Lilys House

Ta dah !

At last..

The bag is done. It felted up a treat after two goes through the machine. Dinky, woolly, soft, colourful and made by me - what's not to love ! As you can tell I'm a bit pleased with myself........You see, I love knitting I really do, I just wish I was a bit better at it. I can never really take my eyes off the pattern and memorise, or off the needles to watch telly as well ! I've surprised myself on occasions, like the successful wool longies made with the magic loop method, that is, knitting both legs simultaneously on one long circular needle.....

how's that for a colourful picture !?
Kool-aid dyed and were (still are) well loved as you can tell from all the bobbles.
They were a challenge to say the least and splitting off for the legs caused me to literally break out in a sweat. I remember it well - I'd taken myself of to bed to ensure complete silence and no interruptions. I checked the pattern every 2 seconds and was holding the knitting like a vice - hardly a relaxing experience. Once over that hurdle however, it wasn't too bad. Seeing them on Maddie made it all worth while.
I think that is what I'm learning. Like the bag. I was bored doing all that stocking stitch and the i - cord frustrated me. Now though, I'm over all that and am just delighted with the beautiful end result.
So - no pain, no gain. I'm getting it !

I have a strong desire to knit lace. I seem to go through this urge every 6 months or so.I really want to have a go. But I have the fear, as I've read on zillions of blogs about how frustrated and stressy it can get you.
I got some bargain mohair in the charity the other day...................so - a nice complicated super easy lace pattern and my 'totally unrippable if I mess it up' wool.......how bad can it be ?

Any lace knitters out there to give me some newbie tips ?

needle books

I've had the idea for these floating around a while and made a few before Christmas. As they were gifts they couldn't be posted, but now I'm in the clear and they are with their new owners.

Mums

After finding some gorgeous vintage graphics (copyright free I may add ;), I knew that I had to incorporate them into some kind of project. I printed them onto cotton and they were ready to go!
I wanted a small and fun project, something that could be embellished freely and differently as the mood takes me, no two the same. Of course, being me, the hand dyed blanket pieces I adore had to be involved and lent themselves perfectly to the cause..........the first one (not pictured - you know what the first one of anything is like.....) was made for myself out of necessity (I have my Great Grandmothers but its getting fragile).
They've ended up like little altered art cards, but in wool .

Nickys

I am going to have fun making more over the next few weeks and will pop them up for sale in the shop . Will let you know when its imminent!

Right, Maddies napping, the house is tidy(ish), poor Lily's got a temperature and is chilling in her room so I'm going to take a break and get on with crocheting a greyhound! More on that soon.

Have a great weekend x

I - cord hell

Well, what do you make of this!!

Probably the worst example of an i - cord you have ever seen.

I - cord as in 'idiot - cord', named by Elizabeth Zimmermann after her accidental discovery of this easy to do little cord. In case you are none the wiser it is a tube knitted with two double pointed needles. And it is easy. It's just that I can't seem to do it neatly despite following all tips re pulling the first stitch tight etc :(
I'm making it as the cord for my Booga Bag .

It's finally finished after being picked up and put down since last Christmas when Mum gave me the Noro as a present. The colours aren't quite as lurid in the flesh and I've loved working with this project, especially as wrapped with the Noro was 5 packs of my favourite incense sticks so the wool smelled divine too! (I know, I'm such a hippy).
Anyway, I'm hoping the cord will get neater with practice, only 5 feet to go...................
The whole lot's going to be heavily felted which should cover any little imperfections ;)

Obviously I'll post some pics of the finished article but don't hold your breath! The cord is irritating me no end and it may take a while to force myself to sit down and finish it...................

ok, it's time

Time to wrap up the posts till the New Year.............

It's 1535 and I've grabbed a few mins whilst my candle is melting (don't ask - more handmade gifting, and a lot of fun!). Thought I'd just take this opportunity to show the bag I've made Lily for Christmas. It was one of those projects that went well. You know, there are those that seem to foul up all the way - this was sweet from cutting to finish. Spur of the moment things mostly are I find.....no expectations or pressure! Please excuse picture quality.....

pocket detail....

Anyway folks, here's wishing you all a very cool Yule and good wishes for the New Year! Many thanks for reading this little blog (it still suprises me when people drop by :) and see you in the New Year, happy and rested (maybe) x

.....x

another tick on the list

Hottie cover number 2, for my lovely Grandmother, Mama. It's a little pointy and I asked Lily if i should round off the top - but no, she likes it that way, so the point stays!

Maddie had her first meeting with Father Christmas yesterday at toddler group...............

and he gave her a wonderful present.............................

thankyou so much Santa! Just what a frazzled Mum needs!

She was so thrilled with it, not just any recorder - a yellow one, no less. Most of the children got some sort of musical instrument, so it was pretty noisy afterwards as you can imagine. Bells, maracas, recorders, kazoos, you name it............still, it was lovely to hear them all so excited and full of beans - full of Christmas.

Off to late night market in Totnes this evening with Lily. Our girly night. It's a lovely affair, outdoors, candles, mulled wine, stalls and stalls of handmade................can't wait.

Mainly pics I think for the rest of the week, got to stop using the computer to avoid the pressing stuff!

not really running to plan.......

Well yes, this about sums it up. The general feel of things not flowing quite as they should. I have just decided to go with it (the only thing to do if you don't want to go mad) and plug away slowly with a list
- and be the turtle not the hare......

The main prpblem is the stinking cold with aches and shivers and cotton wool head, that's come out of nowhere just in time for the last (or first in my case) Christmas push.....nothing some Beechams and a brandy coffee won't sort out, only joking (maybe..).

Anyway, 'nuff of that.........things to do people to see. Nick's off today and we are about to hit the local antique/house clearance people to look for some large bookshelves for the middle room (aka the dumping ground). At the moment there is about 500 books, 2 surplus chairs, and worst of all bags, yes bags, of paperwork residing in there. So if we can find at least the books a home, I'll be very happy!

This afternoon I need to get on with a bit of gift making - hottie covers, as the photo (one down, two to go), finish crocheting a 3 ft snake, and a bag. Get the Amazon order done, oh and write the cards....

By the way the bedspread I so artily tried to photo (until the pussies got involved) was a fiver in the local charity shop.............nice isn't it?

tiny dancer

Well not so tiny now - a great big 10. How did she get this big?

My lovely girl has been working so hard for about the last six months for a performance with her dancing school. She has been studying ballet, tap and modern/jazz for years now. Ballet for 6 years that much I know. It's been a struggle sometimes, all the extra lessons at weekends, after school, you name it. Lots of running around and hanging around for me and the little one.

On Saturday she had her concert. Dress rehearsal then the matinee and evening. Such a long day with very little break away from the venue.

It was SO worth it. She did me proud and I can see how far she has come. Well done Lily, you were brilliant.

Whilst all this busying around has been going on I have been sneaking off to the sewing machine (albeit in small bursts) and have managed to complete two little bags with my thrifted fabric.
.....and used some wool for the birdie and patches

Now it's on with the holiday gifts (like most of you out there). Good luck everyone!

meet ivy

Inspired by leaves I bought back back from our freezing Saturday walk..........

this bag came into being

I love the shape and colour of ivy and have fancied it on the side of a bag for ages. So here it is. Its a bigger version of the usual, a nice deep, cosy hole for everything bar the kitchen sink!

getting a bit done

Introducing a new member of the bag family!

(dodgy pic - it's so dark here at the moment)

The first one is always a learning curve and a very valuable exercise. It's always exciting making ideas real. I wanted to make a little handbag, sturdy and hardwearing but soft. A friend very kindly gave me a whole roll of deep brown velvet, which was like a dream come true. As you all know, I love using wool and the lining of this bag is recycled blanket, dyed a dusky, browny pink. It's squashy and cuddly, perfect for the weather. So this one's for you Pam!

A pile of cut outs awaits me, different combinations of fabrics and shape. Just experimenting at the moment really, seeing what works. I feel that bags mustn't only be lovely to look at and tactile but practical too.
Now I have fully grasped the whole lining thing (a bit of a mental block for ages), I've realised that I can really make a bag any shape I want. A bit of a lightbulb moment....

Just to make you laugh though, whilst the creativity was in full flow, something else was flowing in the front room..........................

That got my attention alright!
Bless her, she was mortified at being caught out (it had been covertly snuck from the fridge) and ran and wetted some loo roll under the tap to help me clear it up. I just had to give her a big cuddle she was so upset. In case you were wondering, I do feed the children, they don't usually have to resort to stealing food!! The fridge has just been discovered as a treasure chest of delights..................

first frost

Well it came today - a nice minus 1 degrees!
Such a beautiful morning, sun bursting through the trees, crunchy grass, frosted up car. I LOVE this time of year, love dressing up in warm things, seeing our breath in the air.

As far as other things go I've been getting on with the bags 'du jour'. The Vintage Magpie will hopefully have a shop on etsy soon and we need to build a little stock! With all the Christmas gift making going on, these have been on a bit of a back burner. I am itching, itching to get some bags of cut out and will be playing with some new designs. Lifes little jobs and hurries and worries seem to be blocking my path to the scissors and the cloth and the creative flow. Its a bit frustrating as ideas are bursting out of my head, to the point of not sleeping because I'm trying to work out just how that band fits on that seam etc. Anybody else do this or am I the only sad one!

Still , I have managed a bit over the last couple of weeks.

This one has gone to Tess Designs in Ashburton along with some others made by myself and Nicky

This winged its way to my lovely sister after the birth of her daughter Minerva.

There are more, but I'll roll them out slowly so as not to bore! (rhyme totally not intended!)

Maybe the weekend will bring a little time. We have family to stay so it will be fun whatever.

Have a lovely weekend..........