January Sale

As is traditional at this time of year, I'm having a huge sale over at my Etsy shop. All items are priced £10 or under and you'll find some massive discounts.

This gorgeous short scarf is crocheted using fine pure silk yarn and threaded with silk ribbons then edged with mother of pearl chips.

Perfect for weddings, parties, or would make a fabulous Valentine gift!

This is a one-off item originally priced at £29, but now on offer at just £10!

Hooked on garters

Candy garter - sweet!

Crochet always gets me in phases.

Currently I seem to be going through a garter phase - it's all I want to crochet, using pure silk yarn with lots of different bead and ribbon colourways!

Last weekend I enjoyed choosing more beads for them from GJ Beads in Truro - I love browsing around in there - so much choice!

We ended up talking about my hand-dyed Perran Yarns as one of the ladies from Truro Fabrics was in there too. A good shopping trip!

Something blue!

I'm currently waiting for my latest order of hand-dyed ribbons from the talented Abby and Ellie - they're always so lovely!

Princess Garter revealed!

Finally the Peek-a-boo Project is finished!

I'm very proud to present the Princess Silk Beaded Garter.

I have crocheted this in my own design using the luxurious HandMaiden Sea Silk yarn in shade "Nova Scotia".

It is threaded with gorgeous turquoise and lime satin and organza ribbons, and incorporates dozens of tiny glass seed beads around the lower edge.

The ribbons hide co-ordinating turquoise elastic for comfort. It was tricky finding narrow elastic in the right colour, but JosyRose had exactly what I wanted at a great price.

I'm so pleased with this project. There is a lot more of this yarn left, and I'm hoping to come up with a more lacy ornate design next. Watch this space!

Mitts and Cuffs

I'm not sure why but I seem to be in handwarming mode despite the warm and sunny weather!

Actually I knitted these items a short while back, but then hung around waiting to finish off the sewing, beading, finding ribbons, etc.

First up are the gooseberry fingerless mitts.

I absolutely adore the colour of these, and the flower is so soft you can barely feel it.

The mitt is knitted in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (currently one of my favourite yarns) and the flower in Debbie Bliss Angel with various glass beads sewn in the centre.

Delicious!

The silk bell lace cuffs are another luxury, this time for a special occasion.

Have you been invited to a summer ball, wedding, etc? Then these are for you!

Handknitted using shimmering Jaeger Pure Silk yarn with ribbon bows and a crocheted edging incorporating silver lined glass seed beads.

Beautiful.

Special offer

As we celebrated our wedding anniversary yesterday I decided to share the love by offering a 15% discount on all purchases from my Etsy shop.

I'm feeling happy today so I'm extending the offer to last up to midnight this Sunday 19th September.

Continuing with the recent sunflower theme, my SIL gave us these lovelies as part of our anniversary gift - so cheerful!

Anniversary

Today is our wedding anniversary - 14 years!

I've made an Etsy treasury to celebrate of course.

Tonight we're having a meal at the Miner's Arms pub at Mithian - the food is apparently very good there.

Have a happy day everyone!

Bridal garter commission

I was recently asked by a neighbour to make a bridal garter for a relative of hers who is getting married. I've been meaning to crochet something like this for a while so this was a good kickstart!

I was given a length of plum satin ribbon and the leg size. Luckily I already had a pack of size 9/0 glass seed beads in the perfect matching shade. 

I used the same silk 4ply yarn that I have recently used to make the bridal accessories, and set to work with an idea in my head and my crochet hook in my hand.

About 7 hours later I had the finished bridal garter, incorporating the plum ribbon, some backup elastic, and 200 seed beads, all hand-threaded and crocheted in.

My neighbour is thrilled - I hope the bride is too!

ukhandmade Wedding Gift Guide

The ukhandmade Wedding Gift Guide is out now! 
 
I'm so excited as my luxurious beaded angora/merino handwarmers were selected to be included.

Crammed full of beautiful items available for you to purchase, all handmade by talented uk designers and artists.

Even if you're not planning or going to a wedding, take a look - it's fabulous!

Wedding Season

I have found myself drawn to wedding designs recently - I don't know whether it's because it's the season for beautiful summer beach weddings or because there's a ball of heavenly ivory silk yarn next to my chair!

The latest item is a crocheted short scarf or head wrap. I crocheted it with a 2.5mm hook in a simple trellis stitch and added some mother of pearl chips to each end. The weight from the pearl accentuates the drape of this gorgeous yarn.

It can be used either as a scarf or wrapped around the hair for a luxurious hairband. The silk feels so wonderful against the skin!

CreateCrochet Team Wedding Challenge

Well I've done it - taken up the wedding challenge. The one from the CreateCrochet team that is. I don't think DH would be too pleased if I took on any other kind.

This is my own design which "grew" and changed as I was creating it. It's actually completely different from what I first imagined. I love both the process and the result.

I've crocheted the necklace from 100% fine silk yarn with a 2.5mm crochet hook. I first threaded the yarn with mother of pearl chips - lots of them!

The strands of the necklace all join the choker section at the back. The whole lot is fastened with two small matching buttons.

I love how the silk shines and the pearl chips catches the light. I love how it's a choker and a necklace all in one. I love how it can be worn high or low. I love the colour. 

I only wish I had made it years ago for my own wedding!

Winter weddings

Tada! Here's my latest addition to my Etsy shop - and it made me very happy to make them!

Not that I'm going to a winter wedding or even know any winter brides to give them to. I just really enjoyed making them.

The Sublime Angora Merino yarn is just that - sublime to touch. I adore this stitch pattern and they are a quick knit.

I spent quite a while handsewing on the 130 glass seed beads but, strangely enough for me, I enjoyed doing that too!

I even liked staging the photographs as I had remembered that I still have my own wedding outfit pieces. I found them out, fondly looked through them, and decided to use my veil as the background. Quite romantic I think!

Alison from AMIDesigns must have been thinking along the same lines as she has just listed this beautiful bracelet too.

Gorgeous!

Anniversary time

I'm very happy to say that today is our 13th wedding anniversary!

We could never have predicted, back in 1996, that thirteen years on we would be living in our lovely home near the fabulous Cornish coast with our 2 beautiful daughters. I couldn't imagine it any other way, nor do I want it to be.

Apparently the 13th anniversary is associated with Lace, Furs and Textiles, Hollyhocks, Citrine, Malachite and Moonstone. I think I'll stick with the Textiles bit..

Happy anniversary hubsta!

His and Hers Washcloths pattern for sale

Remember the His and Hers washcloths that I came up with a few weeks back for a colleagues wedding gift?

Well I've been busy modifying the charts with the help of a few Ravelry test knitters and I now have the pattern for both cloths for sale!

They knit up in about 2 hours per cloth, use 1 ball of Lily Sugar 'n' Cream cotton (or equivalent) for both cloths together, and make a great wedding or anniversary gift.
You can buy the pattern in my Etsy shop. Really. :-)

Last-minute wedding gift

A colleague is getting married next week and I was asked if I could knit or crochet a quick gift to add to the work present. Hmm, a last-minute challenge!

After much discussion of patterns, I came up with the idea of His and Hers knitted washcloths. I've seen other wedding washcloth patterns, but not any like this, so I graphed out the design and after 3 hours of knitting ended up with this happy couple:

(Ignore the blotchy colours - they still hadn't finished drying properly from blocking.)

I used Rowan All Seasons Cotton as I hadn't got any matt cotton yarn in a suitable colour. Pretty good I reckon! We'll see how the recipients feel about them soon enough...