Wish me Luck!

This beautiful photograph (it is not mine, it is taken from Here)  is of the Wyre Forest in Worcestershire.  We  have not had snow yet, but weather watchers are starting to whisper about it.  We have had three or four days of frost though that has not thawed.  Very very chilly.  Don't get me wrong I love 'The Great Outdoors'. I love taking children into 'The Great Outdoors' too, but I am a little worried.  Tomorrow I will be taking a group of children (with six other 'grown ups') to the Wyre Forest for the day.  It is day one of a 'ten' session 'Forest Schools' course.  We will go every Wednesday rain or shine for ten weeks.  Some of the kids have been before but I have not.  There is no toilet!  If we want to keep warm we need to collect firewood and make our own fire, if we want a warm drink we need to hope the Fire Gods are looking kindly upon us and Lord knows what we will eat.  One of the kids said to me today "Miss, you are not allowed to tell us off for climbing trees!"  It is 'Child lead learning' where we support whatever it is they choose to do in the forest, it may involve ropes, home made bows and arrows, fire skills, games and general Tom foolery!  The children I teach are permanently excluded from their mainstream schools, due to emotional and behavioural issues  I have been doing this job for twelve years and I don't have a single grey hair!  I hope I do not gain any tomorrow.  I need to hunt out my warmest woollies to take with me and get my bag packed, I can't see me sleeping  much tonight, I don't know if I am excited or anxious, probably a healthy mix of both.   So wish me luck, I will update you tomorrow if I survive!  Once my bag is packed I will be taking my nervous energy out on my Crochet Ripple.  I also have a very 'Good' book to read at bedtime.

Dropped Dead Stitch by Maggie Sefton

Dead Grateful to Ripple

The Grateful Dead - Ripple

I am still rippling away on my Crochet Ripple Blanket...it is like climbing a mountain, just when you think you are going to reach the top...you find you still have a long way to go.   Rippling up, rippling down, rippling up, rippling down, it is about all I can cope with this Monday evening.  It is keeping me warm to work under though as we have had a very cold spell. 

           I am very worried about Frozen Chickens.  They do not seem to mind though and still come out to play with gusto in the frost!  They usually sleep two together and one on her own, but this cold spell has seen all three of them getting along nicely and cuddling up together at night.  They take themselves to bed when it is dark and I just have to go and shut them up safely for the night.  I saw a big fox trot past my house at 6.45pm last night, he has given me a nightmares.  I go out in the pitch black and shove my hand in the coop to do a quick head count and it is like a unique musical instrument as I pat each chicken they sound a musical note, if I am accurate I get three notes, if I have to grope around I may get several dud notes that sound a bit disgruntled, until all three chickens are accounted for.  

Never underestimate a chicken!  There is no end to their talents!

I really hope to have some craft to show you soon, I am not sure how long you can cope with my random chicken posts!  X

Ribbon Weaving

Yesterday was the AGM at the Weaving, Spinning and Dyeing Guild.  I took my trusty 'Ashford Kiwi' Spinning wheel and actually managed to get some spinning done.  It was nice to sit and natter and spin.  I sat with three other spinners.  It is good to look at what others are spinning and chat about wheels, technique and yarn.  I learned a little more about the ratios on my wheel that can be varied for different yarns.  My level of spinning has not progressed much from simply being delighted I can spin a yarn.  My Mom did not take her wheel and chose to take part in the 'Ribbon Weaving Workshop'.  It looked challenging.  The lady that lead the workshop is a very talented seamstress and she bought lots of  little bags you could choose from, that could then be embellished with the braids of woven ribbon.  I bought a little bag and some ribbon to play with at home.

Here is an Excellent Youtube Tutorial

I watched the above video tutorial and then had a little play with some ribbons.

I think the results are pretty, this is another craft that I can see being highly addictive as it is therapeutic once you get in to the rhythm of it and quite instantly gratifying.

I made enough of this braid to go around the whole bag, I just need to stitch it on.  It is very flexible and goes around curves and corners really well.  I also like how you could use either side of the braid, each side looks slightly different.

I wonder how long it will take me to actually get around to sewing the braid around the bag?  I will definitely be showing you as soon as it is finished.  I will also photograph the bag in daylight as that is not the true colour at all.  It is a pinky, lilacy, silvery sort of colour if you catch my drift.  I do like the grey though that has turned out in the photograph.

I am going around the house now looking at the lampshades and thinking 'Oooo they would look pretty with a ribbon braid'.  Looking at curtains 'Oooo they would look pretty with a ribbon braid'.  Cushions 'Oooo they would look pretty with a ribbon braid'.  If my boys were girls 'Oooo they would look pretty with a ribbon braid'!

The Peachy Crafty World of Dottie Angel

I know many of you will be familiar with the Blog The Ramblings of Dottie Angel it is one of my favourite Blogs.  Dottie Angel is the Alter Ego of Tif Fussell.  Tif is a Brit who has put down roots in America.  Her blog is filled with her craft pursuits and her wonderful Granny Chic Style.  This is her fantastic book that I thought I would share a few pages of with you.  It is the perfect book to 'look' at and read with a cup of tea and a biscuit to dunk.

Each page is a visual treat of crafty goodness.  The majority of Tif's work has been rescued from, what Dottie calls, "The Shelves of Despair", that are present in every thrift or charity shop.  Tif works her magic and turns beautiful fabrics and objects into something more beautiful.  I recently rescued three crochet doilies for the princely some of 20p, they are destined to be turned into something lovely or "Peachy" as Dottie would say.  Dottie uses her own vocabulary and has names for inanimate objects, there is a glossary at the back of the book explaining these terms, most are self explanatory like my favourite 'Crapitty Crap'!

It will eternally perplex me why my 'Lucky Finds' and clutter do not look this aesthetically pleasing.

There are 'How to' pages in the book with simple Dottie Angel projects that any fool could make to beautify their living space.

There is a touching little story about this rabbit and how he found himself sitting on "The Shelves of Despair" and then he found a forever home with Tif and she even made him his own handmade crochet cape.  Doesn't he look lovely in it?

He is now rather a special rabbit and has been seen by a global audience.  I am a sucker for a happy ending.

The simplicity of each piece of work really appeals to me I think it is all lovely.  It is the perfect Coffee table book.  There are even 'Chicken Pics'.

There are also some great photographs of Tif's dogs enjoying their home made blankets.
I shared with you in a previous post my 'Happy Tray'.  This is a firm favourite with everyone in the house now.   It has pride of place in the living room and is in use daily.  It does make us very 'Happy' to use it.  Every house should have a 'Happy Tray', chickens and at least one crochet project on the go.

A craft book is not quite complete for me if it does not have 'Crochet' projects in it.  Tif also loves to crochet.

What a lovely sentiment to share.  If we are having sunshine this weekend it will be accompanied by a crisp frost, in most places in the UK we are having a cold spell.  Brrr.  I really recommend this book, the snippets I have shown you are a very small sample of the whole.  It is a very funny, uplifting and creative read.   A book to show you how to turn your 'clutter' into 'treasures'.   A charity shop will never seem the same again as you man your 'Rescue' missions.
Hope Your Weekend is Positively Peachy.   X 

Paper Weaving 'Play'

On a trip to the Supermarket I found this little pad left on the 'Shelves of Despair' with other reduced items.  For the grand total of 60p I decided it needed to come home with me.  It is a little pad filled with sheets of  coloured paper, shiny paper, pearlised paper and bright patterns like these:

Throughout the week I have been having five minute blasts of fun experimenting with simple paper weaving.  This would be another great craft activity for children.  Very easy to resource and quick to learn.

  I have so far created these:

You can measure and draw out faint guide lines if precision is your thing, but that is not my 'style'!

I have laminated the little swatches and have a few vague notions of what they are destined to be.  For now I am simply enjoying admiring them!  As they have been laminated they can now be cut into various shapes.  I thought about cutting out letters to spell out words, now I think I am going to try and find a simple chicken template.  I also thought about making a 'Love heart Garland'.  I remembered a tutorial I came across for making 'Woven Paper Hearts'.  These little hearts are traditionally Danish and are made for St Lucia's Day which is December the 13th.  Children hang these hearts on the Christmas Tree and they get filled with a Cookie or Sweets.  I read most Danish children can make these hearts easily by the time they are ten years old.  If a ten year old can do it. I felt confident having a go.  Here is a good tutorial At Gingerbread Snowflakes.  I think these turned out quite well after a couple of rejects!

These will make a much better 'Love Heart Garland' from my sons point of view.  I will decorate for 'Valentines Day' and can fill these with 'Sweets'.

I would quite like to experiment with 'Fabric Hearts' too.  I did not realise there was so much fun to be had with 60p worth of paper.  I will also explore newspaper and magazines for paper weaving.  I have been trying to teach myself how to make Chinese 'Lucky Stars' with the intention of making a Lucky Star Garland.  Origami  'Lucy Stars' are described as the 'easiest and most well known of Origami Creations' but so far my 'Lucky Stars' have not turned out to be 'Star shaped' let alone Lucky.  

Get ready for 'Friday the 13th'

Pie Day Friday is cancelled for tomorrow, nobody tries to bake on Friday 13th surely?  I hope you all have a good day  :)  I am busy crafting and hope to get some pictures to show you tomorrow.  I am making progress with my crochet Ripple and trying to spin but my back and knee are rebelling and making it uncomfortable.  I have also been 'Paper Weaving' but want to write a more detailed post showing you what I have been up to.   On Saturday it is the Weaving Spinning and Dyeing Guild's AGM, the first meeting for the New Year.  There will be a members 'Sales' table which is always a treat, with interesting goodies to look at.  Strangely something usually seems to jump in my bag!  Also there will be an informal workshop with 'Ribbons'.  I don't know what we will be doing with them, it is all very mysterious.  I will sort myself some ribbon to take.  I am also trying to resist the temptation of a 'New Project'!

It is a big year for the 'UK' and I wanted to celebrate by kitting the house out with a few Union Jacks, they are slowly creeping in on Mugs and Tea towels that I have bought.  I also want to crochet some bunting!  The above project is a 'Chunky Cross Stitch' kit.  I really fancy it...but absolutely don't need it, it is so pretty though!  It has been a long time since I have done any cross stitch.
Lacey (the dog) is snoring on the sofa next to me.  I took her for a walk this morning, where she did her usual workout, weightlifting branches and chasing squirrels.  If she doesn't go for a walk she nags and makes you feel very guilty that you haven't taken her.  When you do take her she is then so tired you don't know that you have got her.  Today we had the added bonus of meeting an over enthusiastic whippet.  I would have put money on Lacey not wanting to chase it.  She is a grump around other dogs and not at all interested in them.  This whippet must have asked her nicely and she took off after it!  She is a German Shepherd/Rottweiler cross, so not at all light on her feet, she is quite a heavy boned girl, this whippet gave her the total run around and I think she has exhausted herself and may not move until tomorrow.  I may just have to join her.  xxx