my creative space . . . shiny, happy :)

Well, I'm happy to say that I can show my finished attempt with my silver thread/beads project, and I'm really delighted with it. This crochet 'thing' has really got me fired up! Here's my 'shiny, happy' . . .

. . . thing. It's an eight sided star/christmas decoration from my crochet 'how to' book (Learn to Crochet edited by Sally Harding) and I really enjoyed the challenge of making it. This is of course my second attempt as the first attempt went a little 'spidery' and askew, but I decided to make a fresh start and bumbled my way through the pattern, but I loved every minute of it . . .

I'm completely amazed at how versatile crochet is - so many possibilities! This crochet star is supposed to be starched to stiffen it for use as a decoration, so that may be the next stage, although I must admit I'm terrified in case I 'spoil' it - I love it so much! (clock the little silver beads - aren't they cute?)

Well back to the office tomorrow, sheesh, this 4 day working week is quite demanding (OK, two of them are only half days but . . . ) :) 'Other Half' has absconded for a week taking my camera with him - how will I cope?? (without my camera I mean, haha!!!) Well, sorry no blogging till next week, boo hoo :/ See you then :D

More 'shiny/happy' peeps over here.

First attempt . . .

This is my first attempt at using the silver thread I showed in my last post - the pattern/thread required the use of a tiny crochet hook, so small it wasn't even in the crochet hook set I had bought so I used the next one up. I was half way through the second row when I clocked that the level of difficulty shown was 'three stars' in the book, em . . . for advanced crocheters, I knew I was in trouble then, hehe!

I think 'Little S' and I decided it looked a bit like a silver spider - anyway I'm now on my second attempt at this project and I hope I'll finish it even if it doesn't look perfect as it's not a gift or anything, just an interesting experiment. You'll notice that the beads have been strung onto the thread I'm using - they're supposed to be integrated into the pattern on the last row - I hope you're suitably intrigued!! (and I really hope I'll be able to show you something finished eventually - whatever it will look like!)

Just to add some 'tweedieness' to this post in case you think I've completely abandoned my fabric of choice - here's a little coin purse I made with the cupcake fabric. I'm hoping to make a little batch of them either for sale online or locally - haven't figured that out yet! . . .

. . . more cakes inside of course - hope you're not hungry hehe! I've used that lovely fuschia pink tweed - I don't think there's a girl on the planet who could resist that combination, Harris Tweed and gorgeous girly pink - what's not to love :)

Well, I better whizz around with my magic wand and get my home spotless after the weekend - if you believe that you'll . . . :D

Hope you had a good weekend - Happy Monday :)

Oh, just moving on from the pink link (that's a good rhyme!) I managed to get out on my very treasured bike at the weekend, and had a lovely spin to the local beach just a few minutes away . . .

Isn't she lovely? I bought her about a year ago and have had some lovely spins to the beach (one of the reasons I got it!) and some fun jaunts out the moor track with 'Little S' (a bit hair-raising actually!). She was a reward for my full-time office stint last year - purposely bought in pink and silver so the boys wouldn't be tempted to run off with her - it's worked a treat and they don't go near it! But also as 'Big S' reminded me, they don't go near it 'cos they know I love her so much - I didn't realise I'd expressed so much adoration for her, haha! :)

Cheerio an Drasda!

Supplies . . . just looking :)

I ordered a couple of supplies on Thursday, not expecting them to arrive in time for the weekend, so I got a lovely surprise when they turned up today. A couple of balls of yarn and some tiny sliver beads . . .

here's a close up of the beads . . .

The white cotton crochet yarn is for one project and the silver thread and beads are for another - both patterns are from my 'how to crochet' books and I'm quite excited about trying them out. Oh, the sense of anticipation that new crafting supplies bring!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend whatever you are up to :) My posts will have to fit in with my slightly longer office working hours over the next few weeks, but I'm hoping there will be as little disruption as possible to crafting activities - well, we couldn't have that could we, hehe! Cheerio an Drasda :D

Drip, drip . . .

Well, Hurricane Katia, to my knowledge had little impact on us here in the Hebrides, and today all we have is a gentle drip, drip of rain with hardly a breath of wind . . .

No crafty pics to show today, a little pottering about with this, that and the other :) There's a possibility that I'll be doing a few extra hours at the office job for the next few weeks, so I'd better make the most of not having to rush out today - rushing about is my least favourite activity!

More importantly, I'm hoping to make quite a number of my own Christmas gifts this year, which I think I'll really enjoy doing. I didn't particularly enjoy the run up to Christmas last year - it was rushed, a little stressful, and I reached a point where I almost didn't want to take part in it at all! Not good :/

Here's to some chilled out gift and decoration making and perhaps even some edibles?? and a more creative attitude to the whole event :) I have some ideas of a few things I'd LOVE to make, using some of the skills I've learned over the past year. Some fab ideas in my crochet books!

'Speak soon' :) I'm off to make a list, hehe!

P.S. I will of course be continuing with my 'tweedie' making activites and adding items to my shops - this post was completely dedicated to my, ahem, 'spare-time' activities!!! I have some lovely fabric-lining winging its way to me as we speak :)

(Very belated!) creative space

I've been lying low all of this week with that grotty cold and to add insult to injury, a back sprain resulting from an ill-judged trudge through the heather last Sunday - that'll teach me! Never mind, all better now :)

During a casual phone conversation with my mother-in-law last Thursday, she happened to mention that it is my father-in-law's 80th birthday next Wednesday - eeeeeks!, Oh dear! - no ready cash for a sumptuous gift :( I went online and ordered one of these rather cheesy commemorative birthday cards, but it has a DVD attached with footage of the year he was born which I'm pretty sure he'll enjoy watching. Hey presto, it arrived today - pheeeeeew, my bacon is saved!

While being laid up this week I came across the above photo of my in-laws shearing the sheep beside our house, I think I took it maybe about 5 years ago (behind it is the cheesy '1931' card, hehe!) - the herringbone Harris Tweed in front, which is actually a pencil case inspired me to make his birthday gift today.

Here's a close-up of the sheep shearing photo - I think it's lovely even though I do say so myself!! I gave them the original, larger photo, so I may keep this one for ourselves and frame it.

They were both shearing the sheep again this year, although they really probably shouldn't have been - them old folks, they really will not be told! There are just five sheep, so just about manageable : /

Here's the finished birthday gift I came up with . . .

. . . to explain, it is a set of 3 zippered pouches, the smallest is to fit a passport (he is going on holiday abroad very soon), the middle sized one was supposed to be for glasses but it is a little too long, we've been having a laugh deciding what he should use it for (screwdrivers, chequebook!!), the last large one is a toiletry bag with waterproof lining.

I've no idea how these gifts will be received - if nothing else they'll be a conversational piece and we can explain how he can 'potentially' use them!!

Here's to feeling better and recovering from a bit of a grotty week - I hope my 'little Silver Darling' got to join the shoal in Portree today - wish I could have seen him and attended this fabulous event, but alas . . . Have a lovely weekend all :D

Thistles 'n String

Pottering about today with a snuffly cold and a wonky back (plodding through some peat bogs yesterday wasn't the best idea!!). We had a lovely weekend celebrating Little S's birthday (which is yet to 'officially' happen!!), so I chilled out on Sunday and had a little experiment with a crochet hook and some string - mmmmmmm, interesting results! :)

This led me to thinking about this lovely idea with similar materials which I've seen on other blogs - I like the mixture of nature and craft/art. A little research led me to this fab project too - 'a rock wearing a sweater' - love it! :D

Happy Monday :)