Blog Post 1 – Crafty Me

Welcome to my new look blog, I have changed a few things around. I wanted to start writing a fortnightly blog on my hobbies and crafts. This will be the first edition in this new format, so I hope you like it. I have been very inspired by watching a lot of Youtube podcasts on knitting. Just to let you know you can find me on Ravelry as ‘zoeb90’ and on Instagram as ‘zoecornishmumofone’.

A bit of Chatter

Since I started Instagram I’ve had a lot of great responses about my knitting projects from friends and family on Facebook. I decided to put those pictures out there after watching a lot of fabulous podcasts Youtube. I always thought my hobbies might be deemed a bit boring and grannyish, but I’ve recently found a whole community on Ravelry who love to do, what I do and they are Young, Old and from all different walks of life.

Podcasts

The podcast I’m going to discuss on this post has to be Molly from A Homespun House. Molly has such a personable character and I feel like I’m watching a friend talk about her knitting with me. After watching Molly’s most recent videos I decided to watch from the beginning of her channel. I find the videos really relaxing and I love to knit along. Great job Molly!

I would love to do my own podcast but I wouldn’t know where to start and I would definitely find it totally cringe worthy editing videos of myself. So I thought I have a blog, so I would give it a go at incorporating some of their podcast ideas here.

Finished Objects

Posy 4ply version by Georgie Hallam

I used 3mm KnitPro Karbonz interchangeable needles with Drops Alpaca 4ply in Pink Colour: 3140

This was my first attempt at a top down pattern and I really enjoyed it. I hate sewing up knitted seams with a passion so this pattern was perfect (not a seam in sight). I also learnt to magic loop on circular needles from a Youtube video to complete the sleeves. I have to admit it’s not perfect I got very confused with the pattern placing after dividing for the sleeves but Lilly wont notice and I do now know what I did wrong so next time it will be perfect. As for the yarn, I am very happy with the fabric is has made, its so light, soft and squishy. I only used 150g to knit this cardigan even though the pattern states that it needed a lot more.

Socks for Beginners – Adult by Louise Tilbrook

I used 2.5mm Double point bamboo needles from Addi with Drops Alpaca 4ply in Dark Grey Green Colour: 7139. My first pair of socks and they don’t have any holes…. yet. This was a fast education into the world of sock knitting. I’ve watched lots of podcasts and everyone loves knitting socks, and now I wish I had been listening, as you all seem to opt for a mix of yarn with nylon in. Well I went for pure Alpaca, they sure are toasty but they don’t hold their shape very well. I don’t know whether it’s the yarn, my first attempt at socks or the pattern but something’s not quite right. I think I would knit a longer ribbed section and leg next time. If you have any advise on knitting socks please post in the comment I really need help.

Birds of Happiness

I have decided to decorate my daughter room with hand crafts, So when I saw these birds of happiness I thought she needed a little branch in her room to hang all these colourful birds off of. I am using all the yarns I knit from this year to create lots of little birds of happiness for her. They are a little fiddly but so quick and every time I finish one it makes me very happy to have created something from such a small stash of yarn. Great if you need a boost whilst working on a long project.

Works in progress

Cove Cardigan by Heidi May

I am using 5.00mm KnitPro Karbonz interchangeable needles with Drops Nepal 65% Wool 35% Alpaca in Grey Colour: 0501

This beautiful Cardigan is my main project at the moment, I have already completed the body of the cardigan in the size 2/3 which is a great stretchy fit which I think will last her over this autumn/winter season. I am going to knit a full-length sleeve, as I want the cardigan to fit her during our very windy winters down here in Cornwall. The yarn has knit up incredibly neat but the lace leaf pattern will need a bit of stretching out when I block it.

Garter stitch striped scraps blanket

This blanket doesn’t have a pattern its just a simple garter stitch blanket that I am making to use up acrylic yarn in my stash. I think acrylic yarn is great for making crochet blankets out of but I hate knitting with it. So this will be my long running project that I will keep coming back to for a simple knit when I don’t need full concentration on it.

Pretty Purchases

I brought these a few weeks back now but they are just too pretty not to show.

These fuzzy skeins of beauty are from Fondant fibre. I recently purchased a course from Craftsy about drop spindling. The idea of making my own yarn from a ball of fuzz, to then be cast on and knit up into something useful blows my mind. First up 100g of Hollyhock on the Norboo base, it has very light moss Green and Cream tone, which changes into Pink/Purple tones for the middle of the skein. It’s the fuzziest skein of them all and I think this will be the one I pick to spin up first. Next is 100g of Vintage Tulle which is 100% fine Shetland this is a beautiful vintage, as in its name Pink. Its slightly tonal but I think it will spin up all one colour, its very soft and airy and last but not least 100gs of Summer Lovin’ which is a Super wash Merino and Nylon blend. This has to be the prettiest skein of them all, in fact so pretty I don’t really want to spin it up. Its a lot denser than the others but is super soft, It has so many colours in it but it a Purple/Pink with Midnight Blues followed by sky Blues with Creams and Teals then moving onto jungle Greens and Yellows. The lovely people at fondant fibre also gave me a stitch marker, a tasty sweet and a small sample of different fibre mix, which was so lovely and I will definitely be going back to purchase more in the future.

Well that’s my first post on my knitting projects I hope you liked it. I will have another one for you in two weeks time. So keep posted. Please leave comments, I would love to read them and maybe have a natter with you.

Crochet and Knitting Ombre Challenge

A girls gotta have hobbies, well this girl does. I’m a bit of a hobby addict, which means I love to have them and then they take over my life and then I move on to another one on a long cycle of hobbies taking over my life. So this week I’m writing about my hobby obsession of the moment, Crochet and Knitting. I fell in love with crochet when I went to a baby shower and the expected mum-to-be was gifted a beautiful hand-made pink granny square style blanket with lots of fringing. Since then my mother in-law taught me the basics, I then went on to read books, magazines and watch lots of YouTube videos. So crochet is my forte and knitting is a very scary monster I try to tackle when I’m feeling brave. I always have a project on the go and have made the rule to myself that one project has to be finished before I start another.

So I was looking through my e-mails the other day and I had my usual newsletter post from http://www.deramores.com. Which is my top choice for online shopping for yarn and supplies, when I saw they were running a blog competition I thought this would be my chance to talk about a hobby I love and try and see if I could learn anything about writing a great blog.

Pink Candy Floss Blanket

OK so you had to read several successful bloggers articles and they had each chosen a subject they though would be trending in the Crochet and Knitting world for 2015. I choose the trend of Ombre to write about as I found it a recurring theme in my work. I love to use a lot of stripes in my work and find a gradual tonal change between yarns very appealing. Sometimes I like to use varying shades of the same colour shown in my Pink Candy floss star blanket and other time I like to use colours that complement each other but still have a gradual tonal change.

I find the Ombre looks best when you use 3 colours with 3 rows of each colour. This helps each colour stand out but also blend at the same time. I make a lot of blankets, mainly in my favourite star shaped which are perfect for babies and I find it can be very boring crocheting something that takes so long without changing yarn colour. Being able to change yarn colours gives you somewhere to work to and check off as you go along.

Unisex Blanket 

I also find Ombre a great technique when making unisex blankets and clothing for babies, it allows you use a colour that may be “gender appropriate” but put together to make the finished item, become divinely unisex. I think this blanket is a perfect example of using a blueish green colour and making it unisex. So why don’t you try a new hobby yourself this weekend buy a book, watch a YouTube video or try to reignite your love for something. It’s great for the mind, body and soul.

So that’s my first blog on Crochet and knitting if you liked it please subscribe as I am going to do more blogs of this subject for sure.

 This post is my submission to the Deramores Craft Blog Competition 2015. Deramores is the UK’s number one online retailer of knitting and crochet supplies. Visit http://www.deramores.comfor more details

An example of tone change with different colours

Garden Growing

I’ve been looking to get some direction with my blog, I didn’t want it to turn into a solely product review blog for kids apparel. So I want to add a bit more me into it. This year we have a small garden for the first time and we plan to take full use of it, lots of BBQ’s and growing our own fruit and veg.

I love the idea of smallholding and living off the land, so this is my first years practice if you like, to produce as much from our small garden as possible. We brought a little plastic greenhouse that is currently living in my spare room next to a nice window bringing on all my seedlings. We rent our house so I didn’t want to disturb the garden too much so I’ve decided on moveable raised beds, made from a strong form of tarpaulin, they don’t look as pretty as wooden ones but they will do the jobs, I will be able to move them with me and my dog hopefully wont trample all over them.

So I started by making a huge purchase of seeds and I’ve plotted on my calendar when I should sow all my seedling according to the seed packaging and a book I love “The self sufficiency manual” by Alison Candlin. I started first of all with my chillies and peppers, since working for Nando’s and eating a lot of Mexican food, I love a bit of heat and spice. I hope to make my own version of chilli jam and salsas this summer YUM YUM. So for these I started off in a plastic propagator in my airing cupboard, within 10 days a lot of the seedlings had sprouted, I know put them in a sunny window during the day and back in the airing cupboard by night. I’m planting them in pots to keep them going for years and as they aren’t really suited to our climate I will be able to bring them indoors when the weather gets cold.

I’ve also planted my first onion bulbs, 3 different colours White, Red and Yellow. We only use Red onions at home but I wanted to experiment with which favourites would work best. I going to plant these periodically so I have produce over the whole season and any gluts I hope to make into jarred goodies. I also planted on request of my partner, Ginger, this hasn’t grown any shoots yet but I’m hopeful that it’s just waiting for it to get a little warmer in my spare room. I haven’t ever grown anything like ginger before so any tips would be great.

I’ve also started on my herbs, I’m bored of running out of the dried alternatives or buying the live plants in supermarkets that last about 2 weeks before its wilted over in the kitchen window seal. So I’ve planted Rosemary and Thyme so far, which once I’ve got established should be quite hardy plants, only the thyme has sprouted so far but fingers crossed my garden will look and smell great with so many different herbs planned.

Right that’s me for now, hopefully next garden blog will have lots more goodies spouting to shout about. So if you like this blog or you have any tips for me please leave me a comment or subscribe. Chow

Asda George wooden Dolls house and Accessories set

Asda George wooden Dolls house and Accessories set

This is my first Christmas purchase for my Daughter, my niece had a similar dolls house which she adored playing with, which inspired me to buy one for Lilly. Lilly might be a bit young to start forming pretend families but it’s a beautiful piece that she can use and come back to again and again as she grows. For best use you need to make two purchases, the house (£35), which comes with 3 levels and the accessories set (£15) to decorate rooms and has dolls to play with. Although I’m waiting until Christmas to give this to Lilly I spent about 40 minutes this afternoon putting it together to check it had no missing pieces, and success as it went together pretty easily, considering I done it alone and spent most of the time searching for an appropriately sized Philips screw driver (X).

The house is formed of sturdy wooden boards, which are painted beautifully into a pretty pink flower and butterfly inspired cottage. The house comprises of 3 levels, which includes a fully opening roof section and two main front opening doors to allow access for play. The house comes with 2 staircases to give it a real life home feel. The website has a suggested age range of 3-4 years, but like most toys as long as your child is supervised and not allowed too many small parts I feel this would suit my daughter who will be 15 months at Christmas. The given dimensions on the website are 64.9cm width, 58.9 height and 33 depth. The accessories are robust and nicely painted. The accessories help to define rooms and to aid play. I’ve already hinted to my partner that Lilly might like an extra bed and some more kitchen accessories, which I’m hoping he could knock-up himself from some MDF and paint. I also intend on whipping up some pillows and bed sheets with my sewing machine, to give the house a finished look.

The house is very sturdy when it’s all been pieced together. I would have liked the windows to open at the front like the shutters do and the stairs although they are made from solid wood have MDF glued on the top and bottom, which looks a little cheap compared to the lovely exterior. This said the house is way cheaper than other similar dolls houses on the high street. Although I got mine out a little early to check it over before giving it for Christmas, I would suggest putting it together in advance. Wrap it or present it as it is because trying to put it together with normal Christmas chaos and a child in your ear every couple of minutes probably could become very stressful. Nobody wants a stressful Christmas.        

Please comment below about your questions or experiences with this product and I will try and answer them as soon as possible. I would love to know how other dollhouses compare. Please be aware theses are just my opinions and I have not been paid or asked to review this item.