Some recon projects

I whipped out my sewing machine the other day to do a few reconstruction jobs I've had in the sewing pile for a while. The first was a skirt which I loved colour wise, but it was a weird length, kind of mid calf on me, which just isn't very flattering; I like em either ankle length, or just above knee length. So I chopped off a lot of it until it came to just above my knees. I can either wear it with some black tights and long boots, or a pair of jeans, and I'll be able to wear it with my new red necklace!

 

 

 

Then I had a cheap pink crew neck tee shirt which was oh so boring and not my favourite neckline. I hate crew necks, so I decided to chop this about a little. I sewed a v-neck of ribbon, intending to cut the neckline away, but then I was struck by inspiration and tried something else instead.

 

 

I left the bias edging in place and cut a v shape out below it. It looks kind of cool on, but I think I need to add something else to it, it still looks a bit plain!

 

 

I eventually varnished the red Fimo beads and made a bracelet up for my partner in the HP swap. I don't always varnish Fimo, but I like how much better these beads looked after varnishing.

I started my homework, an grammar assignment based on identifying particular words in a sentence, is it a noun, an adjective, an indefinite article, etc, etc. Harder that it seems. I learnt English language and grammar at school, very young, and we did all that stuff then, but that was, um, many years ago, and once you learn to speak and write your own language perfectly, you tend to forget all the rules and regs that go with it. I'm taking a TESOL course which will qualify me to teach English to students where English is not their first language. I think we actually do several classes in a language that none of us speak so that we as teachers can understand how it feels to be taught in a language that we don't understand. I've heard rumours that the tutor might teach in Japanese. That'll be interesting. I think Americans have much more do do with Japan than we do here in the UK. I often see American craft sites and blogs taking inspiration from Japanese culture. With my art students I'm exposed to Chinese, African, Russian and European cultures far more. One of last years Units for my A-level students was the Art of Tibet, and another had an African Art and Craft theme. They get to pick from a choice of five or six. I was curious to see how some of my Chinese students approached the Tibet unit, most of them are Buddhist and were able to either visit Tibet during their Christmas break or to draw on memories of the place. Most of them have no idea of the Chinese/Tibet controversy as the Chinese Government controls what the people are told about. I remember discussing iconic imagery with a Chinese student and referring to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and the photo of the Unknown Rebel by Jeff Widener and he had no idea of what I was talking about.

Anyway, I'm off to bed shortly, I've been inducting art students at college all day, very boring and very tiring. The first full days work I've done for a few months and it's only been just under a month since my stroke. Wow, that makes me sound like an old woman! I say the words 'my stroke' and it doesn't sound like I'm talking about me. Ah well, it's good to be actually earning money again!

UFO's?

Well, sort of. I have a sunset obsession. You may not know this about me, but I just love sunsets. I love the colours and textures; the way the sky changes to all these glorious colours and the way the light plays through the clouds. I see the most amazing sunsets from my studio window and I like to photograph them when I can (any sunsets really, not just the ones from my studio window!). I took this photo the other week which showed these fabulous inky cloud formations and the rays of golden sunlight streaming up and reflecting off the bottom of them. But do you see that golden ball of light there in the top right hand corner? Any idea what it is? I can't figure it out at all.

There are also some FO's too (Finished Objects), none of which I can show you at the moment as they're all intended for my current swap partners who may be peeking, but I'll give you a few teaser shots with the promise of better pictures when my partners receive.

But what can they be? Hee hee! I'm not going to give you any clues.

This is a pretty one, I hope my partner likes it!

This I can show you, it's another UFO! It's my Aine Cardi which is growing so quickly. If you want a quick project, this is perfect. I've now done the back and both fronts, and have started on one sleeve. The cardi also features a crocheted motif on each front panel which I'll have to do before I make it up.

Whilst knitting the front panels I needed two stitch holders which I didn't have, so I whipped a couple up using some florists wire and a pair of pliers. They worked really well and the florists wire is soft enough to bend into shape easily, but strong enough to hold its shape whilst you use it.

Okay, another FO here. This jewelled paisley hurricane candle burner will be going into mu eBay shop shortly. It's a lovely swirly turquoise with copper outliner detail.

I've also discovered a great site for all you UK bookworms. Books are so expensive these days and I'm sure you all have a pile of books at home that you've read and probably won't read again. ReadItSwapIt allows you to swap your unwanted books for other peoples unwanted books. I've done a few swaps on there now and I'm quite happy with my newly acquired reading material! M is also a voracious reader and unlike me, won't read a book more than once and is not bothered whether he keeps any of them. I have an *ahem* extensive library of books, fiction, non-fiction, craft books, gardening books, DIY books, text books, cooking books, you name it, I probably have a book on it somewhere *lol* When we were given the opportunity to buy our house, M insisted that of course we should buy, because then he'd never have to move my books again!

If you would like to enter my Blogoversary Giveaway, you have until 4th August to leave a comment. The original post is here and it gives you all the details of what to do and what you can win. I've had some brilliant suggestions so far, thank you everyone that's left a comment so far. Why not check it out? Good luck!

A busy week...

Well, this week has been busy! I've been job hunting, emailing my CV out to places (I only want a summer job after all), I've been asked to do six weeks of Summer School Art Workshops (two hour each workshop) so I've been mentally drawing up a scheme of work for those. I'm thinking Modroc sculptures, printing, simple hand building (thumb pots?), willow and textile weaving, and the other two I haven't quite decided yet. Any ideas?

I helped Mum clear out the shed so that she could get in there to pot up some plants and get the mower in and out. Blokes and their sheds eh? It's the same in my shed. I can't actually walk in there. I have to kind of lean in and grab what I need. We must have thrown out at least 50 plant pots that Dad had been hoarding! We also discovered a mound of sunflower husks that a mouse had obviously feasted on over a period of time. I think it had stolen them from the bird seed food.

I went round to my sisters to help her unpack some flat packed furniture that she'd ordered, and then repacked it all as it was such bad quality and chipped all along the sides (never shop at MFI if you can help it! They ship from Thailand and don't quality control). It's heavy duty stuff and it's quite tiring lugging it about. This is the third set that has been substandard so she's very annoyed about it. I pity the person on the other end of the line when she rings to complain (again); she takes no prisoners when she's burning with that righteous anger.  

I've been to yoga and to belly dancing, where we've been focusing on techniques now we no longer have to concentrate on our choreography. We're looking at Tribal Fusion at the moment, which is fab, even with my knackered shoulder which is a little stiff for some of the movements, but I'm working on it! We worked to Transglobal Underground this week which is one of my favourite groups. I also discovered that I have no idea where my birth certificate is. It's not where I thought it was. This is not good! I guess I'm going to have to turn the house upside down looking for it! How can you lose things in such a small house? Maybe I should frisk the cats?

We still can't drink the local water without boiling it. I've spent some time working in the garden, cutting stuff back and chopping stuff with my sturdy but blunt little chopper - what good therapy that is! Pissed off? Chop stuff in your garden with a blunt chopper! (I have prolific shrubs that want to take over every available space, I dream of the body snatchers invading my bedroom disguised as cherry laurel or forsythia branches.)  I even tried to drill a hole into a concrete fence post but to no avail. Even with the proper drill bit, it just wasn't having it. I even accosted a youngish man at the local DIY superstore for advice...

Me: Excuse me, I need some advice, do you know anything about drill bits?

Him: Um, yes, I can help you...

Me: I'd like to drill several holes into super tough concrete, what's the best drill bit to use?

Him: That's easy *picks up bit from hook* this one here is the one you want.

Me: That's the one I've been using. It's making barely a dimple...

Him: Really? Oh...

Me: I'm using a hammer drill..

Him: Hmmm

Me: My drill's getting very hot and I'm worried about burning it out.

Him: What is it you're drilling?

Me: A concrete fence post.

Him: Well, this one is the one recommended for concrete.

Me: But it's not working...*Sigh* Maybe I should give up?

Him: Yeah, I think that would be a good idea.

Very helpful. Thanks mate.

Maybe I should try 'No Nails'?

Anyway, there has also been crafting going on. Super secret swap crafting. I'm not going to divulge who they're for or what they are, but here are some teaser photos. 

  

And a random thought, just because I'm watching 'Sunshine' at the moment; doesn't Cillian Murphy have the most beautiful blue eyes? I love his native Irish accent too, but he's got an American accent for this film. *Sigh* I guess I'll have to make do with his long lashed luscious eyes. Why is it that guys often have long thick lashes that make us girls just green with envy? 

And yet another teaser.

Okay, enough teasers for today. Here's a pretty shot of one of the lavender bushes in my garden. It's just coming into bloom.

 

And some shots from my studio window. This is from the front of my house. 

And this is from the side a little bit later.

 

So, have a good weekend. I hope yours is a sunny one! Bed would be beckoning me, but M is singing very loudly and drunkenly, and totally off key downstairs with the headphones on and doesn't seem willing to shut up. I guess I'll be up for a while longer.

 

socks and pea soupers

Remember the kebab stick dpn's? I cast on with them on Sunday; partly because I was desperate to see how they worked and partly to see how my new sock yarn knitted up. I'm using the Basic Ribbed Socks pattern which was originally in Spun magazine, but I found it on Ravelry. Well, I cast on and knitted a few rows, then realised that I hadn't been obsessive enough with the whole sanding process when I was making the dpns. They felt smooth enough to the touch but when knitting with them, they would snag in odd places. So I frogged the sock back and took some fine sandpaper to them and sanded the f*@$ out of them. Then I used the beeswax polish on them that M uses on his didges and buffed them up. After that, they cast on really nicely. So remember folks, when you make your super cheap bamboo kebab stick dpns, sand them plenty to stop those hair fine splinters catching and then use a little natural beeswax polish (or similar) on them. You won't regret it.

And here is how my self patterning fair isle yarn is knitting up. What do you think? I'm a little disappointed that the purple doesn't seem to be making a distinct pattern yet. Is that normal? Are my expectations too high? Will the pattern get clearer as I go along? Are my needles too thick? Sould I go down a mil? These work out at about 3mm, should I go down to 2mm? These are only my second pair of socks and my first time using this fancy self patterning stuff, so I'm full of questions :-) I kinda like them though. The colours are a little pastel-y for my tastes, but what the hell!

And whilst we're admiring yarn, I got a closer shot of the 'still without tassel edges' wrap because you can see the silver in the yarn a bit clearer in this photo. I can't wait to get a new camera so I can start getting decent photos again. M says in about 2 weeks. I miss my camera and you lot are going to get mighty sick of me bitching about it till I get a new one *lol*

This week is the last week before half term (hurray) and my students start mock exams when they get back, so I had a little fun with them today making these textured abstract panels. They are basically watercolour board with modroc, tissue paper, foam board shapes, wire and string on them. The whole lot is painted with various acrylic colours, hot glue is dribbled over them and metalic paint and pearlex powers are applied for extra twinkle.

I did these really quick because I was demonstrating to students, but I may go over them a little with a few other bits I have at home, and maybe have a play with some canvases to see what I can come up with for future lessons. I love this technique, it's great fun :-)

The weather's real messed up at the moment, days of sunshine, with nights and early morning of thick fog. Real pea soupers. I love thick fog when I don't have to drive much; it makes everything really ethereal. I hate it when I have to drive though.

Tomorrow is Valentines Day; I have just a couple of fun trinkets for M, a packet of Jammy Dodgers with heart shaped centres and a multipack of Loveheart sweeties. He's not a real soppy romantic but he'll apreciate the fun side of this gift as well as the sugar :-) I wonder if he'll have remembered? He normally does, one year he bought me a lottery ticket and wrote me a little poem explaining the relevance of the numbers he'd chosen (like my birth date, our ages, how many years we'd been together, stuff like that). Yeah, maybe he's more of a romantic than I give him credit for although he'd hate me to say that to anyone :-) We don't tend to go overboard for Valentines Day, it's just too commercial. We tend to have a meal or do something together, maybe give each other a small trinket, nothing too expensive; it's the thought that counts. He even made me a card one year and M doesn't do 'crafts'!

Keeping busy

Well, the BF is away again this week training, so I'm home alone, yet again. He thinks he may have a couple more weeks away (he's really not keen about being away from home. He gets very homesick. I hope this doesn't lead him to do anything stupid, like jacking the job in.....) He comes home at the weekend though. I do miss him. The Mondays are the worst. The house seems kind of quiet. Then I get used to it and start to enjoy having the place to myself.
But, yes, Mondays are the worst. So I was V. busy yesterday. I hoovered upstairs, downstairs and the stairs. I washed the floors downstairs. I did the grocery shopping. I walked up to the post office with the dog to post various eBay sales and Atsukos water bottle cozy, and gave him a long walk up at Rabbit Field (one of many walks).
I listed lots more glass in my eBay shop. The star oil lamp will be hard to part with, it's one of my favourites out of this batch, but I don't have the space for all my glass *lol*
I made some beads for ZaftigMomma. No pictures yet because she reads my blog (Hi Karan! *lol*)
I finished May's page for the altered book page-a-long on Craftster. The theme I chose was Spice, which makes me think of either India or Dune (the Frank Herbert Novel), but in the end I went for India.

I made a little felted button brooch and needle-felted a flower brooch. I think it need a bit more embellishment though. It was about 1 o'clock last night when I finished felting it so I didn't get that far. I was just randomly using up scraps of fleece because I'm on a craft supplies diet (no new supplies for 3 months now! I'm using what I have. Isn't that insane? I have enough stash to carry on crafting for a while now, and don't plan to buy anything new apart from glass materials if I can help it.)



I crocheted alot more of my Short'n'Sweet. The long bit at the top is the back and the short bit hanging down is part of the right front. I think. I love the pattern it's forming with the delicate little leaves.

And here's an update on my beaded goddess. There's a bit more done now.

Catching up

I realised that I haven't got around to posting pictures of some of the things I have made for people recently.
This was made for Roxybadoxy - it was a pattern from the HeadHuggers site. I enjoyed making this and yes, it's one I will probably make for me. I ended up frogging it though, coz the first time I made it, it came out a little big. Here it is modelled by Zha'an, my disembodied head.

These two necklaces I crocheted for Purpleone. The brown one is loosely based on one in her Wists, although I made the centre motif solid and added a lovely button that I felt finished it off nicely. The other motifs are circular, though they look squashed on the bust because I had to tie them behind as they wanted to slip off. She likes brown and green.

This was more of a collar type necklace. Again, I winged it as I went along - that's the beauty of crochet :-)

And I painted this polkadot tree for RubyTuesday based off one in her Wists. It's watercolours on watercolour paper. I was a little annoyed with myself coz the tree sort of over-ran at the top - I should have made the trunk a little shorter so that it fitted.

Crafty update

The BF has a week or twos work which is great news, it will pay some of the bills due shortly - he's much happier when he works - he was actually whistling round the supermarket when we went grocery shopping last night - he only whistles when he's really happy. It's just a bit of driving - he has a 7.5 tonne licence, so he can drive lorries - but it's something. He's delivering plumbing supplies to plumbers, so it's not a ridiculously early start, or late finish.


So, what have I been up to for the last few days? Apart from work, that is. Well, I finished Karan's (ZaftigMomma) flower scarflette which was a pattern from Knitty. I love how it turned out, despite the slightly vague assembling instructions (does anybody else find that some of Knittys patterns are a little vague in places?) I may make myself one (I always say that, but I'm usually too busy making stuff for other people *lol*) and maybe I'll make some for gifts.




I finished painting the dragon for the dragon swap. I went with watercolours in the end and decided that he was a fire dragon, so he's all reds and golds. I wanted to paint him in flight in blue sky, so he needed to be a colour that would show up against the blue. I've also crocheted a dragon amigurami (my first), which is sadly just a pile of random body parts at the moment, waiting for stuffing and assembling. No picture yet as there's not much point. He just looks like roadkill at the moment




I made a choker for DancingZira last night for a personal swap. She wants something gothic/rivithead/industrial inspired. I'm hoping this will fit the bill. She likes red and black; can you tell? The ribbons are meant to cascade down her back from the base of her neck. It also means that the fit is adjustable. I also like how this came out - yes, it's another project in the 'stuff to make for myself one day' pile. The idea just popped into my head and I had to make it. It exceeded my vision I think.





CraftyDeb has just sent me a pile of fabulous patterns including two bellydance patterns, a wrap skirt pattern and a sleepwear pattern, so I guess I'm going to have to get my 'lil Brother out and have a sewing session. There's plenty of football on for the next couple of weeks which I normally don't look forward to, but it may give me some extra crafty spare time.