Cogs the Mouse

Got my new batch of swatch samples this week still waiting for 1 final batch, its so exciting to see if they have printed correctly or not (so far its been good). Was very happy as this batch as it contained my new cut and sew little mouse patterns. I hand sewed this 1st mouse "Cogs". I may adjust his tail a little (add more seam allowance) but I am very happy with the outcome. Now to make his friend "Dandelion"

Spoonflower Contest

Spoonflower Mid-Century Cocktail Dress Prints Fabric Contest

Here's the brief for this contest from spoonflower - "The costume designer from one of our local theatres, the Cary Players, is looking for a print to use for a vintage pattern cocktail dress in an upcoming production of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. To help them out -- and because it's such a fun theme -- we're asking designers to come up with a print for a mid-20th century cocktail dress. Entries will be previewed at the scale of a swatch (8" x 8")"

So here's my entry for this week's contest, with an idea of how the fabric could be used for the a cocktail dress. Check out this weeks contest there are lots of great entry's :) 

Not forgetting NezumiWorld.com I have been adding some new pages including a new free chart Cogs & Gears, a little bit of steampunk Chart can be used for filet crochet, beading, fairisle, cross stitch.

New fabric design samples

Very happy got the first of a new batch of fabric proofs yesterday, Spoonflower recently changed their colour profile for printing, this is a good thing as hopefully there will be better reds and fabrics should print more like those on screen, but it also means that some old colours may now print differently. So far this batch have printed to the colours I was hoping. Two more batches to arrive soon so fingers crossed they will be OK as well :)

Viking Knitting

Been doing a little bit of viking knitting this week, its not really knitting more a weaving technique that looks like knitting. I usually use very thin wire (0.2mm/ 28 gauge) and twist the strands together to make a rope or plait, but this pretty purple thicker wire (0.6mm/ 22 gauge) had been sitting in my workbox for far to long and needed something nice to be created with it and was just flexible enough to work with although my finger are not so happy just now. I made the results into a bracelet with the help of some end cones and a T-bar clasp.

Eurovision 2012

EEEEkkk! time to come out of hibernation and back to the blog :)
Last night was Eurovision and this year it seems to have gone back to its crazy mix of slow, fast and just mad tunes with lyrics that make little sense, but that's why we love it :) The winner was Sweden: Loreen - Euphoria which was a good dance track although I really wanted the cute Russian grannies to win with Buranovskiye Babushki - Party For Everybody

Sweden's winning entry


Russias entry

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

A Happy New Year 2012 to everyone filled with lots of yarn and creativity
 

And to get the year started I am planning a test design-a-long beginning with very simple fingerless gloves for knitters or crocheters (or both!) approx. start time is 22nd January 2012 I will list the details very soon :)

Yummy Tomatoes

Back in March we bought some seed pots, tomatoes and strawberries in April we started growing them and watched as in late May the seedlings grow big enough to be replanted. 

Lots of little tomatoes plants (the strawberries grew but it was a little late for them so hopefully next year for them) were replanted, it took until August for the yellow flowers to appear and a storm then knocked them over but with the help of lots of sticks they were straightened up and keep growing and they are still growing and producing lots of little cherry tomatoes even now at the end of November. The top photo shows our lastest bowl :)

Flowerbird Fabric Collection

I finished making the 1st of the little flowerbirds I posted about a few weeks ago, plus now the rest of the matching fabric samples have arrived. The finished bird is a silk & cotton mix fabric, its very soft and has a nice shiny surface. All the other samples are 100% cotton I will make another bird up to see how it feels in the cotton. The main different between the fabrics so far has been the colour the silk mix is slightly paler but the shine of the fabric also brings out a aqua tint in the blue. The cotton print is much crisper and the colour stronger also the cotton has a more matte finish. I am going to have a play with the samples to see what else I can make. :)

International Jewellery London 2011

Last week I attended the International Jewellery London 2011 at Earl Court 2.
I enjoy this trade show, Its good to see the new trends for the future year. 

From what I saw there the big trends are - 

Silver and white metals - silver was everywhere, big chunky statement pieces to delicate findings holding an assortment of gemstones, lots of different types of silver chains, some of the more expensive ranges had white gold and platinum keeping with the white metal trend. 

Pearls in all shapes and sizes, classic to fancy coins, hearts, crosses irregular shaped, even the cheaper ranges had freshwater pearls mixed in with coloured glass. 

Colour lots of strong colours - deep purples, all types of pinks, deep greens, teals all reflecting the colour trends for the coming months in fashion/ clothing.

There were still charms and individual bead style components.

Vintage pieces were popular and this saw some gold with aged finishes, very delicate again mixed with pretty gem stones and cabochon cut stones.

Long-chain necklaces and pendant style charm necklaces, some with vintage style beads and gems but updated with leather & rubber woven into the chain giving a more updated punk style, some were very steampunk inspired. There were very shiny modern charm necklaces.

Lots of cuffs very big and chunky some had decorate cutouts in the metal others were adorned with lots of crystals and stones. Fabric cuffs also.

Macrame friendship style bracelets with embossed patterned beads. I also saw little bits of fur some real :( and some fun-fun in bright colours :)

It will be interesting to see what appears in the shops in the coming months.

International Crochet Day 2011

Today 12th September 2011 is International Crochet Day, last year I designed a couple of free crochet bookmark patterns and I decided this year to add the open heart bookmark. If you do make it, it would be great if you could post your blog-link or photo link of your finished bookmark. Or you could make it into a scarf if you make it with a thicker yarn, maybe a trimming or applique : ).
INSTRUCTIONS:
Starting at bottom of pattern chain 10.
Chain 3 more and turn (these 3 chains will count as first double crochet USA/ treble crochet UK of first
row), double crochet USA/ treble crochet UK into the 5th chain from the hook,.double crochet USA/ treble crochet UK  in next 2 chains to complete bottom right solid square of row 1. Continue following pattern for first row reading pattern right to left.

Continue following pattern until row 60 is complete.

MATERIALS (based on crochet cotton size):
Using Crochet Cotton no. 20: about 60 meters, steel crochet hook 1.15mm/ US size 9 or SIZE FOR GAUGE/ YARN
APPROXIMATE FINISHED SIZES:
Using Crochet Cotton size 20: width = 6.1 cm, height = 36.6 cm (metre)
Using Crochet Cotton size 20: width = 2.4 inches, height = 14.4 inches (Inches)

Here's the graph on the left, do you like the new colour I have filled the graph squares with? Do you find it easier to follow or prefer the black and grey graphs?

On the right is the bookmark using crochet symbols, sorry I could not make it bigger here, Hopefully when I get time I will make this a pdf file and add it to ravelry.com.
Whichever you follow the graph or the symbols please start at the bottom and work your way up :)

Happy Crocheting

Spoonflower Birds (palette-limited) Fabric Contest

Here's my latest entry for Spoonflowers - Birds limited palete (only 4 colours allowed) Fabric Contest
my "Patchwork Flower Birds" I am also making a little 3D version of one of the birds to store my crochet hooks, they will rest on its back between the wings :) I'll post it when I have sewn it up.

Two Owls and a Pussycat

Both July and August have gone by so fast, as I am in-between teaching jobs (they start again in September) I had planned lots of projects to finish and to add more to the website, back-up the data on my computer, start some new knit and crochet patterns, design more fabric prints and order them for proofing.

I did somethings on my list and it was lucky I started first with backing-up my computer as a nasty virus (I do have a firewall and up-to-date virus software which was useless) took less than 3 seconds to mess up my computer. I tried lots to sort it out (4-5 weeks of trying something everyday) but in the end there was only one solution I have had to wipe it clean back to factory settings and reload (when I found them and remembered there passwords) all the software back on again, which has taken so much time and I still have a few things to find and reload but I am nearly there and am feeling so lucky I had backed up all my files.I recommend everyone does this at least once a month I will in future.
I did start writing up the new knit and crochet patterns and begin new stuff but it will take time before I had them to the website, as even with the back-up files I now need to sort them out. I did manage to proof a few of the fabric prints, this ones for cut and sew soft toy owls, they are printed on a fat quarter of fabric.Small enough to hand sew, but I would recommend not chatting on the phone and sewing or like me push the wrong end of the needle into your thumb OUCH!
A neighbours cat popped into the garden and posed with the owls when I photographing them, its like he knew how to pose in the right place.
The smaller owl I entered into Spoonflower.com latest contest  "Plushie Pattern Fabric Contest" its interesting to see how many cut and sew toy patterns are available.

PS. Any votes would be greatly appreciated, "Thank you" :)

Free Swatch at Spoonflower

Spoonflower's Third Annual Free Swatch Day Starts Thursday, Aug. 18th, 2011

Get a single free, custom fabric swatch for 24 hours between
noon EST on Thursday, August 18, and noon EST on Friday, August 19 shipping of the swatch is free, too. Check their site for full details.

Purses

I decided it was safer to stay in at the start of the week due to the madness that spread across London and cities in England.
I had a few purse frames that I was keeping until I had some time to play with them, I  decided on hand sewing which was very relaxing, I used some of my fabric samples the floating coins and purple dandelion. 
I made a purse and glasses case (or it may end up as a crochet hook case)
I had to glue the fabric into the frame, I have not made a purse for years I forgot about this tricky stage I managed to stick the correct bits to the purse frame (and not parts of me)so it all went well in the end.

Now onto my crocheted purses they have sew in frames but take a little longer to make : )

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.