Happy New Year!

Where does time go?  I can't believe I haven't been on here since October!!!!  I suppose the one good thing about my absence is that it was for a very good reason - I have just been so incredibly busy crafting!

Do you like the rainbow hearts at the top of this post, they are only 1 cm tall and mounted on tiny buttons - this has been the start of my foray into micro crochet, basically crocheting with sewing thread and a 0.5mm hook.  I have to wear magnifying glasses and it is very fiddly but so much fun.  This is definitely something I want to do more of in 2016.

I returned to curtain making as well!  I have a lovely friend who is slowly re curtaining her whole house.  We started in her sons room with the batman curtains.  I was amazed to find the cheapest way to do this was to buy 2 sets of curtains from America and then line and curtain tape them as they were very flimsy and had just a pole gap to hang them.  She was so pleased that we straight away progressed to her room with beautiful fully black out lined purple curtains.  I am now waiting to hear from her again to see what she has decided to have in her living room. More work = happy me!

I ran a beginner crochet workshop in November for three generations of the same family.  Grandma had crocheted in the past but hadn't picked up a hook in many years, mum and daughter were complete beginners.  By the end of the 2 hour session everyone had a few rows of crochet complete!  If you are interested in coming to a workshop or having private lessons then please do get in touch, I can do evenings or weekends to suit whatever your needs are.

Another new skill I acquired was in collar making.  I was approached by an acquaintance of a friend as she wanted a collar for a dress.  She had an old crochet brooch which she wanted me to match up the colouring on and the design.  So I sat down one evening and pondered

After a few goes at different designs I finally settled on what I was happy with, sadly I forgot to take a photo of the absolute finished article, but here it is as I blocked it without the button in the centre front. I blocked the original brooch for the customer too.....

I decided to do a craft fair at the beginning of December, it was all quite last minute, but it turned out to be the best one I had every done!  I also came home with pages of orders to complete, which I was doing right up to the 10th December.  Here are some of the bits that I sold.

 Christmas Wreath, this was made using a poinsettia pattern that you can find here.

 

Snowflakes that I made into individual tree hangings and a garland. Sadly I can't find where I downloaded this pattern from - sorry.

 

Bottle toppers, I also did Santa's and angels to put on your wine bottles!

I made up the pattern for these Christmas tree ornaments, I have started to write this pattern up, now it just needs finishing and publishing, maybe in time for next Christmas!

 

 

These little mice standing about 6 cm tall were a favourite that I made lots of.  You can purchase the pattern here, check out all the other lovely patterns this lady has too, they really are gorgeous.

 

This tea set is another of my own designs, you can buy the pattern here, I actually managed to get this pattern done before Christmas!  The whole tea set can be kept safe as the table cloth has a drawstring to make it into a little bag!

Another new skill I learnt was how to block a tapestry and insert it into a cushion.  There is a lady in a local nursing home who keeps herself busy with tapestries and likes them making into cushions to give as presents, she kept me very busy before Christmas:

learning to block.

The first cushion.

The second and Third!!!!! Aren't they beautiful!

My daughter was so inspired that she made one for her cousin for Christmas, I was really impressed that she managed to do the whole tapestry in just 4 weeks....

 

Over Christmas it was time to go outside and get the screwdriver out to make my birthday present, this is hopefully something that might get me doing some more gardening this year....

It's called a maxi manger and the soil that goes in it, sits about waist height, which I should be able to manage with my reduced flexibility and mobility!! I have got a cover that goes over the hoops so it should also mean I can grow some vegetables without the local cats being able to get in and use it as a cat litter tray!  I am thinking of starting off with the plastic cover on and growing some bedding plants from seed before taking those out and planting some veg, big ideas, lets see if they actually happen :o).

So that brings me up to date, this is my current work in progress.  It is made from recycled cotton yarn that I purchased at Yarndale last year.  It is the 4th attempt, I started with knitting it then granny squaring and now I am working in these stripes and am finally happy, I'm making the pattern up as I go along and will you show you in the next post what it is (if it actually works!!).

So I wander what crafty projects you have been up to, I would love to see pictures or links to your projects in the comments.  Thanks for dropping by.

Happy Crafting,    Jane xxxxx