usually happen to me until at least Wednesday. So it's felt like a looooooong week.

It's been crazy, mostly because I am taking part in the Big Draw next Thursday, so I needed to get a mailout done to let everyone know about it. I am going to wrap lining paper round the Arc Shed for the kids to come a draw on, then the drawing will be displayed at our Family Learning Funday the following Saturday.

Also, local superwomen Leena was having a crafty coffee morning and I was taking arts & craft stuff to sell for Arc, which meant I wasn't going to be in the office until next Tuesday which meant tidying the Arc shed and tying up loose ends.

Also, Peter is working during the evenings, in Milton Keynes this week, so I see him roll over in the morning and then for 5 minutes between me getting home and him leaving for work and there seems to be a school uniform shortage in this house so I have to wash them every evening, but the nice thing is the boys getting dressed in the morning while the clothes are still warm from the dryer!

So, v.glad it's Friday, I should be cleaning, tidying, cooking, typing minutes, going to post office etc but it's cold and raining so I think I'm going to get some lunch, watch a film and knit, the dust's not going anywhere and it is my day off!

I'm the winner!

2007-09-25T18:03:00.000Z

Horray, I'm the winner!!!!!
Not sure how much competition there was though, when I left the tent there was only my shawl and a little Aran jumper and I didn't get back until it was all over.
But as someone said at least it wasn't a scarf I was up against!?!!

This my rosette.

Nutmeg is impressed too and wants it for his new bed.

Leaf brooches are ready for posting, hope they bring a smile.

Harvest Baskets

2007-09-25T17:49:00.000Z

Here are some Harvest Baskets that were made by under 5's at The Downham Toy Library group at Forster Park School today.

Vegetable printing is always a popular activity but I thought seeing as it's harvest time we could print them onto basket shapes.

The basket was cut from a sheet of A4 paper. First I cut a strip from the long side for the handle, then cut a semi-circle for the basket. The handle was then stapled to the basket after the printing was dry.

While the children printed we talked about colours and which fruits and vegetables they were going to put into their baskets.

What a crafty week!

2007-09-21T10:48:00.000Z

First things first, Friday poll! I know that's why you're here!

Last week was a surprising result for me, the winner was......... SHOWER!

I'm a bath girl you see.

This weeks poll is a topical one in the UK, (it was even discussed on the Today programme on Radio 4)

Marmite or Marmalade?

Next, 102nd Post Competition. I've decided to have 3 winners; Ali, Karyn and Alla all win a lovely hand felted brooch.

Please message me ladies and we'll sort out getting them to you. (Also, wouldn't mind a little coaster or two Karyn ;-) xx)

On Monday I started my Craft Workshop Course, what fun it's going to be.

We mostly talked about things we would like to have a go at. Next week we are going to do beading on a loom, and the week after felting (that was my idea) both wet and needle.

my first bit of embroidery

Everyone on the course seems nice and open to trying new stuff. There are two ladies who have been doing the course for a few years, they come along, have a go and if they don't fancy what everyone else is doing they carry on with their own stuff, which seems to be how it works, it's very open and relaxed.

Finished two new activity packs at work, a halloween mobile pack and a spider paper weight pack.

(I will do a post about what I do at work as a few people have been asking recently and I find it hard to explain it in words, I'll do a photo montage!)

Spider Plaster of Paris Paperweight Pack

I might enter the spider in the DIY: Halloween competition over on CRAFT.

This is a 'hug' I started about 2 years ago.

I had knitted over 2/3 of it, but while I was knitting the first sleeve I started to knit the wrong way and it had two big stripes of purl on it. At first I didn't realise and then I tried to ignore it, by then I had started the second sleeve. In the end it was causing me such distress that I had to unravel it to the purl rows and pick it up again. Very boring.

So now I have nearly finished the back and then I can re-join it and start the second sleeve, which is the fun bit, knitting round and round and round............and round and round, great on the bus.

Lovely scarf sent to me from Norway, thank you! and a cat with no tonsils.

And lastly, I am going to enter this wrap into the Lewisham Country Fair on Sunday.
I love Country Fairs, I love looking round the entries at the biggest vegetables and handmade stuff and I've always secretly longed to live in the country so I could join the Women's Guild and make jam and enter it into competitions.
I never dreamed that we would have such a fair in Lewisham!! (FYI Lewisham is an Inner city London Borough, not very rural at all)

So, I might see you there on Sunday, with my wrap and Family, if not, I'll let you know how me and my wrap got on.

102nd Post Competition

2007-09-15T20:01:00.000Z

To celebrate my 102nd post I am going to give away one of these hand felted leaf brooches!

So, to win one just post me a message telling me why you should have one.

101 Posts! (Edited)

2007-09-14T17:08:00.000Z

Can't believe I missed my 100th post! I think it's was because I was so taken aback that I was 'dishcloth cotton' (sorry still not gotten over it! (see post below))

Had a bit of trouble with t'internet today so loads to catch up on.

OK, first - friday poll!! last week it was - Cats or Dogs? and the poll says - CATS. This week - Bath or Shower? mmmmmm what do you think?

Next - lot's of crafty shopping.

I went to Hobbycraft on Tuesday, I had never been before and there was so much to see and so much to buy. My primary reason for going was for work and they had loads of great christmas'y kids stuff so it was worth the trip.

Also, Euan has been doing a bit of needle felting (since posting this I have read that only children over 10 should needle felt!!) and broke my only needle so after a bit of a t'internet search I found Christie Bears which sells lots of stuff to make bears but also needle felting gear.

So I ordered about 6 needles, 4 the same because I wanted to make a felting tools.

My dad had drilled 4 holes in a disc of wood ready for the needles. I had seen the 'How to...' in the current CRAFT: magazine. It works, but it's a bit scary to use and look at.

And here are some more leaves, I'm a bit obsessed with leaves at the moment!

Which type of yarn are you?

2007-09-12T19:24:00.000Z

Just took this quiz via the Knitterooney blog and I am dishcloth cotton!?!

Dishcloth cotton! Dishcloth cotton!

It did make me LOL but why couldn't I have been fun fur or mohair? I suppose it's better than acrylic double knit....... but only just!

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Dishcloth Cotton.You are a very hard worker, most at home when you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain Jane, but you are too practical to notice.
Take this quiz!

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Felted Leaves

2007-09-08T12:10:00.000Z

Here are some photos of the leaves I have been needle felting this week.

The big one is my least favorite, I am going to try and wet felt it and see what happens.

This one is my favorite so far, I used a lot more wool, laid it both ways and twisted it to make the colours more interesting.

This was the first one and a bit thin, I'm thinking of applique (thanks P).

I started making these, the idea was christmas tree decorations but I'm not sure, maybe some sequins might help.

Eastend Treasures

2007-09-08T11:57:00.000Z

I went to my Mum & Dads last weekend and brought back a satsh of yarns and patterns.

There is all sorts, more Sirdar Click, which is my fave for scarves, some pink pure wool which I'm going to felt and some muted green Mohair which I'm going to knit myself a scarf with.

I went through my mums knitting patterns, I love the photos on these vintage patterns, I don't know if I'll ever knit any of the patterns but I love looking at the pictures.

Friday Poll

2007-09-07T12:14:00.000Z

What a week, back to school and work, P's show opened in Richmond and E arrived from Germany.

But, I have managed to needle felt some leaves and nearly finished the grey scarf. (I'll post more on that later.)

Anyway, decided to have a Friday Poll each week.

So, which is it ?

Cats or

or dogs?

Zakka in the UK

2007-09-03T15:10:00.000Z

I just googled Japenese Craft Books and found this fantastic site based in Scotland.

It's called Kitty Craft and it sells all sorts of fabrics by the 1/4 yard, though you can buy more un-cut.

They also sell accessories like this flower shaped Yoyo template.

There is also a Pattern Room with loads of patterns and you can also sign up to receive points when you shop and an e-newsletter iwth patterns for projects. Check it out!

Re-Arranging

2007-08-30T19:16:00.000Z

can't believe I haven't posted since Monday, not v good at all.

I have been busy though, re-arranging the house, our office/spare room/crafting mess is slowly being turned back into a bedroom. So I am now writing this from down stairs in the living room, we'll see how it goes, we might have to move to a bigger house!

So, not much craftyness, finished the mose stitch coaster, can't find it to take a photo of it and I have been writing huge lists of stuff to make and I spent another £30 at the local craft shop, it should have been £60 (everything is half price) but (boohoo) he's closing and moving to Hastings, but he is still going to run his online shop.

What I have also been doing is a lot of reading of blogs, and my new hobby is clicking on the random button on the London Knitters widget and look what I found....

Yes, it is what you think it is, check out the story behind it, it's v funny.

Ok, so I can't post without photos so here are some large kittens.......

and some windmills we made a while ago using origami paper.......

Finally.............Some knitting!

2007-08-27T18:52:00.000Z

It was so chilly last week that I started knitting a scalf. I have had the yarn for ages, it's called Click by Sirdar and it's great for chunky scarves. I knitted quite a few last year as Christmas presents.

Well, I had used the two balls I had and then realised it wasn't long enough so it's on hold for now.

I have been making these little pin cushions using milk bottle tops as bases and one using a beer bottle cap from Alla's collection.

I took my friend Alla one of the Morsbags I have been making and came away with some bootle caps and the idea for mini pin cushions.

The weather has been warmer the last few days and because I was in the mood for a knit I thought I'd do something with this cotton, I don't know what it is called but I think it's Sirdar again.

So, I made a coaster in basket weave and then decided to make one in moss stitch.

Can anyone tell me why this happens?

Is it because my tension is too tight when I cast on? if you know a solution please let me know, I would be very greatful.

I'm not the only knitter in my family, my mum and sister both knit, a lot better then me it must be said, and look what my mum knitted for me....................

Isn't it great, I'll find out from her what the pattern and yarn is.

And just for good measure...........

Some kitten love...... ahh................

Before I forget a 'Hello' to all the 'I Knit Londoners' who might be having a look at my blog today. I blog tagged the guys at the I Knit London Shop and they have mentioned me in their weekly newsletter. Cooeeee

I'm It!

2007-08-25T19:28:00.000Z

Just been 'tagged' by Ari, (thanks Ari)

The rules of the game: list 6 weird/interesting things about yourself and then tag a further 6 bloggers (by going to their blog and telling them to check out your blog post related to this) to keep the momentum going. List your 6 tagged bloggers at the bottom of your post.

ok 6 things............

I love buttons (see previous post)

I have a collection of 4 stove-top coffee pots.

I hate Plasticine and blutac, yuk

I can't where a black bra with white knickers.

My favorite meal is roast chicken and I would love to own chickens (but I wouldn't eat them).

I have a 10 year old Hydrangea given to me by Christpher Biggins.

Ok, I am going to tag- Hannah, Cassie, Karyn, Tittykaka, I Knit London and a random London Knitter Knitterrooney.

Bloggy knitty stuff

2007-08-22T10:58:00.000Z

Sorry, changed my blog template again, quite pleased with the photo banner thingy, (doesn't always work) needs a bit of jigging though.

I have joined the London Knitters Netring - hello London Knitters! - so I'll have more blogs to read through, (hurray, any excuse) but I can't get the cool London Knitters button to work, I'll need to email someone to find out how to sort it.

ppp

free pattern from Laughing Hen's

Found out from I Knit London's e-newsletter that -

St John Ambulance seeks 5,000 knitted tea cosies to help raise vital funds for their life saving work.
They are encouraging us to - Grab your knitting needles and cosy on up by getting involved with St John Ambulance's BIG tea cosy!
The BIG tea cosy is the charity's national fundraising day on November 30 where friends and workmates will be encouraged to have a cuppa for St John Ambulance.
I'll have to see what the ladies at work think, they like a knit......and tea........and biscuits............

A Week in Photos

2007-08-20T10:01:00.000Z

Hello to all the new people looking at my blog, hope you like what you see.

I thought I'd do a bit of a round up of what's been going on over the last week.

Firstly, I received this beautiful bag from May-lis in, as part of a handmade bag swap, she also knitted me a lovely hat. Thanks May-lis!

Every holiday I plan to have a major tidy and I finally started (that's a photo of a tidy utility room!) but of course you find things when tidying, like a box of broken crayons............... (cue craft project)

I knew I'd seen on t'internet that someone had melted crayons into big cake sized ones, so I thought I'd have a go. Waste not, want not and all that.

This is what happened, they look a bit of a mess but when you peel the cases off they look a bit more promising and they work. I think they'd be great for toddlers who want to just scribble!

(I'll post instructions if anyone wants to know how to make them.)

Then I decided to try and get the stains out of our damask napkins, nearly did it, only a few are still stained. So if you come over for dinner and I start rearranging napkins you know what you've sat at the place with the stained napkin!

I'm not house proud at all but I couldn't resist taking a photo of these on the line, they looked so cool.

Now, why is it that when you try and get sorted and tidy, someone else gets bored and makes a mess?

Then after 364 days of planning Euan finally reached his 6th Birthday, hooray! only only 359 days until his next one!

Bread and Butter

2007-08-13T19:35:00.000Z

On one of our days out while camping in West Sussex we visited the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum.

It's a fantastic place, full of buildings that have been rescued and painstakingly taken apart and rebuilt at the museum.

One of the buildings is a working water mill and Euan brought some flour ground by the mill......

and decided he wanted to make bread with the flour.

At another of the houses someone had been making butter, which he was very interested in, so while we were walking through the woods on our way back to the car park it was decided to try and make some butter to go with the bread when we got home.

I found a recipe for a really simple loaf called a Grant Loaf:

700g stoneground wholemeal bread flour
1 teaspoon of salt
7g sachet of easy-blend dried yeast
1 tablespoon of Honey
600ml Tepid water
and a 2lb loaf tin greased with butter.

It's very easy and very tasty.

Mix the flour, salt and yeast with your hands.

Add the honey and water and mix it up with your hands, after about a couple of minutes the dough should start to become slippery and elastic and leave the sides of the bowl.

Put the dough into your tin and smooth the top.

Cover with a damp clean tea towel for about 30 mins until it's risen to about 1cm from the top of your tin. Pre-heat your oven to 200c (400f) gas 6 while it's rising.

Bake your loaf for about 35-40mins, remove the loaf from the tin and tap the bottom, if it sounds hollow then it's cooked, if it makes a thump then put it back for another 5 mins.

Making butter took a bit longer. I found a great explanation of how to make butter.

We could have made it by hand but we (I) decided to do it in the food processor.

Basically the cream is whipped up until it separates. (It was at this point that enthusiasm wained and I was left to carry on by myself)

It's then washed in water.

Then mashed to remove more water. It's really easy to make, to see more detailed and illustrated instructions check out this site.

And there you go, home made bread and butter, plus a homegrown cucumber, it's just like the 'Good Life'.

That's me, the one with the glasses!

Make a Sunflower.

2007-08-13T19:21:00.001Z

Why not make a sunflower, you will need...............

Paper plates or card cut into a circle, white glue, yellow and orange tissue paper and lentils or split peas (optional)

Cut the tissue into triangles and glue round the edge of your plate.

For the centre you can either glue on more tissue or..................

put lot's of glue in the centre of your plate and pour on the lentils and pour off the excess lentils that haven't stuck.

Camping not knitting

2007-08-13T19:03:00.000Z

Not much knitting recently, but lots of camping and trips to the seaside.

Also had a family barbecue and met some new additions to the family and my uncles chickens.

More beach fun!

Make bags, Save the planet!

2007-08-04T19:47:00.000Z

this beautiful bag was made by Courtney as part of the Swapbot 'pod'

let’s do something positive to reduce the hideous number of plastic bags being used - 1 million are consumed per minute globally - of which hundreds of thousands end up in the oceans.

the idea is to get together with people in your local community, drink wine and make reusable cloth bags (from old duvet covers, curtains from charity shops etc) and hand them out to the unsuspecting public for free on specified dates outside different supermarkets.

meet new people, do something marvellous for the planet and beat other pods (groups) of baggers with your morsbag tally.

go to www.morsbags.com to be a part of a wonderful thing!

p.s. non-commercial/ non-profitable - just full of beneficial things for everyone, especially whales!

(the above is the blurb from the morsbags site)

I have joined the Swapbot 'pod' to make bags, (Swapbot is an international online swapping group) we are all making bags and giving them away locally. But I would love to start a local group, even if people couldn't sew they could join in buy donating material and giving out bags.

One Week Wine

2007-08-01T19:09:00.000Z

What do you do with all these brambles? we asked ourselves. Then it came to me, One Week Wine!

I had seen a 'how to' in CRAFT:03 so we decided to give it a go.

What you need is.................

a container, sieve, yeast, 2 litres of bramble type berries and (though we didn't think so at the time) muslin.

We started by pushing the brambles through the sieve..........

but we soon realised that squeezing them through muslin would get more juice out.

Decant the juice into a screw top container.

Add about a level tea spoon of yeast and leave for 7-10 days.

Do not keep the lid on really tight, this could cause a build up of gas and it will explode! Keep the container slightly unscrewed so as to let some of the gas out. Do not open the container and look in, if you do the air will react with the wine and could cause it to bubble out.

After 7-10 days your wine will be ready to decant........

let it stand untouched for 6 hours so the sediment will settle and then pass through some muslin.

And there you go, one week wine.

It might look quite inviting but it tastes bloody awful!

It was used today as part of a barbecue sauce recipe and I did toy with the idea of making it into Sangria!

It might not taste to good but it was fun to make and we are now planning our next adventure in home brewing and eyeing up our neighbours apples!!!

Crafty Kids

2007-07-26T17:31:00.000Z

Just found some great inspiration for kid's craft ideas over on the Wise Craft site.

Make your own envelopes.

2007-07-21T19:17:00.000Z

I love handmade envelopes but it's taken me a while to have a go at making my own but I have to say I now love making them and got carried away and made loads!

Want to make some? here is how:

Find an envelope the same size as one you want to make and carefully pull it open. This will be your template.

Select some paper for your envelope. You can use anything including magazine pages, wall paper or scrap paper.

Draw round your envelope....

and cut it out.

Now this is the bit I just discovered and it makes your finished envelope really neat.

Place your envelope template on top of your cut out envelope. Fold the envelopes together using the template envelope as a guide for the folds.

Fold all the sides in, remove the template envelope.......

and glue the side flaps closed.

There you go, handmade envelopes, you can even make your own glue that can be licked to seal closed.

Washcloths.

2007-07-21T18:43:00.000Z

Finished my second washcloth, quite pleased with it. I decided to make some more and give them as presents to the boy's teachers as end of year presents.

Too Cute!

2007-07-16T19:05:00.000Z

Had to post this photo, saw it on the Craftzine site while I was trawling through the knitting archive.
Watch out Ginger and Nutmeg, kitten hoodies are being knitted as you read!

2007-07-08T21:56:00.000Z

Can you guess what it is yet?

This bootee pattern is meant to be easy!
It's a Debbie Bliss one from a magazine and it could do with some illustrations, I am meant to pick up some stitches and it's taken a couple of days of thinking about it for it to make sense. I think I've got it now but we'll see when it's finished and when it is finished I'll have to knit another one!
I didn't think about that when I started it. At least if you knit one thing and it goes a bit wrong no one will know but if you have to knit a pair they both have to be wrong the same.

Let's make kittens.

2007-06-29T18:11:00.000Z

Finally got my sewing machine out from under my desk, oiled it and sorted out the tention.

My apprectice tailors knocked up some little cat stuffies-

boy02 now begs me to let him do 'practice sewing' on the sewing machine every day after school.

Cucumber

2007-06-29T18:09:00.001Z

All Fired Up!

2007-06-22T09:31:00.000Z

We went to a ceramics painting party last night, at All Fired Up on East Dulwich Road, to celebrate Kate's upcoming Birthday.

Kate the Birthday Girl

All Fired Up, provide everything you need. One of the assistants gives you instructions and are on hand to answer any questions. You choose what you want to paint, have a look around for inspiration and off you go. There are also books, stamps and stencils.

We had a party package which included a buffet and it worked out at about £20 each.

Lousinia's coasters

It takes about 7-10 days for the pots to be fired, so watch this space for the grand unveiling.

Val's ode to Purple mug

Debbie's Mug

Kate's WIP

Mandi's 'Bit's and Bob's 'Pot

Mine

Flower pot for Jan's new bathroom.

A jolly time was had by all.

Ultimate Knitters List of things to do

2007-06-20T17:58:00.000Z

Found this list at Knitting Under the Influence via The Thrifty Knitter site.
It's the ultimate knitters checklist.

the ones in purple are the ones I can check off!

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL (knit a long, this where a group of people knit the smae thing and talk about it)
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn (watch this space!)
Slippers (do tiny ones count?)
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book (you never know…)
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting (?)
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting (?)
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks (?)
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac (?)
Knitting and purling backwards (?)
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting (?)
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair (yuk & why?)
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Not bad I suppose considering I have only been knitting since Nov 2005.

I must try and check off more things (once I found out what they are!)

I just felted!

2007-06-17T19:48:00.000Z

Needle (or dry) felted is cool!
I have a kit made by Anchor to make little hearts, butterflys and stars. The kit includes the pad, wool, cookie cutters and a felting needle.

The instructions are not very clear but Kaatje S who knows about felting, (both wet and dry) gave me more detailed instructions (I will post a tutorial) and this is what I made.......

Betz White has a great sight with all things felted and fulled, loads of great tutorials and ideas.

Also just finished another needle book, I slightly fulled this one as it was a bit baggy but I am really pleased with how it turned out.

Swaps Sent

2007-06-12T10:12:00.000Z

As well as receiving I have also been sending.........

I won't go into to much detail just incase my swap partners have a look and I don't want to spoil the suprise.

I knitted this bag as part of the 'Know your partner swap' my partner likes bags and burgundy.

This tree is a bookmark and part of the '5 favorite things' and three words of her words in one item.

This mermaid was for my other partner in the '5 favorite things' swap, you can guess what one of her words was.

Swaps Received

2007-06-12T09:58:00.000Z

look what the postman brought.......................

this swap was from Anne in Norway, check out the wool which I am going to have a go at felting.

The mags and buttons are from DeAnne in the US, this was a private swap.

The buttons are so fab, I might keep them an the cards and just look at them and the Martha Stewart mag is fantastic, it has a pattern for a sail shade for the garden. Every year I peg a sheet to the washing line and then hook it to the fence, this year I might do it properly with the help of Martha (oh, great one)

This swap is from Christine in the Czech Republic, lot's of tea and note cards, my favorite! Look at these cool magnets Christine made for me.

1031 Hit's

2007-06-10T18:37:00.000Z

Blimey, I have reached 1031 hit's and the winner of my little competition is.... wait for it...........

Jennie 'the esoteric knitter'

I will knit her a little something.

Thanks to everyone who joined in and everyone who has had a look at my blog. x

new month new look

2007-06-06T15:14:00.000Z

decided to have a change, not sure about all the colours but I'll see if they grow on me.

'1000 Hit's' Day approaches

2007-05-31T21:48:00.000Z

I have nearly had 1000 hits on my blog (and no, Peter they are not all me!)

So, I have decided to have a competition to celebrate.

To enter you have to post a message between now and when I reach 1000 hit's (which will probably be at the weekend)

When a 1000 hit's has been reached I will randomly pick a winner, email you and send you a prize.

So, just comment on a post that has caught your eye and I'll send you a message if you are the winner of a knitted crafty prize.

Rain

2007-05-30T22:23:00.000Z

It's been raining for days and my desk is very messing with all the creativity.

all this mess................................

................for one little purse!

I jest, I would show more but the batteries in my camera are flat.

Kitten's Can't Knit

2007-05-23T18:48:00.000Z

I have tried to teach them.

At first they were keen.

But they get bored very easily.

Kitten's can't knit!

Fuzzy Kids

2007-05-23T18:39:00.000Z

Swapped my kids for fuzzy felt ones, it's great as you can rearrange them when ever you want!