so it’s almost christmas…

and i fail at craft blogging! I fail at blogging all over the place pretty much… but that’s because it’s very hard to type with yarn/fibre/fabric/needles/hooks in your hand!

I started making christmas presents about a month ago, knowing that i would feel happier getting them out of the way early. for christmas day we’re having a secret santa type set up, so i’m only giving one official present to the ‘other half’ of the family, but I’ve still made a few extras, plus a few for family members to buy off me to give to other family members! how awesome is that

So for my own spirit of christmas I have made:

2 seahorses for my cousins aged 5 and 7

seahorses

a beautiful alpaca silk scarf for my aunty sue – one of my official secret santa presents

alpaca silk scarflette

a pair of burgandy mitts to match the hat i made for mothers day, and a hand embroidered apron for my mother

evangeline mitts

a tea cosy for my grandfather

diagonal cosy in noro silk garden (226)

a pair of adorable little mitts for my cousin aged 16

Twee mitts

a beautiful bookmark for one of my best friends and a beautiful striped crocheted scarf in pinks and green for another of my best friends (no photos – they might see!!)

for others to give to people, I have made

A hat for my grandfather to give to my older cousin

Kate's beret

A pair of face cloths for the little girls

E + J = 🙂

2 sets of wine charms for my mother to give to people

charming

colourful

a set of felted bowls for my grandmother to give my mother – I’m still a bit uncertain about this one, if they don’t work out, my grandmother can give mum the fingerless gloves and i will just give her the apron.

and still to make (!!!)

a hat for my father out of zara wool – beeeautiful stuff

a skein of handspun for one of my best friends (I’ve been practicing like mad!)

a felted bag for one of my besties (possibly from hand spun)

a scarf (same as my aunt’s) from alpaca for my cousin – I’ve been planning this present for ages and I’m going to give it to her dammit – even if it’s a ‘late birthday present’

a hand embroidered apron for my grandmother.

a crocheted cuff for a friend

a market bag

arrrgh still so many to make! lol

Some of these can’t have pictures, because then the people who they’re for might see them!! but i have photographed everything, so all in good time.

and then there’s all the stuff i’m making for me lol!!

Squids!

I have had a few requests (well, 2, but i feel that any more than 1 request for this particular item is worth noting) for squids for birthdays.

My friend nett put me on to hansi singh’s adorable squid-a-licious pattern asking me to knit her one in colours of my choosing for her birthday present. She bought me the pattern and a handful of others as my own belated birthday present, so it only seemed fair!

So, I present Squidy the First!

When i mentioned this request to another Gemini/Cancer cusper i know, she too requested one for her birthday present!

and so i present (apologies for the poor photo) Squidy the Second!

it’s hard to see him, but he’s a maroon purple with green underside and green pupils. This is one of those times where i actually feel my first effort was the more successful of the two, but I do actually enjoy doing these!

I also knitted an owl (one of the other patterns I received for my birthday) for my grandmother for mother’s day (may). She loved it. I knitted it in a silk tweed in pinks. strange colour for an owl i know, but it suits him. Apparently she kept picking him up and looking at him and putting it down again. 🙂

Next – Seahorses!

Crafty Lady – chapter 2

Welcome to Chapter 2 – THE COW!

I ordered this kit from sunsetfibers on etsy and it arrived on Thursday, along with some roving (yummy).

I started making it on Friday (procrastinating of course) and finished it on Saturday afternoon whilst drinking a cup of tea after the adventure of getting the spinning wheel (see chapter 1)

This is my first time needle felting and the seller provided excellent quality needles and great instructions for the cow, as well as general tips and tricks. I loved doing it. I only stabbed myself a few times (they are SHARP) and i could watch TV (didn’t look up a lot) and i found it really really calming and relaxing. There’s something lovely about violently stabbing roving and making it into shapes…

so anyway, I highly recommend the craft and I WILL be doing more of it (there’s a GORGEOUS little book I want) and here is my cow!

read on for chapter 3 – Crafty lady’s life!