Crochet Mishaps and the Goldberry Shawl

My, it has been a while since I wrote. I have recently upped and moved sticks AGAIN, this time back to good old England. Paris is no more my home (small sob). This means lots is changing, generally for the better, and yip yip, I will be getting a kind of studio complete with Orla Kiely wallpaper plastered in all its mustard glory on one wall.

But most recently I have been on a crochet mission. I discovered a beautiful wool shop in Bath called "Wool" and bought some super yummy Debbie Bliss Fine Donegal wool in a (yup) mustard, and decided to make a shawl. I have never worn a shawl before but a lot of some seriously cool people (in my eyes, for example, Dottie Angel), wear them, so I am going to too.

This is the result, I somehow ended up with an additional two points on it, so word of warning, don't make the mistake I did, when it means "in center point", it doesn't mean each center point, it means the one point that is in the center obviously. oops!

The pattern is on Ravelry, and is called Goldberry Shawl. Once you get past the first bit, it is quite easy. And even that is easy as long as you can count and keep track, I am a bit of a clutz so I did go a bit wayward at times.

Though it doesn't hang as well with three points, I was enamored enough to try a second, which I whizzed up in two days in Rowan Hemp Tweed, in Kelp and Duck Egg, for my mother for Christmas, shhhh!

It was a mighty success second time around, I did the points in the center point only, and thus got the desired triangle shape. Perfect for wearing whilst crab apple picking... (&with my favourite Cleo Dress).

Even the little pup got involved in the gathering...

 We shall be making some kind of beverage with the apples, not sure what yet. We currently have kilos and kilos of rosehips, elderberries, blackberries, damsons and god knows what, in the freezer and fridge waiting to be made into drinks and preserves. It really feels like Autumn is coming. Watch this space....

Some More Pretties

I am having one of those periods where there is so much I want to do but never enough time to get it all done. I have mental crafty to do lists as tall as this crate wall! I have managed to do a few, but there are more mitts to embroider, pins to make, skirts to sew..... lots and lots.

This little cropped cardi was in the unwanted pile of a friend, so I snapped it up and gave it some loving. What do you think? (Incidetally, I also made the skirt, a little too short but that's all the fabric I had left, and the shoes were snagged in a charity shop too!)

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This dress was the cause of not enough fabric (also because my mother wanted a cushion cover made from it too!). I am kinda pleased, I mean I am not so keen on the back of it but, well, for a first go why not?

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Something else I picked up in a thrift store, it was such a soft fabric. A little big so I took it in, then loved it up with some velvet and lace trim.

Hippity hoppity happy. Though I would like to add a pocket too.

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And finally....

In my quest to try to learn how to crochet (what a mighty quest that has become), I made this little pin.

I made it by crocheting a doily flowery thing, and collecting a few little treasure to attach to it. Think of all the thrifty possibilities!

Learning to Crochet: The Haphazard Metro Scarf

Just a quickie... Lots to share with you guys and very little time.

So my laptop kind broke.... Rather phenomenally. So after a huge bust up with Amazon, I waiting for my lovely, talented pawed special person to fix it for me. Meanwhile I have been finding other ways to entertain myself. Including learning to crochet.....

I did most of it on the metro using left over balls and so had to utilize this cute fox peg to keep it all in place when it was shoved in my bag. It kinda too me a while to get the hang of it too. As you can see from the dodgy end...!

(The flowers are the handiwork of my mother, less of a novice than I)

A lot of technology deprivation later.... It is now a scarf. I want to learn how to do other things, like a jumper, but honestly I am not sure I have the skills yet... Been trying to read some patterns and its like reading Alien speak. *sigh*

I have so many more pretty pics to share with you soon......

Have a look at more pretty pics here.

The New Year and Some Pretty Embroidery

Ahh it has been soooo long. To cut a long story short I got caught up in a new job- I am now teaching English as a foreign language at uni. I did not stop being creative, but I did stop blogging about it. I posted a bit on instagram and FB but really got quite irritated that I did not write here. For 2016 I am going to try to be better. I have set myself some creative objectives and I am going to try to stick to them...!

Someone I have recently discovered is Dottie Angel, I know I am mega behind...! I remember spotting a feature on her in Mollie Makes a few years back but I was very distracted by uni and it zapped all my creative spirit. Having then rediscovered her, I was hugely inspired by her "woolley tattoos" and just had to have a go. 

Dottie Angel Mittens

I was so smittened with Dottie's smittened mittens that I decided I must too embroider prettiness upon knitted things. But when I did mine I had not read this blog post (linked above) just stared at various instagram pics and sorta just made it up.

Both are found on her instagram.

So I just had to have a go. And I did. I just made it up.

First I needed a junper, two days after I decided this I walked into a street market and found an unwanted French Connection, vaguely fair isle cardi. I had three euros in my pocket so I offered the French old lady my 3e in exchange for the rather to big cardi (so she thought) and took him home.

From my instagram

Now, I have a confession. I can't knit, and at the time of starting this I could not crochet either (I can kinda crochet now, albeit totally askew). So I shared my woolley plans avec ma mere and persuaded her perfect knitting paws to knit me two pockets for me to then attempt to flower. 

I had no practice, no plan, no technique. I just went for it. Look what happened....!

In a rather daft and scatty manner, I stitched the pockets to the cardi before prettying them up, but as I wore it in between attacks with wool, it worked out for the best. 

Dungarees and a good comfy knit.

S

Pocket close up

Then one morning on my way to work I grabbed a perfectly fitting dark grey woolly cardi off my housemate's reject pile, it wasn't until a few hours later I realized it was riddled with nibbles. *Sniff* So over xmas I resolved to give him a new lease of life. It is an on-going WIP as I keep finding more holes. The battle against the winged ones is still on... But he is looking good so far I think.

Very nibbled arrm. 

Two flowers and two buds and a lone bee.

Itty bitty bee

So far I have only stitched where there are holes, and I have not yet covered them all up, but I am slowly winning this woolly war. I might have to do some evening out too??? Not sure....

I think maybe I would have had more success reading about what Dottie did first but then maybe I would not have had so much fun. Mine was zero stress, lets see what happens, oh dear it looks a bit weird, lets add some leaves instead. I think the secret it layering, and just add another colour or layer to the flower.... Or sit back and go make a cup of tea then look at it again. Or ask another human bean, "does this look totally nuts and weird or ok" to which hopefully you will get the answer "it looks like something you would wear". Maybe a bit nuts then.