Craftyness

I've been in a bit of a craft black hole recently - fighting with the same few things over and over - pulling them out, starting from the beginning - pulling them out - and starting them again! Now I'm getting better at crochet, knitting and sewing (and I AM getting better) it's not just enough to finish something, I've got to get it almost perfect (note: I said almost perfect - I'm trying not to get back into my perfectionist ways).

So, what have I been making? Well, anyone who follows me on FACEBOOK will know that this weekend I've mostly been doing Formula 1 and Knitting!!!!

Jan's Glove-things!

My lovely friend Janice asked me to make something with some 'camel wool' she'd bought. Camel as in dromedary and not just the colour, although, as you will see, it is, actually camel coloured too! Who knew?We scooted around the internet for a pattern or 2 and she found these - very trendy wrist warmers - the latest fashion accessory.

So, armed with...

1. Zero experience of knitting on double pointed needles and 
2. No idea whether the wool thickness or needles were the right ones for the pattern,  

I forged ahead with them...(Thanks for the 'opportunity' Jan!)

I used some tutorials on YouTube to help with the double pointed thing. Love Love Love Youtube for tutorials!

I began to knit. It came out looking like a camel coloured tube - this was what I wanted!!!

I kept going - it seemed to fit my hand/wrist - this was also what I wanted!!!

I had to do a couple of alterations to the original pattern around the thumb hole as the pattern called for 8 rows of a gap to stick your thumb out and I decided this would have caused circulation issues, so I increased the count there, but all the rest has been more or less the same as the pattern.

With things being a bit busy the last couple of weekends, though, I've had no time to do any knitting since I got so far a few weeks ago, but yesterday, during the Grand Prix, I managed to finish the 1st one...

...and, get on with the 2nd! Yay!

I'm now up to the thumb hole on the 2nd one (it was a looooooooong race, wasn't it?) and hopefully, it will be done in a day or 2!!!

They look a bit irregular - I think that's partly due to my inexpert knitting style, but also the wool is of varied width and thickness - so it makes them a little 'rustic' looking. I hope Jan likes them! I think they're fab and will be making myself a pair very soon!

Booties for Sam

Sam...

The first pair I made were WAAAAAAAAAAY too small. Massively cute tho...

He has little (big) feet! So, I drew around his toes and then started another one. I made one, and still have to finish the other.

A bag for me

Yes I'm actually making something for myself!!!! It's a gorgeous wool in shades of brown and cream. I'm going to attempt to crochet in some round wooden handles. I will also line it and do all the proper pockets etc. This too, has been taken out and redone, twice. I'm going without a pattern so I just have to see what something looks like, in order to work out if that's what i want!!!

Mum's Cardie

Mum's cardie is becoming a real stop and start job. I've completed the back and the left front. I'm only about 5 rows away from completing the right front. Then, I only have the sleeves to go. It's not that it's taking a long time, it's more that I get going on it again, only to drop it when another new project comes along!!!

Some other stuff

A couple more bags on the go - can't tell - they're surprises!

F1 and knitting

What a good combination!

Lunch

Roast Beef

Plus...

Equals...

Fabby roast dinner

Bring on the Roasties!

Squids and Things

So, Dan posted this rather innocuous looking link on Facebook...

I'll explain for those of you who don't know how facebook works - (Mum, Jane, Uncle Ste, I'm talking to you!) On Facebook, you can link to websites, and you can link to other people on Facebook - and this is then posted onto a public noticeboard which can be seen by your friends. You get notified if someone links to you (you can tell by my name in blue that Dan linked to me) and so I was notified, and was intrigued; I clicked on the link. It took me here...

Stitch-A-Squid - Stitch London

The general premise, if you don't want to go onto the site and read all the blurb, is that a social knitting club were getting together with the Natural History Museum to enjoy their Deep Sea Exhibition.

You were to meet, with needles and wool, in the main exhibition hall of the NHM, and join fellow nutty knitters to create a squid. Yes, that's correct!

If I *could* have been there, I would. Leeds is a little far away from the NHM. However, this wasn't a problem, it seemed. Deadly KnitShade, the driving force behind Stitch London had created some patterns for various squirmy deep sea creatures and was going to publish the squid one on everybody's favourite Knitting Website - Ravelry!

I bought eyes and orange wool.

I set the "waiting with squiddly anticipation" flag.

I waited.

Finally, the pattern appeared. I paid my dues (no it wasn't six quid, arf arf arf) and downloaded the pattern. I had no idea what was beginning. I began to knit...

...and knit

and knit!

I put a photo of my 1st 3 squid back up on the Ravelry Website where DeadlyKnitshade had posted the pattern in the 1st place, and guess what? She wrote to me to tell me how nice they were! How cool is that? I love the internet!!!

As I write this blog, I have yet another squid in production - just sewn the head together. I think this will be No. 10!! I had no idea how addictive squid could be. 

Not so long ago, Dan, posted this on Facebook

Pigeons. Tiny. Round. Cute. I think I'm done for!

Mind you, once you start looking online for cute little craft projects, you never know what you will find...

Cork Ninjas. OMG!

Mum's Birthday

Way back in August, I arranged to meet Mum and Dad here...

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I told them we were meeting up for lunch - but it was all a ruse! We were meeting in the above car park because it was really close to my planned surprise destination...

The Concorde Viewing Park at Manchester Airport.

Why was this a nice surprise, you may ask? I remember back in the late 1970s / early 1980s. Concorde used to visit Liverpool for the Grand National. Mum would either drag us out of the house (or later on, the Shop or the Restaurant) on the Saturday afternoon, to watch it fly over - usually twice in the day. Going back a little further, I remember camping out at Eastham Woods, waiting for it to fly over. I seem to remember there were Fish and Chips involved (mind you, F&C are ALWAYS involved if you're going to Eastham Woods, it's the Law)

Note the excellent vantage point for seeing the planes taking off and landing at Liverpool Airport!

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In subsequent years, Mum has always followed the Concorde story in the press, and always imagined that one day she might get to fly on it. I think the thought of a long haul flight (something she'd never contemplate) was always made better by the knowledge of how much less time it would take to do the same journey on Concorde.

Obviously after the double tragedy of the Paris crash in 2000, and then the 9/11 attacks in New York in 2001, the aviation industry was decimated and noone was flying. The Concorde programme was shut down in 2003. This meant that Mum was never going to get on board a Concorde.......or was she?

I discovered that the BOA-C Concorde, the flagshop of the fleet, was flown to Manchester and then housed in a hangar there and being made available for visitors to go and see it.

So, after a little bit of planning and some stealth, we found ourselves clambering up the stairs, to the flight deck of Concorde.

Check out Captain Mum!

And here are our other photos.....

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