Your knitting and crochet time - 2KCBWDAY7

Write about your typical crafting time...

The basic ingredients...

A comfy spot....

A bag of yarn...

A nice mug of coffee and some nibbles.....

And a furry friend or two......

I hope you are having a great weekend and a Very Happy Mother's Day.

Thank you so much for joining me for this week of blogging, it's been fun but would have been nothing without you.

x

Tidy mind, tidy stitches - 2KCBWDAY3

How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised? 

That is todays topic for discussion. The quick answer to this is.... I don't. If you are a regular reader of this blog you may have noticed that I there is a total lack of pictures of my house. This is because despite my bestest efforts I am UNTIDY. My house seems to reflect my brain, cluttered. Clean but cluttered.

My yarn addiction is out of control. Any kind of bag, cupboard or shelf is seen by me as a good place to keep my yarn.  The rest of the family may disagree but if it's there I'll shove yarn onto or into it.

I have tried to be organised. I have a studio where all of my craft materials are meant to be stored. Notice that I said meant? There are huge bags, boxes and baskets in there full of yarn but that hasn't stopped the yarn from taking over the house. You see I have to go outside to get to my studio so if its raining then thats not good. Therefore much of the yarn must be stored in the house. Sometimes I go into the studio, look into my huge stash and find yarn that I totally forgot I had. That's not good is it?

Miu Miu is so embarrassed by the explosion of yarn in the bedroom that she tries to hide it with the curtain.

I would love to be organised but the older I get the more I realize that it just isn't me. I have seen many bloggers who have cupboards or shelves that are dedicated to yarn and they look fabulous. Maybe if I had such a cupboard I could keep my yarn under control, I don't hold out much hope though.

Ps. Thank you for your kind comments. I loved reading about what you would like to learn.

x

A Tale of Two Yarns - 2KCBWDAY1

Hello my lovelies. Happy Spring! I love Spring, a time of new growth and freshness all around.

Today is day one of the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week. If you fancy joining in just click on the buttony thing in the sidebar and hopefully it will take you to all the details.

The topic for today is A Tale of Two Yarns, in which we are asked to discuss two yarns that we have used and either like or dislike. When I first learnt to crochet I wasn't sure if I would succeed or not so I chose to use acrylic yarn from the local pound shop. It was great for learning with but I soon wanted to try new and more interesting yarns. This is when I went onto using yarn that was mainly natural. Cotton, 100% wool, mohair, angora etc. I tried many brands and didn't have any problems that I can remember.

My favourite of the natural yarns is the merino wool that I used for the Indecisive Project. It is so soft, thick, cozy and snuggly that I just love it. I think it is by Sublime but can't remember the full name of it.

One of problems with natural yarns though is that it can work out to be a wee bit expensive especially for large projects such as blankets. As is the case with a great many households, budgets are being stretched more and more and ours is no exception. So, towards the end of last year I started to look out for cheaper alternatives. Lucy of the wonderful Attic 24 posted that she had been using Stylecraft Special Dk and that she highly recommended it. 

I tried it and couldn't believe the difference between the Stylecraft and the acrylic that I had used from the poundshop. The Stylecraft is soft, easy to use and most of all cheap compared to the natural yarns. It also has an abundance of colours to choose from. I have added a few extra colours of other brands of DK that I have spotted while I have been out and about but they are not as soft or easy to crochet with. 

The Stylcraft Dk is great for all types of project although I am yet to make anything wearable so I don't how it would hold up for that. An added bonus is that it is washable too, great if you have children and/or animals.

Now, I would like to add that this is only my opinion and that other people may feel completely differently. I would love to hear which yarns you love to work with and maybe any that you don't like much. In future I would like to have a go with some of the Noro yarns that I have seen bloggers using. It looks so soft and yummy... maybe when our budget grows.

Thanks for stopping by, ttfn x

My Creative Space - Wool and Pompoms

Hello my lovelies. Thank you so much for all your well wishes for my littlest one, she is now thankfully feeling better but it was very nasty bug that got her.

This week in my creative space I am playing with pompoms and wool. I'm working on something for 'that time of the year' and I hope to be able to show you soon.

For more creative spaces click here.

Take care.

x

Pottering

Hello there, I hope that you are well today.

I haven't really got much to show for myself this week. I can't seem to really get going on anything but I don't know why. Maybe it's the heat, or the rain, I don't know. I have been trying to sort out the studio but I need storage as I have so much stuff. In fact I amazed myself with how much stuff I have especially seeing as it has all been accumulated in the past three years! When we moved back to the UK from Spain I only had a few bits and pieces so in three years it has grown and grown and has been taking over the entire house.

In between trying to sort out the craft supplies I have done a little bit of crochet but nothing really significant, a bit of crochet pottering really. I decided that I would try making a doily using chunkier wool. Instead of a size 3 hook and skinny cotton I used a size 7 and some chunky cotton. It worked out quite well but I would really like to try to super thick yarn and maybe a size 12 hook to make a rug.

I also found this lovely pattern for butterflies so of course I had to make a few. They are good for a quick little project although I'm not sure yet what I will do with them. Maybe a mobile.

A couple of coasters from this pattern...

And a heart from this pattern. This is a pattern that I found rather complicated and nearly gave up on a couple of times but I'm glad that I persisted.

I hope that you are having a craftier week that me. Take care.

x