miss marie's miscellany

Comfy chair

 

Today's topic is my favourite location for a spot of hookiness. If weather is cold, it's on the sofa with all my bits and bobs close to hand, the radio or TV on, and a cup of tea. 

 

If weather is good, then I head outside into the garden, settle down just outside the back door which is a sunny spot and listen to the birds or the distant sounds of my neighbours. I have crocheted in bed, which I quite liked, in a car which I didn't as I felt car sick afterwards, on a train which was good, making a long journey pass tolerably. But the comfy chair. inside or out, is  the best!

Learning new skills

A New Skill

Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork.

I said in my first post for this special blogging week that I'd like to learn Tunisian crochet, so that's the first new skill I'd love to learn. This would also be a means of acquiring another new skill,  entrelac crochet. I love the look of entrelac, both crocheted and knitted; I can't do it in either discipline, so I wish the entrelac fairy would wave her magic wand and make it happen!

 

 

Inspirational pattern

 An Inspirational Pattern

Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!

I don't think a pattern has to necessarily be complicated to be inspiring. What should make it inspiring is that the finished product looks good, makes one feel good and that you feel proud of having completed it. A pattern I'd love to make and find very inspiring is the Babette blanket. It is such a beautiful design, looks absolutely stunning and is not without the realms of possibility for me to make; there are some gorgeous examples over at Ravelry and Flickr, so many different colours and combinations, proving this pattern to be a head-turner and the finished article to be something I would treasure. 

I don't have a specific pattern in mind yet, but apart from scarves, mittens and hats, I haven't yet crocheted any garments, and this is something I am going to remedy soon. Perhaps this jumper which I like a lot?

As for a new skill, I would like to learn how to do Tunisian crochet. I have some hooks, bought by accident (don't shop online late at night when tired!) so one day sooner or later I will get round to it!

How I became hooked

 

Day 1; Starting Out

How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting? was it a skill passed down through generations of your family, or something you learned from Knitting For Dummies? What or who made you pick up the needles/hook for the first time? Was it the celebrity knitting ‘trend’ or your great aunt Hilda?

 

There are 2 parts to this story. The first took place back in the 1980s when I was a teenager, and I took my first steps in learning how to knit. My Mum taught me and my sister and we spent ages choosing wool and knitting up a jumper each. It took a while, but I enjoyed making it and was proud of what I'd accomplished.I found an old photo; here I am, aged 16 or 17, resplendent in the self same jumper!

 

Very stylish! After this, the knitting seemed to stop,  I'm not sure why but I think that at that tender age, I probably didn't have the patience to see another project through to the end, or the time, with schoolwork and all my burgeoning musical activities. 

So that was the beginning, then there was a hiatus of 25 years. A different world, I now had a computer and the internet, and all that technology opened up new opportunities, a wealth of knowledge and online shopping! It was all these things and the advent of blogging that got me back to all things woolly. After reading many crafty blogs, I decided to pick up my needles again. I won a huge parcel of assorted needles on Ebay, got myself some wool and started to knit again.  Scarves, cardigans, hats, squares to make blankets, I knitted them all. I practised stitch patterns galore, I acquired a stash and I was enjoying it tremendously. Then I stumbled upon a few blogs which were written by crocheters. I loved the patterns they were making, granny squares, hexagons, ripples; pretty and a bit different.  I thought I'd like to try it and made a shaky start, deciphering those pictures in the books were not as easy as I had thought;  then a helpful friend showed me the basics, and with a lot of practice, slowly but surely, I taught myself how to crochet. Something about crochet has struck a chord with me, I get such a buzz from it. It is the perfect way for me to unwind after a busy or stressful day. Now, just over a year after starting out, I'm a serious hooker, I try to do a little (preferably as much as I can) each day, I have an impressive (some might say excessive) stash and collection of hooks and lots of pattern books. I love how you can make such beautiful designs just with a ball of wool and a small metal hook. My perfect day would be spent with a crochet hook, some beautiful, colourful wool, a never-emptying pot of tea, the sun shining and the radio on with something interesting to listen to while I crochet away the time. I still like to knit every now and then, but crochet seems to suit me better - I really am HOOKED!

Colour my Saturday

Some colour from the last couple of days to brighten up a grey Glasgow Saturday.

Purple primula, I love these flowers, they've been cheering up the garden beautifully for a couple of weeks

 

At my friends house - a line-up of all these lovely Russian dolls

 

Tulip, also looking very fine in the garden

 

 

And a peek at something I'm making just now, reveal will be coming very soon.                   

I wish you a happy weekend, with many good things:-)

 
 
 

 

Blanket battle

This week I've been trying to get started on a blanket for my 9-year old nephew. I've been scratching my head about this one, as I couldn't settle on a design I liked, and that I thought would be acceptable to the recipient. He has been quite specific about the colours he wants, black most definitely, dark red, yellow, dark blue and maybe green.  Not my usual palette!!

I tried rippling, a geometric design and diagonal squares, but they didn't seem right. After a great deal of deliberation and frogging, I found this pattern over at Min Inspiration, a lovely blog I recently discovered. I like it; I worried at first that it was too girly for a cool young dude, but in these bright colours, it reminds me of the sun.

 

 

Edging all the squares with black makes it look 

a) like stained glass 

 

b) quite funky and modern. 

It's also quick to crochet up, which is excellent. So this is the winner, I'll keep you posted as it grows and takes shape. 

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week; 26th April - 2nd May

What a good idea! It's being hosted by Eskimimi and the idea is to have a daily topic which everyone taking part will write about. There is a list which you can take a peek at if you want to be prepared, or if you'd rather have a surprise, you can wait till the day itself to find out what the subject will be.  I'm going to give it a go, it promises to be very interesting to read everyone else's thoughts and stories, and see some beautiful projects. If you're reading this, why don't you join in too?!

 

Pleasing purple

Looking gorgeous in the garden right now is the pulsatilla or Pasque flower

 

So pretty- I love the wispy leaves and the delicate purple flowers with their orange centres.

 

A favourite at the moment. 

 
 

 

Hooking Japanese style

Japanese crochet patterns, a recent  and happy discovery. One might think this is problematic, because of the language in which these are written. But the patterns are written in chart form ie there are symbols for each stitch to make a diagram of the finished article. If your Japanese is non-existent like mine, these chart patterns are great, there's no language barrier to understanding them. I first encountered charts in the book  100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet by Lesley Stanfield which everyone seemed to be buying a while back when I began crocheting. Many of the patterns in this are written in both chart and more traditional worded pattern form, (interesting to see the two versions side-by-side) and there is a glossary explaining the symbols used. I've dipped into this book a bit, but to be honest, as I was a novice when I bought this, I felt a little daunted by its intricacies; there was much looking but not much doing. 

Fast forward. to earlier this year, with much hooking under my belt, I feel able to cope with something a bit more challenging. I found a fantastic site called Rakuten, well worth a look, as there are some really lovely patterns to download - I think there must be hundreds of them, from simple motifs to delicate lacy cardigans, and even better, they're free. This is what you get, all nice and simple, a page with a chart and pic of the finished article.

 

A few people have enquired about the pattern for my mum's flower scarf, and I found that at this site - click here for the link to it.  

 

So the next natural progression was to buy a Japanese  book. I've seen some beautiful ones at various blogs I like reading, and had a tremendous attack of the 'wanties'! I did some clicking and purchasing on Ebay a couple of weeks ago (at this lovely Ebay store)  and a few days ago a parcel plopped on the doormat containing this.

 
 

The demon wanties have been calmed! What a treat inside, it's beautifully photographed and 'styled' as they say, and there are some very appealing designs, with lots of food for thought.

I particularly liked this design

 

Here's my version.

 

 
 
Cushion or blanket, I'm not sure yet, watch this space!

 

It really has added another dimension to my crochet knowledge finding these patterns and learning to read charts. The fact that they are totally visual has improved my ability to look at a picture of something crocheted, work out what stitches were used and try to devise a pattern myself.  And when using a chart, it's great to think it's possible to translate the characters and symbols into something pretty and colourful. A whole new world of projects to make and enjoy!

Statuesque

I noticed I'd taken quite a few photos of statues whilst wandering around Liverpool;  some new, some old, some of famous Liverpudlians both real and  fictitious, and some flights of fancy.

John Lennon

 

Eleanor Rigby

 

Ken Dodd in Lime Street Station (sadly there were no Diddymen to be seen!)

 

He is right next to this lady, just as thought they have met in the station, and are having a natter. She is Bessie Braddock who was the MP for Liverpool in the 1950-70s and an ardent socialist campaigner.

 

She was known as 'Battling Bessie'.......I can see why!
 

William Gladstone (I bet you didn't know he was a Scouser)

 

The 2 angels at his side represent Truth

 

and Justice. Taken in the gardens behind St. George's Hall, where the Law Courts were once housed.

 

Inside the Walker Art Gallery, this imposing fellow presides over the cafe

 
 Nearby is the Sculpture Room

 

Outside the World Museum these 2 giant inflatable flowers adorn the building

 

The flowers grow larger and the petals open out during the day, just as a real flower would 

 

And there are still some of the SuperLamBananas 

I haven't gone mad, they really are called that!  There were 125 of these colourful statues all over Liverpool during 2008, when it was the European City of Culture. As their name suggests, they're a cross between a lamb and a banana, and all were differently painted and themed.  (There is a great Flickr group here if you'd like to see more.) I really like them; they are fun and make me smile, and I'm glad they're still adding a touch of good-humoured colour to the city.

 

 

 And finally, here's some rock of a different kind!