Saturday, January 14, 2012

Crafting, Knitting, Crochet and Messing About.

Gosh, two blog entries! I thought I'd do a post on my various crafting exploits. For Christmas, I made my Granddaughter Kitty a 'Jessica' doll and I also made on for a lovely friend Beverley who lives in Batley, Yorkshire for her niece. Here are the two in question:



I ventured into purples for Kitty's doll.



Jim holds Kitty's Jessica for a photo!


Bev's niece's doll.

I also knitted quite a few pairs of slippers. See 'Knitting' below.



I belong to a great women's group called Milliande. We often have 'swaps' of all sorts of things. Before Christmas we did a 'witchel' swap and here is mine:

I adapted a cardboard cut out that I already had as I was short of time and it went off to Canada.

My latest swap with Milliande is for 'pins'. These are sort of little brooches with a maximum size of 2". Here are the 3 I've made so far:


This started out as a collage of all sorts of material on top of black felt. I think melted it with a heat gun and put some cellophane on top which I also melted! I found the lovely glass button and added that to the top and did some sewing in thick gold thread. It's quite funky I think!


This pin is a little collage of papers, tissue and a curtain screw! I then sewed with pink thread on the top and added beads and the other glass button I found.


This one is rather like a shield. The silver centre was a large earring which I straightened out and cut in half. Jim made holes in it so that I could sew it to the felt. The background is a bit more of the collage in the first brooch.

Finally, this little one is just one inch square!


I only have to make 3 so now I have one spare.

Crochet

I have finally learnt how to crochet - well, a little bit! Here is my first Grannie square:


Now I am crocheting a headband. I rather like the effect of the colours (lovely wool bought from WoollyGathering in Tuamgraney) and the spike stitch that goes over the row below. I haven't finished the headband yet!



Knitting

Bev wanted a pair of slippers for her Mum who has quite swollen feet, so I made a wide pair with a slit down the front and apparently she just loves them! Another pair went to my daughter and another to my sister in law Miranda. Here is the first pair I made:


I think my daughter K has this pair. I found the pattern online and adapted it for size. Jim and I have a pair too and they're really warm and comfortable if not a fashion statement!

I did finish Jim's jumper quite quickly. The sleeves were too long but I soon adjusted those and he wears it quite frequently. I haven't a photo of it on it's own but here is Jim wearing it. We (the knitting/crochet group) met up one day in a cafe in Killaloe. Jim knitted a square!


You can see Jim's sleeves turned up!! I was knitting a pair of socks. They still aren't finished because I was supposed to do 'Kitchener stitch' for the toes and still haven't done it.


Messing Around

I love recycling as you probably know and I have collected all sorts of attractive carrier bags. I found a magazine article on fusing them and had a play. Here is my first piece:


This is melted carrier bags plus a bit of wool and some stitching over the top. I called it '3 squares' and rather like it!


A close up of one section.

The second piece I made turned into a document wallet! I'm not sure how that happened. I lined it with dark hessian.


Front.


Back.


Close up of a section.

I had a lot of fun making these and still have lots of bags left!

I think that's enough for now. I haven't mentioned all the beads I made or the dozens of key rings and fingerless gloves I've knitted....

Until next time.

13 comments:

Heather said...

Your post snuck in behind another one and I nearly missed it.
Gosh! You have been busy and must have had a great time making all those lovely things. The dolls are great and how striking the pieces made from plastic bags have turned out. Jim's sweater looks very good and I love the socks. The slippers for swollen feet look very cosy and your crochet is coming on a treat.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

You have been a busy girl. This is a good thing.

Anonymous said...

The dolls are so cute.

I have missed you blogging and look forward to hearing more about your busy lives.

Here is a link to a photo of Magic and Harriet:
http://maplelanehouse.blogspot.com/2012/01/beans-beans.html

BT said...

Thank you Heather, I'm glad you like all my esploits! I have enjoyed crafting again. There doesn't seem time in the Summer.

Thanks Lisa.

Hello Mildred, lovely to see you. I shall seek out the photo now. xxx

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

You both have been busy. Fun to see everything. Cute dolls too.

Anonymous said...

So that's what you get up to when you sneak off to your room.
Only kidding! Just shows how talented you are X

BT said...

Thank you Cris.

Ha ha, we're a talented pair!

DK said...

Smiles, I'm so glad you're blogging again, I've missed them! Ooh and I LOVE the document folder, please can I buy it for my college work?! :-) love and miss you momma xxx

Rachel Green said...

How super! I'm glad you haven't neglected your art.

Lynn Cohen said...

Those dolls are adorable and am sure were and are deeply loved.
The photo of you and your DH is cute too!!!! I like that "jumper" you made for him. And am so impressed he can knit!!!

BT said...

Hi K, sent you an email re the folder. Glad you enjoyed the post.

Thank you Rachel, I do try!

Hi Lynn. Glad you like the dolls - they do seem to be popular. They tend to get dragged around by their long legs! Jim can do most things!!

Mim said...

oh my goodness - have you ever been busy!
LOVE the wooly socks and would love the pattern!
love the fused plastic and would LOVE a link to the article if you still have it

LOVE your little pins, what a great idea!

and the sweater is gorgeous!!!

Busy girl!!
and oh yeah, the dolls - wow!!

BT said...

Hi Mim, I somehow missed your comment! Thank you for all your lovely comments. I do have the slipper pattern somewhere and the article re the fused plastic is in Cloth Paper Scissors. I'll photocopy it for you and send it as an attachment?