Little Barn Owl Cut & Sew Bag

My "Little Barn Owl Cut & Sew Bag/ s" fabric arrived today so I spent the day cutting and making the bag :)



I used my cheap-O mini sewing matching, great for quick projects.
The fabric has a reversible project bag, scissor keeper, pin cushion, pockets. I decided to cut new linings and use the printed lining as a bag also, so I have 2 bags that match.

It was good to see the design/ pattern worked. I had made a little demo bag (approx. 5th scale) in calico before designing the full scale bag, but you never really know if the pattern and seams will all match until you test the printed fabric design. I will post the other bag design in the next post.

New Swatches

Yesterday I got my new fabric swatches from spoonflower.com  it takes about 3 weeks (because I am the UK) from order/ printing & shipping. When you open the package the fabric is nicely wrapped in tissue paper and the person who has packed it always adds thank you and their name to the invoice, a nice personal touch. I get a batch of swatches printed together (its also cheaper than getting them done singly) you have to proof them before approving them for sale, I never really know if the prints will be the right colour until I see the samples as what looks good on a computer screen sometimes looks totally different when printed, it can even look flat or if the detail is clear, again ink will blur when printed on fabric so detail and colours can mix to much. I am happy with this batch ( the last batch had a few I had to totally redo) A lot of my designs seem to have owls or cogs/ gears or both. It even seem's to be crossing over to the crochet I have been working on lately (while waiting for my next fabric to arrive a preprinted cut out and sew craft project bag) but that's for another post : )

Knit Nation 2011

Last Saturday I spent a relaxing day at knit nation's marketplace. Touching yarn, chatting to suppliers, renewing magazine subscriptions, buying a few goodies.
Habu Textiles had beautiful copper and bamboo yarn perfect for the crocheted jewellery I have been making, I love the colour and glimmer.
And at last I got hold of some knitpiks yarn now to start some crocheted socks : )
A soft skien of Misti alpaca (I just loved the colour and feel it may become a scarf or gloves) and some Manos silk blend in a beautiful sea blue and green mix, which I may knit into a lace shawl, for a change.
Now to have fun experimenting with my new yarn :)

Summer Porridge

  
One great thing about summer, now its here (the usual sun one minute rain the next)  is all the fresh fruit that's in season especially the  berries - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries all yummy and as they are in season much cheaper. 
At the weekend I like breakfast this week I made some porridge with nice chunky rolled oats (cooked with milk) a little honey and lots of tasty juicy berries, a great healthy flavoursome start to the day my favourite in summer.
Fuel to make me ready for my beaded projects, beaded crochet (some tunisian crochet) and beaded knitted bracelets and necklaces. I have even been remaking some can tab/ pull bracelets, I'll post some finished pieces at a later date, here's a few images of my hours and hours of stringing, its so much quicker to crochet the beads than string them. 
Plus I am not sure how but some beads always escape and end up in the carpet, the poor hover now sounds very unhappy.

I am still busy designing fabrics, I'm waiting for a new batch of samples, again I'll post when they arrive. Last week I was lucky I had a fabric that was just the right colour and subject matter (the competition had a limited colour palette and butterfly theme) so I entered my  "butterflies together" fabric (it matches my filet crochet chart "butterfly dance") into this weeks spoonflower competition if you like the fabric please vote for me, any votes would be greatly appreciated :)

Sales and Cupcakes

This has been a very busy month, so a little time to myself and some shopping (mostly window shopping, day-dreaming of what I will buy when I win the lottery) as it sale time again I took a visit to John Lewis and I broke my yarn diet (only a little), I decided in January I needed to use the yarn in my collection that tucked away in boxes and bags (hidden in the wardrobe) and could not buy anymore unless I had a plan and timescale to use it, plus I have no more room for storing. But feeling the nice soft  Mirasol Wachi 85% Pima Cotton & 15% silk which was only £2.95 a skein (and I do have a plan for it) plus Noro silk garden at £3.95 each I decided to make a small purchase. With a quick trip to the food hall and I found my bargain of the day half price cupcakes (well the yarn diet was broke so might as well have a naughty day) I got some cherry & geranium  which tasted a bit to floral for me, but other  family members liked them and lavender & lemon, I liked this one it reminded me of the violet sweets I eat when I was a child yummy.

Project Ocean

I was walking past Selfridges and saw their stunning new window displays for  "Project Ocean"

The windows will be on display until 12th June 2011, Selfridges has partnered with 20+ environmental and conservation groups. 

Celebrating the beauty of the ocean and highlighting the issues of over-fishing, which is scary to think of, no more fish, no longer been able to cook or eat fish (I love fish and have not eaten red meat for about 20 years)

Their large corner window is a dead sea coral installation (most of the photos I have put in this post) made from coral seized from illegal smugglers by customs officers. 
Beautiful but a sad reminder of how much  life we are losing from our oceans.

New Hook

Here's some photo's of my new Boye interchangeable thread hook set.
It has a hand carved Maple burl handle created by the talented hands of Jimbo check out his blog for more great hooks. The handle is very lightweight and a pretty grained wood, I find its a very comfortable hook to use. When I first got the hook I had injured by thumb and could not hold most of my hooks, but this one I could. I was able to use my index finder in the thumb grip and could crochet as normal. My thumb is now working again and I can use my hook as intended, but its good knowing I can hold the hook comfortably both ways.

Its also good not having to touch the metal of the hook, holding the wooden handle is much kinder on my hand, I have been doing a lot of thread work (tape crochet and filet) and beaded crochet usually I end up with a dent in my finger (anyone else have that problem?) when using my normal metal hooks but now all that has changed : ) no dents and happy fingers.






You can see the pretty grain in the wood in this photo.

Fabric samples and food

March was a very busy month and April is speeding by just as fast. I went to went to the Stitch & Craft Show in Olympia 2 I was very good and don't buy much (only 5 balls of yarn must be a record for me and a new crimping tool for my stitch marker making), well the reason I was good (sort of) was I bought a Boye interchangeable thread hook set with a hand carved Maple burl handle by the brilliant Jimbo the day before I went to the show I will photograph and post the set when it arrives.

I had also ordered more samples of the fabric prints I have been working on, they arrived this week and I was happy with most of them (some I need to adjust the colours) sorry I know a few people emailed about the 'here come the bees' and ladybird ladybird' prints I the 'butterfly dance' is OK) they were the ones I need to adjust. The ones I was happy with are now available on spoonflower. I am ordering larger pieces to make some cushions and bags to hold yarn (trying to be tidy) The owls will be sewn together to make lavender bags for the wardrobe (and put them in with the yarn) I will post the results and how they were made when I have got the larger pieces of fabric.

I have also had the cooking bug and made a few tasties for the family and even managed to add the recipes to the other blog.

I did manage to fit in some, knitting and crochet time  playing with tape yarn (again a future post when I have played more). I added a new filet chart to the main NezumiWorld.com site- decorated Easter eggs and have been very busy planning things for the coming months including more new filet charts, a line of stitch markers for crocheters and knitters plus getting things ready for some Crochet/ Knit-A-Longs even some Design-A-Longs but I post more about that when things are in place.

Bargain Hunter

I confess when I am in the supermarket I go to the reduced price section, I have limited funds so try to make them go further, plus I like tasty foods. A couple of days ago they had one of my favourite vegetables reduced - beetroot. My preferred method of cooking is to bake them. Its very simple with little effect- try not to damage the skin the juice will bleed out its also something to look for when buying that the skin is un-damaged. Gently rinse and trim off the stalks, wrap individually in squares of cooking foil sealing all edges (again you don't want beet juice everywhere), place on a baking tray. Cook in the oven for approximately 1 hour at 180C/ 356F /gas mark 4 the skin should peel easily when cooked. Unwrap and peel, some wear gloves for this as usual I forgot I now have red hands!. You could use the beetroot skins for dyeing yarn it produces beautiful shade of red to pink.
You can now use your cooked beetroot in soups, salads, even chocolate cake. I just sliced mine up and added a splash of vinegar with some chili flakes.
Talking of beetroot I was looking yesterday in Selfridges for the new baked and delicious magazine (which have not been able to find anywhere) and Petit Pois Cakes where launching their new healthy cupcake range which has half the calories and fat of ‘normal’ high-street cakes they are gluten and lactose free. They replace the butter with vegetables using grated pumpkin, courgette or beetroot.

Spoonflower Fabric

Got my sample print back from spoonflower.com I am really happy with the results, the colours have come out just as I hoped and I like the feel of the fabric (it is soft you cannot feel the dyes) I also ordered a colour guide and fabric samples. I plan to make some project bags with the fabric and cushion covers. I have ordered some more samples and larger lengths of fabric and will be adding extra designs soon.
If you have never visited the site take a trip there, they have so many great fabric prints to choose from and ideas of items to make. If you like designing they have weekly competitions to enter (I just entered the "Leprechauns Fabric Contest") If you prefer looking you can vote in the competitions and don't even need to sign up to do so.

46th Wedding Anniversary

A quick post for family and friends, my parents celebrated their 46th Wedding Anniversary this weekend. Mom had a very good day, she even walked with a little help and sat in a normal chair.










Celebrating with some cake and tea : )

Arts and Crafts in the Community

I recently did a couple of taster sessions (a knitting & crochet session and a colourful felting session) for BACES with Workshop24.

Workshop24 is a wonderful project from the empty shops network it is using an empty shop as a temporary, flexible and informal space. Running a variety of projects for people in the area to take part in for free. Its so good to see something the community can take part in and get people in the area together.

In January the knitting course (at the college) had a visit by a poet Niall O’Sullivan from the southkilburnspeaks project who are also using the shop at workshop24.

He chatted to the students while they knit and crocheted about their memories of the area old and new. We all discovered lots of information about the area. He developed a poem based on this visit "Adult Education"

 

Spoonflower - Rabbits and Carrots

Another one of my New Years Resolution's was to finally put some of my textiles designs onto Spoonflower (a fabric-on-demand printing service) Spoonflower prints using eco-friendly, water-based pigment inks on natural fiber textiles. No additional chemicals are used in the printing or preparation process. You can keep your designs private or make them available for sale (after ordering a test swatch to make sure the colours/ design are OK) There are lots of great designs, fabrics and ideas on their site it worth a visit.
I entered my Rabbit and Carrots print into there weekly contest (eek this weeks theme is "Year of the Rabbit") I read on their blog there are close to 250 bunny fabrics entered. I have ordered a test swatch for my rabbit print can't wait to see how it prints and feels.

I also added a filet crochet inspired heart print called "Little Hearts", it matches a large filet chart for a large cushion or small throw I designed last year, except this repeat pattern is really small and cute.

Valentine's is in the air

I have been busy designing both knitting & crochet patterns this month (one of my new years resolutions to finish and publish the patterns, I am trying to stick to some resolutions this year) plus I have been working on some textile prints (the textile prints are still in the early stages I'll post more as they develop)

I have had a little time to play also and with valentines coming I though I'd play with making some heart pompoms using a heart pompom maker (if its a gadget I have to buy it.......) to go with some little crocheted 3D hearts & larger roses (for a necklace) I am making. Can not say my heart pompom turned out very heart shaped but that's easily solved with a scissors I'll post the finished results soon.

Keeping with the valentines theme I have also added a new chart (can also be used for any square related craft) to the Nezumiworld main site it's a filet heart bookmark make with a thin cotton thread for a bookmark or a chunky yarn for a scarf.

Happy New Year 2011

Its goodbye to 2010 and Hello to 
A Very Happy New Year 2011 
 to everyone :)