End Of Year Review

 (January)

Happy New Year!! 

Welcome to 2018! The year has kick started with damp, dreary, miserable days full of rain and Storm Dylan (very strange name for a bit of wind), but I have been travelling back in time looking through my blog posts for 2017 and remembering sunny summer days, blistering hot holidays and days spent with family and friends.
This will be my 8th year of blogging- having published my first post on 10th January 2011- and I find it a great way of remembering the things that I have achieved throughout the year, as well as the little moments that are captured on camera and then forgotten; bees on flowers, aeroplane trails on a blue sky, sunsets and sunrises.

 (February)

This year I have been focusing a lot on my Stitchscapes, which are still worked around a full time job and take up all of my spare time and energy. In January the Snowy Alps, and Moonlight Reflections stitchscapes were completed, and February saw the arrival of the Moorland and Heather 'scapes. Between these I somehow squeezed in a lot of crochet (on the bus if I remember correctly), making several things for display at work, and my Moorland CAL blanket whilst joining in with other blog readers following Lucy at Attic24. 

 (March)

In March I moved into my new studio space which I think was a big milestone as it's a space I can leave things out and they won't be moved! Before the studio I was completing stitchscapes and they would be immediately packed away into boxes and put in a cupboard, never to be seen again, in the interest of keeping the house tidy. In the studio, I can display them how I want, move them around, leave my tools out on the table.... utter bliss. 

 (April)

I think this is one of my favourite months. As a family we visited lots of different places; Standen, Nymans and the Weald & Downland Living Museum, which are all so inspiring and full of the most amazing plants- especially Standen as we went during the Tulip festival and every space you looked in was stuffed with brightly coloured tulips in all shapes and sizes. 

I also completed the Bluebell Woods and Flowing River stitchscapes, along with another set of Stitchscape Minis. 

 (May)

May is full of memories of the sea. The Parents and I went to Hastings for fish and chips along the seafront, walking through the ramshackle fisherman huts and the slightly rusty boats to the best chip shop in town (it said so in the window). Moon Flower Town, Cow Parsley and Dry Stone Meadow were all additions to the collection in this month- highly productive!

 (June)

Family weddings, an awe-inspiring trip to Sorrento (especially Pompeii) and my first art/craft exhibition with Bridge Arts in Uckfield kicked off the summer months. I also managed to stitch up four stitchscapes! Sorrento Sunrise, Gold Rush, Emerald Isle and Incoming Tide ready for future craft fairs as I really caught the bug.

 (July)

Marwell Zoo, a trip to London and The Natural History Museum came in July, along with another craft exhibition at Bridge Cottage during the Uckfield Festival. I've had some very encouraging and enthusiastic comments at my craft fairs and I am very thankful for them as they keep me going. I will always want to sew and would probably continue my stitchscapes even if my adventure with them doesn't lead anywhere, but the kind and supportive comments I have received in this last year have really made me want to take them further and see where it will take me. 

 (August)

In August we had The Mother's big birthday, and a day out at Waddesdon Manor to celebrate, at her request. The rest of the time was spent mostly with the usual routine, apart from a day trip to Brighton beach on my own, and lazy weekends in the sunshine at home. The stitchscapes became a lot more wintry as I started thinking about my upcoming November craft fairs and the C*******s present buying rush. 

 (September)

Our holiday to Star in Wales was very eventful with pretty terrible weather- even for Wales! Our holiday home became stranded in flood waters for a morning and we had the most amazing sky scenes when it wasn't actually raining where we were, as the rest of the sky filled with terrible threatening clouds. Autumn really kicked in during September. I also cracked on in the studio, organising and packaging new card designs and trying to take inventory of what I had to update my Etsy shop. 

 (October)

The Mother and I travelled up to the Alexandra Palace Knitting & Stitching show (one of my birthday presents), which is always such an amazing event- and so bad for my bank balance!. We also had our second little craft fair at Bridge Cottage, which is a very sweet venue but with very bad lighting. I carved pumpkins, made pumpkin muffins, mounted all of my Stitchscape minis to be framed in their own tiny box frames, and started making stitchscape Christmas decorations; 10cm hoops with a loop of lace to be hung up on Christmas trees. I loved making these, they were so quick and easy, and reminded me of why I started stitchscape-ing in the first place. No pressure to do something fantastic, just the fabric to follow with whatever I wanted and see where it goes. 

 (November)

This was a very exciting month for Dotty Textiles, we had another craft fair at Barnsgate Manor which was fantastic and freezing! We also opened up shop in a new premises called Tunbridge Wells Artisans (TWA) which is very exciting. The location is a little strange and there is unfortunately no on-site parking, but the building is well worth visiting as there is so much in there from so many talented artists- plus the pub next door does amazing fish finger sandwiches. 

(December)

During December I had a couple of Christmas commissions to finish which thankfully all went well and completed on time. Elves, Angus & Flora, also returned to make sure that we prepared properly for Christmas, causing chaos and hilarity in their wake. We have very strong traditions in our family during this time, from the way we open our stockings on Christmas morning, the breakfast and family present opening routine (waiting for Dad to make his coffee, throwing the wrapping paper at bin bags on the floor and tormenting the cat with scraps of paper), and the extended family present opening routines. Each side of the family approaches Christmas in a totally different way, and we alternate which side we go to first- sometimes present opening is slow and takes several hours as we open them one by one, and sometimes it's over in ten minutes as there's a general free-for-all. It's lovely and exciting. 

So, I go into the new year with some new ideas- the little Christmas hoops made in October/November time have inspired me to try some slightly larger hoops in a more scene-like way, and I am totally loving these! I also have a prospective new outlet to display some of my stitchscapes which I will look into more later on in January. 

I hope that you can all look back at your year and find many fond memories to make you smile. I wish you all the very best for 2018! x 

Winter Project Link Up Party

I fear I am a little late to this party as there have already been two link ups this Winter. I've been so busy with my stitchscapes and moving in to TWA that I didn't get a chance to participate. But, better late than never and I have also picked up my crochet hook again after several months away from the hooky world. I had such a lovely afternoon yesterday catching up on NCIS and managed to work 15 rows! Quite an achievement for a blanket that hasn't progressed forwards since January (another WPLUP post).

This is a simple, near mindless blanket that enables me to engross myself in the exploits of the NCIS team without having to also concentrate on difficult hook sequences. Granny squares are a timeless stitch, and each colour stripe is made of two rows of each colour, with clusters of three treble stitches in each gap. Even the colours have already been set up as I am working the same pattern of colours, separated each time with a cream colour. Light, fresh and should be finished in time for Spring whilst keeping me cosy through these chilly days.

Also keeping me cosy over the weekend is this gorgeous smelling candle from the 'trose, and very festive activities that begin this time of year. So many people have put up their decorations over the last couple of days- it's charming to see the twinkling lights on my bus journey home.
I collected some greenery from the hedgerows around my home and spent a couple of hours putting together a wreath for our front door. There's something really lovely about making your own wreath (although I cheat slightly and use a pre-formed base), and in this case, the smell of Rosemary is intoxicating.

It's the first time I have used holly in my wreath and I think my top tip for next year is to wear gloves to avoid getting prickled! The little red berries, ribbons, cinnamon sticks and small apples have been recycled from last years wreath.

Annoyingly our front door doesn't have a knocker or a hook for the wreath to hang on and every year is a new challenge of how to get the wreath to stay there! It usually involves string attached in creative ways, and last year I managed to make a threaded Christmas tree on the inner side! This year is a little more subdued, although hopefully effective in keeping the wreath welcoming (and prickling) guests through the festive holidays.

Of course, the final part of any comfort weekend is food! And part of my Winter project is to make as many mincemeat (the fruit version) foodstuffs as possible! Actual mince pies are to follow but these all butter puff pastry mince puffs are delicious and take a maximum of 15 minutes to put together. Pre rolled puff pastry split into eight squares. Jarred cranberry mincemeat dolloped at one corner, brush the edges with beaten egg and fold the pastry over. Seal the edges and brush the top with more beaten egg, make a small hole in the top to allow steam to escape. Sprinkle the top with brown sugar and bake in the oven on 200°C (fan assisted) for 10-13 minutes or until golden and puffed! Definitely give it a try.

So, to end this party post I must thank the lovely Jen at ThistleBear for hosting, and I must also encourage you to follow the link (here, or in the right hand side bar) and catch up on other party goer's winter projects! Thanks for joining!

Display Crochet

I've finished another display garment for work. This time a Stylecraft pattern, number 9294 in the beautiful Batik DK Storm (1913). I really liked working with this yarn, it was soft and pliable and was a beautiful colour. It's a blended yarn, 20% wool and 80% acrylic and you can feel the difference from a 100% acrylic yarn (although in my humble opinion, Stylecraft do the nicest 100% acrylic yarn in Special DK).

I'm not really a jumper person but the decorative pattern is very pretty. It was nice to work up, although I will admit that I frogged and re-hooked the sleeves several times. There was just something about the sleeve part of the pattern that I couldn't get my head around. I think I got there in the end and it was a relief to be stitching the pieces together.

The photos aren't fantastic but if this pattern speaks to you then I've photographed the details you will need below so you can track it down. There is also a version without the sleeves if you would rather, haha.

After finishing the above jumper I kind of threw it stroppily at the lady who runs the yarn department and said I was never doing a garment again. In return she just kind of stared at me and sheepishly handed me another parcel with the below pattern and yarn with a desperate kind of plea. So I guess it starts again!

Crumpet Cardi

Evening all! Just popping in to share with you another little garment I was requested to make for display at work- it would appear I am currently the only person they have around who can crochet from a written pattern! I have decided that I am only going to crochet whilst on the bus or during lunch breaks which then leaves my weekends and evenings free for my Stitchscapes, and so far it seems to be working relatively well.

This cute little baby cardi is an Erika Knight pattern called Crumpet, and is described as a 'pretty tea-time cardigan worked in a puff stitch crochet pattern with integral sleeves and a little picot edge and five buttons to detail'. The yarn is Gossypium Cotton DK, which (interesting fact alert), comes from the Hisar District in the state of Haryana, India, and is made by an eco-friendly manufacturer. There are twelve colours to choose from in the Gossypium yarn, and the one used here I think is the Iced Gem colour.

There was a mild pressure on getting this pattern right as Erika Knight herself is coming to my place of work for a book signing next week. Eeek! Hopefully she won't be examining my little creation too hard, there are probably some differences from the pattern as there was a tad of confusion for me with the sleeves- it just didn't entirely make sense with the shaping. I quite like the little picot stitches though which flow around the back, up the centre, around the neck and back down again, I enjoyed the rhythm created with this. The yarn did seem a little stiff for a baby, perhaps it could do with a wash before being worn as it doesn't drape as well as it appears to in the image although I did make the smallest size!

Wendy Lace Shawl

You may remember a couple of weeks ago I was moaning about being given a highly complicated crochet project to make for display purposes at work. It was taking a lot of concentration to start the pattern off as the joining as you go method could go horrifically wrong if you made one wrong move at the very beginning. 

Eventually I cracked it (after much frogging and muttered swearing) and could finally hand it in to await its turn on display changing day. 

As well as the main body of the stole, there was a separate flower fastening which is a bit like a brooch/button to keep the shawl wrapped artistically around you. I think it all looks rather lovely now it's completed, and the yarn- Wendy Fleur DK- is gorgeous! So light and fluffy and soft. It's a pain to undo though as the little fibres knot themselves together, but if you haven't made any mistakes in the first instance it should all be fine.

The pattern for those of you interested is the Wendy Crochet Stole 5994, and the colours I was given to use were:

* 3350 Jasmine * 3351 Stephanotis * 3352 Clematis *

This would be a lovely summers evening stole I think as it is not too hot and looks fabulous! I would be interested to hear if any of you are inspired to make your own, and how you found reading the pattern. Personally I would highly recommend sitting in a room by yourself in peace and quiet so that you don't look too daft when you start counting out loud (or throwing the half finished garment across the floor)!

WPLUP: Moorland Blanket Ta-Daah!

Hello, hello!! Welcome to the last of this winter's, Winter Project Link Up Party!!! Can you believe we are in March already? I can almost believe that the Spring is very nearly here when looking out of the window at the beautiful sunshine and gorgeous blue sky, the garden studded with delicate crocuses and pale snowdrops....however, walk out of the door into all that loveliness, and goodness me!! The wind near takes your breath away sometimes! It has been really windy and cold, especially in the mornings whilst standing at the bus stop, and I'm still wrapped up in woolly hat and scarf, jogging from foot to foot in an attempt to keep warm. At least it is much lighter in the mornings now. I'm still getting up before the sun, but it is bright enough to not have to turn the lights on to get out of bed.

It's been rather lovely to be able to walk in out of the cold and wrap up warm in my Moorland CAL blanket. You probably all know that for Christmas last year I was given the yarn needed to join in with the crochet-a-long designed and run by Lucy of Attic24, for the Moorland Neat Wave blanket. It has been fascinating to see other participant's progress on social media as we all use the hashtags #moorlandcal and #attic24cal. Some have used the yarn colours but a completely different pattern, some have used the pattern but chosen their own colours, some have used the colours and the pattern but in a different order, and others have followed everything to the letter. If you have access to places like Instagram or Facebook, see what comes up when you search for those hashtags, it's fabulously colourful!

Following on from where I left off a month ago, there was another set of 20 colours for the sky, followed by an extra 15 colour rows and finally, the body of the blanket was complete! It almost snuck up on me as I was concentrating so much on ticking off the colours on my list that it didn't really register that I had ticked my last colour!

The colours have grown on me as the blues were added in. I was concerned about there being too much brown at the bottom and, to be honest, if I were to make this blanket again I would probably remove the brown rows and add another green in its place. But the sky is such a pretty combination that it lifts the whole blanket and I love it all the more.

I did make a teensie weensie change to the directed edging colours, but I was given total permission in the pattern where it said to choose your favourite colours for the border. Lucy used Storm Blue and Lime which I kept, but I swapped her Cypress and Grape for Sage and Plum as I wanted something a little brighter for the edging and I love the strength and depth of colour of the juicy plum. The edging itself I thought was really interesting as the first three rounds are worked into the back stitches only of the previous round which creates a raised line. The final, purple, round is worked into both loops of the previous round which twists it forwards and creates a stronger edge.

It makes my eyes go slightly swirly looking at the blanket for a long time as there are textures within textures and rows crossing rows. The raised textures creates ripples that go the length of the blanket, perpendicular to the actual rows of colour and it feels really lovely when you brush over it with your hands. I have already had this blanket on my bed for the last couple of nights and can confirm that it is lovely and warm and quite dense in comparison to some of my other ripple style blankets.

The cat has of course been watching every stage of this blanket's completion, as is his duty as feline of the household. He likes to sleep on the balls of wool as they are bundled together in the organza bag they arrived in, and he likes to sleep on the blanket whilst you are making it (which causes some issues when you need to turn the blanket for another row), and of course he is called upon when the blanket is ready for the final seal of approval.

I am happy to report that the Moorland Blanket is now fully C.A.T tested and approved!

So if you have popped over from Jen's blog for the WPLUP, thank you for reading this little post and for all of your very supportive comments on my other party posts, it is always lovely to hear from you and I love to pop over to the other side and see what you have been up to this winter. I hope very much that ThistleBear will play host to another link up party when we reach winter once again, and no doubt that will spring itself on us before we know it! So for this month's ThistleBear party post, click here and have a look for yourself at what everyone has been up to.
If you would like to revisit all of my party posts for the winter of 2016/2017, I have listed them below, or you can find them under WPLUP in the category cloud to the right hand side of the page.

** October ** November ** December ** January ** February **