Finished work now mounted

A couple of projects that I have already mentioned, although at the time I was undecided how to mount them, are the cross stitch Mandala Owl and the crochet Mandala.

The owl was finally mounted in a plain embroidery hoop so it could sit on the window ledge amongst the owl collection.

For the Mandala, I mounted it on a stretched canvas frame which I had covered with a piece of my own dyed fabric.

End of another year

This is probably my last chance to post this year as I can already see how busy it is going to be between now and 2019, so it's time to update my creations of the last few weeks.

More Ecoprinting

I had another go at ecoprinting making a slight change to my first try by soaking the fabric and paper in the iron solution instead of painting it.  I wanted to try 'cooking' it in the oven but was unable to find a brick to weigh it down so that will have to wait until next time.

I used a variety of leaves, flowers and onion skins with differing results.  I must admit some of the leaves were very dry and crumbly and the flowers weren't exactly fresh so I feel there is still room for improvement.

I want to make some books with the printing I have done so far and hopefully my next exploration in eco printing will be with fresh leaves and plants and maybe using alum as the mordant.

Winter Display

For the Winter display I made a wreath, all be it a small one.  I've always wanted to make a crochet wreath but just didn't have the time to do a full size one so thought this was the best option.  Yet again I turned to Attich24 for my inspiration and guide, choosing two of her hellebore flowers for the decoration.

A little snowman also joined the display, along with some snowflakes hanging from a twig.  I also stitched a snowflake in cross stitch to display in a hoop. 

  

And put together .....

No sooner was the display up when Christmas preparations began and took over the mantelpiece.

The snowflakes stayed in place and the hoop was replaced with a crib scene worked in redwork plus all the lights and bits collected over the years.

Mandala Owl

The final stitch has been crossed on the Mandala Owl and although washed and pressed it hasn't been mounted yet.   I can't decided whether to put it in a hoop or frame and it will probably end up being the one I can get most easily!

Really pleased with the end result so hope the little people like it too!

Beginnings of an eco home

I've long been aware of how much single use paper and plastic is used in our home and feel the time has come to do something about it.

My first change was to buy cotton fabric serviettes to save us buying paper ones this Christmas.  Available at a most reasonable cost on Amazon, it seemed something much easier to do than I thought.  With more planning I could have made them myself, and my intention is to make another set in a different colour at some stage.

I wanted to personalise them with some embroidery so used some small mandala designs I have in a book Mandalas to Embroider  by Carina Envoldsen-Harris.  I used a blue/grey palette of embroidery threads to match our décor which I feel have given a great result.

These are some of my favourites......

     

There are still creations in hand as well as those planned to get me through Christmas and into the New Year, so I will be back!

Crochet and Cross Stitch

The Entralac Crochet pouch is all finished and turned out really well.

I really enjoyed this type of crochet which was new to me and I would certainly do more in the future.

An extra in this Little Box of Crochet was a metal book mark to which I had to add some beads and a tassel. 

Not sure I will use it, not that I don't read (I am an avid reader!) more that I use a special bookmark given to me by one of my daughters some years ago.

I have also been making steady progress with my Mandala Owl.  I didn't mention in my last post that this was purchased as a PDF from the Awesome Pattern Studio on Etsy.   They have some wonderful patterns for many other birds and beasts so have a look at them.  I love buying PDFs as there's no waiting for it to arrive!

 Thought I'd let you see a few of the collection of owls that the mandala owl will be joining.

A few other creations are in the pipeline for the next few weeks including a Christmas Tree Skirt which is almost finished; twelve linen serviettes that need some embroidery to personalise them; a crochet wreath (just a little one) for my winter display; some more eco dyeing with leaves; and of course the Christmas Cards.

Busy, busy, busy!

Project Completed and Started

This week has seen projects completed and new ones begun and I seem to have fallen into a routine where I've worked on stitching in the afternoons and crochet in the evening.

I've been working for some weeks on a shawl for someone special but I won't say anymore about that as they still have to receive it.

Once again I have used Scheepjes Swirl which seems to be my 'go to' yarn when it comes to shawls as I just love the way the colours change. 
 

This shawl was designed by Lisa Cook and is called Custard Cream and the yarn name is Melting Macaron.

I loved the look of the pattern as it has more texture than those I've made previously and I wasn't disappointed with the result.  It's got popcorn stitches,  clusters and front post treble stripes all finished off with tassels.

I got worried as I got towards the end as I was convinced that I would not have enough yarn but everything worked out in the end and as you can seen from the photos, there was more than enough for three tassels.

My evenings were quickly filled with a new Little Box of Crochet that was for a zipped pouch in Entralac Crochet.  At first I was very wary as this is a form of Tunisian Crochet which I have never done and quite frankly never wanted to.  I always thought it was more like knitting as there seems to be loads of stiches on the very long hook and this put me off.

However, thanks to some great videos made by Little Box of Crochet, I loved it as it was a pattern of coloured squares and diamonds so there were never more than 7 stitches on the hook.  I was hooked after the first row.

After a few more evening of hooking I have finished the main piece of the pouch.

Colourful isn't it?  Another evening or two and it should be finished.

My other new creation this week is a piece of cross stitch that will one day be a Mandala Owl to go in the grandchildren's bedroom.

They inherited my collection of owls when we moved and have them displayed on the windowsill.  Each time they visit the owls are rearranged and we add to them when we see any new owls.

It is also a perfect place for me to taken photos as the light is really good so I often move the owls out of the way to make way for my work.

I'm not sure how long this is going to take as I find the light is not good this time of the year and even with a daylight lamp, I find I can only work for about two hours each afternoon.  After a week's worth of stitching it now looks like this.

Still a long way to go!

October Update

By the skin of my teeth, I have finally got round to a few updates of crafty makes in October.

First, I made a few additions to my Autumn display - conkers and a pumpkin!  The conkers were from a pattern by Coastal Crochet, one of my favourite designers.  You will have seen more of her designs on here in the past.  The pumpkin was a pattern on Pinterest which sadly did not credit anyone.

So the finished display now looks like this.

With only one more month to go I have been thinking about my winter display which will of course give way to Christmas later in December.

So far I have made a cross stitch snowflake for the winter display and have a few more ideas which also involve snowflakes and snowmen.  I'm finding it hard to come up with ideas for winter that don't end up looking more like Christmas.

And for the Christmas display I've made this redwork embroidery using a colouring design found on Pinterest.

Other creations this month

I was a bit late with my Journal Quilt this month.  It was done within September but for the past few years I have been ahead of myself so I felt quite guilty that it wasn't done until the middle of the month.

This month I reached the "blue" month so decided to have something linked to the sea for the gelli printing.   I've made my own print blocks with polystyrene in the past so used this method to create some texture on the plate inspired by waves and using fabric paints, printed some of my dyed blue fabric.  I used two or three different shades of blue fabric paint but once again I found that you don't get the same definition as you do when using acrylic paint.  The results were good though for the task in hand.

For the Log Cabin part of the quilt, I've again used the Courthouse Steps as the basis of the design with a bit of a twist.   For three of the sides I used different shades of my own dyed blue fabric and then the gelli printed fabric for the fourth side and the binding.

For the quilting I used a stitch on my machine which gives the appearance of waves going up and down.

It's time for a change of season so my thoughts turned to ideas for an Autumn hoop for my mantelpiece display.   I love the colours of Autumn - I always think it is because I was an Autumn baby!- so I knew it had to be something to reflect the colours.

My choice was a simple maple leaf (another favourite, particularly at Autumn) and luckily I found just the pattern I needed on the internet.  I've gone back to cross stitch after many years absence and as I enjoyed it so much, I think there will be more.  So therapeutic!

The display in coming together but I want to add some sort of foliage in a vase so am still thinking about that.   The other hoop and owls are from a Craftpod box I did last year when I began my seasonal project.

The garland of Autumn leaves is another pattern from Attic24 which I made using the ends of yarn left over from her Woodland Blanket which I made earlier this year.

WIPs? What WIPs?

Following on from my last post, I am pleased to say that I stuck to my plans to do a bit of each of my Works in Progress each day resulting in three finished crochet projects!

I'm really pleased with the Maid of Honour Shawl because of the way the colours have blended together.   I did have to fiddle a bit at the end as I wanted to make sure I got to the solid colour for the edge and I didn't want to chance not having enough yarn.

So pleased that I worked out how much to do each day for Hope's Blanket as it means I finished it well before her birthday later this month.

I don't want to post to much about it in case she sees it so here's a sneak preview....

My work on the Temperature Blanket has ground to a halt with seven more rows to finish September off.  I have run out of wool in the required colour so as soon as I have caught up I will post the usual monthly update.

And as everything was up to date or finished I managed a couple of extras!

I finally got a chance to start on the August Little Box of Crochet but I must confess I wasn't happy with my efforts.   It was a pattern for a little crochet purse worked in two halves and then joined and sewn in to a frame.  I worked the first side and felt I was struggling so put it to one side.   Once I had time I watched some lovely help videos that went with it and found that my initial attempt was actually okay so I did the second side and finished it last night.

I think this is going to fall into the category of "nice to do but I won't be rushing to do more just yet".

A little extra in the box was some cross-stitch which I did enjoy doing - always find cross stitch calming as it satisfies the mathematical part of my brain.

So, as I've caught up I have been able to add so projects to my list!

Works in Progress

In previous posts I have mentioned that I have several WIPs and I have to do a bit of each every day so that I get them all finished.  I thought I'd let you see just what is on the go at the moment.....

Temperature Blanket

I keep this up to date, usually once a week so I don't get behind.  This photo shows it up to the end of August.   I didn't realise how obsessive it can become watching the daily temperature and then remembering just what we did on this hot day or that cold day!   This is definitely going to be a blanket of memories.

Blanket for Hope

My granddaughter Hope requested a blanket for her 10th birthday in October so I started it last month while she was staying with us.   She wanted it in shades of blue and went through the Stylecraft colour chart choosing the colours she liked.   I had several blues left from the Last Dance blanket, picked up some off balls on my travels and them ordered some from Wool Warehouse to hopefully give me enough.

Hope then had a look at all the blankets on Attic24 and chose the Hydrangea blanket which I was pleased with as it is straightforward and works up quickly.  I've worked out that to get it finished in plenty of time I must do six rows each day and so far I have stuck to it.

The photo was taken at the beginning so it is much longer now.

Maid of Honour Shawl

I decided I wanted something for myself so I'm making a shawl.  It's called Maid of Honour and was designed by Natasha of Buttonnose Crochet.

I'm using Scheepjes Whirl in the Salted Caramel Matcha colour which is blue, through green to caramel and I'm just loving the way the colours blend through the changes.  I haven't got far at the moment as this has been number three on my schedule and only gets done if I have completed the others on the day's schedule.

Little Box of Crochet

Although technically, this is not a WIP as all I've done so far is open the box have a peek and quickly close it again so I don't get sucked in.   I know what's in there - a lovely crochet purse project and a cross stitch project so I have to call on all my often not very strong willpower and wait until I can do it with a clear conscience.   Trouble is another Little Box will be coming soon so I can't leave it too long!