Papier-mâché

Isn't paper wonderful!  It's amazing the things that you can do with it.  It's just so versatile.  I've recently been having fun doing some papier-mâché - up to my elbows in bits of newspaper and paste.

Here's what I made.

A rather elegant cup and saucer!

Totally useless and impractical, but nevertheless, fun to make and quite challenging to get the shapes right.

As you can see, both the cup and saucer are a bit skew-whiff.  But I think it adds character to them.

There are some lovely items made with papier-mâché to be seen on Pinterest. I'm a big fan of Julie Arkell's work.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to make a little figure, or a doll or even a head.  Something to work on - but I'll need a lot of practice!

Complete Cross Stitch Hanging

Remember the little piece of cross stitch I showed you last month?  Well I've finally got round to completing the hanging.

I added a border using some lovely blue and yellow check fabric.

I found this hanger at the back of one of my drawers - bought years ago at a craft fair and put away to use for something special!

I think it works well.

I added some heart buttons and now it's hanging up in the hallway, ready to greet loved ones returning home.

So What Next?

Well, I've now started the mittens to match my Tantallon Hat.

I'm using the Tantallon Fair Isle design but following the pattern for the Ursula mittens I made last winter.

I'm modifying the pattern to include a lined cuff - for extra warmth, and I'm making them slightly longer than the Ursula mittens.  I'll also add an i-cord edging to the cuffs, to match the hat.

I'm not sure my bits and pieces of pink 4 ply will last so I'm knitting them simultaneously to keep track of each colour.

The weather has turned rather nasty now.  Summer is definitely over.  Time for some comfort food, so I made a carrot cake using this recipe.

Very moist and yummy.  Knitting, carrot cake, a hot mug of tea - sounds perfect to me.

Sunrise Cushion Cover

I've finally finished making all of my little squares - 162 in total.

I've sewn them all together and now my sunrise cushion cover is complete.

I love the abstract design and the way the colours blend together.

Reverse side of cushion cover

My favourite colours and early morning sunrises have been my inspiration.

I think it looks wonderful and it provides a lovely splash of colour that will see me through the long winter months - yellow and pink never fail to make me smile.  What are your feel good colours?

All Change - Again

Thank you so much for the lovely comments on my knitted skirt, they are all very much appreciated.

We had a busy day on Thursday, it was moving day - taking Eve back to Cambridge.  It's been a long summer break for her and it's been wonderful to have her home for such a long time.  But having got used to her being around all the time, it's now back to just the two of us and the house seems so much emptier without her.  I'm sure the term will fly by and it'll be no time at all before we go and collect her for the next break.

This is her last year at University, I'm sure it will be both hard work and very exciting.  Her room this year is lovely.  It's nice and big and it didn't take long to unpack and feel at home.

We left her to finish off unpacking, we said our goodbyes and had a wander around Cambridge before the long drive back up to Liverpool.

Emmanuel College - Front Court

Jesus Green

Trinity Street

Trinity Street

Because it's such a long journey, we usually share the driving.  When I'm the passenger, I like to have some knitting to do.  I "rediscovered" some knitting I had started ages ago, something destined to be a pink cardigan, and took this along with me.

I was going great until the return journey when the ball of yarn got itself tangled up under (and with) the seat of the car.  Whilst trying to unravel it I managed to drop a number of stitches.  By this time it was late in the evening, and with no street lighting on the motorways, I was left with a bit of a mess.  Moral of the story - don't knit in the dark in a fast moving car!

At Last I Get to Wear It

...my new knitted skirt that is.

It's a fabulous fit - no ugly bulges.  And I adore the colour.

You can see full details of the pattern and the yarn I used over on my Ravelry page, here.

I'd like to knit some more of these skirts but I think next time I'd make them more interesting by incorporating some cabling.

Today, Eve returns to Cambridge so, yesterday, as a final treat before she went, we indulged in some yummy mint choc chip ice cream from the local café.

It was delicious and a very generous serving!

My Very First Knitted Skirt

I've finished it!  The knitted skirt is done!  My very first knitted skirt!  Knitting whilst watching the Ryder Cup on television meant that the skirt was completed in no time.  And here it is...

I haven't blocked it yet, and I didn't have the correct width of elastic for the waistband so it has some narrower elastic in it as a temporary measure, but I couldn't wait to show it to you.

The waistband is so neat, and after the initial sizing error, on my part, the fit is perfect.

Eve and I are off into Liverpool today to do some last minute shopping before she goes back to Cambridge, so I'll pick up some elastic while I'm out.

I'll make sure she takes some photos of me wearing it before she goes away.  I'll also let you have full details of the yarn I used and the pattern.  Until then, I'm off to shop 'til I drop!

Golf and Knitting Were Made for Each Other

This weekend we are watching the Ryder Cup on television.  I always look forward to sporting weekends, as it's a fabulous excuse to sit and knit or crochet whilst watching whatever sport is on offer.

So this weekend it's golf.  An excellent sport for knitting as each match lasts for hours.  I'm watching Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson and the rest of the European and US teams.

And whilst it's on I'm crocheting and knitting away happily, and eating this delicious cake I've made!

I've made excellent progress with my little squares for my sun rise cushion cover,

And there's no better way to cope with the boredom of endless stocking stitch, than to have an exciting sport to watch.

Look how fast I'm knitting my skirt!

Wow, the golf is exciting - I'm racing through my work-in-progress.

Some Cross Stitching

Before I tell you about the little cross stitch picture I've been working on, I've been asked about the pattern for the doily I made the other day.

The pattern is from a book by Melody Griffiths called 201 Crochet Blocks, Motifs, projects and Ideas.  I had previously borrowed this book from my local library and I know it is a fabulous book.  I no longer have the book on loan but some one has uploaded pictures of the pages onto the internet.  I think this may be a breach of copyright, but I'm not sure.  The pictures of all the motifs are also on Pinterest.

The motif I used for my doily is called Fan Border Medallion.  You can see details of this pattern on Ravelry, here.  The webpage with the pages from Melody Griffiths book is here, scroll down and the one I used is on page 36 of the book.

As an alternative to the woolly crafts, I've been doing some cross stitch embroidery lately.  I used to do tons of cross stitching and I still have lots of cross stitching magazines that I had bought or been given over the years.  I found a lovely little house motif  and thought I'd make it up... and here it is.

It has a home-spun feel to the design, which I like.

I've got a nice hanger to attach it to and I may add some embellishments.  I'll let you see the finished project shortly.

Liverpool Collage

If you've been reading this blog for some time now, you'll know I love my home city of Liverpool and feel great warmth and pride towards it.  I can trace the Liverpool residents from my family tree back to the seventeenth century and if the records existed, probably a lot earlier than that, so Liverpool is very much in my genes.

So I decided to make a collage to show my love of Liverpool and especially its architecture.

The collage features the three iconic waterfront buildings known collectively as the Three Graces.

They are, from left to right, the Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building.

Can you see the little Liver Bird on top of the Liver Building?

This is what the actual bird looks like close up.  There are two of them and they are eighteen feet tall!

And here's a photo I took last year of three buildings.

I really enjoyed making this collage.  What's not to like about spending an afternoon cutting and pasting for real rather than on the laptop!

The pictures of the buildings that I used in my collage are taken from this wonderful book.

It is full of the author's fabulous drawings of the Liverpool architecture.  Here's Bluecoat Chambers.

And here is my photo of the building.

Here's the Albert Dock with the Anglican Cathedral (we have two cathedrals in Liverpool) in the background.

And my photo of a similar view.

We have so many lovely buildings here in Liverpool - we are so spoilt!