Taking a Little Break . . . and a crafty gift-idea :)

Hi - I'm popping in to say 'Cheerio' for a whole 3 weeks - one week leading up to the School Easter break because I literally need to get my 'house' in order before the family visits start, and another two weeks for the Easter hols themselves - hurray! I'm going to get some intensive crafting done before my first craft fair on the 21st April, and get down to making some Kindle sleeves.

Before saying 'Au Revoir' for 3 weeks, I thought I'd update you on my crochet facecloth attempt. I decided to make one in cream cotton and edge it in white cotton, using a loop as before to add a little practical detailing. I was quite pleased with it - easy to make, just chain 22 stitches and work in double crochet, curving the corners by increasing on the 3rd, 4th and 5th rows and decreasing on the last 3 when I was reaching a nice squarish shape.

I'm quite a 'tight' crocheter, so it took me a little longer than some would, to reach the desired shape - what I'm trying to say is that I didn't quite whip it up, it probably took me 2-3 hours to finish in total! Hence I only made ONE facecloth :) So how to 'jazz' it up to make it into a gift - it looked a little mean all on it's own, with a bar of soap (I know, it's just a family bar of soap, but !) . .

I played around with it, trying to think how to make it look pretty, and make all my hard work worthwhile, and then voila! . . .

. . . I had the idea to add a button on the opposite corner from the loop, so I could then . . .

. . . wrap the soap with the facecloth (envelope style) using a button and loop closure - wey hey! I'd made a 'sort of' soap-cosy, without realising it - I think it looked really pretty as a gift (even better with a nice handmade soap!) - you could use any pretty complementary button - I used one of my painted wooden ones. "When is a facecloth, NOT a facecloth - when it's a soap-wrap/facecloth, hehe!"

There are lots of versions of crochet soap cosies on the internet, and some lovely finished crochet soap-cosies for sale on Etsy, but this is my version - you can use it for a gift idea or for sale - just make a square of double-crochet, add an edging with a loop and a button on opposite corners - easy, peasy! Why not try one, as a gift, or as a little addition to your craft stall (add a handmade gift-tag of course!) - I'm looking forward to using a nice handmade soap with this one and perhaps giving it away, but I wouldn't mind trying making some for sale too - (in my sleep, I think at the rate my 'to do' list is going, hehe!).

Hope you like this 'off-the-cuff' tutorial/idea - you're welcome to use it or any version you care to take from it, for sale or otherwise :) It would be sweet of you to link back to this post if you make one the same :D

I think that's a wrap - see you in 3 weeks!

Bye for now :)

Alison x

P.S. I used Puppets Lyric crochet cotton (8/8) for my facecloth - it's lovely-jubbly stuff!

my creative space . . . back to making softies

Back to making 'softies' today - hurray! Probably some more serious 'kindle-sleeve' production later on too, trying to combine the fun-crafting with the 'bread and butter' line - it's a tricky one :)

Just nipped out to smell some daffies - they're lovely, can you smell them, hehe :) It's spring at last and a fab day here in the Hebrides - hope it lasts.

More creative peeps over this way - Bye for now!

Alison x

Background project . . .

I've had a notion for some time to undertake a personal 'background' project - I came across Pip's 'A Granny a Day' project over the weekend, and felt a little inspired to join up and make something on a bigger scale ie. a crochet afghan/blanket. The whole notion has evolved over the last couple of days - initially I had the idea of making a coverlet for one of the boys bedrooms, so it has to be something funky, colourful - and not too 'lacey', so the typical granny blanket isn't what I have in mind. I seem to have a slightly different take on the granny square idea - but I think the concept is to provide motivation to have fun and be creative with crochet squares on a 'possibly' daily basis.

I tried to make one of the fabulous crochet blocks from my '201 crochet motifs, blocks, projects and ideas' book by Melody Griffiths on Sunday - I loved the look of this log-cabin patchwork inspired block, so I gave it a whirl . . .

I didn't use the colour scheme, but just had to go with what yarns I have, which are pretty limited! It was a test piece but I'm gonna use it anyway as I want my blanket to look quite spontaneous and experimental. I like the idea of it looking a little like lego blocks, a little 'modern art', a little rustic/tribal - it'll be a mish-mash basically!

I don't have a lot of left over yarn, but I do have a huge ball of lovely cream aran yarn, which I'm thinking of using as blocks in between . . .

I started making these little 3 inch treble squares to use in between the larger 6 inch coloured squares, this is all experimental you understand! I did work out that if I wanted to make a single bed coverlet it would require 60 large squares in total, but broken down into 30 large squares and 120 little ones - eeeks!

I joined the four treble squares to the larger patchwork one as I wanted to see if the idea will actually work, I think I'm going to have some trouble with the treble squares pulling against the straight lines of the log-cabin effect square . . .

. . . back to the drawing board maybe, but I might just carry on and let it 'evolve' hehe! I've very little yarn and I'm thinking of just using the dribs and drabs I have and acquiring odd balls of cheap yarn wherever I can find them, over the next few months. If you want to join up to Pip's project just click here

. . . I'll maybe do a monthly post on the progress of the blanket, when there's something of interest to show! I DO hope to continue learning to make different kinds of granny squares/blocks in between (possibly daily, possibly not!) . . . it's all a bit of fun :D

Teenage Son is working towards his BIG exams over the next few weeks, so that's a bit of a major priority at the moment (aside from tweedying and crocheting!) - pity I'm not much use when it comes to Higher Physics but I DO make a good cup of tea!

Alison x

my creative space . . . WIPs

This is not what I originally planned to show on my Creative Space today, but both are projects I'm working on in the background . . .

. . . a growing pile of granny squares - well 7 in total :) I'm planning to make just 9 of them and join them into a panel to use on another project - yet to be decided!

With the yummy cream coloured cotton, I'm having another go at a washcloth in one colour - maybe to use as a gift idea, which I think would be quite nice - we'll see how it turns out anyway!

I'm making a concerted effort today to have a NON 'tweedie/business' day - heck, I'm not a robot after all, hehe :)

More creativity going on over here - Byeeeee :D

A bit of this and a . . . .

I've been so busy the last couple of days, I didn't know what to call this blog post, hehe :) Today I've been mostly adding my tweedie 'makes' to my Big Cartel shop - well, they're not going to sell, packaged away in my plastic storage boxes - took me a while to figure that out LOL. Over the weekend though I stuck to my word and made up some Kindle sleeves - very girly ones too . . .

I loved adding these cute painted wooden buttons to them . . .

There's also one for 'the boys' in charcoal herringbone, of course . . .

On the experimental front - I had a notion yesterday to try and make a larger item in tweed, and thought I'd try to make a drawstring bag. I loved making this, and just 'winged' it using some of the techniques I've learned over the last couple of years re. lining, etc. . . .

I used some old curtain lining fabric I had in, for the lining and made ties with the same fabric . . .

I'm dead chuffed with it, hehe! I think it might make a nice 'pyjama-bag' or hobby-bag, it's still a work-in-progress, but I'd love to try and make another one now that I know how to make them. Perhaps a tutorial should be on the cards? :D

So tricky trying to combine commercial crafting with creative work, but I'm doing my darnest - can you tell, hehe! The crochet work is ongoing and I hope to have an interesting post for my 'Creative Space' on Thurday which is purely personal crafting - 'see' you then :)

Little 'S' is home from school - better go and feed him, I swear that boy has permanent 'munchie' syndrome :)

Alison x

my 'fishy' creative space . . .

I've got a little shoal of 'tweedie' fish all cut out and ready to sew . . .

Here's a pic of a finished one, with a little crochet washcloth behind it.

After making Mariana a little baby gift of crochet bibs, I had the idea of using the leftover cotton yarn to make a little washcloth with a hanging loop - I love using these gorgeous fondant colours. I just used a simple double crochet stitch to make this one and rounded the corners slightly by decreasing/increasing.

Don't think they'll get touched today tho - I'll be 'sleeping with the fishes' as they say in the Godfather movies, if I don't get some housework done today - oooops, hehe!! Best dash :)

Alison x

P.S. Joining in with 'our creative spaces' again today :)

Beautiful plaids . . .

I've been working with these gorgeous plaid tweeds over the weekend . . .

and transforming them into, ta dah - big drum roll!!! . . .

. . . tweedie mug-cosies! Well, what else would they be, hehe :) There's a few on the go at the moment . . .

Ooooh, look you got 'biccies' with this one LOL, and some more . . .

It's been a really fun way of using my small stock of plaid tweeds, and the idea originally came from the fact that I made a completely 'pants' job of making a crochet mug-warmer from a pattern! Well, I thought - why not try making my own tweedie ones?

I'm really pleased how they've turned out and I've been working on packaging too - I'll 'test-drive' them at my first craft fair, (and possibly online before then) which I just booked yesterday. Yes, I'm going for the jugular - it's a daunting thought doing a craft-fair after a long absence from them, but I think it has to be done, hehe :)

It's blowing a hoolie of a gale here in the Hebrides today - I'm off to have a heart-warming bowl of home-made soup with 'Little S' who's got a sniffly-snuffly cold, Catch U Later :D

Alison x

my creative space . . . just a peek

Today marks my first 'official' start to 'tweedying' in earnest - well I had made a mental note that I would be ready to roll at the beginning of March, and here we are! Of course I had to start the day with a healthy walk out the moor road - good intentions and all that, hehe. I took a pic of some of last night's crafting on my return, hence the sturdy walking boots . . .

I've been wanting to have a go at making some colourful granny squares for a while - these lovely piles of crochet squares I've seen on some other blogs have left me quite envious! Being a novice crocheter (is that a word??), I followed a pattern from my new book - it's turned out less 'holey' than other squares I've attempted and there's a round of double crochet on the edge - heck, I'm going to make a little panel with a few of them. I'll be delighted to have a little stack of 'em to show off on my blog :) Watch this space.

Here's a little close-up (you can tell I'm chuffed to bits with my efforts!!) . . .

Anyway, back to some tweedy-work, and just a little peek of the tweeds I was using today. Sorry - very dark pic - but it's top secret you know LOL! I'll show the finished items very soon, I promise . . .

Clock the wooden buttons - I'm really pleased with them - even better if they were in focus ;-)

And just look, we have very faint signs of Spring . . .

Hope you're having a nice day wherever you are - better get back to these tweeds, more daylight hours would be so appreciated, hurry up Spring!!

More creative spaces from all over the globe here - hmmmm, perhaps I'll have a cuppa and a little peek myself :)

Alison x