a work in progress

I've recently been finding myself with a lot of projects on the go that I've started and am yet to finish. So I thought I'd make a conscious effort to encourage myself to crack on by sharing some of my projects in progress here, with an aim to finish them off one-by-one over the coming months.

1.  I have a huge pile of these crochet sample squares which I've been building up since way back in 2011. I've got a few other colours and stitch patterns I'd like to try out but I'm almost there I think. I'd better be anyway...

2.  I started making these crochet flowers even longer ago than the squares. The plan was to make a flower garland to decorate my bedroom, inspired by one made by my friend Yumi. Well, I've moved house about 3 times since then and still no garland. The good new is I think I have enough flowers made - I just need to chain them all together.

3.  Thankfully this project hasn't been in the making pile for as long as the previous two. More crochet, but this time on a large scale. I'm working on a rug for our living room. It's nearly finished...I just need to complete a few more rounds. This one is top of my to do list - I figure once one thing is ticked off the others will follow.

4.  This sweet monkey embroidery is from a kit I bought from Kirikí Press - so cute. I actually bought two, with this being the easier of the two to make. I only started this project about a month ago and I've been doing a bit of stitching every week or so, so it should be finished soon.

5.  This is a small part of a larger knitted piece. I'm knitting a new cardigan and this is the beginning of the first sleeve. The back and front panels are already off the needles and I'm hoping to have the finished cardigan completed for Christmas at the very latest. Hopefully much sooner.

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Phew, I feel a bit better now I've shared my work in progress and set myself some vague goals.

Watch this space for some finished projects coming soon...

a rainbow chair

It was Brighton Pride last weekend and I decided to decorate my desk chair to celebrate, after noticing that the holes in the back were perfectly placed for a rainbow shape.

It was a really quick little project, and nice to make use of some of the underused (very bright!) colours in my wool stash.



I'm really pleased with the end result - I keep turning round to look at it. And it's nice and tactile too.



I'm now thinking about whether to take it one step further and decorate the seat of the chair...
A project for a rainy day maybe. The perfect time for a rainbow.

B is for...

We're not hugely into Valentine's day around these parts, but it's nice to do a little something for the one you love, so this year I decided to make some personalised handkerchiefs for Ben.



I got the idea after I borrowed some his other handkerchiefs and misplaced/ruined a couple of them with leaky pens and such, and wanted to replace them with something nice.

This time I'll keep my hands off!

The monograms turned out ok I think - especially as I was free-styling a bit. I like that the hearts are quite wonky. I haven't done much hand embroidery before (can you tell?) but I'd definitely like to try out some more on projects like this.



I hope you all had a nice weekend, whether you were celebrating Valentine's day or not.

We had a pretty quiet one, and went out for a huge roast at the Basketmakers on Sunday. It was delicious!

Let the bells ring

This week I entered a competition held by Resident to win one of 20 pairs of tickets to see Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds perform a live rehearsal ahead of their tour. The task was to recreate an album cover from Nick Cave's back catalogue.

Above is a work-in-progress photo of my entry, and it did the job! A bit of a surprise as I thought it looked pretty wonky...but I'm not complaining.

The gig was last night at the King Alfred ballroom and it was really REALLY good! Gig of the year? Possibly!

If you haven't heard it already, you should definitely give the new album a listen. It'll be worth your while.

The Potash

Last weekend I went away with some friends for a few days in Suffolk.

It was such a lovely time in the countryside: we played boules on the lawn, rounders by a castle, threw stones in the sea and had an evening murder mystery barbecue.

Long weekends are the way forward...

ps. If I ever own a house I'll definitely make an embroidery of it.

flower ring

I made this hanging ornament to send to Yumi.
It was based on this flower ring tutorial from Lola Nova.
It's quite satisfying crocheting round a solid frame.

out of sorts

It's been almost 5 months since I moved in and I'm still in the process of deciding where things should go. I also still have one box remaining to unpack. I'm not sure that one will ever get done, although there's nothing like an unsettling week to make you want to sort things out.

Oh well.

camp out

f e s t i v a l



i'm going to glastonbury tomorrow - i'm soooooooo excited (even though the weather is not looking too hot). i must remember to take my wellingtons.



i promise a BIG post when i get back but for now here's a picture of the fathers day card i made my dad:



x

longwinded

time for a mammoth post

i have got a lot to mention today and lots of bits and bobs i've been meaning to post for a while. firstly some wonderful swap packages i have received of late:


top: the super pack it up small package i received from gabriele - lots of lovely strawberry, cherry and apple goodies, so great! - thanks again gabriele.

and below that: thanks to avital for this lovely package for the coloriffic swap-o-rama. such a thoughtful and personalised selection - i love it all!

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alongside receiving lots of lovely post i've been knitting lot of easter chicks, which are now up in my etsy shop:


now, i'm not sure how likely these little folks are to actually sell but i thought i'd test the waters of etsy and see how it goes. i also got carried away knitting and didn't know what else to do with them (as my friends and family were on the receiving end last easter and i doubt they'd fancy another batch)

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back to things i've received in the mail:


a few weeks ago i helped out my friend matt with some cd packaging ideas for his band 'a neat science' - and he sent me a copy of the design he put together.
it's a limited edition cd release and i think it has a lovely handmade feel to it with a printed canvas case and a nice brown luggage tag label - i bet they'll all sell like hot cakes! and very kind of him to credit me for helping with the design as he did all the hard work really.

and talking of cd designs, here is something i knocked up for a one-off cover design for a new single release by a band called stained glass heroes:



The band is releasing a new single and there will be a limited edition of 500 7" vinyl singles pressed, all designed by different artists - which is quite a nice idea i thought! so i've sent off my entry now, and you can look at some of the designs already received on their website. very nice.

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in other news, i went on a nice trip to the local salvation army thrift store the other day and picked up this pile of goodies:


i especially love the green spotty fabric and the floral pillowcase - makes me think of springtime! which is kind of appropriate as it is feeling very much like spring is in the air around here at the moment, the sun has been shining and i've even been thinking about digging out my sunglasses as it is so very bright - lovely!

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anyway, i must go now as this post has taken me quite long enough (though i do think i have more things to say that i have forgotton about) - it is now a whole day after i began! and no, i haven't been sitting here the whole time, i've been to the pub for a banana split and a glass of wine, and to london for a nice pot of tea and museum visit - so i have been quite a busy girl.

and now it is time for a rest - well, sort of, i'm off to the cinema to see the illusionist. i hope it's a good'un,

have a nice weekend everybody!

x

some more embroidered drawings

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