roman sock

A skunk with pink gloves

I am having a very relaxing holiday and Christmas was snuggly and amazing. I have finished the Munro Bag Tutorial; you can download it here:Download MunroBag.pdf. This bag is so simple I cant even really call it a tutorial! Think of it as a 2 second easy peasy guide.

I am working on a couple of animal projects and this is the first draft of a skunk. He still needs a fair bit of work... but I thought I would give him an airing.

still a bit shy...

likes peering at people

These crocheted gloves were one of my favourite christmas presents, the back is the softest buttery leather.

Every time I see something crocheted in a shop I have to go and examine how it was made and these are just gorgeous. What can I say, deep down I have a flamboyant pink side!

I also got this beautiful set, handmade by the wonderful little green. She made them with a Japanese fabric and soft blue baby cord. The cosmetic bag was made using a tutorial from here http://smallhand.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_smallhand_archive.html#112473596029582231 (scroll down to August 24th) and the pin cushion was made using Planet June's tutorial, without the wrist strap or button, you can find it here http://www.planetjune.com/blog/offset-square-wrist-pincushion-tutorial/ . The rest was made up, but is pretty easy; just some rectangles. 

I have been trying to write a personal mission statement. I think sometimes it is easy to feel a bit lost, and like you don't really have any direction, so I hope it will help to focus my mind!

Kissmas and Grasshoppers

I think I am going to start in the past. Christmas always makes me nostalgic! So when I saw this charming post on June's blog http://www.planetjune.com/blog/lucky-star-garland/ all my early crafty memories flooded back. When I lived in Hong Kong everybody was obsessed with making little stars and I used to make hundreds and put them in little bottles as gifts.

My mother would occasionally take us up to The Peak to enjoy the stunning views and have a bite to eat; we would go up on the tram, a precarious ride up a steep hill in a old fashioned contraption! Brilliant fun. When we reached the top, crouched down under a tree was a old man that would make the most amazing animals out of leaves. My favorite was always a grasshopper.

A little googling later... I found a pattern and has soon whipped up this little fellow!

If you want to make your own, the pattern is here: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=184817. I would go with the wire loop, and when you have finished the first knot around the loop - I would straighten the arm behind rather than at the front.

Moving on to the present....

I received this amazing, darling little cutie in the post

She is just gorgeous!! and I adore her. Thank you so much Lynn for giving me the best Christmas surprise!!!! She is made from a pattern by the lovely Owly now on Owlish  http://owlishly.typepad.com/

And on to the future, I made these little guys as last minute stocking fillers. They are for pining on coats or bags to give ordinary objects a touch of homemade bright craftiness

I scanned in the templates I made, you can download them it here: Download Felties.jpg or from the side bar! Happy feltie making....

And last of all I hope Santa brings you lots of nice pressies, and that this year is better than the last, but not as good as the next!!!

Lots of love,

Brie

The Munro

I am sorry for not posting....but I have been obsessed.... totally obsessed.... with making this bag. The design is scarily simple but I am really pleased with the results. I think it is more of a wip project bag rather than a everyday handbag but still... I think it was worth the night and day devotion.

 

I have long been an admirer of the gorgeous ripple afghans that everybody is making, but I just don't have that sort of commitment, and I wanted something that I could see all the time that captured a little bit of that feel. If anyone is interested in a quick tutorial let me know. It was seriously the simplest thing to make.

Christmas this year will be a cozy small affair...and I even have presents which are a total surprise. I am so excited!!

When I was little, my mum put our filled stocking on our doors, so when we woke up in the morning we could open that, and then later when the adults were thoroughly awake (After a busy night wrapping - I guess) we would all be allowed in the living room.

I always thought it was a great idea, and the memories of those small presents opened in total silence in my room with all the excitement of the day are just the best. She would also leave a little present under our pillows so there was a little something at the end of the day too. Although I have to confess I was one of those kids that always succumbed to too much birthday or too much Christmas... Oh well!!

More robins and a snake

I have had horrible cold-flu all week. I think I must have emptied Edinburgh of tissues! I was even too sick to crochet - Enough of poor me!

I am a very bad, sick person and constantly demand attention... I whine.... request exotic flavours of ice cream....am always too hot or too cold.....and constantly go on and on and on about not feeling well in the midst of ordering everyone around.

It's a good thing I couldn't get near the computer!

I have had lots of pattern requests for the crocodile and the kitten, so those are the patterns I will tackle next.

In the meantime, this is what I did last night. If you are taking part in the Christmas card swap - look away!!

I mean it!!!!!

Now!!! While you have just seen a peak!

I am really pleased with the effect, just layered cord, fleece and felt. I promise I will soon be over my robin addiction.

I also spent some time making some very tiny toys for friends. They are all small enough to fit in the spoony bit of a spoon. So they are not as detailed as I would like.

First up... The joyful snake

The tree!! Sigh...

The tree is finally finished. What a magical day. There is always something so wonderful about putting the tree up, and taking out your favorite decorations, wrapped up, with love, the year before.

We wanted to do something different this year, so I was going to crochet big blousy flowers, but by chance we found some gorgeous fabric flowers in a little shop, 5 for just £1!!!

So I dusted them with gold powder and added a bit of glitter (Impossible to find in the whole of Edinburgh - we went on a 4 hour glitter hunt!! How can a city not have glitter??) for sparkle, very simple to do. These lovely flowers have become the main feature of the tree and it just feels much more natural. Like a bit of outside, only inside... Anyway I will stop waffling and show you.

In the dark....

In the light....

I tried to pack in as much crochet as possible!

The felt decorations we made a couple of years ago always surprise me with their cuteness.

Last year, my Mum sent some lovely knitted creatures including this cute llama.

Enough tree... I am sorry for all the pictures, I am over excited. I know its not the most amazing tree in the world, but I am really happy with it, for once.

Owlets and preparing for the tree

I managed to write the owlet pattern up today because it was just so simple! Barely a pattern at all. But here it is: Download owlets.pdf. I am still working on the other ones too!

I have spent today preparing to decorate the tree tomorrow.... Yay!!!!! We are trying to go for a pretty much all hand made tree.... Will need to see how it turns out. Decorating the tree always requires a trip to Dobbies for inspiration.  It is the most divinely beautiful store and the Christmas trees are astounding - I can't wait! I will post a picture as soon as its finished.

As these little guys are not on this blog any more I thought I would tell you their story:

They are scarabs (fakes) that my Oma and Mum bought in Egypt in 1950's. Every year or so she would take the boat from where she lived in Indonesia up to the Netherlands, and they would sail up the coast of Africa.

They always visited Egypt, and saw some amazing things Tutankhamen's tomb and the pyramids before it became a place where you couldn't touch anything.

I got these when she died and absolutely love them. I adore all ancient history but particularly that of Rome and Egypt. Thats why this blog is called roman sock, because they now believe that Roman's wore socks under their sandals (Made from a technique similar to Crochet )!!! A very British faux pas.

Owls and envy

I have been so envious of all the lovely little fabric owls everyone is making!

Like these little darlings from Moonstitches http://moonstitches.typepad.com/moonstitches/2007/11/zakka-style-owl.html

But the calls of non-crochet life have been strong this week and I had to go Christmas shopping last night, so didn't have much time.... so I whipped these up just after midnight.

roosting

I am working on some big projects and should have an easy weekend so hopefully there will be something a little more interesting than wee owls on Monday.

Talking about Owls, Owly has a lovely new blog Owlish http://owlishly.typepad.com/ as one of the first posters she gave me some of her amazing patterns, free! How nice is that!!!!!

Bri has also been making me drool, on her lovely http://figswithbri.com/ with her yummy Lemon Curd recipe!!!!

So over and out

a polar bear...picked out of a hat... and frogspiration

First things first.... The names out of the hat for the pass it forward thing are....

Congratulations to Pat, Moomin Mamma and Pepper Pup, I shall get to work on your gifts. Thank you all so much for replying!! I will try to pop a little something something into everyone's Holiday Card too, as I hate to leave anyone disappointed.

The 'Jute Mill Song' link doesnt seem to be working, because the BBC only stream in the UK (How annoying!). I found an alternative verion here: http://penny-price-jute-mill-song-mp3-download.kohit.net/_/317899 . Its not quite as pure as the other, but is still very beautiful.

The lyrics are here: http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/song-midis/Jute_Mill_Song.htm . The story of Mary Brookbank is quite remarkable. Mary and a small group of female workers fought to increase the wages of factory workers in Dundee so they could get a living wage. She stood up to authority and got everyone to raise their voices together in protest. The youngest of their little gang sang the song in the BBC version, which made it really special. Try to hear it again here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/player/?item=44533384.

I have also been working on a new animal, my very first bear, called Stargazer.

I am very pleased with how he worked out. He is made with a brushed cotton yarn, and has a little bit of rice in to make him heavy to pick up. I will try to take some better pictures of him.

I also got an amazing book by Thomas Marent called Rainforest. It is an unbelieveably beautiful book, and makes you want to give up everything to live in the forest. It has one full page of the most stunningly shot frogs, which could all be variations of my Tree Frog Pattern.... feast your eyes on this frogspiration...