Sara's Texture Crafts... HQ Log

Well the full skeins at least. Now it’s time to start the mini skeins.

Wishing everyone a happy May Day Bank Holiday!

Sara xx

I had to pop into Exeter today to grab a load of supplies for dyeing and although we were forecast rain, it was actually a beautiful morning. So I suggested we go for a walk and Darrin said what about Exeter Quay… Crafts, sunshine, maybe a pub lunch?! Why not…

We had a look around the antiques centre and I found a beautiful bone double crochet hook for £3 and a longer pair of gauge 10 knitting needles (£2.50), which I needed for the shawl I’m working on. I wasn’t bothered that they were second hand, they were a good price and have lots of life left in them. The bone crochet hook is my favourite thing for the day… Can’t wait to try it out!

Later, at home I made myself some stitch markers. I’ve been eyeing up some for sale on Etsy for a while and as lovely as they are, I have a ton of beads in my stash… I really needed to make my own. I chose some pretty glass beads and used a larger solid ring that I can use on a multitude of knitting needles. Voila some pretty stitch markers!

For our pub lunch we ate at The Prospect, a pub we haven’t been in for about 16 years! The food was lovely. I definitely recommend stopping for a quick drink to watch the world go by.

If you are going down to the quay don’t forget to walk further along and visit the Quayside craft shops. There’s lots to see from glass, iron and woodwork, lots of jewellery and gift things. There are some smaller cafes and there is usually a busker or two playing music… Great for a sunny day. Most of the shops are local crafters and artists and they deserve our continued support.

Wishing you all a sunny weekend,

Sara x
Www.sarastexturecrafts.com

I haven’t been crocheting long… a matter of weeks, with a few stitches per day, so planning a second project was a bit scary without Mum on hand to help.

I went through my queue on Ravelry and found that I didn’t have any crochet patterns at all, so restarted my search. The parameters were simple, it had to be easy and quick, so that I wouldn’t get frustrated.

I came across a pattern by Erica Jackofsky, Simple Crochet Slippers, which reminded me of Espadrilles. After printing out the pattern I began to feel very lost… It wasn’t that the pattern lacked direction, I just didn’t understand how I was starting and what my stitch pattern/3-D form should look like… and that frightened me off. I think this is one for later, when I have had a bit of practise doing 3-D, rather than flatwork,

So I spent a few days ruminating about this… surely I could figure something out myself? So yesterday I started my own creation, using very basic rectangle constructions and a bit of sewing manipulation.

They didn’t take me long and I’m able to wear them tonight… great, because it’s a bit chilly! What d’ya think?

Now I have made one pair I know where I need to learn about shaping… and so with time I hope to perfect my own slipper pattern that I can use again and again.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend… back to work tomorrow for me… and hopefully weather permitting some dye tests!

Sara x
www.sarastexturecrafts.com

D has got to an important point in his on-line game, so I take the excuse this time gives me to get crafting at the weekends. It’s also a good excuse to stay home when at this time of the year money is lacking in the excess!

We walked to one of the local garden/farming/equine centres here in Crediton earlier, as I needed some small plant pots for the gifts and demo I’m creating for the Devon County Show in May… Anyway there they had a very cheap Willow log basket at £14.99. Which when I consider the time and cost of hand making something of this size (and the time I don’t have right now, although I do plan to make more) and given the fact it’s not the best made in the world item… It was very reasonably priced and did the job I had in mind.

First I used it to store my groceries in while I shopped at Morrisons, but now it holds my ‘show production’ fibre which is soon to become yarn. It’s so much prettier and more sturdy than the mesh laundry baskets I use in the stock room to hold prepacked bags of fibre (like the fluff bags on the website).

So I’ve spent most of the day spinning and although I haven’t really made a dent on the pile of fluff in my log basket, I do feel like I got something done. I shall leave the yarns on the skein winder until tomorrow, so that any over twist evens out and relaxes. Then I can start to set them and put them to dry with the yarns I made during the week.

Now I think I’ll watch a bit more of the podcasts I’ve downloaded (The KnitGirlls, 90% Knitting, Dramatic Knits and A Cat and Her Yarn… All on iTunes) and pick up some crochet… I’m hoping to get some slippers turned out by the end of the weekend. Well that’s the plan anyway… After all it’s only the second project I’ve crocheted, so anything could happen!

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend?

Sara xx
Www.sarastexturecrafts.com