Craft Catch Up

A V for Vendetta mask pre- firing. Fingers crossed that it will survive to be a present for son.

It feels like I'm forever catching up here in Blogland. I've only just reclaimed my craft room from Son as he was turfed out of his room for re-boarding the floor, sound insulating it, putting ceiling lights into the room below, adding more sockets to it, and then finally redecorating it. He moved back into his room last night. It is the first room just as we want it, in the cottage. Just to complicate things I had also arranged to paint Hubby's office walls as he was away for a week. No more Barbie pink for him! He has orchid white just like his old office. It is a creamy white, so looks much better.

I am shattered however, so taking some time to sit and share the latest makings. Many are yarn based as son had the craft room sockets.

 I've set myself a couple of new crafting challenges for the year. What you see is a bone nalebinding needle and a shuttle and cards for tablet weaving. After seeing the finds from the Oseberg Ship in Oslo, Norway, I wanted to try the old crafts for myself.

 A nalebound pouch for keeping joss stick boxes in. All made from scraps of left over pre-cut tapestry kit. There are mistakes but I was so proud of making a real something. Nalebinding isn't easy to learn, and hard to unpick if you go wrong. Thank you to Tracy and Ulla who have shared this journey with me so far. 

 This was made for a relative of a friend who had reached the stage of palliative care with cancer. It enabled the young girl to go out in the snow in her wheelchair which was on her bucket list. I made it as soft as I could with an acrylic blanket backing. Hopefully it is giving the family some comfort now, as she lost her battle shortly afterwards. 

 A leftover acrylic yarn make- a drawstring bag for charity.

 Another charity make- William Morris cushion covers. 

 My pottery class didn't have any leather covers for their clay cutting knives like I had made in red for mine, so I made a few for them.

 My first play with a Leonie Morgan block. I was trying to use up ball ends of acrylic yarn for charity. I really rate her new book "Beautiful Blankets, Afghans and Throws". It is published in English and German so far. 

 A wool mushroom pincushion for a friend with a stump from our cherry tree.

 An angel facecloth for a friend with a crochet trim.

 3 more tiles to add to my ogham leaf collection.  

 A dragon candle holder full size. I made a tiny bright green one before which can hold a tea light. I added blue glass eyes after this photo. 

 I went to a one day workshop to learn how to make mugs properly from templates.

This is how they came out plus a stylised Rat and a figure for the garden who will embrace a bulb stalk.

 From a cone of pale blue yarn I made myself a hoodie with a crochet trim. I didn't like the one in the Drops pattern so I found another trim online which was less likely to catch in anything. It reminded me of broiderie anglais. 

 A hat to match the huge scarf I made Daughter's boyfriend. Again Slytherin colours. 

 A cheerful charity make - a lap blanket. A Leonie Morgan block again. I like how she writes ad shows a diagram, so if something isn't clear to a novice like me, I can double check.

A close up when working on the borders. 

 Son made me a huge spindle from oak so I can hand knit from cheap cones more easily. Buying a cone of yarn on ebay works out at about half the price of balls. Below is a shallow dish he made from the big lime stump we had to have removed when we bought the cottage.  I am so proud of his achievement. He hasn't had a woodworking lesson so was teaching himself as he went along. 

 Back in 2016 before we moved here, I bought a couple of wreaths to decorate. I made one with a Winter theme and another in a Summer one. This was my oldest yarn project on my list so I was glad to tick it off. From now on any yarn projects are inspired by this place.

 

 These were made for 1-2 year olds in left over cotton yarn from other projects. Another addition to the One Day Box.

 I know it is Spring in spite of the rain today but Leonie Morgan had a magazine supplement for a Festive Snowy Blanket. I tried out 6 cheap acrylic colours and all 12 of the Snowflake designs. I aim to make 12 of each design 2 in each colour. So far I am working on the 4th design.  You can now buy the design from her here. 

Hopefully it wont be a long time before I am back again sharing another finish. It is a big problem that Blogger isn't i pad compatible as that is where I take my photos. It will only allow me a couple of photographs and maybe a paragraph of text when I try to make a new post on my i pad. How do you all manage?