When I love washing

I find something immensely satisfying about washing and drying the material I've bought to make things out of.
It's possibly because when I wash and dry it I feel like I'm actually doing something with out having to commit to cutting and sewing it.
Or whether it just gives me more time to wonder exactly what I'm going to do with it.
I enjoy ironing it too.... can't say that about all the other ironing, although this ironing is flat and straight so somewhat easier than most the other stuff.

I think my husband would tell you it's because I am so tactile and the whole washing process lets me see and touch all the fabric with out anyone realising how weird I really am.

Disco baby!

This is not my first attempt at stitch markers... it is, however my first attempt at bending wire to make stitch markers and attaching them to earring findings so that they can be used as crochet stitch markers (they can be used as knitting too, or be put onto stitches and taken off again because they open and close).
And if all else fails the person to whom they are going (they are part of a swap) can wear them as earrings - 3 pairs of them in fact. :o)

They are a bit hard to photograph, as all sparkly things are... one of the beads is almost mirror ball like and I'm quite a sucker for anything glitzy.
You won't miss them in your crochet either!

Hope my partner likes them.

On the sew again

I have a new sewing machine and I will wax on about it in another post, but I am back to loving sewing (which means I am back to enhancing my already large material stash).

This is the second thing I've made on it - a new to me pattern that you can find here.
Well it's mostly that pattern. I have a pocket on the inside, shorter handles and a magnetic closure.


I have to say once I finished the bag didn't really impress me, until I put stuff into it.
It really comes into its own then and I love it.
This bag is going to someone else in a swap, so I will have to make myself one.
My daughter suggested brighter colours - six year olds don't find navy blue enticing... my son loves blue though and he wants to keep it.
It's a fairly simple pattern, I did enlarge it though... you might end up with a tiny bag otherwise!

One Tea Cosy - finally finished, not quite as I imagined

I had big visions for the Group entry of the Tea Cosy competition this year - a lovely garden full of flowers. Well in my mind it was wonderful, we'd all make nice green bases and then some beautiful flowers for on top.
I have the "100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet: A Collection of Beautiful Blooms for Embellishing Garments, Accessories, and More" so I thought it would be a piece of cake.

erhmm. It didn't work out that way. I tried at least 8 of the patterns and they really did not in any way resemble what was in the book.

I threw things across the room and then I put it aside, constantly.

Eventually guilt got the better of me as everyone else would be making a tea cosy and I'd pushed them to do it and not even made my own.

So I ended up finding a very plain flower pattern which seemed to work. Not really knowing how to make it interesting and really just interested in getting it finished I decided to dye it with food colouring....

and so voila!.....

I can't say it's the best thing I've made,
but I can say I am very relieved to have it finished.
Next year I'll keep my bright ideas to myself. :o)
Tea cosies aren't as easy as you think they should be!
And if you're wondering it's a posy of flowers, hence the ribbon.

Dyeing stuff

Just some more dyeing.
This started its life as Patons Soft Haze in grey but I decided I wanted a bluer colour. It's quite a grey denim colour.

This one went in the same dye bath as the one above, but it's all wool, unlike the Soft Haze.
It has quite a teal colour, not my favourite but I might be able to find someone who'd like to make socks out of it.

I didn't knit this

Mum knitted Little Miss 6 this gorgeous bolero, but here she is doing some poses for us.

This is her version of walking down the catwalk (ie the path) and posing at the end.
Interesting.
I do like the hands on her hips though.
Nice jacket hey?
She used a pattern from Patons Book 1261 and Patons Zhivago yarn.
I've ended up adding a sparkly broach as a closure which looks just super.

The Mei-Mei

I just thought I'd add a few photos of a human (in this case Mum) wearing the Mei-Mei.
This is now Mum's Mei-mei (with the border of the Mocha Roca) - pattern by Doris Chan.


It suits her too.