fabulous fair finds!

I have been quite poorly since the littl'un was born, but finally managed a trip out at the recently and went on a little walk to the local church fair, which was fabulous. One of the stalls was selling handmade items, and I spied some familiar knitted floral brooches in beautiful colours (above). The vicar's grandchildren had knitted them from my own book 'Knitting for Children' and had made a fantastic job of it, choosing shades that went well together, making a very pretty presentation on the stall. One of the beautiful girls, Jolie, had made a fabulous ball of yarn from finger knitted tubes (below) she must be going for the world record! I wonder how many metres there are and how long it took her. It is a fabulous pastime to keep her busy while in front of the tv!

I also donated some of my toys for the benefit of the church, and bought the most beautiful dolls pram from the 1930s which I purchased for little Millie's first Christmas present. It is a bit well-worn, but I am looking forward to bringing it out in the spring to spruce up and maybe use to decorate the nursery until she is old enough to push her dolls and teddies in it.

Looking forward to many more Christmas fairs over the next few weeks!

tales from the sock drawer

...and here's my humble offering from the exhibition, along with the tale from the sock drawer...

Learning to Fly

"Old Mrs Habberknackle has a large chest of drawers in her bedroom, where she likes to keep her stockings and her balls of yarn for knitting, nestled cosily beside each other. It is a great joy to her every time she opens the little brown drawer full of all the colours of the rainbow and she always has a hard time choosing which pair of stripy socks to wear under her long swishy skirts or exactly what colour yarn to use as she knits another incredibly loooong scarf for one of her fifteen grandchildren.

The trouble is, it is not just old Mrs Habberknackle who loves the drawers so much. A few of the cheeky birdies from the neighbouring woods have discovered just how cosy it is to nest in balls of yarn – so much more comfortable than twigs and moss. So now every time old Mrs Habberknackle opens her drawers she is not quite sure who, or what, is about to fly out next, as each doting mother teaches her chicks the basics of taking off and landing!

However, she doesn’t mind, why should she be the only one to benefit from such a glorious set of drawers filled with a cosy, warm rainbow? Although next time she pokes her hand in, she had better be careful as I am sure I spied some sort of strange and hairy creature burrowing through the yarn last time she opened it – can you spot him?!"

tales from the sock drawer exhibition

Some lovely little shots have come through from the final pieces entered into the Tales From the Sock Drawerexhibition, which I was madly making for last year, like these aliens,and birdies

It is so interesting how each designer has taken a totally different spin on the drawers set up, and I of course love Abigail Brown's unusual and fun display as I have mentioned before that I am a big fan of her work.

I also liked Kate Toms' creative drawers, which were opened up at the back so we could have an insight into a tiny secret world. It did make me wonder whether I should have thought a little bit more outside the box (or drawer) but as you know, I am a simple kinda gal and liked the way my simple tale fitted the drawers and display...more of that tomorrow!

the aliens have landed!

More toys made for the exhibition, I love how weird these ones are, and how much expression they seem to have with only their cute little button eyes...

little chicks

More toys from the exhibition pile...

toys, toys, toys

Been busy making lots and lots of little creatures for an upcoming exhibition, Tales From the Sock Drawer.

Here are some Wise Old Owls...

...without faces....

...and with!

More little folk soon.

happy easter knitting!

Just before I rush off to relax my knitting fingers over the Easter weekend, I wanted to let you know of the Easter workshops I am running for children next week at Sally Bourne in Crouch End, North London.

You have a choice from Wednesday 7th or Friday 9th in the morning from 10.00 - 11.30am. We will be aiming to make little wonky toys, a little like my mad alien friend above, with buttons, felt and the basic knitting stitches. So if your kids are driving you mad this holiday already, send them to learn a craft with us!

Have a happy Easter and don't eat too much chocolate!

recycling

Way back when I first graduated from my MA in textiles and was looking for employment, I whiled away my days cutting up and embroidering old jumpers or making them into toys. This week I have found myself pining for that theraputic activity and with a good three boxes of old woollen jumpers which I just cannot resist accumulating, I thought it was about time I did something with them. Here are some of the fruits of my labour;

I have gotten a little bit obsessed with bows in these, but hey, who doesn't love a bow?! The pink jumper is cashmere, bought in a little shop in San Francisco, from which I could've filled whole suitcases with buttery soft second hand cashmere goodies.

Well, the current climate is calling for sustainability and recycling, and these jumpers fit the brief, which is just as well, as now I have way too many bow-laden woollies to wear myself!

I shall pop them on my website when it has undergone its revamp later this month, and in the meantime will be hauling a pile of them to the We Make London fair this weekend.

childs play...

A word of warning, if you are babysitting nieces and nephews do not expect to get any knitting done. This is what happened when Taylor and Finley got hold of my yarn and needles.....

....and then they begged me to knit for their pokemon, as they were cold without clothes on.....

So much for the new book knitting, but the boys are so adorable that it was worth the unwelcome break!