Crocheting my fingers to the bone . . .

The craft fair (fayre?) is on Saturday & I have spent the last fortnight with a crochet hook in hand. I don't think I've made eye contact with Iain all week & he, Mhara & Rowan are feeling a tad neglected.

Still, Iain's a bit happier tonight since I've given him an excuse to fiddle with his camera. A couple of things still need to be finished off but he's managed to photograph most of it so here goes;-



Hair slides, pony tail bands & barrettes (the ones with felt leaves)



Hair bands



Lip balm holders & lip gloss holders



Bracelets



Lavender pillows



A rabbit softie & 2 blanket buddies



Tree decorations. The robin is v cute but hasn't photographed very well. The one in the egg cup is a gnome btw - it was the only way I could make him stand up.



And finally for GingerMonkey . . .




. . . a cupcake bag ;0)

Just a quickie

Okay I know I said I was having a week off to get ready for the craft fair & I meant it, honest, but my Auntie sent me some pics of the gifts I made for her 60th birthday so I thought I would share.


The vase was her 'proper' pressie & was knitted in Colinette Prism then felted in the washing machine & embellished with a crochet flower. The roses are wooden ones that I got from a market stall.

!!WARNING - IF YOU ARE OF A SENSITIVE DISPOSITION PLEASE LOOK AWAY NOW!!

I also made a joke pressie of [[ahem]] knitted gents' genitalia for my mum to present to her at the party (all 3 sisters have rather a bawdy sense of humour). Thankfully she left his wee hat on for the pic so it's not quite as rude as it could be. I weighted the bottom by sticking a glass pebble into 2 balloons (pink ones - poor Iain walked in in the middle of the operation & was horrified) & tying the 2 ends together. It actually gives it a realistic feel [[blush]] & makes it stand up on its own. One of my Auntie's friends spent the whole party stroking the darn thing & tried to smuggle it home - she's asked me to knit one for her the same only bigger :-0



(I'm not sure how long this pic'll stay on the blog so snigger while you can)

Taking a short break . . .

. . . as I've gone & booked a table at a craft fair on 1st December & have practically no stock!!! So I shall be crocheting my fingers to the bone in an attempt not to embarrass myself with a pitiful display.

Will be back in a week or so ;0)

Amelie

The lovely GingerMonkey, who I know from another site, makes the most beautiful hand-sewn toys. I made the mistake of opening her blog while Mhara was hanging off my shoulder so wasn't too surprised when a little voice in my ear said "Santa bring one of them for me Mummy?". How could I refuse? Amelie the Emu arrived last week with her luggage & immediately took up refuge in a safe-house (aka a box in the bottom of my wardrobe) where she will stay until Christmas. She seems quite happy here & the Scottish winter doesn't seem to have affected her so far but she has developed an addiction for whisky & fudge so we may need to loosen her legwarmers soon.



Photo courtesy of GingerMonkey - thanks GM ;0)

Penny For Your Thoughts.

This is Penelope, my first attempt at a crocheted doll. She took about 5 days (and a lot of cursing) to make what with all the ripping back while I was trying to work out a pattern. I'm quite pleased with her now tho' & actually had the foresight to write down the pattern as I went along so as long as I can decipher my scribbles she should soon have lots of friends to keep her company.



Preferring to be called Penny - she's only Penelope when she's done something naughty - she's a little over 12" tall with long auburn hair which she wears in bunches. She's dressed for the autumn weather in woolly tights, knee boots & a crocheted dress. She refuses to wear a coat (typical teenager) but has consented to a warm fluffy scarf. Penny carries a messenger bag (not pictured) decorated with a funky paisley-patterned button. She's asked if she can have one of the corsages to take as a pressie to her new owner when she gets one & to avoid a strop I have agreed.

Corsages and Hairbands and Belts, oh my!

I know the blog's called woolly KNIT bits but I've gotten a bit hooked (I can see you wincing heh heh) on crochet. I bought a huge bag of assorted buckles off ebay for the princely sum of £7.78 (bargain - I paid £2.99 for one at the craft shop the other week!) & have been having fun using up odd balls of yarn crocheting accessories. The blue belt is done in baby bamboo (I love the colour) & the pink is pure cotton. The brown is a tweedy dk yarn that I got from my lovely granny when she was clearing out her stash. There's loads of it so I might try a little toy for Rowan's birthday with it but I'd better get my skates on - he'll be one on Saturday. That can be my MN A&C challenge for this week.



The hairbands are crocheted in Noro Kureyon (blue/brown) & Twilleys Freedom Spirit (green). They can be worn as Alice bands, neckwarmers or earwarmers - handy for me 'cos since getting all my hair cut off I just don't suit hats any more but still need to stop my ears freezing off in our sub-zero Scottish winters. I have orders from my teenage daughters for one each (red for Joanna, blue for Abbie) & Mhara already has one with a crocheted loveheart in a garish pink acrylic marl which she absolutely adores. There's no accounting for the tastes of a two year old.

The corsages are in a mix of yarns (mostly Freedom Spirit) & have all been felted apart from the orange - I'm still not sure whether I prefer them felted or not. I'm hoping to start up a shop on Etsy or similar which is why I've been stockpiling these little bits & pieces - once I've got a few toys & bags to add I'll be ready to go (fingers crossed).

Little Monsters

We had a halloween party on Wednesday & Mhara was so excited - she spent all day telling anyone who would listen that she was having a fancy dress party. Normally if strangers talk to her she just glowers or hides behind me but these poor people were getting their ears talked off with no provocation. Mhara was dressed as a witch (given that she's smack in the middle of the terrible twos it was an appropriate costume choice) & Rowan looked singularly unimpressed with his bat outfit but everyone else thought he looked gorgeous.