Katie V’s alien

Today I've had permission to share this wonderful little bag that Katie V made for her granddaughter.  I'm going to HAVE to have a go at this bag sometime.  This is what Katie says.

"Hi, Jane, 

My granddaughter is "into" Stranger Things" and asked for a bag of this fabric--so what could be stranger than for a red alien to find a new home there!

Thank you!!!

Katie V in NC"

I asked about the pattern and Katie gave me this link which I've saved in my 'notes' ready for when I've got time!!!!

While I'm showing an alien - are there anymore 'out there' ready to go on the TIAS blog?

Finding an old friend again

Some years ago the library in Stratford decided to start up a craft group which I thought was a great idea.  I toddled along and quickly made new crafty friends.  Sadly one died since then but I still see one of them around the town from time to time.

Now in that group was an elderly (by that I mean EVEN older than me) lady who was a really, really avid crafter.  Sadly she doesn't get out much nowadays and I lost touch with her.  Often thought about her as she was so much into her craft work.  

A few weeks ago she got in touch with me which was GREAT.  She offered me the shuttles you can see below.  I went round to her place to pick them up and found her looking really well and surrounded by 'crafts in progress' including one that she was working on in the library!!!  

Sadly the craft group petered out - I think the time of the day it was meeting might've had something to do with that.  Who knows.  Most people want their lunch at 1 o'clock - not to go crafting!!!

I'm intrigued by the bone shuttle with the name on.  I think it says 'Walker'.  

Time for something new - patchwork.

I have a blue theme in my bedroom.  But I have a very bright cloth on the table and I’m now bored with it.  This is the one I’m talking about.

So I felt it was time to make a ‘simply blue’ one!!!  I’ve got a LOT of blue fabric but have never really wanted to use blue!!!  IF you can understand that.  

First of all I had to decide on a size.  I don’t ‘do’ big - I like fiddly!!!!  I sent for a new template as the one I’d got had only got the inside size I wanted and not the size for the fabric to fit round the papers.  I’m now ready to start!!!  Below is some of the blue fabric I’ve got.

A scarf started

I thought about what to do with the yarn I showed you yesterday and it really was a ‘no brainer’.  Another scarf.  Yes I know that a person only has ONE NECK but I thought that somebody would like a scarf somewhere.  

In the end I’ve decided that as I was ‘sort of’ given this yarn for free then I should make it up and give it back to either a suitable swop shop OR a charity like the food bank.  

A start has been made!!!  I’m pleased to say that the glittery metallic part of this yarn is easy to crochet with.  I’m using the same pattern as I used on this one.  

Oh dear!

Well after the scarves were finished I thought that that was the end of my scarf making episode!!!  

WRONG!!!

I was looking in my yarn stash and found this yarn.  It was a few months ago that I went to the local Repair Cafe to get my sewing scissors sharpened and found there was a swop shop going on downstairs.  I saw this yarn and picked up two balls of it as I really LOVE the colours.  

I feel another scarf coming on!!!

Hmmmmm

After spending time making the tunic/jacket I thought life was complete and that would be the end of the matter.

Then I went to Alcester on Friday, as usual, to join the ladies at Crafternoon.  

Alcester is a real English town which still retains a LOT of small useful shops but like most towns it does have quite a few charity shops.  I love browsing through them as there are sometimes bargains to be found.  They’re much better than the ones we have in town here.

Well, I spotted this which I simply HAD to buy.  Isn’t it great?

Finer details of the top

Now the fastening at the top of the tunic is something I’ve ‘invented’!!!!

Two buttons sewn onto the outside but underneath I’ve made a tab with a velcro fastening.  

As I’m not sure if I really want it to be closed at the top I’ve added a press stud to hold the tab back out of the way hidden behind the tunic.  I was quite pleased with BC£’s smart idea and hope it works as or when needed!!!

The tunic is FINISHED

Well it’s finished. This is where I’d got to last time.  

Now I don’t think this really shows it at its best as I should’ve worn a black top underneath it. I think it’ll look really ‘dressy’ when I scrub myself up and wear something more suitable. 

I’m very pleased with it and now need an excuse to wear it!!!

Comparing the two scarves

Ah, I thought it might be a good idea to compare the two scarves.  The one on the left is knitted and the one on the right is crocheted.  

The yarn below is the leftovers from the knitted one which shows that the yarn goes further if you knit this yarn.  Well in ‘Jane theory’, that is.  I still think I prefer the crochet one and it’s certainly a lot faster to make.  Not that I really care about that!!!

Another scarf finished

Here's the other scarf that I was crocheting.  I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed this once I'd got into the swing of the pattern!  There are loads of chevron patterns ‘out there’ and particularly on Ravelry.  Lots of free ones too.  

I think it's going to be a really cozy scarf and that's another present for Christmas done!!!

Monday Moan - blogs

I love my blog as you've probably gathered!!!  Keeps me up to speed and is a way I can say what I feel and keep track of what I'm doing.  Some weeks I don’t have time but (like this coming week) I’ve got lots to show.

Sadly other bloggers seem to have moved over to Facebook, Instagram and other places which means I rarely see what people are doing.  I get posts in the tatting groups from Facebook but most of those are from people selling patterns which I never look at.  I reckon I must get up to fifty a day of those selling posts.  The way I use Facebook is simple.  I join a tatting group and then have email notifications of people’s posts coming into my inbox. This means I can delete all the selling posts from my inbox without ever going to the platform itself.  Simple - but ‘50 a day keeps Jane away’ from Facebook.  

Now because everybody seems to be leaving the ‘sinking ship’ (Blog Land) I’m having problems keeping an up to date resume on the right side of the blog.  I like to help other bloggers by showing those who blog regularly on the side of my page.  I amended this list yesterday and have taken one or two off (beware, Sally, you’re next!) and added one who appears to have returned to blogging.  

What I’d like to do is add those who aren’t showing on my blog but are currently blogging so please, if you know of anybody, send me their link.  Let’s keep blogging!!!

An empty Monday moan!

Empty because I’ve run out of time.  Last week was so busy I didn’t have time for photo taking but crafting continued in fits and starts.  I’ll try and catch up with myself this week and meantime apologise for lack of entertainment on my entertainment channel - this blog!!!

BUT there may be the odd post in the meantime!!!!

A butterfly in my garden on Saturday.

Now how is the sewing getting on?

Well here's the progress so far.  

I'm hopeless at making decisions too far ahead but having decided on what I finally want from this fabric here's where I'm 'at' now!  BUT what do I really want from this adventure?  I think the closest thing I can tell you is that I want something I can wear!!!

Scarf number 2 - progress

Progress is being made on the crochet scarf.  Not a lot as I'm in tatting designing 'mode' at the moment.  

Goodness knows if this will be another 'long lost' design which will lurk forgotten and unloved somewhere either on the iCloud or on the iMac!!!!!  Time and BC3's patience will tell!!!

Sock it to me!!!

Still working on the first sock and somewhat panicking that I’ll have enough yarn to make the pair. The person I’m making this for wants the sock to be knee length which I’m fretting about because I’m not sure I’m going to have enough yarn for the pair.

The ‘gals’ at knitting group assure me that I should be able to get the pair out of a 100 gram ball but time will tell!!!

Each time I’ve finished a session of knitting I weigh the yarn left on the ball. It’s a bit of a tense situation here for my BC3!!!

Monday moan

A week or so ago somebody contacted me to say there was a problem with one of my web pages.  This one, in fact.   

I quickly found out what the problem was and thought it might be a good idea to explain how things had gone wrong.  

Originally the page was done using LibreOffice which is free open source software and is similar to Microsoft Office.  When I used to build pages using this I had to ‘set’ images in a table to keep them in the place I wanted them to be.  

A few years on and I moved over to using Pages (IOS software) and it was really easy to open the doc versions done in LibreOffice in Pages and just carry on.  I found, however that it was better to remove the tables I’d set the images in as Pages allows you so much more flexibility in moving images around.  BUT when it came to the butterfly doily I appear to have forgotten to remove the tables and the one part got ‘buried under’ the other!!!  I managed to put it right straightaway.  As ever I’m always grateful to people who ‘tip me the wink’ when they find a problem.

On another occasion during the past few weeks I was also told that a technique page that I did was wrong too.  When I looked at it I could see nothing wrong so asked two more expert tatters to look it over too.  They couldn’t see a problem either so as the page has been floating around for twelve years I’ve left it.  I think the person who reported the problem to me was ‘over thinking’ what the page was all about!!!

A picture to cheer you up!! Taken yesterday on the rec.

Sock progress

Meanwhile 'back in sock land' progress is slowly being made there too!!! 

Here's where I was last time I showed you. It'll soon be time to tackle the heel which should be an interesting experience since it's many years since I last did a heel and that was with a top down sock. This time it's the toe up way of working. 

Surprise, surprise

A BIG thank you to Judy who sent in her alien. It's never too late to be an alien on the TIAS blog!!! Here's a link to see it.

Fabric and playtime!!

Now what do you think of this fabric? Isn't it - well, ummm, errrr, bright? I was given it in a free cycle pickup and fell in love with it straightaway. 

This was at least a year ago and it was thought about, put away, brought out to 'deal with', put away again and finally a week or two ago I got it out again!!! 

Originally I was going to make a 'floaty' kimono sort of long jacket thingy for myself but realised that the fabric doesn't drape enough for that.

Also one has to consider that I'm short, dumpy (one 'could' say fat) and don't really 'do' that sort of garment. So out came BC3 and the pattern you see below.  

That's NOT what I'm aiming for but it's a start. I'm going to place the front and backs on the fabric but allowing for a cut down the centre of the front (so it will become a jacket). There will need to be allowances for it to fit over other garments and so sleeves will have to be made larger under the arm and also to compliment that - in the fronts and backs too. Lots of input from BC3 will be needed but I think it's going to be fun. 

I am much braver with this sort of project when I know I haven't had to lay out loads of money on the fabric in the first place!!! 

Right - here we go!!!

Martha's Dragon

This is another of the  test tats for Martha's new book.  I really need to do this again as I'm afraid I didn't get the wings as well as they should and ARE in the pattern.  

There's absolutely no problem with the pattern but it's my fingers and brain which were at fault.  I was trying to get it finished before bedtime and (you all know how it is) I wasn't concentrating well when it came to pressing it.  He's a really lovely tat and I'll certainly be making one for Jayne along the road.  She's from Wales and her husband is really into dragons.  

Leftover cats

Yesterday I told a lie. I apologise. I said that all the cat fabric was gone but when I was tidying up I found there were four left on tiny scraps of fabric!!!!

So I experimented with ‘half cats’ (or even less than half) and found that if I put them onto the iron on batting ‘stuff’ then used the scraps of black lining I had leftover from the box and used a very narrow zig zag stitch I could make some little ‘dangly’ cats!!! 

Nothing wasted in this house!!!!

Ta de dah!!!

Blow the trumpets and bang the drums!!!! It’s finished.

It’s not the ‘best’ piece of sewing I’ve ever done but the person it’s been given to seems pleased with it. I loved that cat fabric but it’s now ‘all gone’. 

I haven’t got any sewing planned at the moment - the table is ‘almost’ tidy so I’ll have to get BC3 thinking about the next adventure. 

I have a glorious piece of fabric that I want to make a ‘floaty’ sort of kimono or waterfall thingy (jacket?) out of but as yet I’ve not had the courage to start. I really don’t want to buy a pattern as I think it’ll be pretty straightforward. Perhaps I should just do a ‘go with the flow’ project with it? Suggestions are welcome.

Meantime the patchwork jacket is waiting for it’s embellishments!!

The cat box progress

Remember this project? Well I haven’t forgotten it but heat and a busy life got in the way for a while!!! 

This is a ‘make it up as you go along’ project and it seems to be going quite well. The box part is almost finished and these pictures show the lid being constructed. I found some iron on sort of batting stuff in my stash and had enough for the sides, bottom and lid. 

Sock it to me!!!

Off on another adventure!!! I have a ‘client’ for socks in the family, I’m delighted to say. Like gloves - I like knitting socks but this time I wanted to knit them t’other way up. Starting at the toe and going upwards. 

Now Sue has been a huge help with sending me lots of free patterns and ideas/advice and my knitting group have chipped in too. 

I bought the yarn from Hobbycraft

This was my second ‘start’ as the first one left me with a very narrow toe bit. 

Martha's kitty

This is another of the patterns in Martha’s new book.  Isn’t it so cute?  

Thanks to Martha I’m now back in designing ‘mode’ too so watch out for some more fun to come.  

The King has arrived!

Nothing to do with crafting today!!  I’m posting this because - well, just because.

I have a boring grey car like so many other people here in the UK.  I am also HOPELESS at knowing any car’s make or model and class cars as ‘posh’ or ‘just a car’.  In fact cars to me are ‘that red car’ (a rare thing) or ‘looks expensive to me’.  So years ago when I realised I had this ‘brain problem’ I decided that I needed to have something to enable me to find my own car easily.  We have on street parking and you often can’t find a spot near the house so it’s a case of ‘hunt that grey car’ when you’ve forgotten where you left it a week or more ago.  

To make sure I can find my own car I had a solar ‘jiggly’ on the dashboard - our late Queen.  Sadly last winter she got knocked flying as I was trying to de-mist the window and she became crippled beyond repair.  

She’d been given to me by some good friends round the corner and I replaced her with a snowman just because there happened to be one nearby!

They saw this and decided that I really ought to have a King in the car and very kindly bought me a King.  So Charles is now guarding my car and I’ll be able to find it again when I need it!!!  Thank you, S & S.  I really appreciate my new guardian.

Starting the second scarf

As you know I bought two balls of this yarn but this time I wanted to use another pattern.  I went on a search but couldn’t make up my mind (I’ve got an honours degree in dithering) so decided to look into crocheting one instead!!!

I found this one on Ravelry  

I need something I can do while I’m chatting.  Guess what?  I’ve still managed to make mistakes!!! 

This is growing much more quickly because it’s crocheted so I’ll soon have to find something ELSE I can do while I’m talking!!

Test tatting

Before I start I am delighted to say that Etsy removed the offending item and has contacted the seller.  

I had the very great pleasure of test tatting again for Martha Ess and her new book which should be ready shortly.  In fact I’ve got another one to try for her which I will show you another day.

It’s always a pleasure to test tat for Martha as her patterns are SO well written.  It becomes (for me) a real ‘test of a test tatter’ because the patterns rarely have mistakes in them.  I find I have to concentrate really hard which does mean that BC3 has to be wide awake!!!

Major Monday Moan

Some years ago a tatter contacted me to ask permission to teach one of my patterns and I pointed out that it was far too long for a class.  However, without any further contact with me she did take part of my pattern, repurposed it and offered that as a class.  She re-wrote it (badly in my opinion) and the organisers recognised it as part of one of my patterns so added that her pattern was ‘inspired by’ myself. 

Roll on to another occasion when I happened to be sitting in a room not far from this person and heard her complaining about ‘her’ pattern being stolen by another person on another continent who had had it published in a magazine.  Here was I within hearing distance listening to MY pattern having been stolen by a thief.  What did I do?  Well, nothing.

Roll on another few years and this person is doing it again.  This time she’s selling an item from my pattern site in her Etsy store.  I have reported this to Etsy as I have a Creative Commons licence on my site.

Why do I have this licence?  Think about it.  Many months of work are spent on making a design and I don’t see why people should then take MY hard work (which I give freely) and make money from it without even mentioning their source either.  

End of Monday moan.

A new friend and new fabric

A new lady joined us at the Friday knitting group a few weeks ago.  She fitted in straightaway but that’s really not hard as they’re a fantastic group.  They’ve helped me renew an interest in knitting and crochet with many tips (and tricks!).  

She’d mentioned she’d got some fat quarters she’d like to give me as I was talking about my new patchwork jacket.  Last Friday she gave them to me and here they are.

I wanted to say thank you and decided to offer her a microwave soup bowl cozie which she said she’d like.  I’ll show you next week - AFTER I’ve given it to her today!!!

Here are the fabrics.  First of all the front and then the back of the three bundles of fat quarters.  OR is it the back first and then the front?!?

Another project

This time sewing.

I have a small amount of this cat fabric left from other projects but it’s an awkward shape!!  It’s like a cross shape but I forgot to take a photo before I started.  There’s a sketch below to show you the ‘problem’.  There was also another small amount too.  

A dear member of the family spotted the fabric and she just LUVS cats so I thought - that’s got to be something for her.  A box, I thought.  So I cut out four sides and a bottom.  I’ve got plenty of wadding at the moment so that was brought into the equation too.  

Now I’m hopeless with bag and box making.  I cannot find exactly what I want on pattern searches so I thought I’d do what I usually do and ‘wing it’.  

So far, so good!!!

                                            

It’s finished - the scarf

Well here it is in all its glory.  On probably the hottest day of the year, so far, I finished it!!!  

BUT - I have a problem, Houston!!!  More next week, probably.