Having been knitting for a number of months, it was only a matter of time before a wanted to dye my own wool.  I had been worried about the use of chemicals, so when I heard of Kool-Aid I was thrilled and wanted to get started right away.

I went out and bought some  Mirasol Yarn Cotanani, which is beautifully soft and will be wonderful to knit with.

I set about with various plastic cups of dye, plastic take away containers and spirals of wool. (Not forgetting the rubber gloves!) It went really well, though I mixed the dye with way to much water and my wool had a high cotton content, all adding to the less viberant colours.  However, I was please.

Originally the wool was going to be used to make myself a little jacket, but the colours turned out a bit to pale so I am going to shelve it and use it for baby clothes.

The pictures above show it looking a bit brighter, but it dried much lighter as you can see below.

I experienced my first Wave Vintage Fair in Worcester last weekend.  It was held in the lovely St Helen’s Church, on Fish Street. The fair aims to promote vintage and recycling and ’Make Do and Mend’, having everything from vintage 50′s clothes to handmade jewellery and toys.

It was great, and I have all the information to sign up for July’s event myself.

The July event seems to have a 40′s theme, something close to my heart, so I will be truly looking forward to it.  I am hoping to have a stall with my mother in law who will be selling her vintage inspired knitted cake’s.  I have thinking about a theme for my stall and it has to be 40′s garden party, similar to my wedding.

I have started creating a few new projects, knitted brooches with recycled wool,

I’m thinking, sunglasses cases, keyring’s and all my usual goodies.  I’m trying to think of some interested 40′s twists still though.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress!

The shalom cardigan seems to be on every knitters list at some time, there are 2482 completed projects of this on ravelry and I’m sure it will increase by the time I publish my post.

After an afternoon in blacksheepwools new barn, I purchased way to much wool with no idea of projects.  The Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran in lovely bright pink, a massive pack of bargain pale pink cotton, lovely Rowan Country in green tones, for possible felting and some baby wool.

The pink aran was used to create my very own Shalom cardigan.  I changed the pattern a little, added a bit of extra length, and changed the design to close at the front and added a row of pattern to form cap sleeves.  I am pleased with the results, though still need to find wooden buttons.

I added a little crocheted flower for detail whilst waiting to find the perfect buttons.

I now have a queue of 5 projects to be completed, the first being a poncho that purchased Sirdar demin ultra for and then a few things for summer.

My partner in crime at work had a little baby a few weeks ago, so I got busy creating the prefect little shoes.  I regret not taking any nice pictures before giving them.  Here they are being modeled so beautifully though.

To think I thought they were to small.  As these where so greatly received I thought I’d make a pair for my next door neighbours who’s just had a baby as well.

Spring is here, the clocks have changed, the evening are getting lighter and its been a weekend of spring cleaning, sorting things for  carboot sales and listing on ebay I felt I should get some crafty bits done.  Three weeks off work just doesn’t feel long enough to get my massive list of wedding and crafting jobs done.

Finishing knitting, making cards & felting!

My first task in progress is a present for a friends baby, I’ve been meaning to get it finished for ages.  So far I have a lion, next comes the acacia tree and maybe a giraffe.  I’ve used African printed fabric to add a traditional element to the project.

I’m thinking of making a series of smaller ones, for cards or to be framed individually.   Lions, giraffes, monkeys, hippos etc.  What do you think?

I’ve been a bit busy of late, I got a wonderful marriage proposal. So I’ve had lots of madness! Now things have calmed down slightly and the weather is better, I though it was about time I listed some of my card designs on etsy. I have only posted up a few, but there are many more to come.

For anyone who might be interested follow the link in the side panel. (veryberries)

Over the weekend I added to my growing collection of card designs. I had to sit with my GCSE Art class for 10 hours in silence, and believe me thats a long time. I started a new style of card, incorporating hand stitching along with vintage fabrics.

Design Style 1.

Design Style 2.

I am happy with both styles and every card is a complete one off, so that must count for something. I’m just waiting on my lovely logo stamp, then up on Etsy at long last and fingers crossed people will love them.

I’ve been spending time practicing different types of stitches, I’m a bit rusty and thought I’d take some inspiration from doodle stitch. I have designed my own similar to those in the book. Quite happy with it, but there is alway room for improvement.

Its been raining today, so I got to work on this little embroidery. A small amount still to finish, the flower, grass and deciding if to back it or mount with fraying edges. thinking of completing a series of the bee and small cashmere wool flower design on purses and cards. More and more things in my to do list, not sure where I’ll get the time when I’m back at work next week.