Inspired by the internet

It seems that the more time I spend reading other people's blogs, being captivated by Tumblr or clicking on links in Facebook, the more fired up my brain becomes. There is so much creativity in the world and the internet is firing random shots across cyberspace, linking up ideas that would never before have been connected.

This has always been one of the most inspiring things about the world wide web, that got me hooked in the early 90's when I posted to my first bulletin board. It is the concept of reaching out to strangers, receiving their ideas, incorporating your own and then spitting out the result, which will hopefully inspire others in their turn.

Tumblr seems to epitomise this churning up of inspiration, however it doesn't seem to encourage the change and enhancement of ideas, just the repetition of them. I love how Tumblr provides much food for thought, and how you are encouraged to pass on the genius of others, allowing the best and worst of the internet to sift to the surface. I am still greatly addicted to browsing the "popular" section of Tumblr and I am using it to post some photos of my work and sources of inspiration. I have decided to add the page to my website, so there will be constant additions to the website, even when I am not posting full blog entries. I will get you all hooked in the end, you know, you may as well just give in and join me!

In the same theme of digesting source inspiration and churning out something new, I read a blog today about a website called ColourLovers.com. It is a fantastic tool that enables you to play around with colours and create palettes. Whilst this aspect is much fun and very interesting, the part that is relevant to my discourse, is the "inspired by" section. You can take a photograph or image from the internet, or your own hard drive and the site will distill the component colours into a palette, from which you can choose your key colour selection. You can then save your palette or transform them into new patterns. Here are some of the results of a couple of hours of playing.


This pattern was derived from this colour palette:


Which in turn was derived from this inspirational photograph (actually one I took in my garden).


It's interesting isn't it? My other result was from this inspirational image, again another one I took.

Which became these:

I am trying to use this as a tool to develop a wider range of colour tastes. I find I am always drawn to a similar palette, so I am going to try and stretch myself into different directions. Hopefully you may start to see different colours on my blog and pattern pages! Until I buy my next set of yarn, I will continue to play here.

New Tutorial

There have been a few discussions on Ravelry lately, about felting in a front loading washing machine. I have only ever felted this way, but I know the majority of books on felting, knitted projects, are from the US. When I felted my first project I had to take a huge leap of faith because I couldn't find much information on the internet about felting in a front loader. So, as a result of these discussions and my own experiences, I have written out a few tips on how to approach felting a knitted project in front loading washing machine.

You can find the tutorial here. I hope this helps other people take a leap of faith, into the felting unknown!

Tumblr

I feel like death today. I have finally been hit with the lurgy, that has been threatening me for around a week. Yesterday I had a sore throat, but when I went to bed last night the full on cold hit me and I couldn't lie down properly. I ended up surfing the internet until unconsciousness hit me at around 4am. Luckily the OH is away at the moment so I was able to get a relatively normal amount of sleep by staying in bed until 10am (ish). The reason I told you this wasn't to get pity, though I still feel pretty pitiful, it was to talk about Tumblr.

One of the blogs I read had mentioned it, so I decided to have a look at it. Well, I had nothing better to do. I find it quite interesting as a blogging tool. It is ideal for when you want to post a link you find useful, or a photo or some music. It seems to be a way of collecting together all those random pieces of interesting trivia you find on the internet. I like it for this and have decided to start a Tumblr page. I think it is mainly for me, as a way of collecting my favorite internet bits together, as it has a search function that will come in handy. It also is a way for me to blog without typing great swathes of text (like this entry). It will be nice for those days when I don't have much to say, but have found a great tutorial I want to share.

If you want to subscribe to my Tumblr feed, click here. I may put a link up on the website as well, if I decide that I like the format enough to keep using it.

Knitting Update

I haven't been posting much information about knitting projects recently, and thought it was about time I got round to it. Part of the problem is that two of my knits are destined to be Christmas presents for people who probably look at the blog occasionally, so I can't talk about those.

The other part of the problem is that, as I have mentioned, we are having lots of work done on our house and I am trapped in the study all day. The lounge is completely unusable and I think this sense of claustrophobia is making me a little less verbose than normal. "Surely not", I hear you cry, but yes I do sometimes have nothing to say for myself. So whilst I haven't been talking to you, I have been knitting a wee bit. Here are my updates (that I can show you).

I have progressed really well on my socks, haven't I? Never mind, it is because I don't like having to count when I'm at knitting groups, and I've had a couple of those last week, so they were put to one side. But apart from the sudden break in knitting, I am liking the way these little babies are going to come out.

I have also been working on a variation of my Bag and Purse Combo. The construction of this bag wasn't very pattern friendly, so I wanted to work on a variation that used less complicated knitting. What I have come up with is this:

Aren't the colours fabulous? Here's a closeup.

The colours are better on the closeup. I am sure when this is felted the fabric will be an interesting texture because of the thick and thin nature of the yarn. All the colours should blend beautifully together too. I can't wait to get this felted, and may even get it going today.

The other project I can show you is one for myself. I bought some Paton's Jet a few months ago. Kemps were doing a great deal at the time and so I thought I would treat myself. I originally thought I would be using it for felting, but I decided that as it is such lovely yarn I would make myself a shawl from it. I decided on the Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl by Sarah Bradbury. This yarn seems to be made for this pattern and I'm glad I am choosing to leave it unfelted, because it is going to be such a cozy shawl for me as the nights start getting cooler.

So those are the three projects I can show you. I'm afraid that more and more of my projects are going to be secret, in the run up to Christmas. I shall try and make sure that at least one project on the go is bloggable, or this is going to be a very dull blog for a few months.

By the way Carmen, the winner of the giveaway, still hasn't been in touch. If you are reading this, please email me at mail@craftycripple.com so I can send you your pattern.

Giveaway Winner

I have just used Random.org's True Random Number generator and have declared the winner of my giveaway to be CARMEN.

Thanks to everyone for entering, and if Carmen can send me an email to mail@craftycripple.com telling me which of the patterns she wants, I will get right onto it. Unfortunately Carmen didn't leave her contact details so I just hope she subscribes to the blog.

Socks and Shopping

I have finally finished my "Vanilla Socks". I started the first version in June, these were then frogged (rip it, rip it. Get it? No, then say it out loud. Now do you get it, good?) and started again in August. Basically I made a mess of the gauge somehow and ended up with rather large socks. As these socks were meant to create a default template for me to knit socks by, I thought I'd better get it right.

When I started again I used two very helpful sources of information:

1. Vogue Ultimate Sock Knitting Book, a very useful and lovely birthday present, and
2. Maia Spins, a very detailed blog which contains great tutorials.

Between these two sources and some other bits and pieces I have picked up over the last year or so I managed to create these:

I know they look baggy on the blockers but this is because I have rather wide feet. The process was this:

My gauge, in stocking stitch, on 2.5 mm needles, is 9st over 1”. My feet are 9.5" wide, so I worked out that 9.5 x 9 = 85.5. I then reduced this by 10% to 76, then knocked off 4 stitches to make it easier to work out increases and decreases throughout the sock. This gave me a total of 72 stitches I needed to arrive at, after casting on the toe.

I cast on 36 st, increasing up to 72 using Judy’s Magic Cast On, which I had re-written and revised for my On Target Bag pattern. At some point I intend to add it to a tutorial when I get time to take some photos.

Once I reached 72 stitches I worked in straight stocking stitch until the sock measured 6.5” from toe to working edge. I then knit a heel flap of 24 stitches for 2.75”. This heel flap is knit in the middle of the back of the sock, leaving 6 stitches either side from the back needle. This made the total length of the sock 9.5" for my 10" long foot, before the heel was turned.

Using short row shaping around the middle 12 stitches, I then turned the heel. Once all stitches were incorporated, I picked up stitches along the heel flap to form the gusset.

On alternate rounds I reduced 1 stitch at each side, by either K2tog, or improved SSK, which is as follows:

Slip knitwise, slip purlwise then knit slipped stitches together. On the next round, knit through the BACK of the loop.

Knittinghelp.com Video of technique.

Using the above technique, which eliminates the little jagged line you sometimes get with normal SSK, I reduced the stitches down to 80, in total, to allow for my thick 10.5" ankles and knit a couple of rounds and switched to 1 x 1 rib.

After trying on the finished product, I think I started the ribbing too soon, as it rides down at the back when I flex my ankle. I must remember for next time, to knit stocking stitch up to the top of my ankle.

I did around 3" of ribbing and then did a picot edge cast off to make the cast off edge nice and stretchy, as tight sock tops are my pet hate.

Apart from the ankle issue, I am pretty pleased with the fit of the socks and will follow my own instructions again.

Having said that, after reading the Fall 09 issue of Knitty, I just had to try the Hat Heel Socks. It just seemed such a sensible suggestion to start from the tricky ankle bit and then work outwards. So I have cast on using my Wendy Happy Aquarius yarn and I'll let you know how it goes. This is what I've got so far:

Cute huh?

Oh yes, shopping, I knew there was something else I had to tell you. I bought the most scrummy yarn ever! It is Adriafil Baba, which is destined to be made into something beautiful.

I will let you know what, very soon.

Knitty: Fall 2009

Today the new Knitty came out. Since I started using Ravelry I have become more and more in love with the whole Knitty concept. Knitty is a free quarterly online magazine which showcases some fabulous designs - for free. A designer's name can be made by being in Knitty, and having their pattern catch the imagination of the online community.

Out of this quarter's patterns, there seem to be a few interesting items that have caught my attention initially. I am sure, however, that as the patterns get knit and new versions get posted online, I will be drawn to others.

Here are some of my initial favourites that may make it into my queue:

Colonnade Shawl by Stephen West

Interestingly shaped shawl which can be fastened with a toggle.

Bel Cardigan by Mandy Moore

Funky short sleeved cardigan with some nice stitch detail and shaping.

Holla by Jennifer Lippman-Bruno

Lovely hoodie, with chunky cables round the hood, arms and v-neck.

Midsummer Night's Dream Sock by Natalie Bursztyn

Nice lace leaf detailed socks, which I could probably widen pretty easily to fit my broad plates of meat.

Hat Heel Sock by Katherine Sperling

Very clever sock construction, working from the heel outwards!

Kernel by Bonnie Sennott

A lovely lace scarf, shown in autumnal colours.

As I said before these are the few that initially jump out at me as interesting. I am pretty sure I am going to try the Hat Heel Sock for my next pair of socks as it sounds so intriguing, I just have to try it! Kernel is something that also has captivated me. The patterns in the scarf are so lovely that I may just have to try it soon. The other projects are interesting and may make it to my queue if I find I just have to have a new cardigan or shawl.

Another thing I do like about Knitty is that is has many "real" models, who come in all sizes, shapes, ages and ethnicity. It gives the knitter more information about whether a pattern might suit them, because lets face it, most people are not built like models. The patterns also have a wide range of sizes available, which is something more publications could emulate. Well done Knitty on another cracking issue, I can't wait to get started on those socks!

Blog Award

Well I have been tagged for a blog award for the first time ever! I am honored to be the recipient of this fine award and now have to think of 7 things you may find interesting......erm...... could be here for a while.... sing to yourself while I think of something. Oh here is the award by the way.



Ok, Ang (the person who tagged me), here goes nothing:

1. When I was at university I wasn't at all crafty, I didn't even know how to sew on a button. When I had a skirt that lost a button, I simply used a safety pin, and wore a long jumper. Whilst at a temping job, I stood up in front of the three business men I was working with, the safety pin lost its grip and my skirt ended up round my ankles. Luckily the jumper was long and the men were all gentlemen enough not to laugh out loud as I grabbed my skirt and left the room to rescue my dignity. I quickly learnt how to sew buttons on after that!
2. I once decided to cut my brother's hair into a trendy style using an electric trimmer and forgot to put the guard on... he had a bowl cut with a shaved back of neck for about 3 weeks. We went to the same school, and I was mortified every time I saw him and everyone laughing at him. He appears to have forgiven me.
3. Despite doing musicals and choir stuff (including solos) throughout my whole life, I never do karaoke because I am too chicken.
4. The reason I am a crafty cripple is because I suffer from endometriosis and adhesions. If you want to know more (and are not squeamish) you can find out more here. It is thought that one in ten women of childbearing age have this condition to some degree or another.
5. My favorite sandwich is cheese and marmite with tomato and mayonnaise YUM
6. My guilty pleasure is looking at pictures of kittens on the internet (oh the shame!)
7. At my brother's wedding we played pass the parcel and I was secretly hoping to win (because you never know what is inside that last piece of paper!).

On that final weddingy note, may I remind you that I am celebrating my brother's nuptials by running a giveaway. There is still time to enter, before Sunday's closing date, by posting a comment here.

Now onto the people I am tagging for this award. I believe I have to tag 7, which is actually quite hard because I love so many creative blogs:

Plain Jane Creations - she is a lovely Australian crafter and photographer. And she wrote the pattern that started my felting mania!

Laylock - not only has an interesting blog, but she has a beautiful and informative website.

UpKnitCreek - because it proves that it is a very small world. I was reading her blog regularly, before finding out that I knew the blogger's mother quite well!

Sasha's Blue Carpet -Sasha is a woman after my own heart. She is articulate, intelligent, feisty and unafraid of showing it. She is also at the beginning of her designing career (oh and I helped her test knit one of her first patterns).

Blog Bletherings - lovely knitting, lovely photos, what's not to like?

TinTockTap - This lovely Scot (that I met in a craft shop!) stitches such gorgeous things, she inspires me to pick up a sewing needle every time she posts.

Eddy G - makes fabulous toys that inspire me to make something just like it, but I never do. I just sit and gaze in wonder instead.

So there you have it - 7 things you might not have know and 7 blogs that you should go and check out! I'm off to tell them they've been tagged!

Remember to go and enter the giveaway!

Wedding Gift

Well, I am back from one of the best weddings ever! We had glorious blue skies and sunshine all day, which helped set the very relaxed and happy tone of the whole event. The only flies in the ointment were my awful photos. I am so glad that this is the technological age and I can just pinch everyone else's photos when they are published online, because with a grand total of SIX photos that came out without blur, I need to take full advantage of other people's expertise. I have obviously been taking far too many static close ups of crafts and have forgotten how to photograph people! I must rectify this before my next outing.

One part of the wedding I can show you, was the gift I made for Stephen and Emma. You must have known this was coming? I mean what kind of sister wouldn't make something to celebrate her favorite people getting hitched?

I made a piece of "art". After receiving the gift both Stephen and Emma (and I) declared as it was without any kind of practical use but was very pretty, it must be art! I also informed them it was much better than when I was doing ceramics as it wouldn't break if it got dropped.

This "art" is essentially an urn, made from knitted wool that has been felted, then embellished. The felt was created using alpaca/wool yarn and was knitted with two strands to give strength. Knitting with two strands also enabled the colours to be blended gently. The colours selected were chosen to match the wedding colours and their bedroom decor.

The urn was knit in the round from the bottom to the top, in one piece, where an i-cord cast off was used (I bet that doesn't surprise you does it?!). After felting, the embellishments were added.

Little flowers were stitched on using seed beads and gemstones. These flowers were interspersed with sequins, secured with more seed beads.

Then I added two rings around the neck of the urn, made by using satin stitch, in hand dyed threads. The rings were then highlighted using sparkly metallic thread. Between the the rings more gemstones were added, punctuated by stitched squares.

Using more hand dyed thread, I zig zagged points from the sequins, up to the neck of the urn to draw the two sections together. The hand dyed threads were a perfect match with the colours of the urn and the gemstones I used. They really helped make the project a success, and I would use Stef Francis threads again without hesitation. I actually still have quite a lot left over from this project and I really want to learn how to use them in a more adept and complex manner.

I finished the urn by stitching on the date of the wedding on the base. I wish my date had been as neat as the one on the quilt made by the bride's mother, but then she has had many more years of practice than me. Perhaps I will catch up one day, but I doubt it! I wish I had a photo of the quilt given to the happy couple as it was very beautiful, and handily in the same colour scheme as my urn. My friend Debbie (the mother of the bridesmaid) also made a gorgeous cross stitch sampler as a gift. As Emma said, they have lots of crafty friends, and we all wanted to celebrate their marriage by crafting.

Emma was also lucky enough to have her mother make her wedding outfit, a very beautiful purple silk skirt and jacket, with a cream bodice. I am so pleased that both the jacket and the bodice will be emerging again on nights out as they are both very beautiful and can be worn again and again. I wish I had a photo that did the outfit justice. Maybe I shall ask Emma nicely and see if she will let me post a photo from her collection, as I am sure you will agree with me it is a truly special outfit.

I had a wonderful time with my family and friends this week and I shall never forget everyone sitting in a circle playing pass the parcel and battling it out at the pub quiz. It was a fabulous event that reflected a fabulous couple. Stephen and Emma, I love you both and wish you much happiness in your lives together.

Celebration Giveaway

My brother is getting married tomorrow to a lovely woman who I can't wait to call "sister-in-law", officially. Because of this happy event I am feeling particularly joyous (despite the ongoing re-wire) and wish to celebrate with my lovely readers.

I have decided to have a little giveaway to celebrate the upcoming nuptials. Basically everyone that leaves a comment, to this entry of my blog, will be entered into a random draw, to be held on Sunday 14th September at around tea time. (I won't be more accurate cos who knows what is going to happen before then.) Everyone who has commented by 12 noon BST on that date will be entered.

Now as to what you win - you can have the choice of any of the patterns offered on my website or on my designer page on Ravelry.com. I know it is not a wide choice, but I suspect that anyone who reads my blog, likes the patterns, so hopefully someone will enter!

I will contact you after the draw, if you are the winner, (provided you give your email address or Ravelry ID) to find out your choice. The pattern will then be emailed to you as a PDF.

See you after the wedding!

Bag and Purse Combo

Even though I have been surrounded by crashes and bangs over the last week, I did manage to sneak in some felting. As my favourite bag, my On Target Bag, is being demanded to pose for sales purposes at Mary Clare, I decided that was reason enough to knit another. Being the Crafty Cripple that I am, I couldn't do the same bag again, because that would be boring, and besides that would mean I would have two bags the same when the first one was returned. I decided to knit and felt a whole new bag. It was a bit experimental, but on the whole I'm pretty pleased with it.

As you can see, the bag has no handles and has not been lined, because though I was able to fight my way through the clutter, to the washing machine, there is no surface clear enough to sew a lining and attach the handles.

I used two skeins of Brigantia Aran weight yarn, one in Delphinium and one in Gun Metal. I have used this yarn for felting before and feel it is very reasonable in price, it felts well and one skein can produce quite a sizeable project.

I knit the bag in the round and decreased and increased to get the points and the zig-zags. This meant that the bag is only one strand of yarn thick. When it came to the bottom of the bag, I used short row shaping, between each point, to add a triangle and make the bottom edge straight. I then reduced at 4 places in the knitting to produce a rectangular base. I grafted the bottom edges together, then added an applied i-cord to the top edge of the bag, and again at the base of the bag. I-cord at the edge of fabric to be fulled, is a great way to ensure that the fabric doesn't curl and distort. I added it at the base to provide stability and extra strength.

When I line the bag, I will attach tabs to fix the handles to the bag. The handles I purchased, are made by Prym and I picked them up at John Lewis.

I think they look like leather, but are actually made of cotton. I hope they will suit this bag, and they are long enough to fit over my shoulder.

With the yarn I had left, I decided to make a little purse/wallet to clip inside the bag. That way, I could find things like keys, glasses or mobile phone. To get the zig-zag pattern this time, I made up a simple pattern in fair isle and knit it stranded fashion. I even found a video on how to knit backwards, which made the whole thing much easier than normal. I hate doing the purl rows on flat stranded knitting, but this project was too bulky, for the small size, to do it in the round. I wish I'd known how to do it before I did the short row shaping on the large bag, it would have made the whole process much quicker.

I plan on lining the purse with the same fabric I line the bag in, then attaching it with a clip to a tab inside the bag. I also intend to add a zip. When put together (without the lining fabric), all the bits look like this.

I think it will work well, and once I get round to sewing it all together, I'll post the pictures. I already know what fabric I'm going to use and it is lovely.

In summary, I am pleased with the bag, but if I made it again I would use smaller needles and make it slightly wider. I would also full it to make a more dense fabric as there are thin patches where the increases are made on the zig-zags. But, for all that, I think once it is lined, the bag will do the job it was made to do, look pretty on my arm.

Blatant Advertising.

It feels like I am rushing around at the moment trying to catch my own tail. I think this mainly stems from having the house re-wired. This means a distinct lack of crafting for me to tell you about.

We are living in chaos and the house is filled with workmen, all clattering, banging, drilling and bantering. They are cheerful chaps, but they are very noisy. In fact, the cat won't go in the house when they are there, unless she is accompanied.

As I keep getting evicted from my favourite crafting/surfing locations I have taken to running away to Mary Clare's. Clare hasn't once told me to get lost, and has kept me sane whilst my home is in disarray. As I have been camped in the shop, I have picked up some various bits and pieces of information that I thought I would pass on.

If you live in the Leicester area, you might be interested to know that Mary Clare is hosting a Rowan evening on 17th September at 7pm. The evening is going to be very informal with new Rowan yarns on display and some examples of finished garments to examine. Also, any yarn purchased (or ordered) on the night will have a 10% discount applied!

Mary Clare is now stocking copies of my patterns, for purchase. She also has an offer to get a free copy of one of my hat patterns, when you buy 2 skeins of Mirasol Akapana, which is gorgeous yarn to work with. This is a saving of £1.50!

Also, I overheard that there are a couple of places left on the beading workshop on 3rd October. If you fancy giving beading, or jewellery making, a go, then give Mary Clare a ring on 0116 255 1866, and see if you can nab one of those places. They are usually snapped up as the tutor is very gifted and the day is very enjoyable.

And finally in Mary Clare news, if you are on Facebook, there is a group you can join, which gives all the current news of events in store. Go and join it, if you want to be kept updated!

If you didn't know already, Mary Clare is located at 4 Shaftesbury Road, Leicester.

View Mary Clare in a larger map

Advert over!

Normal blogging service will be resumed in around a week's time.

On Target Bag Pattern Now For Sale

I am very pleased to announce a new pattern has been added, for purchase, on my patterns page. The pattern can also be purchased on Ravelry from my Designer Page, or by clicking the button:

Cost of £2.75.



The bag is felted in the washing machine, and full directions are included in the pattern. Also included are the other techniques used, Magic Loop and I-Cord Cast Off. These instructions have been tested by newcomers to the techniques and they found they were able to complete the pattern with no problems.

Size 12mm circular needles are used, along with Sirdar Eco Wool DK in the following amounts:

Colour A - Earth (203) - 1 x 50g/100m/109 yds (rewound into 2 x 25g balls)
Colour B - Natural (201) - 4 x 50g/100m/109yds
Colour C - Ecru (200) - 2 x 50g/100m/109yds
Colour D - Flint (204) - 2 x 50g/100m/109yds


The centre of the circles on the bag are in Colour A and then work outwards towards Colour D, should you choose to replace the colours or yarn you wish to use.

I hope you want to try my pattern, as I love using the bag, and enjoyed writing the pattern.

If you have any questions, then contact me via my website.