Christmas Crafting.

I had a mad moment last week when I wondered if I might do a post every day in December, like I have in the past, a sort of blogging advent calendar. Which had I gone ahead would have meant more blog posts in this one month than I managed the entire rest of the year... but I came to my senses in time! I'm not sure what it is about December that makes me think I can do ALL the things as I go into a frenzy of making gifts, handcrafting decorations, baking, pickling and preserving and more. I turn into a crazy crafting woman who could give Kirsty Allsop a run for her money!

During an afternoon set aside for clearing up my studio, I found a bag of pebbles that had been knocking around for years. There has been a bit of a thing in our village (and in other places too I believe) for painting pebbles and hiding them for children (and adults) to find. The idea is that they get photographed, the picture is posted on a special Facebook page called 'Guilden Rocks' and then pebble gets hidden again for someone else to find. I thought it would be fun to paint my pebbles and hide them... needless to say the studio didn't get cleared that day!

I've also been making some origami stars to go on the front of some Christmas cards... I was inspired after reading some of those other advent posts from my past. This one here should you fancy giving them a try. I seem to remember threading them onto invisible thread and hanging them up as decorations too.

But they look quite cute on the front of cards!

I also made some of these cute little tags after watching a fabulous free tutorial by Laura Kemshall. Given my usual aversion to anything patchwork related these were strangely addictive and I ended up making a dozen or so to go on the front of more cards.

Or in some cases to decorate parcels. The observant among you may also have noticed there were mince pies made too. You can find my recipe for almond topped pies here... regular pastry just doesn't come close.

As if that wasn't enough I've also crocheted these Christmas trees which came in kit form from Cotton Pod. It was the most beautifully packaged kit I have ever received and felt just like I was sending myself a gift. It was almost a shame to unwrap it all to make the trees but I'm glad I did because as yet they are the only decorations up so far... and they look rather jolly on the mantlepiece.

I may not be doing a blogging advent calendar but the real one I made for our eldest grandson has gone down a treat. We get daily photos as he takes the latest ornament from its pocket and hangs it on his tree. The joy is infectious!

 

And as final note, which really has nothing to do with what I've already written about (I tried to think of an elegant segue but failed), I thought I should mention the second episode of my podcast with Izzy Moore is out tomorrow at 10 am GMT and we will be talking about some of our favourite textile and art books... as well as about painting pebbles and Christmas cakes! (Yes, I have made my Christmas cake too... I knew I could link it to making stuff somehow!)

Izzy and Gina... in stitches is available on all the usual podcast listening platforms. Have you listened to the first episode yet?

Lockdown Life

Well hello! Despite my absence on this blog I'm still here, still keeping virus free, and ridiculous though sounds for someone who is suddenly left with no work, I'm really busy. The days seem to fly by. Most days you will find me at my sewing machine where I have moved on to making scrubs and gowns for a local group that is supplying hospitals, hospices and the like. If you had told me three months ago I would have become an expert at fashioning garments from duvet covers I would have thought it a ridiculous idea... but that is what I am doing. I reckon I'd give the contestants on the Sewing Bee a run for their money! I've lost count of how many sets I have now made but enough to have given myself a whole new wardrobe should I wish to dress in old sheeting. I have the fabric waiting to be cut out for two new dresses for myself but they will have to wait. After all I'm not going anywhere so don't need anything new to wear.

I have been enjoying customising the pockets and making my own labels. Totally silly, as this probably takes as much time as the rest of the garment but it keeps me amused and hopefully brings a smile to someone else's face too.

My favourite set of scrubs so far have been this Winnie the Pooh set. Some of the hospitals only want plain garments but others are quite happy to take the patterned ones.

It seems wrong to me that our key workers should be relying on volunteers to make protective garments from cast off bedding... but they do and so I am happy to help.

When I'm not making gowns or scrubs I have been making lots more masks... over 50 at the last count. These have gone to family and friends and whoever happens to ask for them. Some people have asked to buy them but despite my lack of income at the moment, it feels wrong to profit from the current situation.... not a sentiment shared by everyone as apparently masks have been selling for extortionate prices on the internet. But I have had some interesting gifts and exchanges (as well as donations to charity) for some of the masks I have made... wine, flowers, freshly laid eggs, a chilli plant, home grown garlic... and wellies! I rather like the idea of this barter system! If you want to make your own I have a tutorial here... just make the elastic a little bit longer... about 6"

Sew Your Own Mask

When I'm not sewing you can find me pottering in the garden or painting in my studio... I'm now starting to put some of my paintings for sale so be sure to follow me on Instagram if you are interested. I'm taking part in something called the artist support pledge. Artists who have found their income suddenly depleted are offering work for sale for less than £200 and once they reach £1000 in sales they pledge to spend £200 on the work of another artist. Some artists are obviously more successful than others... I've still a way to go! 

There has also been a bit of baking. I have finally learned how to make sourdough bread and there is a jar of starter languishing in my fridge ready for the next loaf. And in the evenings I'm usually knitting or crocheting whilst watching something on Netflix or the like.

My latest make was this little cardigan for our newest arrival. Our granddaughter, Reagan, was born a week ago. It's hard not to have baby cuddles with her or her little cousin who is now two and half months already... but better to know they are staying safe at home. We are hoping by the time the third grandchild arrives this year (in August) we might be able to see them all.

So that's pretty much my life in Lockdown at the moment. We might have been asked to 'Stay Alert" but but we're continuing to 'Stay at Home' unless we have to go out. How are you doing?

The Elephant in the Room

I'm  not going to talk about that elephant in the room... the thing that everyone wants to ask... any news, have we got a date? No I'm going to talk about everything else that has been going on instead.

Crochet

I finished another blanket.

I know... I finished a blanket just a week or so ago but this one has been on the go for many years. At least six years as I first mentioned it here. I would go through phases of  making squares and then leave it for months before picking it up again to add a few more. Even when I had finished the 168 squares, each one subtly different from the last, it took me almost as long to sew it all up... all those loose ends! Was it worth it? Yes I think so, although what I will do with it now I don't know. I do know I might take a break from blanket making!

Reading

This is going to be in the order that the photos have loaded rather than the order that I have been reading, although to be fair I seem to have read a lot in the past month  and I can't really remember the order in which these book were read!

I had high expectations for The Lost Letters of William Woolf. It seemed such a great idea, such a wonderful premise... a lost letter department of the Royal Mail where letters were reunited with their recipients. The romance of hand written letters gone astray, finally arriving at their destination seemed to offer such great potential for a story. But I was disappointed, finding it far fetched and over romanticised and mostly about the failing marriage of William Woolf.

In the need for a quick satisfying read I have turned to thrillers. The Dark Room was okay but felt very dated, and The Taxidermist's Daughter was okay but wasn't really engaging me... probably more to do with that elephant in the room effecting my concentration rather than the quality of the writing. However I did read The Killing Habit by Mark Billingham in just two days... I do rather like DI Tom Thorne!

I also enjoyed The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths, Normal People by Sally Rooney and I am now part way through An American Marriage which I am thoroughly enjoying. Maybe my powers of concentration are returning!

Knitting

I have been picking up my knitting on and off since the start of the year and it has taken me this long to finish this Hitchhiker scarf. At the beginning of the year I made a pledge to finish nine projects in 2019. This is the third project that I have finished which  doesn't bode well for getting them all done by the end of the year does it.

Looking at that photo I am slightly alarmed that my neck looks like a turkey's... oh dear one day you look in the mirror and all is well with the world then suddenly before you notice you have turned into your grandmother. Not that I have a problem turning into my grandmother as she was a wonderful woman... but you know what I mean! At least the scarf looks good!

Shopping

I bought the dog a new bed because I felt sorry for him.He chooses to sleep on the floor as he only has a hard plastic bed... his own fault as he eats his beds. But do not be fooled by him curled up looking cosy... he loved it for one night before he dragged it out and chewed it, pulling out half the stuffing. Which of course is why he didn't have a comfy bed to begin with. You think I would learn wouldn't you.

Baking

I have made two chocolate cakes this week. The first was for Free Cakes for Kids, although this time it was not for a child's birthday. The Cambridge branch of the charity also supports a couple of homeless charities and so this chocolate cake was delivered to Wintercomfort. Everyone with a June birthday was entered into a draw to win the cake.

 

Donna won the cake and then shared it with all the clients using the services that day. I was privileged to be asked to stay for a cuppa and a chat. It always leaves me humbled that just a cake can mean so much.

 

 The second chocolate cake was for this gorgeous baby... except he's not a baby anymore (although still pretty gorgeous but I am biased). Son no. 3 Joe celebrated his 30th birthday this weekend! Where did those years go?

We had a family barbecue to celebrate. At Easter we thought it would be the the last family gathering in this house. Little did we know...

 

Painting

Each week I take my Mum to her painting class. Mostly I just sit and draw in my  sketchbook  but the for the past couple of weeks I have been joining in with the class. Last week I painted that proverbial elephant!

Talking of which... today we had a bit of a break through. I don't want to tempt fate by saying too much but I might actually be shooing that elephant out of the room by the end of this week!

Slowly going crazy

Everywhere I go the first question on everyone's lips is "Have you moved yet... any news... have you got a date?" I see my Mum twice a week and she asks me every time I see her. It's natural that people are curious and they care but it is driving me crazy. And believe me when it happens I will shout it from the rooftops I will be so relieved. Everyone will know!

We have packed all unnecessary items, got rid of unwanted or excess furniture, I have sorted and emptied virtually every cupboard, cleaned every nook and cranny (so long ago it will all need doing again). The loft is empty, the shed and garage are tidy... and so we wait surrounded by empty rooms and boxes. We wait for solicitors and the local council to resolve an issue over a small piece of land. So your guess is as good as mine! The upshot of all this is that it has left me with a lot of extra time on my hands... it's a bit like being in a waiting room for weeks on end!

And so I have been filling my time with making art amongst other things. I mentioned several weeks ago that I was following along with a free online sketchbook class. It was two weeks of intense classes covering a wide range of techniques. All the images here are pages from my sketchbook as a result of just a handful of these classes. The one above involved tracing around the face with the non dominant index finger whilst simultaneously making an outline drawing of the face in pen... with your eyes shut! Yes... those four faces are me! Told you I was going crazy... that's what I look like!

I did some colour mixing and observational drawing with water colours and invented whimsical towns in pen and ink.

I tried intuitive water colour painting, collage, painting with acrylics, doodling...

Experimenting with different media, sometimes drawing the same thing over and over.

Some of the techniques and ideas I will never try again but I learned so much and worked in so many different styles. Best of all it has got me back into the habit of working in my sketchbook regularly. I have also been taking my Mum to her art class once a week as she isn't really driving at the moment so that gives me another chance to draw uninterrupted.

I think one of my favourite exercises was taking a photograph of cracks in the pavement and finding creatures hidden in the cracks, which is an actual thing... Pareidolia, the tendency to see faces in inanimate objects.

Like these mice or this crazy bird lurking in the sidewalk!

 

 I've also been doing lots of crochet in the evenings and although it is not really the time of year to have blankets draped over your knees I finished this blanket in the sweetpea trellis pattern from Attic24 but in a coastal colourway and I have another blanket just waiting for its border. I'm slowing running out of things to do but I guess I can always start the cleaning again if I get really desperate!

 

 Apologies that I still don't seem able to comment on blogs or reply to your comments here (unless I have your email address)... I cleared my cookies and managed to leave a single comment on Christina's blog and then it stopped working again, but I am reading. I promise!

Possibilities

I'm sure I am not the only one who finds the prospect of the new year an exciting one full of new possibilities, which is ridiculous when you think about it as every new day holds the prospect of new adventures and a fresh start. A chance to leave old habits and bad things behind, moving forward with a sense of discovery. Yes, we all know that but somehow 1st January seems endowed with significance, a chance to do things differently, a time for re-invention.

The first day of the year was a good one. The morning was spent taking down the Christmas decorations. I don't like them lingering into the new year and the tree was definitely past its best. Harnessing my inner Nigella, I do however leave fairy lights up in my kitchen. I think we could all do with some fairy lights during the first few months of the year. Once the house was clear we had some brunch, having skipped breakfast due to the vast amounts of food consumed on New Year's Eve, and then ventured out for a long walk to blow the cobwebs away. On our return I made large mugs of hot chocolate with some lovely raw cacao that Joe had brought us back from Costa Rica.

Then to round off the day we went to the cinema to see "Mary Poppins Returns", which I thoroughly enjoyed. Stewart's reaction was "What a lot of nonsense" but really what did he expect? Mary Poppins flew in on a kite to take care of a new generation of Banks children. There were lamp lighters instead of chimney sweeps but other than that there was singing and dancing, a cartoon sequence and pretty much all the elements of the original film. It was slick and well produced, with fabulous costumes so all in all an hour and a half of pure escapism. I think he enjoyed it really!

It did bring to mind a Brownies production of Mary Poppins that took place in 1966 where yours truly took the title role. A role secured largely by the fact I had the loudest voice rather than any other talents. My Dad kept this newspaper clipping and I'm the one on the right.... don't laugh!

Despite liking the idea of a new year with new possibilities I don't really go in for resolutions etc. I tried the trend for adopting a word for the year once... "Balance" if I remember rightly. That didn't last long so I only ever did it the once. However when I spotted an initiative on Instagram called the "Make Nine Challenge" it really appealed to me. It is supposed to be a slow fashion intitative where participants pledge to make nine projects throughout the year. Last year I tried to finish off things that I had started but I lost track once I started to make things for the weddings, but knowing I still have a huge stash of fabrics, yarns and half finished kits this seemed like a good opportunity to do a bit of stash busting before we move. So the following are my nine projects, which I will document here as well as on Instagram. You can ask me at the end of the year how I have done! In no particular order...

 

1. I will make a Hitchhiker scarf/shawl  by Martina Behm in either the green or the grey yarn... or possibly both should the fancy take me!

2. I will make this apron dress, bought as a kit several years ago after seeing someone else had made one on a blog I was following. I no longer remember the blog and the kit remains in its bag untouched, so I either need to make it or give it away.

3. Another kit I bought many years ago was this wall hanging kit that required machine embroidery skills before I even knew what machine embroidery involved. Yes, that long ago! It doesn't really qualify as a fashion item but it's textiles so I'm going with it.

4. I will use these fabrics to make something to wear. These were another purchase after seeing them featured on a blog. I fell in love with the colours and then when it arrived I wasn't sure I was brave enough to wear them. I'm now older and don't care so I'm thinking I will make a pinafore dress... or two! I sent for the pattern today.

5. Blogs really do have a lot to answer  for don't they.... An Attic 24 kit to crochet a blanket, bought on a whim and never started. Having resisted the urge (only just) to buy the latest Attic 24 crochet along Sweet Pea blanket, I might just crochet this one along instead.

6. A Camber dress by Merchant and Mills. I have the pattern and the fabric was bought and pre-washed two years ago. I have no idea why I've not made it yet. I just need to get it done!

7. This Kaffe Fassett sweater was featured in Living magazine in 1988. The photo is of the original page. I bought the yarn as a kit and it has remained in a drawer for thirty years. It has been so long ago I'm hoping it will be back in fashion if I finish it this year.

8. I'm pleased to say I only found this pattern last year rather than thirty years ago. It's a free pattern on Purl Soho but I fell in love with that yoke. It may require a yarn purchase though which feels slightly against my rules. Perhaps if I finish the other eight projects this can be a little treat to myself!

 

9. And last of all an Ehrman tapestry kit for a cushion... about a third completed so it really does need to be finished... although I'm not really sure I like it enough. Maybe it should just go?

So there we are, nine projects I aim to finish this year. I'd like to tell you these are the only projects I have to finish but despite there being others, these will do for now. What possibilities are you hoping to achieve this year? Whatever you do, in the words of Neil Gaiman I wish you "A year filled with magic and dreams and good madness"