V-Day and Pot Dyeing

Following an unplanned seasonal bout of flu, things got a little off track. I did get to watch season 2 of Gossip Girl guilt free from the comfort of my couch. At the weekend I did a little Valentine's day workshop where in my rush I forgot to bring a camera. I had a good little group and we made very cute embellished heart pins. Finally made progress on a store front and I have one thing in my shop which by the time I post this will hopefully be fuller. You think it's going to be so simple and before you know it you have to design a banner and change all the colors of the text etc etc. I do protest too much, if I wasn't so indecisive I'd be fine. There's also been some graphic design projects which I'd been working on for some time which thankfully were completed. Nothing worse than a deadline and a raging headache.

Heart pin

You may recall I mentioned a Pringle jumper that shrank from XL to mini mini. I decided on some pot holders, too thick for what I had originally intended. I blanket stitched the outside. I'll probably stitch a design onto the center but trying to stay focussed.

Pot Holder Super Felted

These should be in Thrift store find. In the spirit of Valentine's Day his n her cups. I love these they both have little lids/coasters. Whoever decided these weren't treasures must have been mad they are so adorable aren't they ?

his n hers mugs

Before I got ill I decided to dye a pink cashmere sweater on the stove. Like most of my ventures it was messy but ultimately successful. I plunged this garment into a pot of boiling water and dye and a cup of vinegar. For the next thirty minutes I had to stir it with my wooden spoon. Cashmere is usually hand wash only delicate and there I was stirring it like a stew. The color looked amazing and I would be lying if I didn't think it was going to shrink to the size of a small infant tee but praise be no shrinkage and beautiful color. The secret is apparently to let it cool naturally no shocking it with cold water and no tumble drying. So if you have a sweater in a color that doesn't suit you, or is plain blah. Have a go, you're not going to wear it any less are you ? You can use your washing machine if you want but I didn't want to risk the wrath of an unsuspecting neighbor accidentally having blue tinged clothes in the next wash and it sounded far more complex than the pot method.

From pale pink to lovely blue

Invigorated by this success I am planning more dyeing adventures, there is a rather plain jane oatmeal blanket that I just purchased which will be perfect for testing out various colors. I'm thinking I can make some bags and exciting pouches, creatures who knows....

Thrift store Find - Blankets

There hasn't been one of these for a while which is not to say that I haven't been thrifting I just haven't gotten around to taking photos. When I was little someone gave me a coin collection and by default I became a coin collector as various relatives gave me their foreign currency but it wasn't really my thing. Since then I've not really dedicated myself to collecting much other art really, well that was then. Blankets are my new thing I can't resist a good color scheme and they are so practical, they envelop you like a good hug and brighten up a room. I recently stumbled upon the chevron patterned blanket and it was love at first sight. It was then that I knew blankets was my thing. They are by and large 100% wool or a mix of natural fibers. No acrylic in this collection. It's not the smallest most compact item to collect but at least it has a purpose and I can happily state that I have used them all. I just can't imagine when a blanket would be surplus to requirements ?

Crocheted blanket in shades of green.

Chevron knitted blanket

Troy Robe

Charterweave

Glenn Cree

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February, already how ?

Well 1 month into the new year and it just whizzed by. The catalog is coming along and I'm still aiming for the mid February finish. I just need to make some hot water bottle covers so that they can be photographed, write descriptions, make an order form.......yep there is still an awful amount of mundane stuff to do. Here's some fun stuff, my mother in law has an ipad (she already had a cover) which is pretty snazzy so I decided to make a felted ipad cover worthy of its sleekness. My husband insisted that the apple had to be exact, no freehand cutting so I duly obliged I'm quite pleased with the outcome seeing as the jumper had been overfelted (again). Note to self do not use heavy duty wash cycle when felting or you will end up with tot sized apparel. I did some thrifting and found a woven coat which I can't bring myself to cut into, this has happened with a couple of treasures that I have found, I think they still have a job to clothe and so despite the potential of the fabric I just can't. This is also known as hoarding. There are currently 5 items that fit into this category who knows I may end up with a vintage line.

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A friend of mine insisted I should try Pinterest and it really is a marvellous thing, but the time that can be lost browsing through all those boards. You've been warned.

Back from me Break

After a restful time in Norcal where I probably got more done than I would have done normally given the lack of distractions and chores. There's an awful lot of sewing to be done. I managed to overfelt a particularly nice Pringle sweater that came out of the washer toddler sized. It's so thick that it will make perfect pot holders or coasters, maybe embroidered if the needle can make it's way through the denseness without too much effort.

The catalog is coming along nicely, here's a peek of some of the photos that I took whilst away. It was actually a blessing that it was overcast as all the colors are dense and not sun drained.

Lil hoodie Bear

Napping Owl

Misfit Owl

Lil Penguin hanging by a thread literally

Behind the Scenes

Surf cycled Notebook

This is an early attempt at notebook making, still learning the machine. Praise be for Youtube, manuals just don't cut it for me, too much information. I soon realized that my wires were too big for the projects so ordered a huge box of littler ones. Tomorrow I plan on perfecting my technique, will report back on progress.

Design Dilemmas

Well after the frantic dog episodes, I am happy to report that all are well. Farley's nose is healing although it's still quite pink. So you made all these resolutions, what gives I hear you ask ? Hmmm well I started designing a catalog, and the thing is these are not quick projects. I put my ideas on paper after fumbling about in Illustrator for an hour, clicking aimlessly. So it will be a part drawn, part print type of catalog. On my to do list : Product photography, scanning of lots of cards/drawings/fabric, measuring all my products and writing descriptions. This for me is work and while I will admire and feel satisfied at reaching the finish line it's going to take a while till I get to that point. Mid February should do it and then all I have to do is actually make some product as Christmas pretty much wiped me out, not complaining it's great that people liked my stuff enough to buy it. I'm looking forward to a trip to the In-laws who have a very lovely washer and dryer inside the house and obviously to see the family and miniature donkeys.

Miniature donkeys aren't that small the word miniature is misleading

No going down a set of steps and OUTSIDE to our oh so delightful communal washer and dryer where the landlord started to make a concrete path ( which took about 8 months entire cities were built in less time) and then abruptly stopped 2 meters short of the little shanty hut housing the machines. So there's a little muddy path to negotiate. Not the Sudan I know but still.  I miss my Bosch washing machine in London, I didn't have a dryer so my apartment would have been constantly draped in wet wool jumpers, not a good look.

Not complaining when I get to see this view every week

So there you have it in order to progress I have to take a break from the crafting and focus on the marketing. Sorry.

Today was not the best or yesterday for that matter

Newport Beach

Ocean view

Let's begin with the good, which is I got to go surfing this am and took some pictures. The sun was shining and despite the scarcity of surfable waves it was a pretty nice experience. So far so good but then I took the dogs for a walk. Oh my, so the day before I almost lost Sanford, it was partly my fault I took a shortcut after the dogs ran off which is their usual mo as they go romping around in the tall grass. Instead of finding all three dogs, there were none I had confused them and after a bit of name calling I found the two big ones but no sign of the small one. To be fair Sanford is always lagging, there's always a bush that he needs to pee on or something he needs to stick his nose in but there was no sign of him. I should explain that this is a natural habitat, unmaintained use at your own peril kind of thing.

The valley of lost dog

Sanford spreading his love.

We've been there many many times so I started to panic, more so when I remembered he had on one of his non tag on collars. (Rest assured he is micro chipped) The other two were no help looking for him I might add and as time ticked on, my yell's became even louder. At this point we stumble across a man and his two golden retrievers. "Are they friendly ?" he asks referring to the black dogs. "Yes" I reply while simultaneously yelling Sanford's name like a woman possessed. "Are you looking for a little black dog?" he asks. "Yes" I say. " ( Although I would never describe Sanford as black, clearly he's grey but these are details in high stress situations.) "Well I would stop yelling because he won't hear you he's over by that dead tree." Funnily enough I knew exactly where he meant and started sprinting in that direction while also realising that the sweatshirt had been excessive given the heat. i get to the dead tree... and still No bloody sign of Sanford. Excuse my french. I am now wailing and then I spot him standing in the distance looking like the naughty dog he is. I calm down and call him in a normal encouraging way and he sprints towards me and like a good Hollywood movie we embrace and hug. I would like to think that he was just making his way back to the car to wait for us, I can't be sure of course but he's a smart one.

Trouble 1 and 2

Anyway that was earlier in the week and not what I had planned on writing. If you're still with me there's more. So today I take the dogs out, same place. Sanford's on a leash just in case the other two are running free and everybody is enjoying the day until the big dogs go bounding off to the tall grass in search of adventure. I don't take the shortcut and instead call them. One of them has a grey ground squirrel in his MOUTH!!!! I scream he drops it. The other one picks it up. I scream again he drops it. This cannot be happening. Big black dog has blood all over its face. I yank off some big leaves and try and get as much off him as possible tossing them to the ground. At this point I'm thinking it's a squirrel, but on closer inspection when I had stopped hyperventilating I realize he has a cut on his nose which is the source of the flow. I get home and turn on the hose and spray both dogs in the face to clean their mouths. They don't enjoy it. I then call the vet and take bloody nose dog to get him checked out. I must admit I didn't want to tell the vet the whole story about the squirrel but I have to know whether he's at risk of catching anything. Fortunately I get this response. " Squirrel in the day time ok, raccoon or skunk at night not good." She's a very nice vet and glues the cut and sends us back with a week's worth of antibiotics. So, not so Hollywood second story. Talking of unfortunate events while calling the dog Sanford I hit myself in the face and managed to draw blood. Don't even ask, how because I'm still wondering myself. If you think any projects were completed you would be sorely mistaken I've aged a couple of years these last two days.

2012 is here

So the process of change begins. Today I deleted 635 images from my camera so that it doesn't take an age to download the three recent ones. I don't know how it gets to that point where you just keep them on the camera even after you downloaded them but there you go, I don't think I'm alone. In the final week of 2011 I made inroads into making multiples of items. It is clear that I can't continue the making 1-3 at a time method of making. It's not time efficient, it doesn't mean that I'll be churning out carbon copies of the same thing it just means I will have an enormous pile of previously cut fabric to draw from. One of the minor setbacks of eco cycling is that if you take a jacket and use the fabric from it, you have to take it apart first which takes time as does selecting the jacket in the first place. I'm very picky ! It's taken some time to build up my stash. These are some newest additions, I'm very fortunate that heavyweight wool jackets are not in high demand in these parts. It's more of a sweats or beachwear community to which I am also a victim. I blame it on the dogs all that walking, you have to wear trainers and with wool trousers that would not be a good look.

This skirt has gorgeous green specks and a lovely texture.

This jacket is a mint green and brown tweed or herringbone I always confuse the two.

Another lucky find of browns, blues and yellow.

In the pipeline are some wristlet purses once I figure out how to get the wristbit onto the purse, some upcycled surf notebooks again, once I learn how to use my bookbinding machine and a bunch of other stuff. Let's see how long it is before they surface on the blog. Feel free to prod me with a reminder if it seems to be taking a while.