Saturday 25 February 2012

Art


Hello; Happy Weekend!  My posts ususally come along at the weekend, which is when I get most of my crafts done.  I absolutely adore waking up on a Saturday and Sunday knowing that I can do whatever I like ALL DAY!!!  And the best bit of all is that I always want to create something and I get on and do it; unlike evenings when I don't get much done - and I could kick myself for it...  I get home from work during the week, have some supper and settle down for the evening and I could easily have 4 crafting hours...  but I'll think about it...  and think a bit more...  and look at what projects I have on the go... and see what is on the TV...  and as usual switch off the TV again...  and think it's now getting later... is it worth starting something...  and turn on my laptop... and browse pinterest, ravelry and blogs... and finally get inspired to do something and AAAARGHHH!!! It's bedtime!!!   Honestly I get so frustrated with myself and it's just because I have a limited amount of time available to me and not all day.  Am I on my own with this affliction or are there any more sufferers out there?  Actually, I think part of the problem at this time of year is the hours of darkness; I always feel more inspired during the daylight hours... 

But enough of that... today I want to talk about COLOUR...


I love it.  It affects my mood.  It lifts my spirits.  It makes me happy.  And part of the appeal of crochet to me is the colour play you get with creating stripes or fitting modular squares/hexagons/shapes together.  I can waste loads of time just looking at the colour explosion I have created with a hook and seeing particular combinations of colour within that I love, sometimes quite surprisingly.


But really 'just looking' at a piece of work you have created isn't a waste of time is it?  We don't put all this effort into making something that will be stored away and never looked at (well apart from the disasters anyway!)  And I feel varying emotions when I look at my work; I can feel pride, and accomplishment, and sometimes relief that it's done.  But because I love colour so much, mainly when I look at my work it lifts my mood and brings me happiness.  I think it can be classed as Art.  Britannica Online defines Art as "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others."  Yes, definately Art.  So, with that in mind I decided to experiment with some crochet that doesn't have any use other than to be looked at; just displayed on the wall.  As expected my taste in art is very colourful.  So I decided to create a very simple striped picture.


I bought a very inexpensive stretched canvas, and a glue gun, and set about making a long rectangle of stripy goodness that roughly fit symetrically within the canvas.  I used my usual 4.5 mm hook and dk yarn and did 2 colour stripes of single crochet with 15 stitches until I reached the desired length.  I edged the whole thing with 1 row of single crochet in charcoal.


I'm not the most precise worker, so in order to aid me in lining my (blocked) crochet up visually, I stuck strips of sellotape along each edge of the frame to make the inner space smaller - this helped me to centre the crochet visually within it -


I then stuck the edges down with a hot glue gun.


And placed pins at the sides to keep in shape until dry.



The glue didn't take long to dry at all, and the 'art' could be hung on the wall within half an hour.







What do you think?  Is it art?  My verdict is that I like the idea, but not my sloppy execution!  I think the charcoal edging looks messy, and it looked better without it.  Worth more experimentation me thinks!  Watch this space...

There has been an amazing response to the Almond Blossom Bag and I've received lots of fantastic comments.  Thank you sooooo much!

Until next time; happy crocheting!
xx

Saturday 18 February 2012

Almond Blossom Bag


Hi there; I hope you are all well out there and up for some bag love.   I gave a sneak peak of this project in my last post - did you guess what it was??? 



This is a special project using my Lily Pad Hexagons, but I thought it deserved to be a pattern in it's own right taking into consideration the construction and lining (...yes, sewing too!!!)  Don't let this put you off however; as the hexagons are quite solid and the bag would not necessarily need to be lined...  it just gives it more support.


I NOW HAVE A NEW WEBSITE, AND THIS PATTERN CAN BE FOUND AT -

http://psicrochet.com/portfolio-items/almond-blossom-bag/


One Almond Blossom Bag -



I don't know what Almond Blossom looks like by the way, I just named it for the colour!

I hope this has got your creative juices flowing as much as mine!!!

Last weekend I returned to Cumbria for a family party to celebrate my Dad's birthday; a great time was had by all, much wine was drunk and we tucked into some very good roast beef.  Returning already on a high I was thrilled to find waiting for me 2 very kind award nominations; thank you Debi from http://hooksandyarns.blogspot.com/ and also http://littleorphanskein.wordpress.com/.  I felt super special!!!  I believe I need to spill a few beans about myself, and nominate other blogs, and I'm wrestling with these decisions at the moment, so this will have to keep for another post - who knew it would be so hard....

In the meantime, happy crocheting!
xx

Sunday 5 February 2012

Lily Pad Hexagons...



Hello from not so sunny Scotland!  I haven't forgotten you all, it's just taken me longer than expected to get organised, and I also wanted to have something good to share.......  but first....

Scotland in the rain is lovely; I'm really enjoying my new job and I love my new home.  This is the view from my kitchen window -


and these were my moving in treat to myself...


I can see a loch from my bedroom window, but I'm not taking any pics until I can get out there when the sun is shining, and that has only happened so far while I've been at work.  Of course this time of year it's barely light when I go to work and nearly dark when I finish, so opportunities are few...

Now enough of the necessities of life and on to the good stuff!  I'm brimming over with new ideas at the moment, and I have lots of new projects on the go.  One of the first is a progression from the puffed daisy hexagon; I can hear the shouts of "ARE YOU NOT SICK OF BOBBLES YET?", and the answer is NOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo.....  I wanted to see what another round of bobbles would look like behind the first row, and they look awfully good (imo!!).


And if you look from the side I think they look rather like lily pads......


Now I'm aware that my instructions for the puffed daisy hexagon has stumped some readers who are not quite as experienced in the crochet techniques required, so I have produced a photo-heavy tutorial below that I hope can be followed by all.  I use american crochet terminology, dk cotton and a 4mm hook.  Abbreviations - ch - chain; dc - double crochet; sl st - slip stitch; sts - stitches, tc - treble crochet.

Lily Pad Hexagons


I NOW HAVE A NEW WEBSITE AND THIS PATTERN CAN BE FOUND AT -

http://psicrochet.com/portfolio-items/lily-pad-hexagons/



Before you ask, no I haven't photographed them in sepia...  I can do subtle, natural tones!!!

Granny Bobble Blanket; just a note to say that I have edited the pattern; it just didn't lie flat in the middle, so I've taken the whole first row out, started again with a magic circle and worked the second row directly into that.  This works much better and finally lies flat!  Please accept my apologies anyone who has started this already and aleady found the problem; that will teach me for sharing too soon....


Finally thank you all for the most welcome comments and well wishes on my move; all most appreciated, thank you xxxxxxxx.  And a big welcome to my new followers - of which there are now over 100 so thank you again!!

I'll be back soon and in the meantime happy crocheting!!
xx