The Tor Glastonbury

Some photos from last weeks trip to Glastonbury.
This is a good uphill walk (lots of steps) and it was worth it for the excellent views at the top. It was a really hot day and it would have been a good idea to bring a bottle of water! I brought an empty one so I could fill it up with the spring water near the base of the Tor (on the other side) I post those photos later in the week.


This is The Tor a hill topped by the roofless St Michael's Tower which dates to the 14th century. The slopes of the hill are terraced, but the method in which they were formed remains unexplained. Items have been found, dating back to the Iron Age.

The Tor is mentioned in Celtic mythology and is often in myths linked to King Arthur.


The whole site is managed by the National Trust.

Stonehenge

Last week I got to see Stonehenge. I have wanted to see it for a very long time and it has been on my most see list since I was a child. There's something about standing stones, how they were moved and why they were placed the way they were that's fascinating.
Here are some of my photos :)

Spoonflower - Free Shipping Day

Spoonflower are having a free Shipping Day from Monday 9am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) to Tuesday 9am (EDT) it's free shipping worldwide. So I am off to order some fabric :)

Backing Up

I keep saying I must back up my blogs, so today that's what I have been doing. If you have a blogger / blogspot account it's very easy, just go into your dashboard - choose Settings - then choose Other - finally click Export blog and save. That's it done. The file should save to your My Documents - Download File on your computer.

It's useful to also save your blogs template/ design. Again go to the dashboard - click the Template tab and click backup/ restore - Download Full Template. That's it just

repeat every month or so :)

Linen Moth Part 2

If you have made your flower from yesterdays symbol chart post, now you are ready to transform it into a moth.

You have make some yarn friendly moths. Add them to bags, hats, make into brooches or necklaces have fun and let me know how you use your moths :)

Linen Moths Part 1

This year I have been trying to encourage more crocheters to read symbol charts. They are easy to follow once you know what the symbols are and tend to have less mistakes. Spring also sees the return of moths, I have been busy making little lavender bags (to put in with my yarn) when I got the idea to make some moths. I do like moths but outdoors and nowhere near my yarn. This is a moth/ or flower pattern I designed a few years ago for a crochet class.
This moth pattern uses 3 stitches

Slip Stitch 



Chain Stitch



Treble Crochet (UK)/ Double Crochet (USA)



I used 2 ply 100% linen yarn from Namolio for the moths. The linen comes in tons of colours all stunning, its one of the nicest linens I have tried. But the pattern works well in most yarns (make sure you use the correct size hook to match the yarn/ thread/ wire you choose) I have even tried 0.2mm wire (it took  approx. 11 metres of wire).

Leave a 10cm/ 4inch tail of yarn (for one of the antenna) Follow the chart and you will end up with this pretty flower, you are now ready to make your moth. I will post Part 2 tomorrow. Update: Click Here's for part 2

Bees

Spoonflower's latest design contest is called Bees. I had to enter this one. I love bees and could watch them buzzing around flowers all day the noise is so relaxing. They are so important pollinating over 80% of all fruit, vegetable and seed crops, without bees the cost of pollinating food would be so expensive many of our favourites may no longer be produced like broccoli, cucumbers, pumpkins, blueberries, watermelons, apples, cranberries, and cherries, almonds. Plus they make both honey and beeswax. Bees are decreasing so plant a few flowers for them in your garden.
The brief for this weeks contest was "Create a bee-inspired design to be previewed at the fat quarter size (21" x 18"). Deadline for entry is Tuesday, April 21st. Voting will open on Thursday, April 23rd" Here's my design called Bees Together, it matches my filet crochet chart on my website (its a free chart) called Here Come The Bees.
To see this weeks entries and vote for the designs you like the link is below. There is no need to sign in and you can vote for as many as you choose.
http://www.spoonflower.com/contest_voters_temp/new?contest_id=300
I am looking forward to seeing all the other entries.