My Creative Space: where I'm at . . . . .

Sorry!  I have been a bad blogger these last few weeks - sooooooo much to do, to make, to discover . . . .

On my desk still are the leftover tools from my order of keyrings (which  was a little bit intensive for me - but a learning curve nonetheless) . . .

I really enjoy working with hand-tools, getting the hammer out, having a go with the pliers, etc.   Very therapeutic, hehe :)  In the background is my latest copy of Handmade Living - I really enjoy this magazine.  I'm still poring over  the last one I bought in December, so that says a lot!  I think long and hard before buying craft magazines as they are on the whole VERY expensive for a poor crafter like me!  These ones I find are a real  investment though :)

Here's a little pile of the keyrings I was working on - they've been handed over now so I guess it's OK to post about them!  They had to be in uni-sex colours so it was lovely to get back to working with some strong, earthy colours - definitely inspiring for me . . .

In the background while I was making these I was working on my tweedie  designs which I WILL post about next week and hopefully will be taking some photographs of them today to add to the shop.  Also on the leisurely front I've been  continuing learning more about colour-stranded knitting which has been great fun.  I can definitely recommend it.  I came across this lovely blogpost about it recently, worth a read if you are interested:  

http://blog.bygumbygolly.com/2011/11/vkc-getting-started-with-stranded-fair.html

I've been playing around with little swatches of colour-work the last few days - the funny little gadget on the left is called a yarn guide which theoretically helps to keep yarns  separate while knitting with two colours - I've yet to experiment with it properly as it only arrived in the post yesterday.  However, while waiting for it to arrive I finally managed to get the hang of knitting with my left hand eg. continental style knitting - WOW, this was a relevation to me as I never even knew there were two methods  of knitting having been taught English style - who knew?????  I'm now trying to practice colour work knitting in both styles - my tension has gone all over the place LOL   I made my Egyptian socks by laboriously picking up and dropping the yarn as I went - they are now FINISHED!  Here they are . . .

I was really pleased how they turned out.  They took a  month to make and towards the end of the sock I decided to try knitting using both styles (English and continental) so that I could speed up a bit - it was very tricky and I'll need a whole lot more practice!!!  Time for a nice easy project now I think :)

Sorry, so much in this post - I'm trying to cover my 3 weeks(?) absence!

Back to more regular (and less erratic!) blog posting hopefully :)

Alison xxx

P.S.  Here's another video link to colour-stranded knitting techniques, just for info! : http://www.examiner.com/video/beginning-fair-isle-knitting

P.P.S:  Talking of knitting projects, Rona has a  lovely giveaway over on her blog, Fairislerona.blogspot.co.uk, which you can  see here:  http://fairislerona.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/a-warming-headband-and-giveaway.html  With my recent interest in  colour-work knitting, I'm always inspired by her lovely fairisle creations.  You can share the giveaway on Facebook or become a follower of her blog to enter :)  I'm off to put in my entry!