Mother's Ruin

New beginnings, an interview and my name in print!

2010-08-15T17:41:00.000+01:00

I'm back! I know, I know - I'm running out of ways to apologise for being a bad blogger but you really must believe me when I say that I have finally resolved my awful personal situation. As many of you will know, I have become increasingly miserable in my job over recent months and a career change was the inevitable result of that dissatisfaction. I'm pleased to report that after several interviews and some uncomfortably warm afternoons spent in the throttling grasp of a dress shirt and tie, I have finally wangled myself a new job! Wahoo - it is quite a drastic change for me as I've gone from a fully fledged purchasing co-ordinator to a trainee (I hate that word!) recruitment consultant. I'm starting tomorrow, so wish me luck! Now that my work situation is sorted then I should have a bit more stress-free time to spend crafting and blogging!

In crafting terms, I've not been too productive in the last few weeks but I have developed an obsession with lavender scented sachets! I wanted a quick project that would use up some fabric and yarn scraps so I knitted/sewed some hearts and stuffed them with dried lavender, stitched them up and embellished with ribbons and buttons amongst other things. I'll post a few pictures this week. Some may think these are pointless projects and in a sense I would agree but trust me - my house smells amazing!!!

Hopefully you will remember that a while ago I was invited to take part in a series of interviews about male crafters. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a delay getting everything sorted but I am pleased to announce that my interview is now up and running here (not the location that was originally intended but nonetheless it is nice to see MY words out there in cyber land!). Take a look - I think you'll enjoy it!

Speaking of MY words - has anybody picked up a copy of 'The Knitter' this month? They've published an email that I sent them many months ago concerning my favourite subject - that is, the wholly uninspiriing state of the mens knitting pattern industry! Somewhat mortified, however, to note that they've edited my words quite significantly and I now read like some stroppy teenager! I'll try to scan a copy and leave it here for you to see! Regardless of the editing - I am glad that I have spoken up for all of us that want more from our designers!

With a new job to go to tomorrow I'm gonna wrap things up, but if you want more from me then go and check out my interview!

More soon

Mother's Ruin xxx

If in doubt.....shop!

2010-07-14T15:10:00.000+01:00

Despite my protestations that I would not embark on another serious quilting project before taking the time to develop my skills on smaller items, I couldn't help but treat myself to some fabulous new fabric for my next quilt! Aren't we predictable creatures, us crafters?! I decided in advance that I wanted to make a real statement in bold colours and strong tones. Perhaps i've subconsciously decided to let the fabric do the hard work and keep the sewing simple!

Anyhow - a quick trip to the 'Cotton Patch' furnished me with a 1/2 metre of each of these spicey designs:

I really like the idea of making a, well, a runner almost. You know, a long but narrow quilt that will lay across the foot of the bed? The only problems I can see with this is that, although decorative, will it really be of any use? And subsequent to that, if it isn't, will it languish in the back of a cupboard somewhere when I've grown sick of taking it on and off the bed every morning and night? Something to mull over for a while I guess....

A dear friend of mine gave me this little vintage knitting book (that is, the knitting is vintage, not the book!) recently and then yesterday I popped into a local discount bookstore and managed to pick up the other title, 'Weardowny Knit Couture' for just a couple of pounds. I'm trying desperately to re-inspire my knitting self but, alas, I just can't seem to settle into anything productive when I attempt to pick up the needles. Lovely books though and a pleasure to read about knitting, even if I'm not getting any done!

Archie, absent for most of the day (dirty stop out!), showed up just at this moment and was far from reluctant to vocally demonstrate his indignation at my using his favourite perch as a display area!

More Soon

Mother's Ruin xxx

Quilting update

2010-07-12T14:12:00.000+01:00

I'm rapidly running out of steam with the whole quilting process!

No, that's unfair. I'm not really.But why is it that the tasks that you imagine to be the quickest or simplest usually turn out to be horrifically prolonged experiences of fiddling and frustration? Basting, for example:

I did my research, checking several of the methods available and how they are achieved by the leading quilt makers and designers. I decided against spray basting as some claim that it can create a real mess AND gunk up the needle when quilting. So, a fresh pack of quilters basting pins in hand I proceeded to baste my quilt sandwich. I don't have any hard surfaces large enough in my house for the task, so I spread my quilt back out on the carpeted living room floor, secured the corners with masking tape, layered the sandwich and began pinning. Two hours, two very sore knees and one aching back later I secured my last pin. Can you guess the punchline? Yes, I'm sure you could all see this coming a mile off. The moment I tried to pick my quilt up my satisfied grin morphed into a wide-eyed expression of pure disbelief. I had pinned my quilt INTO the carpet! "Oh f**k"

Another two hours, two EXTREMELY sore knees and several permanently damaged vertabrae later, I had managed to un-pin my quilt, fold it up and gently place it on the other side of the room where it stayed for the afternoon, oblivious to my glares and curses.

Not one to be beaten, I soon calmed myself, took hold of the situation and managed to get the quilt basted by using my large cutting mat underneath the sandwich and sliding it around to cover the larger area. The only downside to this continued re-adjustment was the fact that the finished layers were not as smooth and tight as I would have liked. I was so ready to move on to the actual quilting at that point though that I decided I would live with any imperfections!

On to problem number two! My new walking foot? Completely useless! I still can't fathom what the problem with the darned thing was but after masking out my quilting lines (nice and easy straight stitching for my first attempt!) and having a few goes, I switched back to my regular foot. The walking foot was hardly feeding the fabric at all - indeed, I think it was making things more difficult as I found myself almost pulling the fabric under the needle. This, in turn, made my straight lines wobble and my stitches uneven but I soldiered on and completed the first set of lines. I had planned on using a nice cross-hatch design on the quilt but now that I had been left with a relatively uneven surface, I was worried that to sew across the existing diagonals would create puckers in the fabric and make it look even worse! Thus, I took a deep breath, trimmed everything up and have decided that I am just going to bind it as it is. I think I need to practice my skills on some smaller projects before I commit to another large quilt!

Here are some pictures of the front and back:

Talking of smaller quilting projects - I have actually started on one! I mentioned before that I was making a small baby quilt with the small-scale floral fabrics that a friend had given me. I decided on a simple 5" squares design to which I am going to add a really substantial wide border. I also fancy having a go at some applique so I'm sure a little animal of some sort will be making its way onto the surface at some point!

Much more to report as soon as I find the time!

Much Love

Mother's Ruin xxx

Negligence

2010-07-06T11:36:00.000+01:00

It doesn't take long to come crashing back into reality after a holiday, does it?! The merest hint of a tan is almost all that I have left to remind me that just a few short weeks ago I was relaxing on a beach in Egypt. You'll remember (or perhaps you wont - my problems are no more serious than anybody elses!) that I was having a tough time at work before I left? Well, things only appear to have gotten worse since I returned and now the endless hours of sitting, cringing and miserable, in an office that seems, to me at least, to be the very breeding ground for all the worlds negativity has almost entirely eradicated any sense of restfulness or stability that I had managed to cultivate during my brief absence. I am trying to remedy the situation myself (more on this at a later date) but such circumstances are not conducive to a desire to talk or share and, as such, I have been entirely negligent with my blog. It seems to me that these silent periods are an almost obligatory part of every bloggers life so I know that you will be understanding - I just hope it is not too prolonged.

So much for my forced proclamations of optimism and the threat of taking up new challenges as outlined in the last post! My appetite for tackling anything more taxing than simple garter stitch knitting or straight stitching on the machine has entirely waned! My lace swatches languish in a raggedy pile upon my coffee table, ignored for over a week. I needed a project that did not require any intelligent input from me. Auto-pilot is the order of the day! Thus I decided that I really ought to finally finish some of the multitudinous projects that litter every surface of my studio. The Mod Sampler Quilt MUST be finished....

No pictures yet but I am pleased to report that the sashing has been completed (I only needed to do the outer strips that encompass the whole quilt top), the quilt back has been ticked off the to-do list, the binding strips cut and the wadding trimmed to size. As soon as my curved basting pins are delivered (yes - a little more retail therapy from The Cotton Patch - I'll be posting about my fabric selections for the next quilt as soon as it arrives!) then I will be basting and quilting! Hurrah! I also bought a walking foot for my machine (£30 seemed a little expensive to me but I guess it is necessary!) as I have decided that in my current fragile state it would be unwise to go through the process of free-motion quilting and have my lack of skills recorded on the quilt surface for the next hundred years! A simple cross-hatch design is quite good enough for me, thank you very much!

Having unwound about six hanks of yarn into nice, useable balls and dithered around looking for inspiration, I again took out my machine (didn't take long to abandon the knitting) and started on a simple cot quilt. Again, no pictures yet (mmmm.....possibly the dullest blog post for my readers!). I used the same fabrics that I offered in my giveaway and decided on a simple design of patchwork squares. This has all been completed and the next task is to add a wide border and then applique some kind of typically baby-friendly animal's silhouette on the front - you know, like a big bouncy elephant or a pussy cat.... I'm quite pleased with how it looks so far, actually. The combination of so many small-scale florals makes the whole thing delightfully girly and countryside chic! Wholly typical of me though to start another project before the previous one is finished!

Hubby has suggested that I do some kind of craft fair over the summer. Nothing too professional, you know, just a local affair. I'm still debating. I have no aversion to doing a craft fair - I imagine that it would be pretty fun, but how distressing would it be if nothing was sold! All those hundreds of people passing through, browsing, evaluating and then moving on! How humiliating! Of course, my other problem is that I am not like other crafters. I don't make a specific range of things. Usually when you go to these things people specialise in, say, baby items or accessories or bags. I just make what appeals to me, so my stall would be a bit of a hotch-potch!

I'm reluctant to leave you without any pretty pictures to lessen the pain of listening to me moan for the last few paragraphs. Unfortunately, however, I have been just as remiss with my photography as I have with my blogging.

More soon

Mother's Ruin xxx

New Challenges

2010-06-26T20:09:00.001+01:00

Ok, so first off I'll get my little rant out of the way. Not so much a rant actually, rather, just pointing out the obvious and predictable. While I was away in Egypt my copies of 'The Knitter' magazine and 'Yarn Forward' arrived in the post. Hubby well knows by now that the first thing I look for when I get hold of any material like this is to see if any mens patterns have been included. He checked my face while I flicked through the first publication.

Flick, flap, flick. Page open.

"Hm"

Him: "What is it?"

"One second"

Next magazine - flick, flap, flick. Page open.

"Hmmmm" (with raised eyebrow)

Him: "Oh"

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen. Hubby knew it before I even showed him the magazines and I would assume that, if you've been reading me for any length of time, you can see what's coming too. Two of the most popular knitting magazines in Britain, one of which certainly is entirely polished in every other sense, have produced YET AGAIN a pair of the dullest, most boring and tedious mens patterns ever. Only outdone, I would assume, by whatever they publish next month. I guess that in the interests of fairness, I ought to point out they may actually only have printed ONE of the dullest, most boring and tedious patterns ever because, in truth, they are almost identical. The one below is from 'The Knitter' and is knitted in a very daring blue. Blue for a boy. How original. I wonder how many sleepless nights the designer endured before finally settling on that wacky shade. As for 'Yarn Forward's offering, it was simply so yawnworthy that I couldn't be bothered to take a picture of it. Suffice to say, turn the blue version cream and add elbow patches (err....hello?) and you're basically there. It's not like the jumpers are unattractive. Just dull. Who wants to spend hours, days, weeks even, working on a knitted project PLUS £100 or so on yarn only to end up with something that looks like it was bashed out in a sweatshop and purchased in Primark for a fiver?

Then again, I'm not sure what else to expect from a magazine that uses this woman as their cover model...

So a lot is to do with styling, and I'm not having a go at the woman personally but....perleeeese.... with those pigtails she looks like she is about to star in some low budget pornographical movie. I don't wish to trash the magazine too much because, in general (that is, models and mens patterns aside) it is superb. The womens patterns are fantastic, the articles are far more in-depth and interesting than many others you could get hold of, and the whole thing is put together with a great sense of quality. I guess nothing is perfect.

Anyhow....to return to my real reason for posting - I've decided that I am a lazy knitter. Rather, I knew this all along. But, do you not find that with gifts to knit and stashes to use up and etsy/folksy shops to stock, the temptation to just keep on churning things out without ever developing yourself is almost overwhelming? I do. So I've decided that I'm not going to worry about who I'm knitting for or how long I take over the project (could make for some dull blogging if it drags on too long but hey-ho!). It's time to take up some more challenging techniques! I've never knitted lace before, at least, not a proper, full throttle lace project. I don't think little panels or borders really count. Besides, I'd like to learn to use charts too. As if 'The Knitter' somehow pre-empted my decision and decided to offer an olive branch over the lacklustre mens patterns, they kindly included this article to get me started:

I scoured ALL of my knitting magazines in search of an appealing lace project which, in itself, was quite a challenge - I subscribe to so many! My top two were the 'Prairie Rose Shawl' from a back issue of 'The Knitter' and the 'Dalenni Scarf' from 'Yarn Forward'.

The 'Dalenni Scarf' is knitted in color-mart laceweight 2 ply (which I just happen to have in my stash for once!) while the 'Prairie Rose Shawl' is knitted in a Jamieson and Smith 2 ply lace (sadly not in my stash!)

After spending four and a half hours winding the color-mart yarn into a ball (seriously! Don't ask me what happened as I have no idea!) I decided that I preferred the lace pattern of the PRS and so I started on that first and just hoped that the gauge would be similar (I don't believe it is now!). However, because the yarn is so fine and similar in colour to my bamboo needles (I intended to knit the shawl and then take an even greater risk and perform my first dye job on the finished piece to liven up the rather dull beige!) I had terrible trouble maintaining the correct number of stitches. I imagine I was knitting some together when I ought not to.

I had a look on 'ravelry' and some people had knitted this shawl in The Natural Dye Studio's sock yarn. Again, this is something I had in my stash, so I picked it up and knitted a swatch (the very blurred picture below!). The thing is, now I'm not sure I like it as much. I feel like the 4 ply sock yarn is too thick for the shawl and is detracting from the open nature of the pattern.

The next picture shows the swatch alongside the yarn I wanted to use. You'll see what a difference there is in the yarn weight.

And that's pretty much where I am right now! Dithering and indecisive about how to progress! I wanted the knitting itself to be a challenge - I didn't expect choosing an appropriate pattern and yarn to cause so much trouble. Usually I just pick up, cast on and go....

Of course, all the while this has been going on I've been coming across hundreds of other adorable lace projects, as well as adding to my list of knitterly challenges (intarsia, fair isle, learning new cast-on methods, double knitting).

I'm feeling rather flustered!

More soon (when I've made a decision!)

Mother's Ruin xxx

I'm back!

2010-06-23T09:04:00.000+01:00

If this was a Hollywood movie, I'd re-appear from my holiday looking tanned, slim, mysterious in big shades with sun-bleached hair and some kind of vibrant, drapey thing slung around my neck. In reality, I crashed back onto UK soil at 4am, eyes tired and puffy, shivering due to the drop from 50 degrees to 15 and rubbing red knees in a vain attempt to remove from them the imprint of the seat in front, all the while lugging around a case containing enough washing to occupy an entire army of housewives for over a month.

Talk about travelling in style!

For all this, I'm pleased to tell you that we had a lovely time. Usually I get myself into a bit of a frenzy when I go away somewhere. I've never understood how or why people travel literally thousands of miles, only to sit on a beach 24/7. This time, however, I was one of those people! My third visit to Egypt and, therefore, something of a veteran! I've seen all the major sights before so, save for a couple of boat trips, I spent the entire time lazing around and reading (4 books in the first five days - when I realised that I'd run out of reading material I turned instead to Vodka! Needless to say, I soon turned back. A hangover in 50 degree heat is less than pleasant!!! On the subject of reading and to continue my aside - Dawn French's 'Dear Fatty' is an excellent read if anybody fancies it. I don't often go for autobiographies but she is, it seems, a genuinely funny lady!)

We hit our resort at precisely the correct time. It was quiet and relaxed, though we were informed that the management had just purchased the building next door and, in a matter of days, the resort was going to triple in capacity and size. The only downside was (as I often find!) the other tourists. Don't get me wrong - I'm not racist or xenophobic (more about that in a second) and there are, of course, always exceptions to every rule. But really, I was so so so tired of nodding to/smiling at/ greeting the German/Russian/Slovakian guests only to be stared at or, perhaps worse, entirely ignored. There was one lovely lady, though, (and this is where I prove that I give everyone a fair chance) called Tina. She was 60 years old, travelling alone (widow) and didn't speak a word of English! I spent many happy hours conversing with her about all sorts using my very limited knowledge of the German language, With a lot of gesticulation, pointing, drawing in the sand and remembering about every tenth word that I needed we managed to get through quite a lot! Strangely, I think it was on of the highlights of the holiday.....

Here are some of the pictures for you to enjoy - of course, I've removed all of the ones that I'm in. I don't need my readers wondering why nobody bothered to help the beached whale back into the water. I was pleased to see that bourgenvilia (how does one spell it?!) was growing all over our resort - such a cheering sight. And of course, the sea was blue, blue, blue....................

Back soon with some crafty news (that is why we're all here after all!)

Hope you've all been well my little bunch of creative Goddesses (and Gods!)....

Mother's Ruin xxx

Where I am...

2010-06-09T13:10:00.000+01:00

I'm still here .....just. I'm not going to apologise for my half-hearted blogging efforts in recent weeks - I know that there are MORE than enough talented, friendly, wonderful bloggers and crafters out there to keep you entertained and that in reality, much as I may secretly hope otherwise, you probably have not noticed I was missing!

Things have been so crazy with me. My working life has been entirely turned upside-down. Some would argue that change is good (and normally I'd agree) but unfortunately what is happening here is not good at all. I wont bother you with details, suffice to say that I am very unhappy right now. Of course, when you're spending 40 hours a week in an office the size of a matchbox and resenting every minute of it, you have little energy left for creative pursuits. I go home at the end of every day feeling physically and emotionally tired. Furthermore, weekends at the moment seem to be devoted to stressing about the coming week. My crafting output has been somewhere in the region of.....err....zilch - thus, no blogging!

Add into the mix the fact that 70% of Britain seem to have their birthdays in May/June (what is it with randy parents in Aug/Sept?!!!) and all are clamouring for attention, presents, attendance to parties etc etc etc and my life has not been my own!

It was just rubbing salt into the wound yesterday when I had to call my broadband provider because I was unable to access the internet and NOTHING was resolved until I had spoken to three members of staff and spent 4 hours on the phone! That's service for you! Quite infuriating was their request that I, the customer, the one paying for the 'service', was asked to run the diagnostics myself and then call them back with the results. I'm sorry - is it inconvenient? Are you due a cigarette break? Do you need me to hang-up in order that you can trot across the office and speak to Sharon about last nights date? Argh!

On a brighter note - I am on holiday next week. We've booked a week in Egypt (on an absolute shoe-string budget. More like tooth floss) and, having already been several times and visited all the main sites and points of historical interest, I am confident that I will have no guilt in plonking my bottom on the beach and relaxing for the whole time.

So, I guess this is it for now. Don't forget me - I certainly have not forgotten you! You are my crafty friends, my delightful little talents and I miss speaking with you. But for now - au revoir... I'll see you in a week or so....hopefully feeling a little more like my usual self.

Look after yourselves (and each other!)

Much Love

Mother's Ruin xxx

Sporadic blogging

2010-06-02T15:00:00.000+01:00

Well, it's been a little while, hasn't it?!

I'm afraid you'll have to accept my apologies for my sporadic blogging - something that I anticipate will continue for the next week or so. Unfortunately, I have been incredibly busy with things both at work and at home.

When I left you last, I was working on my Mod Sampler Quilt. I'm pleased to report that I've nearly finished the quilt top! Yay! I just have to sew on the 4 pieces of sashing that act as a 'frame' around the entire quilt top. I actually decided to change the Mod Sampler in a several ways. After following the layout that was included with the instructions I decided that I wanted a design that was less regimented, so I've placed my pieced squares in a random order that was pleasing to me (and probably me alone!). Also, when I laid everything out I realised that I had enough materials to make the quilt larger. I definitely wanted the finished project to be as big as possible, so rather than use the leftover pieced squares on the back of the quilt I have included them on the quilt top with an extra row of sashing. Having also realised that my backing fabric was going to be too narrow, I now plan to cut the plain cream cotton in half lengthwise and move it to the edges. The vertical strip that will be created between those two halves will then be filled in with some nice Amy Butler fabric that I have. Groovy, huh?!

Here are just a couple of quick pictures of the progress so far. I made a mistake when cutting my sashing strips so they did not come out exactly straight which means, by turn, that the whole quilt top is a bit skewed. That said, I think it could have been a lot worse so I am relieved that the whole project was not totally ruined.

I'll be back with more as soon as I can!

Happy crafting!

Mother's Ruin xxx

New things...

2010-05-27T14:42:00.001+01:00

This week I've been pretty busy working on my Mod Sampler Quilt. After discovering that all of my pieced squares were not the uniform 8.5" required I kinda filed the whole project under 'D' for disappointment and left it festering in a big bag for a while. Every once in a while we would shoot each other reproachful glares but, ultimately, I swallowed my pride and realised that although it will never be perfect it is only my very first quilt and therefore mistakes are to be expected.

My new found enthusiasm was short lived, however, when I started sewing the sashing! Err...yawn! How boring is this task? I'm pretty sure I wont be using sashing again for a while - not that I need to with sooo many gorgeous designs out there to choose from. I'll be posting pictures of my progress soon. Again, the sashing has come together less perfect than I had intended, but I've decided that not pre-washing the cotton batting and allowing the finished piece to take on that lovely puckered, vintage look will cover most, if not all, irregularities! Says a lot for my skills though - I can't even sew straight!

Anyhow - all this talk of quilts leads me onto my next piece of news. Following some online shopping these lovely items arrived at my door on Tuesday:

Denyse Schmidt 'Quilts'

Fabric Mini Bundle from 'Fabric Rehab'

I must confess to being slightly disappointed (a common theme in my life - woe is me....) with the book. Don't get me wrong - it was well thought out, comprehensive in terms of instruction and photographed very well, but it only included 10 actual quilt designs and the remaining 20 projects were largely....errm.... pointless, I guess is the word. Some were lovely, maybe half a dozen. But honestly, as much of a beginner as I may be, do I need an entire project dedicated to demonstrating scrappy patchwork rectangles that are then attached to folded cardboard thereby creating fabric notecards? I think not. That said - here are a couple of faves:

I love this quilt - I tend to lean towards vintage styling but I like how this contemporary design would work in almost any setting. The colour palette is perhaps a little bland for me - but then, it would be easy to spice it up!

I think this may be my favourite project in the book - although, on the picture on the cover you will notice that they had cropped the top and bottom off of the image, so I thought the patchwork lines meandered from one side to the other. I think I would prefer that to these somewhat incongruent 'floating' shapes. Nonetheless, a very striking design and would be a good way of using up lots of scraps.

Finally, I really enjoyed looking at this scarf/wrap design. This is very much the kind of thing I like to make and give away as gifts. The juxtaposition of the thick, dark tweed/wool and the light floral cotton/silk make the piece really eye-catching. I would imagine this would be pretty cool made up in chopped up pairs of jeans too (and who doesn't have at least a hundred pairs of jeans that they hang on to without a hope in hell of ever getting into again?!)

I'm not sure exactly what I intend to do with the fabric that I got but needless to say it will probably find its way into my next quilting project. I made the Mod Sampler Quilt mainly in pastel shades with a few stronger tones thrown in. Next time I fancy using much deeper, richer hues so I think these will be a perfect start to a new collection. Can't grumble for a fiver!

More Soon

Mother's Ruin xxx

FO: Rustic Shawl

2010-05-24T14:27:00.001+01:00

So finally (and I'm sure I'm just about to echo the Monday morning posts of over a million British bloggers) the sun came out this weekend! Of course, the fact that rather than a gradual shift from inclement weather into barmy summer evenings we have all, instead, been catapulted from frosty mornings and central heating right into prime BBQ weather at such a rate that we've sustained whiplash means that, inevitably, I'm surrounded by people with colds. How pleasant!

So while my friends coughed, spluttered, hacked and wheezed their way through the weekend I was busy getting things done! Most of Saturday was spent clearing the house of debris in order that I could flog it all to unsuspecting shoppers at a local car boot sale the following day (which I did with a pretty good level of success, I might add!) but by mid afternoon, hot, tired, weary and being assaulted by Friday night's hangover which, from nowhere, had got up a second wind (in my defence it was a birthday party so alcohol was entirely appropriate, nay, necessary to fully show my commitment to the celebrations!) I decided to plonk myself down in the sun (there's a novelty!) and weave in the thousands of yarn ends that were hanging from my recently completed 'Rustic Shawl'. I'm not entirely sure how I managed to have quite so many waiting for me there. I'm starting to believe that, out there in the ether, there may have developed some kind of fibre goblin who, while contented knitters sleep, steals into project bags and randomly ties lengths of yarn to the item in order that, come sunrise, we crafters will be afflicted with unending frustration and much cursing!

Anyhow - here are several pictures of the finished object. Mind you (not to dwell on my already obvious technological ineptitude) my new camera has so many different functions/settings/enhancements/adjustments and general 'stuff' that I have yet to work out how to prevent the pictures from going grainy when photographing items inside the house. If you compare these to last weeks images of Archie outside in the garden there is a phenomenal difference. I know it's merely aesthetics and that you can still see what I've made but, well, isn't aesthetics really what you and I are all about?! And while we're on the subject - living in an all male household causes me so many problems when it comes to obtaining 'modelling' shots! In the end, Hubby had to photograph me wearing the shawl. I'm cropping AS MUCH of myself out as is humanly possible and please bear in mind that I'd spent most of the day scrabbling around in cupboards, under tables, in the shed and swinging from the rafters in the loft. By no means should my oh-so-attractive outfit in the photo's be considered representative of my usual style! I have been known to make an effort before, you know!

Anyway. Enough stalling.

Hubby has taken the F.O. into work today as there are several ladies there who like to see what we've made and some even go on to purchase things (shout out to Emily - I know you're reading!). Indeed, I think a face-to-face sale will be far preferable for this shawl - it's pretty huge so it would be a nightmare to send through the post!

Ordered a new sewing book and a small selection of fabric at the weekend so will be posting about these when they turn up!

Until then, I'm off to spend a little more time staring at people. I do love how the sunshine flushes so many attractive (and not so attractive, I must admit) people out into the streets in various levels of nakedness! Hoorah for short shorts, I say! *wink*

More soon

Mother's Ruin xxx

Funny lookin' bird....

2010-05-21T14:26:00.000+01:00

Having pretty much fully recovered from whatever nasty bug has been afflicting him recently, Archie has decided that the (sadly empty at this point in time) bird bath is to be his new throne....

Could he be any more smoochable?!

I've also just finished this simple knitted shawl, made from a gorgeous yarn that I got at online from Knitshop. The yarn is made up of 2 plies - one linen and one cotton, and knits up into a really interesting, textured fabric. The colours are fantastic too - this one is kinda gold and pewter. I also have it in a red colourway. Unfortunately the pictures don't really do it justice. Not really sure what I'm going to do with this. I don't think I know anybody that would wear it! :-(

More soon

Mother's Ruin x

Drum roll please....

2010-05-20T13:23:00.000+01:00

The winner of the 5" charm squares pack is: Two Hippos!!!

Congratulations! I'll be in touch to get your postage details.

Thank you to everybody that entered. As you all probably know, I dabble in many crafts so keep your eyes peeled for another giveaway soon when there'll be some gorgeous yarn up for grabs.

On a personal note - I'd also like to extend my genuine thanks to those of you that left such kind and thoughtful messages yesterday. They were much appreciated and I feel bolstered as a result! Whoever could have guessed that there were so many lovely women (and men!) in the world?!

Nothing very exciting has been happening here in the last 24 hours! I continue to work the border on my crocheted shawl and hope to be able to post some pictures of the finished item very soon, but otherwise all is quiet with Mother's Ruin.

More Soon

M x

Despondent

2010-05-19T14:59:00.000+01:00

"I wanted to write about it all.

Everything that happens in a moment.

The way the flowers look when you carry them in your arms.

This towel - how it smells , how it feels...it's thread.

All our feelings - yours and mine.

The history of it.

Who we once were.

Everything in the world.

Everything mixed up.

Like it's all mixed up now.

And I failed.

I failed."

Dialogue from "The Hours"

I guess it happens to the best of us at some point or another. Or perhaps it doesn’t, I’m certainly no expert.

How does one measure personal success when it is so inextricably linked with the success of others? By nature, success is both relative AND personal.

I don’t have the ability to articulate exactly what it is that has suddenly struck me dumb. It’s just that, well, the incessant blogging and the crafting… they give me an imperative, but they don’t give me a meaning. I don’t think I anticipated that they would. Don’t you find that, no matter what your intentions, things always end up being so much less than what you start with?

I don’t for a moment expect this is making much sense to anybody else. I catch myself sometimes, poised, staring, thoughtless….literally thoughtless, like my spirit has vacated my body and dropped for a moment into some other, alien existence of which I know nothing.

It is human nature to carry on.

Thus, I’ll give you the blog post I had planned:

Don’t forget – today is the last day to enter my GIVEAWAY here. A winner will be chosen at random at midday tomorrow. International entries welcome.

At the weekend I finished another small project. Well, I guess that ‘project’ is not really an appropriate title; it’s just an idea that I had to use up yet another scrap of fabric! I won’t bother to write a proper tutorial or anything as it is pretty self explanatory. I think the end product is pretty cool though – I’m thinking of doing some of the whole family, animals and all!

All you need to do is take a photograph (new or existing) of yourself in ‘profile’. Of course, it is probably easier to get somebody else to do this for you (and yes, I was still smoking at the time mine was taken!!!)

Print the photo onto basic paper (you don’t really need the image).

Trace your outline as carefully as possible onto tracing paper.

Place tracing paper onto some black card/paper and go over the outline once again with a v. sharp pencil. You want to push quite hard so that the outline is transferred (indented, I guess) onto the surface of the black paper.

Cut around the outline and hey presto – silhouette!

Now, If you like the size then that’s groovy, otherwise you can enlarge the image on a photocopier and cut it out again.

After that, all you need to do is frame your silhouette using some fabric scraps as a background.

Here’s mine:

And another scrap bites the dust! Cool, huh?

Retro Metro Tote & GIVEAWAY reminder!!!

2010-05-18T11:47:00.001+01:00

So.

I'm dieting.

Again.

I wont bore you with the details - suffice to say, just three days in and I'm already obsessing about food! Rather than spend the next month living from one hunger pang to another and asking people if I can 'sniff' their Mars Bars (it has been known!) I decided that the best course of action was.....well....just that - action! I anticipate getting plenty of crafting done over the next few weeks, as I cut back on food and gorge myself on fabric, yarn and fibre instead!

I've had some really cool multi-coloured fabric (caught my eye in IKEA) sitting in my stash for several months now and it was just screaming to be made into a bag. I gathered together some red cotton for the lining and these great bamboo handles (no idea where I got these) and pondered.....

I didn't want to spend the rest of my natural life on this project and because the fabric was so wild I didn't think I needed to go all out on a really eye-catching shape/design. I debated doing a curved bottomed bag with pleats at the handle join, but I really didn't want to disturb the bold straight lines of the fabric pattern. They remind me of the different coloured lines of the London Tube Map - don't you agree?

Anyhow - I do love a tote bag so after a little cutting, pinning....

...and sewing, I came up with this simple but effective (well, I guess I would say that!) spring tote:

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I'm not going to pretend that it was a highly technical make - hands up, it wasn't! But in my minds eye I can see some trendy young (probably thin too - bitch) thing with long blonde hair, strappy sandals and a light tan trotting around town with this little gem on a hot day.

This is going straight over to Folksy.... I tentatively suggested to Hubby that it would make a lovely knitting bag, but after the look he shot me I'm guessing that I am supposed to consider this as 'shop stock'! I've still a tonne of the fabric left though, so I certainly intend on making another, slightly more macho (who am I kidding?!) bag for myself.

Finally - a little reminder that I am running a giveaway this week. Check out Monday's post for details - it's dead easy so I want to see you all participating!

More soon

Mother's Ruin xxx

Giveaway!!!

2010-05-17T10:13:00.002+01:00

I would be the last person the pretend that my little blog has become the central hub of the crafting community! I'm no Amy Butler/Kaffe Fassett/Nicky Epstein type minor celebrity... Nonetheless, I do get a massive amount of enjoyment from my blog and so I decided that it is time that I gave something back to my lovely readers...

If you've been around for a while you may remember that I was gifted a big bag of floral fabric scraps? Well, I think it's only fair that I share my loot! There are 2 each of 9 different fabrics (18 in total) and I've cut them into 5 inch charm squares. Here's a little look:

And a close up:

I don't know an awful lot about these fabrics - although I believe that they were used in a UK factory in the 1970's to make dolls clothes and were removed from the premises shortly before it went out of business.

Here are the squares, all packed up with ribbon and tissue paper and ready to be sent to the lucky winner.....

Shall I put you out of your misery and let you know how you can win?

It's dead easy - all I want you to do is mention/put a link to this giveaway on your own blog and then leave me a comment here to tell me that you've done it and also to share with everyone the thing that you love most about the bloggy world. [For those of you that do not write your own blogs, a comment about what you enjoy most about blogs in general will more than suffice!]

This giveaway will remain open until 12 noon on Thursday 20th May, when a winner will be announced. [Please ensure you leave contact details!]

Best of luck

More soon

Mother's Ruin xxx

Interview

2010-05-13T13:01:00.000+01:00

Earlier I mentioned that I'd received a very exciting message via my Folksy account and now I can explain this to you (although one of my readers, 'Odd-Sox', already guessed! Am I being stalked?!).

I have been invited to take part in a series of interviews for Indie Smiles which are to focus on male crafters! Now I'm pretty certain that I've not done anything to warrant such an amazing priviledge - perhaps they've heard about my otherwise pitiful existence and feel sorry for me?! I don't know! I certainly don't think I'm representative of male crafters in general. Nonetheless, I am thrilled to have been included (despite feeling like a little bit of a fraud!) and any opportunity to air my views in public is GREATLY appreciated! One likes to be heard afterall! I'll let you all know when the interview is going live - I'm still in the process of writing my responses to the questions and worryingly (perhaps more so for the readers!) they have asked me to submit a photograph of myself! Hmmmmm - you can imagine the euphoria with which I greeted that particular revelation! Considering that a brief glance in the mirror this morning confirmed that I look like Gordon Brown stepping out of No. 10 on his way to attend a fancy dress party as Regan from The Exorcist, I'm pretty sure that the picture will do nothing to enhance the image of Mother's Ruin!

Nothing very crafty has been happening with me over the last few days. Archie (my little pussy cat) has been very poorly, so I have spent most of my time cooking up special meals for him (I don't DO cooking! Eating is my forte!) but luckily the combination of anti-biotics and freshly cooked cod-loin do seem to be having the desired effect. Less amusing is how Archie has chosen to demonstrate his indignation at being kept inside - this morning he sprayed all over the front door when I refused to open it to his whining demands. A charming little cleaning job that was at 6am, I can assure you!

With little actual crafting to report on, I'm finding that my blogging inspiration is similarly depleted, so I guess I ought to finish here. Unfortunately, I think I could do with a good hard slap at the moment (I daresay Hubby will be first to volunteer, should he read this!). In a matter of days I seem to have lost all focus and succumbed to the suffocating anaesthesia of day-to-day life.... I'm off to shake things up!

Mother's Ruin xxx

Hunting Elephants....

2010-05-10T16:42:00.000+01:00

Hello All!

You can imagine my surprise when, having exited the V&A museum, face burrowed in a copy of the 'Quilts' exhibition leaflet, mid convo with hubby, I turned and almost walked directly into one of these beauties! Looking further ahead I saw another.... and then another.......and then another.

Indeed, an entire herd of these wildly painted Asian Elephants have stormed the streets of Central London. They are part of a new campaign by Elephant Family to raise awareness of the plight of this magnificent species. I can't really think of a more wonderful amalgamation - animal charities and art! Two of my own passions! You'd think that these guys would be pretty conspicuous, but oddly enough, with all the hustle and bustle of the city, the elephants almost merge in with their backdrop until you are (quite literally in my case!) right on top of them.

These particular examples have been stationed in and around Covent Garden - but they are all over the place! If you get a chance go and check them out! I love them! Of course, if you can spare a few pennies then use the link above to pop over to the website and make a donation. Hopefully, with enough support we can save these awe-inspiring beasts for future generations to adore and admire.

And now to the 'Quilt' exhibition itself! You'll imagine my dismay when I noticed the short, succinct sentence 'NO PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED' at the bottom of my ticket! So much for sharing my experience with you guys! You'll have to make do with this picture that I took in the museum foyer of a gargantuan installation constructed from what I assume to be either blown glass or acrylic....

(Notice the funky borders that I am now able to put around my images thanks to the new camera I received for my birthday! Whoop!)

The exhibition featured a breath-taking array of quilts, skills and workmanship and truly did place the entire concept of the craft firmly within a historical and sociological context. The exhibition was arranged in five thematic displays - 'the domestic landscape', 'private thoughts/political debates', ' virtue and virtuosity', 'making a living', and 'meeting the past'.

One of the most impressive sights, for me personally, was, in fact, the very first item to be displayed. Upon entering the exhibition area one immediately encounters a four poster bed that is elaborately adorned with patchwork bed hangings made from cotton, linen, fustian and silk. The work is dated from the 1730-1750 period. I've 'borrowed' this close-up image of the patchwork design from the V&A website, but nothing could fully capture the sheer brilliance of the actual item.

I think, perhaps, what is most striking about these bed hangings, aside from the vibrancy of the colours (am I the only one that struggles to visualise previous centuries in anything other than a romanticised sepia, with pastel highlights?!) is the physical form that they took when displayed. So often we see quilts thrown over beds, on the back of armchairs or displayed flat as wall hangings. But here, the pelmets, coverlet and curtains combine to create an almost animated three dimensional form - an entire cube of patchwork. Never before have I seen anything like it - and supposedly we are more advanced these days. The necessary skill inherent in hand-piecing all the individual elements of a quilt like this are, quite simply, phenomenal!

Multitudinous pieces caught my eye and would be well worth commenting on - if only I had the images to share with you! It did strike me, however, just how many 'alternative' fabrics were used in quilts of old. I understand that every little scrap was valuable and that nothing would, or could, be wasted. I also understand that cotton has fundamental properties that make it an ideal candidate for the job, especially for those just beginning to learn the requisite skills. I just cannot comprehend why modern quilters rarely implement silk in their designs - it is so widely available these days and, if the quilts at the exhibition are anything to go by, it adds a real touch of luxury and splendour to the finished item regardless of the quantity used! I also found it fairly amusing to note on one particular quilt that the Victorians were producing a relatively large-scale leapard print cotton! Logically there is nothing to suggest for a moment that they would not be doing this - it just seemed a) incongrous in a design that largely featured traditional florals, and b) that the desire for animal prints is a thoroughly contemporary stylistic choice (although I recognise now that this is an entirely erroneous supposition!)!!!

Now, regretfully, I am going to wind things up here. The last 48 hours have been something of a nightmare in the Mother's Ruin household. We've had it all - solicitors, sick relatives and, as if to remind me that I could not escape from my troubles by heading into the office, I spent most of Monday morning at the vets with a very poorly pussy cat.

On a happier note - I received an extremely exciting message via my Folksy shop on Saturday. More about THAT soon!

Mother's Ruin xxx

Jumble

2010-05-06T14:21:00.001+01:00

I'm afraid this is a bit of a jumbled post today! Lots of odds and sods to cover...

First thing to report - I've finished 'Peaches', the crocheted slouchy hat by Kim Hargreaves. I'm pretty pleased with it, although I didn't quite understand the final round which (it would seem from the photographs in the book) finishes the hat off with a picot style edging. After trying a few times, I gave up. I don't think it makes too much difference to the overall aesthetic of the finished piece! Photo's will follow when I have a suitable model!

Speaking of photo's (and leading into my newest project) I am going to apologise (I always seem to be apologising for my pictures!) for the grainy quality of the following images. They were taken on my Blackberry at around midnight yesterday evening - an unsuitable method that I should not have to endure much longer (more about this in a mo!).

My Mother-in-Law runs a low-key fibre studio in the Highlands of Scotland (many of you will already know this if you have followed me from the old blog!). You can check her out here. Anyhow - a few months back she had a shawl pattern published in 'Inside Crochet' Magazine. The pattern is dead simple, but makes really effective use of the marled, tweedy handspun yarns that she usually produces. Since Hubby is also a bit of a wizard with a spinning wheel, I too have an obscene amount of handspun yarn in gorgeous earth tones that is threatening to get a mortgage and move out on its own if I don't start using some of it up! Here are the pics of the shawl from the magazine:

Laid out flat, the shawl is just a simple square with edging:

And here is the start of my own in some rusty brown handspun merino on an 8mm hook:

God - the pictures are so uninspiring, aren't they?! Luckily, tomorrow is my birthday and Hubby assures me that he has got me a new camera for my prezzie! Fingers crossed it's a good'un and then I can kiss goodbye to washed-out, unfocused, grainy images from my BB on the blog!

Finally - as it is my birthday, I've decided to take the day off of work and I am pleased to report that I have been able to re-schedule the visit to the 'Quilt' exhibition at the V&A museum. Armed with my new camera, a jotter pad and a freshly sharpened pencil, I'm hoping to be able to get loads of good information for a really informative blog post for you all next week.

Stay with me guys!

Mother's Ruin xxx

BTW - Just noticed this news article. Check out the link. A sad day for hand knitting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8664225.stm

Expecting...

2010-05-04T16:29:00.000+01:00

So.... A dear, dear friend of mine has just told me that she's fallen pregnant and, in this revelation, she has given me two wonderful gifts!

I will, of course, now be the obligitory gay 'Uncle' whose main responsibilities are, as of the last time I checked the job description, to perform a lot of 'ooh's and 'ah's, dress the baby in ridiculously inappropriate (though cute) outfits and take them on exciting days out which culminate in a fever of hyperactivity at just about the moment they are due to be dropped back at home. At least - that's what I intend to do...... This is the gift of involvement, of having a role in that young life.

The second, and most relevant to this blog, gift that she has given me is that of the opportunity to make clothes, quilts, blankets and toys in preparation for Bubba's arrival. I have never before been lucky enough to experience somebody close to me having a baby, so I enter into the 'crafting for baby' arena with both excitement and trepidation. Of course, the fact that knitting for a new baby is a perfect way to help use up all of the odd skeins that I've mentioned previously is a massive boon! I don't believe I have anything in the traditional lemon yellow though, and my friend is adamant that she will not find out the gender in advance! It's probably a good thing that I will be forced to use a more contemporary unisex colour palette.... Come on Mother's Ruin - try to be at least a little creative!

After a little looking around I've come up with a few project ideas. What do you think?

This is the 'Connemara Pony' from Interweave, designed by Kathryn Martin and Evelyn Zlomke.

The Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman (like, who doesn't knit one of these eventually?!)

And finally - the 'Charm Squares Baby Quilt' from 'Oh Fransson'

These are kinda my top three - do you have any 'must-have' baby projects?

More soon

Mother's Ruin xxx

The Knitter

2010-05-01T14:38:00.069+01:00

Sounds like a John Grisham novel doesn't it?!

But no - this is not fiction, I'm afraid! (That said - a serialised short story could be a jolly good weekly post, couldn't it?! Not that I'm claiming to be any good at writing fiction, you understand, but.....well.... if you've stuck around this long....!)

Of course, those of you living in the UK (I'm assuming its not available elsewhere?) will probably know that I am referring to this, which actually arrived at my door week or so ago:

Now, I am not good at reviewing things. Really, I can't. I find it very difficult to be objective and I, as everybody else does, have my own agenda. However, I really must urge you all to try this magazine - especially if you knit a lot of garments for women. The patterns are aimed at advanced knitters so if you're new to the craft don't try this first! In actual fact, in the interests of remaining balanced, it is worth noting that 'The Knitter' is so aimed at advanced practitioners that the tone can sometimes seem somewhat condescending towards those that may need additional help or advice. Despite this, there are rarely patterns in here that you wouldn't want to knit.

Personally, I adore the animal print sweater from the cover this month:

Obviously (much as I may hope to the contrary) I cannot pull off a sweater like this! Nonetheless, I am seriously thinking of using the chart to knit myself a scarf in the same print - funky, huh?! That said, I've never tried colourwork knitting before (a fact that, I'm sure, would cause 'The Knitter's editor to sneer scornfully) but I think this could be a good first project.

I also love this cardigan and can think of numerous friends that it would suit perfectly!

The picture isn't too clear here (sorry!) but there is the most amazing lace pattern along the bottom edge than grows out of the body of the cardigan almost organically...

I quite like the speed and ease of everyday accessories but, unfortunately, these are not featured as often in 'The Knitter' which, I think, results in some specific limitations to the magazine. This is not a title that you would pick up for inspiration for a quick project - these babies require some serious pre-planning and (sometimes) shopping.

They always have beautiful (and technically precocious) lace shawls/wraps and, I am pleased to report, almost every issue has at least one pattern for men. Alas (and I'm sure they did it just to spite me!) - this months was yet ANOTHER dreaded cabled cardi in beige.

One more....just one more.....that's all it will take to send me to the nut-house......

More soon

A cable-free Mother's Ruin..... xxx

Peaches

2010-04-29T14:08:00.060+01:00

I am desperate to embark on some serious garment knitting/designing at the moment but, stubborn as I am, I will not break my personal oath to use up a good portion of my stash before I begin anything new. Alas, I cannot use my existing yarns to make garments because, as we all have at some point, I have foolishly purchased a ridiculous collection of single skeins! Unless I plan on the knitting the world's most stripey jumper (which I don't!) then I must find another outlet for all those little 100 gram bundles of beauty! After hours (literally hours - I am so indecisive!) of searching through my hundreds of pattern books, I eventually alighted on this beauuuuuuty of a book!

Kim Hargreaves is a magnificent knitwear designer and if I happen to be introducing any of you to her for the first time then I must urge you to go and buy one of her (multiple) books. I own 3, I believe. Everything she designs has a timeless elegance, so you can be certain that her pattern books will be as relevant in 20 years as they are now. If I'd thought ahead, I might have taken some pictures of the other designs in this book as the one that I am about to discuss is, by no means, characteristic of her style.

I decided to use up a skein of blue DK cotton (denim style!) to make the hat on the left in the image below. I apologise for the pictures - the focus is a bit off!

'Peaches' is a crocheted slouchy beret with these great 'tr5tog' stitches that form big, bouncy clusters. It's a fun design and one that I'd probably do again! I have a thing for hats anyway, so I expect everybody I know will be getting one of these for Christmas now!

I did have to rip this back by about 50% at one point. Apparently, I cannot count! Very frustrating to think that, had I taken my time, I would be all finished up by now! Oh well -not too much to do!

I hope you all enjoy seeing these brief, one weekend projects because I expect to be posting many more of them! I will not rest until my stash is halved! Each project that I make will be another step in the right direction and the small amounts of leftover yarn that I am bound to have will be used up in my crocheted hexagon blanket! Now that's organisation!

Do you have any favourite stash-busting patterns?

More soon

Mother's Ruin xxx

No more blocks!

2010-04-28T13:29:00.052+01:00

Yay! I've finished the last of my blocks for the Mod Sampler Quilt! I made the last two sets (Blocks E & F) on my old Singer 201. Now that I've been using a modern machine for several months, I can really tell the difference in the quality of the stitches. Distressing as it is to say this - I'm not sure I'll be going back to the modern machine. Simple buttonholes and fancy stitches are always going to be a bonus of the newer units, but for good old straight stitching and piecing simple blocks there really is no comparison - the 201 will win every time!

While Whitney crooned in the background I managed to get 12 blocks done. There were couple of stupid mistakes that resulted in making good use of my seam ripper (though these usually occurred, I must admit, when I was more focused on lip-syncing than stitching!) but on the whole all went smoothly!

(Don't look too closely - these haven't been squared up yet so the outer edges don't align properly!)

I think my favourite block has to be this one! The lines from the striped fabric make a really good frame for that central burst of colour!

So there you have it. All 36 blocks ready to be made into a gorgeous quilt! I did briefly consider cutting the sashing strips too but I'm still trying to pluck up the courage! The instructions tell me to fold the 1.75 yards of fabric, making sure that the selvedges are 'perfectly' aligned, and then start cutting. I'm slightly terrified by the word 'perfectly'. Is there NO room for a little human error?! Obviously, I don't want sashing strips that form a zig-zag when they are unfolded!!!

I was thrilled to tick these blocks off of my to-do list!

With rotary cutter standing in for a microphone, I strutted around the room performing my own rendition of 'Queen of the Night' in sheer celebration.

Archie caught my eye.

And then swiftly dropped his gaze....

Can't think why!

More soon

Mother's Ruin xxx

What have we here?

2010-04-26T10:43:00.000+01:00

OK.

SO.

Crisis? Not so much. That's not to say that I've fixed the problem of my poorly sized blocks, but after a nice weekend of crafting along to Whitney Houston's entire back catalogue, two bottles of Merlot and a metaphorical 'chill-pill', I've managed to assuage my hysteria and frustration. I'm feeling philosophical about the whole thing! It's a lesson learned!

You know how sometimes the universe seems to be telling you something? When events take on an element of the uncanny (like, you hear an old song for the first time in years and years and then all of a sudden every radio station in the country seems to be playing it and people are humming it in the queue at the post office and you pick up a magazine that you've had laying around for weeks and notice that the same song is mentioned in an interview on the back page)? Well, all week this has been happening to me and catching up on 'Green Apples' (have you read Jessica's blog - I love it! She is so talented!) blog on Friday was the final straw! Which leads me on to this:

So, what have we here? This is my 1950's Singer Model 201K, which a very dear friend of mine rescued for me before it was disposed of! Now, I know that, as crafters and artists (unfortunately, I cannot command the label 'artist' but for many of you it is a wholly appropriate title), we are supposed to strive to be unique, creators of fashion rather than followers, but on this occasion I really must follow the herd. Everywhere I look people are telling the stories of their acquiring/re-acquaintance/long companionship with a vintage sewing machine. So on Saturday - out came mine!

I love the pure weight of the older units. They just feel like such quality pieces of engineering! Indeed (is this geeky?) I quite enjoy taking the plate off of the back and taking a look at the inner workings. Normally I'm not in the least interested in this side of things - if it works, I don't need to know how (though I have discovered that this approach is less than favourable when it comes to cars. I've been driving for over 7 years and still don't know where the oil goes!). Things are looking a little rusty inside so I ought to clean her up a little, but there is certainly nothing wrong with the way she stitches!

I particularly appreciate the little drop-down table that is hinged to the side! Why this little piece of wood makes such a difference, I have no idea! But it does - it really does!

And look - how cute! The original (though damaged) instruction manual and little box of accessories, which included several feet (I'm at a loss to comprehend what some of these are - any ideas?) amongst other things.

Here's a shot of her in action - more about this tomorrow! In many ways, I regret spending so much money on my modern machine. I love how the vintage machine sews and keeping my seams straight is so much easier!

I got so much crafting done this weekend that I worked up quite an appetite! You can imagine how impressed I was, then, when Hubby produced this tasty little delight for lunch! Homemade vegetable quiche (all the vegetables were grown by Hubby on his allotment). Needless to say - it didn't last long!

A million things to share with you all at the moment - so I'm afraid I simply have to spread them over the next few days.

Love and light

Mother's Ruin xxx

CRISIS

2010-04-23T15:34:00.002+01:00

***If you do not wish to be moaned at - please leave now!***

You know how sometimes you do something so stupid that you could, quite literally, just smash your own face into a wall? Those moments when you have to step out of your sewing room to avoid the almost uncontrollable urge to blind yourself with a pair of scissors, poke pins under your knee-caps and rip open your windpipe with pinking shears? [Ok, ok - so a little O.T.T. but sometimes a little bloody humour is appropriate!]

Well this, in the last 24 hours, was me.

Now that Hubby has managed to talk me back in from the window ledge and I have been persuaded not to stick my head in the oven, I can tell you all about it.

My blocks, for the Mod Sampler Quilt?

Remember those?

Yeah - they're all the wrong size! But no no no....I ought to rephrase. Some are the correct size BUT THEY ARE ALL DIFFERENT!

So typical of me to just rush in without checking anything (white linen trousers with red undies anyone?! I've done that before! Really, how foolish can you get?!) I didn't bother to verify the markings on my 1/4" quilting foot. It looked like the third groove, at the rightmost extreme, was a quarter of an inch from the needle, so that's the one I used giving no thought whatsoever to the fact that 1/4" and 3/8" are really RATHER SIMILAR!

Oooooohhhh I was so annoyed with myself! But more importantly, I was furious with whoever manufactured the foot for my machine! I mean COME ON! If you are selling something under the cunningly misleading description '1/4" Quilting Foot' (trust me - I've been back and checked, so indignant was I!) then why, OH WHY, include three, YES THREE, grooves on the damned thing! I didn't buy a 'Quilting Foot with Multiple Seam Allowance Guides', I bought and paid for a '1/4" QUILTING FOOT' so I only expect it to show me where a 1/4" is!!!!

[I don't have anger management issues in the sense that I am volatile or violent, but can you tell that I am the kind of person that upon stubbing their toe will immediately (and stupidly, I don't deny it!) kick whatever they hit it on in some innately ridiculous attempt to take revenge?! Like a wooden chair leg or a concrete step feels the pain of being attacked by a bare-foot, mincing queen!]

So here I am! A few weeks into my quilting career (ever get the feeling it's going to be shortlived) and already I am in crisis! I am going to have to take a few days to wrangle things out and come up with a solution. They (the blocks, that is) should all be 8.5" square, but as some only have vertical seams I now have a set of blocks that are like 8.5" by 8.25" and others that are 8.25" square. So very annoying when one considers that I spent all that time perfectly measuring and cutting the pieces!

I will not be beaten! Like every singer I have ever loved (seriously - they all seem to have had breakdowns of some sort! Whitney, Mariah, Amy Winehouse!!!) I will rise from the flames like a phoenix! I'm just wondering if taking a 1.25" seam allowance (hello!!!) is going to be a) too risky b)not strong enough and c) another disastor waiting to happen......

On a slightly more positive note (only slightly) I have just finished knitting a small item. I'm not entirely happy with it though.....(honestly, I moan like this at Hubby all the time! Just think yourselves lucky that you only have it once in a while and even then you can be outta here with a simple click of the mouse!)

I'm pretty sure that most people, at some time or another, have made a scarf similar to this one. I've had a couple on my Folksy shop. I love how they look - so much more tailored and retro than a normal scarf. I just wanted to do something a little different so decided I'd have a go at mixing things up! I used contrasting fibres (pure wool & pure mohair) in different shades of red and knitted the ruffles in a horizontal rib using swing needles (have you ever tried them - they're wacky!). I also replaced the traditional 1x1 rib for moss stitch to increase the textural pleasure! But still, there's something that just doesn't quite feel right. Having just about reached the top level of frustration that one can safely endure without giving oneself a heart attack, I cannot bear to look at any less than perfect (in my eyes) project pieces for a while! For this reason, I would like to offer this scarf to one of my readers! If you like it, you are more than welcome to have it. Drop me an email/comment and we can arrange to have it sent to you F.O.C. There's nothing wrong with it at all - it just doesn't look how I saw it in my head! Boo!

Anyway - now that I have written my entry monologue for 'The world's most miserable blogger award', I'm off to wash my face with a brick......

Love to you all

Mother's Ruin xxx

A VERY SPECIAL WOMAN

2010-04-22T15:31:00.001+01:00

No crafty post today.

Alice Beryl Sabine

1922-2007

This is my Nan.

That's all there is to say. No words that I could record here would truly convey what a very special woman she was and how much she means to me. From the moment I was born until the moment that I lost her, she was my rock. I love her very much.

Nan was a real character and would not agree with a tearful or dramatic memorial. So I ask you to spare a brief thought for her, as I celebrate her life. Today would have been her birthday.

Happy Birthday Nan

We miss you still

M xx

And as if by magic.....

2010-04-21T15:51:00.002+01:00

......*poof*

Ta da! How do you like my new blog space? Mother's Ruin was feeling so drab and dreary that I decided it was time for a change! I'm BRITISH - like we don't see enough grey already! So.....it's gone - banished from bloggersville and replaced by the warm and light hues that you see before you.

Mind you, talk about giving myself a difficult brief - I wanted the blog to look fresh, contemporary and clean but I also wanted to include the vintage, swirly, floral type design that I have on my business cards already (similar to my new header). I hope that I've managed to obtain a pleasant balance between the two contrasting styles!

I'm having a ball writing this blog. I haven't been here for long and I don't expect to become a minor internet celebrity like some guys have - but I am meeting new people and tentatively edging towards friendship with some. That's more than enough for me - as long as the blog continues to develop in this positive manner then I'll be happy. I want to create a space where we can all enjoy hanging out for a few minutes every day. Look out for more changes over the next few days. Trust me - the blog fairies (believe me, I know plenty of fairies!) are going to do loads to make Mother's Ruin the best blog it can be!

It's my birthday on May 7th - I've ~~told nagged demanded~~ asked Hubby for a new snazzy camera with which to take my blog photo's! The future's looking good - now I just need to get some crafting done and I'll have something to post about!

More soon

Mother's Ruin

Final supplies...

2010-04-20T13:09:00.085+01:00

So, this weekend I had my delivery from 'Doughty's Fabrics' containing the last of the supplies required to complete my Mod Sampler Quilt..... Inside I found a big bundle of cotton batting that, despite the hot weather here (I refer readers to my previous post and sunburn scars!!!), just made me want to snuggle up beneath it and fall asleep. Also inside were the 'ivory' and 'melon' plain cottons for the sashing and binding, and an Amy Butler print for the backing.... DELICIOUS!

I've still to finish the last set of blocks for the quilt before I even begin piecing the quilt top. I'm relishing the process though - beats knitting 60 cm's of stocking stitch any day! I'm still concerned about the actual quilting process though and whether or not my conventional home sewing machine will be up to the job - I've read plenty of blogs and it seems that a huge number of people have either quilting machines themselves OR send the finished quilts off to be quilted. I've never quilted before and don't have any friends that have either - where do you guys go when you need advice? Is there like a roadside recovery service for quilters?

"Hi, I appear to have broken down somewhere between the nine-patch block and the cotton batting - not sure what's happened. Can you send an engineer?"

[I would like to think, however, that in the Quilting world one would not have to endure being subsequently met by a chubby, middle-aged, unshaven, greasy haired guy reeking of sweat, tobacco and diesel which is, invariably, all that would be sent to your rescue by the RAC or some such company!]

I think I'm really going to like the finished piece (provided that there are no major mishaps). I love the whole country kitsch, shabby chic (shabby s**t as my disdainful father playfully calls it) vibe and I believe that my bright floral fabrics will help to strike the right look. Typical of my disorganisation though - I'm going to be styling an entire room around one handmade item, rather than the other way around! I don't feel like I've been particularly adventurous though - pastel shades are rather easier to balance than bright, vibrant shades. Looking through old holiday snaps (well, if you can call 3 months old old) I was drawn to the colours in the two images below. These pictures were taken in an indoor food market in central Barcelona. I'd love to recreate a quilt in these sensational colours that just ooze passion, vigour and hispanic virility! (ok, ok, so it's a bunch of chilli's but it doesn't take much to get me going!)

Are there any colourways that you are particularly drawn to, or would like to try?

Mother's Ruin xxx

The cost of crochet....

2010-04-19T13:04:00.000+01:00

When I got up yesterday morning and was told by Hubby "if all you're wearing today is that t-shirt and 3/4 length trousers then you really ought to put some sunscreen on" I'm guessing that the sensible response was not to roll my eyes and mutter under my breath "yeah, yeah Mother Hen..."

Many hours later, having spent most of the day reclining on a garden lounger doing nothing more energetic than flicking some DK yarn with a crochet hook (I was exhausted afterwards!), I began to realise that my earlier flippancy had, perhaps, been misplaced. You'll remember being told by your parents 'not to pull that face because if the wind changes direction you'll stay like that'? Well, apparently the same is true of crocheting in the sun. When it came time to lower my arms from the hook wielding position, I could almost hear the crack as my charred skin broke under the pressure of movement. Sunburn.

Garden Lounger - £25.00
Crochet hook - £4.00
Assorted DK yarns - Variable
Realising that you have incapacitated yourself through sheer, unadulterated stupidity - PRICELESS.

So yes, the cost of crochet this weekend was both my arms. Bizarrely, my legs did not burn at all! I'm guessing that, since I had managed to attain such a shocking shade of porcelaine white over the winter months, my legs were, in fact, reflecting all of the sunshine. Indeed, it may have been the kick-back from my milky shins that was responsible for the incineration of those other, lesser limbs...... Needless to say I am a little sore today.....

And THIS is what it was all for:

We all have that pile of leftover, half-used balls of yarn that are too nice to throw away and yet too useless to employ in any project - so I decided that I was going to put them all to good use and make a crocheted hexagon stash-busting blanket..... I'm still not entirely sure if I like it though - using up all my odds and ends is incredibly satisfying, and looking over the finished blanket will be like a trip down memory lane of old projects, but I'm wondering if using so many different colours and fibres is, in fact, making the whole thing look like a big mess. Perhaps more intimidating are the yarn-tails!

Because us crafters are renowned for our patience! Of course I wont be itching to move onto the next project by the time the blanket is finished (factoring in time to re-grow my own arms, that'll be about 2020 then)!

More soon!

Mother's Ruin xxx

A brief rant - and more blocks!

2010-04-15T17:09:00.001+01:00

What a busy week it's been! Thursday afternoon already? Hello!!! I'd much rather be getting on and getting things done than languishing in a corner somewhere feeling bored and dejected, but honestly! Gimme a break! I feel like I'm going to nip into the toilet for a sec and when I come out a whole week will have passed! I thought only weekends were doomed to zip past in the blink of an eye?

Here's hoping that you aren't all TOO bored with hearing about my Mod Sampler quilt because - yes, you guessed it.....MORE BLOCKS! Here are a few shots of my 'D' blocks. Although these are far easier (and quicker) to complete than Block 'C', I found them really difficult to press for some strange reason. They kept wanting to crinkle up along the seamline - maybe that's symptomatic of poor sewing skills?!

OK, ok....stop yawning - I'm done now!

I was, until recently, primarily a knitter (some would say nutter). As such, I have subscriptions to about 4 knitting magazines and yesterday the new issue of 'Yarn Forward' was dropped through my letterbox and waiting patiently for me when I got home.

As with all similar publications, this magazine can be a bit hit and miss. I admit that I am an especially difficult person to please - after all, how well can you really expect ANY knitting magazine to cater for the young, homosexual male?! It's just a very messy demographic! This month I was actually pretty pleased with the balance of patterns and, if I was knitting for a woman, I would be pretty tempted to try out the red sweater dress on the cover. What do you think?

Don't proffer that casual smile too soon - now look at this...

Eurgh! No way! Now, I am the first to admit that I bitch and moan about the fact that both mens patterns AND ready-to-wear are only ever available in a vomit-inducing range of blue/black/brown and similar exotic shades but this postbox red alone is enough to encourage me to revoke my comments - AND YET it doesn't stop there! Cables? Is that what we have come to? Have we pushed and exploited the boundaries of imagination and creativity for all these years and come no further than bloody cables? I've lost count of the number of times, this year alone, that I have written to knitting magazines to request that they hunt down a design for anything OTHER THAN A CABLED MENS JUMPER! It's frustrating and demeaning. I cannot help but imagine that editors feel obligated to 'throw in' a token pattern for men in order to remain 'p.c' but do not really give any thought as to what that pattern may be. Indeed, the fact that they've used a model here that bears a striking resemblance to Anthony Hopkins in 'The Silence of the Lambs' proves, I feel, that the editor is less than attentive when it comes to male orientated content! The recent so-called 'Men's issues' from The Knitter and Yarn Forward were, in my humble opinion, pretty laughable!

I don't mean to rant and rave. Indeed, on a more positive note, I am TRYING to negotiate a solution of my own by designing some menswear pieces. I'm not a professional though, and it is proving to be such a lengthy process.....

I'm going to leave things here for today - having read this post back it seems that throwing a tantrum precludes my ability to write coherently! I'll be back, hopefully a little more positive, very soon.

Love and light

M xxx

Brighton and more blocks.....

2010-04-12T14:28:00.003+01:00

Hello all you wonderful people!

I know that, strictly speaking, this blog is supposed to be about all things crafty but I'm afraid you'll have to humour me for a moment while I tell you about my trip to the coast on Saturday! I guess the reason that I am so ecstatic about it is that I managed to drive myself all the way there! I know, I know, this sounds ridiculous. But you must bear in mind that I am a terrible driver and suffer from a severe lack of confidence! If I do not know how to get somewhere then, 9 times out of 10, I don't go! I can't parrallel park (indeed, most of my parking should really be labelled as a form of vehicle abandonment), I can only drive into a parking space that is on my right-hand side (no idea about this one!) and, despite having completed an undergraduate degree in English literature, it seems that I cannot read road signs. Honestly - Chaucer, Bronte, Shakespeare, Keats, all no problem. Faced with a simple sign that says 'A23' and suddenly I'm f***ed, absolutely no comprehension! Sat-nav's were invented for people like me and Saturday was my first real opportunity to use one!

We arrived at around 7.30 am (I wanted to miss the rush!) and were greeted, of course, by this:

As you can imagine, Denny thought she had died and gone to Doggie Heaven. All she wanted to do was play and so Daddy Nathan was left in charge of entertaining pooches while I had a nice rest and enjoyed the sounds of the sea.....

We didn't stay all day long. We walked from the pier to the Marina and back, played with the dogs (Bruce is the only dog I know who believes that drinking salt-water is an option!) and gazed, open-mouthed, in some of the art shop windows (needless to say, we didn't go in. It is unlikely that Bruce would wait to be invited before cocking his leg against one of the frames. Indeed, rather worrying was the fact that most shops had several large canvases displayed outside, so I felt like we were an 'accident' waiting to happen).

Perhaps the main reason that I felt compelled to mention my trip here, is the artistic inspiration that Brighton provides. I accept that this may be something that exists in only my own imagination, but I always percieve a strong sense of nostalgia, I guess, whenever I visit a coastal town like Brighton. Take this image for instance:

Surely, I am not the only one that is struck by the disparity of what this view currently represents and what it stood for 100 years ago? I cannot help but imagine that Brighton is, in some way, aware of its own inability to ever attain the giddy heights of fashionability that it has previously enjoyed. I look at this and I imagine sweet little girls in pinafore dresses, corseted women in ivory coloured lace and delicate shawls and moustached men strutting the promenade with canes, the gold chains from their pocket-watches glistening in the sunlight. In previous years it would have been the height of fashion to spend time in Brighton, to enjoy the sights and sea air. Nowadays, a day trip to the seaside isn't often considered a noteworthy event and, while I believe it to be a positivething that everybody now has the time, money and freedom to pop along whenever they want, I still cannot help but feel that the place has lost something. You know, like Christmas has lost something since it became a collossus excuse for gratuitous commercialism? And the artistic inspiration that I mentioned? Again, maybe it's just me, but it makes me want to create something that captures both the 'then' and 'now' of the place, the whole history of Brighton. I assume this is why there are so many artists living in the area - maybe my observations are far from original?!

Not liking to spend too much time away from my sewing, I continued piecing my 'C' blocks for the Mod Sampler quilt when I got home. These are all finished now, so it will be on to Block 'D' next. What do you think?

I also made some decisions about the remaining parts of the quilt this weekend, which resulted in placing another hefty online order! I came to the conclusion that, although white would not make the blocks 'pop', I did not want to saturate the quilt by using a coloured sashing. My compromise is to use a creamy, ivory sashing and a light, fresh green for the binding ('Melon', I believe it was called). The backing will be another favourite Amy Butler print. Incidentally, has anybody ever used these guys to order fabric? They currently have quite an extensive selection of AB's older prints that are at the reduced price of £6.50 a metre. Pretty reasonable, I thought? Also, if you order before midnight tonight, you get an additional 10% off (and no, I am most certainly not on commission!).

My final comment today is about wadding/batting (whatever it's called). I've ordered a cotton blend for my quilt which, so I'm told, will shrink by 3-5% unless pre-washed. Now I love the idea of achieving a puckered, vintage look by shrinking the wadding after quilting, but I am a bit nervous about committing. Does anybody have any advice or horror stories in this area? Is it an accepted stylistic choice, or is it just going to make my work look like I made a massive mistake?! All comments gratefully received this time....

M xxx

Windfall

2010-04-10T10:07:00.040+01:00

Earlier this week I was thrilled to be given a gift. A colleague of mine had mentioned to her Grandmother about all my crafty pursuits and she, in turn, dug out two huge bags full of fabric scraps and offered them up to a loving new home (namely, mine!). I was, of course, more than happy to oblige! These bags are really pretty heavy, so there is plenty of fabric here. Here's a handful that I pulled out:

Now, isn't that just such a nice bunch of goodies to be given?! And there is tonnes more where it came from too! I haven't managed to find the time to sort through the bags properly yet but I am very much looking forward to doing so. There don't appear to be any large pieces that I could utilise for any projects on their own, but there are several FQ's and hundreds of scrap pieces like this (this is about 30 x 10/12 cm's):

My plan is to track down a nice quilt design that uses just small squares or long strips and make another patchwork quilt (I'm enjoying the Mod Sampler - so why not!). Any suggestions?

I also have to confess to a tiny purchase on ebay. You all know how much I love my animals and when I saw this I just had to have it! I think I am going to make my pussy cat (he's a Bengal called Archie) a nice cushion to sleep on! Cuteness personified!

I'm sure i'll be discussing this again soon, but I would genuinely appreciate any quilting ideas (or, indeed others) that would help me to use up this windfall of fabric!

Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend!

Pooches and Patchwork

2010-04-09T10:02:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I haven't been around much this week and I offer my sincere apologies for that, but do not fear - today you're getting a bumper post to make up for it!

I don't know about where you guys are, but in my piece of sky the weather really picked up yesterday. The sun shone bright, the crisp bite of the wind mellowed into a languid breeze and the air took on that particular quality that it has at this time of year - you know, that....that...thinness whereby sounds seem to carry much farther than normal, to bounce back from the horizon. The world felt, in short, more open.

And I, of course, was stuck in the office!

No matter! In an effort to seize the moment (something I'm trying on for size at the moment!) I had both of the dogs and Hubby packed into the back of the car within about ten minutes of getting home and off we dashed to Bedfont Lakes. I don't quite know how to describe Bedfont Lakes - it used to be a gravel pit about twenty years ago when my Nan would take me for some fresh air in my pram. She would push me along the gravelled paths while her Spaniel, Digby, charged about and tried to pinch my sweets. Since then it has been radically altered and now stands as a public park, nature reserve and heavily landscaped beauty spot.

It is deeply unfortunate that the whole area has a fixed boundary and entrance is only possible through one of the several gates. These get locked at specific times throughout the year so yesterday evening we only had about 45 minutes to enjoy the weather and the surroundings. Nonetheless, I felt pretty perky, elated almost, afterwards and the dogs loved it too, as you'd expect. My dogs mean the world to me, so I guess I ought to introduce you!

This here is Denny, my Staffordshire Bull Terrier. She is about 4 years old now and a very good girl:

And this is Bruce, Hubby's Dobermann. We've had him for about 18 months now and he is a very naughty boy! He spent the first couple of years of his life on a puppy farm being used as a stud, so he came with plenty of baggage and a deep distrust for other dogs. He's getting better but is still a bit of a nightmare:

I'm not really the outdoors type (I know you're all going "ya don't say - a 23 yr old guy who likes to knit, crochet and sew and he's not outdoorsy?") but even so I genuinely enjoyed our brief walk yesterday. Sometimes, I think it's good for the soul to just take a moment, however short, and just 'be' in nature.

Here are just a couple more shots that I took and think are nice enough to include here. Humour me!

Feeling energised and enthused, the first thing I did when I got back home was pull out my sewing machine and all of the pre-cut fabric pieces to make the next blocks (Block C) for my Mod Sampler Quilt. Within about three minutes I was already regretting the overconfident comments I made earlier in the week regarding matching seamlines! It was so much harder on these blocks (they are, afterall, made up of 16 mini squares). Plus, they take a hell of a lot longer to finish! I only managed to get two done:

The one on the left is my very first. I'm not entirely happy with it. Indeed, if you look closely at the paisley squares you'll notice that I messed up and now the top ones lean in the opposite direction to those beneath. I'm debating whether or not to engage the use of my stitch-ripper, but I really don't like doing that as it can make things look scrappy and worse than before! My second attempt, the one on the right, seemed to be a slight improvement on the first! I must have been feeling brave last night - I tried chain piecing for the first time and, despite my doubts, it really is a quick and easy way of doing things!

The instructions tell me to use my rotary cutter to square them up as I finish each block, but I've decided to leave that until right at the end when ALL of them are done. Hopefully I'll get these finished over the weekend and then I can move on to trying something else! Like all good things, practice makes perfect! That's it for now - I have so much more to tell/show you all but that will simply have to wait until the weekend now!

I hope the sun is shining wherever you are... xxx

First blocks

2010-04-06T13:47:00.000+01:00

Having recovered from the euphoria of cutting accurately with an 'omniflex' ruler, I am now able to show you some of my progress!

Yesterday was such a pleasant BH Monday, primarily because I did not do very much! No screaming hoardes of badly behaved children hyped up on sugar and freedom for me! No motorway traffic, or lack of parking spaces, or rugby tackling to get into the shops! None of it! Nil! Nada! I ventured no farther than the few miles to Windsor Great Park, where Nathan and I walked the pooches through tufty grasses and over sodden, almost sponge-like, ground while a fresh and persistent wind blew against us. A quiet, unassuming way to spend an hour.

When we got back and the dogs were finally settled in a contented heap of exhiliration and exhaustion on the floor, I surrendered myself to the call of the quilt! Time to start sewing my first blocks!

I've never used a 1/4" quilting foot before and, frankly, I'm not entirely sure what difference one makes! Perhaps I am going about the whole process incorrectly, but from my experiences yesterday it did not seem to offer an adequate addition to my accuracy that would justify spending ten pounds on the foot in the first place! I'm not complaining at all because, at the end of the day, I did manage to maintain a 1/4" seam allowance, but it did still require a fair level of care and concentration so I am pretty sure that I could have achieved the same results with my standard foot.

Here are a few pictures of the finished 'A' and 'B' blocks. (And yes, these have been 'enhanced'. No matter what I did yesterday these images just looked grey when they were uploaded to the computer. That said, now that I've played around with them the colours do seem to be saturated to almost acidic levels!).

I am pleased that I chose to start my quilting career with the 'Mod Sampler'. Each block increases in difficulty ever so slightly, so it is a good opportunity to build skills. For example, Block 'B' was almost as simple as Block 'A', except for the fact that you need to precisely match the centre seams. Now, I'm sure this is beginners luck - but look how well they turned out! I'm not being smart or arrogant - I'm just so thrilled that it worked! I was convinced that my blocks were going to be all off centre and wonky!

I have, however, spotted one problem with the project. I had intended to buy plain white or cream cotton to use for the sashing between the patchwork blocks, but some of the fabrics are so pale or contain a high percentage of white within the designs that I do not think this will work. I don't think that a pale fabric will give a definite enough line around the square blocks. So my question is this - what colour sashing should I buy? I want the patchwork squares to 'pop', not merge!!!!

I have a strange sense of guilt having spent time working on my quilt - I hate to get behind in producing new stuff for my 'Folksy' shop! Life is such a balancing act - even with those things that we love!

Cutting it

2010-04-02T23:16:00.001+01:00

WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME?

'Omniflex' rulers are, quite literally, the best invention ever! Until today, all of my cutting was done with a regular metal ruler and a rotary cutter. As far as I was concerned, spending £15 on a flashier version of something that I already had sitting in the drawer was just plain foolish! How wrong could I be?!!! Finally my cutting is accurate, fast and, in a bizarre sense, fun! Admittedly it has taken me several hours to cut only 6 of the 12 fabrics required for the quilt and, due to the fact that my table is too low, I now feel as if Queen Latifah has just finished performing an Irish Jig along my spine in very high heels BUT I also feel like a real pro!

I haven't had such a buzz since, well, ever..... Illegal substances couldn't give me such a high!

Now, is there anything else I ought to know about this quilting malarky?!

x

Delivery....

2010-04-01T12:52:00.001+01:00

So finally my order from thecottonpatch.co.uk arrived! I collected it from the post-office this morning after being left a ‘failed delivery’ note on Tuesday (which, in my opinion, should have been more accurately entitled ‘we didn’t try to deliver’ – the parcel was about the size of a small paperback novel and yet apparently it was TOO BIG to fit through either of my TWO (YES TWO!!!) letterboxes. Excuse my French, but what utter b******s).

Look at these beauties! 8 fat quarters of Heather Bailey’s ‘Nicey Jane’ range and half a meter of Amy Butler. I already have a few other Amy Butler Prints that will co-ordinate. I intend to use these to make my first quilt! Ahhhhh scary! I’ve pretty much decided on the ‘Mod Sampler’ quilt by ‘Oh Fransson’ because it seems to be relatively simple but will also teach me how to create several different blocks. There are so many quilt designs out there to choose from though, and I do think that selecting your next project is usually half the fun! You’ll have to accept my apologies for the poor image quality (again) – I collected the parcel on the way to work so this was taken in my car on my blackberry!

I think I’ve already picked my favourite! Who could resist this one?

I have to say actually that tearing open the plastic envelope and reaching inside to touch these fabrics for the first time is, I think, the most fun that I have had in ages! I suppose many would consider that a little tragic (I guess it is really but then, I’ve never claimed to lead a very exciting life!) but now I am not sure I am going to be able to resist making another little purchase! Hell, I gave up cigarettes (but God knows I miss them) so unless somebody can show me some scientific proof that cotton can give you cancer, then I’M GOING TO BUY WHATEVER I LIKE, DO YOU HEAR?! And what I like just happens to be available right here (donations welcome!):

I’ll keep you all updated with the progress of my first quilting prject. Thank goodness for the Easter break – a perfect opportunity for all of us to spend some time catching up on things. I am looking forward to seeing a few friends, getting some sewing done and finishing the re-decoration of the hallway. What special plans do you have, or projects are you hoping to complete, over the long weekend?

BTW - those of you that have been expecting a review and some piccies of the 'Quilt' exhibition at the V&A museum, please note that I was unfortunately unable to attend as planned. I will be going so that post will eventually get here, just not right now. Sorry x

Truffles Part II (original title, huh!)

2010-03-31T13:51:00.000+01:00

You know, I really don't enjoy writing 'how-to's'. Whenever instruction is required, no matter how vague, I always find myself struggling to avoid slipping back into the writing style that five year olds adopt and believe to be both original and unique to them - you remember: 'And then', 'And then', 'And then', 'And then', 'And then' (usually building, I recall, to the shocking climactic revelation "suddenly I woke up and it was all a dream"!) It is so hard to energise instructions, to imbue them with some sense of ones own personality. Or perhaps it isn't - perhaps it's just me (this sentence is applicable to more areas of my life than I care to acknowledge). I know my problem boils down to the fact that I am innately selfish. I don't make any attempt to conceal the fact, nor do I make any apologies for it. Unfortunately, multitudinous aspects of my torturous childhood were not conducive to forming a well-rounded, altruistic individual. I am, ulimately, far too preoccupied with my own 'well-being' (something I find increasingly difficult to attain). Thus, I make a far superior student than tutor. I am practical and diligent if trying to learn a new skill or follow somebody else's pattern because I expect to gain from it. Yet, finding myself in the situation where I have the opportunity to impart some knowledge or share an exciting idea and almost without warning the magic dissipates. I cannot train myself out of privately thinking to myself 'why would I explain this? I already know how to do it'. See - selfish! I'm not like this out of spite, I can assure you! And I do have some (read 'limited'!) endearing traits.

So, bearing all this in mind and (hopefully) not thinking too badly of me, here are my less than exciting, less than comprehensive, less than I had hoped (ain't that the story of my life) instructions? Nay, explanations, of how to complete the truffles!

You will remember that the flavoured ganache had been chilling in the refrigerator overnight? Well, the next step was to scoop spoonfuls of this sublime mixture into balls, rolling them gently into ~~perfect spheres~~ ~~smooth balls~~ 'bite-size' lumps and coating with fine 70% cocoa powder from 'Green & Blacks'. [Goodness knows, for what is essentially brown dust, this powder smells absolutely sensational. If asbestos smelt like this we'd all have killed ourselves years ago!]

This was, as you can imagine, a highly messy job! The problem with a ganache, I've discovered, is that it has a pretty volatile reaction to temperature. Ok, so not exactly volatile, but for somebody that spent their childhood years refusing proffered bags of crisps in the school playground lest they cross-contaminate or pick up some hideous disease designed to kill the pre-pubescent, this was quite an adventurous task:

Strangely, hubby's truffle filling did not seem to melt like mine. I was reminded of my Grandmother repeating the saying 'cold hands, warm heart' and suddenly felt slightly insulted....

100 balls of gooey and not-so-gooey later, we had several lined trays that looked like this:

The final part of the equation is where I get slightly lost. We'd agreed that we would leave some truffles as they were and coat others with either melted plain or white chocolate. Nathan assured me that to do this we had to 'temper' the melted chocolate. Upon learning what this entailed, I asked if it was strictly necessary and was courteously informed about what a heathen, what a reprobate, what an entire waste of life I was. Of course one needs to temper the chocolate, daaaarling! How could one not know such a thing! Evidently, it is the process of sloooooowly cooling the chocolate to avoid splitting of the fats. If you say so. My reluctance to get involved can be explained by this picture. Would you want this mess in your kitchen?! Though admittedly, it would be a delicious excuse to redecorate....

After much dipping, rolling, coating, dusting, packing, candied peel adding, switching to white chocolate and starting all over again - we were left with our finished truffles. A brief spell in the chiller and this is what they looked like:

And it's weird, you know. In textile based crafts, we all strive to create items that look commercially produced, professional, flawless. And yet, the handmade appearance of these beauties did nothing but enhance their appeal. Far superior to a slab of moulded, mass-produced Cadbury's, don't you think? I enjoyed packing some up into a cute glass jar and adding a ribbon -these are for a very special friend's birthday and will be gifted this evening.

Go on - treat yourself!

Truffles

2010-03-30T13:22:00.000+01:00

Normally, I would not venture into the kitchen under my own steam. I am very lucky to have found a man that not only cooks, but cooks well. Owing to the fact that I literally cannot fry an egg (no honestly - I do not have to exaggerate my culinary ineptitude to amuse my readers, I really am that bad) Hubby has always done all of the cooking. Yesterday evening, however, I was lured into that tiled den of strange stainless steel instruments, steam and surface cleaner by two of my favourite things - Gin and Chocolate! I'll start at the beginning - take a look at this:

For his birthday last week, Nathan was given a copy of the book 'Adventure's With Chocolate' by Paul. A. Young. I'm (clearly!) no expert, but he assures me that the book is fantastic and he has very much been looking forward to trying out some of the recipes. Yesterday he came home with a massive bag of goodies and announced that we were going to make flavoured truffles! Nathan chose to make an orange and chilli flavoured ganache and I, predictably for those that know me, chose Gin and Lime.

Here's what we did:

Break 250g of chocolate into small pieces and leave to one side in a bowl.

Next, mix 250g of double cream with 100g of sugar in a saucepan and heat. Stir constantly while you bring the mixture to the boil. As the yummy, oozy, syrupy liquid warms up, you can add your non-alcoholic flavourings. I threw in my chunky lime zest and Nathan his chopped chillies and chunky orange zest. Nathan tells me that you cannot use actual fruit juices but, for an explanation of why this is the case, you will have to refer to a proper cookery resource I'm afraid! Once the mixture reaches boiling point, gently simmer for one minute.

Remove from heat and stand to cool for one minute. (at this point I added one LARGE shot of Gin)

Sieve the mixture to remove the lime zest and pour warm mixture onto the chocolate that you prepared earlier.

Whisk/stir until the mixture achieves a glorious, smooth, glossy texture, like this...

And then? Well, I have no idea at this stage! Hubby told me to cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight. I will be finishing the chocolates this evening when I get home from work! I'm very excited and cannot wait to see how they turn out. It is a very close friends' birthday on Wednesday and I intend to gift some of these handmade chocolates in some divine packaging.

Usually when Hubby spends time in the kitchen, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to knit or sew, uninterrupted, for a few hours. I think the moral of this story is not to get so wrapped up in any one form of creativity that it has a detrimental effect on your opportunity to try new things. I never cook but these are grrrrrreat fun and so easy! I love anything that gives maximum results with minimum effort!

I'll be back tomorrow to show you how I finished the choccies!

N.B - I would like to mention that there is no intention of infringing any copyright legislation with the above. My information about making truffles is not exactly detailed and making a ganache is, I imagine, no different to making a sponge cake and I'm pretty certain that nobody has rights over that! It should be noted though that Paul's bok was the inspiration behind flavouring the ganache with unlikely ingredients.

Detritus, Big Birds and an Exotic Bloom....

2010-03-26T13:33:00.000Z

When I first started crafting I lived in just a small two-bedroom apartment. Space wasn’t really a problem at that point. Having only just stumbled onto the crafty path that I now follow, I hadn’t yet developed the enormous stash of yarns and fabrics, books, patterns, UFO’s and equipment that I have since come to own. When we moved into a much larger house, however, I thought it sounded terribly grand to refer to our unoccupied box room as ‘the studio’ or ‘the workshop’ and as I began to accumulate more and more stuff it did, indeed, start to feel like a truly bohemian, Aladdin’s cave of creativity and artistic promise.

Sounds good right? Wrong….. Just look at it now – and please don’t judge me!

N.B. Apologies for the poor quality of the pictures. I am having a little camera trouble at the moment (shopping opportunity?!) so these were taken on my blackberry.

I am only showing you the chaos that confronts me whenever I enter this room as I am desperately hoping that the saying ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ will, by some miracle, mean that 50% of this terrible mess will be cleared up by the same fairies that still have yet to re-arrange my sock drawer, re-carpet the hallway and repair the garden fence! Can anybody offer some words of encouragement? I really must sort this all out at some point this weekend! The only solace I can find in the situation is that, at the very least, the disarray proves that both the room and my crafting equipment are well used and well loved!

Now, forget all that and look at this cutesy cushion that I started making last night. As with most things I do, you won’t be overwhelmed by technical ability or groundbreaking construction -the cushion is a very simple unadorned square with a zipper inserted along one side in order that the cover can be removed and washed. I do love how this is turning out though (still to complete one edge), but I am sure this is more to do with the fabric that anything else.

It is a large-scale print that I got from IKEA several months ago. I forget now what it was called, although I do remember that there was another one in the range in a gorgeous azure blue with little goats on it! I’ve got a real thing about birdie fabric at the moment (seriously never saw that coming!). I’m also pleased because there is quite a sizeable chunk left over so I am hoping to cut out some of the key images (the birds and the city skyline) and appliqué them onto some simple tote bags. What do you think?

Frustration reigns at the moment – I am still waiting to receive the fabric that I ordered from ‘The Cotton Patch’ over a week ago. I think perhaps it is time to find a different supplier. Fabric Rehab has some beautiful prints on the site, so I imagine they will be getting my next order! I’ll finish today’s post with one final ( I know, I know, low resolution) picture.

Nathan keeps one of his multiple orchids on the windowsill in the hallway and just recently it has started to flower again. This morning as I rushed downstairs to leave for work, I paused for a moment to take a quick photograph of the bloom. I felt that it was worth sharing with you all. Pretty, huh?

I think it's gonna rain today.......

2010-03-24T14:42:00.001Z

I know that the moment I mention what a beautiful day it is I will be startled by a large thunder-clap announcing the re-opening of the Heavens and that, come 5.30pm, I will be stuck in a mile long queue of traffic, wipers hurling themselves backwards and forwards across my windscreen and cursing to myself that nobody is prepared to venture over 12 and a half miles-per-hour in the rain. It’s always the same way; let’s not pretend that it isn’t. Earlier in the week I tentatively hung my washing out on the line before going into work. All day I looked forward to taking that washing back in, crisp and fresh from the first warm day of spring and I very nearly got my wish until Mother Nature, the teasing, artful, pi**-taker that she is, decided that it would be amusing to unleash a small, short shower at 5pm. Back to the tumble dryer….

AND YET, I’ll take my chances! Just look at the sunshine that we’ve got today! Even I, the perennially miserable, cannot help but feel elated when the sun shines, the air clears and all the myriad colours of the world that surround us become thickly vibrant and saturated. I don’t like the summer - the heat makes me feel ill. I don’t enjoy sitting on a beach all day and the whole concept of a BBQ is lost on me (who wants to carry the entire contents of their kitchen outside, just to have to cart the whole load back inside a few hours later?! Why not just put your kitchen-cooked meal on a tray and eat al-fresco?), but these early days of renewed warmth and growth do make me grin with pleasure. No longer do I rush home in the evening to shut the world behind thick curtains but, instead, I find myself standing at the back door, taking deep, sweet gulpfuls of air and sniffing at the breeze like some flashback of a primordial version of myself. Like a lizard lazing on the surface of a rock, this time of year heats my blood, re-animates me, reminds me that I am alive.

Suddenly, it seems, optimism is not beyond me…..

You’ll remember that earlier in the week I was working on my new ‘lunch-bag’ from Sew Hip magazine. Well, I’m pleased to say that it’s finished and being used! Admittedly, there was not much more to do, simply attach the lining to the inside of the outer bag. Mind you, easy as that may sound it came with a whole set of problems. Funnily enough, these only seem to arise when I DON’T follow instructions! The pattern called for two coordinating prints in lightweight cotton, but I, in my wisdom, decided that I was going to use some faux suede for the lining that I’d rescued from the bin after shortening a pair of curtains for my sister. For some reason, my machine was really unhappy about sewing together the two different fabric weights, though perhaps it was due to the nap of the suede resisting the tug of the feed-dogs as I stitched? Nonetheless, completed it has been! I didn’t have any poppers as were suggested, so I made use of the one-step buttonhole function on my sewing machine (still can’t get over how CLEVER that is!) and added a glorious vintage button! Here it is:

I have to say, I would recommend this pattern to a beginner sewer like me. I don’t like making things merely for the sake of it, but this project was simple, stylish and, above all, useful! My banana and ‘Shape’ yoghurt (mmmmmm Danone!) were thrilled to be taken to work in this gorgeous Amy Butler mean machine!

Now what?! Well…..this leads me to my next subject. I hinted briefly last time that the next post would cover temptations and confessions. In all honesty, they are really one and the same. After all, giving into temptation is usually what one needs to make a confession for!

I particularly like the saying ‘The Devil Makes Work For Idle Hands’ these days, as I am sure that is what leads me to spend so much time crafting. I am possessed. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! And it’s for this reason that I have been overwhelmed by, enraptured with, transfixed upon yet another crafty pursuit.

Quilting.

Never before had I thought twice about this art form. But now I am desperate to give it a go! I don’t know what happened, what changed, what magic was cast upon my poor, weak soul, but I have been inspired! It goes without saying, of course, that this new aspect to my creative life necessitated some considerable shopping. This is where the confession comes in. I cannot…hear me CANNOT (are we really friends? Truly? Well, don’t tell Hubby…….. Ok…so Will Not) stop buying fabric….or books….or equipment….. More on this later – I’ll show you all of my gorgeous new things when they finally arrive (the only downside to internet shopping!). My intention is to begin the ‘Mod Sampler’ quilt from Oh Fransson as I am hoping that, having been designed as a ‘quilt-a-long’, the instructions will be simple to follow.

On the subject of quilting I have some more exciting news! My friend Zola and I are to attend the Quilt exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Musuem this Sunday! Ha ha! How exciting! I daresay we’ll stop somewhere fabulous and retro for afternoon tea and a mahoooosive slice of cake afterwards. Provided that I am allowed to take some nice pictures, I promise you all a good, long blog post next week for those that are unable to attend themselves (the exhibition that is, not afternoon tea!!!)

Anyway………

Already the clouds are beginning to build as my finger hovers over the ‘publish post’ button……….

Retribution

2010-03-22T14:53:00.000Z

Ok…… so, in retrospect, throwing back two large cosmopolitans before we even reached the restaurant may not have been a good idea.

Following them up with two bottles of red wine was probably not very clever either.

Rounding the evening off with a shot of something clear (possibly Meths?) and a liqueur coffee was, admittedly, pushing my luck.
The evening started off well enough. Dashing around the house grabbing clean clothes, towels, playing traditional ‘getting ready’ music (“I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat with somebooooooody…wo-hoooooa I wanna dance with somebody…..) and dipping into baths that, having only been allotted 23 seconds to run, just about touch the back of ones thighs! What with the dogs to look after, lack of funds and a generally lethargic interest in socializing Nathan and I don’t get out much. All the pre-evening excitement was a nostalgic reminder of my early teenage years which, looking back now, seem to have been one long party. How I managed to hold down a job, start a relationship with Nathan and work my way through college & university is beyond me.

Once ready (Nathan assures me that I look ‘fabulous’ so I waste a few seconds scrutinizing his face. Is he mocking me? Perhaps not……for a change……..) and we’re out the door, in the car, up the road and parked! I’d been insisting all afternoon that a Cosmopolitan was a deep necessity owing to my limited social airings in recent months and so we started the evening off at the ‘Ha Ha’ bar. Who knew that drinks could be so expensive? A Cosmopolitan, a Long Island Ice Tea and a Lynchburg Lemonade was roughly equivalent to a yard and a half of Amy Butler fabric! Second round? Fine….I’ll just kiss goodbye to that skein of hand-painted sock yarn….. Nonetheless, I was determined that I would make the most of this night. This night where the air crackled with electricity and the early evening aroma was a heady combination of the last rain of winter and the first fresh grass of spring. This night where my armchair and knitting had been swapped for dim lights and clinking glasses. This night, populated by faceless crowds of laughing girls in glittering tops and too much makeup. This night…..my night.

Alas, there, right there….is pretty much where my night ended. It didn’t of course – we walked to the restaurant and joined our friends/family and tucked into a mass of Greek food. Unfortunately, however, the additional alcohol that I consumed in those hours served to somewhat tarnish the magical, expectant atmosphere and replace it with what felt to me the following morning to be a much more seedy, over-indulgent ‘why-on-earth-did-i-do-that’ one. The evening was fab, the food was fab and Nathan had a wonderful time. Yet, for one who so rarely gets out, who was so determined to make an impression on the world for those few hours, the whole event seems, thanks to those alcohol units, rather vague to me now!

Nonetheless, through the thick fog of yesterday’s hangover, I did manage to place my hands upon some fabric and started making a super-cute lunch-bag from a back issue of Sew-Hip. The bag is inspired by the rolled down brown paper bags that have become synonymous with ‘American Grocery Shopping’. It’s not finished yet but I’m pleased with how it looks so far. I chose a bold, graphic print from Amy Butler’s ‘Midwest Modern’ in blues/greens/yellow and twinned it with recycled chocolate brown faux suede for the lining. I’m hoping to finish the bag tonight, so I’ll post pictures soon. (I always say that don’t I?! Honestly, this time I will!)

Next time – temptations and confessions….

The Big 'T'

2010-03-19T14:16:00.002Z

So....tomorrow Hubby turns 30.

THIRTY

Dreizig.

Trente.

Treinta.

Nope, it's no good. However you articulate the thought, there is no getting away from the fact. Thirty. I mean, that's a proper age....

Friends of mine often joke that I am like an old woman trapped inside the body of a young man. I go along with it. Indeed, in many ways I encourage it. I appreciate the connotations with stability, wisdom and reflection. My friends, of course, are actually referring to my inability to use public toilets, my being miserable and grumpy, my prediliction for button-up cardigans and my insistence on saying things like 'when I was a child' at the, apparently tender, age of twenty three. But THIRTY. That really is like....a proper age......

Nathan and I have been together for over five years now. He was, when we met, only 24. And while in so many ways, neither of us have grown up (last nights game of arm wrestling the very minute we got into bed and turned the light out is testament to this ((nothing erotic - don't get excited!))) and yet, where have those five years gone? We must have done something with the time? Thirty..... I have friends that are thirty who have been married for several years, own their own homes, have one/two/three children and a time-share property in Devon! When were we supposed to grow up? I don't for a minute suggest that we're irresponsible or foolish, just that I dont really feel any different than I did when Nathan and I met. And the last five years have simply disappeared in a puff of smoke! How do I measure those five years? The number of times we've laughed, or cried? The number of skeins of yarn we've knitted up? The number of skeins of yarn we've purchased and NOT knitted up? The number of times I've said "will you please hang your coat UP" or "if you don't turn your sleeves the right way out when you take them off then I'm going to stop washing your bloody work-shirts".

You see, while Hubby grins and shrugs his shoulders at the big 'T' word, I am in a panic about the next five years! Will they too pass in what seems like a matter of minutes? Am I going to doze off for a moment and suddenly awake to find that I am now thirty?

I've always been a bit ahead of myself, but even I cannot believe that my mid-life crisis has started already..............

In an effort to relax, I have, in the last couple of days, cast-on for these GORGEOUS little lace gloves from 'The Purl Bee' which I am making in a variegated grey yarn that looks remarkably like storm clouds. The pattern is beautiful, easy and quick! Check out the link and start a pair of your own!

Luck

2010-03-16T13:01:00.102Z

I'm not usually the smug type. Especially not where my creative life is concerned. Normally I am preoccupied with comparisons between myself and other crafters, painfully aware of how much less (less everything) my work is than theirs.

And when I make a mistake, I make a proper one. No slight hiccups here, thank you very much. No, Mother's Ruin makes big, ole stinkin' major F**K ups!

Picture the scene then, if you will....

Saturday afternoon I had decided that I would cast on a simple project, suitable for the approaching season, that would use up one of my odd balls of yarn and be pretty enough to pop onto the Folksy shop.

Mistake No 1: Test Swatch

Being both impatient and a little arrogant, I thought that I quick test swatch (as in, an inch square) in stocking stitch would be sufficient to correctly gauge my...err....gauge.

Wrong.

Not knowing this, I decided that the delicately variegated orange yarn from artisanthreads.co.uk would make a very fine retro-looking headband and could easily be embellished with a crocheted flower and some beads. Perfick!

Mistake No 2: Owing to test swatch - cast on incorrect number of stitches.

Immediately followed by....

Mistake No 3: Cast on even number of stitches when stitch pattern calls for odd number....

Having abandoned the stitch pattern, I decided that the project was going to be an example of pure, unadulterated, brilliant simplicity..... (that is, 2x2 rib and stocking stitch!).....

On I knitted.....over lunch, whilst chatting on the phone, through LOVEfilm's latest offering - 'Julie and Julia' (has Meryl Streep ever given a poor performance?! I don't think so and can highly rec. this title!).

Aha! Knitting COMPLETE!

Mistake No 4 (or rather culmination of mistakes no's 01, 02 & 03): Project too big!

Massively too big!

Enormously too big!

I don't know a) how I managed to miscalculate to quite such a massive extent and b) how I didn't notice as I was bumbling along knitting the damn thing! Admittedly, Ms Streep was slightly on the distracting side, but come on! Common sense prevail!

Now what?

Mistake No 5: Felting

Of course - the yarn I've used is a high quality pure blue-faced leicester wool! If I chuck it in boiling water and then into the tumble dryer with a couple of those spikey dryer balls then the whole thing will felt, shrink and come out looking even more gorgeous than I had anticipated!

Except........... When one felts something that is longer than it is wide, the result is often that the item gets THINNER but LONGER.

So...... unless I manage to find a shopper on Folksy with a head circumference directly proportional to Katie Price's bust measurement, I'd say I'm pretty stuffed......

NO no no no no no no NO NO NO NO NNNOOOOOOO

I will not be beaten!

Up to the workshop I rush.......... a quick delve into the boxes of odds and sods that I've collected .......what have we here? Some sewing thread? Some glass beads? A bit of old lace?

Aha!

Back down the stairs I scuttled, grabbed the needles I'd used to knit the headband together with the leftover yarn. Some swift knitting on the bias followed and.....

TA DA (this is where the smug bit comes in).

Like a phoenix from the flames, my screwed up retro headband became a Victorian Inspired Scarflette, complete with GENUINE VINTAGE lace!

Good save, huh?

N.B Finished item now available on my Folksy Shop!

Wear it your way.....

2010-03-15T13:32:00.000Z

In some ways I feel slightly embarrassed to be blogging about this item for the simple reason that it is not exactly an adequate demonstration of my skills. Indeed, this is entirely a beginners pattern. Nonethless, for all its simplicity I absolutely adore the end result. Let's start at the beginning....

Many, many months ago I was glancing through a friends copy of Monika and Deborah Simmons' "Double Stitch" when I came across this design. Well, I say this design, but in actual fact I am claiming this design as my own! I remember that the Simmons twins had crocheted a lengthy belt, attached masses of colourful fringe and fastened with a large button. I recall being very taken with the idea of using fringe to create such a striking effect, but, as I was already engaged in several other projects, I forgot all about it.

Cut to about three or four weeks ago and, whilst giving my stash its bi-annual up-ending (basically just bringing everything that has become buried back to the surface so that it may fairly compete against newer purchases for a place in my next projects), I came across multiple skeins of sari sailk yarn. Now, I adore this stuff. Not only is it a luxury product, hand-spun by a womens co-operative in India, but furthermore it feels like such a quality product. The yarn has a good weight to it, fantastic movement and drape, has more vinbrancy than the moment Dorothy steps out of her Sepia dipped farmhouse and into the full technicolour shock that was Munchkinland and, perhaps most compelling of all, cannot free itself of all those romantic connotations of magic carpet rides, Asian Princesses, the monsoon and any other stunning images that are immediately projected into ones mind when one hears the word 'India'. My only problem though was this - i'd tried using Sari yarn before but found that its uneven gauge, indeed its very character, was not conducive to a pleasant knitting experience. This yarn does not like to be constrained by a pattern, calling instead for freedom, for liberty, for ( I realised now) THIS design! Approx 200 gms are used in the belt, but the majority of this is reserved for the fringe. You see, the project acts as a vehicle for showcasing the yarn instead of the other way round. It is not the design that makes this item sing - it is the unapologetic, in your face, MASS of sari yarn!

This particular example will be for sale on my Folksy shop within the next few minutes, but if you'd like to make your own then this is what you need to do:

Materials & Tools:

200grams Sari Yarn

1" button (mine was handmade from polymer clay)

5mm Crochet Hook

Darning needle

Step 1: Chain a continuous length of sari yarn until you can wrap it around your waist comfortably. What you want is to be able to wrap it around your waist, hold the length of chains together at your hip with the two ends dangling along the front of your legs. (see pictures for a rough idea). Stop chaining when the length of chains is the same length that you wish you finished belt to be.

Step 2: Tr crochet in every chain along the length. Ch2

Step 3: Repeat step 2

Step 4: Chain 5 & join with sl st through the tr space. Repeat all the way along. You are creating a continuous series of button loops along the top of the main belt.

Step 5: On opposite side to the button loops that you have created, add fringe all the way along. I suggest 2 lengths, folded in half. The fringe is attached between each of the tr. spaces of the first row.

Step 6: Weave in ends, attach button in a place that makes the belt comfortable for you and your style.... Wear it your way!

Try wearing the belt as a scarf or as a sarong on the beach!

Pulled in every direction...

2010-03-12T15:15:00.001Z

You know, sometimes I find crafting to be quite stressful.

It can be difficult to know where you ought to focus your attention. I sew, knit and crochet so, in itself, choosing the medium in which I want to work can be hard. Yet, even then there are so many other considerations. I had recently decided that I was only going to make things for myself which, as a stand alone statement, posed no problems. I have multitudinous projects backed up in various online and real-world 'to-do' lists and who doesn't like to expand their own wardrobe?! Yet, having knitted to the mid-way point on a chocolate brown sleeveless waistcoat I started to feel restless and dissatisfied. Perhaps I should start a second project?

Then, of course, I was faced with the stash problem. If I was only knitting things for myself, then what on earth was I going to with all the odd skeins of yarn that are stuffed on shelves in the workshop, each one representing yet another failure to control the fibre guzzling, impulsive yarn hoarder buried not so deep inside. They gaze at me in silence - voiceless, reproachful.....neglected. Row upon row of beautiful, wasted opportunities. Like performers who have failed a final audition. Good....great even....but not quite good enough. I am not ashamed to admit that my resolve weakened. I cannot possibly knit all of that yarn up into useful projects for myself (I draw the line, for example, at wearing peach!). How many scarfs/hats/tea cosies/ipod covers etc etc could one household possibly need? These were the early fruits of my labour, the projects that I made to learn and hone my skills. I had already gifted a million and one similar items to friends, family and work colleagues, would they be able to cope when the second wave hit in? Perhaps not.

But of course - the Folksy shop. A conscious and sustained effort would reward me with a profusion of little trifles, just perfect in their one-skein cuteness to sell on to happy browsers. But..... spring is just around the corner, who wants to wrap themselves in swathes of wool, alpaca and mohair when the buds begin to bloom and the opportunity to allow sunlight to gently caress pale skin finally presents itself? Spring and summer are the seasons for cotton, silk and lace knitting and, having barely considered these before, where would I start?

Moreover, if I was to spend my free time resourcing and making suitable patterns for the Folksy shop, how would I have any left to develop my own design skills? Throughout the last couple of years I have developed an acute awareness of the lack of decent mens knitting (and sewing for that matter) patterns. Apparently, the world assumes that gender dictates taste and therefore men cannot appreciate anything that is not heavily cabled in brown/black/blue or grey wool. I had anticipated that with some hard work and continued practice, I would be the guy that could redress the balance.

I realise now that I have, perhaps unfairly, presented this as a story with a punchline. But as you sit here reading, I am afraid to advise you that no 'Eureka' moment is to follow. I cannot show you how best to split your time to achieve optimum results in every area of your crafting life as I am none the wiser myself! I have just completed one small project (details to follow tomorrow) and cast on another, my waistcoat has grown a few more inches and my stash is now heaped on the floor looking, if it's possible, more hostile than ever and STILL I find myself pulled in every direction.

Procrastination, they tell me, is the thief of time.

I, dear readers, am losing entire days!

Spanish Inspiration

2010-03-10T14:39:00.002Z

On a recent trip to Barcelona I came across a fabulous clothing company called 'Desigual' and was completely mesmerised by their style. Unfortunately, I have to put my hands-up to being less than adventurous with my own. Don't get me wrong - I love to wear something a bit different but as that type of gay guy I tend to be drawn to things that are a little too effeminate to pull off with any measure of success, especially with my burgeoning weight(been dieting for three weeks now and no better for it!). When my love affair with crafting began I was, as I think people invariably are, immediately drawn to the potential to make things for other people. One's knitting career usually commences with several scarf length pieces of sweaty, gnarled yarn complete with dropped stitches and poorly woven yarn tails, which are generously offered out as gifts before being hastily forgotten by both giver and receiver. This, for me, was a trend that continued far longer than necessary and so here I am, 2 and a half years later, and only now am I beginning to realise that I am actually allowed to make things for myself! This is what prompted me to get my act together and figure out how to use my sewing machine. I'm still in the process of doing this but I am part way through sewing a 'practice' shirt with the aid of David Page Coffin's brilliant book "Shirtmaking: Developing Skills for Fine Sewing" and a Burda mens pattern (which are very few and far between I have since discovered!). I do not have any pictures of my efforts thus far but I will be posting some soon. My intention (read 'aspiration') is to eventually sew my own casual shirts in the style of the fabulous designers at Desigual. I love the fact that those guys are not afraid of colour, nor of using wildly contrasting patterns/fabrics on the same item. Take a look at some of these beauties and tell me that you're not inspired!:

And it's not just shirts. I came across the most fantastic jacket made up of about 7 different types/colours of tweed! I know such statement pieces are not to everybody's taste, but I was delighted when I saw what could be achieved with just a little imagination. And it doesn't stop there! Ladies - feast your eyes on these:

But STOP! Before you dash off to Google and order something gorgeous for yourself, take a look at how well Desigual can manipulate denim fabrics:

I was also particularly drawn to the...err...accessories presented in this photograph.

Ahem...................

After pondering my ability to make such garments myself, I decided to just jump in and give it a go. Hence the 'practice' shirt (constructed entirely from a particularly ~~revolting~~ stunning pair of ~~rotton old~~ vintage curtains)! As for the final product - I've just taken delivery of my first order of fabric from the lovely people at cottonpatch.co.uk and I am very impressed with my own choices! I threw caution to the wind and selected two vibrant fabrics that I would not normally have gone for. Wild, but I think they work!

To the left is an Amy Butler print, and the fabric on the right is by Kaffe Fassett. Both well-known and highly respected artists in their own right - so here's hoping some of the magic rubs off on my own creation! What do you think?

Despite all this encouragement to sew, sew, sew, my artistic appetite was still not entirely satisfied. "Please finish just one project before you move onto another" I hear hubby say. But that's a battle we all have to fight! I was determined to re-create for myself something similar to the funky waistcoat of mis-matched denims that I've shown above. Another online shopping trip sees me armed with a 'New Look' waistcoat sewing pattern and a few less pennies in the bank.

Inspiration? Check

Fabric? Check

Patterns? Check

Sewing supplies? Check

Now if I can just get that time machine running, I should have a new outfit by the weekend...........

A six month hiatus and a fresh start...

2010-03-08T16:04:00.001Z

So…… I had a blog once. I loved it. And then I messed it up. Like fad diets, exercise regimes, conversational German & parallel parking I eventually gave up and moved on. I didn’t want to but it was all such an effort! You see, you know how some people have ‘champagne taste but lemonade pockets’? Well I have a perfectionist’s outlook coupled with idleness and disinclination! I aspired to be a successful, articulate blogger with hundreds of arty photographs, a new lengthy post every hour on the hour and thousands of readers on every continent. I wanted my blog to be captivating, inspirational, amusing, and motivational. I wanted hoards of new crafters rushing out to buy yards of fabric, balls of yarn and more knitting needles than you could…err….shake a pointy stick at….. simply because of the epiphanic moment that they had experienced whilst browsing my blog. Alas….. Reality strikes. I’m only human. And I can live with that. So here it is – the new blog. Luckily my creativity has increased at the same rate as my waist measurement, so I can promise you some interesting posts. I warn you though, this is going to be a ‘warts and all’ blog from now on. You get the good with the bad. And I love a good moan just as much as the next person so I’m afraid that ‘cheerful’ and ‘optimistic’ cannot be guaranteed. If I make something and it turns out to be hideous, if I try a new technique and it all goes wrong, or if I use a new product and loathe it – you will get to hear about it! I will no longer strive for perpetual perfection! The second change that I intend to make is to include my darling partner in the new blog. Nathan also has a deep interest in all aspects of the craft world but he will add the interesting dimension of spinning to the blog. So look at that – whether you’ve moved with me from the old blog (and sincere thanks if that’s the case) or are an entirely new reader you get more for your money! TWO different sets of skills, TWO different projects to read about, TWO gorgeous gay guys to whisper in your ear about the joys of crafting!!!! WE ARE MOTHER’S RUIN AND THE FUN STARTS HERE!