Back to Blogland :)

Tools of the trade - adding brass eyelets to my gift tags :)

I'm not sure if people blog in the same way as they used to?  There's so many social media platforms to choose from, but personally I think I still enjoy this little space to air my thoughts (tweed ones or otherwise!)

I've recently left my admin job of many years and hope to pick up on my little crafty business 'Handmade on the Croft'.  It became increasingly difficult to juggle it among other things going on, but I always hoped to revisit it, so here I am :)

This week is the first one where I'm actively taking steps to prepare myself for adding products to my Esty shop.  Checking my packaging supplies, taking a few deep breaths! - it's been quite a while since I've done this!

Yesterday I made a few little tweed gift labels in preparation to add to any prospective online sales - I can only hope! ;) 

OK - I'd better 'fess up!  I only made 3 of them yesterday as I was trying to get to grips with a new sewing machine (exciting!) but they're fun to make.  I used to use fabric glue to assemble them but machine sewing seems the better way to go.

I'll keep this post short, it's just a little introductory one - so many 'makes' to share, but I'll do that in 'dribs and drabs', and perhaps as I add (hopefully) products to my Etsy shop.

One last thing to share though!  I purchased a couple of great craft books while on holiday in Glasgow.  We had a week at home afterwards (pretty awful weather here in the Isle of Lewis that week).  Towards the end of the week I decided to have a go at one of the knitted birds in Sue Stratfords's Knitted Aviary (one of my book purchases).  It was great fun to make:

Really well written pattern.  I used some 4 ply yarn, (of which I have plenty from sock knitting projects)  doubled up for most of the bird, and the blue yarn was just some DK acrylic yarn from my stash.  I think the author used tapestry yarn (DK weight) but I think any DK yarn would do.  Next time I have a staycation I'll try another bird - the robin looks nice, or the sparrow, or the capercaille even!  Great fun :)

Until later,

Cheerio an drasda :)

End of the Summer - Oh Well!

I've been doing quite a lot of crafting recently - I thought I might as well record it somewhere!  My 'old' blog seemed to be quite a good place to use for that purpose.

I think it kicked off at some point during the summer when I decided to unpack a box of my craft books which I'd tidied away during a period of decluttering (other rooms in the house!).  My craft books took the hit and were put away temporarily (sort of).  I did mean to put them on some shelves but they didn't reach that far and are now tidily stacked in an orderly pile . . . . honest!

Yesterday I seem to have decided that embroidery books were a good place to browse (while working on a crafty piece of course) :)

I've started this crochet project using '200 Crochet Blocks' by Jan Eaton.  I've had this book for ages but never really got into it, having used similar books for heavier yarn eg. aran or worsted weight.  This book uses double knitting yarn and a 4 mm hook (smaller than I usually use), but I finally got the right tension for the patterns.  I'm just using acrylic yarn here (sshhhhh - the yarn snobs might hear me!)  I think there's a time and a place for it :)

After playing around with a number of blocks from the book, I decided to stick to two blocks to make a throw of some kind (maybe 7 x 9 blocks if I keep going with it).   A nice general purpose size of throw.

This summer has been a bit of a wash out (weather wise) and I seem to have dipped into all sorts of crafts, DIY, etc.  Too much to mention in one post - I'll update as I go along.

No concrete plans to add items to my Etsy shop but you never know . . . . . 

Alison x

Granny Square Practice

Oh well, I missed the whole of May in blogging terms - too much going on!  As per usual though I resorted to knitting projects for some relaxation, always works for me :)

Most recently however I've returned to crochet for instant crafty gratification - I purchased some Garnstudio Drops yarn a little while back.  It was cheap enough to enable me to buy a few colours to work with for under a tenner!  I use light aran/worsted weight wool to make granny squares these days as I use Leonie Morgan's book:  100 Bright and colourful squares - lovely selection of designs.  They crochet up to 6 inch squares (well 5.75 with my tension!) really nicely.  I've been using a 5.5 mm hook.

I've learned my lesson and found that I DO find that using yarn with a good wool content helps to block the squares to a nice uniform shape and size.

I'm using a palette of six colours and just making an odd square until the yarn runs out!  No plans really just a bit of granny square practice over the Summer - when I'm done I'll decide what to do with them :)

Upper top left one should be a hexagon within a square but my stitch count was off so it looks a little skew whiff/wonky!  Never mind, it blocked nicely into a square anyway :)

I love the top square with the large petal flower and have used this pattern a few times.  The one below it with a flower within a traditional granny square is fun to do now that I've got the hang of it!

Crochet is such a lovely relaxing hobby - so easy to pick up and make something satisfying in an hour or so :)  I do like the idea of just collecting a few squares in different patterns and using them to make something creative or other - it's a very flexible and a portable project to have on the go.

During May I completed another Echo Flowers lace shawl - I think I made my first one about 3 or 4 years ago.  It's a beautiful pattern by Jenny Johnson Johnen.

This is it on the washing line after blocking - as you can see we've had some fabulous weather recently!

It's a lovely lime green colour - I'm waiting for a suitable posh occasion to wear it :)  I might be waiting some time!!

I've been trying to get back to making some items for sale, but things keep getting in the way!  Soon I hope though :)  My Etsy shop is very quiet as I haven't had the time to do all the social media required to make online sales - I prefer to be creative than spend too much time on my notebook.  It's a balance though I suppose :)

Life is a little quieter and settled at the moment so I'm looking forward to getting back into the groove as they say!

Bye for now
Alison x

Sock knitting and spectacle cases . . .

Sock knitting and spectacle cases - now if that's not a sign of my age, I don't know what is! :)  :)

Seriously, sock knitting is an ongoing passion and source of great relaxation and a constant learning process.  Also, you don't need much yarn to make a pair of socks, so it's a relatively cheap hobby!

Here's my last completed pair of knitted socks - a wonderful pattern by Nancy Bush, called French Market socks - never thought I would achieve making these but I did - I was delighted with them . . .

I read up all the notes from other knitters on Ravelry before starting on these - really useful, and they fitted perfectly :)

Currently working on these socks (Lambs, Chickens and Bunnies Oh My! by Ros Clark) - great fun to knit . . .

Both socks have a Latvian braid cast on - basically twisting three different colours of yarn together - looks very cute.  I braided the yarns left to form a little toggle detail at the back of the sock - just to be a little different!

Last week I decided it was time to get the sewing machine out and do some 'tweedie' work.  The last cosmetic purse I made made me think, if it was just a little narrower it would be prefect for storing spectacles/glasses as it's very well padded, so off I went to designing a few spectacle cases.  I came up with three designs all based on some previous collage work . . . a sneaky peak . . .

My eldest son helped me with my labels yesterday - I thought they came out quite cute! 

I'm hoping to add these three designs to my Etsy shop next week - that's the plan anyway!  At least one more design in the pipeline (maybe two) based on previous artwork.

I would love to add some hand knits to my shop too but struggling with the time constraints of doing both sewing and knitted items - heigh, ho!

I thought our two cute hens had stopped laying a couple of weeks ago but seemingly not - it's been lovely going out to collect the eggs in this nice sunny weather . . .

Enjoying the simple things in life this morning . . . daffies growing outside the kitchen door :)

Catch up soon (youngest has been 'borrowing' my laptop hence sparse blogging activity!)  Here's to shorter, more regular posts :)

Alison x

Sunshine, crochet, staycation . . .

I must admit that blogging over the summer months has been a bit tricky - time seems to be running away this summer, school holidays will soon be over!

I've had a couple of weeks at home with the boys on a 'staycation'.  We had a fun city break earlier in the summer so I was happy to spend some time at home - in beautiful sunny weather no less! So no complaints :)

I planned just to chill out, work on a summer crochet project and a little crafting if I could squeeze it in.  We also had some lovely family visitors at home so plenty to fill the time.

Here's a peek at the crochet throw I've been working on . . . the colours are inspired by the flowers and fauna of the moor near my home, a favourite place to take a relaxed plod :)

I think I started it at the end of May, you might remember me showing the initial blocks/experiments . . .

This was the first picture I took on the 27th May - I'd forgotten it was that long ago!  The project has evolved a bit since then.  The lacey squares above turned out really pretty but were quite intricate and after a while I decided to use them as a centre panel and to outline them with simpler blocks.   I'm making 35 blocks in total to make possibly a settee throw or something like that.

Above shows the three different blocks I chose.  The bottom left square is going to be placed on each corner and the traditional grannies around the edge - well, that's the plan.  I'm using Leonie Morga's book 100 Bright and Colourful Squares and it's just brilliant!  I think it will become a firm favourite :)

Here's some moorland photos I took the other day to demonstrate my colour choices . . .

We've been so lucky with good weather these past two weeks - makes a nice change!

A nice trip to Gress beach which is very close to my home the other evening - completely deserted apart from another lady with a lovely bouncy springer dog.  The sea was flat calm - I think this seagull thought I was stalking it, hehe! . . .

This old boiler from a ship has been on the beach since I can remember . . . having just googled it, it seems the ship (the Glenesk?) ran aground in the 1920s.  It's  quite a landmark on the beach . . . and of course a good viewpoint for a passing seagull :) :)

Hope your holiday time has been enjoyable if you have been having one.  I'm back to some more regular crafting soon I hope.  Two lovely craftbooks were my birthday pressie - both fabulous, but the textile collage book is just wonderful!

Lots of inspiration in both of these :)

Back soon,
Alison x

Crochet and sunshine

Hmmmmmm - somewhere, sometime, I forgot to blog about anything I've been making, doing, etc - not for the lack of being creative - just waiting for life to settle down a bit :)

This week we've been blessed with some beautiful sunny weather - I crocheted the above square after work on Monday just because I couldn't wait to try it!  It's a giant block (about 10 inches square) and came from a free Red Heart (Super Saver) pattern on their website.  I would LOVE to make an entire afhgan/blanket with these - this one was made using oddments in my stash and worked quite well, so a thrifted blanket might be on the cards.  The centre is made using cheap acrylic yarn so that could be purchased easily but it would be nice to use odd bits and pieces for the rest in combination with some bought yarn.  I love the idea of acquiring a nice collection of hand crochet blankets around my home :)

Eldest is back home from University having graduated in June - it's a relief to have him home again :)  I feel far more inclined to get back to crafting, both commercial and otherwise, whoop!

Last weekend I made one of my collage, tweedie brooches and decided to rejig the packaging a bit - inadvertently it seems to have triggered a new range of gift ideas for my Etsy shop - funny how one small change can lead to some new ideas!

Off to enjoy some lovely Hebridean sunshine - have a lovely weekend :)

Alison x

Intarsia knitting and other stuff . . . :)

Life has been busy lately - not so much for me in a way, but for my boys sitting exams and I've not felt relaxed enough to blog or to take time out for commercial work.  That said I've been doing a lot of craft recently which (a) I've been finding very therapeutic and (b) very educational as I've learned a lot of different techniques in crochet and knitting of all sorts, some sock knitting of course too!

This last week I had a go at some intarsia knitting.  This differs from colour stranded/fair isle knitting as the different colours are left hanging and NOT stranded to the back.  I only found my self doing this after coming across a pattern for argyle socks . . . .

It's an old 1950s pattern for "The socks Mrs America loves to knit . . . . The socks Mr America loves to wear" - how funny is that!

The pattern instructed to wind all the different colours onto bobbins, so I did (two of each colour) . . ,

I used clothes pegs as bobbins so I could catch the yarn between the peg to secure it.

Here's how it looked after a few rows . . .

It didn't take long before I ditched the bobbins (which were a pain to use) and after a little research just cut long strands of yarn (for me that was about 125 cm long approx) which was easier to work with by just running my fingers through the yarns to untangle them - it speeded up things a lot :)

Here's the back . . .

All going well so far . . .

Seemingly Argyle socks are the 'holy grail' of knitting, hehe!  We'll see :) :)  I'll keep you posted off my progress . . . .

I've also been working on a new crochet afghan using this palette of colours (discontinued yarn so being sold cheaply) . . .

I think I chose moorland/heathery colours eg. rose heather, grey heather, etc. as I liked the idea of an afghan reflecting the flowers found on the moor.

Here's the blocks so far . . .

I've had to block them individually . . .

to get them nice and flat for joining . . . . it's working well (I don't always block squares but this time I had to).  I just pinned them to a makeshift blocking board and spritzed with water, leaving them to dry overnight.  Seems to do the trick.

The blocks weren't sitting flat enough so needed a little help - this yarn has 20% wool so maybe enough to help them block nicely.

This a nice relaxed background project for over the summer months . . .

I'm quite enjoying being methodical about them.  It's a lovely block to make from "100 Bright and colourful crochet squares" by Leonie Morgan.  I'm just making a block when I have time, interchanging the colour sequence, then blocking each one when I've finished.  I have some cream yarn for a nice border I hope :)  I'm using Lion Brand wool ease which is a worsted/light aran weight and 5.5 mm hook making a square about 5.75 inches (should be 6 inches but not with my crochet tension).  No rush with this project - purely relaxing and enjoyable!

The sewing machine has been a little dormant as it's been easier to pick up hooks and needles!

Beautiful sunny weather here in the Hebrides this week so we're all enjoying that.

Speak soon,
Alison x