Category: Handmade & Craft

Spoons!

Posted by January 28, 2014

I made some spoons!  I took Barn Carder’s one day spoon carving workshop (see his website here and a bbc film about him here) in Stepney.  My bus used to go past his shop on Hackney Road; all I could see was a man on a stool surrounded by a sea of wood shavings, so naturally it being Hackney I assumed he was an art installation.  The whole thing was so inspiring – taking a chunk of a tree and learning to axe it down to make a spoon ‘blank’ (a wedge you can whittle), and then carving it into shape with two small knives.  I felt like Michaelangelo releasing the spoon from the wood.

spoon front_

spoon back_

Evie's bag

Posted by January 15, 2014

I made my god-daughter a gardening tool bag for Christmas – I’d never made a bag before so it was a fairly improvised affair, guided by this excellent tutorial on Bijou Lovely.  I got her some mini tools as well, so cute.  Then realised at three she was possibly too young for them, but maybe she can put toys in the bag instead.

Evies bag2_

Big fat cowl

Posted by December 3, 2013

A big yellow cowl I knitted.  Largely based on this pattern but with a few alterations.  I used Rowan Big Wool, which is lovely and soft and FAT, and of course you make something like this so quickly.  It is one cosy scarf.

Yellow cowl_2

green pants

Posted by January 10, 2013

Knitting jumpers for my friends’ babies got a bit too time-consuming so I found this pattern on Ravelry (look up ‘Vanilla’).  It’s fun to make as there are no seams and it’s quite quick.  I think in the US it’s called a soaker (ugh), the baby wears it over their nappy.  Obviously making it in machine washable yarn is quite important….

My goddaughter Lana in her new pants.  They’re a bit big for her at the moment.

Dizzy

Posted by May 4, 2012

Some socks I knitted recently… The pattern is from The Gentle Art of Knitting by Jane Brocket and I used self-striping yarn, which is fun.  I enjoy it when something happens like a heel but not sure how patient I am when it comes to the long straight bits.

Better to have loved and lost

Posted by May 2, 2012

A sad tale – this is a little phone bag I knitted for my spanking new smartphone.  But alas it was lost in the pub.  So now my screen is slowly getting covered in little scratches.

 

Christmas cardigan

Posted by January 5, 2012

When time allows over the last couple of months I’ve been knitting a cardigan for my lovely goddaughter Evie’s Christmas present.   I promise the art will return but in the meantime you have to put up with my various attempts at knitwear.

Here’s Evie doing the right thing and wearing it while I’m there.

Green & White Jumper

Posted by October 21, 2011

Introducing my first attempt at knitting a piece of clothing, as opposed to accessories… this is a Sirdar pattern for a child of 6 – 12 months, and was a present for my friend Ness’s baby Samson.  If you look at the back you can see how many errors I had to fix but overall I’m pleased!  I really want to make a big one for me.

Here’s Sam in a maelstrom of stripes.

1st bag

Posted by July 28, 2011

Hello – here’s a little bag I made my mother last week, for her to keep her iPod in.  The lovely blue fabric is from a piece of Liberty material I saw in the cut-offs basket in our local fabric shop.  This is my first attempt at a bag – it’s fun working out how to do the pull-ties and the lining.  She thought the ribbon/bead combination looked a bit like mistletoe..

Red Whippet

Posted by June 13, 2011

It’s a whippet!  I’m told that I’ve managed to create a creature that doesn’t look like any one member of the animal kingdom.  I also think it has an air of the evil penguin in Wallace & Gromit about it.  I don’t care; as my first attempt at anything more than a hamster in amigurumi, I am proud.  Thanks to June Gilbank for the patterns.