Sales sales sales

Out 'n' about in the bitter cold again to visit the sales, I must say I was very good and only bought a pair of shoes. The same shoes I wanted before the sales and had decided to wait and only buy them if they were reduced. Luckily for me they only had one pair left in my size so I believe I was meant to buy them and for half the price :)
I also popped by John Lewis in Oxford Street, they always have reduced yarn in the sales, there was some nice Rowan little big wool I bought a few balls (I had a present of some John Lewis Vouchers, Thank you, you know who you all are they went on the little big yarn) but everything else was tweedy multi-coloured type yarns, not that I do not like tweed yarns but past experience makes me buy one ball and experiment to see if the colours and texture work before committing to buying a larger amount. Solid colour yarns like the little big wool are always safer sale bargains to buy.

I finished by walking along Regents Street and having a look at the lights. I really liked them this year, they reminded me of giant sparkly spiders webs.

December madness

So far this month started with my computer going crazy, my Internet was working only when it wanted to and my mobile lost its data (due to a bus drenching me with water) and also stopping working. So I have not been able to update my site or blog arrrrrrr.... I love my techie things but when they go wrong I wonder how I managed without them and get major withdrawal symptoms :( .
Luckily this week they have all started working again so I am back.
I have been out 'n' about in Oxford Street (lots of sales, crowds of shoppers and lots of buying was going on not many worrying about the credit crunch) looking at the windows, here's a few I liked


NezumiWorld has also been updated with some new Christmas Charts (the charts at top of post)

Months speeding by to Fast

Is it me or do the days - weeks - months seem to be speeding by way to fast, I can't keep up! and I though crafts are supposed to make you relaxed and slow down..... maybe that's why I am always working on several different projects at the same time and I'm still waiting for the slowing down effect to kick in.
I finished this lapghan last week with some of the yarn I bought in the John Lewis summer sale. I am now planning to make some more larger projects and destash a bit. Well at the speed the months are going by it will be the January sales soon and if I have not used the yarn from the summer (not forgetting the Alexandra Palace Knit & Stitch Shows and last January's sale stuff) I am not going to buy any more yarn, so I had better get my paws moving faster.

2nd Year Blogoversary

Today is my 2nd year blogoversary and I can't believe how quickly the 2 years have passed. As with last year I hope to post a lot more (something always gets in the way of me posting more but I will try harder) and continue to chat to lots of nice people along the way.

Mini Pumpkins

Abbreviations:
Rnd – Round
St – Stitch
Sts – Stitches
Dc (UK)/ Sc (USA) – Double Crochet (UK)/ Single Crochet (USA)
Sl st – Slip stitch
Ch – Chain
Dec - Decrease

Materials:
Double knit/ worsted weight yarn used in Orange and Green
Hook appropriate to yarn used
Polyester toy stuffing, Polyfil or scraps of yarn
Each mini pumpkin needs 2 eyes, I used toy eyes (you can also use buttons or embroider eyes on)

Pattern: Using orange yarn
Rnd 1: Ch 2, 6 dc (UK)/ 6 sc (USA) into 2nd ch from the hook (the 1st ch that was made), join with a sl st to top the 1st dc (UK)/ 1st sc (USA), 1 ch (you should now have 6 sts)

Rnd 2: 2 dc (UK)/ 2sc (USA) into each st all round (12 sts)

Rnd 3: 1 dc (UK)/ 1 sc (USA) into each st all round (12 sts)

Rnds 4 & 5: as row 3

Rnd 6: [dec 1 dc (UK)/ 1 sc (USA) over next 2 sts] 6 times (6 sts)

If using toy eyes add now.


Add wadding or scraps of yarn to stuff
Rnd 7: Using green yarn 1 dc (UK)/ 1 sc (USA) into each st (6 sts)
Rnd 8: as round 7

Cut yarn and pull through top of stalk to join, push in any unwanted strands of yarn to stuff. I left the green strands out to use as ties to attach the mini pumpkins to things. You could use end strands to make a chain loop, or hide the strands and display the mini pumpkins on a table or in a sweet (candy) bowl.

Ideas for use:
Earrings, on scarves, curtains etc. instead of pompoms, make some with eyes & some without mix together and hang in window or door frame, tie a present and add a single mini pumpkin.

I would love to know what you do with your mini pumpkins please let me know :)

ORIGINAL PATTERN BY Michelle Ryan © 2006
For personal use only

Check out traditional Halloween BramBrack bread at http://nezumiworldcakeshop.blogspot.com/

A surprise present

My brother bought me a surprise present. He knows I love making things so he bought me The Gakken SX-150 it is a little analog synthesizer kit which comes packaged with a magazine/ book on synthesizers (lots of pics of vintage analog pieces in it, wish I could read Japanese)

As soon as I could get my paws on it, it was out of the packing and quickly put together (it is very easy and quick to put together about 5 minutes max). I love it.

Here's the finished item, it has its own speaker and a outlet for an external one, which I will try later. A little pen runs along the slider to make noises with lots of buttons to play with. The crochet & knitting designs will have to wait for a while.

The Knitting and Stitch Show 2008

Last weekend was the Knitting and Stitch Show at Alexandra Palace. It was a good show, lots of interesting yarns (Here's a few purchases)


Displays of the UK Hyperbolic crochet reef

Giant Knitting Needles (not sure what or why they were there but they looked good)

and a giant tea bag (celebrating 100 years of teabags, again not sure why at the show, but also looked interesting & big)
We had lunch outside, it was so hot more like the summer (which never happened this year) we even eat ice cream to cool down. A good day spent with friends and yarn.

Crocheted Tape/ Bruge Lace Scarf

I received my copy of crochet-a-day 2009 calendar this week, it has my tape lace (also called Bruge Lace) Scarf pattern in it (31st August)

Bruge lace is from Belgian, the town Bruges, it is made with bobbins and thread. I used to make bobbin laces (there are lots of different types) and only remembered yesterday I still had a bruge lace project on my lace pillow (the pillow is the base you make your lace on) I have not touched for about 10 years :( (the photo below)

Needle workers copied the Bruge style laces and this is called tape lace. Crocheters also copied Bruge and tape style laces and it is called crocheted tape or crocheted bruge lace.

(I normally make my own patterns but I loved this designers work, I can not remember the book this little mouse came from or where I have put the book? so I can not tell you the designers name. I really must finish this soon!!)

Iknit Day featuring the Yarn Harlot

Saturday was the long awaited IKnit Day at the Royal Horticultural Halls & Conference Centre, Victoria, London. We arrived to a long queue of people all excited to get inside to buy, play and look at yarn.

We only waited a few minutes and entered to find stalls of yarn no paper crafts here (or scarf pins, shoes, handbags......I hate going to yarn/ stitch shows that turn out to have a few vendors selling yarn and lots of non yarn related stuff.........) there was lots of interesting things to see as well as buy.

We rested in between shopping and watched the "a Stitch in Time" fashion show, garments were from Jane Waller's A Stitch in Time: Vintage Knitting Patterns book

There were several fashion shows (Maggiknits, Erika knight) , workshops (I don't manage to get to any) poetry, book signings and comedy plus Stephanie Pearl-McPhee aka the Yarn Harlot (It was an extra £5.00 on the ticket price to see the Yarn Harlot but well worth it)

It was interesting to hear Stephanie Pearl-McPhee speak, in future when I read her blog I will hear her voice in my head. She spoke as she writes, very natural and funny. The time went very quickly. After she signed copies of her books, guess who don't remember to bring any books to get signed.......:(
I had coffee with friends and we compared buys than off home to play with my new yummy yarns.

International Jewellery London 2008

This week I attended the International Jewellery London 2008 at Earl Court 2.

I like this event its a time to stock up, make contacts and see the trends for the future year.
White metal dominated Silver for the lower market and for the higher quality market white gold and platinum.

Fancy cut Diamonds and mini super sparkly diamonds chips in black, yellow and champagne where everywhere. This will be interesting to see how the high street takes this trend, maybe mini crystals?
There was lots colour and a wide range of different gems, last years murano glass trend seems to have evolved into the use of real gemstones.

Freshwater pearls in every shape where available plus the prices seemed cheaper and the quality seemed higher than previous years (which is good for me and my new range of sterling silver, gem & pearl stitch markers)
The charm bracelet was still popular with many more individual component style companies .
I noticed many beaded necklaces were stung using silver coloured silk threads to give a look of metal without the weight and making the necklaces very fluid. In contrast I also saw some beautiful french wire wrapped pieces with very delicate wire, beads and crystals in organic shapes that can be shaped to the neck with stunning effect.

Weather Flowers

I don't know what these pretty pink (we also have white ones, they started off pink and just turned white) flowers are called?

We call them weather flowers because when its sunny they open up

but when it is going to rain they close

My Ticket Has Arrived : )

My golden ticket for the IKnit Day featuring Stephanie Pearl-McPhee aka Yarn Harlot arrived. Now to start saving my money and keep my ticket safe till 6th September

Rhubarb

My dad picked some rhubarb from the garden today, so I turned it into a rhubarb and strawberry pie and very tasty it was too.

The recipe for this pie is on my other blog (posted July last year), you will notice there are no finished photos on last years pie as it was eaten while I went to fetch my camera..............