It's beginning to feel a bit like Christmas . . .

Hello crafty peeps - a very quick post today to say Farewell for the Christmas break.  I've been quite busy creating some new stock the last week or two - some lovely new ideas I've enjoyed making!  The Christmas stick ons are on the windows (we had some lovely clear crisp sunny weather earlier in the week) . . .

. . .  and to further update, Ji-ji the cat is fully recovered after her trip to the vet and has been getting thoroughly spoiled - and yes, here she is sleeping on my crochet throw which took me 3 months to make - she does love it though :) :)

I won't bore you with lengthy photos of my recent creations but I have started up a new blog purely to list my new stock :) When I started my new craft business I thought of creating a supporting blog for my new online shops but temporarily shelved the idea.  It now seems like a good idea to keep some of my lengthy craft posts separate from purely stock/business related posts although I'm sure both will converge and cross over!

I now have set up an additonal blog to update on new items added to my online shops called 'Tweed and Yarns'.  I will keep my Tweed Thoughts blog (this one!) going as a more personal craft diary and to just ramble on about what I'm making, different crafting techniques, inspirations, etc.  Pretty much as usual really!  You can of course click on my shop links anytime and I'll make occasional references to new 'makes' here too :)  Business as usual, just an extra blog for 'crafty biz' specifically!

Well, better dash - I now have two blogs to maintain and some tweedie creations to make and perhaps to knit!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas - I look forward to reading all the lovely craft blogs that have kept me inspired up until now - you're the best!

Nollaig Chridheil agus Bliadhna Mhath Ur!
(Merry Christmas and a Happy New Yeat)

Something for the shop, at last!

Finally I have managed to make something for my shop, photograph it and list it - Yay!  Why so long - I don't know but it does take time to create something from scratch, take some pretty photographs and write up a decent description, etc, etc. - it's tough being a 'one man band' LOL!

Anyway, I added these three iPhone 6 sleeves to the shop today . . .

A lovely work colleague asked me to make one for her phone and it was such a good, snug fit, it seemed daft not to make some more, so here they are :)

I lined them in some pretty cotton fabrics . . .

I think the buttons look quite pretty too . . .

You can tell I'm quite pleased with them LOL :)

I think they've given me just the motivation to get moving with making more stock now, so I'd better get going with that!

See you soon :)
Alison x

Now where was I . . . ?

My blog has been a little quiet this month - a combination of a rather sluggish laptop and well, just getting caught up in crafting and not getting round to recording it here - oops!  I started off at the beginning of the month doing some little Christmas decorations because, well the patterns I came across were just so cute!

Here's the main ones . . .

How cute would these look on your tree!  I found this pattern here.  Really fun to make and easy - I followed the screen instructions and then scribbled them down as you can see here - nice to add to Xmas pressies I think :)

Next up was some cute Sweater ornaments - well I couldn't resist these . . .

Another afternoon spent faffing about, but a lot of fun - my family really thought I was losing the plot at this point!  Why are you making them????  Well, they're fun!  And quicker than an actual size jumper :)  You can get the pattern here :)  I used some leftover shetland yarn and 2.75 mm needles (I think!).  I used a pattern from my Norwegian pattern book for the green one (more of that to follow next).

Well, these distracted me for a little while at least, until . . . . .  I got really caught up in Mary Jane Mucklestones pattern book '150 Scandinavian Knitting Designs' and decide to try out some of them for smaller items eg. purses just so I could have an excuse to knit them.  They're such lovely vibrant designs, they're hard to resist.

I started on this page - very Christmassy colours I thought! . . .

I loved the owl pattern so ended up with a little purselet . . .

Sorry!  Dark pictures - it's that time of year :)

Finally, I had a go of the reindeer pattern - he was so lovely, I had to try it out!

I also added a key ring to one of the sweaters - I thought the two things would make a nice gift for 'someone'!!  It's all very haphazard this crafting at the moment - ooops!

I'm blaming the cat as she's very distracting LOL.  She's still just a little kitten - almost 7 months old though but wants in and out constantly.  She will have to get a little operation next week - she's being neutered poor thing but  we can relax a little more about letting her out and about afterwards ;-)

I will be holding her paw next week after the operation until she recovers - I'm sure she'll be fine though :) :)

Cheerio an Drasda!
Alison x

My First Crochet Throw - finally finished!

I haven't been around for a while - October holidays crept up quietly and pleasantly, very nice it was too!  I had no plans for the break apart from a vague notion to finish off the crochet throw/blanket I'd started making squares for at the beginning of the Summer.  81 squares and each one different, if only marginally - I was really pleased to make them all unique, it was a bit of hit and miss.  I really wanted to make a genuine granny throw from oddments of my wool stash though to give it a real heirloom feel.

It was a lovely sunny autumn day when I sewed the last row together . . .

. . . . draped over a ladder outside the house . . .

a close up of the squares . . .

I'm chuffed it's finally finished!  Not sure that Ji Ji the cat was quite impressed, but I'm sure she'll find her way to lying on it yet!  Whether I let her or not is the question . . . . hmmmmm.

I'm enjoying leafing through my two crochet books from the summer in the meantime - I love picking up a book and making a square just for the fun of it!

The 'Home' double crochet square was fun - I haven't done cross stitch since I was in Primary School, hehe!

I'm just playing with these squares for a bit of fun at the moment - with a view to covering this cushion maybe - no deadline, just practicing!

It's blowing a hoolie of a gale here in the Hebrides today!  Just right for snuggling up :)

Bye for Now :)
Alison x

More lace - sheeeesh!

Sorry, I am boring Blogland with my lace but when I get absorbed by something . . . . . :)

Here's the last shawl for a while - honest!  I really wanted to try some 2 ply lace yarn to test my lace knitting skills to the max! (well not quite - but cobweb/1 ply yarn - I don't think so!).

This lovely pattern (Annis) by Susanna IC seemed a good choice for practicing nupps (Estonian lace stitch) and also simple enough to practice using 2 ply yarn - so we thought haha!  Actually it was . . .  AFTER I finally found the right cast-on for lace - 363 stitches later, aaaaargh!

It was all worth it in the end though . . . .

I used a knitted cast on which creates quite a loopy edge as you can see but these loops help the edge to stretch out - it all came good eventually!  More nupps (the bobbly things!) in this shawl - 150 I think!

A lovely sheer lace effect though (after blocking) - notice the difference from the photo above . . .

Finished in 5 days which is a quick knit for lace, so I'm happy!  This was really a 'practice' shawl and only used one ball of  Malabrigo lace yarn so nice and economical too . . .

I think my 2 month 'masterclass' in lace knitting has probably come to an end . . . time to move on :)  I've had fun with it though!

Speak soon
Alison x

Still trying to play 'catch up' with my crafty goings on . . . .

My crafting escapades are jogging along apace at the moment . . . . just don't seem to get the time to blog about any of them!  I still haven't shown my tweedie makes which will be added to the shop soon I hope.  I did, ahem, jump into another personal project as I was so pleased with my lace shawl that I wanted to try another one with some yarn I had in my stash for sock-knitting.  It never got used as it was quite fine and I couldn't really be bothered making socks on such small needles - lazybones!

Here's the second shawl blocking beside my ugly toes, hee hee! . . .

This is yet another very ornate shawl - almost Victorian in style, but a very fun knit.  Again I used only one ball of yarn which I think is part of the attraction!

A little close up . . . .

The lace opened up beautifully after blocking as you can see above.  I pinned out all the peaks individually - a bit back breaking but worth it in the end.  This one was called Haruni Shawl by Emily Ross - you can see it here.

I sort of  flew through this one in a week and a half - I just couldn't wait to see how it turned out :)

I'm now going to 'behave' and slow down a bit and concentrate on 'shop' things - I promise!

In between all that, youngest had a birthday . . . 

He's such a fun kid - all 14 years of him! (Not really 'Little S' anymore as I used to refer to him here!)

Here he is with 'Ji-ji' the cat on his birthday - she looks a little restless!

Well, must dash and NOT do any more crafty stuff until I get a bit more organised - who am I kidding, it's not going to happen!

Cheerio an Drasda :)

Alison x

Learning Lace - a lovely journey!

Helllloooo again after a long extended Summer break :)  I've waited until both my boys got back to school/Uni before I started blogging/crafting in earnest - that's not to say I haven't been crafting over the Summer!  I concentrated on two larger personal projects - my crochet quilt, which is all ready to be sewn together (that's another post I think!) and a second project which I didn't even think I'd embark on, let alone finish.

Here's a detail of the project . . . .

I wish I could have documented this project but the Summer flew by and I didn't really want to spend time on my laptop while we were all on holiday.  I showed a ball of Malabrigo Sock Yarn in an earlier post which I had earmarked to make this shawl by Jenny Johnson Johnen.  To be honest I really wasn't sure I'd get round to making it as I'd missed the deadline I'd intended to make it for - I had decided it would be for me! (well , why not :)).

This is a really beautiful pattern which I thought would be beyond my capabilities but I think it's very well written and having made two shawls earlier in the year, I had a bit of background knowledge.

After a few false starts I finally got underway - it didn't take long before I realised that 'lifelines' were going to be a very good idea!  This is the practice of inserting a length of yarn/thread after completing a correct pattern sequence and if you've ever tried knitting lace you'll know that unravelling work is a nightmare!  Trying to pick up stitches where there are yarn overs (which create the holes in your lace) is to my mind almost impossible.  I used a darning needle and some white sock yarn for my lifeline after each correct pattern repeat - you know then that you can unravel the work to the point your pattern was correct - pheeeeew!  It's worth the bother believe me :)

Anyhoo, enough technicalities - here's the finished shawl before blocking it - looks a little bit rubbish doesn't it??

The lacework tends to scrunch up as you are using larger knitting needles with fine yarn.  Believe me I was delighted to have reached this point though - I think it took about 3 weeks to complete, but a wonderful learning process.  The pattern has Estonian Lace elements, using 'nupps' - sort of bobbles which add texture to the open lace.  Anyway once finished I couldn't wait to block it - this opens up the lace magically!  I simply immersed the finished shawl in lukewram water for 20-30 minutes and gently squeezed the excess water by placing it on a large towel, rolling it up and stepping on it (barefoot!).  It was then ready to pin out - stretching the scallops out and pinning a straight edge - voila!  After leaving overnight . . . .

Sorry not very good pics!!  Here's more detail of the lace itself  though . . .

I am really happy with this shawl - it was a great learning experience and weirdly turned out exactly as I wanted it to!  Size, colour, everything!

I did intend to get someone to take a photo but ended up taking it myself - never mind!  My shawl and I are very happy, hehe!

And all from one ball of sock yarn - I call that magic!

I think I will definitely making more lace shawls - Yay!

Here's the Malabrigo Sock Yarn (Ochre) before I wound it u p into a ball - I wrapped it round the back of two chairs in my kitchen to wind it up.

The shade was Ochre - it looks mustardy in some pics but is really a lovely old yellowy gold colour - just gorgeous!  I used a 5 mm needle and it created a nice open lace texture for the final piece.

The moral of the story is - don't be frightened of knitting lace!  It's magic :)

I'll be back with some tweedie makes for my shop later in the week - it wasn't ALL fun and games over the summer, well actually tweedie work IS fun and games too!

Cheerio an Drasda :)
Alison x

Lovely Port of Ness

We took a drive up to the Port of Ness this week.  The harbour is very scenic and the entrance is built into the natural rock formation.  Port of Ness is the most northerly village in the Isle of Lewis, about 34 miles (ish!) from my home on the East coast of the island (and about 27 miles from Stornoway - more importantly probably!).

I like the quaint feel of the village as you drive up to the harbour - the houses are quite tightly packed together giving it a cosy 'fishing village' atmosphere, quite different from the sprawling open village I live in. (Sorry no pics en route - I must have just been enjoying the scenery and didn't think to stop and take some snaps - next time, maybe!)

I'd love to see the harbour in a gale - it would look very dramatic :)  It was a lovely calm day when we visited though!

Personally, I'd love to live in the big house overlooking the harbour :) :)
. . . although I have a perfectly lovely seaview myself!

The sea was a stunning aquamarine colour - just beautiful!  We took a meandering drive back out of Ness through some little 'out of the way' villages.  

You can read more and see more photos of Port of Ness here on Undiscovered Scotland's website.   That's my 'touristy' post done!  I'll be back with some crafty updates next week when I'm back in the throes of my craft biz  :) 

Bye for now!
Alison x

Getting organised . . . . . or how much of your workspace to show!

I can't believe how the Summer holidays have flown past!  We have split our holidays this summer, having a week at the start of the school break and just about to have another week and a half  to round things off!  In between we've had some lovely visits from family so not so much time for intensive crafting.  Instead I've ended up tweaking my new website and organising my workspace in preparation for some serious work as soon as the school summer break is over.

Here's  a few pics of some of my favourite things in my workspace . .

(Vintage Singer Sewing machine, knitting swatches, the family button tin, sock knitting books, etc . . . )

my 'modern' sewing machine surrounded by WIPs all ready to go!

My 'new' craft unit, still to have some shelving added, but just perfick!

I still love to have things in baskets for easy viewing though :)

Some doilies on display and a little embroidery piece - for inspiration.

You can tell I like my new shelving unit!  So good I showed it twice :)

Some sock yarn - oh, the possibilities!

That's all folks, hehe!

Actually the last image of one of my tweed babushkas is added because I've been retaking some images for the shop.  My big sis informed me my background photography was a bit well, er . . . . 'pants'!  You can always rely on family to be honest, haha!! :) :)  I'm beginning to realise/remember how many 'hats' you have to wear to run a crafts business - photographer, IT person, marketing manager, etc, etc. - yikes!

Hope you're enjoying a lovely summer break if you are having one.  We had to take Ji-ji, our new kitten for her vaccines a couple of weeks ago and will be taking her back for the next one while we're on our hols.  She's been such a pleasure to have around - I added her to my profile pic, she's so cute!

I'll report back when we're all holidayed out :) :)  (My Shop is still open though!)
Alison x

Griddle scones anyone?

Last Sunday evening we had a major disaster- no snacks in the house, and my oven for some reason has just given up the ghost, so no quick bakes either!  What to do - two grumpy teenagers looking for any kind of snack - Oh Dear!

I remembered my old griddle pan lying dormant in the back of the cupboard - I've not used it that much but it suddenly came into its own.  I told my youngest triumphantly that I would make some griddle (or girdle) scones.  I had no clue how to make girdle scones but after a quick Google search it seemed that your usual oven scone recipe (which I make regularly) woud do the trick - pheeeew :)

Here they are in all their glory . . .

They don't rise as much as oven scones and they are more crisp on the top and bottom due to the dry heat of the griddle pan.

They didn't lie around for long . . .

What a life saver, hehe!  Two hungry teenagers appeased :)

Think I might be using the griddle pan again quite soon. Thinking about the scones reminded me of the old Rayburn cookery book I rescued from the family home before it was sold a few years ago.  Most Hebridean houses had a Rayburn stove - it wasn't a status thing, like the 'Aga' is today, it was just a household essential - a kitchen didn't seem the same without a stove in it!  We burned peat in it mostly and it was ''banked' up every evening, to be easier lit the next day.

This book is almost as old as me . . . ahem!

I think this must have been a favourite page - a few splashes here and there . . .

I don't ever remember having 'Bakewell Tart' - that sounds a bit too 'posh'! but I'm sure we had plenty butterfly or fairy cakes.

Here's the last page . . .

Our rayburn stove was a sort of light blue colour - it was very good for pancakes too I seem to remember (made on top of the stove) - ah, I'm getting all nostalgic!  I must make time to look through the book sometime :)

I've been busy sock-making (you can see the finished wellington socks in the side bar) and generally getting back into crafty mode.  A little techy stuff with my Big Cartel store has been taking up a little time - but I'm pleased how it's going and I think it's looking OK - their customer service/support is excellent by the way.  I've still to get stuff into Etsy but I will! (sorry, but I put the socks in my Big Cartel store in the end - I had to make an executive decision, hehe!).

Anyhow it's school hols so we're all a bit more relaxed - Yay! :)  Hope you're enjoying some nice weather - it's all very hit and miss here - never mind!  (more 'miss' than 'hit' -hmmmmmph)

Speak soon
Alison x

P.S.  Note to self - must get the oven fixed, Oh Dear! (the good news is that the grill still works LOL) I should get a Rayburn :)