Macrame Bracelets ::

You may remember me talking about By The Yard a while back.  Well last night I attended one of their 'Make it Monday' workshops.  These are great little informal workshops, held twice a month, each workshop looks at a different crafty project, the session runs for 3 hours and all supplies are included, plus a cup of tea, all for the bargain sum of £10.

 

I went a few weeks ago to stationary making, where I made stamps and envelopes, which was lots of fun. But last night was macrame bracelet making.

It was great and without blowing my own trumpet too much...I think I did a pretty good on my bracelets!  I managed to get 3 made in the workshop, but I 'm sure I'll be making more in the future.  I'm also totally obsessed with the idea of making a macrame plant pot holder now too.

 

You can find the By the Yard facebook page over here.

And the Make it Monday schedule here.

Inside Crochet 44 ::

Issue 44 of Inside Crochet made it's way through my letterbox a couple of weeks ago and it's a gorgeous summer spectacular, filled with beautiful garments and accessories inspiring the reader to get out into the great outdoors.

The cover star is Joanne Scarce's gorgeous poncho, which she shares the inspiration behind over on the Inside Crochet website ::

I'm totally in love with Linda Skuja's eyelet top, just wish I had more time to crochet for myself ::

You can also find a pattern by myself in this months edition, a rafia bag.  I love this bag and already have one in another colour way.  The yarn is Adrafil's Rafia which comes in a really great range of colours.  I'm not going to lie, crocheting with rafia is a little hard in the hands, but really worthwhile, just remember to take lots of breaks!

You can find this issue on newstands until the end of the month or digitally here.

FO Friday :: Daisy Chains ::

As soon as I saw the preview picture of these daisies in Simply Crochet, I knew I wanted to make them.  Once Issue 7 landed on my doormat I immediately hunted out the yarn (fortunately I had the exact yarn used in the pattern) and got hooking.

 

I love this pattern it's so sweet and such a clever idea.

My original intention was that this was to be for me, but on visiting my nieces in Norfolk, it quickly got rehomed!

 

The pattern is Hippy Chic by Nicky Hale available in Issue 7 of Simply Crochet :: here

The yarn is DMC Natura Just Cotton :: here
My Ravelry notes are :: here

Festival Watch ::

A couple of weeks ago Milo and I went off to Latitude Festival for the weekend...we had a blast, seriously far and away the best festival I've ever been to.

Whilst on the way there, I made myself up this crochet watch strap.  It's been a while since I've worn a watch I'm in the habit of using my phone these days, but as I was conscious my phone battery barely manages to last a day without charging, I figured there was no way it would last 4 days.

So the day before we headed off I purchased a super cheap watch to take with me, it cost me the grand old price of £2.50 and came from a charity shop, the only problem was it had a horrible plastic strap.  I grabbed myself some cotton yarn from my stash and a crochet hook before heading off for the train and took the travel time as a the perfect opportunity to amend the dreadful strap situation.

This colourful accessory served as the perfect companion for the weekend, the cotton means it's light and easy on the wrist, particularly good as it was so hot whilst we were away.  I love crochet, being able to fill some time on my train journey with something I love whilst making something super useful, is just amazing.

 

 The pattern for this crochet watch strap is available in my August Newsletter which is going out to subscribers today, if you'd like to sign up to receive emails you can do so here ::

WIP Wednesday :: Tawny Owl ::

Oooh it's a been a while since I did one of these, but I actually have a work in progress that I can share with you!

Last month Milo and I headed off to Norfolk for a little seaside weekend away, as it happened we choose the perfect weekend for it and the weather was amazing.  The day we headed off a friend of mine went in to hospital to have her baby and I needed a little bit of knitting that would be an easy project to take away with me and would serve as a little gift for the aforementioned baby.  Preferably something that wasn't a sweater, as I had already knit her a cardigan and being a summer baby there surely can really be only so many sweaters she would need right now.

After a quick consultation with twitter, I decided a toy would be the best bet and as it happened I had never knit a toy before.  Before I knew it this gorgeous Tawny Owl by Ella Austin was working its way on to my needles.

The pattern calls for 4ply yarn in 3 colours, as it happens I so rarely use 4ply my stash had very little to offer, I was also in a super rush to leave when I was hunting through said stash, but as it turns out I managed to find 3 small amounts of yarn in reasonably complimentary colours and correct(ish) weight.

 

This pattern in fab!  I loved working up the body of the owl and managed to get all that you can see here done whilst away that weekend.  Unfortunately since then he has been sitting neglected in a bag, awaiting one wing, a couple of eyes and a couple of feet.  I hope to amend this tonight and Craft Night In.

The pattern is Tawny Owl by Ella Austin available to purchase :: here
My ravelry notes are :: here

You can see lots of other WIP wednesday posts :: here

By The Yard ::

So, I mentioned yesterday that last month my fabulous friend of Stuffed Nonsense, opened up a shop.  It's not any old shop mind, but I wonderful collection of handmade gifts and art, plus a venue for holding crafty workshops.

Unfortunately I was too busy to help out much in the lead up to the grand opening, but we did offer a little assistance, which if you were ever to happen upon Milo there he would point out to you.  His paint job, in his mind at least, is the most superior door painting work that there ever was!

Bex and El did such a good job of transforming what was a very basic workshop/storage space in to a really wonderful retail unit.

 If you are a Cheltenham local or ever find yourself in the area you must go check it out not least because, if you take a stroll through the back door you will find yourself in Cafe Moochoo, where you will discover the best cake in Cheltenham.

Hello July ::

Oh my am I pleased to see the back of June! It was a busy busy month for me workwise, it saw the first time I turned work down and the first time I wish I had turned more work down!  There were lots of very late nights, lots of coffee and a few breakdowns!  But I made it and having a glance through my instagram shots from those 30 days, tells me (though it seems like it was now) it wasn't actually all work, there were a few peaceful, fun filled moments too.

 

There was a momentous first day of school for the little one and a momentous grand shop opening by my lovely friend Bex, a first, of the year, trip to the lido and sunshiney days in the garden too.

But I am so pleased to welcome in July and all the summer holiday fun we have planned for the next couple of months!