Wrapped In Lace.

Hello lovelies! How are you all doing? It so nice that you popped by for a visit, I've got a little something to share with you :-)

I have a little bit of extra time at the moment, which is nice! I've given up my German course for a month or so,  until I'm done learning the material for my new role at work. I was finding a little bit much trying to balance everything so I think stopping the course for a while is wise. It means I was able to finish a project!!
 
As you know last month I bought some new yarn (you can read about it here in my 'Silver Linings' post). Some Zpagetti yarn and some lovely vibrant lace. I had a play around with both. One of the yarns I absolutely adored, the other...errrrr..... not so much!!!

Ok so lets briefly talk about the yarn I didn't like so much. The Zpagetti yarn. I was super excited about working with this extra thick yarn. It is made from strips of cotton material and looked like it would be a lot of fun to work with.
It was interesting to work with, but not fun. I found it quite tricky to use as it stretches a lot and also working with yarn so thick took some getting used to.
I had a go at following the instructions it came with to make a bag, but I wasn't happy with the outcome. I had a go at some other things from the Zpageti website but also wasn't happy with the how they turned out. The biggest problem for me was that the yarn varies tremendously in thickness as you work through it. This resulted in my work looking very wonky. I HATE it when my work looks wonky!!! Enough said!!!!!!!
Sooooo I still have two balls of Zpagetti yarn waiting to be made into something. I haven't given up on it totally, I'm just waiting until I find the some  Zpagetti fuelled inspiration.

The other yarn I bought was a gorgeous lace merino from Lana Grossa. It's a delicious bright turquoise and I've been franticly whipping it up into a delicate shawl for a friend of mine. I do Hope she likes it!

Here it is!!!

I'm very happy with how it turned out. I used a pattern by Kim Miller, it's called 'Wrapped in Lace' (Here's a link to it on Ravelry).

It's the first time I've ever made a lacy shawl. The pattern was very easy to follow and can be made to the size you desire.

Isn't it beautiful how delicately it hangs!? I'm obsessed with this colour at the moment. It sums up happiness and Summer. I think that it appears very classy and fresh.

I used 150g of the lace (3 balls) and just loved how it worked up.
I adapted the pattern a little when it came to edging as I didn't want to add beads to the shawl. Instead I went for a little picot design.

I wasn't sure about how the edging was looking when I first started. However,  once I blocked the shawl I was extremely happy with it.

So there we have it. My 'Wrapped in Lace Shawl' for my friend Mimi!

 

I can't wait to give it to her now that it is finished! Maybe I'll be able to pursued her to have a picture taken whilst wearing it so I can share with you all.

What kind of projects are you all working on? Anything similar to the shawl I've just finished?

Have a SMASHING week!! ;-)

Matt xxx

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Summery Seaside RainBOW jars!!!

Hello GORGEOUS people!
I do hope you're having the most spendid week?
My weeks of to a good start, as I managed to fit a lovely couple of crafty and creative hours into my Monday afternoon. I had such a lovely time with my music playing, singing along to my favourite songs.
Not only was my creativness flowing, the wine was also!! Nothing better than a glass of RED when your playing happy hooking! :-)

I've been working on a mini project. Using some scraps of 'Creative Cotton', I've been making lots of tiny but bright crocheted rectangles.

Any ideas what these rectangle swatches are going to be???

BOWS!!!!

A few weeks ago a friend asked if I could make her a crocheted bow for her hair. I've been having a little play around with the idea and came up with this very simple design.

I made two different sizes of bow. Small and large, to match the different sized hair clips I bought from the supermarket.

I glued the bows to the hairclips and (of course) added cheery buttons to finish them off.

I think they're cute! They remind me of pasta bows :-)

They are also fun to decorate other little projects with, I think I'll be making a few more of these in the future!

Once I had finished my friends bows, I continued to play around with the 'Bow Theme'
I had some left over jam jars, so I though I'd give them a makeover.

I wrapped some old string around the jars and secured it with a little blob of glue. A very simple look! I added some cute flowers and rustic wooden buttons. OH MY!!!!!! What a transformation!!

I'm so very very happy with how they turned out!!!

Very simple, quick to make and totally inexpensive!

I wanted to add some 'Bow' decorations to the jars. Something similar to the felted hearts or crocheted pegs I had made before.

 

I had some cute little fan things (not sure what these are called?) that I wanted to incorporate.

It turns out I made little jam jars full of Summer Holidays!!  These little jars of joy remind me of vacations at the seaside! Probably something to do with the sand I used to prop the sticks up.

I think these jam jars are going to be with me for a long while! I'm totally in love with them! I love the thought of changing the theme of the sticks or simply using the jars for my crochet hooks or even just for flowers! So simple, but totally satisfying!!!

I hope you're all having a very crafty and creative week!!!

Matt xxx

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Blogiversary!!!

Yay!!! I'm sooo glad you could all make it!!!

So, I guess your all wandering what the big cake/party/celebration is all about? Some of you have guessed correct and some of you were WAY of the mark :-)

Today is the 1st Birthday of our blog!!! So come grab a drink! A glass of Champagne maybe?

 Or perhaps you'd prefer a cup of tea? And let's all celebrate together!!!

I know it probably seems a little "over the top" to be celebrating the blogs Birthday. I just couldn't let it pass without acknowledging the FAB first year Dennis and I have had working on it!

I prepared enough nibbles to munch whilst we chit chat over all things crafty!

 Jammy Dodger, anyone?

Enough party food for all!!!

When I started the blog this time last year, I really had no idea where I was heading. I didn't plan on this purely being a craft blog. In the beginning I tried to keep it much more general....it turns out you can't keep me away from the crochet and crafts!!!

It was really fun to have Dennis join the blog in December. Not only has it been a great hobby that we can enjoy together, It's also been lots of fun working creatively with each other.
Using each others ideas and finding a balance between what I like and what he likes. It's been interesting to say the least. Sometimes we had arguments ( I can get stressy at times), but most of the time we worked just fine and would encourage each others ideas.

So who's for Birthday cake?

I've been working on this cake for the last week or so. I tried to keep it within the style of the blog......I think I succeeded! :-)

Each of the layers has a different theme. A theme based on some of the projects we have made throughout the past year.   

We've had a lot of projects on the go, here are some of my favourite projects and post from our first year. (you can click on the pictures to go to the original posts)

Blankets Galore!!!

Peg Perfection

Crochet O'Clock

Felt Hearts

Jammy Dodger Tutorial

So there you have it! Our first year of blogging, project making and creative craftyness! It's been a great first year! Thanks for all of the support and inspiration. For reading, commenting and giving us lots of LOVE!!!
So glad you could come along and celebrate with us today!!!

Matt and Dennis xxx

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Yummyness And Craftyness!

What a lovely afternoon I've just had! I finished German class and then came back home for a spot of yummyness, followed up by some craftyness! Sounds like a perfect way to spend a wet and rainy Monday!

I wasn't alone, I had some rather splendid company from my new friend Lerryn.
Lerryn is in the same German class as me and is an artist from England. We get along like a house on fire! The crazy thing is she lives across the road from me! We can literally hang out of our windows and wave to each other (It's a small world)! I'm thinking we could make some bunting and attach it from my apartment to hers?.....that could be fun?!
Anyway.........I'm getting sidelined with the thought of bunting :-).
We spent a lovely afternoon together, chit chit chatting and munching our way through some yummy cupcakes!!!

Lerryn bought over a book of hers. "Let's Make Art" by Marion Deuchers. What a delightful book it is! A book full of project ideas, illustrations and fun information about different artists and styles.

I asked Lerryn if I could borrow the book for the evening. I'm having a great time flicking through the pages and am enchanted by its fun and playful style.

There are lots of fun ideas, some of which I would definitely like to play around with in the near future!

Once Lerryn had left, I got to work finishing a little something crafty.
It's a bright project, maybe overly bright? But it's certainly a fun project! I can't wait to reveal all a little later in the week!
I felt like giving you a little teaser to wet your creative appetite :-)
My project includes LOTS of crocheted flowers.

Mini bunting/flags.

Bright and bold stripes!

A crocheted clock face?

And some felted cuteness, to top it all off!

I'm adding the finishing touches as we speak and am looking forward to sharing it with you soon! I'm thinking the "Big Reveal" will be on Saturday, how does that suit you all?
Until then........Have a VERY CHEEKY week!!!

Matt xxx

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