A New Angle on Stained Glass

I was thrilled to receive a gift voucher for a stained glass session with Claire Gaunt Art at Christmas.

Not least because I'd dropped heavy hints to my husband, and left Claire's business card casually lying around.  I'd met Claire at a Christmas Fair at Haddo House last November and loved the pieces she had on display.  Her garden studio in Aberdeen was adorned with many of the gorgeous stained glass items she sells.  

I loved the coloured light filtering through these geometric hangings at each window in Claire's workspace.

Just the inspiration I needed - but was it too ambitious for a beginner's workshop?  

I needn't have worried as Claire encouraged me to go for it!  

First up I chose some coloured glass.  Here's a wee selection of the array of options.  

I settled for a palette inspired by my recent lounge makeover featuring a newly painted yellow green accent wall and reupholstered turquoise chair.  Isn't the blue rippled glass gorgeous?

Claire drew a template for me to follow and I traced the shapes and cut the glass, numbering the pieces as I went.

The circle was most challenging.  Thankfully the grinder helped smooth off those rough edges.

I'd never used these finger guards, or cots, before.  They provide protection whilst grinding glass without diminishing dexterity, helping me keep my pre-holiday sparkly manicure intact!  

Next it was time for some foiling.  I found it very satisfying to apply the adhesive foil strip to each edge and see my artwork start to come together.

In readiness for soldering, Claire used horse-shoe nails to anchor the foiled glass pieces and keep them in place.

She then applied Flux followed by dabs of solder onto the back to stabilise the window hanging finally creating one piece.

After demonstrating how to solder in a straight line, Claire told me it was my turn!  I was quite nervous but Claire made me feel completely at ease and I was soon soldering away to my heart's content.  I can definitely tell which bits I did but I was pretty pleased with my results overall.  

Claire then helped to solder all the way round the edges, as that required more precision than I currently possess, and the finishing touch was to attach a hanging ring and chain.

Here's our tah-dah moment together!

I was delighted with the stained glass artwork I made at my workshop with Claire and I couldn't wait to see it at home.

Here's my artwork in situ with the upholstered chair and accent wall which inspired my colour choice

If you'd like the opportunity to create your own stained glass artwork, Claire can be reached here:

Email : clairegauntart@gmail.com

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/ClaireThereseGauntArtist/

Mobile : 07939 999329

I can make myself flowers

My path first crossed with Katie at NEOS 2022.  North East Open Studios is a nine day event held each year in September showcasing makers and artists in the North East of Scotland and allowing them to fling open the doors of their making spaces and welcome the world!  In Katie's covetable garden room studio, I particularly admired her flowery mosaic table tops.

This year Katie has realised a dream and opened her very own studio in the Aberdeenshire village of Durno allowing her to manage her craft business close to her home.  MAKE Craft and Design Studio is now open for craft workshops.  I was thrilled to be invited to the very first one.  

Katie has created a bright, inviting space in the former vintage shop premises of Louis Little Haven (which has now relocated to Insch).  As a textile lover, I was immediately drawn to the bright cubbies of wool Katie is using to make her vibrant floral tufted rug seen here in the background on its frame.  

Centre stage though, amid a felt fabric rainbow, was a vase of fabulous felt flowers - and that's what I'd come to make, along with three other participants.  The table was laid out with individual workstations with everything at hand and plenty of space.  It all looked so appealing, I couldn't wait to get going.

First up was this rose made from circles cut with precision snips following Katie's card template and her gentle guidance.  I went a bit rogue with my colour choice and produced a blue rose!

Next we made forget-me-nots.  My centres look suspiciously like Liquorice Allsorts but adding the petals made a recognisable bloom.  The florist wire stalks twisted easily to make a pretty spray.

Following Katie's clear instructions I managed to make a couple of daisies in yellow and white to add to my growing bouquet.  Still drawn to the blues I then added a couple of pale turquoise flowers.

Key to our successful flower construction was this funky hot-glue gun.  I'd never come across a rechargeable one before but Katie had a bank of them for us to use which meant we never got tangled in cables and never ran out of charge.  What a game changer when multiple glue-guns are in use!

As we became more competent at cutting and gluing, Katie showed us how to create a stem of lavender as well as some foliage.

She then produced this sweetie-jar of felt balls she'd made.  

They look adorable altogether but Katie suggested we incorporate them into our bouquets.  After completing a few more leafy stems, we placed our finished floral sprays together to be admired.  

Here's the beautiful work of tutor, Katie, and the other attendees, Jade, Joanne and Ethmay.  Everyone's work was so impressive.  We'd enjoyed a relaxing day of craft at Katie's MAKE - Craft and Design Studio and all made something lovely to take home.

I was delighted with my wee posy and can't thank Katie enough for inviting me along.

Katie and I posing with our posies!

My flowers enjoying their new home on my kitchen window ledge

Find out more about future workshops at MAKE - Craft and Design Studio

or by contacting Katie directly at make.craft.design@gmail.com

Last Christmas I gave you... something hand knitted

Nothing puts me off knitting more than a deadline.  

So it might surprise you to learn that I knitted five gifts for my nearest and dearest in time for  Christmas.  There's no more stressful deadline than 25th December, as we're all packing in so much else in the run up to the festive period.  What was I thinking?

Start early.  That's what I was thinking.  

So I began knitting for my Mum way back in August when we were on holiday in London looking after my daughter's puppy.  

It may appear that Murphy is taking a keen interest in my knitting, but he's really just hoping for a pat - or a treat!

My Mum had admired the colours in this jumper I made a year ago, and I still had some of the gorgeous pink dyed by my friend Helen of Ripplescrafts.  I paired it with a mohair in a colour called Mother Knows Best from local dyer Claire of Cookston Crafts.  They just had to be made into something for my Mum.

This lighter-than-air shawl with its picot edge of golden beads feels luxurious but is surprisingly warm.  

Five shawls - two for me and three gifts

I should know - I've knitted this pattern, the Winter Wander Shawl by Helen Stewart, five times now and it's one of my wardrobe favourites, as well as making a lovely present.

So, that was one Christmas gift completed - and autumn barely begun. 

I next turned my attention to some souvenir yarn purchased in Amsterdam last May.

The Dutch yarn store Stephen and Penelope is something of a mecca for knitters and I was pleased my daughter Maddy was happy to accompany me on a visit during our minibreak - and took lots of photos whilst I was drooling over the wool!  I asked Maddy to choose something she liked and she picked a pretty skein of mohair silk by German hand-dye company Walk Collection in this delicate colour called Cloudy Sky.

Throughout October I transformed the skein into a shrug similar to one I'd seen Maddy wear, following a pattern called Sleeve vibes by designer Sachiko Burgin.

Here's Maddy wearing her knitted Christmas gift, back home in London.  It's an ideal layering piece.

If anyone in my family admires knitwear, especially anything I've made, I pay close attention.

Three hats ready to post to Crisis UK

When Geoff said he liked one of these chunky hats I'd knitted for a charity initiative supporting the homeless in Edinburgh, I noted the colour and bought another ball.  I chose the Suffolk Hat pattern by Jo Storie Knits.  This pattern had been in my library for ages just waiting for the right wool.  All the hats are knitted in ReCreate Chunky from Stylecraft, a blended yarn made entirely from recycled fibres.  Though it's 40% wool, it can still be machine washed.  That ticks a lot of boxes for me and I can buy it in person locally from both Baa! and Cookston Crafts.

Here's Maddy admiring Geoff's finished hat during a woodland walk at Haddo Country Park just after Christmas.  I didn't make a pompom for Geoff as I made his hat slightly bigger than the charity ones and only had this tiny nubbin left.  He's not really a pompom kind of guy!

It's fair to say that when I find a knitting pattern I really like, I can become a bit fixated.  

I first knit the Bamboo Field Mitts as a shop sample for my local yarn store, Baa! in Stonehaven, last September to see if it was possible to make a pair from one ball of beautiful North Country Cheviot Hills Lambswool from The Border Mill.  It's a lovely pattern generously provided free by designer Holly Terrell.  With my mission accomplished - mitts finished from just one ball and safely delivered to Baa! - I made a pair for myself.  Then my attention turned to other leftovers in my stash for my final family gift.

After I made Maddy a Rosa Cardigan in Rowan Felted Tweed for her birthday in 2021, I made myself a grey one in the same yarn.  Remembering I'd some of the tweedy grey wool leftover, through November I knitted Eilidh a pair of the Bamboo Field Mitts to keep her cosy on her dog walks back in London with Murphy.

At the end of the day, when the Christmas hype is past, gifts are given and all I really want for them is to be worn, and worn, and worn again.

Geoff's hat on our hall table awaiting its next outing

But wait - that's only four and I mentioned five hand knit gifts...

With three weeks 'til Christmas, I made a late decision to make one more pair of Bamboo Field mitts, this time for my friend Lorna.  We'd a lunch date on December 18th when I knew we'd be exchanging gifts.  Made from her own alpaca yarn (which I've written about here) held with beautiful mauve mohair lace from Henny Penny Makes, I was in such a hurry to knit, finish, wrap and present these that this is my only photo!

Hand knit work in progress - not an instrument of torture!

I can't say I'll be making that number of knitted Christmas gifts every year but knowing those I love are wrapped in beautiful yarns from the work of my hands gives not only me a warm fuzzy feeling!
 

Leaves and Lace Blanket - Eventually!

Can you cast your mind back to your first post-lockdown outing, when you were finally allowed to travel more than 5 miles from home?  I remember mine very well.  On 5th July 2020 I drove 30 miles to Stonehaven from Oldmeldrum to shop at Baa!, my (relatively) local yarn store.  Small shops operated by appointment only and I had a precious half hour in which to squish, choose and buy.

Prior to my visit, I'd perused Baa!'s extensive online store at length to optimise my shopping time and I  left with a large bag of Scheepjes Aran yarn, happy in the knowledge I could make a blanket for my sister-in-law's birthday the following month.  

The only trouble was I'd bought the wrong yarn!

Blame the yarn fumes, I was so overjoyed to be out again, shopping in person, that I'd forgotten that the Scheepjes cotton comes in Stone Washed and Stone Washed XL with very similar ball bands.  

I went straight for the weightier version, ignoring my carefully planned shopping list for its lighter cousin, chose my colours and gleefully left the shop with a minute to spare.  It was only on the drive home that doubt began to creep in.  If I'd bought the thicker yarn I'd need twice as many balls for the blanket as the yardage was so different.  Baa!'s proprietor, Janice, could not have been more understanding and a parcel of the correct yarn for my blanket was posted out and was with me within days.  

All's wool that ends wool - you can read about that blanket here.  But the wrongly purchased yarn weighed heavily on my mind.  Janice had kindly offered to take it all back and swap it for the supplies I needed but, truth be told, I was a bit embarrassed that I'd made such a silly mistake.  I decided to keep it.

Time rolled along in my crafting life and I continued to knit, crochet and be inspired by other makers.  Catching up with Sam on the BetsyMakes back catalogue of podcasts, I saw her crocheting beautiful lace doilies, or mandalas, following a pattern by Haafner Linssen.  Each was a different colour and she crocheted them together into a bedspread, following a project in Haafner's book 'Mandalas to Crochet'.  I owned this very book, having received it as a Christmas gift from my thoughtful husband back in 2019.  

Could this be the inspiration my errant yarn had been waiting for?

I decided to have a go and see if one ball of  my rogue Scheepjes XL was enough to make one motif.

Why, yes it did.  I made my first Leaves and Lace mandala as the pattern stated with a contrast centre - then made another centre to prove one ball would make one entire motif.

After completing my first motif in March 2021, I worked on this project on and off for many months.  With no deadline in mind, I was able to lift and lay these motifs, enjoy some relaxing crochet when I felt like it.

Crochet on planes and trains

It proved to be a great on-the-go project as I only needed to take one ball with me.  It was very satisfying to complete one whole hexagon doily with just one ball of yarn.

These three motifs were completed during our week on Davaar Island in the summer of 2021 (when the sun did shine some of the time!)

With lots of hexagons complete, I needed a plan for the joining round and to help me with colour placement.

So I made a paper representation of the Leaves and Lace blanket and cut out shapes for the number of full hexagon motifs I'd finished then taped a wee bit of coloured yarn onto each.  When I was happy with the layout, I glued them in place.  Who knew tape and glue would be integral to my crochet project?

I still had lots of  half hexagons to make to fill in the edges and complete the rectangle.

The plan was a godsend when joining everything together.  So was the spare bed!

I was beginning to feel like the end was in sight.

But this photo was taken in May 2022 and it's the last one I took of my unfinished Leaves and Lace blanket.  Since then, I completed all the joining up, and crocheted round the whole blanket three times to make a deep border, but failed to record any of this progress.  Despite being so close to the end, I stalled at the very last round of decorative picot stitches and have no idea why.  In hindsight I realise I didn't really like the frilly finish in the pattern.

So last week I Googled 'Easy crochet blanket edge' - which I probably should've done months ago! 

I found this easy-to-follow tutorial and four evenings later, the border was all done.  I'm eye-rolling at myself for not just getting on with it but the biggest crochet project I've ever undertaken is now complete.  

I took the chance to show off my Leaves and Lace blanket in the snow!

Then laid it out on the spare bed.  

This might not be its final home but I can enjoy admiring it here for the time being!

You can read find details of the colours I used on my Ravelry project page