Pheeeeeeew!!

Yes, pheeeeeew!  I can't think of anything better to say - my laptop is back safe and sound, hurray!  I'm so happy to have it back on one piece - we put it into our local computer dealer and they returned it all shiny and working better than ever :)  Lesson learned though, and I think some serious backing up of files is required over the next week or so LOL :)

Anyway, back to tweedie/crafty business - I have been soooooooo busy this last week - a request for some tweedie keyrings for a wholsale order seems to have sparked off a whole new range of designs which I'm dying to show you but I'd better not bombard you with them in one post, so  hopefully over the next while I will reveal all :)   The shop is once again open - I've a few items for sale on there before I add my new stock, quite exciting!

Looks like commercial tweedie-work is back on the agenda - whoooop!

Sock-knitting progress is ongoing, halfway through the second 'Egyptian' sock - it's such a great pattern.  I was worried about any shaping/decreasing in colour-work knitting but it's all very simple with this sock . . .

I have, ahem, some errors in both socks - but I'm embracing them as part of their complete uniqueness and individuality, hehe!  Quite easy to miss a row of the pattern  or add an extra row but I don't think my mistakes are too obvious :)  I will have a 'grand' sock opening/launch, when they are finally complete - hope I don't run out of yarn, eeeks!

I'll be eating some of this lovely produce this weekend . . .

Yum!  Haggis and neeps, to celebrate Robbie Burns birthday - what better?  I'm looking forward to it - I will probably eat most of the haggis myself,  hehe :)  Shame no one else in the family really likes it :) :)

For a' that and 'a that, etc, etc!  Happy Robbie Burns night if you're celebrating D

'Speak' soon, hope to catch up on some bloggie-reading when I catch my breath!
Alison xx

Ooooops!

I've had a bit of an 'Oooooops!' moment this week, as in a laptop-crash 'oooooops' moment - Oh Dear!  I did have it coming to me - lack of computer housework, too many photos, lots of warnings - I didn't heed any of them, so entirely my own fault :-/  I've put my 'tweedie' shop offline for this week until I decide how to rectify matters and how to em, proceed with business in general.  In the meantime I have finished my first 'Egyptian' sock and I'm delighted with it . . . 

Thank goodness for sock-knitting - it's keeping me calm during this time of great disaster!  Never mind, I'm using one of my kiddos laptop today and I'll be able to keep in touch in any case.  I will probably have to take some time out from 'tweedie' business or perhaps just cut back to the bare minimum until I figure out what to do.

Back to my sock - far more fun!  I'm amazed how the colour-work came up - I have a very laborious method of doing it, as I haven't quite got the hang of holding two strands of wool simultaneously, but the result was fine so I'm happy.  It fits quite well, although I really think it is meant to be quite a rustic, ethnic style of sock as shown in the book illustration.  

I'll be yo-yo-ing between my kids' laptops/computers for the next little while, so if I'm not here I'll be doing all the stuff I should be doing like sorting out my cash-books, tidying my fabric cupboard, etc.  Perhaps some good will come out of my predicament, who knows!

Keep calm and carry on :)

Alison xx

my creative space . . . keeping me amused in January :)

Pheeeew, it's been a bit of a week this week - in between getting the house back to 'normal', sorting out two 'messy' boys' bedrooms (I couldn't safely walk through one of them!) and having to do my tax return (euuuugh, my pet hate), I really wanted something creative to do in the evenings just to keep me calm and amused at the same time!  'Tweedie' work has to wait until next week although I have got back on track, even in  a small way - more on that later . . .  

Santa was very  kind to me and brought two wonderful sock-knitting books to me this  year - I have PORED over both of them - they are both wonderful :) . . .

Sock Knitting Masterclass by Ann Budd and Folk Socks by Nancy Bush - these two ladies are the 'giants' of the sock-knitting world, hehe!  (I'm such a fan LOL)  Anyhow, cut a long story short, I chose a pattern in the latter book by Nancy Bush which I really fancied having a go at to while away the long winter evenings - they are Egyptian socks, "typical  of Islamic footwear of the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries" - I love the historical element of this book, really absorbing!  Here they are, sorry for the dark pic . . .

I started them (very tentatively!) last weekend using some new sock-knitting needles which are metal and I'm really not quite at home with them yet (VERY slippery!) and used the yarn recommended, 5 ply Guernsey, which is totally dreamy and very traditional . . . 

They are made using a colour stranded technique which I briefly experimented with last year - I'm really enjoying it and it's quite easy once you get the hang of following the colour chart - I'm amazed that I'm actually managing to do it - sometimes things that look very tricky to do are really quite simple once you get some practice.  I love how the reverse of the work looks as the  pattern builds up, it's almost like creating a woven piece of work, and creates a very dense fabric - awesome!

I'm giving myself a little deadline of a month to finish these socks so that I don't get distracted and go off doing something else (as I do!!) - so this is my January project :)  It's really nice to have something to pick up in a quiet moment and also very relaxing (once I got going with it!).  As usual Ravelry has been a fountain of knowledge and I had a good  look at other folk's versions of this pattern to glean  some tips before I got started.  Not sure who they will fit yet - they are a One Size pattern - we'll see ;-)

Well. that's my evenings sorted, now for the daytime work!  I've now finished that nasty tax return so I'll be getting back to 'tweedie' business next week.  My shop is now back up and running after the Xmas break with a little January sale to make way for new stock (which I have to make!!!).  My 'tweedie' beach ball finally made it into the shop . . . 

. . . it was supposed to go in before Christmas!  Ah, well, better late than  never - 'Hebridean time' syndrome, oooops!  It's there now anyway, hehe :)

I hope I'll be showing more 'tweedie' makes very soon as I get back into more 'commercial' work.    Sock-knitting is enormous fun and totally absorbing but alas it won't pay the bills, so onwards and upwards!  I have some 'tweedie' ideas in mind, so these will soon be revealed I hope :)

More 'creative' starts to 2013 over here - Bye for now!
Alison x

Bliadhna Mhath Ur/Happy New Year to one and all!

Thankyou to all for visiting my crafty space in the Outer Hebrides - here's to another year of crafty mayhem and discovery!   

Happy 2013 to all my blogging friends and I look forward to 'visiting' you again this year, and to EVERYONE of course who visit my blog - I appreciate it heaps!  Bliadhna Mhath Ur as we say in the Hebrides :)

Alison x

my creative space . . . . my last post this year!

Pheeeew, it's getting so close to the 'Big Day', I really must make this my last post . . . . where on earth did December go?  - it flew right past me without me noticing!!  I did mention that I had a little crafty project on the 'coal burner', but it really is a VERY little project, but one I keep meaning to try every Christmas and never have done before.  Still in progress, as I intend to play around a bit, and make some more of these . . .

As you  can seen the second orange doesn't even have any cloves in it yet - I'm still experimenting!  I love the smell of oranges and cloves and last year I bought a ready-made orange 'pomander' from the lovely craft unit at my college office job - it must have struck a chord because I decided to have a go myself.  I'm photographing them outside on a lovely frosty morning here : )

and hanging from a fir-tree in the garden . . .

I'm planning to try and make some table decorations with them, or perhaps a candle-feature - just a fun, easy thing to do in the last few days before Christmas.  Here's some of the links  I came across online to give some ideas on how to make them - of course the proper way to do them is a few weeks beforehand so they dry out properly - maybe next year ;-)

Easy to Make Christmas Decorations
The History of Pomanders
Orange and Clove Christmas Decorations
Hot to Make Orange and Clove Pomanders
Make it:  Orange and Clove Candle Holders

Well folks, I'm off to have a try at some 'orangey-clovey' decorations!  I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and fun New Year!  

Thanks to all for another bloggy fun-filled crafty year :) :)

I will 'see' you in 2013 - doesn't that sound weird!!!!

More crafty peeps here, sharing their wonderful 'makes' - MERRY CHRISTMAS/NOLLAIG CHRIDHEIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alison xx

Wildlife on the croft

We've had the most beautiful, mild  winter weather here in the Outer Hebrides over the weekend and again today - just beautiful, it makes Christmas shopping so much easier :)  I popped outside on Saturday to try and take a photo of a beautiful little Robin Redbreast which has been visiting the garden for the last few weeks - I'm not sure if it's the same one, but in my head it is!  I got a little distracted by this scary creature in next door's croft though - he's a bit of a brute! . . .

. . . and a front view . . .

. . . sorry, blurry pictures - he was making me a little nervous - just look at these horns!  His fleece is a funny ochre colour - obviously this ram has been brought in to em . . . 'service' the sheep, I guess it's that time of year, but I can't say I'm very well up on the breeding habits of sheep - I'd really rather not know LOL :)

I thought it was very sweet that my neighbour has painted his flock in lovely festive colours though, hehe!  They look very pretty . . .

Again, more to do with, er, that scary looking ram - poor sheep!!  I don't know what the different colours of marking mean - don't go there :-0

Anyway they all looked very pretty on a glorious Saturday morning :)

I finished my 'camouflage' beanie, which fits 'Little S' perfectly but as I suspected he wasn't too keen - "it's too scratchy,' he said, I think it's a little too girly, despite the colours, the spiral design isn't 'boyish' enough . .

The magazine in the background 'Handmade Living' is really lovely - I bought it last week when I 'chickened out' of doing some Christmas shopping and beat a hasty retreat home with it, hehe!  I love this project in it for making ice-mobiles - it's featured in a book called 'Nature's Playground' - a really lovely idea for Wintry weather (which we currently don't have!) . . . 

I might try it with 'Little S' if we ever get some snow and ice! (and I can wean him off his Game console!)  You simply gather some leaves, berries, or other organic material and freeze them in dishes of water, adding string to join them -  freeze overnight and voila!! (Use pastry cutters for interesting shapes)  Cool, eh?

I did eventually get - a  very blurry - pic of that elusive Robin - they are so sweet . . . 

I'm sure it's the same one that keeps 'visiting' me - my very own 'special' Christmas Robin - everyone should have one LOL!

Off to post my parcels and cards later today - and hope to get some supplies for a little crafty project - if I manage it, I'll share it with you :) :)

Bye for now :)

Alison  x

A bit of this . . . and a bit of that :)

Not a very original title for a blog post, but I've been busy doing lots of bits and pieces of things lately!  I seem to be a bit overly relaxed about Christmas this year - enjoying my crafting experiments so  much, but I have lots of crafty bits 'n pieces which will no doubt find their way into some Christmas parcels, so it's all good :) :)

The socks are finished - Van Gogh's masterpiece on my feet - who'd have  thought, hehe . . .

They are quite toasty, especially if you warm them  up on the top of the heater first - good for warming up the tootsies on a cold day . . .

The beach-ball is stuffed (but still not in the shop, maybe soon though, so difficult getting good shots on these darker days!) . . . 

I think the colours worked nicely together though - you really need to eat your porridge before stuffing these beach-balls, it's a bit of a feat of  strength and sheer determination!  I'm happy how it turned out though :)

(. . . and, yes, I had my porridge this morning, hehe!)

This week I'm onto a quick project of a knitted beanie, for ?????  Whoever it fits, most likely, and it seems to fit 'Little S's' head quite well so far (so it's a small beanie!) - he was quite obliging about letting me try it on him with the knitting needles still in place!  I love the colours of this yarn, but it's a devil to work with, like knitting with candy-floss, slips and slides all over the place, I'm using a free pattern from Ravelry knitwear designer, LoveHestia (you can see it here though) called the Hurricane Hat as  it has a spiral pattern, quite contemporary I think - we'll see how it turns out :) . . . 

I bought the yarn (Mochi Plus) as I'd been looking for some camouflage-type colours over the last year, and this is the closest I'd seen - I think it's more fern/forest-like, but interesting to work with. 

What . . . ,. Christmas is two weeks away!!!!  Don't panic, it's all in hand - she says optimistically :)  I'm not sure that I can stop knitting for long enough to complete all  my preparations - it's cool though, it's a very good way of keeping calm throughout the madness.  Hope your prep is all going well too :)

I'll leave with you a pic of the beautiful sunrise we had  here today . . 

Please excuse the bit of washing-line in the foreground!
Alison x