Selling for charity!

I haven't posted on here for a few months because there's been a lot going on.

I mentioned the Mad Hatter's Tea Party on here before, and said that my Mum and I were going to host a stall with all our proceeds going to charity (Cancer Research UK). 

My family and I went to Mad Hatter's on 8 June with a stall full of baby dresses, cardis, hats and blankets as well as earrings, bookmarks and a few kittens. We had an amazing day with lots of support and lots of money being raised.

(Photograph by Tigerfly Photography)

There is still some stock left over and I'd still like to sell it on for charity, so I've taken advantage of eBay's selling for charity feature, and listed some of the spare stock on there (I may not list it all this month, as I'd also like to take advantage of the 20 free listings per month).

Please, please, please take a look at what I'm selling on there, if it isn't appropriate for you, maybe you could share it with someone you know.

I'd really like to raise as much as possible for Cancer Research UK. It has always been a charity close to my heart as many people in my extended family have been affected by cancer. I think I've mentioned on here before about my Mum's struggle with the disease too.

Sadly Mum never made it to Mad Hatter's as she was taken from the world far too soon, on 6 June, aged just 43. So now, more than ever I want to keep fundraising for Cancer Research, so that no-one else has to struggle the way she did, and the way my family does!

With Race for Life happening around the country most weekends at the moment, let's all tell cancer to jog on!

New year craft resolutions

I have a few things in mind craft-wise that I would like to try or improve this year. Having read a few resolution posts from other bloggers I thought it would be a good idea to jot my own down here.

Knitting

1. Try some colour work

I've actually already started with this one. I found a lovely pattern for a hat using stranding/fair isle on craftsy (click "pattern" to go there). I'll update you on my progress with that soon as I have some longer DPNs in the post to help me out!

2. Knit a cute hat so I can stop drooling over different ones in high street stores

3. Use my gorgeous new wooden knitting needles, possibly to complete...

4. Knit some sort of garment, even if it's baby clothing that will sit in a box until anyone I know can make use of it

Crochet

1. Make something with my new Afghan hooks

2. Finish the as-we-go stripey blanket from last year (it's been in progress over 6 months.. it's probably about time I finished it!)

I hope you all have a happy and healthy new year!

Lonely Tree Shawl

I finished my knitting last week!

Here's my shawl, originally mentioned and linked to the pattern here, when I finished it:

Looks alright, but not perfect, and you don't really get the gist of the pattern.. so I had to block it.

And apparently this is the bit where most knitters turn away in horror, or so I've read in other blogs!

To begin with, the blocking was a bit of a nightmare.

I remembered reading on Lucy's blog, Attic 24, about blocking acrylic with steam, which she had suggested for the bunting for yarndale, which has just passed by!

Remembering this, I realised I'd need an iron, and ours, sadly, is not capable of producing steam, due to a crack from it being dropped (thankfully cold) on to our floor...

So, I had to borrow my Mum's, which meant waiting until the weekend to be able to wear my shawl!

Once I'd gotten hold of Mum's iron though, the blocking process was fairly straight forward, if a little time consuming.

I pinned the shawl one section at a time to my ironing board, hovered the iron over it, pressing the steam button far too often, then let it dry, unpinned, and repeated.

When it was finally done, I had my finished shawl (almost.. I sewed in the ends in the car as I was so desperate to wear it!)

So there we have it.. and now I would happily try knitting something again. It gave my fingers a welcome change from my awkward style of crocheting! :)

Mile of Mice!

I have been planning to send off a little mouse for a very long time now..

I saw the posts about them a very long time ago now, thought they were pretty sweet, but that was about it!

Then after my crafty session with Tom's nan, Sue, earlier in the year, I decided the mouse would be a perfect little thing to make to carry on my knitting.

(I've since done no more knitting.. oops, bad me!)

ANYWAY

The mice are to raise awareness for the Alzheimer's Society and you can find more information about them here.

My own little mouse may be a little bit plain compared to some others.. I only used one colour! But he is made from the lovely African Expressions yarn 'Joy'.

I think I made him on 3.5mm needles as I don't have 3.75mm which the pattern suggested and finally sent him off last weekend!

What do you think of him?

Are any of you planning on sending off some little mice?

Sewing machine: second project

Again, in Basingstoke with Sue I tried another wrap. This time for my knitting needles!

I'm much happier with this one. I preferred working with this material and having some practise with the crochet hook wrap helped too.

I didn't attach the tie with this one and I left a couple of pockets on the inside (as shown by my bracelet) that I can use to keep small projects, or balls of yarn, in. 

4KCBWDAY7: Looking forward.. and the end.

Day Seven (Sunday April 28th): Looking Forward
One year from now, when the 5th Knitting & Crochet Blog Week rolls around, where do you hope your crafting will have taken you to? What new skills, projects and experiences do you hope you might have conquered or tried?

This could be anything from mastering a technique (broomstick lace, entrelac, etc), trying a new yarn or skill, or a long term wish to crochet only from your stash, or knit every stitch in one of the Harmony Guides. Maybe you have no desire or plans for your craft at all, no new element of knitting or crochet that you dream of mastering, in which case write about why that might be. In a year's time participants will be asked to look back to see if they achieved any goals, no matter how general, and see which house conquered the art of looking forward.

Okay, so a proper goal would be to try out lots of different square patterns. I need to (finally) get myself down to the library, find a crochet book, and experiment with different crochet squares.

I'd like to try some more tunisian crochet. I really enjoyed the little testers I did.. but I don't have the right hooks (yet).

I should probably aim to have at least finished the blankets I'm already working on.. and finish the one I'm planning to do as part of a CAL by not your average crochet.

So those are my plans.. and I look forward to seeing everyone else's on the 4KCBWDAY7 tag.. type it in to google to find more blogs :)

I've really enjoyed taking part in Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2013.. thanks to Eskimimi makes for organising such a great event!

4KCBWDAY6: A tool to covet

Day Six (Saturday April 27th): A Tool To Covet
Write about your favourite knitting or crochet (or spinning, etc) tool. It can either be a tool directly involved in your craft (knitting needles or crochet hook) or something that makes your craft more pleasurable – be it a special lamp, or stitch markers. 

Is it an item that you would recommend to others, and if so for which applications/tasks do you think it is most suited. Conversely, do you have a tool/accessory that you regret buying? Why does it not work for you?

I don't really use that many tools in my crafts.. I mean, I obviously use crochet hooks, and knitting needles. I use stitch markers too, but aside from those my "tools" are few and far between...

I do have a fair few hooks though:

And knitting needles:

And sooo many stitch markers (because I lose and break them frequently).

You can also see my cable needle, which I have just learnt to use. Also my circular needle, which I've never used..

I have some bamboo DPNs somewhere too, but I'm not sure where I've put them..

Don't forget to search 4kcbwday6 for more knitting and crochet tools :)

4KCBWDAY4: Colour review

What are your favourite colours for knitted or crocheted projects. Have a think about what colours you seem to favour when yarn shopping and crafting.Only after writing this part of your post should you then actually look to see what colours you have used in your projects. Make a quick tally of what colours you have used in your projects over the past year and compare it to the colours you have written about. Compare this, in turn, to the colours that are most dominant in your yarn stash – do they correlate?Now think back to your house animal - do the colours you have chosen relate to your animal in anyway - if you are in the house of peacock, for example, are your projects often multicoloured and bright?

I love pastel colours!

I'm trying to collect a load of them at the moment for a blanket crochet-a-long. I don't think I use that many of them in general though. I like to make small amigurumi projects, so I like to have lots of different basic colours, so that I can make true-to-life colour animals.

I recently bought 8 different colour 50g balls of acrylic yarn just for this purpose!

I have started using the yellow and orange, but the others are all stashed away.

Now: here are pretty much all the colours I own in my stash..

The last two are the beginnings of the pastels for my blanket :)

In terms of my yarn relating back to my house. I suppose my hexagon blanket (WIP) could be seen as relating to me being a bee. I keep flitting between it and other projects, because making a hexagon doesn't take too long. The hexagon is the shape bees use for their hives and the yellow rows will be yellow and black! So that worked out well! I do prefer my baby blanket though (giant granny square) as it is a very relaxing project that I can easily do in front of the TV. I love the colours of that blanket too.. I never would've put them together myself, but all the yarn came in a pack together, and I just used them in the order my hands came to them.. then repeated it when I got through them all!

If you want to see the colours other people like to work with search 4KCBWDAY4 to find tonnes of other blogs taking part in knitting and crochet week :)

4KCBWDAY3: Infographic time!

Time to make an infographic!

Well... I didn't really know what to do with this one! It took me a while to think of what I could portray to you. In the end I've gone with a simple (and estimated.. I really have no idea of the real statistics, but I tried to make it vaguely accurate).

So here it is...

So there have been some quick projects..

A couple of mug hugs:

Some red hearts:

And my new cabled bracelets (that I haven't properly blogged about yet..):

As well as the longer (and unfinished) projects. But with 70% of my projects taking over a week, you wouldn't think that I'm a bee. Truth is, they take me so long because I get distracted by all the other projects in my mind!