EtsyHookers Creative Challenge No. 9

I recently joined the EtsyHookers group - crocheters of course!

They run regular challenges and I decided to take part in this one for St Patrick's Day. The challenge is to crochet any item with an Irish theme.

I've crocheted a simple little shamrock bookmark from some leftover Cherry Tree Hill variegated emerald green sock yarn and a dark green glass bead. I made up my own shamrock pattern based on some others that I found. Mine suits the yarn weight better.

Voting opens over at the EtsyHookers blog from 31st March.

Mmmm - cupcakes!

I've just bought my first silicon bakeware after many months of wondering about it - cupcake cases of course!

We gave them a test today with the first batch of cakes - vanilla, coconut and chocolate chip cakes with all manner of toppings! I made the cakes and the girls had great fun decorating them.

The cases are great - no cake left in them when we peel them off. The cakes are scrummy too - had to get a quick shot of these before they disappear.

Housewarming gift

My brother and his family are moving house next week, so I decided to buy a housewarming gift for them - from Etsy of course!

I chose this lovely printed teatowel from Taylors Type and an equally cute "New Home" card from amybird art.

Perfect!

Chugging along

The moss stitch cardi is coming along - s l o w l y.

There are around 170 stitches per row at the moment as I'm doing the back and fronts all in one. Pro - no seaming. Con - only time for about 8 rows per knitting session!

I've also been taking photos of my jewellery at every possible moment when there aren't too many clouds around. That's not today then!

I made lots of items a few months back and didn't get around to photographing them.

Here is my latest Etsy listing - a cute pair of Little Princess earrings!

Mothers Day gift ideas

I finally managed to grab a Treasury spot!

With Mother's Day coming up on 14th March here in the UK I decided to dedicate it to gift ideas for our lovely mums.

Take a look and see if it inspires you!

All mine

I don't know how long it's been, but I suddenley got the urge for a new knitting project - for myself.

I saw this Elissa shrug in the Truro Fat Face store recently. I liked it a lot but wanted longer sleeves and a cotton blend yarn. Time to dig out the trusty Knitware Sweaters software!

I've included three-quarter sleeves in my version and the yarn is 500g of Rowan All Seasons Cotton in the lovely raspberry pink - from stash. (Note the halo.)

I've printed out the front chart and modified it for the curved shaping, and I'm planning on knitting the fronts and back in one piece on a circular needle, bottom-up. The first sleeve is done in two evenings..

Vote of Confidence

Yesterday was officially A Good Day.

First I had a wonderful email praising my efforts circulated at work yesterday afternoon - a rare thing indeed!

Then last night I was voted in as Secretary for our village show committee. Best start being efficient there too. :)

We're looking forward to this weekend - we're going out with friends for a gorgeous Valentine's meal at our fantastic local Italian restaurant - Del Mar. Yum!

 

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's weekend!

Double Up with the Pinks

I was very happy to find out via the Etsy Treasury Hunt that I am featured in a beautiful treasury at the moment called "So Very Raspberry".

Do take a look if you can - there are some gorgeous items in those fab colours!

I was also pleasantly surprised to receive a message from funky diva designs to say that she has included my raspberry mohair scarflette in her "Pretty In Pink" blog feature this week.

Funky diva designs shop has some lovely handmade bags and accessories - my favourite is this Gemma Bag in some fantastic bright Amy Butler fabric.

I could see that in my life!

Accepted!

Craftgawker was brought to my attention by AMIDesign's post about her submission - thanks Alison!

Since then, Craftgawker must have got really popular as they're now only accepting one submission at a time.

After waiting a few days I've had my submission accepted - yay! 

More exposure for my Etsy shop can only be a good thing.

Commission knitting

A week or so ago a work colleague asked me to knit him a woollen hat for when he's out walking. Great! My DH doesn't go for much knitwear so it was lovely to have a different type of project.

I picked out some pattern and yarn selections, and he made his choice. He opted for the Jacques Cousteau hat which is a free pattern, thankfully with an English translation. 

The chosen yarn was Rowan Felted Tweed DK in shade Ancient (172) - a lovely machine-washable merino, alpaca and viscose blend.

It was a quick and easy knit, but not too boring either. I used a 100cm long 3.5mm Addi Turbo circular needle for the lot with magic loop. A doddle!

Wool in the news

I noticed a brief slideshow on the BBC website yesterday - How wool went out of fashion. Glad to see it's being proclaimed as coming back again!


Also there's this one - Woman's Hour - talking to Julia Hopson from the Cornish Organic Wool Company.


Very appropriate now that we live here in beautiful Cornwall!

Valentine Feature

I just noticed that the UK Handmade Valentine Gift Guide is up, so I browsed through. 

Guess what? My Red Heart Handwarmers are in there! Woohoo!

Just what I needed to brighten the day. :)

Spread a little sunshine

I was thrilled to find out that this week my shop is the topic of the Wilde Designs Manic Monday Blog Feature! Check it out!

I was also very pleased to receive the Sunshine Award from AMIDesigns - thanks Alison!

The Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity & creativity inspires others in the blog world.

The rules for accepting this award are:-

• Put the logo on your blog or within your post
• Pass the award onto 12 bloggers
• Link the nominees within your post
• Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog
• Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award

I don't actually follow too many blogs that are up to date, So here are the 10 blogs I have chosen:

• Skein  
• Yarn in my Pocket 
• Boo's Jewellery 
• The Keyboard Biologist Knits 
• Crafty Peach 
• The Champagne Bohemian 
• Poppy Cottage 
• purplecats corner
• Janie Crow 
• The Pursuit of Etsyness

Enjoy!

Decorative tools

I love using decorative tools, especially in my hobbies, such as beaded stitch markers.

I sold a set of my own handmade stitch markers on Etsy this morning, and have a quick search to see what kinds other talented Etsyknitters were selling. I found a fantastic selection! Here are some of my favourites.

I adore these alpaca stitch markers from DesignsbyTami.

Incredibly cute!

Next is a rainbow of colours in these beautiful millefiori stitch markers from jeanettejedd.

The opening loops mean they can be used for both knitting and crochet - bonus!

I love dragonfly designs - so this set really stood out to me.

They are from glitterbug. Beautiful.

This Crazy Cousin Lucy set from MDKnits would make me smile each time I used them.

Unique!

Finally, as we live just 2 miles from the coast, I couldn't resist these By The Sea stitch markers from mrae123.

Just fun!

Etsy Treasury Hunt

DH and I spent some time last night creating an advertising jpeg for my Etsy shop to go onto the Etsy Treasury Hunt site. I really pleased with it! 

My photography and Photoshop skills are slowly improving - but it's a long process. There's so much to learn - and my MSc in Advanced Software Technology doesn't help one bit!

The Treasury Hunt is a gem if you like making Etsy treasuries.  It'll tell you when the Treasury (and Treasury West) is due to open - brilliant.

Now I'm just hoping to actually be able to get to the computer when I check it sometime...

Christmas card re-uses

I do like Christmas cards - probably more so after Christmas than before!

I find it very satisfying to re-use them by making them into gift tags.

This time I've done them in a Mini-Moo-inspired style. The back is left blank to write on.

Love 'em!

Chilled out

TWO whole days off school because of snow? Unheard of here in Cornwall! But when fingers and toes need to warm up, out come the face paints..

New Year, New Sale section

As part of my New Year etsy shop update, I've created a brand new SALE section!

It includes various different handcrafted items from my older stock at bargain prices - take a peek!

The old and the new

So... 2010! Another year whizzed past again. A quick round up..

I did manage to grow my nails this year - and after 33 years of biting them I'm rather pleased with my achievement. Heaven only knows why it took me this long to get around to it.

We did get the extension started - and continued much further than anticipated, despite several major problems unearthed (literally!) and rectified along the way. Our daughters moved into their new bedrooms in August, and we are really happy with it all. The main lesson learned - expect the unexpected!

My etsy shop had the best year of sales so far - mainly because I dedicated much of my crafting time to it. It has a long way to go, but at least it's heading in the right direction.

I seem to have knitted quite a few pairs of socks last year-  mainly for my daughters. 2009 also saw the rebranding of my hand-dyed yarns to Perran Yarns, and the start of my knitting and crocheting necklaces.

On the family front, I gained a new niece - Sophie May, and we have another male family member due this March - my husband's cousin's baby.

I also managed to go down the death slide - a major achievement for somebody so scared of falling as me!

This blog was fairly consistently neglected throughout 2009! I really should try to do better this year. Really.

So what am I expecting from 2010?

Well I really do want to change the shape of my midriff. I don't really care what the numbers on the scales say. I just want to be more happy with my shape. That means one thing - exercise!

I would also like to cope with our hectic daily life with a little more ease and less stress. This may in turn improve the dyshidrotic eczema on my fingers - hopefully.

And this year, definately, we are going to spend more time on the beach - after all it's only 2 miles away!

AWOL

Oops, I seem to have gone missing for a while. Been busy dealing with winter bugs, celebrating eldest DD's 11th birthday and preparing for a lovely family Christmas. Should quieten down a little just before New Year - maybe.. Merry Christmas everyone!