Crafter's Chatter

I recently read an article recounting an artist's art-free, 're-charge-the-batteries' period of a week or so of travelling, camping, photographing and generally re-stocking her 'creativity'. As she pointed out, it is not possible to partition our lives into work time/family time/leisure time as we might if we had 'regular' jobs. Certainly we try to be disciplined about setting time aside to complete items, do the necessary admin caused by on-line selling etc, but inside our heads we do not have separate departments in this way. Every aspect of our lives is intertwined with every other, 'intersections' often being the most fertile  areas - although also having the greatest potential for conflict. 

When I started this blog my children were much younger, I didn't want to include too many direct references to them in my posts and I thought observations relating to our way of life would seem tedious to any readers I may have. Having thought carefully about my reactions to a variety of other folks' posts which I have recently read, I have decided that too few 'daily references' create an impersonal, near to anonymous, feeling. Don't worry! I'm not going to start cataloguing all the minute and tedious irritations which life brings - the fact that, yet again there were three 'orphaned socks' in the washing machine and yet again they were all my daughter's etc. My intention is more to focus on celebrating the good things in our family life with brief references which explain some of the influences in my work.

My flash drive is overly full with a series of photos from earlier in the year - May half-term to be precise. Time to show you some of them and then re-claim the space (all pics are archived elsewhere!). For years, due to a limited budget, we had family tenting holidays. They could be hard work, we cooked all our own meals for reasons of economy, and coped with some dreadful weather - fortunately without much damage to equipment. The good aspects included fresh air, living with minimal 'stuff' for a while, a real sense of freedom and, usually, sociable fellow campers with whom to share an occasional drink or coffee whilst our kids enjoyed the company of their kids.

We were gradually acquiring more and more 'camping stuff'. Loading and un-loading the trailer, airing everything out, and so on, were becoming tedious. An inheritance allowed us to something wildly out of character and, instead of adding the money to our meagre savings, we bought a basic 'pre-owned' motorhome. As far as material possessions go, this has been the biggest single influence on our lives (. So many easy, affordable week ends away have been possible. All holiday planning revolves around using the van - we can't justify keeping it on the road and paying for other accommodation, but that's fine - we enjoy it so much!

In May, our son was still at University, and our daughter was spending the three-day bank holiday weekend at a scout camp. We couldn't be far away, in case of emergencies, so we booked a campsite at  Corwen. On the Saturday we walked down to the Rhug Estate farm shop. Having our kitchen on wheels with us, we like to buy and cook local produce when we can. I believe we bought pork tenderloin, lamb leg steaks -( home-produced and organic), some redcurrant preserve, and some sort of bottled gooseberry sauce comes to mind - for with the pork. After lunch we had a long local walk, set up the 'travelling bird feeder'  - the kids Christmas present to me - the pole support being 're-purposed' from a set of tent porch poles! - and pan-fried the lamb with redcurrants - yum!

Having recently joined the National Trust, my husband decided that he would like to visit Bodnant Garden. He spent quite a bit of the Sunday complaining that he was being denied access to his camera - a perfectly valid complaint - but what did he expect with all this stitching inspiration available. I have shown you one or two pics in a previous post - here are some of the others:

I am still trying to perfect a stone wall background for wisteria. I loved those old gates - so filed them away for the future. Not sure about the statue - but it sets the atmosphere. I have yet to attempt water - I think moving water will be tricky - water-lilly pools may be more easily possible.

This is just a representative selection of a productive 'day off'. The pork, cut into medallions, was pan-fried with leeks and that gooseberry sauce!

My Craft Library ..

.... the 'periodicals section'.

I have several times referred to the amount of craft-related stuff that is stored in our house. Some of it is equipment, much of it is materials but a significant amount is my 'library'.

Recent photos, some tutorials, blog references etc are now digital, but I still have a real need for physical sources of reference. I have books on needlecrafts and other craft subjects, some stored amidst my covered boxes on these shelves -

the remainder being housed on shelves in the conservatory. I have reference books on wildlife, flowers etc; and others on 'travel', mainly in the UK, and photographic collections - both featuring landscapes for reference and inspiration. Since all these are 'general references' I get away with storing them on the various family bookshelves - we have many! Recent craft magazines are kept in the conservatory and every so often I have to have a 'weeding out session'. I keep scrap books of inspirational cuttings from craft and other magazines.

There are, however, some 'magazines' which just can't be cut up/disposed of/damaged (well caused any further damage - some of them are very well read). These are kept on my 'periodicals' shelf in my craft room. Still not tidy enough to show you the entire space, but I have mentioned before that the room is really very small. When we moved into the house we had a local joiner construct fitted units to make the most use of the space. The largest dimension is a little more than the length of a standard single bed - in our case built in 'cabin style' under the bay window. The shelves pictured above are constructed above the foot of the bed. The wall opposite the bed contains the doorway. Running the length of the wall, from some cupboards above the desk, to the wall  at the foot of the bed is a shelf which sits just above the picture rail. Added support is provided by a shelf bracket and although the shelf dips very slightly it is nowhere near as bad as these photos suggest - I took them balanced on tip toe with the camera above my head and couldn't manage to hold it level!

The boxes in the first photo contain: rubber stamps, fancy papers, gift ribbon and some book end boards and 'pages' - ready cut for 'projects in waiting'. Then we have the archive boxes. Dress patterns, Burda magazines, a couple of other collections which I'll show you some other time, and these ( my oldest and most precious)

I haven't counted them, but I have two boxes probably containing more than 50 editions. The oldest in the photo is from the mid 50's. I think I may have one or two older than this. They originally belonged to a great aunt. I love the old adverts, both the fonts and the old style of type-setting, the fashions but, most of all, I love the needlecraft techniques which are demonstrated. Irreplaceable to me and worth constructing a shelf for!

Early Crafting Memories

When did you start crafting? What are your earliest memories? Please leave a comment - I'd love to hear about them.

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A number of items have come to light whilst on my current 'tidy up the house' project. I do tend to hang on to stuff - not a hoarder in the clinical sense now featured on TV - but I do find some things hard to part with. I have recently developed a liking for disposing of excess clutter - neatly bagged for recycling - seeing the process more as one of 'gaining space' rather than of losing possessions. However, there are some things for which I must preserve a home and this is one of them - just look at the packaging!!! 

I'm not sure whether this was a Christmas or birthday gift and I don't have any photos or any other way of referencing the year in question. I do remember making a pair of shorts for my favourite teddy and would guess I was about 7 or 8 years old at the time. I'm not going to tell you exactly when that would have been but probably around the late '60s. I wish I could show you something I made on it. It chain stitches, the tension is temperamental and the stitching easily pulls un-done. It was actually quite frustrating to use and its a wonder I progressed to the adult version at all.

As an indication of scale - here it is posed next to my embellisher machine:

Although carefully wrapped in tissue paper, and in a bedroom cupboard rather than the attic, I was sad to see some rust marks on it. Both my two played with it a little - but fearing it might not be strong enough, I bought them both modern, battery-powered alternatives - neither of which proved as robust as my original!! Incidentally both of my two - my 19 year old son, and his sister, can use a sewing machine if they need to - although they have not taken to it as I did.

How were you introduced to your craft?

Knitted throw - a progress report.

I have been knitting furiously in 'spare' moments but I am still a little under half way there.

You may remember from an earlier post, that I am intending to use up supplies of blue, grey, yellow and white yarns from my stash. I am  knitting the squares in the traditional way for a throw - diagonally increasing one stitch at the beginning of each row, to a total of 50 stitches, using garter stitch. After one straight row I than decrease one stitch at the beginning of each row back to one stitch. I am using 'double knitting thickness' and this is giving me squares of just over 7 inches. I shall need a total of 100 squares and will then adjust the size by the addition of a border.

Once I had completed a dozen or so squares I tried laying them out in a random pattern to see the effect. It is actually quite hard to achieve a random placement in which squares of the same colour, or similar depths of colour do not cluster together in areas which appear to have their own unintentional pattern. After trying for a while I gave up and found some squared paper. I have sketched out a plan, by 'colour group'. I shall still have to pay attention to depth of colour when sewing the squares together. According to my plan I shall need 9 white squares (now completed), 9 yellow/cream squares (also completed), 16 striped squares (two completed) and 66 blue/grey squares (27 completed). I make this a further 53 to go - nearly half way.

The kitchen scales have taken up residence next to my knitting basket. Since many of the yarns are part balls I am checking that there is enough ( about 18 g) to finish a square before starting. A quick check showed me that I would need a further 3 100g balls ( and possibly something for the border) to finish the throw. The yarn I am using is of mixed quality - much of it acrylic. this would not normally be my choice, but many of the part balls were left over from knitting for my son when he was little and he didn't like the feel of pure wool. It has meant a very inexpensive project and, since it will cover the spare bed and will hopefully look pretty, without getting much wear, I am hoping that the yarn will not lead to too much stretching or pilling. Most of the yarn I already had - the three new balls were purchased at our market for a total of £4.47! I have plans for embellishing the final throw and I am hoping that all the materials required for this will already be in my stash.

The collection of squares so far -

Bargain Bundles

 ......... and this one was definitely intended for me!!

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When I was growing up, fabrics and yarns could be obtained from numerous places. There were several local, high street shops; thriving market stalls in three local towns and mail order suppliers who advertised in various magazines. 

My mother's sister was a keen knitter and bought much of her yarn from a couple of mail order companies. In those pre-internet days, the first step was to buy a shade card against which to make choices and place orders. Yarns were very keenly priced but she ordered exactly what she wanted - any element of surprise would have been most unwelcome!

My mother favoured 'bargain bundles' - a 'by-weight' package of specified quality and type - colour and other characteristics being a complete surprise. I can remember the excitement of tipping these packages out on the dining table for inspection. I still have the left-overs of some of them in my stash all these years later - some large felt pieces, a narrow lace bundle, a mixed trimmings (inlcuding broderie anglaise), and a mixed denims bundle. The latter was the only time that I remember the inspection process resulting in disappointment. Dungarees were in fashion and my mother was determined to make me some. There were some small pieces of lovely blue and white striped denim (I still have one piece!) and some solid blue, but there was only one piece which was large enough for her purpose. Unfortunately for me, lilac was neither flattering or fashionable!!

As I started to enjoy crafts I caught the bargain bug. Laura Ashley shops ( I bought from Chester, and also from Guildford - when I lived there after university) sold mixed bags of printed dress cotton off-cuts for patchwork. The bags were densely packed and, although clear cellophane, it was only possible to see the outer layer, the rest remaining a lovely surprise. I bought many of these bags, and made several items - I still have many of the fabric pieces - now considered vintage and thus more attractive than they were when new. 

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I recently happened across Etsy shop - WorldofWoolShop. They have mixed bundles described as follows:

Basically this is top waste. It consists of dyed tops, dyed fleeces, natural tops, end of runs on the blending machines. Brilliant for felting, needle felting and spinning. This is perfect for beginners. PLEASE NOTE: This is waste, so every delivery will be different and could also contain blends and synthetic fibres.     


Wonderful! A bargain, a surprise and I love the idea of creating something from waste or left over materials. I thought I had better wait until we returned from our week end away before placing the order. It came this morning

Now this is a completely random bundle - they couldn't have known the designs which I currently produce, and yet, on sorting the bundle I found that I had:

 - meadow grass

 very suitable for my meadow designs such as this pincushion

- lovely sunset colours (there was also some bright yellow for the setting sun)

suitable for use in my sunset designs such as this bookmark

- and lovely 'moorland colours'

of the variety that I use to produce my moorland design - as shown in this brooch

Our visit to Bodnant Garden at the week end, has prompted me to reconsider a design idea which first occurred to me several years ago when visiting the gardens of Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. More about this in later posts. It will be necessary to have fibers suitable for felting a 'stonewall' and I looked through my collection only yesterday and realised that I did not have very much that was suitable. Just look what came in today's bundle:

That new design is obviously meant to be!!!

In case you are wondering the fibres have been pictured on the recently-swept conservatory floor where there is good light quality (a 'spillage-free' zone - unlike the kitchen floor onto which I would not tip a fibre bundle - just in case!). As pointed out in the sales description, the bundle does contain non-wool fibres. I am sure there is a 'correct way' to identify one from the other - I find the 'sniff' test to be very effective - sheep have a way of 'naturally labeling' their fleece which persists through all the various processes - at least well enough for a discerning nose to pick up! Everything sent appears suitable for felting - particularly when blended with existing stocks and I'm anxious to get started!

Craft Room Storage

There are several reasons for making items for my home. A genuine wish to recycle to reduce waste, a wish to have something which looks good (to me at least) in its place and economy are among these reasons. I suppose all three apply to my efforts to improve a collection of shoe boxes by covering them with wrapping paper. Many of the boxes had been in use for some years - storing tapestry wools etc, They had displayed their original brands and contents until last week. They are sturdy, fit neatly on the shelves, amidst books and other storage tins and boxes, and were free. The paper was inexpensive and I had several part rolls of double-sided adhesive tape. So here are two of them:

Here they are with the others on their shelves ( I'm not happy enough with the rest of the room to show you just how small the space is yet!)

The only problem I now have is remembering what is stored in each - I just used to reach for 'last winter's boots' etc!

Bodnant - Beautiful Blocks of Colour

I have spent several weeks having a clear-out and planning 'home improvements' however small they may turn out to be! The process is by no means finished, although the conservatory and my craft room (AKA our spare, and smallest, bedroom) are now tidy and free of un-wanted stuff. Both need decorating but will have to wait until the rest of the house is similarly sorted through and then they can take their place in the 'schedule of works' - yet to be drawn up. In the meantime, I shall continue with several craft projects aimed at low cost ( in materials at least) injections of practicality and personality ( some may say a new generation of clutter - but I shall keep them to a minimum) into these two rooms at least. 

A much needed weekend break gave us the opportunity to visit Bodnant Gardens. The peculiarly cold spring has upset the flowering times for many of our gardens. This may have been in our favour, since the azaleas and rhododendrons were still in full flower and gave exactly the views I had hoped to see. I have yet to edit the majority of the (150 - thank goodness for digital photography) photos which we collected. 

Just to get started I thought I would show you a few blocks of beautiful colour and texture - panoramic views of the gardens to follow in a later post.

Beautiful inspiration for stitching!