Oooops nearly forgot to post - this week has flown by. I've been busy with work and it's back to the gym for my PT sessions. I need to build up my muscle strength as I'd torn a tendon in my ankle and haven't been able to do any kind of exercise for over 8 months so slowly does it.
I've been plodding on with this lovely tweed blanket which should have been a jumper for me but I ended up not liking it so I undid all the knitting and am currently crocheting it into a blanket. I'm only doing a basic double crochet (US term). I don't think it needed anything too complicated.
Hello and welcome to week 2 of What's on Your Hook Thursday (WoYHT).
This week is my first week back at the day job. It's been a long week already and seems even longer as I've had nearly 3 weeks off over the holidays.
So this week there hasn't been much crochet time but I did finish the granny square crochet/fabric baby dress that I showed you in last weeks post. I've had so many compliments about it. I'm thinking I might make one in cream and a lovely lace over satin for the skirt.
Yay I finished the dress.
This week I've been having a play with some cotton/acrylic yarn which I bought in a sale last year - that sounds like 2018 was ages ago doesn't it? I tried out the same granny square design as for the dress but it didn't look quite right. I think it's because the yarn has a fuzzy feel to it and not smooth like the one in the dress. Anyway I undid it and used it to make a Crabapple Square by Rachele Carmona - you can follow her pattern here on YouTube they're fairly easy to follow if you're confident in making the different stitches and don't expect guidance at every stage. Good thing about videos is you can pause and rewind at your own leisure.
Hello my lovelies it's been a while since I posted life took me on a bit of a up down hilly road and somethings had to be dropped so I could get back on track. You can only direct your life as much as the universe will let you.............the rest is a learning journey.
So what is "What's On Your Hook Thursday" (WoYHH)? Well it's all about crocheting.....yup crocheting. This last year has been a bit of trial my dad passed away in March and then I ended up with a torn tendon in my foot which meant that I couldn't walk or stand for very long in fact I ended up using the stair lift. I had a whole month of not being able to do anything at all.
Crochet has been a life saver of sorts. It's helped me stay calm during my dad's passing. It was what kept me sane and gave me focus. I wasn't able to do much but just making one or two squares a day helped. Then when I had to have a month off work due to the foot injury crochet came to my rescue again. I learnt new stitches, how to make hats, how to read a crochet pattern. So my journey with crochet may have started with the humble granny square but it has taught me that life goes on and you can learn new things even if you didn't mean to. I started the squares as a means to using up the excess yarn that I had accumulated but I ended up learning and loving a new skill and along with that I have met some amazingly talented women.
Here are some pics of where it all started -
This is where it all started
My first granny blanket - very wonky
Got a little adventurous
Hats
Yay and more hats
The big one - well a little cardigan - my first
and a bag
So what is on my hook this Thursday you ask? I'm attempting to make a Granny square crochet/fabric baby dress. I promised myself I wouldn't start this till the new year. My fingers have been itching to start this. The pattern is by Mon Petit Violon Designs it's a free pattern on Ravelry. The yarn is Cotton On by James C Brett Shade CO5 (50% cotton 50% acrylic it's a lovely dusky pink colour. I'm undecided whether to make it all in yarn or add a fabric skirt. I'd like to use fabric if I can find a nice cotton blend. Isn't it a lovely pattern?
I would love it if you could join me on a weekly hook journey. Please leave a comment and a link to your blog post so I can visit to see what's on your hook.
I promise that the next blog posts won't be as long as this one.
Since my last post I've had technical issues with the scanner and my camera not working. I fixed this last week but haven't had time to make a post on here. So here are my paintings to date - apologies as this is going to be a picture heavy post.
I'm having to blog in the evenings due to work. Today's painting is an abstract on 5 x 7 inch canvas board. I had some odd paint in my collection I think it may be fabric paint but I'm not sure as they are those little pots which come as a group and I seem to have mislaid the cover. The reason I'm thinking they are fabric paint is because they are tacky to when touched. Anyway I'll probably paint over it again at some point but for now I'll leave it to see if it "untacks" itself.
I could actually try an acrylic sealant to see if that helps. I also wanted to add some black to make parts stand out. Pop over to Leslie Saeta's blog for more eye candy.
Today's ATC (artist trading card) is inspired by a quote by Ralph Emerson - "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year". I try to live everyday being grateful for everything that I have and that everyday is a new beginning.
Here we are at day 2 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. Today I've done a painting of a fish.............a rather unintentional chunky fish. Artist Trading Card (2.5 x 3.5 inch) in Sennelier oil pastels. I found the yellow was very soft and creamy and the blues harder. I like the creamy texture but I think I need to get a blending stick - I'm using a paper talon which is okay but the tip gets rather mucky.
I'd like to start by wishing everyone a very HAPPY and HEALTHY 2017.
I didn't do much blogging in 2016 - I have no excuses only that I didn't have the mojo or inclination to do anything much. I'm hoping to get back into making and selling my jewellery again this year and make my website live (it's been sitting dormant for the last 12 months).
So I'm going to start today with joining in with the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge which is run by Leslie Saeta every year. It's really interesting to see what others create. For Day #1 - ATC mushroom in oil pastels. I thought this challenge would be a good idea to try mediums I don't use but have wanted to have a go at. I bought the Caran d'Ache and Sennelier brands last year but haven't had time to play with them much. This one is done using Sennelier.
I've spent this Sunday afternoon playing with fabric and my sewing machine. I wanted to have a go at making the Junker Jane style art dolls after making the ATC's a couple of weeks ago. Now I have a stash of fabric which have been left over from other sewing projects and like most artists I hate throwing things away and in this I found some light cream/beige material to make the body. I added some lace, buttons and a fabric flower which I painted with some acrylic paint. The arms and the patch on the body are bits of canvas that I painted. I used embroidery thread for the mouth using back and chain stitch.
The one thing I found with the body material is that it frayed which meant that it didn't hold very well when sewn up - hence the grey patch on the face and the odd stitching on the side. It was a good learning process as I've never made a doll or any other kind of soft toy. I think this one will be living with me so it doesn't matter if it's not perfect.
I think I'm hooked on this style of work which is quite different to the style I usually go for. I think the attraction is that anything goes and that it has a grungy "creepy cute" look. I didn't know about the Junker Jane style of work until one of my friends from ATCsforAll started a swap and invited me to join. To date I have made 7 ATC's and a paper (I used watercolour paper) art doll. There is another trade happening as well on ATCsforAll which involves making cloth dolls in this style. That is my weekend project. These are the first 6 that I made. 4 are headed over for trading. The 7th one isn't quite finished yet.
