miss marie's miscellany

Crochet Christmas countdown - day 1.

What better way to count down to Christmas than with some crochet loveliness? Over the next few days, I'm going to post about all kinds of crochet, things i've made this year and am currently making, links to projects, patterns presents, and as much crochet and craft related things that I can find to talk about.

To start, I thought this cushion cover I made at the start of 2011 deserved a revisit. It is much admired ar Ravelry and it sits in my lounge looking great as we speak. Quite festive colours too methinks!

It's made from African flowers, I just made enough to cover a cushion pad and used the points of the hexagons to act as button loops. A few shiny green buttons later and there you have it.

I love how it turned out:-)

Here's a link to lots more African flower crochet...... it's a real feast for the eyes, enjoy!

 

 

November and making stuff

I thought these photos will be a good way to summarise my November, because there's been a LOT of crcoheting going on this month.

I've made loads of there flower brooches recently; I sold a lot at one craft fair, sold not very many at another and quite a few have gone to good homes through Etsy and with my colleagues too. I thought I should take a photo of them all before they all disappear, and share  these lovely vibrant colours with you!

 

Poppies and roses too :-)

 

There are lots more makings to show you but I'll save them for tomorrow.

Happy Saturday!

Still here, just busy

Hello, it's ages since I popped my head round the door. Time seems to be flying by so fast this year, and I'm busy at work, with not much time for blogging at the moment unfortunately. There's been quite a lot of crochet going on......

Most of these are en route to a craft fair this week, or have already found homes with some lovely customers. It's been great to start selling a few more things - I make them because i like doing so, but it's even better when someone likes and wants to buy my creations. Very heartening!

Anyway, the house is a mess, the garden is covered in leaves and I have 101 things to do! I really should get on...see you soon!

Snapshots from the week that's been

A bit of garden colour -this rose is called 'Rhapsody in Blue'

Something newly made (and now in my Etsy shop)

A lovely gift

I think I have a lodger

The calendulas still look good, both outside

and in

I made this cover for my mobile phone

and some digging in the garden produced this little lot

That's all I had time for!

Flowery laptop case

Remember those bright yellow/orange/pink African flowers I was crocheting a few weeks ago? They have turned into something I'd not thought of making before, but the end product is really lovely and useful too!

I was sitting with my laptop next to the growing pile of these flowers and I had one of those eureka moments. A laptop sleeve is not what I'd had in mind when I started making them in this particular vibrant colour scheme, but once I'd had the idea, it came together really quickly and I think it looks just peachy. I used 21 hexagons and 3 half hexagons to make this cover for my 13 inch MacBook; the 2 corners are full hexagons folded in half to re-inforce the corners and give a little more padding. The buttons were requisitioned from an old cardigan which was headed for the charity shop. I thought they would echo the colour scheme and give it a retro feel.

Here's the back view

Just goes to show, computer accessories don't have to be drab and purely functional, they can be pretty and colourful too!!

 

 

August 2011

Sorry this is a bit late; busy, busy, busy! For August's photo, I've chosen this beautiful calendula flower.....I'm having a bit of a love affair with the colour orange just now, so I couldn't resist this!

In a pickle

It's been a good year for courgettes but there are only so many of them one can eat before a mountain of them start to take over the kitchen! I've been looking for some different ways to use them up and happened upon this brilliant recipe. It uses up quite a stack of courgettes and the smell is heavenly. I didn't have exactly the same spices as the recipe; I improvised and used cumin seeds, fennel seeds, black onion seeds, mustard seeds, pink peppercorns and chilli flakes.

I'm looking forward to tasting them, once they have matured a little!

Cool and cooler

More African flowers on the go lately, I like this pattern a lot as the possibilities of colour combinations are endless and delightful. I usually favour what I'd call cool colours ie not too bright, but I thought I should get out of my comfort zone and spice it up

I bought these vividly coloured yarns when I visited Liverpool in this fantastic Aladdin's cave of a shop, well worth visiting if you are in Merseyside or North Wales, or you can order online too. I really couldn't decide if they worked or if I was completely mad to try pink, yellow and orange together. but I'm glad now that I went against my instinct. It is bright and summery and the black edging brings it all together IMO.

Just for a cooler contrast, I made some in a different colour mood; there is a bright pink along with pale pink, turquoise/green and white, again edged with black.

Although the green and bright pink are pretty vivid on their own, the combination with the 2 paler shades gives a more spring like palette.

I like them both, the first is very uplifting on a wet cold windy day like it is here in Glasgow today, and the second is soothing on a hot sunny day like it was on Tuesday in Glasgow........yep, it's the good old British Summer, feels like Autumn today and a couple of days ago I was roasting myself in the garden!!

 

Super arty Liverpool

3 years ago when Liverpool was the European City of Culture, one of the art installations I really loved were the Super Lamb Banananas, strangely named and beautifully decorated sculptures which looked like lambs with banana shaped backs and tails. They were dotted around the city and brought a vibrant touch of colour and texture to the street. There was even a SLB trail which you could follow all over Liverpoool and view all 125 sculptures.. When I visited last week, I ran into a few of them which seem to have re-appeared.........here's a Klimt-inspired one near to the Liver Building

Next to the river

The next 2 are outside the new Museum of Liverpool

 This is the Heroes SLB.....looks lovely with the poppies 

And this mosaic patterned one is inside the museum, it's the Mandala SLB.

I think they're beautiful and fun, and they really do put a smile on your face!

 

 

Dreaming

At the weekend, I took my dad out for a spin to visit an interesting piece of art in St Helens.  When we arrived, we entered the gates and very shortly after, saw 2 deer running around ahead of us......definitely a good omen! We walked through grassy meadows with a gentle ascent

till we turned a corner and saw this

It's called 'Dream'

This sculpture by Spanish artist Jaume Piensa, is on the site of the Sutton Manor colliery, which closed in 1991. It's there as a tribute to the mining tradition of the area, as a landmark and to mark a place of natural beauty and peace.

It's visible from the M62 motorway, apparently seen by 100.00 motorists a day.

It's 20 metres high; very imposing, but also beautiful and hypnotic, in my opinion. I like the way it is totally accessible to visitors; you can go right up to it and touch it if you want.

The statue really gives what is already a natural and peaceful area,  a tangible feeling of rest and stillness.

A lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon.