The kindness of crafters

A load of goodies received from Curlyfro swap partner in the Ravelry group A Swap in Time.  Absolutely amazing bamboo/nylon handknitted socks packaged in a Stars and Stripes bag, a set of sock blockers, stitch markers, 2.25mm double pointed needles (YES, I keep losing mine), a pack of hankies for the Spring sniffles, a little bottle of stress relief hand sanitiser, a bar of Hot Fudge cjocolate (yum), and a box of English Tea that came from Coventry here in England, all the way to the USA and then back to England  :)

Got to love crafters of all types, such a generous and caring community and I love being a part of it.

xxxx

Specifically for busybusybeejay

I tried to post on your blog today, about your visit to Yarndale, but it wouldn't allow me to saying that only Team Members are allowed to post on this blog.  That is probably why there are no comments.

Changes

So much has happened since I last posted on my blog.  I have been reading, and occasionally commenting, on all the blogs that I follow but I never seemed to get round to posting myself.  Maybe because I wasn't really doing anything that I felt would be interesting to read about.

However, my whole life changed dramatically and tragically on 29th December 2014 when my lovely, wonderful and completely irreplaceable partner, Ivan, suddenly died without warning.  I go over and over that night in my mind , and have to consciously make myself think about something else.  He died of a pulmonary embolism so there was nothing anyone could have done.  However, six incredible paramedics took turns for over an hour to keep up chest compressions and bagging him to provide oxygen, in a futile attempt to revive him.  The post mortem, two days later, confirmed that there was nothing that anyone could have done even if they had been there as he failed. 

Ever since that night, the days have fled by in a haze of sorting out the funeral and finances and everything else that needs to be done at this time.  I feel as though the world is rushing by me and I am struggling to get back on.

We had the funeral on Wednesday 21st January, and the weather did us proud with no rainy or snowy histrionics, although it was very cold.  I managed to stay relatively dry eyed in the limo until we reached the crematorium, but the sight of the crowds of people from family, friends and work colleagues all waiting to say goodbye, made me cry. 

The college where he worked, is going to have a memorial for him as he was there for 28 years and was described by all as the backbone of Construction.  They are certainly missing him.  One of his work friends is making a memorial bench for him, which will bear a plaque with his name, and will sit in the foyer of the main Construction building.  I  know that I will cry again when we go to that memorial.

I still struggle to accept and believe that he is gone.  There is this little voice inside of me that hopes that he can come back in some way, and I have to keep on telling myself that he will never come back and I have to stand on my own two feet now and look after my children.  My daughter, Amber, has been a tower of strength, taking on all sorts of jobs to help and constantly keeping an eye on me.  Alex, my son, turned 10 on the 9th January, and it was very hard to have a birthday without Daddy, but he keeps telling everyone that he won't cry and be sad because Daddy wouldn't want that.  His school, which is a special school, have been keeping a close watch on him and providing support for the inevitable times when emotions get the better of him.

I am really lucky, though, in my family and friends.  They have rallied round, helped clean my house up, sort things out, listened patiently to my inane utterings when I can't quite verbalise what I am feeling and urged me into taking more care of myself, get more exercise and eat properly.  I couldn't have coped without any of them and I can never express my gratitude enough to them.

So I have to move on.  Now my little business has to grow as I am now the main bread winner and the bills won't pay themselves.  So I take my steps into my 'new normal' in the hopes that the light will return eventually and I will be able to remember the good times with Ivan, without thinking about that awful last night.

Sorry if this post depresses you all, in a way it has helped me to get the emotion out, and to get out of the cycle of feeling sorry for myself that is too easy to drop into. 

As you can see he was a joker at heart and could always find the humour in any situation.  He would especially have loved the bit in the service when the minister asked his line manager to say a few words but upgraded him to the principal of the college.  That would have kept Ivan in joke material for months.  Quite possibly still will wherever his spirit resides now.  He was comforting in his logical and considerate personality.  I always knew that if I (or anyone else for that matter) had any kind of problem at all, Ivan would find an answer to it.  Although we always joked that I was in charge (as the only driver) in reality he was the man of the house, but he never pushed it.  Thoughtful and caring, we had a habit of knowing what the other was thinking, and frequently would say exactly the same thing at the same time. 

He would always know how I was feeling and would say or do something that would frequently astound me with his indepth understanding.  I miss him immensely and always will. 

Transformation

Got fed up trying to organise my diabetes meter case, as it was too small, didn't have room for my new lancet device or my insulin pen. 

 

 

 

 

 

So I made myself a new case

Never refuse work ...

however bizarre it might be.  My window cleaner spotted my sewing machine, over a year ago now, and asked if it would be possible to sew patches onto a boat canopy.  I said yes and then forgot about it.  Until this morning when he texted me to ask if he could bring it over.


Here it is, draped fetchingly over my settee (I don't think it will catch on as a throw somehow) and you can see where it has torn on the piece next to the cardboard leg of my cutting table.  It is made of cotton canvas laminated onto a waterproof inner layer.  It did have waterproof coating but Window Cleaner jetwashed it and stripped it all off !!!  He was a bit annoyed with himself, but it was a happy accident as I think the sewing machine might have struggled to get through the proofing. 




I made a couple of triangular patches from spare canvas he supplied and then came the fun part ....  attaching them to this 6' by 5' ish canopy.

 Cue involvement of my daughter, Amber, as canopy model and human sewing machine extension table.  Even with her help it was hilarious, long winded and detrimental to anything within reach that could be knocked over or spilt.  It took a fair amount of logistical magic and the odd swear word or two to get it stitched, but we got there.  I am totally amazed with my machine, even with the jeans needle and the walking foot, I thought it would struggle but it sewed through 4 layers of fairly gungy boat canopy without any problem whatsoever.  Even when Amber accidentally pulled the material, the needle didn't even bend !!!  Than goodness.  It's bad enough when a fine needle snaps, goodness knows what would happen if a sturdy jeans needle snapped.

Here is Amber modelling the repaired canopy.  I think she might have a future in boatwear modelling.  The patches are still proofed and you can see how much jetwashing damaged the original.  Still he says he can recoat it. 

I got my windows cleaned for free (he normally charges £10 for the whole house) So something for everyone.  I just hope no-one wants a liner version doing cos I think that might just be beyond me.



I'm developing a range of beaded and machine embroidered butterflies, currently on hairclips, although they could be clipped onto anything.  I thought I'd run them past you and see what you think of them:

Here is one resting briefly on my nicely varnished handmade sewing extension table.  (2 days and 8 layers of varnish)  I've taken a fair few photos of them adorning various plants in my Mum's garden.  No point doing it in mine as it still looks like an accurate re-enactment of the Somme.  Now I just need to get round to putting them on Pinterest.

I'm also looking into buying a folding cutting table.  However, the Horn HiLo, which is the only one I can find that does what I want, is the best part of  a grand !!!  That will take a huge amount of teddies and pump pouches.  So does anyone out there know where I can get one cheaper, or second hand?  I want a cutting table that is higher than normal (avoids bending and backache) with the ability for the table top to fold flat so that you get your floor space back.  They seem to be like gold dust.  I can find any number of fixed top cutting tables but they take up too much space.

 
 
 
 

Embroidery on felt

I have spent most of today happily engaged in felt embroidery at The Sewing Space in Hythe, Kent, with none other than Nancy Nicholson as my tutor.  She of the wonderfully colourful folk art embroidery kits

http://www.nancynicholson.co.uk/

Unfortunately my phone died and I forgot my camera, which was annoying, but c'est la vie. 

The other two ladies in the class were a mother and daughter who had travelled from Holland today, especially to take the class.  They had been looking for classes with Nancy for some time as they had come across her work in Country Living, and were really inspired by it.  Inspired enough to start out at 4am our time to get to the class at 10am.  That's dedication  :)

We were making embroidered felt wristlets.  Nancy had prepared instructions, which we hardly needed as she is so good at explaining things and was incredibly helpful and kind.   I haven't done much proper embroidery for some time and it was a challenge to remember the tricks needed to produce the more complicated stitches.  But Nancy was very patient and encouraging and I would really recommend her classes.

Big and little man had gone off for the day, to the beach, feed the ducks (and seagulls) and to the pub to meet a friend for a game of Pool.  Apparently Pool players have to be over 18, so they cheated and played it with their hands so Alex could join in  :)

This is the finished wristlet.  Photo taken at home as soon as the phone had charged enough  :)  Great fun and very rewarding.

http://potterjotter.blogspot.co.uk/

Hopefully the link above does work.  This belongs to Potter Jotter who makes the most amazing ceramic ware, and will make it to order as well.  Definitely go and take a look. 

I've posted the above comment on my facebook page as well.


This is one of the things that make the early morning commute to Folkestone so worthwhile.  Sunrise over the Channel at Sandgate (taken through the car window admittedly)  This barely does justice to the amazing light shows we get treated to on a regular basis.  If you look hard enough you might even be able to see France on the horizon as well.

Teddies galore again.  These were for a brave young lady who lost her father four weeks ago.  Although they all look the same from a distance, each one has it's own personality and I'm told, that she sat them all on her bed and invited her relatives to claim the one that called to them.  I so love making these teddies.  However, I would love to make some from wedding dresses or bridesmaids dresses.  Or even the grooms waistcoat.  Baby clothes, old clothes that are no longer wearable but are still loved.  Even the back fabric off an old sofa that has gone to the big DFS in the sky. 

Christmas is rushing up fast, must get knitting.

Chaos, chaos and yet more chaos

Well we've moved ten miles down the road, which for my other half, is the first time he has ever lived this far away from his parents.  It's practically foreign shores for him  :)  The house is nice but smaller downstairs due to having the garage integrated into the front which allows us to access it from the kitchen, but takes a lot of space.

I no longer have an understairs cupboard, which means that we have suddenly realised just how much stuff I have.  So I'm working my way through it all to make craft fair goods and Christmas presents.  I've even had to consign my large dining room table to the garage and make do with a smaller table for sewing and knitting.  Mind you it does make me much tidier as I have much less room to dump stuff now  :)

I'm currently working on a fairisle sleeveless pullover in Excelana 4ply.  Knitted in the round until the sleeve shaping, it took ages to knit the 1x1 rib but it is going faster now that I have moved to the 3mm needles and the stranded colourwork.  2 x2 rib is nice to work, 1x1 hurts your hands, but it does look nice.  I guess quality comes at a price for the knitter as well as the customer.  My customer for this, is a wonderful lady who appreciates good quality and would rather spend £120 on a handknitted garment made from British wool, than £20 on a manmade yarn from China.

I've also just finished five teddies made from two sweaters and three brushed cotton shirts.  I'm going to make each one a waistcoat and dickie from one of the shirts as I could only include a little of them as ear linings and paw pads, because the thicknesses were so different from the sweaters. 

Introducing ..... ClaireBears

I realise that I have not blogged now for a very long time, but I have a very good reason for it.  I have been beavering away creating my new business which is all about making beautiful things.  Mainly Teddy Bears, specifically what I call Memory Bears.

I create these bears from clothing that holds a special place in the hearts of my customers.  Baby clothes, garments worn by members of the family who have passed away, and other garments that may hold special memories, perhaps wedding clothes or clothes worn on a special holiday.  Even clothes that have finally passed their use by date but you don't want to get rid of them because you love them so.  I turn them into displayable memories for you.

So far I have only made teddies from these clothes, but I do intend to increase my repertoire as soon as possible.  I am also making rabbits, gadget cases and other small items to sell at craft fairs.  Two under my belt so far, another one this Saturday and one at the Leas Cliff Hall in Folkestone on November 1st.  (Hopefully so long as I remember to send off the booking form)

This was my very first Memory Bear.  Made from baby dungarees that were about 20 years old.  The lady who commissioned them wanted the bear for her daughter (who's daughter wore them) who was coming over from Australia.  She was so delighted with her bear and so was her daughter.

I had a bit of a gap between orders, but then a gentleman came with a bear that he had bought in Liverpool years ago that was dressed and holding a mop and a teddy bear with a board around her neck that said:  "I hate four letter words; cook, dust, wash, iron"  He wanted a bear made in a similar fashion for a friend's birthday.  This was a challenge but I rose to it and he was happy with the result, so I was too.

Then I got two commissions to create several bears out of clothes belonging to family members who had passed away.

I felt privileged to be allowed to create these bears and their recipients were so happy with them, even to one lady telling me that she felt she could always hug her grandad now whenever she needed to.  Reading that made me feel so good.

I have a range of bears now from small to large and I am hoping to build the business up to provide this service nationwide.  So if you have anything you would like turned into bears, give me a shout  :)

https://www.facebook.com/ClaireMemoryBears?ref=hl

And I'm still knitting commissions as well, and we're moving house week on Friday, so it's all go here.

Introducing Theodore Edward Bear

Here he is, all 17 1/2 inches high.  He has been made from a faux suede and fleece child's gilet that Ivan found at the bottom of his work ragbag.  He had to be handsewn, as the sewing machine flatly refused to have anything to do with it.  His head and paws have plastic joints in them, so that he is posable, and he was incredibly good fun to make.

His little waistcoat has been made from the offcuts of Harris Tweed Tartan that I used for Ivan's tablet case, and has been lined with a all over rose patterned red cotton quilting fabric.  The buttons are mother of pearl and there are snap fasteners stitched underneath.

I'm really pleased with him, and he is going to be the first item in my Folksy shop, once I get it set up, I hope, fingers crossed. 

Now all I need is to find other pre-loved fabrics that I can turn into Teddies.  I'm considering making one from leather, although it will have to be the very old and soft type.  Watch this space.

Teddy Bears

This is Victor Wilfred Bear, sporting his natty red ribbon tie.  He is currently sitting in the shop window at The Sewing Space in Hythe, Kent.  His sister, Jessica Bear, turned out to be camera shy (forgot to photograph her)  and is sitting at the back of the shop in amongst the display of beautifully patched and quilted baby quilts made from the same brushed cotton material.  Lovely stuff to work with as it has a little bit of stretch that makes it easy to manipulate on the fiddly bits, like sewing the head and body together via the neck edge which is about an inch wide, making it tricky going on the sewing machine. 

Ivan, has a ragbag at work (painting and decorating technician at a local college) and the tutors often donate outgrown children's clothes to it.  He was given a very nice suede and fleece look child's body warmer, far too nice to chop up, so it has made it's way back to the recycling emporium that is my home, and will be turned into a much larger teddy, hopefully, so long as there is enough fabric.  If not I can see a nice suede effect bag appearing. 

Finished Objects at long last

I have finally finished the Fairisle tank top (sleeveless top) that I have been working on since end of February, and here it is:
                                                                  
I haven't been able to deliver it to the customer yet as she has been unable to get into Hythe to collect it.                                     

Fairisle Sleeveless Top knitted in Rowan Pure Wool

It was Ivan's birthday last Tuesday, and he has bought himself a Tablet at last, so I made him a case to go with it

The outer case is made from Harris Tweed Tartan, and it is wadded and lined with brown cotton.  The whole case is then bound with bias binding made from the same cotton, and then I cannibalised a new belt to create the clasp.  I have a gizmo that attaches eyelets to whatever, which obviously incorporates two different sized punches to create the holes for the eyelets to go into.  I used this to make holes in the leather around the outside and then sewed it into place.  I did consider riveting the belt to the case, but decided that the rivets could scratch the tablet inside.  Ivan loves it, and I think it looks very masculine.

I'm in the middle of making Teddies at the moment.  Little ones with semi-stuffed legs so that they sit independently.  I've just finished one made with a fat quarter of VW campervan cotton. He is going to be called Victor Wilfred Bear, and I will get round to taking his mugshot, probably tomorrow.

I've been working very hard

And I've finally finished this ...

It's a Sirdar pattern and takes blooming ages.  Mind you once I'd got the hang of the pattern I was able to speed up considerably.  The edging was knitted separately and I sewed it on as I went.  168 inches of edging that took.  The customer is very happy with it, thank goodness.

Now what about this?  This is a WhirlyGig Bug painted onto a snail shell by my incredibly clever daughter.  Luckily the shell is currently unoccupied, especially as I managed to drop it into the pot of varnish so it is now varnished inside and out.

I've got various projects on the go now, including the innumerable UFOs stashed around the house.

Busy, busy, busy

Liebster Award and the real identity of my Secret Santa

Which was Barbara, aka busybusybeejay.  Many thanks for such a wonderful box of goodies.

Following Barbara's rules I have to give you 11 random facts about myself:

1 I am left handed
2 I love driving
3 I love architecture
4 I also love archeology, especially Time Team
5 I adore Top Gear
6 I have collected dragons in the past but have run out of room for them
7 I am now collecting knitting and crochet WIPs
8 I dream of being thin
9 I am contemplating getting a dog
10 I am 46
11 I have two children, a 19 year old girl and an 8 year old boy

Now I have to answer the questions set for me:

Favourite room in the house. Living room at my craft table
Are you a lark or an owl. Definitely an Owl
Do you like cooking? Nope
favourite film?  The Hobbit
Do you like shopping? Not really
Travel plans for 2013?  St Ives
Dinner partner? My other half, Ivan
Can you speak any languages other than english? Screaming Mother and Gobbledegook
Which month is your birthday? March
Do you have a favourite perfume? J Lo
Are you tidy/untidy? Untidy

Myriads of pictures to show you ...

And to begin with, a picture of my wonderful Secret Santa goodies that I should have showed you two months ago (with abject apologies to my wonderful Secret Santa who I think was Allison.  Please correct me if I am wrong and forgive me for my teabag memory)

Can you believe how yummy this lot is?  The shawl has been worn several times since this picture and has attracted many admiring comments.

Next lot of photos are of Amber's stone paintings which she is hoping to sell to raise some much needed spondoolies for Mother's Day, Mum's Birthday ...  oops sorry I mean for art supplies.   (Silly me)

There's one missing, a wonderful study of a Stag Beetle.  Will get that one on as soon as I change the batteries in the camera.

As I have mentioned in the past, I have undertaken some commissions.  The first one was a Snoopy pullover, as ably modeled by Ivan's tip (sorry desk)

And I am currently working on a fairisle tanktop (which is looking very nice) and a baby blanket in 2ply Sirdar Snuggly.  This is the tension and pattern swatch I knitted in the same yarn.

It looks yellow in this picture but in actual fact it is white.

Here's a very clever Blackbird, normally ground feeders, who has worked out how to balance on my hedge and help himself to the fat balls in the hanging feeder.  The Magpies try this from time to time, but being much bigger and heavier birds they keep sinking into the hedge or tripping up and falling head first into it.  They have worked out how to flip the fat balls through the top of the feeder (lifting the lid first) and then legging it with a whole one.

Then of course there's always the Great Tit (thought that was David Cameron but it turns out to be a very pretty songbird)

I'm so excited ...

It's been a busy old time for me, so much so, that I've not blogged about anything for yonks, although I have been keeping up with reading blogs.  (Which to my mind is much more exciting)

Along with knitting away at lavender hearts and Alpacas for the Alpaca farm, I've taken on two commissions for knitted items, a lovely 2ply knitted lace christening shawl, and a fairisle tank top from a very old pattern, that is now back in fashion.  My lovely customer decided that the tank top had to be knitted in the best quality yarn, so now I'm using Rowan Classic Wool; absolutely beautiful to knit with, lovely stitch definition and leaves your hands feeling really soft.  Even for me, as I am allergic to wool, but I am not having too many problems with this one.

As I cannot knit anything like this for my lot, they wouldn't wear it, I am very privileged to be able to produce it for someone who will appreciate it, wear it and look after it.  I think this is one of the reasons I love commissions, to be able to knit things I wouldn't normally get the opportunity to try.

I had a phone call from the magazine, The Knitter, on Valentines Day, to tell me that I am a runner up in a design competition they ran last year, and I have won 4 balls of Gomitoli 4ply yarn.  I am so looking forward to getting them.  I designed a knitted handbag (the competition was to design an accessory using Gomitoli yarns) and I dug the design out the other day with a view to perhaps developing it further.  My reasoning being that if the judges liked it enough to make it a runner up, then perhaps there is a market for it.  But need to get the commissions done first as they are both due in May.

Gifts

My swap box has arrived ... oh joyous excitement ... although I am going to have to wait until Christmas Day to share the goodies within it with you

As you can see.  So it has been firmly closed and placed under the Christmas tree.  However, just to wet my appetite, I found these two charming characters grinning at me from on top of the red tissue

They have migrated to the tree where they seem very much at home.

I'm planning a few present making days next week to finish off the goodies intended for my family.  They've been shoved to the back as I have been concentrating on other things, such as Robins for sale etc.

11 sleeps left ....  

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas Swap boxes again ...

Hi guys, sorry for the long old time between posts - some clown has fast forwarded the year and just as I'm getting used to August it's suddenly November and Children In Need is nigh.

I really hope you are up for the swap box again because I have already started buying bits for mine - not that I'm getting excited of course.

I've been a busy little bunny, knitting little things to sell and making a block a month patchwork courtesy of Craftsy 

This is my shelf sitting Christmas Robin.  He has plastic beads in his bottom to help him sit nicely and I have had a lot of interest in him, although it backfired a little at my knitting group as they wanted the pattern to knit him themselves, rather than buy one from me!  Hmmm not quite the response I was hoping for, but I've written out the pattern and printed a load off.  I shall sell them instead for slightly less than the finished item  :)

It surprised me, considering that the body of the Robin is only about 4 inches high, that it took four pages to write the pattern up. 


I am also working on Woolly Wormheads hat KAL using this gorgeous yarn from Fyberspates

It is a 4ply BFL, Cashmere and Silk mix and is absolutely scrumptious.

Open University

My current course is Design and Designing and I'm just coming up to the last month of study and my last assignment, which is also the largest, before I sit the exam in October.

This is my second module in the Degree, and I've got two or three more before I get the full Bsc In Design ...  how exiting is this?  I wonder why it's taken me so long to actually realise that this is what I want to do?  I love creating designs and I guess I must be good at it because my lowest assignment score so far has been 90% and my highest 100%.

For this assignment I was given a broad spectrum brief to design a hand tool, either powered or manual.  I knew exactly what I wanted to design and I don't think there is anything on the market already.  I want to create a tool that can be loaded with pins, and pin fabric layers together with just one squeeze of the handle.  I envisage this gizmo speeding up the pinning of material together and making it easier for anyone with weak hands who finds it difficult to manipulate pins and get the through the material.

Would you all be so kind as to complete my survey?

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8TTJXDX

I would be very grateful if you could, and if you know any other sewists, please could you send them the link, the more answers and comments I get, the better my work will be.

Bless you all

The third thing !!!

It's been a long old time since I last blogged - time getting away from me again as I attempt to keep up with my OU design course and everything else that I am doing.

Kids are at the end of their second week of holidays and I do so wish it were September again, which is wishing my life away I know, but sometimes .....  Grit my teeth and bear it  :)  We are feeling the pinch so unfortunately we can't take them away so they are having to make do with short local visits.

So the third thing.  Well, the first thing; yesterday Ivan received a letter from his work telling him that they are going through a consultation phase because they need to reduce the wages bill and that at present, his job, as well as many others, is at risk of redundancy !!   Not something that we wanted to hear, although I am hopeful that he will be OK because he is the only Painting and Decorating technician they have, so making him redundant would mean getting rid of P&D courses altogether as the lecturers would not be able to cope without him.  Especially as he does all the ordering as well as all sorts of other things they can't do without :)

The second thing:  I noticed this morning that the car was making a very nasty noise so I trotted off to my brother's garage to get it looked at.  Turns out the clutch has gone and I had to leave the car there and borrow a car.  But its going to cost us at least £600 to get it mended.

So now I'm waiting, with trepidation, for the third thing to happen.

I've been knitting Alpaca finger puppets and lavender hearts for the Alpaca farm, for the majority of the past few months, but I've managed to finish a 30s inspired cushion cover after a year or so of hoping the UFO fairy would do it for me.  Actually I don't seem to have done much at all looking back at it.  I have been spending a lot of time on my OU course though - that's a good excuse.  I have also started spinning tops on a drop spindle.  There's an amazing woman at my knitting group who spins everyday and has done so for decades, and she makes it look so effortless.  She started to teach me how to spin properly and I'm working on it although my yarn is currently very lumpy and bumpy and not quite the fine smooth thread I was hoping for.

I have finally started one of the Noro Cash Island skeins that I have had ornamenting my desk for god knows how long.  I'm making a set of heart shaped coasters, that will be felted in the washing machine, and then I plan to make them a holder from thin plywood and decoupage it.  I am planning to make lots of little things like this and I am hoping to organise a craft sale in my town towards Christmas time.  There is a definite dearth of decent craft sales in my area and I haven't been able to get a table at any of the very few around as they are all booked up.

If the weather's decent tomorrow I might just dump the kids on the other half and go sit on the beach for an hour or two  :)  But then I just have to go back to it all sooner or later  :))