There's been a lot of sewing, to make some pretty washbags for my first commission. I started by doing some free machine applique on my lovely new-to-me old Singer sewing machine but managed to kill the electrics in the foot pedal, so that's now gone back to the sewing machine man for a bit of tlc.
There was nothing for it but to crack out my little old cheap and cheerful sewing machine and for the first three bags we got on very well but then threads started breaking, things jammed, stitches started skipping and I started some very bad swearing. I nearly gave up. However i didn't, what I did do was give it a thoroughly good clean and oil and a bit of a mini service and do you know, she positively purred and chortled through the rest of the sewing.
Ten zips inserted and ten bags sewn up and ready to go.
There's been some little bits of twiddly crochet too, as I try out ideas for things I might be able to teach in workshops.
I found both of these on Ravelry and if you fancy having a go the hearts are here and the 'paperchains' are here.
By this point I was really getting into my crochet again and after seeing Gina's post about finishing some of her crochet projects I dashed upstairs and pulled my unfinished granny stripe blanket down off the top of the wardrobe, where it's been mocking me every morning when I wake up for over a year!
I had a very pleasant surprise when I pulled it out of its plastic crate as I'd clearly forgotten just how much of it I'd done before it was put away. There and then I decided it would get more use and be more practical as another cuddly homemade throw to snuggle under in the living room than if I carried on and made it into a blanket big enough for our kingsize bed, especially as Mr Moog is hot stuff and can only cope with a thin duvet even in the harshest winter (I'm the one next to him in pj's, wool socks, possibly even a hat and a pile of blankets).
All I had to do was hook up a quick edging and it was done!
Naturally that left me with nothing else to crochet and a rather large crate of leftovers. Quite by accident I had a bit of a rummage in the loft, where most of my fabric and yarn stash now resides, and unearthed a bundle of nine sherbert coloured cotton granny squares all ready and waiting to be made up into something. Within an evening they became a new cushion for my chair.
During my attic excavations I also found 40 crocheted circles leftover from the hexagon blanket I finished three years ago! Some had even been made up into squares, obviously with some sort of purpose in mind...whatever that was, I have no idea. After a little thought I decided they might make a nice blanket for some friends of ours who are due to have their first baby any day now.
Two evenings of finishing the squares, sewing them together and giving them a pretty edging and we have a baby blanket, that I have christened 'Grannies in the Grass' - or should that be 'Granny's in the Grass'?
I'm so pleased with this little blanket. It's just how I pictured it in my head.
I'm very much hoping it'll be snuggled under, rolled around on, made into a den, dragged through puddles, sicked on, snotted on and get rolled over by pushchair wheels, used to wrap up poorly teddy bears and generally used and loved until it becomes a tatty shadow of itself :)
You may or not be surprised to hear that's not quite it on the crochet front. Despite finishing two blankets I was still left with rather an embarrassing amount of 'leftovers' and went on a Ravelry quest for inspiration and something to use them up....ha ha ha, who am I kidding, I've started something else and have already bought one or two balls of yarn in colours that I didn't have enough of!!
Still, it's making me very happy indeed to be adding to this little pile of rainbow goodness and is the perfect antidote to the grey outside.
The pattern is Squaring the Big Circle by Kate Jenks. It's in US crochet terms but is so easy to do and more than a little addictive.
My last little bit of news is that these arrived this week:
Business cards! Tiny steps in the right direction :)
Moogs xxx