By lilysunshine, on 5 November 2011, at 5:01 pm I obviously don’t have enough things I can make for myself or other people… So, the other day, thinking about what I could make for my mother and sister’s Christmas gift, I came to the conclusion that it would be easier if I could make my own jewellery. So I had a look around the internet and Ebay. Asked a couple of questions on Twitter. And took the plunge.
I bought a starter kit. I love me a starter kit. I find it’s the easiest way to get started on any new craft as all you need is included.
It had pliers and a cutting tool, plenty of findings and a few beads.
Since it wasn’t quite enough, I’ve added some pearls, some flowery silver thingies (yes, thingy is a technical term) and some very very pretty silver beads.
I was pretty busy this week, so I didn’t have the time to give it a go straightaway, but I knew that come the weekend, I would take a couple of hours to watch some youtube videos and just dive in.
I had A LOT of fun. I had to stop before the light was completely gone to take a couple of pictures of the 2 pairs of earrings I had just made. I am very chuffed with the results. Very very.
This is the first ever earrings that I have made. They are not perfect far from it. I think part of it is down to the shortness of the headpins. They are about a couple of cms long, and for a beginner like me, that makes it very difficult to make a nice loop. I’m sure with practice, it’ll be fine. But I’m already looking at longer headpins to practice on in the meantime.
This small hiccup didn’t put me off though. So I started my second pair straightaway.
Oh, how I love these! I used the headpins from my kit, which were a bit longer and a bit easier to manipulate. I’ve used 2 headpins for each earring, 3 of the silver flowers thingies, 1 pearl, 2 of those very pretty silver beads and 2 very tiny silver beads.
The light is completely gone by now, and our overhead lighting is not the brightest one. But I’m considering bringing one of our desk lamps on my cutting desk, just so that I can keep playing with shiny stuff!! (though, I do have some work to do… Boo!)
But right now, I’m having a quick browse to find new headpins and other pretty beads. This could be quite addictive. Ah well, at least everything is small, right?…
By lilysunshine, on 4 November 2011, at 3:44 pm The new issue of Simply Knitting (issue 87) has been out in the shops for a couple of days now, so I can show off my latest design to be published. It made it onto the cover, as it was used to show the gift for this month, a lovely flower shawl pin.
The Lace for Life shawl is a lovely small-ish (though it will cover your shoulders just fine) knitted in Debbie Bliss Fez. It starts at the top with 3 stitches and a garter tab and goes on with 2 different stitch patterns. Then the contrasting edging is knitted on.
I remember knitting this shawl in just a couple of days, so it is a pretty quick knit! It’s also ideal for skeins you’re not quite sure what to do with them. Fez is aran weight, so any yarns with roughly the same qualities and yardage could be used.
I’ve just added it to the Ravelry database so that you can add it to your project, queue or favourites.
Please note that a couple of mistakes have been let through – I have added an errata to the Ravelry page. I know that some people are already knitting it, and it is quite exciting!
Another exciting things are Jen‘s socks in the same issue of Simply Knitting, as I knitted them way back in the Spring. It’s good to see them finally published!
Especially when the little preview is just next to the little preview of my shawl!!
By lilysunshine, on 3 November 2011, at 4:36 pm 
Welcome to the Curiouser and Curiouser Sampler Quiltalong! We hope that you will join us on our adventures through quilting.
Jen and I both have far too many fat quarters in our fabric stashes, and we both love to try new techniques. We thought it would be fun to co-host a quiltalong (QAL) to use these lovely fabrics and stash-down at the same time. I am supposedly the more experienced of the 2 of us, but I’m still learning with every project.
I do know some stuff and I am looking forward to sharing it with other quilt-alongers.
With just one 12.5in block design published per week (first design will be posted on 17th November), this quiltalong will go at a steady pace, allowing you to drop in and out as you have time available. The beauty of blocks being that your quilt can be finished whenever you like. We do of course hope that you will be drawn in by the designs, and that you will want to complete a 35-block twin quilt with us.
We are aiming for a 5×7 blocks layout, but you could of course make less. A 3×3 blocks layout will give you a quilt perfect for a baby and anything above that will provide a quilt perfect to snuggle under on the sofa.
If you are new to quilting, this is a wonderful way to build your skills and learn lots of new techniques. There will be plenty of opportunity for sharing hints and tricks, all with the support of the QAL group.
The QAL will start with very simple blocks that even someone with very basic sewing skills can successfully make. And as the weeks go on, we will build on these skills to try and master more challenging techniques.
We have planned in some fun, with giveaways for participants throughout the QAL, as well as other curious surprises along the way.
You can join in in a number of ways –
- Quiltalong with us, posting your pictures to your blog. Each week, we will have a widget for you to share your links with other QAL-ers.
- Join us in the Curiouser and Curiouser QAL Flickr group that we have set up – post pictures of your blocks and chat with others.
- Or you can just live the QAL vicariously by watching our progress and encouraging us along by posting comments to our blogs!
Materials for a twin size quilt – approx. 60” x 84”:
1. Fabric requirements (these are only approximate, you might need more or less):
- 15 different Fat Quarters – this will give you a good variety of prints to choose from.
- 1.5m of plain (contrasting) fabric of your choice – white, cream, grey, black, anything you’d like to use as your contrasting fabric. For a multicoloured or rainbow quilt, you could used different plain fabrics for each block.
- 4.5m of 44” backing fabric or 1.75m of 108” backing fabric.
- 0.75m of binding fabric.
- 1.75m of 90” quilt batting.
2. Tools:
- Rotary cutter and cutting mat.
- Quilting rulers – a long rectangular one and a square one should be enough.
- Scissors.
- Sewing machine (though everything could be done by hand, it will just take longer).
- Hand sewing needles.
- Neutral thread (cream and grey work particularly well with all sorts of prints and colours).
- Contrasting thread for basting (paper piecing).
- Paper and pen.
- Fabric pen or pencil (water erasable preferably as air erasable might disappear before you are done).
- Iron and ironing board.
- Bondaweb or any other double-sided fusible web for appliqué.
- Safety pins or basting spray for quilt basting.
Next week, it will be all about choosing your fabrics, with some tips on colour theory a very basic cutting tutorial.
So, who’s with us?? To wet your appetite, here’s a little preview of some blocks we are planning to include in our QAL:
Exciting, isn’t it?
By lilysunshine, on 31 October 2011, at 12:41 pm Yes, I’ve said the C-word. Well, it’s almost November, Halloween is almost a thing of the past, so clearly, it’s time to get cracking with the Christmas crafts.
I have started already, with an advent calendar that is almost done – big reveal and tutorial later this week, maybe just before the weekend? We’ll see. The last time I showed it to you, it looked like this.
But it’s now a little bit more advanced. That’s all I’m going to say!
This year, we are planning on spending Christmas at home. It won’t be Lucas’ first Christmas at home, but as he was only 2 weeks old on Christmas 2009, he doesn’t quite remember it. And let’s face it, it wasn’t the most memorable Christmas anyway, with us all being tired and really not up for a big do!
That’s Lucas on his first Christmas (and yes, that’s a mince pie case on his head!)
So, this year, it will be different. He will start to be interested in the concept of Christmas and I want to start traditions for him to look forward to as he grows up. That’s why I’m making an Advent Calendar. I will also be making stockings for all 3 of us. And all the ornaments to be used on our tree and to decorate our little flat. I’ve got plans for all of it and I expect to be posting how-tos and tutorials for most of those plans.
But first, I needed supplies, so I had a look around for Christmassy stuff and this is my first loot.
It’s all from the Button Shack. I had never heard of this website, but they had some of the cheapest felt, ribbons that I liked AND jingle bells! They got me with the jingle bells! They use a Paypal checkout system, so I thought the risk was fairly limited (Paypal is good like that) and ordered. I ordered at 11am on Wednesday and it arrived before 11am on Thursday. You can’t fault that. Plus, it was beautifully packaged. I will buy from them again, I think!
Now, I need to get on with the crafting!
By lilysunshine, on 30 October 2011, at 11:43 am This little knit is retro in style and in time. I think I finished knitting at some point in late May… I had even bought the buttons for it. All I had to do was to sew them on and crochet some buttons loops. It might have been because of the weather and not needing a warm cardi / jacket that I didn’t finish it…
But here it is, now officially finished with toggles and loops. And it still fits (good thing I made it a bit big back in May!). The pattern is my own and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. So much so that I’m thinking about making another one and writing the pattern for it. What do you think?
The yarn used is Rowan Pure Wool 4ply, which I got from the darling Mooncalf when she was destashing it. I can’t quite remember how much yarn it used, but I think it was 2.5 balls of the brown, and maybe half a ball of the mustard and navy. I know I’ve got plenty of yarn left to make a somewhat matching vest. Which is on my list of things to do pretty shortly (well, before Lucas gets too big and requires more yarn).
The simple chevron detail on the yoke reminds me of military uniform and the whole look, with the toggles, the turn-over collar feels very 70s to me (though, as I was born at the very end of the 70s, I might have that wrong). But in any case, I was pretty much inspired by the shape of Starsky’s wooly jacket. Though, in my head, it was Paul Michael Glaser wearing it and not Ben Stiller, but I just couldn’t find the right picture!
I will keep the details of this project ‘secret’ as I intend to write it down properly as a pattern. Though, if you look at the pictures, it should be somewhat easy to reverse engineer it, I suppose.
It feels good to have this one of the WIPs list!
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Knitting patterns for sale Beynac Sock pattern
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