Best crochet book buy so far…

Pretty much all my crafting is self taught and more so now with the internet I have access to every tutorial or pattern I could want for! However there’s still that part of everyone that relishes getting a new book that going to show you and teach you something new!

For the world of crafting I have found the emergence of so many books to choose from rather tiresome, you either choose a book with plenty of projects in but often risk how much the book tells you about the fundamentals of the craft or you go hardcore on a techniques one of those dreaded encyclopedias of… And find the only complete projects are a few glossy photos at the back show casing the types of projects only people who are now blind and crippled could have acheived! Pardon my crudeness!

So what we want is that fantastic combination of both ‘wants’ and I found it in a book which I judged by it’s cover shamelessly and dismissed for months.

Stitch n bitch crochet the happy hooker looks like the type of coffee morning slash cosmopolitan demographic I just didn’t feel I was a member of and yet I bought a copy!

This book it simple fantastic and if you want to crochet and thoroughly enjoy it for the price of a book a hook and some yarn then this is your answer…and once you’ve gotten over the fact you will never have any inclination to crochet the cowboy hat and the cover you’re away!

Granny’s square meets iphone

I am a newbie to the world of iPhones I came across tuaw in a tutorial, now I’ve done dating so wltm gsoh and that oh lucrative ohac and being a female consumer bnwt always gettings me excited!!! So after dumbly googling it I discovered the unoficial apple website! Five seconds into an article about a freelance whatever using his iphone to assist him he told me of the wonderful wordpress application… Needless to say I didn’t read much further!

So no doubt you’ve guessed what format I’m posting in and although my format I’m writing this in and although my fingers are asking me why this is a good idea!!

Well I couldn’t really post a completely geeky fest piece on technology on my struggling crafty corner so here’s my latest crochet acomplishment my first granny’s square! Voilà and an impressive 12 inches…

Folksy Shop Launch

I have been a fan of Etsy for sometime, and always wished there was a UK alternative displaying prices in GBP.  I often feel that the $ can be off putting to internet shopper newbies.  So after much naivety I finally stumbled onto Folksy! I think its a fantastic blend for the crafting community, combing buying and selling along with the people behind the products and the processes they employ to create such wonderful things!

Full of excitement i signed up and had created my shop with a few minutes, a quick whiz on photoshop and my shop banner was complete…

I have listed ted the tort as my first item, and perhaps priced him a lottle on the low side, but i often feel that people overprice things and gaining recognition is far more important to me than making money, in fact most of the things i make i end up giving away!

To view my folksy shop visit http://www.folksy.com/shops/poppypower 

Enjoy

Ted the Tort!

May Bank Holiday – Finally after many practises Ted the Tort is created. 

The pattern was taken from Tiny Yarn Animals: Amigurumi Friends to Make and Enjoy.  This is a lovely little book.  My only comment on the book is that it is a little heavy on full page coloured photos of each project and somewhat lacking on how to actutally assemble the animals.  There is no information for beginners on putting the sections together so it is pretty much a ‘look at the photo and hope for the best tactic’.  This book is really only good for intermediate amigurumi-ites!! and i suspect if you are at that level already you will pretty much have most of the basic shapes used in this book down to a tee anyway…

Poppy blooms…

Brimming with enthusiasm from my first draft i tidied her up a little, got rid of the trash black kohl pencil she had developed in the first one and experimented with full body.  I feel she should be shorter.  So here is version two.  Roll on May Bank Holiday so i can start experimenting with colour!

Poppy is here…finally!!

Inspired by the world of beautiful and bountiful crafting blogs out there featuring such wonderfully branded crafts, i was inspired to create a character and world of my own in which to unite my crafting passions from jewellery to wood burning!!

So after some serious thought and the aid of a inspiration board, Poppy has finaly arrived.

I have a lot of work to do but the main theme was to use curved lines and exagerated features!  I adore the work of fafi and the world she has created and i hope to use fafi’s idea of a collection of strange and unusal ‘animal’ friends to join my character.  I am busy scouring the pages of style magazine for suitable outfits, although fear i may be delving into a world of insanity whereby i am already asking myself ‘mmm…now is this something that poppy would really wear? hehe!’

At the moment i am swayed towards red hair with clothes a mixture of jade teal and white, thus symbolising a poppy.

So here she is version no 1.  let see just how far she comes through the creative process.

cutesy patchwork drawstring

A rainy sunday with comfort food and some relaxing sewing with my friend danielle, led to the creation of this lovely patchwork drawstring.  A lovely autumn colour purse.  Having a bit of a button crazy day and 3 lovely button bracelets were made with ribbon and by layers the buttons on some stretch nylon.

Felted Purses

As it was a typical raining sunday afternoon, i got the crafting bug and made a selection of simple felted purses.  My love of all that is black and white came out again on the button one, and infact i think this is my favourite of the three.  An eventful morning at JTF buying ribbon also insipired me to make ribbons the focus of all my purse embelishments. 

Purse of Colours

Heres a pretty colourful purse i made for friends present.  I used patchwork strips with interfacing and and a black lining, its quite a sturdy little pouch due to interfacing the lining and outer patch work, topped off with a little fabric mushroom and a button…ahhh buttons my fave!!

Recycled coasters

Finally got around to making the recycled coasters, heres one of those