Sorry, Sorry, Sorry - Catch-up 1

Hellooo!!  Is anyone still out there??   Hmm.....it's hard to know where to start after nearly a year long  absence - but no excuses.

Time passes and seems to get swallowed up not least by today's labour saving new can't-do-without devices like my  iPod Touch.  I love it! How did I manage my music before?  And my iPad....and my iPhone.  And do I really need all three?  Of course not but they are lots of fun.  Summed up by my three year old  grandson Freddie's response when I phoned  his Mum to ask her what to do with my new iPad.  He took  a deep breath and said quite simply "....Well,  Grandma,  you play with it".  As simple as that!  I like to think I do a fair bit more,  but  out of the mouths of babes.....

So.  I think pictures are the way to go and thanks to instagram ..... no!  I'm not getting started on my favourite apps.

I made quite a few of these circle scarves last Summer, the size of the circles varied as I tried to make a fast and simple Sophie Digard look alike. Not surprisingly  I didn't succeed but I am still pleased with my efforts.






These are some of the other colour combinations I tried, all using left-over sock yarn.  In fact almost the whole year has passed with almost no yarn purchases!







And although this is not really a chronological record it seems that these snowflakes are a good ending for the first catch-up.

I made them at   Christmas time and some I included in our Christmas cards, some were given as little presents and some I kept for myself.  They were mainly made from Caitlin Sainio's  lovely book "100 snowflakes to crochet " - a joy to browse through and a joy work from.




I used crochet thread Aida 10, hook 1.25mm. I soaked them thoroughly, blocked them to shape and sprayed them with spray starch to stiffen them enough to hang in the window or on a branch. And I made about fifty!! Some went to the library to hang on the "knitted tree" the library knitting group made.

Spur of the moment

No it isn't the soap that is spur of the moment - lots of pre-planning goes into that! And here is a small collection of some of my latest soaps and presentation ideas.

I need to do more experimentation to be sure what has caused the lovely lime green coloured one.

Spur-of-the-Moment Crochet

My friends at the library knitting group were all making gorgeous bed/sofa throws by crocheting a very large Granny square using all their leftover wools. They looked so stunning but in an even more despondent mood than usual I was sure I could never manage to put my leftovers to anywhere near such good use.

.....but! look! at what I did!! ......

It is 1.5m square and I think will go nicely at the bottom of a bed.

I am soooo pleased!! It was a weird feeling, starting out with a pile of different yarns and very against my nature to embark on any project without a very firm idea of where it would go. They are all Colinette yarns, mostly mohair with some "tape/ribon" type yarns and mainly Aran weight although some even thicker - and with the thicker ones I crocheted two trebles in each gap instead of three. I used a 7mm hook.

New Activities

Apologies to my blog readers for the length of time between posts but New Activities take up lots of time.

First a little list of the knitted and mainly gifted

Spiraluscious in Debbie Bliss's Andes, a lovely mix of Alpaca / Silk and such a beautiful vibrant teal colour.And in fact I had enough yarn to make two.

Two pairs of Marvellous Mitts

One for my box -

And this pair was a present for Harriet.

Two pairs of socks

The first one - probably the most exciting socks I've knitted for some time!

I'm very excited about this pair - Bright from Bits because they are knitted entirely from leftover oddments of Fyberspates self-striping Echo - a lovely soft 4ply 100% wool.

The pattern just kind of developed as I knitted.

They are the usual toe-up, short-row heels magic looped on a 2.5mm circular needle.

And the second for Michael

He seems particularly fond of the circle pattern - a shame because I find it tedious to repeat a pattern. But needs must...

Miscellaneous Scrubbies (crocheted) to go with soap and face balm - no photos of these.

And the last is my Brown Simplicity cardi

It is based on the same Simplicity pattern that I used for my blue one, with slight variations along the way.

I shall try and post more details and time although the details are getting lost as time passes.

I am very excited about my two new Activities - Sour dough bread making and Soap making.

Sour Dough first - because in fact I started about this time last year after tasting Kate's delicious bread. I can't remember how she became addicted but I think it was watching a Richard Bertinet programme on the television and her enthusiasm was infectious, so much so that we've had no shop bought bread for over a year! Richard Bertinet's two books -Dough and Crust have both proved invaluable.

Now, my newest and most exciting current activity - Soap Making . A bit different from knitting...A bit different from bread making.....

Well, it all started with hand balm and lip gloss kits I bought last year and once I'd seen how easy and how few ingredients were needed to make very effective products it was only natural that books and more ingredients followed quickly.I was amazed how much potential there was to tailor- make basic skin care products. And how much fun. The books I've started with are "Make Your own Skincare Products" by Sally Hornsey and Karen Gilbert's "Natural Beauty", hopefully I'll have something to show you soon.

But my Main New Activity.... Soap Making....my interest began ages ago when Donna first started making soaps - and this is whereI bought my first handmade soaps (Thank you Donna - they were lovely) . And that was the start.

Here is my first picture - not the first soap,that one wasn't so pretty. This was the sixth batch I made.

It is a very simple soap, the only extra is essential oil of lavender. I chose olive oil, coconut oil and palm oil for this - it seems that these are a classic combination and I can see why. My only problem was the environmentalism of the palm oil but on reflection I decided that I am happy to use it as long as it is from sustainable sources and I trust my supplier.

I haven't been able to try the soap yet because after it is made it needs to "cure" for 4-6 weeks while it becomes milder and harder.(Although it is looking good )

More next time.