roman sock

Good Will

I have been so impressed by the generosity shown on everybody's blogs at the moment....So in the spirit of good cheer I have cooked up two schemes

1. Pay it forward... it goes something like this...

I will send a handmade gift to 3 people randomly selected from any comments left on this blog post before 9 am (My Time - UK) this Saturday - Let me know what you fancy, please let your imaginations run riot, or feel free to request something like one of the things I have already made.

You may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days (I shall try to send out before the end of January), that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making 3 other people a hand made gift (On your blog or in your own life).

Thank you Crafty Carolina Girl for the idea http://craftycarolinagirl.typepad.com/

2. Holiday card swap

If you would like to receive a hand-made holiday card from me in Edinburgh, Scotland and would like to send me a card (it doesn't need to be hand made) in return, please drop me an email at brigitte.read(at)gmail.com (just remove the brackets and add an at sign)

This is a balatant copy of Ysolda's Christmas card swap http://ysolda.com/wordpress/ thank you Ysolda

I feel more in the spirit already!

So to celebrate I would have used a picture of the robin but.....I manged to drop him in a glass of coke and is an incy bit ruined....so here is our fireplace last year instead.

the third thing: a robin

Well the third and forth things happened.... bad luck seems to be never ending.

There was an attempted burglary on the flat. Luckily they only managed one lock, and were scared off by the dog.

He is very loud and scary sounding, even though he is only 11 inches high! So thank you twinkle! That is the second time he has saved us. The first was when we had a gas leak and I didn't notice, until he almost lead me out of the house...and when I went back in I could smell it.

And then to make matters even worse, a car crashed into ours while it was parked over night!

Oh well, enough of the doom and gloom. I heard the most amazing song. http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/music/tv/index.shtml?episode_number=03. It is written by a Scottish woman called Mary Brookbank who worked in the jute mills in Dundee. She campaigned to get higher wages for workers and won!  The workers in the mill worked incredibly hard for so little and she rallied them together, uniting their voices, with her incredible songs. I am so interested in the history of women. I think so often the stories of ordinary women who do extraordinary things goes unrecorded: the history of real life. So please listen to it if you get a chance.

I have also finished the Robin pattern it is available here: Download robin.pdf

I am working on a polar bear now, but have a very busy week so I may have something to post at the weekend! Apart from that I shall be rushed off my feet.

Greta the pup

The lovely Gurganus on Ravelry asked me to make her a miniature amigurumi of her adorable dog Greta who was adopted from her local APS at just 3 months and is now 14 years old! So without further ado....

You can't get more gorgeous than the real thing though:

She loves to play....

and snooze...

and smile...

I also just wanted to say thank you all for reading this blog and all your kind words and support!! Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!!

 

Crocodiles and Commissons

I am very excited!!! Recently I got my first commissions one for a darling little doggie and one for some Meerkats!! I am over the moon!

I have added a step by step guide to the Athenian Scarf ( Broomstick Lace) here: http://littlegreen.typepad.com/romansock/step-by-step-broomstick-l.html

I have also just finished this guy:

He is very fiesty, but I like him.

A quick update on the boiler situation....I now have heat! Thank you Mr. Boilerman. It makes a massive difference.

Bad things come in threes

1. Laptop fan started malfunctioning

2. Boiler stopped working, so no hot water or central heating (Can't be fixed until Monday)

3. Postie pretended to deliver a package with the wool that I need for the Robin and Giraffe on Friday (He just put a card through the door saying that I wasn't in - and then when I called after him he ran away!!!!) and when I went to the post office on Saturday I was told I couldn't get it until Monday... and when I explained what happened the Manager said 'Posties are bad for that' ( Does this count?? Or is another bad thing coming?)

So trying to keep warm I have been crocheting my scarf furiously. Cold seems to sap my creativity so couldn't come up with anything else.

I am quite happy with it though, and when I wore it out this afternoon nobody looked at me like I was entirely off my head ( It still needs to be blocked - the freezing cold is stopping me)

 

I love the stitch, It reminds me of Greek and Roman columns - very structural, yet elegant. I was lucky enough to go to high school in Athens, Greece and my favorite museum was the Cycladic Museum. Somehow this scarf reminds of it. http://www.cycladic-m.gr/.

The yarn is Debbie Bliss Cathay, very beautifully, but a tad splitty for me.

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Broomstick Lace Instructions

Multiples of 4 stitches

Chain however many you want (Multiple of 4) I used a 3.5 crochet hook and chained on 60 + 1 for a turning chain

(Using a turning chain to retain same number of stitches on each row)

2 rows of single crochet

*Chain 1, Draw the loop through until you have a loop of two to three centimeters (keep this loop on bar of hook)

Insert hook through next stitch, yarn over and draw loop up to the same height as the first (Now you should have two loops on bar of hook)

Do this for each stitch

You should have one loop for each stitch.Yep you just leave them there! At the end you will have 60 or so loops (How ever many you decided to chain on initially) on your hook. Once you have finished the row you just take your hook out.

Turn the work

Put hook through the first 4 loops, then single crochet around all 4 loops with 4 single crochet stitches, do the same for each consecutive set of four stitches.

Chain 1 ( a turning chain) Single crochet the next row.

Repeat from * until you are finished.

( I learned from 300 crochet stitches - but this is my interpretation)

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I have the next week off work and my nose will be firmly at the crochet grindstone! I will show you what I come up with!

Bird brain....robins on the mind

I have been trying to perfect my robin... In fact, I have been somewhat robin obsessed (even dreaming about robins). But, after many trials and tribulations of the red breasted sort, this is what I have come up with:

This robin-loution has been a slow process. Here are some of the least mishapen versions...

I bought this book from a charity shop here in Edinburgh for just £2, it was published in 1900. I love old books absolutely, it's almost about the people that have read them, rather than the work itself - almost! I think when you read a book, you give a little bit of yourself to it - the time you spent reading -the emotion you invested. How many times has this one been read in its 107 years?

   

remembering

Today is remembrance day, and I am afraid I am going to forgo most of the usual crochet chit chat, and make a little tribute to the most amazing people I have known.

Desiree Marie Mannot (My Oma)

Oma with my Mama

When the Japanese took over Indonesia (then the Indies) my Oma was just 18. She was moved from camp to camp with her family, whom she, for the large part, looked after; as her step-mother was heavily pregnant.

The few stories she told me from this time were absolutely horrific. From being almost eaten alive by bed bugs that burrowed under the skin, to watching her neighbour starve (leaving behind small children), and knowing there was nothing she could do. Everyone lived in huge rooms with a couple of bunk beds per family, and they usually only had a small cup of starch and a cup of rice with water each day.

She had no word from her father, and when her brothers reached a certain age, they were taken away to go to men's camps. Her sister suffered with infected lungs, and spent years on the edge of death. Against the odds, they all survived, even the little baby who was born in the horror of the camps.

Oma was never completely able to forget or forgive what happened to her but, as well as a capacity for the pain, she found the world infinitely humorous, and is who I got my 'Muttley' laugh from. I think this picture shows her in sheer joy. I promised her, before she died, that she could go in peace, because I would remember. So I will.

Mollie Marshall Read and William G Read ( My Gran and Granddad)

My Gran and Granddad were the epitome of everything honorable for me. Nobody in the known world is quite as feisty as my Gran. During the war she signed up without her fathers permission when she was just 17. She rose quickly through the ranks and was always prepared. One time when walking through a field with a friend, a German airplane swooped down and shot at them, she kept her head and ran to safety. She also armed her team with pots and pans and anything the could get hold of when they believed Germans had landed. I have no doubt that if they had ever got close to her, they would have turned tail. Our shores were safe in her hands.

She is the world's greatest knitter, and I was chuffed to pieces when she recently told me that her mother was an avid crocheter. As you can see from the above picture, Gran and Granddad were real adventurers.

Granddad was at the liberation of Belsen and the war changed the course of his life. Before hand he had been studying to become a priest, but afterwards he believed there could be no god if he allowed such things to happen. So he spent his life learning and bettering himself. He knew everything about everything. When we used to speak on the phone, when I lived in some far flung country, he would look at his atlas so he knew exactly where I was. He always called me his princess...

me and Granddad

He was always a rebel though, starting up some of the first labour unions and getting fired for doing so. He also turned down a MBE, because it didn't fit in with his values. I suppose in a way he is still my hero.

Medals

Dog tag

This picture was taken not that long before he died, but I am still incredibly lucky to have my Gran. Who recently became a mini celebrity by appearing in a charity leaflet that went out in all the national papers. She was a natural.

So these are the people I spent today thinking about.

I also did a little crochet....

Instant crochetfication: Trumpet from the roof tops

I have finally gotten my act together and have written up the elephant pattern:  Download elephant.pdf (In the Instant Crochetification section on the side bar - Under one hour projects for fun and instant gratification, great for little presents and trinkets)

Slight change to pattern it should read:

Round 8: Lets call the st you are on st 1. Chain 4 skip 3, single st into 4th -  St no 26. (This should have created a loop from the base, Loop 1). No st 1 into each chain (from st 25, 24, 23 etc to st 1) until loop1. Single st 4 (d,c,b,a) around chain in gap (the chain from st 1 to 26.) Cast off. Secure eyes on either side of loop.

I always underestimate how long it takes to write up patterns! My problem is I have far too many ideas..... and end up trying new things when I should be diligently writing patterns. This week I have made and frogged a strange mitten, several odd bags, and some hideously misshapen creatures... I need to focus on one thing!

Little Kissmas Meerkat didn't get into the next round of the Softie Awards........ but, the lovely Donielle picked him as one of her favorites http://www.comfits.typepad.com//comfits/2007/11/my-contest-winn.html on her blog Comfits. I am very chuffed indeed.

My favorite was http://flickr.com/photos/51758969@N00/1570259465/ Freddy the Bat by Maritza at Soto Softies. I have loved softies all my life, but have never fallen quite so hard for one as this.

As some of you may know, I have been thinking of emigrating for a while, the UK can feel a very small place, but sometimes you see things like this:

With a sunset this beautiful it can't be all bad. I took this photo on the train, on yet another trip to Grimsby. I must have looked totally mad, but I couldn't not capture it (excuse the double-negative).

I have also started to memorize poetry, I got this great book by Ted Hughes called By Heart. At the start he explains a great technique for memorization. It certainly makes the day a bit more pleasant when you can fill your head with beautiful words, at whim. I have also found this website dedicated to it http://www.passonapoem.com/re_learningpoetry.htm. In terms of poetry I am very predictable... My favorite is the old classic The Road Not taken  http://www.bartleby.com/119/1.html ...popular, but really good.

Thanks for all the positive feed back on setting up an etsy account ( Sabrina, June, Ann, Monty and MoominMama - especially a big thank you!) I am working on it! as well as the other patterns, Kitty, Giraffe, Hedgehog and Robin. I am hoping to get them all up as soon as I can. But with my penchant for distractions, I think it's best not to make any promises about when. Is soon good enough?

Let sleeping pups lie

Sunday has been a very lazy day, spent reading, crocheting and going out for a nice lunch. However I have not been nearly as lazy as the pup. Isn't he cute? A sleeping little angel.

Good news! I now have two elephants and the pattern should be up tomorrow, along with the robin. The giraffe is proving a little more problematic, as I need to wait for a delivery of the right type of yarn... so I will start as soon as it lands on my doormat.

I have been thinking about starting an etsy store... My shelves are starting to heave with crocheted creatures and it would be nice for them to have a home where they have a bit of space to be loved. The patterns would all still be free, just a way to cope with the multiples of everything I am ending up with. What do you think?

I have put out the winter bird feeders, and I am just hoping that some birds flying through the city will find a minute to stop, rest, and have a bite. Here's hoping. Its just not winter without robins.