The first 6 weeks of Sox

The first 6 socks are complete!
So, perhaps the regularity if my posts leaves something to be desired, but my sock knitting does not (even if I do say so myself. Which I do).

These are all for myself, and the pattern developed a little over time. I ended up lengthening the patternless heel section, and the height of the cuff.

I used superwash and acrylic/wool mix remnants for the harder working sections of sock, and got to use some odd balls of Babylongleg's yarns for the rest. This is in the hopes of reducing darning, whilst still getting some prettiness on my feet :)

The next chapter of sock-a-week will be The Boys!

Technoobabble

It has been a while, hello again world! 
I lost the blog for 8 months, due to my own busy life, and lack of technical know-how, but we are back on-line again now, phew.

It has turned into a summer of socks for me. I was just making one, itty bitty pair for myself, just to use up an odd ball of yarn, but that has now turned into a sock-a-week challenge. I will probably only need to create 9 pairs for my family for this winter, but that is still 18 weeks of sock knitting. Think my basic pattern will be thoroughly proof-read and play-tested by mid-winter....

Warwick folk festival

Off to Warwick folk festival with Rubbish Craft for a long weekend of creating, listening to good music and dancing. Working with my Rubbish Craft friends always leaves me inspired, so I bet I come back with some good ideas for crafty projects!

I did have a cunning plan. I got an old dress, and made it exciting, especially for taking with me, to keep myself from straying too far into the market whilst I'm away. There is something a bit wrong with going away for work, and coming home with less money than you went with!

2013 Upcycling Workshops

Dream catchers, great and small.

 Using salvaged roundy bits (like bits of yogurt tub [shown above], bicycle tyre and hubcap fastenings), reclaimed yarn, scrap fabrics and plastic bags, make yourself a dream catcher.  

Paper bead jewellery

Make elasticated bracelets and necklaces out of paper beads that you design yourself using monochromatic newsprint, or bright junk mail!

 Junk Modelling Free-for-all

I provide the tools and materials, you provide the creativity! Brilliant for drop-in sessions, younger and SEN children, get busy with card, plastic, sticky tape, hole punches, felt tips, scissors and see what you come up with! 

Above is a tank turret and submarine....

All these can be run at your venue, a 2 hour session costing £3/child, minimum 5 participants, or at The Green Place in Sileby, £4.75/child, minimum 10 participants.

Paper, Cream & Chrome

I have finished designing my April 2013 jewellery range, here is a sneaky pictorial peek!

So, these are being added to my Etsy store as I type (multi-tasking, a joy of motherhood). If you are interested, check'em out, and share with your mates :)

Ever onwards!

Woo hoo! 

Today saw me taking a train ride one stop away to Sileby to The Green Place, to have a chat about having some of my work in their shop. I went with my good friend Elizabeth Lenore, who makes some funky upcycled record bags, cassette lights and other upcycley goodness. She has a lot more experience of this malarkey, so held my hand(no, not literally, that would be a smidgen weird), but it turned out not as scary as I had made it up to being in my head. Of course!

Had some positive feedback, and they had a lot of my stuff off me, on a Sale or Return basis. This feels like a good step into bricks and mortar, from online, but we will see how it goes. 

Go take a look if you're in the area, it is a lovely place.

Teardrop Innertube earrings

I have been having lots of fun with upcycling bicycle innertube recently. We are a cycling household, and so far I haven't needed to source any from elsewhere, but that may all change soon. These are my most recent, a teardrop shape. They are available from my Etsy store HERE.