FO: Ravellenic fingerless gloves and a beading WIP

Well, the weather continues to be rubbish - either grey and very wet, or grey and freezing. Either way, the sun has packed up and left. I felt sure we'd wake up to snow on the ground this morning, but no, it's back to blah. This is global warming, I guess - more water than we know what to do with, localised flooding, and yet the nearest carwash is kaput again. Pah!

This Sunday just gone, I had a table at the Alexandra Arts spring studio stash sale day - local artisans sell off old stock and extras they don't want. I donated some bobbin lace books to the book table, and managed to sell off some socks, my old bobbin lace board (with half-completed bookmark in situ and loads of notes and extra stuff), a hand-knit cardigan and a few sewing items. I raised £46 for Dementia UK and rounded that up to £50 just because I like round numbers. I did pick up some beautiful antique glass buttons, beads and some pretty fabric. The weather wasn't great (despite a brief glimpse of the sun  on Saturday) so visitors were low. 

Anyroad, being a bit down in the dumps, I made a list of all my hobbies (I have a LOT) and whilst having a stash dive in preparation for the above sale, I rediscovered a necklace kit I must have picked up at one of the NEC shows, so that's in progress. I also knitted two pairs of fingerless gloves on the KH965i, mostly because it's currently the Ravellenic games and as a moderator, I felt I ought to contribute something. I'd forgot there's a "yarn unwinding" event, I could have waited to frog that diastrous circular cardigan and made it into an event. Ah well! 

Sales table at the Alex

Fingerless gloves for the Ravellenic games, pattern is here. These are a great stashbuster and can be made in a long strip and then seperated later. T5 for sock yarn makes them a smidge too small (supposed to be ladies size) but would be great for teens. As this is sock yarn leftovers, one has to be frugal with the yarn! 

Another pair, think I made these over Xmas but didn't blog about them. Added extra cuff in a contrasting yarn, possibly making them a little too long. 

Beading in process - it's already further on than this, but seed bead spirals require good eyesight! The big yellow bead is a safety bead which will come off later. 

Gorgeous glass button and bead eye candy!

Current mood: crappy

Machine knitter interrupted

First, way past due - this was birthday sock yarn, and these are the socks it made!

I really need to finish this - the knitting was done by a local lady who has since passed away, so far I've managed to add all the cuffs (in a slightly different colour pink) and sew it up, it just needs the front bands finishing. Because she did facings, it's slowing me up as to how to complete them.

This looks much better on - the Green Grove tee. Though on closer inspection, it looks like I left some of the patterning out. Oh well, never mind! Now, what to do with the leftover yarn?

I made two pairs of these mittens on Sunday, but only managed to photograph this pair. Made from the Gerda Stitt pattern that she kindly let me host in perpetuity before she died.

Last, but by no means least, I have been distracted by the beading bug lately, when a friend gifted me her extensive bead stash. The bottom two are kits picked up at a recent craft fair - they will be either Spellbound Beads or Southampton Beads - and the top are beaded tassels I am making, after being inspired to make my own by some very expensive ones seen online. Mine are interchangeable, too! There might be some xmas present making going on too, but I can't post about that just yet!

Not shown, the kitty cross stitch kit I really ought to finish! In other news, we traded our cars in for a newer car and already some little sh!t has tried to hack the electronics. I guess getting stranded at a garden centre wasn't the worst place to end up, but still, ugh! It cost me £99 to get the car reset, and if it happens again I think I will trade it in for something less attractive...

Current mood: enthralled

Pictures from the rabbit hole

I told you I'd been busy! Apologies for the rotten pictures, best I could do at 10pm at night

A little bit of peyote and a bracelet made from some old beads of Mum's - I think I already made it into a bracelet once but it fell apart.

Life's been upside down here and it's been hard to see the positives. The Cog's dad's been poorly and in hospital so the Cog's been gone every night for evening visiting. K is in a bad way and barely communicating; though he's home, no care package is in place so I am not sure how mum and son will cope. To put the tin hat on the icing, a certain big UK DIY brand that has flashy adverts (begins with W) are refusing to fix our leaking kitchen for spurious reasons - sealant doesn't perish within a year but is apparently not covered in their workmanship "guarantee" (quotes deliberate because clearly it's worthless). I despair of ever getting a major job done on this house to a decent standard. We had a cowboy left us with a misplumbed shower about eight years ago, and the company that came to swap the pipes from the other side (hot for cold) damaged the bath in the process by dropping something sharp into it. Nobody has any pride in their workmanship any more, nor any decency nor honesty when it goes wrong. For shame. I despair of humanity when it's all about the money and no quality control. I have never felt less Easter, in spite of the long weekend. Ugh.

Current mood: angry

A new rabbit hole and computer woes...

First the mini rant - you'd think buying a new whizzbang Windows 11 laptop would be a joyous thing, wouldn't you? Well, I finally managed to "attend" the virtual Radiohead exhibit that my previous laptop's graphics card could not cope with. No more falling through holes into space, forever stuck and having to hit EXIT just to go back to the front door to try again. It was an amazing piece of work and the ONLY "game" I intend to install on the new laptop. No - the IT bods, in their wisdom, have hidden the ports under W11. This is a problem because a perfectly functional DAK cable, that works fine with W10 (it makes my work laptop go "bing bong" if you want to get technical), can no longer be "seen" as viable - it says there's a fault with the USB cable, the fault being that W11 is ignorant. So I cannot get DAK to talk to the Passap E6000. I discovered this quite late at night and gave up in disgust after a fruitless hour trying updates etc. Nothing about it in the Softbyte manual, W11 has yet to be invented there. I am in dangerous waters here because I only want to add ports, I don't want to become admin and end up getting hacked. So tonight's possible job is to try and get to the bottom of that mess. Thanks for nothing, Microsoft! Ironically the Silverlink box works just fine, I suspect because the SK840, being "brainless", needs a seperately powered box with RAM, and even W11 can't ignore actual electricity! Not impressed, Microsoft! Way to annoy anyone with older kit they need to run. 

On a more positive note, I spent a happy morning at Amanda's Glass Academy making a flower ornament using bullseye glass and mille fiori with a fellow WI member and a few of her relatives. Again my only problem was not putting too much on there! I've not got it back yet as they take a while to get fired. The following day (Mother's day in the UK) was also the last day of "Sewing for Pleasure" at the NEC, which also encompassed the "Creative Craft" and "Fashion and Embroidery" shows for the same price. Four of us (Mum was one, seemed churlish not to invite her when I realised what day it was!) went there in the Cog's car and had a great day, though we all ended up splitting up ultimately. Every crafter has their own private passions! J wanted to check out the high tech overlockers, Mum wanted some scrapbooking things, W was looking out for books (not many alas) and I just wanted to feast my eyes and did my usual, very OCD, up and down, so as not to miss anything. My haul? Some beading supplies plus a goody bag which contained three kits and quite a lot of other nice beady things from The Bead Selection, a rainbow necklace and bracelet kit from The Spellbound Bead Company, a fantastic tweed jacket from Manteaux that perfectly matches my current handbag (luckily for me, the last one in my size in their van), a cat and a heart wooden block and three new paints for my block printing kit. I resisted the yarn - there was one where the yarns were pettable, and one selling off the big plastic multipacks. I also managed to resist yet more fat quarters, though I did spend a good ten minutes teasing myself. Knitting-wise it was quite slim pickings, though Rachel Johns of the big needles was there. There weren't as many exhibition pieces as I'd expected, more workshop areas, and the "scrapbooking end" (Creative Craft Show) did seem a bit smaller, but perhaps that was just my imagination. I suspect the hall is the same size but the stands are further apart. One benefit of COVID, I always felt it was a fire safety nightmare in the pre-pandemic days because a lot of folks need mobility scooters and lots of folks take shopping trolleys! So it was a lovely creative weekend. I've made quite a few necklaces and some somewhat successful earrings, I made all of the kits up within a few days. Alas no pictures yet, I will work on that. Life has become even lonelier of an evening as the Cog's dad has gone into hospital in a confused state and the Cog and his brother V who lives over the road get the "night shift" of 6 to 8pm visiting. So I am rattling around the house, beading things, wondering if I really need more costume jewellery, tidying things, watching rubbish telly and getting annoyed whilst wondering why I cannot find any half-decent books on beading that explain actual techniques rather than just projects I don't particularly like! 

The Cog did me a lovely breakfast in bed for my birthday last week and had booked us tickets to the Abba show in London, which was amazing. What wasn't so much fun was being stuck on the M1 for nearly an hour because some idiot with a Bentley (and presumably another car; that was gone by the time we got to the straight section where the accident occurred) had had a nasty collision. We literally made it to the Abba venue with enough time for a comfort break but no lunch. Good job the fast 800 diet means we're fasting pros now, as there was no interval and we'd have had to climb over about 20 people twice in the dark. Not ideal! The show was great, and after a quick l'dunch, dlinner? at the shopping centre we'd parked at, we were back on the road so G could put in another night shift. This weekend we've a theatre show to go to. Dinner was also booked but is looking unlikely with all the ferrying about. My inner five year old wants to scream. Three COVID spoilt birthdays and a fourth with yet another cancelled family event - I really wish the Cog had kept it quiet so it hadn't hung over us all week. My sister is too busy to see me and caught COVID just to seal the deal. Boo and poo! As for London? Never drive, always train it. Though I was surprised that it was £6.50 each just for a return ticket for one stop on the DLR. Wow. Even our local bus is cheaper than that! The Cog did say he'd looked at hotels but it was very expensive. At least it was a sunday afternoon showing, so not too bad and as it turned out, ideal for the Cog and getting to his "night shift" 

Oh well. I am in a very dark mood because despite the change to BST my body still has no idea what timezone it's in yet. I did not manage to drop off 'til 4am after actually having a dream that wasn't a nightmare the previous night (there's always a downside). Career and work stuff upsetting me as usual.  Ugh. Pictures etc when I cheer up and take some. 

Current mood: exhausted

Happy New Year, Twixtmas organising and the mojo returns

Happy New Year! Well, we made it through the festive season in one piece. It was kind of odd to have three big dinners on the 24th (partner's family), 25th (just us) and 26th (Mum). We spent "twixtmas" pottering around the house and then caught up with my family, all safely out of isolation, on the 31st. It went too quickly, as it always does. Neither of us had the sense to book a second week off (himself doesn't get paid if he doesn't work, so consequently only took two weeks holiday last year as it was). Already it seems a distant memory!

I came up with a plan to organise my earrings by colour. It took a few days to percolate, but I eventually decided to mount them on stiff card (I used 300 gsm watercolour paper) that I'd poked holes into with sewing pins, using a template of gridded paper (see below).

These are just the multicoloured earrings, I made eight sheets in all and sorted them by colour. Small earrings and studs work across the top row. I realised if I cut the cards in half I could also mount the hooped earrings, and those with "kidney" wires along the bottom. Genius! Now I just need to figure out a way to store the cards, and to work out how to store my other jewellery - necklaces, brooches and bangles. 

Yes, I had a bit of a stationery sort out and found a few things I'd lost track of. Apparently I have a burning desire to collect multi-coloured pens and address labels, for example - I have Marie Kondo'd my stationery cupboard and put like things together. Hopefully that will stop me acquiring more when it's unneccessary. A belated xmas present to myself was a new Brother labelling machine, though ordering things over Twixtmas takes for-EV-er, and I got the labelling tape before the machine arrived.

I love the thought of "shopping" from what I already own, it tickles me no end. You should see my t-shirt shelf, all nicely rolled ha ha. Even the Cog has started using my system. I did the same with my knits - didn't think it'd be possible to place jumpers vertically, but it is! Turns out I can actually get more in a drawer if I do that. Who'd've thunk it?! I also do the roll thing with pyjamas. It doesn't work so well on gym gear, which tends to be slippier fabrics. 

During twixtmas week I picked up my first pair of varifocals. I almost immediately dropped them outside the shopping centre, whilst attempting to take my mask off, then later on that weekend I tripped over a step and nearly stood in something I shouldn't. The peripheral vision made me feel a bit sick to start with, and weirdly tall, but my brain seems to be getting the hang of them. The Cog has got his first pair of hearing aids. They won't pair properly with W10, but they do pair with Android. Consequently I can now never tell when he's in a meeting. I can literally hear the voices in his head. I'm not sure if this is an improvement or not! He says it's better!

The crafting mojo has returned somewhat - the Cog finally coughed up for a proper work desk (a sit-stand one from Yoyo desks), and I got him to agree to turn it parallel to the window which makes the second bedroom much more accessible for both of us. In the process we accidentally pulled the curtain rail down, so this week's job is to get measured up for some new blinds. I charged the Passap E6000 back up again and made some rather dubious hats, and started a crochet shawl this weekend. Yeah, nothing like a new project to get your creative juices flowing again. I really ought to finish some of the things in progress though. They are at least all in the same bag now, which is something! 

FO: Fiji necklace

Didn't get much crafting done this weekend, as we were away in Manchester for a wedding. I did get to visit Abakhan though, and I did finish this necklace kit when I got home on Sunday. It's the Fiji kit from the Spellbound Bead Company - I picked it up at the NEC show in March. Apologies for the poor picture, my smartphone camera is not great...

Could quite happily have stayed in bed this morning. Weird dream about meeting lots of cats I have loved in the past - I even got a hug from Gnasher!

Current mood: lethargic

FOs and WIP

Rotten photo, this bag charm is sewing-themed and is attached to my sewing machine bag. You might be able to make out a tailor's dummy, scissors, safety pin and bodkin:



Cranked these out at the weekend, yarn is Knitpicks Felici:


Almost wish I hadn't accidentally bought such a big loom - it takes up most of the table. Almost! Since redecorating, the warp got loose, the ratchets swung open. I will try and make sure that doesn't happen again, because some of the warp is now very tight and I can't figure out what's causing it as it was warped up pretty well before the move. Oh well.


Had weird dream that not only was Dad still alive, but that he was Mum's second husband and she'd secretly been married to a Spaniard. Pay no mind, it's mostly the plot of a book I'm currently reading!

Current mood: curious

FO: charmed things and the dress again

As promised, some shots of the dress on me - why yes, all bloggers are headless! I could do with adding something to the neckline to keep it attached to my bra, the neck is a bit big.




I decided to use the charms to add some bling to my bag - I spotted a designer bag in Selfridges once that had all these charms attached to it and thought, you know what? I could do that for a lot less money, and they could be things personal to me. So I did!


Love themed


Keys, crucifix, heart, scissors


You'd know it was my bag anywhere with all those badges!


The parrot is a gift from a work colleague, the heart was a souvenir from Iceland (about all I could afford, haha, and it turned out there's a branch of Tiger in Coventry anyway), the sheep keyring a present from my sister and the scissors a freebie with a new overlocker case.

Of course, as soon as I tried to convert my Passap swatch into a proper hat, everything went wrong again, so after two hours trying to get something sensible out of the machine I gave up. Ms Passap just isn't happy doing single bed tuck, so no hat, and therefore no competition entry for me. Bah.

Current mood: working

Crafty weekend

Had a lovely crafty weekend, although spent 6 hours in the car across the two days. Saturday was a hen weekend jewellery workshop at the Makery in Bath - couldn't stay for the rest of the hen activities, alas. Made a lovely bracelet and earrings:



Finished up a few things last week and finally got pics:




Skew socks - they look a lot better on.

Was helping out on the Guild stand at Fibre East yesterday, and I may have just picked up some yarn:



I defy anyone to resist a yarn in the colourway "Whiff of unicorn"...



Fibre East was lovely though didn't spot many folks I recognised this year. Minor quibble - the postcode doesn't appear on the site, had to dig it out of my 'phone from last year. 

Incidentally, that's the same duvet cover background in every picture. Shows you how much flash can make a difference...

Also bought some replacement 4mm Knitpro tips, which means that the pair that have eluded me will now turn up somewhere.

Discovered the "new" sofa eats things - found quite a stash of craft articles underneath it last night.