Ring Up The Curtains

 

I have been very preoccupied this year with curtain making. I think my friends and work colleagues may have got a bit bored with my answer to "what have you been up to?", always being making curtains. But they are done, and I am very pleased. Although I have made curtains before, that was quite a while ago, and making 8 was quite a job. 

They definitely make the living room cosier, and also less echoy. Although we are now thinking that they may stand out better with a slightly different wall colour. But I suppose there is always something to do.

My pets always seem to want to part of a photoshoot, and although our cat Joey can be a bit naughty, he at least does not seem to be a curtain climber. 

The fabric was bought from Lenka Dresses on Etsy, and called Sole Raya Grey Stripe. I was very pleased with it, and the whole ordering process. It is extra wide, with the stripes going across the width, so I was able to make full length curtains without having to have any seams.

I have always used pencils pleats before, but this time went for pinch pleats, which I think has worked quite well. 

And although I am planning to get back to the knitting, we still have a bedroom without curtains, so I have been browsing at fabric again.

Snowdrop Yoke Jumper Photographs

I have been waiting to see if there were snowdrops in my new garden, and have not been disappointed. The original photos that I took for my Snowdrop Yoke Jumper knitting pattern were taken in June, so there was zero chance of a real snowdrop to pose with.

I really hate having my photograph taken, and was hoping I could persuade my daughter to be the model. But she is not at home at the moment, so it had to be me. As usual my dog wanted to be part of the action. She is such a good girl, and I think very photogenic.

Although I guess it is the snowdrop itself that comes out best in a photograph. If you are interested in the pattern it is available on Etsy, ravelry or LoveKnitting.

Clarence the Pheasant

 

I just realised that although we will be in February I have not posted very much this year. So here is a photo taken from my kitchen window this morning. I call him Clarence, as that is what the lady we bought the house from called him when we saw him while viewing the house, almost a year ago. I'm assuming he is the same pheasant, but I suppose he may not be. If only he had been there at the weekend, when I was counting the birds for the RSBP bird count. I picked a bad time, as even all the usual little garden birds were not appearing, I think because it was so windy. Time to hunker down. Would a knitted pheasant be a good idea for a new project? Most likely someone has already done it.

I am crafting at the moment, but with not much to show for it. Making curtains for the living room, which is taking me such a long time. The header tape has arrived at last, so I may be nearing the end. Perhaps curtains are not that exciting, but I may post a photo here. And in the evening I am working on a pullover for myself, which may end up as a pattern. But that is also a long job, as I am only nearly at the end of the back piece.

 

 

Tortoise II

For some time I have had buyers of my Tortoise Knitting Pattern contact me, as the wool that I originally knitted the sample tortoises with is no longer available. This was upsetting, particularly as the wool used for the shell was particularly tortoisey. 

I hunted around for some more tortoisey wool, and recommended Rico Creative Melange, 50g Beige/Brown 007, and for tan sections one ball of Rico Essentials Merino, 50g, Ivory 22. But it was concerning me that I should not really recommend a wool unless I had used it to make the pattern.

So here is Tortoise II, made with the wools above. It does work, although I am altering my pattern to increase the needle size by a half. I use small needles, as it needs to be a fairly tight knit, but I thought I could go up a little. It is odd knitting my own pattern so long after I wrote it. Particularly liked how I shaped the head!

I am happy with Tortoise II, although feel the colours of the first Tortoise were slightly more realistic. So I am still on the look out for other tortoisey wool. But perhaps other knitters are not as obsessed with realism as I am, and a tortoise could look great in all sorts of colours. But if you purchase the pattern from now onwards, these will be the recommended wool, needles, and photos used.

... And someone got a little bit too involved in my photoshoot! 

 

Puffin Christmas Cards

Wishing You a Happy Christmas!

Every year I plan to do a bit more linoprinting, but some how I find a year has passed, and the last time I got out my kit was the Christmas before. 

This is the card I made this year, and although it is a bit early for resolutions, I am definitely going to try to do a bit more throughout the year. Perhaps I may need to get a new tube of printing ink.

Tavistock Dickensian Lantern Parade

I have been hinting at this post for a while, and am so happy that this year the Dickensian Evening Lantern Parade took place. Last year it was cancelled because of gales, and although this year was rainy, we did manage to parade our lanterns. Above is me, with my chameleon. I have been thinking about chameleons a lot this autumn. You can't see from the photograph, but some of his lights were colour-changing, and there was a hoop of willow so that he rested on my head, which made carrying a bit easier.

Below is my son, with his spider lantern. It was very impressive, and is now going to the Tavistock Youth Cafe to be displayed. My chameleon is going to a local plant store, Leaf and Stone, to be part of their display.  

 

Final photo shows us gathered at St. Eustachius Church, waiting to set off. My husband got roped into carrying the anomalocaris from last year. 

I feel that The Chameleon, Spider and Anomalocaris sounds a bit like a children's book title. What adventures they could have!

Running Horse Bucket Hat

Not my daughter, but a fashion student friend.

 

My daughter asked me to knit her a bucket hat with horses running around the brim. A fun project, and as I was planning it, my husband suggested that I have the horses in different poses, as if on a film reel. 

We used to live in Kingston-upon-Thames, and in the local museum there was a section on Eadweard Muybridge, a local photographer who was a pioneers of film. Kingston Museum was a small but really excellent place, with exhibits from Kingston from prehistory to the current day, and other exhibitions and events. 

So I knitted my hat, and then jokingly said to my husband, this probably isn't original, someone somewhere will have done a Muybridge Hat. And a quick click on Ravelry, and there it was, the Zoetrope by Leah Batt. My hat was a one-off, and is not going to be a pattern. I think I can admit that I prefer her hat, and wish I had found it first. I ended up embroidering the legs and ears on my horses, while hers are proper fair isle. It is also nicely set out to look like a film reel, and she has done a clever series of linked photos to look like a moving picture, which I guess is the point. It just shows how difficult it is to come up with a truly unique idea in knitting, or anything.

                           Not as pretty, but me in the hat when just finished.