Christmas Countdown - December

So once again I've been joining in with Allie's Christmas Through The Year - the final installment!

Want to see my roundup of what I've made?

1 - 6: Teacup candles

7-8: 2 sets of wax tarts for burners

9: Cross stitch cushion

10: Table runner

11: Wine Bottle Cosy

12-13: Wash bags

14-19: Spa Kits

Which actually adds up to more than 19 presents, because the spa kit itself is a bag and contains:

20-25: Spa slippers

26-31: Eye mask

32-37: Crocheted wash cloth

38-47: Homemade soap

48-57: Home made bath bombs

And there's more!!  In the photographless category we have:

58-63: Glass candles

64-70: Birdfeeders

Not a bad effort!  I've still got some work to do, but I've still got a few days (including two full days where I don't have to go to work).  My list of things to make is:

1. Finish off the 6 glass candles I've made (just topping up around the wick)

2. Sew up the glasses cases

3. Crochet 3 x scrubbies

4: Crochet 1 x washcloth

5: Crochet 1 x keyboard duster

6: Crochet Yoda ami

7: Crochet ami pig

8: Finish the bird feeders

9: Assemble cookies in jars

10: Assemble the reinbeer

Numbers 6 and 7 can be left off if I run out of time, so I'm feeling pretty confident that Christmas will be ready!

Spa Kits - complete!

I have finally finished the spa kits!  Well, OK, I've got one washcloth to crochet as apparently I can't count, but they're pretty much done.


I never showed you the eye masks, so here they are:

After I'd finished sewing them, I put one on and Mr CA said "the nose cut out needs to be bigger".  I gave him an "annoyed look" and ignored him.  Maybe I've just got a big nose...

They have elastic at the back to account for a range of small - large heads.  Not that I'm saying my family and friends have large heads, but you never know.


So, want to see the completed Spa kits?

Here they are, all full of goodies.  Want to see what's in each one?

The slippers and eye mask are from this tutorial, the bag itself is from a pattern in Making magazine.  The crochet washcloths are are different from various patterns in one of my books.  There's also a couple of homemade soaps and bath bombs.  The kit above also includes a bought pig-shaped shower gel.  This kit is for my piggy-loving mum.

Would you be excited to find this under your Christmas tree?

Each kit is the same but different.  Some have plastic bath toys in them - for the mother's of small children. 

The slippers and eye masks are all made from the DS quilt line that was sold in the US in Joann's.  Each has a different colour combination.  I wish I'd had enough to make the bags the same, but it was not to be.

Most of the washcloths are made from cotton or acrylic yarn, I made them months and months ago, at the start of the year I think.

The soap and bath bombs are all from a couple of kits, but there are recipes galore on the internet if you want to try it.  The soap is just melt-and-pour and was easy, the bath bombs were NOT easy!


Phew, it feels like a weight of my mind now that is done. I'm just having a break after finishing my last batch of candles and candle tarts and before making my gift tags.  Not long to go now but most items are crossed off my list - either because they're done or because I've decided not to make them!  Ah well, at least I'll have some ideas for next year!

This and that

0It's bank holiday weekend (again!) in England so I've scheduled this post.  I had a few random things to show you and was worrying about how to post about them neatly, but then I realised that was ridiculous!  Who said my posts have to be structured, just bloody post them you daft woman.

So, I haven't shown you one of these in a while, but I've still been making them!  Oh yes, another crochet washcloth.  I really must get round to blocking these and should do it before I show them to you!  This one is made using a fan stitch, another one from my Crochet Stitch Bible.

I love this yarn, it's the Sidar Calico DK again, what a lovely colour.  I know there are a lot of purple-haters out there, but I'm definitely not one of them. 

I mentioned in a previous post my WIP shelf.  Well here it is!  My craft room doubles as a general dumping ground and has 3 large bookcases along one wall.  These bookcases hold half of our massive book collection, destined for the dining room and the remainder in the spare bedroom when my lovely husband eventually gets round to putting up shelves.  So a couple of years yet. 

In a fit of annoyance at having to dump WIPs on the sofa or the floor in my craft room, I scooped handfuls of books off two of the shelves and replaced them with my yarn collect (well some of it, it's widely scattered round the house!) and my WIPs.  See how the shelf bows from the weight of books that was piled on it for years?

In this photo there's my appliquéd lavender sachets still unsewn, a bag kit, some random fabric, my bodged hat and slippers, the books with the patterns, the Lily and Will layer cake and yardage destined for our dining room, babygrows to be appliquéd on, some masculine fabric to be made into... erm... I don't know, Amy Butler fabrics to make crochet hook holders from and some more random fabric. 

The random fabric shouldn't really be there.  Must.  Get.  Organised. 

Finally for today's roundup, here's a couple of cards I made.  I made one for my grandma-in-law's birthday and then another identical one and one in gold to sell.  The butterflies are magnets which just pull off to be used on the fridge.

Well that's about it for now.  I'll be back at work on Tuesday and hopefully have a packed week of posts about all the things I've made over the weekend.  Don't hold your breath, I'm a terrible procrastinator, even when it comes to things I want to do.  How bizarre is that?

Happily hooking

Remember I've been going on and on and on about my friend having a baby?  Well I finished the last present.  Maybe the last present.  I might still crochet a bunny.  But anyway - mitts - ta dah!

Crocheted in Sidar Baby Bamboo to match everything else.

Here are all the patterns in case you want a go:

blanket  - pattern here

hat - pattern here

mitts - pattern here

booties - pattern here

Here's the full set together.

Now hurry up baby, I want to meet you!!

Recently it seems that whenever I talk about crochet, there's a washcloth involved.  Oh yes, there's a washcloth in this post too!  This uses the Circle in a Square pattern from 200 Crochet Blocks (for more information see my Craft Book Challenge page) and a bead stitch border from Round the Corner Crochet Borders.

I really like this block and could fancy it for a blanket.

Friday Night Sew In March results

Despite my sewing machine chucking a wobbly, I decided to join in with the Friday Night Sew In anyway.

First up I finished up, wait for it... oh yes, ANOTHER crochet washcloth!

This one was made up, by me, using the Handbook of Crochet Stitches.  So I'm also sneaking in my first entry for March's Craft Book Challenge.

I used a lovely ripple stitch and am really pleased with the way it turned out.  I finished it with a round of dc.  Once again, it's the Sidar Calico range.
Anyway, back to the FNSI.  I then started to applique some bikinis which will be made into lavender hearts.  These will be the first items in my Folksy shop.  Am I crazy to open a shop so soon into my crafting life?  Probably.  But nothing ventured, nothing gained.  I'm aiming to open it at the end of April.

I got as far as bondawebbing both pieces to the linen, then doing a double-whipped back stitch on the bra.  I decided that this time, instead of cutting the hearts, appliqueing and then handsewing, this time I will applique, machine sew the hearts and then cut.

So how am I going to machine sew considering my machine is broken?  Well I'm taking it to the shop to be mended (fingers crossed) today.  I have no idea when I'll get it back, so I might also be nipping round to my parents' house to steal my mum's machine!

Also last night, I laid out a load of projects on the dining room table as I plan to get a whole load of cutting done ready for when I'm able to sew again.

Here we have (top row, left to right) Amy Butler fabric for mum's bag , to be sewn loosly following the Hobo Bag in the Bag Making Bible but with a lot of changes.  Another Buttercup bag, but altered to my own specifications from this gorgeous printed linen and probably the spotty cotton.  The Amy Butler home dec. fabric used for the knitting bags I made for me and mum so I can make her a crochet hook holder, and probably one for me.  Random pattern pieces, fusible fleece and interfacing.  Also on that pile is Crafty Ady's glasses case pattern pieces as I plan to cut some more of them, though I'm not sure which fabric yet.

Bottom row is some gorgeous Moda Essence fabric chosen by my mum for more placemats.  The lining pieces for the sewing machine cover from Homespun Vol 11 No 11 now my Bliss yardage has arrived.  And finally a Lily and Will layer cake and lots of yardage to make placemats and other table linen.  I've just realised I'm a project missing as I also intend to get a playmat made for my cousin's children.

That's all folks!

not another one!

Yep, I've made another washcloth.  And I'm showing it to you all.  Sorry.

A granny stripe pattern from 200 Crochet Blocks in Sidar Calico again.  It turned out pretty big.  I think I could handle a granny stripe blanket at some point...

Don't forget it's the Friday Night Sew In tonight.  I probably wont be posting until Saturday evening (UK time) as I'm off to dip my feet in a tank of fishies with my godmother/honourary aunty. 

I have realised that I mention my goddaughter a lot, and now my godmother.  It's just a label, I am in no way at all religious.  Just to let you all know!

Christmas 2011 - February

This is my February Christmas through the year post.  If you want to join in, you've got until the end of the day on the 28th to hop over to Allie's blog and link up.

In January I only managed 1 present, but I've done a lot better this month.

1, 2 and 3 - zippered pouches:

4 - Lavender sachet:

5 - wire knit bracelet:

6 - crochet wash cloth:

7 - Buttercup bag:

8 - embroidered bookmark:

9 - glasses case:

Oh yes, that's a grand total of 11 for February!!  A total of 12 overall.  Roll on Christmas, I'm ready for you... well not quite!

10 - crochet washcloth 2

11 - crochet washcloth 3

Crochet washcloths

Oh yes, another exciting title!  It does tell you what's in the tin though...

I LOVE to crochet, love it.  And it's perfect for evenings in front of the tv.  I'd been seeing crochet wash cloths around and thought they were the perfect project for practicing and learning new crochet stitches.

I found some Sidar Calico double knitting yarn on sale.  It's 60% cotton, 40% acrylic and the colours are delicious.  The picture above is my first attempt.

pattern here

And here's a close up of that pretty ruffle.  The pattern was great, really easy to follow.  But then it occured to me that I had a great resource for crochet washcloths in the form of 2 books I bought.  200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans by Jan Eaton and Around the Corner Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman.  Both books provide a wealth of blocks and borders to mix and match.  Here's my first attempt:

Could this be the world's most fancy washcloth??  My husband says no-one will want to use it!

This is attempt number two.  Not quite so effective as I didn't start with enough stitches for this shell pattern. 

These are my entries number 3 and 4 for the craft book challenge this month.  That's 7 craft books so far this year.  Click over to Liesl Made to join in.