Where I'm At

April already, this year is just whizzing by.  It's a rainy day here today, so a quiet knitting day is planned.

I had a bit of a mad cast on, yesterday.  Having finished a number of projects earlier in the week, I felt I could treat myself to some new ones.

Firstly, I couldn't wait to start knitting some socks with the yarn Grace bought me for my birthday.  Just look at the gorgeous colours in this.

Totally delicious.  It's Wendy Roam Fusion in the Force colourway.  Here's what we have so far.

Toe cosies!  And even better, they match!  The colours are about to change to a lovely deep blue, so that's what I'm going to be working on this afternoon.

I've also cast on for another cropped cardigan.  Using this wool.

Yes the labels are correct, it was only £1 per 50g ball.  The wool has no label but it is soooooo soft.  I bought nine balls altogether when I was at Yarndale last year.  I've knit 6 rows of rib so far and it really is beautiful to knit with.

And then, just because I can, I cast on for another shawl.  Yes I now have more shawls than I need but I love knitting them and it's nice to have a variety of course.

I'm using Knit Global 4 ply yarn in the Summer Berries colourway - there's no way I can ever resist a colour that has "berries" in its name.  It'll be a simple feather and fan shawl, very easy to knit.

So that's my knitting projects all up to date.

As far as my stash busting goes, I'm pleased to say that March was a very successful month.  In total I busted 1410g of yarn, and that's allowing for the 200g of new yarn that found its way into the stash.  Obviously things were helped along by the generous donation of yarn to Grace, but it all counts.  So my running total of stash that has been busted since the weigh-in in February, is 2.165 kg - that's just under 5 lbs in imperial weights - so I'm very pleased.  It's 1/9th of my total stash.  It's all looking good for Yarndale later in the year!

I haven't mentioned my embroidery project for quite a while, so I thought I'd give a glimpse of where I'm at.  If you remember, I was embroidering 54 squares, while I was still 54.  And amazingly, I did get them all finished before my birthday.  I got into a lovely rhythm of a square a day, and it was a very pleasurable project to work on.

So now I have the task of joining them all.  I'm using the English Paper Piecing technique to make three inch squares.  I've tacked them all up and here they are.

Here's a close up of some of them.

Plenty of variety in them.  I'm now looking forward to planning the layout of the squares to make my wall hanging.  There's still a lot of work to be done, but it's coming along nicely.

And finally - gosh I have had a productive week - I made some spicy fruity biscuits.

They have nearly all gone, so delicious.  So that's me, keeping busy and enjoying my creative life.

Have a lovely weekend, may your days be filled with love and inspiration.

My New Favourite Thing

If you are of a certain age and in the U.K., you may remember a children's programme called Vision On that ran from 1964 to 1976.

It was an art programme designed for the deaf, so it was very visual.  Tony Hart was one of the presenters and I loved the amazing pictures he produced and the way he made creating them look so easy.

Anyway, I think I've discovered a modern day equivalent - mixed media collage videos on YouTube!  I'm enjoying watching the fabulous designs created by numerous talented artists, who make it look so easy.

Like the television programme, Vision On, many of the videos have a musical soundtrack rather than a spoken commentary, so they can be watched with the volume on mute - handy when you have one eye on the sport on the television!

One of my favourite artists (there are so many, I have plenty more yet to discover) is Gabrielle Pollacco.  Here's just a small sample of her work.

Isn't it amazing?  I particularly love the Steampunk journal cover.  The videos showing how these are made are very addictive, it's easy to see why I'm not meeting my targets (please see previous post!).

Anyway, I just had to have a go at creating my own mixed media canvas.  I chose as my theme BLOSSOM.  Here's my effort.

I basically threw everything I had at it and tried to incorporate all the techniques I'd seen in the videos. I don't have all the fancy paints, stencils and other notions that are used in the videos, but it was good to make use of what I did have to hand.

What fun.  It grew by itself and, for a first attempt, I'm really pleased with the results.

I can't wait to try another one soon.  I'm so glad I've discovered these videos - I suppose when you look, there's just about a video for everything on YouTube.

Mollie Revisited

Thank you all for your comments on my last post, and for sharing your true ages.  It was fun to read the variety of responses.

Today I'd like to show you some bits and pieces that I have made in the last few days.  Whilst considering what to make that doesn't involve knitting or crocheting, I consulted my back issues of Mollie Makes magazine.  I found two projects that were quick and fun to make.

The first is this cute little apple pin cushion from issue 6.

It's hand stitched, with felt for the stalk and leaf.

These would make nice little gifts for crafty friends.

In Mollie Makes, I also saw an idea to use washi tape to decorate a jam jar.

It makes a lovely decorative pencil jar.

I'm continuing to work my way through the magazine's.  I haven't looked at them for a while and it's surprising how new inspirations come from looking at the pages with new eyes.

Whatever you are doing today, I hope you find inspiration and time for a bit of creativity.

International Dot Day

Today, 15th September, is International Dot Day.  It is based on the children's picture book by Peter H. Reynolds called The Dot, in which a teacher encourages a child to use their creativity to build their confidence.  You can read all about International Dot Day, here.

I think this is a wonderful idea.  Clearly it is mostly aimed at teachers but the idea behind it is inspiring for everyone.

I love the idea that creativity is used to encourage and develop self-esteem.  There is a spirit of creativity in us all, it just needs to be nurtured.

My daughters are all grown up now and I love the way they have developed their own individual styles of creativity.  But being creative is a life long journey.  Even as adults we can still be brave and challenge ourselves to extend our creativity.

I have a journal that the girls gave me for my birthday.  I've been saving it up as I wanted to use it for something special.

Today, I'm going to start using this journal.  Belatedly I've come across the Documented Life Project.  Each week there is a new idea to be incorporated in your journal.

I'm going to use the ideas from this challenge to fill my journal with drawings and collages.  I don't feel confident in my drawing skills but every drawing starts with a dot, and if you don't try it you'll never know how good you could be.

So go on, it's International Dot Day, unleash the spirit of creativity in yourself and others.

Sailing Away

I'm in a very crafty zone at the moment.  I've got a couple of big projects on the go but I'm also loving taking some time out making some impulsive small projects.  And here's the latest...

A little padded fabric boat.

I don't know why I felt the need to make it but I just went with the flow and this is what came out!

To make it I drew up a template and patchworked some scraps of fabric together.

I had fun choosing some embellishments.

I added an old curtain ring so that it could be hung up.

When it was all sewn up and turned the right side out, I added some buttons and stuffed it lightly with some toy filling and that was it.

At first I wasn't sure whether the project had been a success but I'm liking it now and it makes a cute summer decoration.

It's good to give the creative feelings full rein.