Supersaver

This year I am trying to curb my enthusiasm for emptying my purse of all its contents in exchange for yarn, fibre and crafting equipment. I am keeping a dreaded Spending Diary which serves to make me think more than twice when I'm siren-called by bargain Rowan yarn languishing seductively in the John Lewis Sale.

This weekend I had planned ahead for a trip to London to see the John Everett Millais exhibition at Tate Britain before it closes on the 13th January. I managed a brilliantly cheap coach fare on National Express - £2 return from Portsmouth by booking last month.

The queues were forming by the time I got there a little after 10am, but it was still easy enough to view the paintings, and after 90 minutes, my plan to find somewhere to sit and write a few notes were abandoned due to lack of seating and pure exhaustion. I'd been wavering on whether to make the trip due to shortage of funds, but I'm glad I did now, as there were several paintings from private collections and from the States which I could never hope to see in real life away from the exhibition. There were a lot of drawings and prints and especially charming were the exhibit of the actual child's bonnet and shoes worn for the painting of 'Cherry Ripe' which still belong to the model's family.

Most splendid was the portrait of Alfred, Lord Tennyson - a resident of the Isle of Wight, and poet laureate to Queen Victoria.

After a restorative sandwich and banana on a bench at the Millbank entrance, enjoying the winter sun, I decided that I'd try walking around London for the first time since I was a schoolchild instead of using the Tube. Saving money and getting exercise and fresh air into the bargain. I was amazed to discover just how close everything is to everything else, and was snapping away like a demented tourist.

View from the Thames - Lambeth Palace, and just making out the Gherkin towards the right of the frame.

Then around the corner - the London Eye

Swiftly followed by the Houses of Parliament



Big Ben

Westminster Abbey




Anti War protestors in Parliament Square

Nelson's Column (Nelson's been on the drink! or is that just my lousy camera work?)


Trafalgar Square, where New Year revellers used to jump into the fountain. (The National Gallery in the background)

Street Art

The home of delectable fabrics, trims, buttons and knitting yarn......Liberty

I weakened here when I spotted some rarely-seen 2mm double pointed needles, so I blew a whole £2.70.

Then some after-dark pictures as I bravely walked back from Oxford Street to Victoria. Eek!!

South Molton Street with its angel decorations.



Buckingham Palace (particularly difficult to get a good shot without being run over!)

and finally.........

Some knitting.

Now armed with the correct size needles, I made my first sock.



Sized for fairies!


I was dreading socks after reading so much about the hell of 'turning the heel', but it was a piece of cake. Hurrah for socks!

Now to get back into my spinning for 2008. So much fibre.....so little time.

Happy New Year!

Here we are in 2008 and I haven't managed to organise myself enough to post until now.

I managed to make my sister's beaded jewellery in time for Christmas, despite losing the sterling silver clasps I bought in a big hurry on eBay. (They turned up last night in the salad drawer of my fridge!) :worrying: I can only guess that it's the onset of senility, or the pixies have been moving stuff around again indoors. The one thing I forgot to do was take a photo of the completed set.

Christmas passed, unusually for me, with lots of family visiting and far too much eating and drinking - my poor liver is currently in detox mode. I made a date with my sister to get out and about on the Thursday and we went to Manchester on the train. £4.40 for a two-hour return trip - total bargain!

I haven't been to Manchester since my dad died, and certainly not to the city centre since it was bombed by the IRA in 1996. What a difference. It's now a very metropolitan shopping area, with lots of pedestrianised sections. I took these snaps as we walked back to the train.

The Big Wheel.

The Old Wellington Inn and the corner of the Triangle (formerly the Corn Exchange).

Extract from www.touruk.co.uk:

"Dating from 1552, the Old Wellington Inn is the oldest public house in Manchester. The black and white Tudor building in Shambles Square is its third location, being moved twice to make way for new buildings. It was first moved when the Arndale Centre was built over 'The Shambles', its original rundown location. In 1996 the IRA bombing of Manchester city centre devastated buildings around it but fortunately it was protected by another building and suffered minor damage. With the rebuilding and the creation of Exchange Square, the pub was moved to its present position. Extensively refurbished and has an à la carte restaurant. Next door is Sinclair's Oyster Bar, another survivor of The Shambles".

Interestingly, the road these buildings are on is called Hanging Ditch, which sounds a little gruesome when you think about it.

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I got on with some more beading over the Christmas break, and also met up with a lovely lady called Cathy (and her folks) who I 'met' on Ravelry. We have a shared interest in spinning and knitting, and she runs her own website selling fibre and yarn with two friends, here - LazyKate





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*~Merry Christmas~*

Well, that's me for this year. I'm now off-line until after the Holidays.

I'm just deciding which projects I'll be concentrating on over Christmas.

One will be the sock-blocker keyring I bought from the Interknit Cafe in Farnham recently shown here with a couple off odd balls of yarn I couldn't resist.


Some beading which I've found I really enjoy, and some weaving with my Weave-It - a nice portable project.

I've still got two gifts to make over the next two days, so the pressure is on.

It just remains to wish a very Merry Christmas to all of my readers.



See you in the New Year.

Winter Knitting

I recently picked up a copy of the latest Vogue Knitting, as unusually there are a few interesting patterns in it that I might want to knit. Possibly because it's a Brits issue, and there are designs that look more British in there.

My favourites:

Including this last one (above) from Alice Starmore.

In November I went off-craft as I had some leave to use up from work and took a trip to Esher to the Beading Show, and joined the throng clamouring for seed beads.

I came away with a modest haul:

and have so far made up this set for a Christmas present:


I have been having some disasters with my winter knitting. I made up a garment from yarn that I bought at Ally Pally, but it is far too huge, so that will have to be unsewn and frogged. Very annoying, but also good in a way as I wasn't really keen on the neckline, so I'll have to do a scary bit of pattern altering - somthing I've never attempted before.

In the meantime I've gone back to this garment:


and have done the back, one front, and am just completing the sleeves.

Craft Sale - The Aftermath

Well, what a wet and miserable day it turned out to be on Saturday. Enough to dampen anyone's spirits.

Here is my set-up at the hall:

I had some extra bits and bobs for sale - some drop spindle kits, knitting needles, a fulled bag made from Colinette Skye, and some jewellery from a sale I did a while ago. Also some spiral scarves made from recycled sari yarn.

Trade was ponderously slow due to the location and the weather, and I'd given up hope of selling anything after the first four hours, but then I had a small flurry and managed to sell 4 of my felted corsages. Hurrah! At least I wasn't totally out of pocket.

One lady buyer told me that I wasn't charging enough for my items (I know this, but people on the Island seem to want something for nothing, which is very disheartening for crafts people). The other buyer wanted to know if there was a discount for buying two items (!!!) and then asked for them to be wrapped (!!! x a million).

I always wrap my items nicely in tissue, but this is an extra little touch, not a given! It amazes me that people will take the shirt off ones back and still want jam on it - to totally mix my metaphors.

Bah!

My next plan is to start selling on Etsy, and I need to get to work on some decent photographs and list these articles in my shop which is: http:/fleece2fantastic.etsy.com although empty at present. I may also dip my toe into eBay, to sell some kits.

Lesson's learnt from Saturday.

1. Get organised earlier - pricing and labelling were a nightmare to do and I was still awake at 1am the night before trying to get it all finished.

2. Try and publicise the Sale more widely. Although I didn't organise the event, I'm sure that having just one ad in the local paper was reflected in the small number of people who crossed the threshold.

3. Stand firm on my prices/increase prices. Devaluing my work, just adds to the devaluation of crafting on the Island in general. Other crafts people have cut back so much that they are barely covering the cost of materials. I can't see the point in that at all. Yes, it allows them to continue with their creativity, but at what cost? I'm sure if they were asked to work at a regular day job for no wages, that they'd flatly refuse.

Take art, craft and design out of the everyday world and our internal surroundings and personal appearance would be very bland indeed.

Fibre Frenzy

I've been really busy over the last three weeks getting up enough stock to sell at a local craft sale.

Last night I very nearly fell asleep standing up after an arduous felting session which resulted in the creation of these:

They're currently drying out ready for the pins to be sewn onto the back.

I've also been knitting hats from my handspun, and creating designer yarns, wet and needle-felted some Christmas tree decorations, and have some old stock of recycled sari silk crocheted scarves and other bits and bobs including a wet-felted bag, and a knitted and fulled bag made from Colinette Skye which felts up excellently.

I'll try to remember to shoot some pics when I run a full inventory of items tonight.

First, some felted Christmas Puds:

A felted bag - Front: Back:
Inside:
Several Beanies - handspun and knitted:




A neckwarmer knitted in handspun 'Black Forest Gateau' - merino and beads - DK/Aran weight. Faux leather button as a closure.

Finally, my designer handspun yarn:

First up - 'Strawberries and Cream' and 'Jaded' - two-ply merino and silk - DK weight.


'Love-in-the-Mist' and 'Violas' - two-ply merino - DK/Aran weight

'Meadow' - two-ply merino - DK/Aran weight.

'British Marble' and 'Francophile' - two-ply merino - DK/Aran weight

'Passionelle' - two-ply merino & silk, and 'Forest' - two-ply English Wool - DK weight.

Hovis Deliveries and my latest output

Two weeks ago I succumbed to a bargain Ashford Tapestry Frame on eBay (early Christmas present) and went to Dorset to collect it from a lovely lady with an enviable purpose-built workshop in her back garden. After drooling over her lovely family kitchen and Aga stove, I eventually prised myself away and drove on into Dorset.

I ended up in Shaftesbury, an ancient Saxon stronghold, and this time actually found the famous Gold Hill, unexpectedly tucked just behind the Town Hall in the main street.

For UK readers, you may remember a Hovis bread advert where a young boy whizzes down a hill on a delivery bicycle. Believe me - he had nerves of steel!!!

Look at this breathtaking view - take in the steep incline of the hill - and then wonder like I did, how the people living in the cottages get into town in the winter on icy cobblestones at such an impossible angle....


In the town I visited the two lovely bead shops, rummaged in an antiques place, and popped into Little Red Hen, a charming gift shop that sells Rowan yarn.


Here I bought some lovely old fashioned cotton tape to dress up a Christmas gift for my sister.

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On Friday I took another epic (and cheap) 10 hour round trip on public transport to visit the East Sussex Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers bi-annual show.

The exhibits were lovely, but I was too tired to remember to take any photos. There were demonstrations and a sale of work, an equipment sale, and stalls. I gazed longingly at a basket of vividly dyed silk which a lady was spinning on her Joy. I just wanted to sit down and join her. I had some lovely conversations with Guild members and stall holders, and came away with some modest swag.

Amongst it was this 100g of viscose mix fibre from Ewe Too Spinners - Firework - seen here in a ball of tops, and as the finished yarn on my noste.


This was quickly turned into a vegan-friendly beanie which I'm hoping to sell at a Craft Sale in two weeks time.


Here are some other beanie hats knitted in a wool and silk mix, spun some time ago.


My latest DK weight yarn, a merino and silk mix which I'm calling Strawberries and Cream.

and finally....... this evening's sunset from my office window at work.

The weather has been so warm and unusual for November, grass is still growing, and I still have geraniums throwing buds up in the pots in my garden. Long may it continue. The winters are wet, cold and dismal enough.

Knitting & Stitching - The Aftermath

It was an exhausting trip to London on Sunday for the Knitting & Stitching Show. Left home at 06:40 and returned at 23:30. Quite a long day.

London was packed - so much more so than in previous years when I've visited the show. I was totally squished in on the coach on the way home.

On the outbound trip I made several hats for the Innocent campaign for Age Concern (see my sidebar). They're lacking pompoms at the moment, but I'll need to finish them at the weekend as they need to be in the post on Monday. I managed 40 last year, but I've been too busy this time. I need to get myself organised earlier in the year.

While at the show, I took a short workshop making silk paper. The workshops had been sited right next to the cafe and the noise levels were very high. The Tutors were shouting to be heard. It was a bit manic. I've yet to iron my paper, so a pic will follow later.

My modest and bargain haul from the show:

Some variegated mohair for using with my weave-it loom, silver angelina, grey and black silk roving, various threads, some mega-fine silk from Habu and some bargain ultra-fine cotton, and silk throwsters waste from Texere.

Some nymo and bargain seed beads, some sequins, lobster clasps, a couple of buttons to finish off two hats I've knitted with my handspun, and a cone-end of Hemp yarn from The House of Hemp to practice some rainbow dyeing. Finally some huge balls of acrylic to knit a jacket on 15mm needles using all 4 strands. The garment looked great on the stand at the show, and it will be a quick knit that I may even actually finish!

I trotted off to Borders in Oxford Street and bought the latest edition of Spin-Off, as there's an article in there using mini-combs to prep fleece.

I bought some majacraft combs last year, but am a bit clueless on how to use them as they have round handles and can't be clamped to the table.

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I am still working on that baby cardigan for a colleague, at this rate he'll have started school by the time I get it finished.........