"thread" a festival of textiles 2014

Very busy this glorious early autumn with preparations for "thread" ... I am running a WORKSHOP ... details here and will be bringing some exclusive designs as yet unseen and soon to be on the website.  It would be great to see you if you are in or around Farnham 26th and 27th September. I will have all the kits and if I get time some of the interactive stationery too, the new cushion kits and the old favourites and as I said NEW ONES! My dear chums Vanessa from Hoop and Amanda who is a fab and wonderful part time girl friday are helping me out. Very happy to be part of this great event! Looking forward to my workshop, and seeing the other stands ... some great names there ...

It has all been rather intense this last few weeks as I have also been approached by the National Trust and now find myself supplying them too! A slight nightmare ensues as the volume of the order has meant going up a gear with my stock, the, up till now, humble production line. So an essential trip to IKEA for MORE little boxes to put everything in ... who can resist them? Managed to only spend £90 ... a small miracle in itself and only came away with one or two oddly named tea strainers and kitchen gadgets.  My obsession with storage and my inability EVER to actually achieve perfect order is a life long mystery ... it's ok, I know I am not alone. Anyway it all has to go SOMEWHERE before it is delivered to NT! And I am trying.

So Please come along and say HELLO! 

Crochet project finished

I am not sure why pictures of finished crochet is so satisfying ... I have been working on this blanket for about 3 months, pretty much at every opportunity and now the main section is complete and I am racing around the border in a kind of frantic way ... I am eager, as always to get on with the next one. I am so glad I can be an unashamed crochet lover now after years of secret crocheting I can carry my balls of wool and hooks around with pride. When I was at college and trying to be so deadly serious about my art I used to crochet on the train and hide it in my bag once I got to London ... it just would not even have been funny to be caught out as a crafter then, but now! Well, I find it is quite the opposite now and the serious young thins are waving their hooks about like there is now tomorrow, crocheting their bearded boyfriends waistcoats and the like ...

 Then the next project is another blanket ( pictured below ) but one I have put aside for a while. The original idea was to use all my mothers fine Shetland yarn plus others I had found and added to to make a very large heirloom blanket on her honour. She used these yarns to knit the most wonderful little dollies, tiny little things, also tiny little bird finger puppets. She was doing this still with amazing eyesight for a lady in her eighties. I have the birds hidden away somewhere and will photograph them and the little dollies too so consider this post unfinished!

... I think my camera lens has some jam or greasy fingerprint of some kind smeared on it as every photo I have taken recently has a smudge in the same place. But after a bit of spit and polish here they are ...

Tee shirt yarn distraction

A little distraction today as I have had this bag of tee shirts behind the front door for a week now and been itching to dye them so I can try making yarn to crochet with. So I chucked some in the washing machine this morning before I got down to work. At lunch time it was drying and by tea break I cut some up ... now there are plenty of tutorials on how to do this here so have a look and have a go ... it is very satisfying to stretch the strips once cut ... some tee shirts don't want to curl and I am not yet sure how this will effect the crochet, and I suspect it will give a different texture. LOVELY! The washing machine is still going and there will be more colours yet so will photograph as I go ...

Miniature Felt Pincushions

Mini Felt pincushions

 I have been going through my work photos, trying to tidy up the visual mess in iphoto. No matter how careful I am things just get lost in there and I forget what work I have done! I loved making these for my friend Tina to sell on her shop Liberty Bee. I made over 30 in the end! They are quick to make and only need the tiniest amount of felt, stuffing and thread and a screw top from a wine bottle. Does this suggest I had to drink 30 bottles of wine to get the tops? I did have plenty of donations!