Woohoo, I’m posting Sunday Stash on Sunday again! These are the most recent additions to my stash, courtesy of Kirsty‘s recent destashing.
This is going to be one funky bag (or two or three funky bags – there is a fair bit of fabric)!
The background green is more vibrant and has more sheen in real life. This fabric has a bit of stretch in it. Both fabrics appear to be decorator weight. Thanks again Kirsty – I love them! And thanks to Tamara for hosting Sunday Stash!
Kirsty is running another scheDUEL – here are my answers!
Still feeling totally inspired by the handmade issue of mankind mag from my favourite design blog.
Q What is the blog author’s first name? ANSWER: ERIN
use the first letter – LETTER: E
We like to keep lunch casual, I’ve found some fabulous BBQ recipes for the big day.
Q What type of meat is pictured on the rotisserie? ANSWER: LAMB
use the first letter – LETTER: L
Getting some great ideas for upcycling (my favourite craft) & enjoying the revamp over at this fabulous craft website.
Q They list everyone’s favourite mama as one of their inspirational sites. Which mama is she? ANSWER: SOULEMAMA
use the second letter – LETTER: O
Looking forward to being able to buy handmade at the shopping shindig with the craft book Queen.
Q What type of car is pictured? ANSWER: VOLKSWAGEN
use the first letter – LETTER: V
All these letters unscramble to reveal:
WHAT? is all you need. LOVE (but of course!)
Thanks Kirsty! My answers are in bold, not red, as I don’t seem to know how to change colours in WordPress (technologically challenged again).
When I first encountered hand-crocheted and hand-knitted washcloths, my reaction was “you’ve got to be kidding”. Why use something that takes all that time to make just to wash yourself (or to wash the dishes)? But now, I know why!
They’re just SO lovely to feel, and maybe the time and effort that goes into making them somehow transfers itself to the person using them. These four are made in Cleckheaton Natural Cotton 8 ply, with a 4.5mm hook. They’re based on the Organic Cotton for Babies Washcloth pattern from Interweave Crochet, Summer 2008.
I’m planning on giving these as Christmas gifts accompanied by a cake of natural soap (which I will buy, not make myself).
Each washcloth took just under one ball of yarn, edged with the leftover from a coordinating ball.
Apparently the colours in this yarn are natural variations found in unbleached cotton. They are rather muted and I think quite sophisticated. Even if they are being used for washcloths.
Edited to add: Thanks for the washcloth love! A few people have asked me about the pattern. You can find a free one here (you do need to register with the website but they have loads of patterns) using the same stitch, sedge stitch. If you have a crochet dictionary you’ll find sedge stitch in that too. I used 37 stitches for mine, and edged it right around with a row of sc in the main colour, then a row of sc and a row of hdc in the contrast (I’m using American crochet terms). Hope that helps!
You’ve been on tenterhooks waiting to see what I made at Brown Owls on Monday night, haven’t you? Sadly, I didn’t have my camera with me so couldn’t take photos of the tealight holders glowing en masse, but you can find some here and here and read Hoppo Bumpo’s lovely account of the evening here (and she is as nice in real life as in blog life)! So, which tealight holder did I make?
Can you work out what it says? The other side:
Lots of fun, conversation flowed, and I realised that over the course of the year I have made a whole new group of friends.
Kirsty has just posted fantastic instructions on how to make these, so go on, whip up a few for Christmas with more appropriate sayings than mine.
We all know that Christmas will be upon us before we know it, and with it comes the end of Clare’s first year of school. Didn’t that fly past! Rather than giving an apple to the teacher as a thank you present, I’ve killed two birds with one stone by testing Nikki’s latest pattern.
This is the Mod Bag, very poorly photographed. What a great pattern! It’s not for beginners, because you have to fit curved front and back pattern pieces to a straight gusset piece, but it’s a fantastic bag.
Love those interior pockets! One side has this zippered pocket, and the other a large overlay pocket. The outer fabric and the floral interior fabric is from Anna Maria Horner’s Chocolate Lollipop range. The white fabric with brown spots that I used for the rest of the lining is not half the quality of the other fabric, and I won’t use it again. It was something cheap from Spotlight ages ago, and clearly contains too much polyester. Disappointing to spend time and effort creating a bag when the ingredients aren’t all up to scratch. I’ve become so used to working with quality supplies! Lesson learned (I hope).
I’ve made this version with a front flap that has a magnetic snap to close the bag, and a decorative ring. There is one shoulder strap with rings. Inside the bag is a key leash as well as those pockets. This pattern has loads of variations and I’m already planning which one(s) to make next. I hope that Clare’s teacher likes it – she deserves a nice gift; she’s been such a brilliant teacher and Clare adores her. Clare chose the fabric from my stash especially.
If you’re in Melbourne, Nikki is launching this pattern this Sunday – details are here and there are also some lovely door prizes.
One of my work colleagues is 27 weeks pregnant and has just been prescribed strict bedrest in hospital. What to do while lying almost flat on your back for at least five weeks? Crochet, of course!
I whipped up this drawstring bag (following this tutorial) and popped some yarn, a crochet hook and instructions inside.
She has been watching me crochet in my breaks at work with great interest – so maybe now she will become a hooker too!
This time I’ve managed to post Sunday Stash on the eponymous day. Firstly, the most recent arrival from the Amitie Blog VIP club:
It’s one of Joel Dewberry’s Ginseng range of decorator-weight fabrics; the same range that I used for my hat. It’s simply lovely. The second one is some linen bought for around A$2 per metre from Darn Cheap Fabrics pre-Stella, so it must have been around two years ago.
The print is very large scale, and has that terrific border all along one selvedge. I have around five metres. First project will be a skirt for Mum. It’s not as pink as it looks in this photo – it’s really more of a rusty colour.
Thanks again Tamara for hosting.
There are so many amazing, generous giveaways going on in the crafty blogosphere at the moment! Here are a few of my favourites:
My goodness, click on over to those giveaways if you haven’t already!
Every childcare, kinder and school kid in Australia knows this rule – no hat, no play! I’ve just been testing Nikki’s kids hat pattern so now Clare has another summer hat to choose from.
The pattern went together beautifully, although I found it harder to assemble a kid’s hat than an adult one because all the curves are a bit stronger, if you know what I mean. They seem more concave and more convex when they are smaller pieces of fabric. I originally cut the widest brim, but it was a bit too wide for Clare, so I reduced the width by an inch or so.
The fabrics are all from Anna Maria Horner’s Chocolate Lollipop range from a couple of seasons ago. There is a matching dress all cut out on my desk awaiting assembly. Don’t you always make/choose the accessories before the dress too?
I should have pressed this more and stuffed the crown before photographing it! In real life there are no puckers. I love the way that the spots radiate from the centre of the hat tip.
Although the hat was a little big at first, Nikki’s pattern has excellent tips for sizing it properly. The ribbon worked a treat! It’s still a fraction large (no fault of the pattern but of my failure to measure Clare’s head properly before I started) but quite wearable, so she’ll get a few years more out of this hat (I’ll unpick the ribbon when it becomes too tight). If you pop over here and leave a comment you might win the pattern – but be quick, it will be for sale on the website any day now. And lucky me – another pattern is on its way to me for testing as I type!
I’m very late with Sunday Stash this week! Thanks again Tamara for hosting. I wish that I could remember more about this fabric.
It’s only a couple of years old and I think that I bought it from Darn Cheap Fabrics but sadly I don’t remember the composition. I really love the texture of the weave.
This is also destined to become a jacket. I am rather envious of Lynda‘s stash this week – practical and always handy, if not lovely to look at!
Thanks to everyone for the lovely comments on the Cup Day Skirt! I look forward to seeing lots of them around the blogs.
