Sooooo… it’s been ages. I keep wanting to write something and then also wanting to spend my spare time as far away from the computer as possible. But I decided to bite the bullet – which also means on 23 Jan 2017 (which is my time zone, but clearly not WordPresses!), I get to wish anyone who is still out there a very happy new year!
This is a whirlwind tour of general stuff to get me back into the habit of posting again. Above is a little motif I made just before Christmas. I had some red thread already on a shuttle waiting to be used up. I didn’t like this thread originally (the pink really is pink) but it’s grown on me at last.
This is a Scandinavian Santa (Ravelry link) that I made before Christmas. Actually, for me personally he’s harder than he looks! I’m not great at intarsia, but I really like him. I made a tiny alteration to the pattern in that I continued the top of his head as an icord and carried it over to make a hook. I like it. I did not like the one I made in red acrylic and ironed though. Especially not after he melted. Ahem.
After Christmas some friends and I went away for New Year. It’s become a tradition to get together, watch films, eat nice food and play board games for a few days. To get away from the world, relax and not worry about the horror that is new years eve and have to work out where on earth we’re supposed to go for the best time EVER. There’s a weird pressure for NYE and this takes it all away.
I think I really needed the break this year. I really relaxed and enjoyed every minute of it. I can’t say I didn’t check work emails, but I left the responses that were longer than a few lines until I got home.
The place we rented was amazing. It had its own private cinema! Above is a picture of the bar and above that the entrance to the cinema. It’s actually open to the public as a not-for-profit cinema at certain times of the year, but when it’s not in use, guests at the house can use it.
And this is a slight panoramic view of the library. It’s actually not original – all put in by the current owners, but it was such a lovely room. A proper mix of old and new books (which looked like they’d been bought to be read, not for show) and a comfy sofa and chairs. I snuck in there late at night for a bit of quiet time on my own and did a little knitting…
Little being the operative word. I made this jumper (above) as I have one bunny that is still waiting to be clothed. (Ravelry link for the pattern.)
And FINALLY this one has been gifted. I finished her late last year but only got to give her to her rightful owner last week. She’s a wedding gift to an old school friend. She got married last summer, with dyed blue hair, wearing a studded leather jacket and carrying a Lulu Guinness disco ball handbag. Admittedly her handbag was a little more sophisticated than the bunny’s but you can’t have everything. She has a little skull bead on the front go her dress as my friend’s engagement ring has a skull either side. She was very well received and I believe is happy in her new home! (Incase you don’t know the bunny pattern is Little Cotton Rabbits.)
I received Norah Gaughan‘s Knitted Cable Sourcebook for Christmas (it’s really nice). This is my first attempt at a scarf using one of the cable patterns. As it happens, the cable was fine – it’s really not a hard repeat even though it looks a little complicated. I hate the edges though. Also this isn’t wool so I don’t think any sense can be blocked/knocked into it. It’s half frogged as I type. I’ll come up with a better plan for the edges, and do a basic panel either side, I think. Just needs 10 minutes of concentration to come up with a proper plan.
I took this photo over new year, because I really like the colours. It’s one of the first times I’ve had a photo in the back of my mind when deciding what to do with my tatting:
I know – not the same but sometimes you have to work with what you’ve got! The photo inspired me to pick the black beads for the centre, and actually I think they work quite well… even if I do say so myself.
So there we are. All caught up… Ah, except for one thing. Remember my first Little Cotton Rabbit? The one I couldn’t quite part with? He’s finally found a new home. Gone to live with a little girl who needed a bit of friendly company. He’s been named. She’s called him Starlight 🙂
Happy new year. I think we’re all in for a bumpy ride, but we can get through it together, right?
Occasional Crafter 
Glad you’re back. The scandinavian santa is lovely, particularly your colour choice – I love all things scandinavian, design-wise. The black beads in the middle of your tatted(?) motif – I must find out what tatting is – add a level of sophistication to the sort of fluorescent (!) pink which would have probably been lost using any other colour. Brill how you noticed the door wreath and took inspiration. Do you have training in art or design? That berry wreath is the sort of thing I’d like to try and paint. I’ve lost interest a bit in the cotton rabbits and am back with mary jane’s tearoom, as she created some lovely bear patterns. I’ve found that my knitted toys look better when they’re of a bigger size. Someone crocheted a niffler for me from fantastic beasts for my birthday, it’s really made me want to try crochet. Your NYE sounds brilliant – I’m imagining you and your friends as the British versions of those cool American sitcoms (which involve people who are friends!) – especially your friend with the blue hair and leather jacket 🙂 With you on taking breaks from the internet occasionally although, as a housewife, I’m not at its beck and call. Sorry to ramble (not sure of blog commenting etiquette) but it’s just nice to find people who share some of my interests and nice to get a peak into your world.
You are more than welcome to ramble on this blog any time 🙂 Thank you for visiting. I did train as a graphic designer, yes. But actually I manage people these days so don’t get to do so much graphic design myself. The crafty stuff is a way to feel creative in a different way to work, and to get me away from screens. (Although I use an iPad for patterns all the time… and as a stitch counter too… tsk)
Incidentally, one of my friends really does love Harry Potter, which until now I hadn’t read. As she was buying me a xmas present I suggested the first book would be lovely and also nice to receive from her particularly. She bought me all of them! So I am just starting book 2 now. No spoilers 😉
I envy you reading HP for the first time; surely you’ve got to be the only HP novice out there! I couldn’t read them fast enough when they were first published but tried re-reading a couple a while ago and just couldn’t re-capture the excitement and magic of the first time around. We finally went to the harry potter studio tour this past weekend, is well worth it.
I saw that you’d been on the tour – your poor husband 😉
The motif with the beaded center is great, reminds me of a poppy! But the Scandinavian santa- wow! I LOVE him! He is absolutely adorable! Sorry about the melting….
Thank you! I do love the little Santa! And I also feel sorry for the red acrylic one I melted… I was going to make a couple more but time ran away with me. It’s a cute little pattern, a bit fiddley, but fun. I recommend it for next year.
Any hints on where to find the pattern for that pink flower? I’m on the lookout for little flower patterns for a quilt project I’m embarking on in different lace techniques, and tatting is definitely on my list.
Actually I just made that one up – it’s pretty basic in terms of a pattern, but if you’ve never tatted before I would go for something a bit simpler because between you and I, I have made a *lot* of these and even I messed up the last ring here. I would look on YouTube for a basic flower tutorial – the last rings on those are tricky enough to start with but you’ll learn a lot on the way. It is fun though!
Oh, I can tat and have done fairly complicated patterns, even some that are tridimensional, see for example this post. I like the simplicity of your pattern while it is still somewhat three-dimensional, that’s why I’m asking. I get that this kind of pattern is not necessarily as easy to make as the result looks like.
Ah – sorry, my apologies! That’s what comes of not looking before you leap 🙂 In that case to be honest you can make the pattern up yourself:
• Any size ring that works for you, as long as it’s chain, picot, chain, picot chain.
• Make two rings side by side, (*not* joined with picots), with no gap in between.
• When you get to the first picot on ring three, join it through the middle ring to the second picot on the first ring
• then continue around joining each new ring *through* the previous ring
• Make as many rings as you think you need (I’ve never settled on one number, just depends on the size of the rings you choose).
• the final ring you should do as a split ring. I’m afraid I can’t explain that to you as I’ve got it wrong myself the last three times (even when I thought I got it right). You just need to take a long hard look before you commit and pull that final ring tight.
… hope that helps?
Thanks, that’s something to experiment with, and I’m sure the internet will be able to explain to me how to make a split ring 🙂
Absolutely everything I know about tatting came from youtube 🙂 I’ve never known a real life tatter! Split rings aren’t hard actually. If I can, I know that you can.