Miaou

At last! My rainbow fish blanket is complete. I started it at the beginning of January and finished it a few days ago, so not bad going really. Here it is in all its glory:

I knitted an equal number of fish in each colour, half in a dark shade and half in lighter colours. I knew how I wanted to lay them out and spent quite a bit of time laying them out on the floor until I was happy with the arrangement. I then labelled them all (and didn’t have any sticky labels so this entailed 196 little bits of paper and 196 little bits of sellotape!!) with a column and row number, then bundled them in rows. It took me about an hour to sew a row of fish together and attach it to the row below, and there are 25 rows, so that’s quite a bit of time! However I was so excited about the finished project that I was very motivated to finish.

I then set to with a 6mm crochet hook (yes, I know what I said about crochet in my last post, but this kind of crochet I can handle!) and created a wavy edging with some turquoise yarn to suggest the sea. Four rounds of crochet later I was satisfied and handed over the finished blanket to my delighted daughter Eilish. (I have hopes that her bed might look as neat as this a little more more often, but they are not high )!

I think I am done with fish for now (there was a LOT of sewing up to do!) but it was a really enjoyable project and I can see myself making another one in the future.

I won’t reveal her age (har har) but suffice to say it was a significant birthday and therefore deserving of a significant present:

This is a crochet lapghan, and although I have dabbled in crochet before, this is the first time I have created a whole garment by this method. I shan’t be doing it again - argh!!! I have discovered that as I cannot crochet and do anything else, multitasking is out - I can’t read, watch tv, or even chat much, as I have to concentrate too hard. Shame, but there you are.

I shall stick to the odd small make, a few squares and amigurumi things, shan’t do a big project for a while! But my mum was thrilled with it and says it will come in very useful for cooler evenings when she wants to sit out in the garden.

Also, I want to say a big thankyou to Scarletti at Laughing Mouse, who nominated me for this award:

The rules are to pick 7 blogs that make me happy, nominate them in turn by posting on their blogs. Finally, list at least 10 honest things about myself.

1. I am a perfectionist. I only see the mistakes and faults with what I make, which for a long time prevented me from making anything at all. I try and let go a bit more now and enjoy the process of making as well as the final result.

2. I am not Scottish. In fact I have only lived in Scotland for eight years. People who only know me online, then speak to me on the phone, are often surprised by my English accent! I love it up here though and will never move back to England.

3. When I was a young adult I thought I was not the maternal type at all, and would only have a couple of children. Fast forward a few years and I love being a mother and now have four! I would never have predicted that.

4. I suffer from depression. I make a point of being honest about it with people and get a variety of reactions, varying from acceptance to pity to avoidance. However along the way my honesty has enabled a lot of people to be honest with me, and they talk to me about their own, or their partner’s, depression and how it affects them. I take the attitude that if it was a physical illness I wouldn’t feel any stigma about talking about it, so why should I about depression? The more honesty there is about it, the more acceptance there will be.

See? Rubbish!

5. Although I love lots of different crafts, I cannot make cards. I have tried, and I am rubbish at it. I leave it to the experts!

6. I love lolcats. Everyone needs their daily chuckle fix and this is mine!

7. I love rainbows - the colours inspire me and lift my spirits. Conversely, I do not like black. I do not own any black clothes or shoes, and have no black in my home decor. It’s a colour I avoid at all costs!

8. I hate travelling. I would love to travel - I love the idea of being in new places - but the getting there stresses me out so much that I don’t do it! I haven’t been abroad since I was first married nearly fifteen years ago but will hopefully be going to America in a couple of years, so I have time to psyche myself up for it.

9. I used to love reading but haven’t read a book now in almost eight months. It makes me sad but I’m hoping I will get over it and pick it up again. I love books and used to love reading the classics.

10. I lack confidence and constantly need reassurance that I am doing OK. That’s why blogging is so great - lots of lovely feedback from people who like what I make!

And now my nominations:

Meridian Ariel - who makes the most beautiful jewellery and cakes, and the sweetest little pictures.

Sal’s Snippets - for her infectious enthusiasm and her wonderful finds.

Gina at Fan My Flame - for her beautiful photography, wonderful makes and inspiring designs

Pipany - for her fab pictures of her children on the beach and the beautiful bags she makes

Hmm Designs - for her lovely little makes and descriptions of her life in Belgium

I’m a Ginger Monkey - for her wonderful quilts and enthusiam and all round loveliness

And finally, EthelandEdnasTearoom - for making me laugh!

Start more, obviously … ;-D

My applique stole is coming on nicely; in fact, I’m not far off completion. But there are times when it is not practical to get sharp needles out (mainly when there are very small children around!). So between times I needed something else to do (but obviously not any of the other non-sharp-needle-type projects I have on the go. That would be boring.)

Anyhoo, a friend of mine came to the rescue on that front - she is having a craft stall at a cancer charity event at the beginning of October and was panicking a wee bit about what to sell (she makes beautiful ceramics but is a bit short on time!). I gamely offered her a box of stuff I made for a stall last year, most of which went unsold (not because it wasn’t nice. Everyone stopped and said, “ooh, how lovely!” then walked off to the car boot stalls and got a plant pot for 50p. It was that kind of fair. Nuff said). But I can’t find the dratted box. I think it is still packed up somewhere from when we moved house. So I decided I’d better make some stuff, and quick.

So - first up - if anyone subscribes to LionBrand you will have seen these in your mailbox this week - a free pattern for Gecko bookmarks. Aren’t they fab?

Gecko Bookmarks

Fortunately I have a ready supply of red pipe cleaners and googly eyes. Enough to make a dozen or more anyway! I think I might branch out into some other colours though. My girls are already begging me for one each (”of course,” I said, “buy them from the stall!”)

Secondly, how about these wee cork folk?

Cork Folk

Very cute and irresistable to small children with money to burn pocket money to spend!

I must point out though, these are stunt corks. Nick very kindly drank a couple of bottles of wine so that I could use them for my cork people. Sadly though, they are plastic corks and covered with the names of the wine makers, so they lose a little charm in my eyes. I really need some proper corks. I tried everywhere in town to get some but apparently no-one sells them here any more! Someone suggested asking the restaurants if I could have some of their used ones (apparently they keep them and a little man comes along and collects them for recycling every so often), but I haven’t plucked up the courage yet. I would feel a bit daft explaining what I am doing. “Well, I knit them little jumpers and hats.” Hmm. Perhaps you could send me some …

I have been doing lots of “bits” recently, and consequently have loads of half-finished projects on the go and nothing complete. I think I need to stop being a butterfly and concentrate on getting something done. Now the older ones are back at school and one of the littles is now at nursery each afternoon, in theory I should be a bit more productive! Hah - we’ll see.

Anyhoo, this is some of what I have been doing:

My mum very kindly offered to buy me some wool for my birthday to make myself a cardigan. After a lot of prevarication, I finally settled on grey as a “goes with everything” colour (I don’t do black!). The yarn is gorgeous and lovely to work with, so I started very enthusiastically, but have now slowed to a halt. The great thing about top-down construction is you don’t have to wait until it’s done until you try it on! I finished the top and did about six inches of the first sleeve - only to find that I had indeed done the wrong size (I thought I would need the smallest size but in fact it will be a little tight on the arms). Ah well, I shall pull it back and try again. But for now it is nestling in the bottom of my project bag.

So, whilst deciding what to do about my cardigan, my itchy fingers pulled out a skein of Lorna’s Lace Shepherd Sock yarn that I had been given as a present a couple of years ago. I have made socks before (well, one pair) and just love them! I’m not great with four needles so I stick to the very simple pattern that came with my first pair. I have made one so far. See, I’m just not good at finishing stuff at the moment!

Then I got very excited about some new yarn I have got from Scandanavian Knitting Designs . This is where my grey yarn comes from and I strongly recommend them if you are in Europe. They have a great selection of unusual and difficult-to-find yarns, their prices are reasonable and their delivery times are fast!

So, the yarn I bought is Kauni Effektgarn in Rainbow. I have coveted this yarn for months, and finally managed to track it down in Britain - previously I have only found it available abroad! So that made me a very happy bunny.  This is what I have been doing with it:

My love affair with yo yos continues! These are destined to be Made Into Something. I Have Plans. I will not abandon them and start something else … oh, except to finish this …

Remember the silk from my last post? Well here it is in action. Not anywhere near finished, but certainly in progress … watch this space!

And finally, for those of you who have impatiently scanned through this post to find out what on earth “footerin’” is, here is the description from a site that boasts Scots Word of the Week :

“Footer (also fouter) - Meaning to fiddle/tinker, a person who does this, or a fiddly task. This weeks Scots word of the week is a perfect word to describe that slightly aimless state of fiddling around with something in a totally unhurried way. Similar words are pottering and pootling.”

All clear now?

I finally went off to Wick this afternoon with seven (yes, seven!) handmade bags for the Made In Caithness shop. They were very well received so fingers crossed they sell well! Here they are, some being ably modelled by Eilish because they looked a bit sad and floppy on my table.

This is my crochet shoulder bag (remember all those little yo-yo’s?)

And here is a close-up (I lined it with a light denim):

This one is a lovely (if a little floppy) shoulder bag made from curtains (as if you couldn’t guess, but I rather like the colour!)

I put a matching pocket inside:

I’ve made this bag three times now! I like this version though - these handles remind me of maltesers … yum …

And a sneaky peek inside …

And another pair-of-jeans-made-into-a-bag (I’ve had lots of compliments about my own one!)

And another close-up for good luck:

Now the sharp-eyed amongst you will note that the two bags I put in my last post, plus the four in this one, do not make seven. No, sirree. However, the seventh one is a knitted one, exactly the same as this one, so there seemed little point in taking a picture!

I’ve got lots more ideas, so more bags on their way soon I think.

I have discovered the joy of yo yos - aren’t they great?

Not these sort (although that’s a rather nice one, isn’t it?)

These ones:

(Ooops, wonky picture).

I’m not sure what it’s going to be yet …

But I’m enjoying making them!

The children and I will be doing the draw for the Giveaway Bag later on today so do check back to see if you have won! There is still a bit of time to enter if you haven’t … just leave a comment on the bag post!

At last! This is my fourth attempt at making a toadstool. They really aren’t that hard! (there’s a link to the tutorial on my blog) - it’s just me that didn’t read the instructions properly - oops.

Anyhow, I am quite pleased with the final result and since it is now on its way to the recipient at Neet Designs I thought I would risk a little preview here! I crocheted a wee brooch to go with it too. Hope you like it Nita

My doll swap doll finally made it to her destination - Margy at Hmm Designs ! So now I will share her proper picture that I managed to take before she departed for her new home:

Her dress is made from mohair with tiny rosebuds crocheted on them, and her hair is also crocheted.

Hope she is a good friend to you, Margy! And thank you so much to Chloe at Mee Crafty for organising this!

Well what other title could I possibly have

I took part in Mee Crafty’s Doll Swap and was paired with Margy at Hmm Designs. My swap doll arrived today! I had asked for a doll for my eldest son, as I have made dolls for my daughters and he keeps trying to nick them! When he opened the package he squealed “it’s a PIRATE!! Arrrr!”

In the package also there was a little eyepatch for him to wear (he doesn’t like it over his eye though, so wears it at a jaunty angle on his forehead!), and a beautiful crocheted mat. I haven’t found a home for it yet!

Thank you Margy, they are just beautiful. Don’t you just LOVE that peg leg!!!

No projects for ages then three come along at once

Firstly, I have finished my doll for the doll swap. Ariel the flower doll is heading off to Margy at Hmm Designs tomorrow (and incidentally, I’ve just noticed that my swap will be on its way to me at the same time!).

She is rather shy though …

She peeped out when she thought I wasn’t looking -

However I did manage to coax her out for a few more pics, which I will share once Margy has had the opportunity to see her in the flesh (or should that be the yarn?) herself!

Next up - I have been knitting 9-inch squares for Oxfam, who are trying to raise awareness of the millions of women in Africa and South East Asia who die due to a lack of maternity care, leaving their babies without a mother. One mother dies every second. Every second! Having had four children of my own (and excellent maternity care throughout) this is a subject close to my heart. I am hosting a “knit in” on 4th June in my local church hall to encourage people to get started and thought it would be a good idea to knit a few squares myself before then!

If anyone would like to knit a square (or crochet, equally acceptable!) then please email me for more details - alternatively if you are on Ravelry there is a group called Oxfam Group for Maternity Mortality. Or you could look at Oxfam’s press release to see what they say!

And finally … (drum roll) … this is a blanket that I was commissioned to make as a Christmas present for a little girl called Fern. Although I finished it a while ago I didn’t get around to photographing it, but have managed to snaffle it back to take a few pics (though I intend to do some better ones!). I’m very pleased with the finished result and so is the recipient (though she is only 10 months old so yet to make any intelligible comments regarding my knitting skills)