I still have lots of good intentions for 2010, to keep learning techniques and finding out about textiles, colours and tools of the trade. Despite my hectic life this blog has been quiet recently, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t found time for some creativity.

Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show

Back in November the Textile Workshop organised a trip to the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show. Of course the Stitched Up ladies were there and we had a great time admiring the stunning artwork.

I bought a few lovely things too, including some 1970s braid, vintage embroidery transfers, a few pieces of beautiful fabric (hopefully) destined to become skirts and not forgetting the amazing giant ric rac!

I’d never been to the Harrogate International Centre before so it was a surprise to stumble across its Royal Hall. A beautiful theatre built in 1903, still shining and glittering from floor to ceiling.

Discovering BurdaStyle

This was quite a biggie! The first thing I thought when I visited the BurdaStyle website was “why on earth haven’t I been here before?”. If like me you’re a bit slow off the mark and haven’t enjoyed BurdaStyle yet then go (www.burdastyle.com).

As they say, its ‘for people who sew‘. This site is for dressmakers and crafters of all abilities, where patterns are labelled from ‘novice’ to ‘amateur’. There’s way too much to say about BurdaStyle here so all I am going to say is that if you want to be inspired and whipped up into a sewing frenzy then that’s the place to go!

The Great Craft Room Clear Out

OK, so a clear out might not be strictly creative but it is absolutely necessary for me to have a clear brain. The craft room clear out was part of a bigger wave which started with us emptying the loft for new insulation and has carried on with a major tidy up of every room in the house. For me it’s better than therapy and along the way I found some things I’ll treasure for many more years to come.

My first (and very tiny) ballet slippers.

Birthday cards from when I was little and my very first ‘aunty’ card from my baby nephew.

Christmas Crafts

I have to admit I’m usually a bit grumpy at Christmas, this tends to be because I just don’t have the extra time it requires to fit everything in – but then who does?! This year though I decided I was going to make the effort to enjoy the build up, rather than treat it as a chore, by incorporating a little craft along the way.

For my close family I made little felt tree decoration Christmas cards. I was too rushed to take photos before I sent them but they were snowmen, gingerbread men and baby deer, a bit like this one.

A few prezzies were hand made too, including a cotton apron for my great aunty, a crochet scarf for the lovely Hannah and a zip up purse for a welcomed home friend. I even did a bit of baking, which is unheard of, for my Dad and Norman (a very special fella). Plus this giant granny square blanket for my husband’s Nana. I never knew I could crochet so fast!

I have to say that making these things didn’t ease the pressure of Christmas preparations at all but it did make it much mure fun.

Having lovely, thoughtful friends and family I was lucky enough to receive some truly beautiful handmade and crafty gifts:

This absolutely gorgeous patchwork quilt made from vintage 1970s fabric by the very talented Claire was such a fantastic surprise! Claire is one very busy lady and so I’m even more grateful that she found the time to make this for me.

Hannah knows me very well, spoiling me with more wonderful vintage goodies, including crafty books, the cutest bunny jelly mould and this adorable hand mirror which I love (I’ve been drooling over vintage hand mirrors for ages). It’s a bit like she read my mind too with the vintage Christmas card holders!

My youngest neice gave me the sweetest sewing box which will be ideal for taking to sewing class and craft group and my in-laws treated me to books on dress making techniques and patterns, exactly what I need.

I know I’m a very fortunate girl indeed and I don’t take that lightly! Thank you everyone!!!!

How about you? What have you been doing these past couple of snowy months?

Well now its October, its cold and rainy and just in time for winter I’ve made a granny square blanket out of my little summer obsession.

I sewed the squares together with black yarn in whip stitch but I think next time I shall either make one giant square the size of a blanket or crochet the small squares together as I go. In total it must have easily taken about 20 hours to sew it together and I was up until 4am this morning determined to get it finished. I think it was well worth it though :)

Blog owner Pip Lincolne also runs the Meet Me At Mike’s shop in Melbourne Australia and has a book of the same name. I finally managed to buy the book last week and have already started planning some of the craft projects in there. If I lived in Melbourne I’m sure I’d be at the shop all the time buying treats for myself.

Pop over to Meet Me At Mike’s and say “hi” to Pip. She’s had a bit of a tough time this week so could do with some happy vibes.

In the meantime here’s my top 5 reasons to love Meet Me At Mike’s:

1. Pip loves granny squares just as much (if not more) than I do!
2. The blog is teeming with gorgeous 70s style. Check out the brooches and purses in the shop too.
3. There are always lots of list of ideas, projects and things to do.
4. Beautiful pictures and videos abounds!
5. Lots of energy in Pip’s writing that’s bound to get you inspired

For those of us not lucky enough to live in Melbourne we can still visit Meet Me At Mike’s online: www.meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com

Granny Square Update

Speaking of granny squares I must tell you that I fell off the wagon ages ago. Claire kindly donated a new stash of yarn for my addiction and since my ‘(Granny) Square Numbers‘ post in May I have been adding more and more squares to the growing blanket.

All I have to do now is sew them together!

It started quite innocently. My thinking was that since I enjoy crochet as much as I do I should master the staple skill of the granny square. It was quite easy to pick up (from my trusty Happy Hooker book) and once I got it, one square became two, became ten, became twelve…

It was the point of no return. I really don’t like to waste so what else could I do but keep going and make a lovely, traditional granny square blanket?

Now, the added complication is that although it began with one square from one gargantuan ball of orange wool (the same that my little crochet clutch bag came from) it needed brightening up a bit. So I added a canary yellow and a few cream squares. With the orange and yellow I could really indulge my 70′s fancy.

However, once I made the cream squares I decided that a blanket in softer, more pastel colours would look lovely too. So in came the baby blues, the mint greens and the candy pinks. The loud orange and yellow do not go with the subdued pastels so they had to be split into two separate blankets.

These two projects have taken up my every Stitched Up session for many weeks and at every opportunity (waiting for the kettle to boil, before I go to bed, at breakfast) I sneak in a quick little square. Its like a compulsion that, if I didn’t have anything else to do, I could happily occupy myself with all day, every day until it was done. Why does work have to get in the way of crafting?!

However, I fear that I must go cold turkey for a while on my little granny square addiction. My stash of lovingly collected second hand yarn from charity shops, eBay and my mum have been very much depleted. And since I’m only half way through each blanket I need to start building the stash up again. Oh well, just another excuse for a spot of charity shopping!

If you’d like to make a granny square blanket pop over to the resources page for a how to video. Be warned though, granny squares are highly addictive.