Blankety Goodness

I feel like I've been in hibernation recently with not a whole lot of anything going on other than curling up by the fire and dreaming of spring. Well, the days are lengthening and slowly, slowly the weather is improving so I intend to dig out the video camera and start recording some arty stuff again. 

In the meantime though, here's what's been occupying me over winter. The blanket above was made for my daughter as a Christmas gift; lots of greys and cream with just a pop or three of neon pink. The blanket below is a present to myself, the idea being to make something bright and cheerful for my bedroom. Well it certainly is, and I love seeing it whenever I go in there! If you'd like to make something similar, I got the idea, and the colour selection, from Lucy's Blog. And I love the little edging she dreamed up for it too!

Knits That Fit

Yes, it's been eons since I posted. Well, you know how it is - life gets in the way, and it certainly has been doing lately. Anyway, whilst I was elsewhere, I have been getting very interested in knitting sweaters for myself and, more to the point, knitting sweaters for myself that actually fit! *gasp* Now you may think that this is no big deal, right? You just follow the pattern and you end up with a garment that fits you, yes? I mean, it's knitting, it'll stretch. 

Well, no, in fact. If you aren't a standard size it often becomes necessary to make quite a lot of alterations to patterns as written so that you end up with a pleasing result. And lets face it, if you've spent 3 months knitting an aran sweater, as I just have, you want to be able to wear it and enjoy it afterwards. Fortunately I discovered a Ravelry group run by the wonderful Julie, aka Knitting At Large, which is dedicated to helping those of us with ample figures make knitwear that fits. Julie's blog is a mine of information and entertainment on this subject and she has just started a new feature to showcase lovely knits on plus size women. I'm delighted and honoured to report that the inaugural edition features not only Laurie's beautiful Eadon cardigan but my own Skara Brae sweater! Both these patterns are in the Ravelry database and, as I've said before, if you aren't a member then you really should be!
 

Got Scarves?

 

So, my plan is to have lots of pretty scarves to disguise the fact that I tend to wear the same outfits all the damn time and, as an added bonus, use up some of my yarn stash which seems to consist almost exclusively of single skeins of fingering weight wool.

These three are ones I've made lately from patterns I found online - honestly, whatever you want to knit, it's out there somewhere! God bless the interwebs! They were all easy to follow yet produce beautiful looking scarves. 

Clockwise from top left we have: Tesla which is in a colourway I hand dyed a few weeks ago and just fell in love with; Helix which is in a gorgeous Wollmeise yarn I've had for some time and Foreigh Correspondent which is in another of my own hand dyes in a colourway called Elephant Island.

Behind The Scenes At The Museum

 

I spent today with the Textile Champions of the Harris Museum and Art Gallery. These volunteers meet once a month to assist with the conservation of the museum's sizable textile collection and today we were helping to clean and make new storage for a wonderful collection of mainly Victorian needlework samplers.

These were previously kept in large cartons separated with acid free tissue and the goal was to create a 'wallet' for each individual sampler so that they would not only be protected but also more accessible for anyone who wants to study them. We had a little production line going with each sampler being carefully cleaned and dusted then measured and its details recorded on card backing cut to fit. This was then put into a custom made plastic envelope before being returned to storage.

It was such a thrill to be able to see and examine in detail these wonderful pieces of embroidery, some by children as young as six years old. The amount of painstaking work that had gone into them was astonishing, especially considering that they would often have been stitched by candle light and must have taken so many hours to complete. Most have verses from the Bible or Christian homilies with domestic or natural scenes, although I did see one tiny piece which appeared to be commemorating the Crimean War.

If you want to see more detail, just click on the pictures above.

Autumn Already?

There's something very screwy going on with the weather. My calendar says mid-August but the temperature is hovering around the sixty degree mark and so far this week we have had gales and torrential rain. It's looking like summer is a washout here so I picked up my knitting the other day and made these ever so Gothic cuffs in this Autumn's hot colour, olive green.

And when you come home, what could be nicer than snuggling up with your hot chocolate under this crocheted throw? I keep a selection of blankets and lap quilts permanently draped over the back of my sofa because not only are they really useful for those times when you need a little extra warmth but they look darn good too!

Chuff Chuff, Busy Busy, Work Work, Bang Bang

And for anyone who doesn't remember that old Penguin biscuit ad today's title will make absolutely no sense whatsoever, so, moving on...

I am very busy at the moment, hence the lack of blog love lately. Sorry. This is the kind of stuff I'm up to though. A new cushion cover - I adore the colours in this one - and a print of the painting I showed a couple of weeks ago which I finally got round to finishing. As a friend commented on Facebook: redheads and silver birches, my favourite things.

This week has been spent creating more greetings cards and notecards for PAD and I think I'm going to do some for my Etsy shop too. Better get back to it then!
 

Catherine and Chloe

We have been having some fiercely cold and icy weather here, so much so that I have had to abandon the studio because it's just to darn freezing in there. Ah, the joys of not having central heating! So instead I've been focusing on knitwear which can be done in the comfort of a room equipped with a log burning stove. 

These are my first pieces of the new year and I'm really happy with them: the Chloe scarflette with a removable flower pin and the Catherine shawl which I knitted with my own hand dyed yarn. You can find them here on Etsy.

 

Sing A Rainbow

I admit to having a real weakness for colour-change yarns. I mean those yarns such as Noro which are dyed with a long colour run so that the changes are very gradual and often unrepeated. Apart from anything else they are really interesting to knit with as you never quite know how the finished piece will turn out.

Well we finally have a wonderful new fabric and yarn store in the city centre which is big and full of ways to spend your money! They don't sell Noro but I found this lovely Sirdar yarn which does kind of the same thing and immediately set about making these fingerless gloves. Once I'd made those I decided to start a crochet throw and that's what I'm working on currently. No pics yet but I'll post some soon!

The All-Seeing Eye

Last week my trusty Canon camera decided it had had enough and started to do all manner of bizarre things with the photos I was trying to take, adding its own Photoshop-alike effects without my say-so! Oddly the video capture still works but nothing else. So, time for a new piece of kit, and here it is.

I've only had it a couple of days but I'm pretty impressed with this little Lumix. I tend to do a lot of indoor photography and, as I don't have anything in the way of special lights etc, I rely on my camera to make up the shortfall a lot of the time. Well this one seems to handle less than perfect lighting conditions admirably with no fringing and good detail, and the auto focus is pin sharp. So far, so good!

All this means I have finally been able to get pictures of my new yarn batch for listing. Hurray!

One Step Beyond

One of the most bizarre things about being in the handmade business is having to start planning for Christmas while you're sitting in the garden enjoying the roses and soaking up a bit of sun. Yet that's what I'm doing at the moment. Forward planning is the theme for August round here because, well, handmade takes time to create.
And so I have lots of new things in the pipeline, beginning with these beautifully soft and cozy crochet scarves which I'm having a lot of fun with.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Today is also baking day! Yesterday I unearthed my Kenwood Chef from storage - don't ask where, but it was coated in far too much dust and grunge - and spent a good hour thoroughly stripping and cleaning the whole thing.

This trusty beast has been with me for about 30 years and, although I haven't used it for a very long time, it was my most prized kitchen tool back in the days when I baked all my own bread, pastries and cakes. So restoring it to its former glory was like welcoming back a much loved friend that you've lost touch with and thought you might never see again! Now, what to make first?

Afghan - Finished!

Finished this last night and I'm really pleased with it considering it's my first ever attempt at crocheting something. After years of knitting it's lovely to try something different and I was surprised at how quickly it worked up - I doubt I'd have been able to finish a knit throw in the time this took. And I'm already planning my next project!

New Tricks

When I was a child I used to watch my mother crochet and be completely spellbound by it. She would make scrap blankets and afghans from odds and ends of yarn. They were a riot of colour and appealed to me in the same way that, in later years, scrap quilts would. There is something deeply satisfying about getting the most out of one's resources and, having been brought up by parents who lived through WW2 and its attendant austerity, I suppose I've inherited that mindset.

I never learnt to crochet though. I could knit many intricate stitches but put a crochet hook in my hand and I was lost. Until now. Last week I came across these wonderful video tutorials which have finally taught me the basics and how to make an afghan - in progress in the picture above. Beth is a clear and talented instructor, so if you've ever thought you'd like to learn a new craft I heartily recommend her excellent 'classes'.

Washed Out

What are these, you ask? Why they're washcloths, or you could use them as dishcloths if you'd rather. I have been knitting loads of them this last week and it all started with Vincent proclaiming his lack of a face flannel and desire for same.

I've never liked those commercial terry towelling flannels because they tend to end up mouldy and/or slimy, which isn't the greatest bath time experience. So I thought, well how hard can it be to knit one? And that's what I did; just found some nice stitch patterns and improvised. If you fancy having a go yourself I used DK cotton and a size 3.5 circular needle - they aren't knit in the round, I just use circulars for everything as I find them much more comfortable to work with.

Cast on 35 or so stitches which will give you a cloth approximately 7" wide and use whatever stitch pattern you like. I used a mix of knit and purl because that gives a nice knubbly surface for washing with, but if you'd rather have a smooth cloth just do stocking stitch with a garter or moss stitch edging so that the finished cloth lies flat and doesn't roll in on itself, then knit until your cloth is square, or rectangular if you prefer. Cast off and there you are, one luxurious washcloth to pamper your skin.

Of course, if you don't feel like making your own you can get mine here. More will be added in the next day or two.

Hand Dyes Finished

Here's what those skeins I showed you the other day look like when I've finished with them!
More pictures in the listings.

Sneak Peek

Yesterday was a good day to dye. I got a new batch of superwash merino yarn delivered and the weather was beautifully calm and sunny so I got out the alembics and retorts and started the alchemy.

I love the dyeing process. Acid dyes are easy to work with and produce such beautiful vibrant colours. The fact that some of them don't develop their full strength until set and others change their appearance during the process just adds to the magic for me. Every time I open up the steamer and unwrap the finished skeins is a moment of anticipation and excitement as I never know precisely what I'm going to get.

It's quite a long process from start to finish and the actual dyeing is only a part of it. Once the dye is applied the skeins are steamed then left until they cool completely. Then I rinse them in cold water many times to extract any excess dye that might be left. After that they are hung on a drying pole outside, if the weather is good, or on my indoor rack if it isn't. Drying can take anywhere from 1 - 3 days depending on the conditions. When they're completely dry the final step is to re-skein them, which involves winding into a ball and then winding the ball into a skein again. This shows off the colour mixture better, neatens them up and allows me to check for any flaws, knots etc.

The yarn you see in the photo is all dry now and will be in my Etsy shop just as soon as I can get it rewound and photographed!

Blythe Spirit

Lucille is all ready for a new spring wardrobe so I made a few clothes for her and then was enjoying fiddling with tiny bits of fabric so much that I made a few more which I put up in my other Etsy shop.

I am noticing the passage of the years though. I now find it much harder to thread a needle or to work on dark fabric; these old eyes aren't what they were. The black and white dress was a particular challenge as it's thin, silky fabric made me decide to hand sew it rather than risk my machine chewing it up. But that black was not easy I tell ya! Still I like the super cute result so it was worth it.

The Year In Socks

At the risk of sounding sickeningly Pollyanna-ish, I am a great believer in looking for the up side to situations and life events. When I was diagnosed diabetic earlier this year it was quite a shock; I now have a condition that will be with me for life and requires managing carefully in order to maintain my health.

I am dealing with it though, and it was a great comfort to finally understand why I had been feeling so exhausted and why my hands and feet were freezing so much of the time. This also meant that I now had the perfect excuse to indulge my sock knitting habit and that's exactly what I am doing! Here's most of the pairs I've made for myself this year so far. I had one more but to be honest I made them a bit too big so ended up giving them to Vincent who, since he started wearing them, now understands why I like handknit socks so much.

The orange and brown pairs are from commercial patterns, the other three are ones I designed myself.

New Hand Dyes

I'm really enjoying dyeing my own yarn. There's something very satisfying about blending your own colourways which I've always liked from when I first started dyeing fabrics for quilting years ago. I also discovered a great piece of kit the other week, it's a 3 tier electric vegetable steamer which I am using to set the skeins and it's so much better than the microwave! I wrap them individully in tinfoil after I've painted them and then they go into the steamer for 25 minutes. Once they're cool I rinse thoroughly, dry (which can take up to three days depending on the weather) and then re-skein.

It's a lot of work but the results are worth it I think. All the skeins in the picture above are currently for sale here.

Age of Empire

Yes that's right, I am expanding my empire! Alright we're not talking on the scale of Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan, but I have just opened a second shop on Etsy. It's for my handmade knitwear and other textile type goodies. Eventually I hope to have hand painted yarns and possibly quilted items in there too, as well as Blythe outfits, so there's lots more to come! Please take a peek and see what you think: Creative Deva Designs

Need For Speed

Much as I hate to admit it, I have a very low boredom threshold and need to be constantly trying new creative paths. Well if you've followed this blog for any length of time I guess that's stating the bleedin' obvious, but anyway...

Last week I was at the wonderful Festival of Quilts in Birmingham which my daughter and I have been going to pretty much since it started a few years ago. Even if you don't make quilts and never intend to, it's a wonderful event filled with a huge variety of traditional and art quilts from all over the world and well worth seeing. And of course there is a market section where you can find all manner of supplies you almost need and therefore have to buy.

My new toy was a bunch of acid dyes. I have a whole pile of lovely 4ply blue-faced Leicester cones of undyed yarn and a burning desire to do some hand painting, so yesterday I had my first go and this is the result. I think I could quite easily become addicted to this as there is always a slightly random or surprise element to dyeing, especially as some of the colours don't reveal themselves until after the yarn has been heat set. Anyway I'm quite happy so far, now all I need to do is think what I'm going to knit with it! Any ideas?