I made this Green 2CV for a customer in Spain. I have realised that most of my 2CV customers are from somewhere outside the UK and in Europe. It has now become much more unusual to even see a 2CV where I live.
It was fun to make this car, and I hope the customer liked it. If you want to make your own you can find the pattern here, or how to order me to make one through Etsy here.
I have finally got around to using the rest of the lavender from my mum's communal garden. You can see the first batch of lavender bags here. I started with a nice piece of natural looking linen, and the first attempt above was OK, but not very inspired. So I then decided to go for a leaf shape, and add a ribbon. This way they can be hung on a coat hanger to keep clothes fresh. I have kept the stitching quite simple, and the cream seemed to show up best.
For the last few I thought I would go for something a bit more unusual, and these are the ones I like the best. It is just a line of backstitching up the centre, and some big random spaced stitches to the side. So I hope I will be smelling nice this year.
I've been browsing other craft blogs, where there are a lot of plans and resolutions for 2017. Although some years I've done this, for the last few years I just make my crafty list of plans on a piece of paper, and pin it up for only me to look us.
As for crafty plans for 2016 - well as you might imagine, some things on the list I did, and some I did not get to.
Sock knitting was on the list, and I did do a lot of this. I don't think I can call myself a novice sock knitter any more. There is something eminently satisfying about knitting a pair of socks.
I also published a new baby garment pattern, Tundra Baby Top. Fortunately friends and family have been good at producing some new babies to keep me motivated with the baby garments.
I was really pleased with my teddy bear patterns. They were an enormous amount of work, and although they have hardly sold, did turn out exactly as I pictured them in my head.
I have knitted quite a lot of cars for Etsy customers, but not got around to some new vehicle patterns which I have been thinking about for some time.
I have also published two new animal patterns. Also, fewer than my plans.
I have blogged less, which was a deliberate decision. A few years ago I was posting blogs about everything I did. My daughter would say, "let's make cakes", and before you knew it I would be there photographing the whole thing for this blog. I have really tried to stop that, as it sort of takes the fun out of things. So this blog has become a bit more knitting focused, and less family. They are still here, but as teenagers spend a lot more time in their bedrooms. Perhaps I should start featuring hair and make-up tips? (Only people who know me in person will realize how funny that is.)
So for 2017 I still plan to come up with some new knitting patterns. It seems harder to come up with fresh ideas, but I still have a few in the pipeline. I do feel more confident with my pattern writing. There is still the usual dilemma of either going for the slightly bizarre (Why did no one want to knit my mermaid's purse?), or the more obvious (teddy for example), but then being up against large numbers of teddy bear patterns.
