Hobbycraft Update and A Graduation or Two!

Phew! I don't seem to have had any time to think just lately and when I have had time I'm just too shattered to do anything!  Sound familiar?  Thought it might!

This post is going to be a bit early for Handmade Monday so I will link up to you guys in a few days time  (I've done it now so why not pop over to see what all the other lovely crafters have been up to) but if I don't get it done now I shall miss yet another week.  So much to say, but so little time to write it down!

This weekend we have our younger daughter and boyfriend coming to stay and we have friends coming for a meal this evening so I have been running around making everything just so!!! (As we do!)  I actually made meringue for a pavlova this morning, they were cooking by 8.30am!! I was very impressed with myself. Not sure how they will turn out though, they look ok but the taste test will determine it!  I'll let you know :)

Anyway, thank you all again for your comments on my last post I shall try and answer each comment individually this time as I think I have been neglecting you all.

Hobbycraft

Ok now to Hobbycraft!  It was last sunday when I went in, you may remember that was one of our first real days of sunshine!  Chester really did arrive in style.

Safety belt on - ready to go

Here he is about to leave, he has his safety belt on but I think he looks a little uncertain!

Chester arrives safely!

He needn't have worried, he arrived in plenty of time!  I followed him down (I couldn't fit him in my car with all the other bits and pieces!) which was great as I was able to see the looks on people's faces when he drove by.  I heard one little boy say to his dad "Look at that huge ..." he wasn't quite sure what to call it and I'm not sure his dad would have believed him anyway unless he saw it for himself!  I could see a lot of pointing and gesticulating from people and Chester certainly turned many heads!

Chester had a great view across the store, watching everyone coming and going.  He was sitting on a perfect chair, one of those tall bar stools.  I was very cheeky and borrowed it from some great guys at Willow Kitchens, Bathrooms and Bedrooms who have a store just around the corner.  They thought it was fantastic when I explained how I had made him and the size of the hooks I was selling!!!!!! Innuendoes came spilling out!!!!!!  A big thank you to these guys, they made Chester very comfy!

Here is Tina, the lovely lady, who made all this possible.  I think she was explaining about the store to Chester?!!

I had two tables this size, one I used to display the yarn, the hooks and the items you could make and the other (which unfortunately I don't seem to have a picture of) for demonstrating where people could sit and have a go with the Jumbo hooks and yarn.

Did you spot Taffy perched on top of the yarn?  I couldn't leave him behind, he would have felt so left out!

As you can see it's a fantastic store!  You can just pick out Tina and me having a chat with Chester in pride of place.  I met some really lovely people, the staff were all so helpful and eager to learn about what I was demonstrating and they all fell in love with Chester.  I sold some yarn and hooks and also received bookings for my workshops (Introduction to Crochet is proving very popular, only a couple of spaces left on this one!).  A brilliant day and a BIG thank you to everyone who made it happen :)

And finally!

A very proud mum and dad showing off their eldest daughter's graduation!

And just so the youngest one doesn't feel left out - this was last year at our youngest daughter's graduation!

Very proud of both of them and of course the boyfriends too!

Have a good week!  Hope the sun keeps shining :)

Bye 

x

Hobbycraft

Hello everyone

Time for another Handmade Monday!  I think each week that I have plenty of time to get prepared for the next one, only to find they come tapping you on the back far quicker than you imagine!

Thank you for to those of you who commented last week on A Kidsilk Haze Experience.  The shopping trip was not very successful although I did find a decent bra! (whispers quietly so only ladies hear!) I think you'll know what I mean, finding one that fits is like looking for a needle in a haystack!  We found that within the first half hour but unfortunately it went down hill from there. Although, it was lovely to spend a complete day with the youngest of my lovely daughters :)

Hobbycraft

Well, I may have mentioned this before but it is getting closer now so thought I'd do a quick post about it.

We have a new Hobbycraft Store opening very near to us, so in this neck of the woods it is quite exciting as our nearest store would be Bristol, about an hour and a half away.

It is due to open on Thursday 19th July and over the weekend various activities will be taking place in store.

Where does Fiddly Fingers come in?  On the Sunday I will have my own bit of space in the store from which to promote my workshops and sell my huge balls of yarn and huge hooks.  I'm rather excited as it will mean a ready made audience of like minded crafters.

I am busy getting ready at the moment. Made the gloves that you saw last week for the display and am just starting a slouchy hat from the same book in Rowan Cocoon an 80% merino wool and 20% kid mohair blend.  It's wonderfully soft.  I'm making signs for Fiddly Fingers so people know who I am and signs to let everyone know what workshops I'm doing. If anyone here is interested you can find them all on the Workshops page.  I need to wind some more balls of wool as well, it's so difficult to know how many to take with me.  All this and I'm still not sure what size space I will have which makes it all the more difficult to plan.  Oooh and of course Chester will be coming with me!  He will be the star of the show, I'm sure!

I'm also going to run some workshops in store over the coming months.  Not sure what they will be yet, but what a great opportunity!  Probably will run them for about 2 hours at a time.  Any suggestions on what we could make? Can be crochet or crafts of any kind really but I would like people to be able to achieve something to take home with them within that 2 hours.

I'll update you next week with a few pictures and let you know how I get on.  I may be a bit late posting on Handmade Monday next week but I'll do my best, so don't forget to wait for me!!!

Off to my eldest daughter's graduation tomorrow so may have a picture or two for you.

Hope you all have a very good week, I can see a bit of sunshine outside now so I'm going to make the most of it.  Bye for now!  See you soon.

A Kidsilk Haze Experience!

Hello

I'll try and make this a quick post as I'm off to stay overnight with my youngest daughter so we can  get an early start shopping tomorrow!  It is my eldest daughter's graduation next week and I need something to wear!

Thank you to all of you for your comments on last week's post So Much Going On.  Kendal is doing fine, sat here happily watching the tennis with Maisy.  Taffy and Chester are not quite so interested in it!  I'm going to try and make an origami tea light holder with my silk paper (when I get around to it) so watch this space!

Pottery workshop

This week I have been to a Pottery workshop.  I was really pleased to be able to have a go on a wheel, which was not quite as scary as I had thought it would be!  We also made some terracotta items using coils.  It may be a few weeks before I can show you the results of these.  Here is a picture of my attempt on the wheel though, but unfortunately as we had only one session we couldn't keep these :(

Not bad for a first attempt I thought!

Lacy gloves

Over these last few weeks I have been busy making some fancy gloves using Rowan Kidsilk Haze.  I am going to be demonstrating crochet at the opening of the new Hobbycraft Store in Kingsteignton!  I'm really looking forward to it.  I have used a pattern from the book love...Crochet by Carol Meldrum.  A pair of lacy fingerless gloves using Rowan's Kidsilk Haze.  It's been very interesting using the Kidsilk Haze, it's so light and floaty.  It takes a bit of getting used to as it feels so delicate you start by treating it very gently.  It is only after a while when you get the feel for it that you realise it is actually quite strong and you can work it a little harder.  You can take it out if you make a mistake, but I found you had to do it very gently, stitch by stitch.  I have to admit, I couldn't see what all the fuss was about before I used it but now I would definitely like to crochet something else with it.  I think I'm sold!

Here are the gloves without the lacy bits (can't turn photo round I'm afraid)

This is the first row of the lacy bit (it's turned the photo round again!!)

Although the gloves look very lacy and fine they are comfortably warm on your hands.

And the finished article!

Has anyone else used Kidsilk haze? What patterns have you used? What did you think of it? What is it like to wear?  Does it bobble?

I think the next item I have been asked to do is a slouchy hat, but this will have to wait until next week as I haven't got the yarn yet!

Well, I'm off up the motorway to Gloucester now, so I'll see you all over on Handmade Monday tomorrow evening.  I have a felting workshop and a clay sculpture workshop coming up next week, the last of the freebies.  It really is great having all these opportunities to 'play'.  It doesn't happen very often!  

See you all soon x

PS - Just out of interest, does anyone know why occasionally pictures turn around of their own accord when you add them to a blog post!  Is there any way of preventing this?

So much going on!

Hi everyone

Yet another week gone by!  I've had a rather good week, work went well at the beginning, Wednesday I went to a free Silk Paper Making Workshop and then on Thursday we went to stay with our daughter and her boyfriend as it was her birthday and had a night in a hotel near Stratford upon Avon on Friday as it was my OH's birthday. Came home on Saturday and had a Chinese with our other daughter and her boyfriend! :)

Last week's post!

Firstly I must thank you all for your fantastic comments on Koala, last week's post. Especially Wendy and Mythillogical for their wonderful suggestions.  There were so many great ideas but one name was perfect from the first time I read it.  I have decided to call him Kendal.  I was so grateful for all your suggestions, I really couldn't have done it without you.  So an enormous thank you from Kendal and me :)

Silk Paper Making

Thought you may like to see what I was up to on Wednesday evening.

These are the 3 sheets of silk paper I made at a free workshop held to mark the opening of our new library and local Adult and Community Learning Centre now to be known as the Passmore Edwards Centre.

Lots of beautiful silk threads laid together and then 'glued' with a special paste.  These can now be used for anything that takes your fancy.  They can be stitched by hand or  machine and embellished as you see fit.  I may try and make a tea light holder with mine, when I eventually get around to it!
Anna Brindley was the lady with all the expertise on the evening and I have to say I am really looking forward to doing a felt making workshop with her later this week.

A Rainbow of Crafts Challenge

I was also very pleased to find that Chester was a runner up in The Crafty Network - A Rainbow of Crafts Challenge.  This is fantastic news as, to be honest, I had forgotten I had entered him and because we were away over the weekend I didn't get around to advertising this fact until right at the last minute.  There were some really pretty entries this time so a big thank you to everyone who voted for him, he was very proud of his position of 'runner up'.

Liebster Award

One last thing!  A few days ago I had a lovely surprise!  I have very kindly been nominated for the Liebster Award by Kat Shenton of With u in Mind.  A big thank you to Kat :)  I will be posting about this when I have got my head around it!!!

Well I am now about to link up with Handmade Monday and Wendy over at Handmade Harbour, but as I need to get some crocheting done for something a little exciting, which I will tell you about in another post nearer the time, I shall have to have a look at all your blogs tomorrow evening.

Hope you all have a good week, see you soon!

Koala

Hi there

I'm running very late this week, as you have probably noticed.  Just turned my computer on to find that lots of you have already posted on Handmade Monday, I will sit down this evening and have a catch up.

I was cooking a roast for a pre football dinner last night and of course then there was the football.  Not that I am a fan but when food, drink (just a little of course, it would be rude not to!!) and a get together with friends are involved, it just has to be done!  We had a good evening though, despite England losing (although with my very limited knowledge of football I personally didn't think we deserved to win!)

I'm sat outside waiting for the sunshine to come out, probably my fault it's not though, as I put a skirt on today, first time for weeks, in the hope of catching a few rays on my lily white legs!!  But it does mean I can actually see the computer screen, I suppose!!

Maisy


I must thank you all for your comments on last week's post!  I'm really pleased you all liked Maisy and I have to admit I had wondered about a Jumbo version just like some of you did!  But it was only a passing thought for now!!!!  It seems as though everyone likes the sound of Jumbo crochet and I agree with you it does sound a lot more friendly and like you said "It does what it says on the tin" :)  I had a good few laughs reading your comments, thank you so much!! Keep 'em comin'! :)

Koala

I have been messing about again this week and found a rather cute pattern for a little koala so thought I'd have a go.

I crocheted him in Sirdar Blur as I thought he would look nice slightly fluffy.

Here he is next to my mug of tea so you can get a sense of scale, looks like he's giving you a little wave in this photo!!  He doesn't have a name yet!  Anyone got any suggestions?  I'll let you know what I've decided next week.

I've also been trying to come up with ideas for the Textured Crochet Workshop I have coming up in the Autumn.  I'm intending us to have a go at as many heavily textured stitches as we can find.  If anyone has any favourites please pass them on to me.

Here is the beginning of a popcorn square and I'm afraid that's as far as I got yesterday.  So when I have finished writing this blog, I shall carry on.

Rather than just churn out samples my idea was to make these samples into a bag or a basket come the end.  Perhaps a bag with 4 different stitch squares on each side, at least then you have something useful after all your efforts.  Or maybe a basket with 6 squares sewn together to make the edge and a spiral base.  A bit like the granny square bowl I made a while ago.

Ok, that's it for this week, I'm going to carry on with my squares now and I shall sit down this evening and have a relaxing browse through all your lovely blogs over on Handmade Monday.  Can't wait to see what names you come up with for 'Koala'!

Thank you for reading folks, see you later :) x

Maisy the Elephant

Hello Everyone!

Have we all got webbed feet then!  I've given up wishing for sunshine! Hope you've all had a fun and productive week.  I've had a bit of a break from the Jumbo crochet (not to be called extreme crochet anymore! I'll explain in a mo!) this week and decided to do something just for me.

I came across a gorgeous little crochet pattern for a tiny elephant. The pattern was designed by Sharon Ojala.  Her elephant was called Gracie but I decided to call mine Maisy.  She has two or three blogs and is on facebook too.  Here is the link to Sharon's blog Homemade Obsessions.

Below are the components that made up Maisy.  I put them on facebook with a caption "Can ya see what it is yet".  It brought a few smiles to people's faces!!!  I can't think why though!

I then added a few more bits to help people guess.  Although by the lack of guesses I had, I don't think it helped much!

Allow me to introduce you to Maisy!

Here she is all finished!

Maisy was made using a 1.5mm hook and cotton thread. She is about 3.5" tall.

Sharon's blog has some cute amigurumi patterns, I think I may have to try a few more!  She makes them available completely free of charge, just requesting that you credit her for the patterns if you use them.  A big thank you to Sharon for this and just to say, she was really taken with Chester and sent a lot of people my way to have a look at him, which I appreciated greatly!  Thank you :)

Jumbo Crochet

Well you may wonder about the change of name for all this enormous crochet I have been doing.  I wont mention any names but I came across someone else doing big crochet recently.  I thought extreme crochet was just a generic term for the extreme stuff, but it appears not!  So as I don't wish to step on anyone's toes I have decided to refer to mine as Jumbo Crochet which I actually think describes it more accurately.  What do you think?

Crochet Workshops

Also just to keep you in the picture Fiddly Fingers has now confirmed dates for September, October and November crochet workshops!  The workshops will be held down here in Devon and will be Introduction to Crochet, Textured Crochet, Jumbo Crochet and a Knitted Wire Brooch workshop.  I will put all the information together as soon as I can and add it to the Workshop page of my blog but in the meantime if anyone is interested please get in touch.

Ok, that's all for now folks!  I hope you have a really good week and I am now looking forward to browsing the wonderful things that all the lovely crafters have made over at