Circle-skirted dress tutorial

Been really busy for the past couple months, so sorry for vanishing. Here's a lovely circle-skirted dress tutorial from Annika from The Pineneedle Collective to make up for it!

 
I love each variation of the dress that she's made. I think my favourites would have to be the first 2 (on the left) on this montage - the lovely green polka dot print fabric with the lovely brown skirt, and the one with that sweet bow and the mint green skirt, they're just so adorable!

It's really inspiring me to start on the dress/dresses I've been wanting to put together. I've still got a whole lot of work to do before I can start sewing up some sweet new outfits though. >_<

Anyhow, do check out the tutorial and the rest of her fabulous blog. Enjoy!

Handmade Feathers

I love this DIY feather tutorial courtesy of Blue Sky Confections, and the cute story behind it. Don't we all love when something we thought was a failure produces a "happy accident" instead? :D

Made in the right colours, these babies would brighten and add character to any decorating/jewellery/craft project you can think of to add it to! I personally prefer the the ones made with embroidery floss or a fine yarn.They look so very delicate, almost like the real thing! Happy crafting everyone! And a Happy Mothers' Day to all mums!

Burdastyle Inspiration - 01 May 2012

Wow. Look at this fabulously colourful selection of some the latest patterns from Burda Style magazine! These are also now available on Burdastyle.com. They're inspired by Brazil and I'm just loving those bright prints and especially want that butterfly print fabric! I thought it was a dress initially but that's actually a maxi skirt and top combination. Boy, I'd love to make that outfit from that exact fabric in the image. :D

Mochimochi cute

Found this post about the game Katamari Damacy by Anna of Mochimochiland via the Hilltop Cloud blog and I had to click through and take a look! It got me excited because I really enjoyed Katamari Damacy! Rolling up that quirky Japanese fantasy world is so much fun! :D

I first played it a few years back on a close friend's PSP (Playstation Portable) while on a trip together and just thoroughly enjoyed it! (The rest of the non-gaming parts of the vacation were fun too, of course. Great memories. <3)

So anyway, here's an image and a quote from the "About" section of Mochimochiland:

"Mochimochi Land was launched in 2007 as a place where knitted toys and 

 people can live together in a spirit of tolerance. You too can advance 

human-toy understanding by knitting a new friend!"

It looks like loads of fun. Knitting, adorable quirkiness and video games - I love it! Check out this wonderfully fantastical animation of sledding yetis from Anna! She also has a wonderful shop on the site that is full of adorable, whimsical patterns, and some kits too!

I think I actually came across (-and fell in love with, just look at them!) the images of her Rainy Cloud and Stackable Cats patterns a few years ago, but somehow never found her blog until now! I have got to try some of these adorable tiny (and not so tiny) toys. Wonderful, quick, tiny knits are always great for adding to the list of completed projects. :p

Rainy Cloud

Stackable Cats

In other news, I've been feeling a little bit overwhelmed lately because I've discovered so many incredible blogs by amazingly crafty, creative, artistic people! It's all so wonderfully inspiring but also reminds me of all my various interests and all the things I want to get into and play around with and there just doesn't seem to be enough time for all of it!


(All images in this post from Mochimochiland.)

Cool bookends

Check out these wonderful bookends from Knob Creek Metal Arts! I love that they double up as decor elements. There are so many great designs up on their Etsy shop, I really had to resist putting up too many pictures. :p They also do racks, garden signs and custom orders. I'm definitely keeping them in mind for when I next want some new bookends.

Foray into knitting cables - Merletto mitts

Hope everyone had a wonderful, restful weekend! So anyway, here's what I've been working on - these Merletto fingerless mitts! (click link for pattern on Ravelry)

Like the title says, this is the first time I'm knitting cables. I was a little unsure on my first cable but after a couple tentative cable rows and upon seeing the piece grow and the pattern take shape, I've gotten the hang of it It's really quite easy and I think it's going pretty well!

I'm knitting it on 1 circular needle and with the wrong way out but I just need to flip it inside out and it's all good. :p These are images of the patterned half of it which corresponds to the back of the hand when worn. The palm-side half is just worked in regular stockinette stitch and I didn't take any pictures of it. I'll post more when I finish them!

Here it is on the WS (wrong-side).

And this is flipped over to the RS (right side) so that the pattern appears as it should!

Beautiful Goodies from Friends in Fibre & New Lace Spindle

Purchased some wonderful new fibre for spinning from Friends in Fiber! The colours were so beautiful I just couldn't resist.

Clockwise from top left: Polwarth/Silk Combed Top in "Charcoal Seawater Gradient", Polwarth Combed Top in "Smoky Cherries", BFL/Silk Combed Top in "Blue Moon", BFL/Silk Combed Top in "Cranberry Bog Gradient"

Scrumptious sample of "Mauve Boudoir"

"Blue Moon" BFL/Silk unbraided and some fluffy balls of roving I started separating it into.

Unpacked "Cranberry Bog Gradient" BFL/Silk

"Charcoal Seawater Gradient" Polwarth/Silk

And here's the beautiful hand-made wooden lace spindle I purchased from WoodStory on Etsy! It arrived with some soft, fluffy complimentary merino wool. <3

(image from the shop)

Too late for Easter, but not for YUMMEHS!

OH.MY.GOD. These are Cheesecake Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs! Please head right on over via that link to the recipe and more beautiful pictures.

Pink lace scarf

I'm working on something new and will post some pictures of that soon. But in the meantime, here is something else I made a while ago that I really like - this lovely pink lacey scarf.

I used one ball of Moda Vera Jessica yarn, which is 80% Acrylic 20% Mohair, in a beautiful Thulian pink or China pink (looked up Wikipedia to find a name for the pink and these were the best match, also both have the same RGB value). 

I bought the yarn at Spotlight when they were having one of their sales and it was the only ball left in this colour that I could find. Was so pleased to find a fittingly lovely project for it!  It was a quick knit, since most of the body is done with large needles, and I really like the airy lace effect it produced. The ruffles at the end are simple crochet and were fun and easy to do as well!

The pattern is available here from Garn Studio/ DROPS Design. I just had to make myself one when I saw the photos of this scarf! I love how it dresses up a plain t-shirt! I'm also thinking I need to find a yarn that's the same beautiful dusky pink as in these photos so I can make one just like it!

I really like the Garnstudio site. Its data base of free patterns for knit and crochet items is quite staggering and the item designs are fabulous! So many of the patterns are on my to-knit list and I wonder if I'll ever get to them all, especially since the tropical climate where I live right now doesn't exactly allow me to wear many of these lovely pieces. 

The company is Skandinavian in origin but the site is available in many languages and it's always a treat looking through the range of beautifully modelled and photographed projects for inspiration. Every season they release a new set of free patterns (and also themed sets for holidays like Christmas and Easter) made up in their range of yarns but it's easy enough to check the gauge and properties and substitute it with your own choice of yarn.

The site also has patterns for washcloths, felted slippers, bags, hats, toys and more so it's not just wraps and scarves and sweaters though there are definitely lots of those too! They even have patterns for pet sweaters and holiday ornaments! <3 

If you've got any interest in knitting and/or crochet and you haven't ever heard of them, you have got to take a look!

Fibre stash and summery music

So, I decided I should post some pictures of my very first spindle/roving kit that I bought from Katie at Hilltop Cloud. This isn't the box in its original state though.

As you can see, the ball of my first spindle spun yarn is in there too. The fluffy little balls of roving sitting in the box used to be a batt, but I'd torn them up into more manageable bits and some of it has already been spun up on the spindle!

 Here's Katie's image from the shop. I got the one on the bottom right corner :D

 I also bought more fibre from her and here's the beginning of my HilltopCloud stash! :p The little white ball was a free surprise gift included in the order! <3
Not entirely sure what I'm going to do with it all yet. I'm thinking of spinning up and plying the black with some green fibre (yet to be purchased) to make a cute bolero from a pattern in an issue of Knit.1 I've had lying around waiting for the right yarn.

 That's all for the fibre-y goodness in this post. I leave you with this sublime cover of I Can't Go For That. I love the care-free, summery, road-trip ambience from the Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers van sessions! Her voice and the sound of the band are just a throw back to the 70s! <3

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

New Club Monaco Shopping Site(!!) and new Burdastyle inspiration

Pretty excited for the new Club Monaco online shopping site coming up! Thanks to The City Sage for the news! So in love with this blog for its beautiful and inspiring photos. I subscribe to the blog feed and always look out for the email of new posts. :D

And also, new inspiration from the Burdastyle blog. Really liking the colours and mood in this set.

Minimal Approach: 8 New Patterns With Clean Lines and Details

Jolie Jouel: Your Treasure Trove...Evolved.

Wonderful inspiration for jewelry organisation with beautiful photography on Jolie Jouel: Your Treasure Trove...Evolved. Look at how beautiful these are! Check out the link for more.

New hobby!

Recently decided to get a drop spindle kit from Hilltop Cloud on Etsy and ventured into spinning yarn. Having lots of fun with it and here's a picture of my very first hand-spun yarn! :D

 

It's from brown North Ronaldsay fibre from one of her kits. It's 2-ply and about a worsted/DK weight. I wound it up around an old toilet roll. Now to figure out what to do with it. :p

Champagne Upcycled Clutch

Here's an upcycled clutch I made to go with a dress I bought to attend someone's wedding. :) The fabric was from some thrifted pants. I liked the material and the champagne colour was a perfect match for my dress, but the other design elements of the original pants were pretty hideous. All of that was perfect since I was really looking for fabric to turn into a bag! 

I incorporated the original seam as part of the design for the bag and added some pleating. The lining is a lovely dark teal polyester fabric and the button is a button badge I had around and just pinned on. I think it worked out great since this allows me to switch it with another badge to change the accent colour! :D

To begin

Hello! First post! Here's something I made quite a while ago. It's a crocheted scarf. :D I quite like the way it looks. I might make it again with a better and brighter yarn some time.