I made a quilt!

Well, it's only five inches square and some of the stitching is in the wrong place, but it's still a quilt. It's got batting in the middle and a binding and everything! I like the little boat pattern. It's supposed to be a mug coaster, but I like it too much to spill coffee on it. My lovely neighbour took me to her patchwork class and taught me the basic techniques, it was great fun and now I want to make more quilty things.

Oh, I also made a little hat for an egg. Here it is. I saw the pattern here, and added a little scallop edging. I don't really eat boiled eggs, but this makes me want to eat them just so I can use the cozy with its bright colours. I made it from embroidery floss!

It's a busy few months for me. Every day for three months, my little car Jim is driving me forty miles to Gloucester so I can learn to be a chef. Today is only day four and I'm enjoying it so far but I suspect I'll be exhausted by the end of it! Plus I have Portuguese exams in less than a month... So if I fall behind and don't post for a while, you'll know the reason why not.

Late to the granny square party (and other crochet bits)

Image above from Emma Lamb's blog, here.

In the last few years, crochet seems to have really taken off again, and in particular granny squares. I've seen some gorgeous things on various blogs, Etsy and in the Cath Kidston catalogue, but the person whose work I have really fallen in love with is Emma Lamb. There is nothing in her Etsy shop that I wouldn't like to own, and it's traditional and contemporary at the same time which really appeals to me.

Anyway, back in September when we first moved to this house, I bought some cushion pads with the intention of knitting some covers for them. Of course that never happened and they've been languishing in the spare bedroom ever since. So the other day when I came across some sparkly wine and gold yarn that I'd bought in Lidl, I thought I'd add some cream yarn and turn it into some granny square cushions for a previously cushion-less chair in our living room.


One is just a giant granny square, and the other is four squares joined with double crochet. They're lined and backed with beige linen because I couldn't be bothered to crochet the backs - yes I know I'm lazy. And I hadn't used my sewing machine for so long that it took me a while to remember how to sew in a zip, which is shameful. You can't see in the photo (and my camera battery died right after I snapped this so I couldn't take another shot) but the wine and gold yarns are actually sparkly.


Next I have to replace the cushion on my computer chair, which I've had to throw away because Elvis threw up the world's biggest hairball all over my Chinese satin cushion. I discovered this when, having just woken up and being not quite awake, I stumbled into my computer room and sat on the chair and got a big streak of wet hairball right across my backside. I was not pleased, I can tell you. I've started a purple and cream chevron pattern cushion, inspired by one in Erika Knight's Simple Crochet. If you're in London and fancy learning to do something similar, my fabulous crochet teacher Bee is running a chevron cushion workshop as part of her new venture Make Do Mend. Sigh... I do miss the vast array of classes in London.

Image above from makedomend here.

Finally here are some flowers from 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet, which my mum in law bought me for Christmas. The pattern for the pansy didn't seem to work out, as the back petals came out with big gaps between the stitches, so I just sort of made them up as I went along rather than sticking to the pattern. The one with the pom pom wasn't supposed to have a pom pom (I think it was a dahlia) but I was in a pom pom kind of mood.

How I will get my mojo back.

Thing a day is starting again! Registration opens on 24 January and I will be signing up. Last year I managed to post something every single day in February apart from one and it really kept me motivated so this year I hope it'll help me get my inspiration back. Are you signing up this year?

I thought I'd show you a Thing I made recently - a crochet garland. It was really for Christmas, and I made it with sparkly yarn from Lidl in gold and dark red, but I liked it so much that it's staying up all year! Also see the snow? It was much worse than this. I had five (!) days off work when I couldn't get out because of snow or ice.

And see my little bonsai on the windowsill? It doesn't have a lot of growth yet, but it's developed some new leaves since I got it. I've always been fascinated by bonsai and I just signed up for a day-long beginner class next month and I can't wait. Watch this space, I'm sure it'll be one of my Things next month because bonsai are definitely creative.

The first thing I ever felted.

While hunting in some drawers for a necklace today, I found the first felted object I ever made a few years ago. It's a little corsage made from some mohair I bought in Paris, with a pretty vintage button. I had no idea how to felt, so I threw it in the washing machine with the rest of the laundry and hoped for the best! I loved how it turned out.

The necklace in the photo is the one I was searching for in the drawers. Do you like it? I do, but I've never worn it because I just can't figure out what to wear it with. It's rose quartz and lavender jade. If you have any ideas what it would match, let me know!

Bee's Brilliant Beads

Last Sunday I went to a workshop with the fabulous Bee of Chain Creative. The topic of the day was bead crochet and we learned how to thread the beads into a pattern and crochet them up into a rope-type affair that we could then turn into a bracelet. I have to admit it took me a while to get the hang of it. Then when I did, I realised I'd threaded the beads wrong, and I hadn't time to finish my bracelet. Oh and when I got home I realised I'd left my only 1.5mm hook at Bee's so I had to order another one (good excuse to buy some nice new Clover hooks!). But last night I finally got time to sit down and finish it, and here it is.

Here it is on my arm.



I love it! I have lots of spare beads from when I ordered the wrong size and they're just lying around, so now I have a good use for them. I think everyone will be getting one of these for Christmas :-)

Agnes from MrsG Knits was at the workshop too and she's posted her finished bracelet on her blog, go and have a look. Hers is very professional-looking!

Oh and here's a little toadstool brooch I needle felted, just because I felt like it.

A very nice Saturday!

Yesterday I took a break from ebaying and headed out to the Kent countryside, home of Bee from Chain Creative, who taught me to crochet a few years ago. Bee has a lovely house with a fabulous garden, and in the summer she holds workshops there. Yesterday was a felting day, and five us (plus Bee) got stuck in and did some messy wet felting, crocheted a pear doorstop to felt in the washing machine, and best of all, we learned needle felting. I've been wanting do learn this for ages and ages and I wasn't disappointed!

Unfortunately most of the things I made aren't finished yet (I have to finish crocheting the pear, and the felted fabric I made is still drying) but I'll post some photos when it's all done. However I did manage to make two little brooches with the needle felting, and here they are!



I'm so addicted to this, it appeals to my love of all things cute and quick to make! It's so cool that by taking bits of unspun wool, like in the photo, and stabbing them repeatedly with a sharp needle you can turn them into 3D objects. I think I'll do a Moomin next...

Thanks Bee for a fab day, a yummy lunch and for introducing me to yet another crafty hobby!

Little crochet friends

Here's some little crochet friends I made for a Craftster swap recently. My partner received today so I can post a photo without worrying about ruining the surprise :) This is William the pig and his friend Margaret the bear. William is made from some Phildar mohair yarn I got in Paris, and Margaret is made from something fluffy and nice by Sirdar that I can't remember the name of. The little things in front are bottlecap pincushions I popped in the package.

EDM #186 - something I have always wanted. A long and rambling post about typewriters and coincidences.

Oh dear - drew the keys far too small!

There's a little story behind this one. Not that interesting or exciting a story, but a story nonetheless.

I have always loved typewriters. Not the writing part of things - I've never had the aspirations to be a writer that a lot of people have, not even when I was younger - but the machines themselves. Just like I obsess over old sewing machines and cameras, although I do actually like sewing and taking photos.

When I started secondary school, I was excited when I saw a whole room full of typewriters and found out that when you reached sixth year (which would probably be junior year of high school in the US) you were given typing lessons. I couldn't wait. Unfortunately, they phased out the typewriters before I was old enough, in favour of a room full of computers (RM Nimbus) which we were never allowed to use.

I always wanted a typewriter of my own, but we didn't have a lot of money, so instead my aunt gave me hers on long-term loan. I loved it. It was a Silver Reed portable and the ink was all but dried up, but I taught myself to type on it, and did a lot of my GCSE coursework on it.

Recently I've started wishing for a typewriter again, and even went so far as to research (on ebay mostly) which one I wanted. The machine of choice was a Smith Corona Calypso, because it was tiny, cute, a pretty colour, and looked like it might actually be usable. I managed to find an auction for one today, but got outbid at the last minute. I was so disappointed. But my disappointment was short-lived.

I had to go on a little trip to Islington for some calligraphy ink this afternoon (more on that later), and accidentally got off the bus a stop too early. On the way to the art shop, I walked past a junk shop I'd never seen before, and there, sitting outside on a knackered old table was a royal blue Smith Corona Calypso! Couldn't believe my eyes - what a huge coincidence. Sure it wouldn't be working, I fished an envelope out of my bag, stuck it in the typewriter and hit a few keys, and it was almost perfect. The price tag said £14, but I managed to get the seller to let me have it for £10. Less than half what the ebay one would have cost me if you take into account the postage costs. The A key is sticky and the shift lock doesn't work. I love it. Almost as much as my Olympus Trip 35.

If you're still reading after all that, here are some photos of the newest addition to our household.

Need to clean those keys a bit!

I haven't been drawing much over the past few days because I've been so busy with my last assignments for the year, which are due in next week, and also because I've been practicing my calligraphy. I haven't done it for ages and I'm so rusty it's depressing. But it's something I'm determined to get better at. No point posting my pages and pages of the same letter groups over and over - I don't think anyone would be interested in that! But I might show off my new coloured inks at some point. I've just discovered the joys of filling a fountain pen with ink instead of using a cartridge - the difference is amazing.

Oh and here's a bookmark I crocheted while watching TV last night. Bonus points if you recognise the book - even more bonus points if you recognise the artist.

Stephen the chicken - a friend for Neil. Make your own!

Neil was lonely so I made him a little friend - this is Stephen the brown chicken! He's a little more hyperactive than Neil - he can't stop flapping his wings with excitement!

A few people asked for a pattern for Neil, so I wrote one up. It's very easy. If you make a chicken, please send me a photo (angeltreats at gmail dot com), I would love to see what you made. Please be warned, I have never written a crochet pattern before, so if anything is unclear let me know.

::PATTERN::

sc = single crochet
ch = chain
st = stitch (i.e. the stitch on the round below that you are working into)
sc2tog = single crochet 2 stitches together (i.e. decrease)

Place a marker (a bit of scrap yarn will do) at the beginning of every round. Work in spirals and don't join the rounds.

Body - use white or brown yarn or whatever colour you want the body to be.

Round 1: 5 sc into magic loop (or you can do ch2, 5sc into second ch from hook if you don't know how to do magic loop)

Round 2: 2 sc into each st around

Round 3: [2 sc into same st, 1sc into next st] around

Round 4: [2 sc into same st, 1 sc into next 2 st] around

Round 5: [2 sc into same st, 1 sc into next 3 st] around

Rounds 6-12: sc around

Round 13: [sc2tog, 1 sc into next 3 st] around

Round 14: [sc2tog, 1sc into next 2st] around

Stuff body

Round 15: [sc2tog, 1st into next st] around

Pop in another bit of stuffing if you can. Sew up the hole and weave in ends.

Wings (make 2 in same colour as body

Ch 7

Row 1: Skip first ch, sc into next 6 st, ch 1

Row 2: Skip first ch, sc into next 6 st, ch1

Row 3: ch 3, sc into 4th ch from hook. [ch3, sc into next st] to end.

Finish off and weave in ends.

Comb (the thing that looks like the chicken's hairstyle!) - use red yarn.

Ch 7

Sc into 2nd ch from hook, ch3, sc into same st. [sc into next st, ch 3, sc into same st] to end. Finish off.

Making up

Sew the wings to the sides of the body, near the top. Sew comb to the top of the head. I have used yellow felt for the feet and beak, and seed beads for eyes, and I used superglue to attach them. You could embroider the face if you prefer.

And that's it! I hope you enjoy making your own little chicken friend :-)

What can I do with a pink doily?

I made this last weekend but I can't think what to do with it. Maybe I'll frame it. If anyone has any good ideas, let me know!

Something I crocheted

If you like crochet at all, you must go and check out Bee's blog, chaincreative. Bee is the lovely lady who taught me to crochet at Loop, I'd tried to teach myself from books and thought I was a lost cause but apparently not! (At least not when it comes to crochet.)

Yesterday Bee posted about starching crochet and I thought I'd share this bookmark - it's the last of a batch I made a few months back for a Craftster swap. This one is one pattern repeat short, because like so many other things, I made it while watching CSI and wasn't paying attention. I starched it with spray starch so it's nice and stiff. It's very very easy and the pattern is here.

Sorry for the awful photo - it's dull outside and there is absolutely no light in here at all.

And here's what the bookmark is currently... um... bookmarking. I kid myself that it's improving my Portuguese, but really it's the Quentin Blake drawings and Dahl's warped sense of humour I love.


I'm still without my Macbook and therefore without Photoshop, so I'm using GIMP which I have to say, I really hate. Hurry up, Apple :(

Neil the chicken

Here's Neil. I made him last night while watching 90210, the new series, which is terrible but for some reason I keep watching it every week.

Update on the "not eating out" thing (i.e. the challenge on purplepinkandorange): I haven't bought lunch at work for a whole week, I've brought it with me every day. We haven't been out for dinner, or even lunch at the weekends. And still no cakes or biscuits. Or chocolate. See my halo? See how sparkly it is? Of course I then ordered the new Grand Theft Auto DS game so any money I'd saved is now gone. Oh, and a flashgun for my Olympus Trip 35. Oh, and some gouache. But apart from that I've been good.

An elephant and a cat (and the loss of another cat).

My lovely workmate Jacky lost one of her cats to cancer a couple of months ago. On Friday, she came home from work to find that her other cat, a 16 year old Persian so obviously no spring chicken, had collapsed and was struggling to breathe. She rushed him off to the emergency vet only to find that his kidneys had failed and he had to be put to sleep. Poor Jacky was devastated. The cat who had been with her since he was a tiny kitten and it was him she cuddled up to during a horrible marriage breakup, so it's not surprising really. Anyway, I wanted to cheer her up a bit so I thought I'd crochet her something. Not a cat, because that might make her too sad, so instead I remembered that she loves going on holiday to India and made her an elephant. This little fella is tiny - less than 3", and as yet has no name. He was loved by his new owner, which is just as well because I found it quite hard to part with him!

I also did an EDM challenge today (number 185 - draw a cat). On my desk is a tiny cat calendar and during a very long and very dull task this afternoon at work I had to take a break before my head exploded. So I did a very very quick sketch of today's cat, using the first pen that came to my hand (a cheap ballpoint) and the back of some scrap paper. Here he is along with the calendar page.

Things and stuff.

What have I been up to since my last post?

Well... I've been crocheting again, and I have a new crochet book. It's Tiny Yarn Animals, by Tamie Snow who is the brains behind Roxycraft which is a website anyone who's into crochet will no doubt recognise. I hoard amigurumi books but seldom actually follow the patterns because I find most of them too big, and I really prefer tiny little toys. Tamie's book, as the name suggests, is full of patterns for tiny little animals and they are all cute enough that I actually want to make them. I made this hippo for today's Thing-a-day. He's from a pattern in the book but of course I abandoned the pattern and did my own thing after a while. My husband named him Gregory - why I have no idea, but I think it suits him. I also learned how to do an invisible decrease from PlanetJune today - it's absolutely shocking to think that I've been crocheting for this long, and I own so many crochet books that no doubt give instructions for this, and I never knew it existed till now. And it makes a huge difference.

What else? Well yesterday was Valentine's Day, but my husband is a very vocal hater of the greeting card industry. So instead of buying him a card I drew him a picture. I should explain that he's a big Resident Evil fan, and also happens to work for a very well-known videogames company who make a certain zombie-filled game. And he is definitely better than zombies (although I do like zombies too).

He did get me a card though - the first year I've one that said "wife"!



Instead of going out and paying over the odds for a meal in a packed restaurant, we spend the day in the V&A, which is one of my favourite places. And I did an EDM challenge when I was there, which was #38 - draw in a museum. Unfortunately it didn't turn out as I wanted. It was very busy and people kept walking in front of me and blocking my view, and eventually I got annoyed, scribbled a few very rough details, and left in a sulk. This is a bust of Charles II and I'm posting a photo of the original beside it - can you tell the difference?

My second life drawing class was on Friday and it was as enjoyable as the first one. We moved on to using different 3D shapes to represent different body parts - cylinders, spheres, cones etc. My drawings are still not looking all that much like actual people! It was very very difficult to get half decent photos of my drawings, due to the lack of light in this apartment. I ended up having to put them on the floor and rig up a tripod (my husband's awesome Manfrotto that I wish was mine) so it was kind of kneeling over the paper, then using the brightest lamp we have as sidelighting and using a remote release to get a long exposure although I think I ended up using flash after all. And the photos are still absolutely terrible even after some photoshopping! There must be an easier way!


One thing I am happy about is that having upgraded to Photoshop CS4, I can finally shoot in Raw, which is making me want to go out and photograph everything.

Finally, the socks are done! Not only that but I've actually worn them out and they haven't fallen apart, and are so comfy that ordinary socks now feel rubbish. I've started another pair for my husband in some lovely blue yarn.

The roaming gnome returns.

I've been participating in the Roaming Gnome swap on Craftster, and today my gnome Filbert finally made it home. He's been to Marburg and Waiblingen in Germany, and Texas and Florida in the US. He even got to go to Disneyland! Lucky gnome. Here he is with all the stuff he arrived back with. He also had an album and CD full of photos, all of which I've uploaded to Flickr so I can look at them and remind me that my gnome has been to two countries I haven't been to myself. (It's true, I've never been to the US. One day though.)





He arrived with some goodies from Disney and I caught Pokey trying to steal them - have you ever seen such a guilty looking cat? Or come to think of it, it might be anger. "Whatchoo lookin' at? It's ma stuff."




My Thing-a-day today was a tiny little amigurumi bird. I thought these would be nice for Easter but I want to tinker with it a bit and make a slightly fatter one. I plan to write up the pattern and post it here in case anyone would like to make one for themselves. I've been playing with Poladroid a bit, which I think is very cool in a Lomography sort of way, so the little birdie got the polaroid treatment and I also tried out the new font I made with my own handwriting (make your own at this website, it's free and very easy).

Happy apple friends!

Yet again I had loads of homework I was supposed to be doing, so naturally I put on CSI (the local library has all the box sets; I've got a lot of catching up to do) and grabbed a hook to make a happy green friend for the happy red apple.

I'm trying to find time to make something every day for Thing-a-Day, which I signed up for and am really going to try and make the effort to post something as often as possible. The idea is that you create something every day - even a little thing, even if it's only cooking from scratch or doing a doodle - and post it.

I haven't done an EDM challenge for ages. Maybe tomorrow night I'll try and do one.

I was looking at my blog at work today and got a huge disappointment. It looks perfect on my Macbook, but at work I'm using a 1028x786 resolution and it looks all big and weird, and you can barely see the polka dots at alll. It should look like this:

If it looks different on your screen, please please let me know. I might have to fiddle with the code a bit.

Is this a kind of nesting?

We all want a pretty home (or at least most of us do, my husband has no interest in a pretty home much to my annoyance). My home is a one bedroom flat, and it's too cluttered to be pretty. We just have too much Stuff and too many Things, all of which are absolutely necessary and cannot be got rid of. I do try, and I'm determined to sort out the clutter as best I can until we can buy a place of our own. I get very jealous when I look at blogs like Posy (a lady who lives in Devon and has the most beautiful house, which is filled with lovely things. But in the meantime I thought I'd redecorate my 'other' home - my home on the web. I made some polka dots in Photoshop and played with the banner a bit, and changed the layout. I like it. Polka dots are always good.

I miss doing web design - that's what I trained in, but as there were no jobs back home, I ended up working as a legal secretary was is not exactly my ideal job (to say the least). Technology has moved on a lot since I finished college in 2003, but I'm determined not to let it bypass me altogether so I've acquired a hefty but unintimidating book and plan to play around with CSS and hope it's not all completely beyond me.

I'm making a happy green apple to be a little friend for the happy red apple! I'd have finished him by now if I didn't keep looking at other people's pretty blogs and coveting their pretty things.

This post needs photos, so here's a bee I crocheted a few months ago!

So much stuff, so much secrecy.

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. No, I'm still here, and I've been busy, but annoyingly almost all of what I've been up to is for the European Swap Fest on Craftster, and I daren't post photos of any of it in case my partner sees. I'm really having to stop myself though, because I love the stuff I've made and have put lots of thought and effort into it, so she better like it! And I'm taking photos of everything so I can post it once she receives.

We were snowed in today. Well, not snowed in exactly, but unable to get to work because if a snowflake falls on a railway track in London, the whole city grinds to a halt. But everything looks so pretty in the snow, and it was the heaviest snow in London for 17 years so it was quite impressive. Here's the view from our window.


Snow is quite difficult to photograph at the best of times, but when you're hanging out of a first floor window and holding an SLR in one hand trying not to drop it, and hanging onto the window with the other hand so the wind doesn't whip it out away and smash it against the wall, it becomes even harder!

What else have I made that's not swap-related... well I made some sweeties. Beijinhos de coco are typical Brazilian goodies, and there are various recipes, but I used this one that was posted on Craftster because it didn't call for eggs as many of them do. These things are gorgeous, super easy and very moreish.

Then yesterday I was trying out ideas for the swap and got it into my head that my partner might like a pincushion. I have a book, Pretty Little Patchwork, that's full of really pretty things but I'd never tried out any of the patterns, so I thought I'd try out a lovely patchwork pincushion pattern from the book. The instructions weren't working out in my head, so I cut out some scrap fabric that didn't even slightly match or go together, and sewed the thing together, and it turned into the ugliest, most hideous and nasty pincushion that has ever been created. Seriously, look at this. Ewugh.


The button was a last minute addition to see if it made it any less ugly. It didn't. I can't believe I'm posting this thing on the internet! I'm going to cut it up and reclaim the stuffing to use on something that isn't horrible.

Finally today I got it into my head that an apple with a face would be really cute, so I dug out some acrylic yarn and a crochet hook and whipped this little thing up during an episode of CSI. Can you spot which apple isn't edible?


I love it! I'm going to do another in green to be a little friend for him, and they can decorate my kitchen. I might write up a pattern, if I thought anyone would want to make one.

Last minute Christmas stuff

Today I have been mostly finishing off a few last minute Christmas bits. Here's some Kleenex cozies. One of the star & spotty ones will be going to a Cath Kidston-loving friend - Cath Kidston has lots of stuff with a similar star print and polka dots. The boring brown check one is for my dad, and one of the brown ones with the little flowers is for my mum. That fabric is from Liberty and I LOVE it. It's gorgeous to sew with. I want to make a few purses with it too but I'm trying to find orange zips to match the flowers in the print.


That Matryoshka print is my favourite fabric at the moment, but I only have a fat quarter so I'm using it sparingly! In fact I'm so stingy with it that I didn't even cut off the selvedge for this tissue holder.

Next here are some crochet snowflakes for my mum. I found some crochet cotton in Lidl that had silver lurex thread running through it and immediately thought of snowflakes. It was about £5 for a huge ball that will make about a million snowflakes and is nice to work with, although I'm not used to using such a tiny hook (1.5mm).

I wanted to starch them to make them nice and stiff for hanging on the tree, but I didn't have any starch so I boiled some rice and used the water from that - it worked a treat. About 100g of rice and a kettle full of water, boiled for about 20 mins, gave me more than enough liquid to starch these and bottle a load of it for another time. The pattern is from the Lion Brand website - HERE - and is very easy. You might be able to see the sparkle a bit better in this photo, but I couldn't seem to get a decent picture of it.


Finally here are some bottle cap pincushions that I made a while ago, but keep forgetting to post. I love these things, they're so handy and they make lovely little "extra" presents for people.

As we're going away early on Monday, tomorrow morning we're having a "Christmas morning" and opening the presents! Well, the presents that are here anyway. Lots of mine will be in Ireland and Richard's got money from his parents so not a lot to open for him really. I've never really grown out of the whole Christmas morning excitement, so I can't wait!