Minion Madness

Have you seen the film Despicable Me yet? We absolutely love it in our family, it is so unusual. I have never seen anything like it before, we all thoroughly enjoyed it (and the second one which is even better!). We especially like the Minions who are really the stars of the film. I wont go into detail because I don’t want to ruin it for you, but you should definitely give it a go!

Anyways, as it’s autumn it means it’s time to prepare for hat-wearing, and when I saw this pattern I HAD to have one! Now, I’m bold, but not so bold as to go round sporting minion hats (sorry), but I happen to have two little boys who I can dress however I please …hmmm. And quite obviously it would please me very much, and Little H, if they were to be wearing minion hats!

I made a yellow minion hat for Little H first as he is really the one who is into it, Little A doesn’t have a clue yet. I adapted the hat a little because my kids have really big heads (hopefully its all brains). For the yellow one I used two strands of Stylecraft Special DK together and a 5.5mm hook.

I was pretty pleased with how it came out, but after finishing, I realised I had made the ear flaps FAR too short! Luckily, Little H has little ears :)

I then made this purple one for Little A. I used the smaller pattern (Toddler) but used Stylecraft Special Chunky and a 6mm hook. This was far easier to work up, the yarn was so much easier to handle than two strands of DK and as a result the hat is thick but not stiff (as the yellow one is a little). I also chose to add the black band afterwards as I had only DK in black, but it was pretty easy and, I think, looks better.

So there you are, I can’t wait for the cold weather now! The only problem is that Little H doesn’t want to actually wear his hat, he wants to look at it, and he can’t do that whilst it’s on his head! Not sure what the solution is for this…

Thanks for stopping by, have you been excitedly making any preparations for the winter?

Hayley

xx

P.S. Sorry for the poor quality of these photos (and probably some to follow), our camera has broken and as such it refuses to focus at certain distances, I have to try all sorts of things to get a reasonable picture...strange I know! As soon as we can afford a new one we will!! Thanks! xx

Show and Tell

I don’t know about you but this is kind of a big thing in our family. I don’t think it was intentional but I know it’s a thing because I have SO many memories of Sunday morning with my family, returning home from the market or car boot sale, all armed with our goods and all of us waiting to ‘show and tell.’ We were very patient, we waited until the kettle had boiled, tea made, and sometimes bacon sandwiches. We would then all settle in our seats, and the sharing would begin!

I always came back with making goodies, anything craft related or things that were truly dying, but I felt like I could see the potential. My sister was similar, but somehow more practical than me. My mum was very savvy and selective, always buying fewer goods but of higher quality or for very specific, practical purposes. My dad, well, he would always have bought some old, dirty looking thing, nearly always VERY heavy. None of us would have a clue, and who could blame us, as it would be some obscure part for a machine or an engine. We all shared in each other’s glory, congratulating each other on our finds, even when we could see no beauty or attraction in them (always my Dad’s) and it was such a great way to spend time together on a cold sunny morning.

But here I am, away from all of my family, with a bag full of goodies that NEED to be shared! So, here you are, are you ready? I managed to last a whole day and a half before opening my prize, despite them being sat in the hallway to entice me every time I passed. As you know I have two little boys who would probably ruin my happiness if I began to unpack it with their help, so I waited for just the right time…nap time :)

First up, is this HUGE ball of yarn. I bought this on a whim, I really liked the colours and for a tenner it would provide good knitting practice…huge yarn, much easier to see! I have since discovered that it needs 13/15mm needles, yikes! When I find some, I plan to make a cowl. The cute starry needles you see were a freebie!

I bought a few practical items; stitch markers and appliqué pins, and when I paid for them I spotted these pompom makers. They look really easy to use and so I bought them with the intention of doing some Christmas making with Little H. these are actually one of the things I am most excited about!

Oh, oh my, I know, such BEAUTIFUL fabric! I really couldn’t help myself. I took so long deciding over these. I put them back and wrote them down to think about and as I was putting the slip of paper in my pocket I suddenly had a huge change of heart…I grabbed them, paid for them as quickly as I could and stashed them in my bag. Done. Too late to change my mind now, thank goodness! I am going to use them to make a quilt, my first ever, and I am VERY excited (but nervous too). This is the kind of purchase I would always think about making but never actually follow through with, but this time I went for it and I am so glad I did!

I saw these a couple of years ago at the show and really liked them, but I couldn’t knit of crochet, so I really had little use for one. They were as lovely as I remembered them and I now had a reason to buy one. They are for pinning your handmade scarves, jumpers, or shawls together with, and when you’re not keeping warm with it, you can put it in your hair. Cool huh?

Another thing I NEVER do is sign up to magazines, but, oh, yes that’s right, I have! I got this issue of Simply Crochet to take away which also included a bird making kit for Christmas and a knitting pattern book. Mmmm, lots of reading love! I chose Simply crochet because it has this pattern in it. I saw the blanket in the flesh at the show and it was Sooooooo lovely, I had to have it! You may have also seen the little white sheet folded up, this is solu-fleece by Vilene. I have no idea what I’m going to use it for but the demo’s compelled me to try playing with some!

As usual I came home with a billion pamphlets, business cards and postcards I had purchased. These are almost as good as my proper purchases! It’s great to slowly go through them and look people up on the internet, or remember how they inspired your latest ideas.

Last, and definitely not least, is this;

My very first screen printing kit!!! I have wanted to print my own fabrics for a long time but have never been brave enough to try. It was on my list of things to look at while at the show and although they’re not the very best quality, they are enough to get me started. I’m not sure when exactly I will find time for this but where there’s a will there’s a way so I’m sure I’ll fit it in! If you have any tips for beginners, please PLEASE share.

Thanks for stopping by for show and tell, it feels good for me to get it out there and somehow I feel I can give myself permission to start using them now…strange. I hope you have a good day,

See you soon

Hayley

xx

The Knitting and Stitching Show

There is another reason that I love autumn, well there’s many, but other than the need for boots and jumpers and scarves (all of which are just delicious) there is the fact that autumn means The Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace. I look forward to this event every year and I begin saving for it after Christmas! It is the leading consumer textile event in the UK and it is absolutely fantastic. Let me brag tell you about it in a little more depth…

The riot of flowers you see above was the sight that met us as we entered; a rainbow of knitted and crocheted flowers in literally every type you can imagine!  It included these awesome hanging baskets…

Its own bumble bee’s and their woolly hive…(want one)

And it’s very own pond! Just look at those frogs chilling out on their lily pads…wow.

We got our tickets and scurried to the entrance, I was honestly like a child. I am really thankful that you have to pass some exhibitions before you enter into the stalls selling everything, it gives you the opportunity to slow (and calm) down and soak up some inspiration. Let me tell you, there was SO much to inspire. The 100^th anniversary of the war was a huge theme this year, with knitted poppies being sold in the entrance hall and the first pieces on display were in memory of it.

This pop-up/out book was incredible, a mixed media piece of paper, stitch and paint.

I particularly liked this scrolled piece. (I’m sorry, although I did get permission to take all of my photographs, I cannot remember all of the details.)

Although I don’t think it was related to the anniversary, the gallery of Jo Beattie’s work really followed on well. Her work was titled Precious Memories and was based on the idea that we remember people and associate them with the clothes that they wear (so true, I do this!). It took my breath away as soon as I saw it.

The pieces are machine stitched onto see-through backgrounds, and I think they were supported with wired couched in but I can’t be sure.

These two portraits were just stunning. I was really glad that I overheard a conversation about how they were displayed as it turns out that their shadows, which are an essential component in the finished piece, weren’t showing properly on the backdrop due to a problem with the lighting. I felt a little sorry for the artist and as I looked back at the piece that was displayed correctly, it was obvious how much difference it could have made to the larger pieces. I tried really really hard to imagine them but it was difficult. Needless to say, my poor pictures taken on my phone did not do them justice!

Felt completely dominated the show this year (well it felt like it anyway-no pun intended!) and the Black Sheep Gallery was unbelieveable, both in skill and in, erm, weirdness. I have a friend who felts and I have tried it myself, so I know how difficult it is, and these guys just took it to a completely different level. Look at these dresses!

I cannot imagine how many hours must have gone into these, not to mention how much physical work it must have needed, rubbing and rolling and pressing and squeezing….it wore me out just thinking about it.

The above piece was strange but for some reason very appealing to me. I wanted to touch it so much but of course you are not allowed, so I stopped myself. This is very difficult given that the whole point of textiles is to invite you to explore their textures.

Ok, these were VERY strange but VERY impressive; these Holy Bowls as they were called (by Gladys Paulüs) were super thin, I mean, really thin, and they were made out of felt! But the weirdest thing was that if you poked it, it flexed and wobbled a little. The secret was, I am sad to say, rabbit skin glue. I wonder who discovered that?

There were some more lovely/strange things in the Black Sheep gallery, here are a few;

                                                                         HA! ?

LOOK AT THAT PIG!!! Oh my gosh how cute!

I love these little collections of cutlery and grooming accessories, and these brooches which look a little like pea pods. I think I would like to wear one if it were only a ¼ of the size.

This Reindeer hat had such character and a great ‘presence’ about it (if you get what I mean?), I instantly imagined it on the set of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

Ok, so by this point I am flagging from my whirlwind adventure into the world of textiles and I’ve only seen about 2% of everything there is to see. From here the picture snapping slows down a bit, and often I forget to take any at all, but I did take some, even if I can’t remember as much information!

Maybe you should get a cup of tea? I’ll wait here while you put the kettle on. And yes, a biscuit would probably help too.

I ran into Abigail Mill, actually, no I didn’t, I went up to her stall and she was there…funnily enough. I was a little mesmerised by her fabric pictures which look quite simple but I know they’re not. I bought some postcards of her work as a sweet reminder :) She also had a book which looked really good if you’re interested.

I visited BaaRamEwe and they were totally lovely! I spied this cardigan and I tried hard to persuade my Nan that she might like to knit it for me, but she shot me down with her list of to-knits which already included something of mine. Doh.

I spent a loooonnnng time pondering this scarf, and another, and whether I should buy the kit to make it (or the other). It was so yummy and perfectly autumnal that I knew one would suit being slung around my neck, but there was one big problem…I would have to learn to knit. 

The lady at the stall was so nice and extremely patient with me and even agreed to a slightly different arrangement as I would want to make mine bigger (of course). In the end I walked away to think it over and decided that it really was too much of a luxury to buy something that I had no idea how to make. The likelihood of me giving up not long after starting was too much. However, if I can knit by this time next year ITS MINE!!!

I enjoyed browsing through a few these curious things by Catherina von Isenburg,

I especially liked the printers tray deliberately left half empty.

More felty goodness met me at Bridgette Karn’s stall, I tried so hard to take a good photo that captured the beauty of these pieces but I couldn’t.

 I honestly don’t know how they are so detailed, the harvest one is my favourite. In case you were wondering, they take between 20 and 50 hours to make each, so you could make one in a weekend …HA!

I also stopped by Alice Caroline, suppliers of glorious Liberty fabrics. I have bought something from them every time I’ve been and have ordered things via their website. They are SO lovely and very helpful, if ever you are looking for liberty fabrics in assorted packs, scraps, or even by the metre you really need to look no further. If you want some mix of colours that they haven’t got they’ll most likely just make it for you :) This time I left without fabric (I know, I’m good) but not completely empty handed; I spotted a beautiful liberty scarf with a mustard pompom trim: YUM!! But it wasn’t for sale, it was Alice’s. She kindly let me touch it, and try it on, and ponder over making one, and what fabric to use etc etc. I’ll keep you posted. It’s going to be fab!

I got lazy now and a bit tired if im honest, I snapped this picture of crochet appliqué for a little inspiration, and then, this lady walked past me…

WOOOOW! LOOK at her DRESS! That’s pretty much what I said really loudly. Of course, she stopped. I carried on my admiration and praise for such a lovely way to wear yarn, I had to check if she had made it and yes, she had. How long? I know this is what you’re thinking. Well, the bottom few inches she did on a 12 hour flight and that’s all she knows so….a bloody long time really, but what a result! An heirloom I think. Her name was Anna, if you are going to The Knitting and Stitching Show do look out for her, those of you who aren’t, you have until Sunday if you fancy something to do this weekend!

Well, that about wraps it up, I really am such a lucky lady that my hubby is willing to take one of his few, precious holiday days to watch the kids whilst I swan around for a whole day just taking in inspiration, touching scrummy yarns, trying on knits, dribbling over fabrics, eating cake and drinking tea and having an all round jolly good time with my Nan. We had such fun, and it’s a great time for us to bond over our shared passion. I think I’m lucky to have such a close relationship with her, I thought this was pretty normal but so many people commented on how nice it was that we would come together that it made me think maybe this is a little unusual? No matter, it is what it is, unusual or not.

All that’s left is to show you what I bought but I think that’s for another day,

Thanks for stopping by, if anyone is going to the show this weekend I wish you a wonderful time. If you’re not then I hope you suddenly decide to go, and if you do, I hope you love it as much as I did!

Hayley

xx