Showing posts with label Bumble Bees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bumble Bees. Show all posts

Saturday, 10 December 2016

The Dutch Postal System


I have been selling knitted items on Etsy for quite a number of years, and until recently have had no problems. But in the last few months I have had two packages go misssing, and strangely both were to customers in The Netherlands. For both customer I have remade the items, and then sent them tracked. (It is quite dispiriting, but it is the seller's responsibility to get the items there, and I am also very proud of my customer satisfaction rates and 100% good reviews.)  

One item was one of my mini cars, and the other these phone cosies. I did enjoy remaking the phone cosies, and it has put in my head to make a completely new set, with different flowers.

I have just found this article in The Daily Mail about the Dutch postal service. I don't believe very much in The Daily Mail, but in this case my experience does back this up.

Guelder Rose and Bumble Bee

Shepherd's Purse


Thursday, 8 December 2016

Lavender Pyramids




I have finally got going on my big bowl of lavender, from my mum's communal garden. I decided to keep it fairly simple, and have been making these little pyramids out of some white linen. I found instructions on how to do this on Chick Chick sewing

I decided not to worry about string or ribbon to hang them, and to just do some very simple embroidery (actually it is the only sort that I can do). It took a little bit of trial and error to get the embroidery in the right place, as it is done before the pyramid is sewn. The design of the embroidery has sort of evolved along the way. My husband says they look like rather upmarket teabags. I still have half a bowl of lavender left, so am thinking of another design.
 

Friday, 3 October 2014

Sunflower and Bumble Bee







The last hints of summer, and I decided to photograph the one and only sunflower in that I managed to grow in my garden. Huge amount of slugs and snails this year. As I was doing this a bumble bee arrived looking for pollen, and I got these shots. I had to get up very close to the bee, and I was a bit worried I was going to get my nose stung.

Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Baby Shoes



Between other knits I seem to always fit in a few pairs of booties. I haven't tired of knitting these yet, and they do seem to be the most consistent seller from my Etsy shop. I guess no one minds treating a new baby.


I wasn't sure about the yellow ones to start with, but once now I have embroidered on the daisy flowers I find they are my favourite. The wool is a really nice cotton, and and unusual mix of yellow and white. I'm not sure of the brand, but wonder if it comes in other colours as it was so nice to work with. I wonder if anyone will recognize it.


And these green ones (Is this green? It is a bit hard to put your finger on this colour) are knitted in Rowan Calmer, which came from my sister. I decided to return to my little embroidered bumble bee. As usual they come in a cream dupion silk shoebag.


Friday, 29 November 2013

Bugs












I've been so busy crafting for Christmas I have nothing very new to show this week. I am a bit craft-faired out, and am going to get back to making something just for the sheer fun of it next week.

So I just thought I would put together a compilation of all my minibeasts and bugs. Patterns for all the above are on ravelry (some for free), and on the others I have a Minibeast promotion: £1 off if you buy any two of the above patterns together.

Friday, 18 October 2013

More Phone Cosies

Wild Rose

Wild Rose and Guelder Rose

I promised you more phone cosies, and have been busy stitching away. I have had such fun deciding what flowers to do next, and then researching them.  Thank you for all the suggestions. I now have a few more ideas in the pipeline. 

I have tried to stick to wild flowers, and have been a little bit influenced by the flowers in my favourite flower fairy books. I have a fairly good knowledge of wild flowers. Lots of long walks as a child. But it is still useful to do a bit of research to get them just right.


These are a selection of the books I have used. The book in the centre called Our Country's Flowers I found in a secondhand shop. It dates from Victorian times, and is full of beautiful old plates.

Guelder Rose and Bumble Bee


Shepherd's Purse

I've gone slightly off theme with my final cosy: the Monarch Butterfly below. Someone on ravelry asked me if I had considered a knitting pattern for Milkweed, a favourite flower of the Monarch Butterfly. I think it is beyond me to knit, so I decided to embroider one on this cosy. The new cosies are for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed

The basic knitting pattern for the cosy is now available for free on ravelry. It is a pretty simple knit, but this will save anyone working out the sizing. The bits that I think are quite cool is that I have used a stretchy cast on technique, which makes the top easy to get your phone in and out, but also keeps it nice and safe. The bottom of the cosy is grafted, so it has a lovely smooth finish.  I have photo tutorials on my blog for both these techniques.

Friday, 10 May 2013

Bazinga Bee!



So I was lying in bed pondering a name for this post, and suddenly BAZINGA! or perhaps I should say BEEZINGA! Nice play on words I thought. My family really love watching The Big Bang Theory. As well as being incredibly funny, Sheldon reminds me of some of the autistic kids I have met through my work. Clever, funny, (and also perhaps challenging some people's preconceptions about autism) able to build good friendships.

 

I have been knitting some bees from my Bumble Bee Pattern. I saw this net fabric in a shop, and thought if I sewed it onto felt it would make quite nice bee wings. The original bees had acetate wings, the template for which comes with the pattern. I like them as they are very realistic, but I thought the gold might also look good especially if they were to used as a decoration.






But imagine my surprise when I typed Bazinga Bee into Google to find that it already exists. Someone has named a new species of bee in South America the Bazinga Bee. Click on the photo if you want to read more. I know he looks nothing like my bee, but I think his greeny sheen is rather beautiful. How hard it is to come up with anything truly original!





Friday, 8 February 2013

Baby Bee Shoes


At the Christmas craft fairs this year, I had one or two people ask me if I did my little knitted shoes in baby sizes. So I decided to scale down the pattern and make a baby version. 

My original children's pattern comes in two varieties: the daisy pump (which can be knitted in two colours), and a garter stitch version, which I called puppy paws, as they are embroidered to look like little paws.

I thought I could do both types in a baby version. I have knitted quite a little pile of garter stitch boots, and now I can't quite decide. I really love the way they look plain. I know they are very simple, but that is what appeals to me. But I have no idea whether other people will like them. So here they are plain ...




.... and here they are decorated.


When Frankie was a baby we called her Baby Bee for a while, so that is why I decided to embroider the bees. As our second child she was our B Baby, and she also had a little stripey suit that made her look like a Bumble Bee. 




Puppy Paws

I am going to put all the pictures on the pattern, so I guess the decorating is just an option. The pattern has two sizes: 0 - 3 month and 3 - 6 months. And as usual I have written these out separately, as I find patterns with brackets confusing.

They are knitted in double-knit wool, on quite a small needle, which means they are a firm knit. Any double-knit wool would work, but I have recommed some of the Sirdar wools I used in my samples. I wanted the booties to be quite structured, almost with the feel of a felted shoe. More shoe-like that sock-like. I really like knitting them, as it almost seems magical, how with a little bit of shaping the shoe shape is formed. And as they are on two needles with just one seam to sew up they are fairly simple. 

Knitted With Sirdar Snuggly Tiny Tots DK

What I am excited about is that I have a real baby model lined up. So expect a few more pictures next week. 

The pattern is available on ravelry. Follow the link in my side bar.

I have started work on the daisy version, which should be ready soon.