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My crochet journey had a rough start, but I've come a long way since that first mutant granny square, and I've had my heart set on hooking a Claudia Scarf for a long time now.
My red-loving, scarf-wearing friend's 30th birthday was the perfect excuse to get out the hooks - and it helped that the temperature has dropped to arctic levels down here so crochet is the perfect winter couch craft!
I'm really happy with how it turned out - even though with 4 ply wool and a 3mm hook it felt like it was going to take forever to finish!
I had a couple of sample sachets of soak wash that I'd been dying to try out and I'm happy to report that it more than lives up to the hype! I used Bendigo Woollen Mills wool (Desert Pea in 4 ply) which is really pretty soft to begin with, but after soaking in soak wash and blocking, it's come up super snuggly soft.
(I'm glad I kept the ball band! I think it makes a cute "care" tag!)
One day I'd like my own Claudia Scarf - one day. I don't think I'm really up to knitting 170 rows of 4 ply wool back-to-back! But if you're looking for an easy, satisfying, well-written pattern I can't recommend it enough.
I'm sure most of you have heard of Instagram by now, but in case you've been living under a rock for the past year.... It's basically a smartphone app service that lets you take and edit and upload photos to share with the rest of the Instagram world. I really dig the ease of use, and the cute vintage filters, and more than that - I love all the craft happening around the world that I get to check in on throughout my day!
I've met some fantastic, inspiring, crafty women (and men!) on Instagram, and recently a few of us decided that we should start our own quilting bee! And so the Far Flung Bee (because we're all scattered across the world) was born.
I decided for my blocks I would love some of Oh Fransson's Mod Mosaic blocks, but the problem is - we don't start until June and my patience just won't last that long!
So despite my massive to-do list, I managed to crank out some "test blocks" (if I call them test blocks that justifies the time spent away from more important things, right? Right?!) over the last couple of days.
I am proud to say I used ONLY scraps for these blocks! (well, except for the sashing). It feels good to use up all the little bits of fabric I've been hoarding.
While making these I did notice that most of my scraps are painfully tiny. I guess my paranoia about fabric wastage is not great for accumulating useable-sized scraps! Somehow I seemed to have bigger red-pink-purple scraps, so consequently that block was a LOT easier to make - and I think it looks better with the bigger scraps, too.
It's nearly June, and I'm so excited to get started! Is it June yet?!
Even still, I managed to come away with a few spoils...
Another vintage dinner plate for my growing collection, some knitting needles and a giant double-ended crochet hook, and a really pretty buttercup-yellow cup. I don't know what I'm going to do with the cup but I love this colour right now so it just had to come home with me!
The knitting needles definitely had a purpose - I've been wanting to try out a 1970s favourite - knitting needle bangles!
(I won't be making a tutorial since there are so many online already! Just google "how to knitting needle bangle" and you'll find tons!)
Basically you just pop these suckers in a pot of boiling water (make sure they're plastic - the metal crochet hook didn't do anything apart from getting burningly hot!) until they're soft and pliable then, WEARING GLOVES (I used winter woolies) grab a needle out with your tongs and wrap it around a jar with your gloved-hands until it cools down. If they come out too big or too small or too wonky, you can pop them back in the water until they soften again and have another go!
It was so much fun - and easy too! - I think I'll go back and get a few more colours.
So what did you all get up to on your weekend? What did you make, create, eat, watch, do?
edited to add: sadly the blue knitting needles didn't make it through the softening process! They just got really brittle and snapped - maybe they were too thin?
Stamp carving is another craft I love doing cuddled up on a blanket in front of the TV (although I have to pay less attention to the TV than I'd like to, otherwise I inevitably end up cutting myself!) and I've managed to knock out a few stamp commissions in the past week.
If you would like your own custom hand carved stamp you can email me (restlesswillow at gmail dot com) or check out my etsy shop!
I did what I usually do, and jump straight into something new without slowing down to learn the basics. "But the basics are boring! I just want to make some really cool stuff." And because I didn't stop to learn the basics, I had no idea what I was doing and, being a perfectionist, I quickly became frustrated when I couldn't do it properly and I gave up.
Not this time!
This time I was determined, so I started again at the beginning with a project to teach me double crochet.
I've since frogged it ("frogged" - is that the right word?) because I didn't like how bulky it was, but now I know double crochet. Next - treble. And of course what better way to learn treble than the ubiquitous granny square!
I can safely say I'm addicted! Crochet is the perfect couch craft, and I'm finding it a great way to unwind while watching some tv after work. I know it will take a long time to crochet enough of these little squares to make a blanket (and I don't want to think of how many ends I will have to weave in!) but this time I want the romance to last.
And as if the world was telling me "Go for it!", I found this in one of my favourite op shop haunts. I'm not sure what purpose it originally had - maybe a magazine holder? Or firewood caddy maybe? - but now it's my new project holder.
Now, time for some couch crafting I think!
Esther is one of my biggest craft idols. I love and admire everything she makes, because it comes from such a beautiful and genuine place in her - she truly creates.
Each month one of us will choose a quilt block style to attempt, and the other will choose a picture that we love, and that will become the palette for the colours we use in our quilt block. I feel I'm very restrained when it comes to sticking within my comfort-zone, so I'm hoping this will push me to try new ideas and combinations - and actually be more bold in my quilting!
In February (ahem, yes, I'm very late in posting this!) it was my turn to pick the colour palette photo and I choose a vintagey, voguey, dreamy, scootery photo.
And Essie picked a 'square in a star' block style for us to try (AND made a fantastic step-by-step tutorial for those who want to make their own!)
I picked this photo very deliberately, because of the bold, vibrant orange and aquas. I normally find myself drawn to more muted colours, and since this is partly an exercise in stretching my boundaries (as well as being just plain fun!) I thought I would try and introduce some colour to my repertoire.
What I love about this project is the way two people interpret a photo in two completely different (yet magic!) ways. It's 100% personal interpretation, and I think I'm more excited about seeing what Essie comes up with each month than making my own block!
Now... what I DON'T love about my interpretation... is the fabric I picked. It was also a pain to photograph with our overcast weather (can you believe that the "white" fabric is actually off-white/cream in real life!). It was a bit of a challenge for me, especially with my existing stash, but in hindsight I would have liked to have included richer tones, instead of just plain brights.
Well there is always next month! We've already picked our photo and our block style, so it's back to the sewing room for me!
That being said, there has been a little crafting going on as I slug away at commissions and try and relax in front of some TV with my new couch-craft - crochet.
More on the crochet later - for now, here are some of my latest stamp commissions.
This one was such a challenge to carve as the text is around 12pt type! That's very tiny, and very fiddly, and I always worry that my text never comes out straight or neat, but I guess that is part of the handmade, hand-carved charm, no?
I quite like the little pile of packages and letters next to the address and am thinking maybe I should have this design available for commission in my shop - what do you think?
So I was very happy when I received a request to make another rainbow scarf - this one even longer! My original scarf had 28 unique prints - this one has 43.. and then doubled for the repeat! That's a lot of strip piecing.
It's backed with some of my favourite super-soft black microfleece.... and some more patchwork as I was about 5 inches too short of fleece (which, I'm sure you can imagine, is in short supply down here in summer!)
Did I mention how loooooong this thing is? It's over 2 meters long! (2.5 yards long for those of you who still use the old measurements) I couldn't resist taking it for a twirl and I must say this is going to be hard to part with! I must have grown attached while I sewed strip after strip after strip of patchwork.
Isn't it funny how you become intertwined with your handmade creations, simply through the act of making them.
I've decided that this year I need to get back to my true love and spend some more time with my carving tools and some rubber. I'd like to say I want to make a proper go of refocussing Two Cheese Please... but with my day job and other commissions and current health issues (long story), I guess it's more of a "we'll see" New Year's Resolution. But I really want to try my hardest! We'll see :)
So here is my latest custom order - a logo stamp for Yesfia's House.
Once I'd decided I wanted to try and start making a proper go of focussing Two Cheese Please onto hand carved stamps (and occasionally plushies and needle felting), I thought I should update my packaging to something a little more professional and classy.
One of my favourite things about ordering from Etsy is that usually my little handmade purchases are wrapped so thoughtfully that when I receive them in the mail, it's like unwrapping a gift! So with that in mind I tried to work on some packaging that was a nice mix of the happiness of receiving a gift, as well as packaging that could do double duty as a stamp-storage solution - and this is what I came up with.
If anyone knows of a good supplier of these little recycled kraft cardboard boxes I'd love for you to share their details! Right now I'm buying them individually at retail price and that's going to get super expensive once I become a successful million-order stamp carving (ha ha I can be ambitious, right?!)
{In other news:}
♥ Only (a little over) 2 weeks until the date and I go on our big road trip to Sydney + Canberra! If anyone knows of any interesting sights to see (or craft shops to browse) please share!
♥ I have started my very first quilt! So far it's mostly just involved cutting tiny square after tiny square of fabric but I am loving the process of slowing down and concentrating and enjoying.
♥ I am down to 65kg! That means I have officially lost 30kg and am now a size 10! I will be celebrating with a massive day of op shopping soon to refit and refill my wardrobe, you can be sure of that!
I will be back in 2011 with the usual post-Christmas handmade gift wrap-up, more craft, more stamps, more plushies, and hopefully a whole armful of tutorials to share!
Merry Christmas from everyone here at Chez Cheese - have a relaxing holiday season everyone, and I hope to see all your bright smiling faces here again soon!
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Copyright Holly McGuire 2008 - 2010. I hope your visit here has been inspiring but please respect my designs and ideas as my own! I'm happy for you to share my photos, written content & tutorials on your site but please ask first before taking anything and please do not reproduce my tutorials in full. Links, however, are always welcome!
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