I Heart Cushions!

This craft project grew from a desire to brighten up a dull corner in our dining space.  We live in an old croft house and the thick walls and low ceilings which characterise cottages like this also tend to make it rather dark.  I love this Ercol chair, which my parents bought as newlyweds in 1959, but its most recent visit to the upholsterer left me as flat and dull as the serviceable beige fabric I'd chosen.

I also wanted to find a use for this hand felted piece I created at a local class last December -

but not as a piece of wall art.  (Our house definitely doesn't need any more textile wall art!)
When my husband chose this jolly picture for my Christmas a few years, we positioned it above the Ercol chair where it would be bright and cheerful.

The chair, though, badly needed a cheery makeover - so I thought I'd make a cushion.

I trimmed up my hand felted piece.

Then chose some lovely batik fabric from the specialist quilting shop in our village - Rainbow Fabrics.  It is a deceptive tardis for needlecraft fanatics - to see inside look at this Rainbow Fabrics by Google Maps

A bad experience in secondary school sewing class has meant the sewing machine and I haven't always been friends.  I searched for an on-line tutorial and found this one by Womans's Weekly entitled how to sew a zip on a cushion cover.  I liked that this guide included an instructional video as well as the same instructions in written form.  Some cutting, pinning, tacking and pressing later...

...the only bit I struggled with was sewing round the zip.  This happened...

Hey - that's what the seam ripper is for!  My second attempt was better...

...and I managed to insert a zip reasonably neatly into my cushion cover.  Funny thing is, after all my  efforts with the sewing machine, you don't even see the zip as it's on the under side of the cushion!  

I heart this cushion <3.  How about you?

Loving the land I live in

Yesterday I climbed to the top of our local hill - Bennachie (pronounced Ben-a-hee!)

This is not remarkable in itself but the land and the landscape are.  Though here in my home county of Aberdeenshire, we talk of climbing Bennachie, this is not one but a range of hills with several peaks.

Most prominent and rugged is Mither Tap with its iron age fort but Oxen Craig is higher.  Craigshannoch is the third peak with Millstone Hill an outlying spur.

Though not particularly high at 528m - Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain is 1346m - the mountain is very prominent  and dominates the skyline.  The range of hills is isolated from other high ground and the surrounding land is relatively flat so Bennachie tends to dominate the skyline.

Here's how it looks from the village of Oldmeldrum.  Bennachie features on lots of local logos.

Climbing Bennachie is a favourite family outing - this was taken on Boxing Day 2006 when 9 relatives made it to the top with four of our neighbours. 

I created my own embroidered landscape from this photograph.  This became a present for my sister-in-law, Fiona, who grew up seeing Bennachie everyday but no longer lives nearby.

So it was a joy to climb to the top yesterday in the company of my daughter, Eilidh, who remarked what beautiful countryside we live in.  I couldn't agree more!

Giving Crosses a Big Tick

Late May and June were a bit quiet on the blog whilst I undertook my annual stint of full time work as an exam invigilator.  In fact, for the past six years I have been in charge of invigilation for the national exams at my local secondary school here in Aberdeenshire which means I work long days and put in many extra hours over the six weeks duration.

I deliberately planned a crochet project over the exam period which I could pick up easily every evening when I put my feet up.  I spend a lot of time at work on my feet!

So this is the thousand kisses shawl by Sam of the blog Betsy Makes.  Sam also records a video podcast which is one of many I enjoy whilst I'm busy making things.

The yarn I chose is Baby Alpaca Silk by Garnstudio Drops in the colours Pistachio, Wheat, Heather and Green. The cream yarn is pure alpaca from my friend's herd Mainsforth Alpacas.

The pattern is called The Thousand Kisses Shawl because the stitches cross over each other creating rows of 'x's.  As I was in exam mode, I was thinking more in terms of crosses then kisses (though I'm glad to say I don't so any marking!)

On a few occasions after school it was nice enough to sit outside and crochet.

 This must've been a Friday evening as I spy a G&T!

So happy with the result!

Bye Baby - Bunting

It's my daughter's 18th birthday today.

I made her a card to celebrate all her birthdays as she is due to leave home soon to go to university.

The tags for each year can be detached from the accordion style card and are strung together so they form bunting. Added decorative loveliness!

Now, this is not my idea.  I saw a lovely card on the blog Jennifer Grace Creates which Jennifer designed for her sister's 21st birthday.  I thought it was a brilliant idea and was inspired to try to make my own.  Here's what I did.

First I assembled all the materials I needed: photos, blank cards, pre-cut tags, coloured card, string, glue, scissors double sided tape and my trusty guillotine.  For decoration I used a star punch, printed numbers and strips cut from wrapping paper.  I selected photos at home, saved them to a memory stick and printed them at as 2" x 3" mini-prints at the kiosk at my local Tesco supermarket.

 I glued the photos onto the tags.  I then glued the blank cards together, back to back, so there was a page for each year.  This also helped to strengthen the card booklet.

When I decided to add her age to each tag, I looked to the internet for some free printables.  These numbers were created for a design project to make your own advent calendar and come from the lifestyle blog by queen of organisation, Abby Lawson, called Justagirlandherblog.  I printed the numbers onto A5 paper so they were the right size for me.  Thanks, Abby, for sharing this really useful resource!

I then made a pocket for each page so the tags would fit into the card.  I cut these out of different coloured card (as the red, white and green was making it look a bit too Christmassy!).

The pockets are fixed to the card using double sided tape on three sides.  I found that the backing is sometimes hard to remove from the tape but tweezers helped!

Once the pockets were all fixed in, I decorated each one with a strip cut from wrapping paper and placed stars punched from the off-cut coloured card around the tags.

So far, so good but I realised that the card looked rather bare once the bunting is removed.  I typed up a few memories about each birthday, printed these onto paper and attached them behind the tags so they're only visible when the bunting is up.

I added my most recent photo to the front cover and attached a piece of string under it so the card can be closed.

The button on the back allows the string to fasten around the card.  I got my husband to write the personal message as he's good with words.

It only remained to string the tags together to make the bunting.

There you have it - a birthday card, party decoration and memory book all in one and I got to relive all these happy annual milestones whilst I was making it - and smile!

Happy Feet, I've Got Those Happy Feet

The weather in Aberdeenshire during April was, quite frankly, more like winter than spring.

So instead of thinking about lightweight pastel coloured knits for the warmer months, I found myself focusing on one of the projects I bought part of at Edinburgh Yarn Festival -  soles for cosy knitted slippers.

Here I am with Amanda of Joes Toes at the EYF marketplace.  The company sells slipper kits and also the felt soles and other constituents parts needed to make your own.  Amanda was lovely and took time to help me try on some of the sample slippers to ensure I was buying the correct size of sole.  I came away with turquoise outer soles (which have a latex grip) and fuchsia inners, really thinking this would be a perfect project for autumn.

When the days took a seriously cooler turn, I went to my local yarn shop, The Colour Corner in Inverurie, and bought some New Lanark chunky wool in the colourway Gritstone.  It's 100% wool and I thought it would be hard wearing but soft enough for my slippers.  Amanda of Joes Toes provided me with a comprehensive instruction sheet when I bought my soles.  Essentially, the knitted part of the slipper consists of a strip of garter stitch.  Its length is determined by the number of pre-punched holes in the felt soles.  The long side of the strip is then stitched onto the sole and the pre-punched holes make the sewing up really easy and straightforward as well as ensuring a neat job. 

So, a couple of evenings in front of the telly and my slippers were finished - the perfect companion to a pair of hand knit socks!  I'm really pleased with them and they're comfy and warm...

...but - come on May - could we please have some better weather so my next project isn't a fur coat?!

Kindness

Last autumn I discovered knitting podcasts.  I like to listen as I make things and I got fed up with my regular radio shows and wanted something more than music or TV.  Crafting along to a podcast is like having a friend with me who is as enthusiastic about creating and fibre as I am!  I am now an avid listener and subscriber to several channels and have quite a few favourite podcasters.  I get so excited when I learn they have uploaded a new episode!  I love that I can listen when I have time to knit or crochet or felt or embroider....

At the beginning of 2016, instead of making resolutions, there seemed to be more of a trend amongst the creative podcast community to chose a word for the year.  Helen at Curious Handmade, Louise at KnitBritish and Jo at Shinybees are some of the folks who chose inspirational words for 2016.  I liked the idea of a special word as we all know how easy it is to break a resolution by January 3rd! The word I chose was 'kindness'.

My neighbour gave me this pretty wee handmade picture as a thank you gift a couple of weeks ago. She said when she saw it that she knew she was going to buy it for me.  I was so touched.  I was also delighted to see the word 'kindness' appearing in this unexpected way.

Last year I took part in my first crochet along (CAL) and made the Spice of Life Blanket by Sandra of the blog Cherryheart.  It was a lovely experience and I learned a lot of new stitches as well as having the discipline of the weekly CAL updates to keep me on track.  I always intended to give this blanket away and I sent it to the charity Woolly Hugs for its Christmas Charity auction.  

I loved the blanket but donated it as I already have a crochet blanket which spends most of its time folded over the chair in the bedroom!

Look!  There it is in the background.

So, in the spirit of my word for this year, I decided that I would use my crafting skills to make something each month and give it away.  A random act of kindness - but made of wool!

In January I started crocheting a shawl for a very lovely lady called Phyllis.  Each day when I am working she brings me a cup of tea.  She never asks - it just appears.  I am due to finish this job in June after 6 years so I am giving Phyllis this shawl as a thank you after she admired a similar one I was wearing.  Here it hers as a work in progress.

Through Instagram in February I learned about the 1000 Kind Minds Campaign which is raising money for Mind, the mental health charity.  A lovely lady called Sarah Louise Roberts is creating a crocheted blanket from donated squares which is then being auctioned.  I decided to make a couple of squares, in blue as she asked, and donate them to her project.  Tickets can be purchased here on Sarah Louise's Just Giving page.  They cost £2 each and she hopes to raise £10,000!  Here are my squares.

In March at Edinburgh Yarn Festival I handed over the premature baby hats which were requested by Louise of the Caithness Craft Collective Podcast and which she is donating to Raigmore Hospital Special Care Baby Unit in Inverness.  Here's the wee hats I made.

So now it's April and I have to decide what to make to give away this month.  As I've been using yarn I already have for all these projects so far, I think I'll go and take a look at what I've got in my wool stash.  This list  by the UK Hand Knitting Association is inspirational too.  I'll let you know what I decide!