Not much crafting this week, but lots of photos.

Posted on May 5, 2013 by honey

What a week! It started, as frankly all Monday’s should, with a Piper Heidsieck tasting on the 40th floor of 30 St Mary Axe, more formally known as the Swiss Re building and colloquially as ‘The Gherkin’.

yeap, it’s the one that looks like a pickle

the views from the top are stunning (if you’re at all uncomfortable with heights you probably don’t want to follow this link to a 360 panarama at night…) the third pic along on the top below is the Shard, the fourth contains the BT Telecommunication tower at Sunset *and* you can click on the image to get a big version that you can zoom into should you so wish!

Snippets of the Evening

(guess what I learnt to do today? – and how cool is it?!)

We had several vintages, a fabulous Rosé and a demi-sec. The bottle you see in the collection on the bottom right, on the right of centre, is a gold filigree design that people in Dubai apparently spend ages steaming off and then wearing as a tiara. I so want a champagne tiara!

detail of gold work

Of course the complexities involved in “smuggling” 12 glasses of vintage champagne past security on a Monday night meant that Tuesday morning dawned more than a little delicate. There’s nothing like a 3 1/2 mile bike commute to help to clear one’s head when you have a hangover. So I’ve heard. Didn’t work for me.

Anyhow. Crafting – that’s what you’re here for isn’t it? I finally, finally finished my long relationship with the Honeymeade shawl (started October 2011). It’s made from the fabulous Fyberspates Sparkle Sock yarn (2 skiens thereof with about 15gms left over) and the construction is really clever combining crochet and a form of tunisian/linked stitch/lacework… here’s some photos…

MrTuesday was delighted that it blocked to a New Republic Logo given it was StarWars day when we pinned it out – May 4th (say it out loud, it’ll make more sense)

Finally for now, here’s a sneak peak of the Hairpin top I’m making. I’ve given up on the beautiful tunic for now, I’m really struggling to find a yarn thick enough so instead of sinking more and more money after bad, I’ve changed my sights and am doing a pattern from Issue 9 of Inside crochet.

Hairpin is made in strips that are then joined together for the finished piece – much like you would make a front, back and sleeves for a seamed sweater. However each strip is about 4″ wide (depending on the pattern) so there can be more of them. For some reason this means that although I now have all the required strips, this really feels like a ‘kit form’ garment. And yes I know you don’t get much more kit-form than string and sticks, but you’ll just have to believe me that this feels a bit, well, odd.

Hopefully next week you’ll see finished photos. Right now I’m off to prepare for a Very English Explorer event at the British Museum tomorrow with friends. If you happen to be there around 2pm and see a crowd of mad people in khaki, suits, Pith helmets and Fez’s (Fez’s are cool you know) then that will be us! Wave hello!

hairpins do more than hold your hair up

Posted on March 17, 2013 by honey

First up, I got another couple of repeats done on my Honeymeade shawl, completing the first set of charts and about to start the second. Aoibhe Ni has produced a really interesting way of combining crochet and Tunisian crochet, turning things (literally) around and producing a really interesting visual texture.

Detail of the Honeymeade – showing Crochet and Tunisian sections

I’m still loving how the yarn is working up, and it feels so fabulous. the touch of stelina makes it sparkle (you can see it a bit in the photo towards the bottom right and top left). On the right you can see the ‘crochet’ section – and on the left you can see the Tunisian section (split almost exactly in the middle of the photo) The method of increases results the beautiful pleating you can see in the top left – but that will mostly block out when the shawl is finished.

I know I spoke about my hairpin tunic last week and how enthusiastic I was about it. Well, pride come before a fall and I quickly discovered that, despite what the label might claim (why do I trust those?) it is nowhere near an aran weight and while the pattern calls for 2 ‘stitches’ to the inch, and I’m getting nearly 8! So I’ll have to buy some more yarn. boo hiss. But I need your help, dear reader.

The tunic is this one, from Crochet So Fine by Kristin Omdhal:

I’ve found an appropriate yarn, Delphine by Louisa Harding, but I’m having a tough ole time deciding which colourway to go with..

now, obviously this is more a summer tunic, so I’d like to go fairly summery – which means the charcoal is out. And I look really ill in pure white – so that’s the Ecru out. I’m also not a massive fan of the bright pinks, which removes the Watermelon from the equation. I know that I don’t own much lime green or orange, but when I do people complement the colour on me. I’m just not sure I can carry off such a large area of such a colour. At the moment I’m drawn towards the navy or coffee or the natural (as I can see those over pale summery colours) but I’d value your opinion… what do you think?

Finally I’ve been back to the Consultant and have permission to start trying to come off the drugs over the next 5 weeks. Fingers crossed it’s worked and I can stop taking them and be wonderful and pain free from here on in!

Simple Pleasures

Posted on March 10, 2013 by honey

I know, I’m late. Apologies. This isn’t Friday, it’s Monday – but that just means less time until the next update right?

The past week has been a week of squeezing in simple pleasures. Those little events that give a momentary frisson of great joy.

First of all was picking up a project (my Honeymeade shawl), that has laid dormant for nearly 12 months and making a little bit of progress. Only 4 repeats of one of the charts, but given each chart repeat takes just under 30 minutes, that’s not bad going. During that process I rediscovered just how much I adore the yarn that finally agreed to be this wrapper (after 3 disasterous other, aborted, attempts) – the fyberspates 4ply is just gorgeous and the colouring is working up beautifully – I’ll try and take photos this week for you. Making any progress at all on any project is a minor win after being so unable to do anything for so long – but for some reason this one felt like a particular achievement. There’s still a long way to go on this project, but I just know that it’s going to stunning when it’s finished.

As you (probably) remember I had to frog the front of my Jan sweater completely to get the rib section the same length as the back. Over the weekend I finally caught up with where I had got to previously, the small victory of finally working with virgin, non crinkley, yarn warming the little cockles of my heart (and signifying the section where I have to concentrate on the armhole shaping, but the end of the front is in sight!). With a tail wind I might even have a back and a front of a sweater by the end of the week! Then of course there is the sleeves and the making up to do, but that’s not the end of the world.

I love teaching, and there is little that is as exciting as a completely new course or workshop. However, doing all the prep is not my favourite activity. Finally completing all 26 swatches (yes, I have an entire alphabet of swatches) for the Crochet Shaping workshop in April was a moment for a little happy dance. All the little samples are finished, labelled, blocked and pristine – ready for handling and pouring over by curious students.

Finally I felt like doing something I haven’t done in years, and the Hairpin Lace tunic in Crochet So Fine has been looking at me for about 2 years. Along with the ribbon yarn that I got for free just as I got back into crafting seriously. I had been waiting for an opportunity to use my Ed Jenkin’s hairpin loom (that I also picked up about 2 years ago), and picking up a skill that I haven’t touched for many years (and it coming back to smoothly and easily) gave a lovely glow of satisfaction to my Sunday evening. Again photo’s to follow. The loom is just gorgeous, and the art-silk ribbon so soft that it’s another project that you know from the outset is going to turn out better than you hoped.

Finally I saw a fabulous poster on Saturday that I wanted to share with you…

It will all be alright in the end. If it’s not alright, it’s not the end!

Well the Drugs DO work, and Workshops have been confirmed!

Posted on January 25, 2013 by honey

Well the drugs *definitely* work! I could have cried with joy today when I carried the shopping in without a second thought. Ah, the simple things that we take for granted. I missed you.

The drugs I am on are a bit of cocktail, and one of the ones I have to take is a massive dose of Vit D (I’m clinically deficient, who knew?!) once every 4 days. Combined with the steroids, this seems to have the effect of making me a bit, well, wooshy..

My thought are on a bit of ‘go fast’, which has resulted in my braining spinning on project ideas, teaching ideas, design ideas all day. Unfortunately most of them fly across my head that fast that I haven’t been able to note them down, but some of them I have, and they are real zingers! More to come on those at a later date – but one of them involved some serious maths

The physiotherapist on Monday was, erm, interesting. I now have to submerge my arms up-to the elbow in water as hot as I can stand and do a series of stretches three times a day. For six weeks. I’ve been going a week and I’m already bored of it. However I also get to play with Play-Doh three times a day so it’s not all bad. I also now ‘have to’ swim once a week, and I’ve been given permission to go back to using light weights in my gym workouts, so hopefully that will help combat the slight ‘balloon animal caricature’ that’s happening to me. More interestingly she also gave me permission to ‘return to normal usage as much as possible’ including my crafting – so I am now trying to fit in at least a little every night upto an hour when I have time. You can’t see it from where you are, but I have a very happy face!

This comes just in time as we have confirmation of at two teaching dates with Purlescence:

13th April – Beyond Scarves and Granny Squares – Crochet 102 (Shaping)

Beyond Scarves and Granny Squares will take you from ‘beginner’ to ‘confident’. Teaching loads of techniques to expand your repertoire, increase your confidence and improve your skills, we’ll be talking about those little secret ‘tricks of the trade’ along with the more conventional wisdom gained from my 30 years of practical experience. We’ll be covering

Starting – how to get a pretty cast on edge and how to do away with foundation chain
Couture Touches – such as how to get rid of “that” gap at the edge of your work, useful stitches to know and how to change yarn
Shaping – how to do shapes other than squares, rectangles and circles, lots of increases and decreases
Short rows – what they are
Gauge – *why* it’s important and when we can ignore it
Blocking – how to do it and why it matters

You will need:

to be comfortable in the basics of crochet – holding the hook & yarn, chain, Single Crochet, Double Crochet (American terminology)
a crochet hook of type and size of your choosing (we recommend a 4 – 5mm)
about 50g of light coloured yarn with a nice twist (so it doesn’t come apart too easily or split) of a weight to match your hook (we recommend a 4ply or DK weight).
A pencil/pen and notepad

We won’t be making anything specific in this class, just having a play with techniques in an informal, fun, environment. If you have any questions or want any advice, please feel free to contact us.

15th June – Tunisian Crochet 101 – Complete Beginners

Also called Tricot, Shepherds or Afghan, even Queen Victoria was smitten with this fascinating form of crochet. Tunisian combines crochet and knitting ideas to create a unique fabric which can be dense and warm (perfect for mittens!) or light and lacy. You can easily combine crochet or knitting with Tunisian to get stunning effects, but you don’t need to know either to be able to do Tunisian!
This one day workshop will give you a solid grounding in the basics of Tunisian in a fun and informal environment with a teacher who first picked up a Tunisian hook in 1985.
We’ll be covering..

Getting started – what is this strange tool and what do I do with it?
The Basic Stitches – including tunisian simple, tunisian knit and tunisian purl stitches
Combination stitches
3 Colour Tunisian
Casting off

We will be producing a beautiful stitch sampler during the day, which you will be able to take away to show off your new skills.

Depending on time we may also look at two projects you can start in class and finish at home.

You will need:

no previous experience at all
a pen/pencil and notepad for notes
a mid sized crochet hook if you have one (I’ll have lots of spares if you don’t)
You will be provided with all tools and yarn needed for this course.

If you have any questions or want any advice, please feel free to contact us.

Places on these courses are strictly limited, to make sure I give you all the time you deserve, so book early to avoid disappointment.

With the addition of at least three more workshops in 2013 – Crochet 102 (textures) , a half-day hairpin lace and a half day broomstick lace later in the year, it’s going to be a busy year. I am super excited, and churning out swatches as fast as I can. I can’t tell you how happy I am to not only be teaching the more advanced crochet techniques that so many courses neglect, but also to have to opportunity to bring the lesser known crafts of Tunisian, Hairpin and Broomstick to everyone. Tunisian is tipped to be the big ‘in thing’ for 2013, so now is a great time to learn with lots of exciting designs coming out from the big designers!

It’s going to be lots of work over the next couple of months getting ready, but I’m *really* looking forward to it.

Tuesday Fortnite

unraveling the yarn

Tag Archives: Hairpin