Ally Pally 2012

Yesterday was my first visit to the Knitting and Stitching Show, which is held at Alexandra Palace each October. Just out of interest, you can read about the history of the building here.

 

The inside of the show was vast, with two large (mahoosive) rooms and then further stands and displays in other smaller areas. The picture doesn't convey the scale of the area, the size was almost overwhelming.

 

 

From talking to other members of my knitting group who have been to the show before, I was expecting to want to spend lots of money, so had been saving in anticipation. I wasn't let down on the shopping front, there were LOTS of things I wanted to buy, but I had gone with a list of things I really wanted, which I stuck to, allowing myself to choose a few skeins of yarn too.

 

I have been looking at interchangeable knitting needles on line for a while and found this set for a good price, with no additional postage costs of course. Instead of buying a larger set, which I had considered, I decided to get a smaller starter set and bought additional needles in the sizes I know I will actually use as the bigger set had lots of larger sizes that I wouldn't use at the moment, given that all my latest yarn purchases have been 4ply and lace weight.

Mostly, I used the day to visit retailers I have previously bought from on line, so that I could get a feel for un-tried products in the flesh and also make some postage-free purchases. I visited Blooming Felt to stock up a little.

 

 

The Eternal Maker was selling Sherbet Pips fabric for a massively reduced £3 per meter. I stood patiently waiting to add to my collection but two ladies in front of me had also spotted the bargain, so by the time my turn came I only got one meter. I was still pleased. I love this fabric.

 

 

One of my favourite stands was Fyberspates. I have long admired and coveted this yard when I have seen it being knitted up by SnB members and I made three separate visits to the stand before deciding on a couple of skeins. This picture does the yarn no justice, especially the colours. The bottom one is a really gorgeous kind of racing green with beautifully rich and deep tones. It is soft and lovely too.

 

 

Another lovely stand was The Crochet Chain. I have looked at their website a few times as they sell Drops Alpaca at a really good price. It was good to have a squish.

 

 

As the name suggests, the show is not just aimed at knitters and crocheters; there is also plenty to tempt the sewer. Lately, I have got my knitting head on and I really don't need any fabric but inspired by the quilt that Fiona made for her daughters sixteenth ( read about it here) I had decided that I will make my daughter a quilt for her birthday, which is in December.

 

I had already stared a quilt for her, using Clarke and Clarke fabric which she had chosen before the current Goth, sorry, 'Emo' phase but that has now been discarded as being too pink and flowery. Considering her current colour of choice (note, singular) and her love of horses, I chose these fabrics to try again with.

 

I couldn't resist sneaking in some Summersville
 

 

 

By the early afternoon, I was getting uncomfortably hot and was really rather shopped out, so I had a little stroll around the outside of the palace, which has the most amazing views of London sprawling away to the south.

 

I returned inside for the last hour and wandered around the exhibition pieces, which we were politely asked not to photograph. We were allowed to take pictures of this knitted village though, which was brilliant.

 

Whilst outside, I had a quick look at Twitter to see if anyone had mentioned the show. Angela from This is Wiss had tweeted to say that she was helping out on the Ray-Stitch stand so when I went back in I went along to meet her which was lovely as I have been reading her blog for some time now.

Overall, I was pleased to be able to stock up on such lovely yarns and supplies in one place but was rather disappointed by the lack of inspirational content; it seems unfair to ask people to pay £15 to shop when you know that it would have cost the stallholders a small fortune to be at the show.

Travelling home on the coach, I managed to finish the shawlette I stared in this post. It needs blocking to finish it, which I have never attempted before, but I will poop back again soon to show you the results.

I can't wait to get started on my next project now that  have lovely new needles and really lovely yarn so I will be getting lost in Ravelry for a few hours to decide on a project.

What are you working on at the moment?

Thanks for reading,
Beth x

Play and Work

It feels like this has been a very long week. Mr Magpie and I started early last weekend with a trip to London on Thursday. We were there to see a band in the evening but arrived early enough to do some sightseeing.

The weather was pretty miserable so we headed for the warmth of a museum. We chose the Imperial War Museum as we hadn't been before and what we saw of it was very impressive. We were there for about three hours but could easily have doubled that. It was the first time we'd been to London without the children (we left the little Magpies at home with Nanny) and it was certainly a more relaxed experience!

This was our evening's destination. Mr Magpie is a huge New Order fan, I'm more your Joy Division type of girl (if you like Editors give them a try).

Neither of us had been to Brixton Academy before and it was a great venue, I love watching bands in old theatres as opposed to sterile boxy halls such as our BIC here in Bournemouth. At first the sound engineer seemed to have his levels a little confused and we thought we were in for a big disappointment but about halfway through things improved and we had a great time. The band obliged me by doing two Joy Division tracks in the encore, finishing with 'Love Will Tear Us Apart'. Ace.

Anyway, my apologies, you're not really here for music news are you?

After a bank holiday weekend I would rather forget, due mainly to falling victim to the rather nasty tummy bug that seems to be doing the rounds, I have been a busy little bee. I took advantage of the coach journeys to and from the capital to start my little project with the Rowan Cotton I showed you here.

I have long been an admirer of Ripple blankets and really wanted to try one myself. There are excellent instructions on Attic 24 but Lucy's version does require you to learn how to treble two together. Although I'm sure I could work out how to do this with a little effort, I was drawn instead to the pattern in my Jane Brocket book, The Gentle Art of Knitting. In Jane's pattern, you only need to know how to do double and treble crochet. By missing stitches and adding chains, you make little holes which do the work of shaping the troughs and peaks of the ripple. Simples.

I haven't used cotton for either knitting or crochet before and it does feel a little strange but I am enjoying the pattern, which is almost as easy as my granny stripe and as I am keeping things small, this will be my portable project of choice until it is finished.

After taking my crochet roll to SnB a few weeks back, I was asked to make one as a DPN holder by another member of the group. I took it along last night and I seemed to have a happy customer, which is always a great feeling.

As well as the DPN holder, I finished off a little batch of brooches.

I have also spent a lot of time ironing this week. Not the kind that makes the Mr happy because he has a wardrobe full of shirts again, but the kind that involves fusing interfacing onto fabric. I did a big batch and then got busy with the scissors snipping out lots of fruit pieces.

I think I might finally be getting my groove back when it comes to sewing. I really enjoyed stitching this lot up.

So much so that I cut these out last night in a spare half hour and will have a little play with some buttons and trim.

Well that's the news from the nest this week. I have just looked at the calendar and realised that there are only three more weeks until half term and then only four weeks after half term until Larmer Tree. My panicky levels are rising steadily, but I keep telling myself that it will all be fine.

I wish you all a lovely weekend (will it ever stop raining though?) and hope to see you again soon.

Beth x

Getting Down to Business

It has been a bit of a strange week here at Magpie HQ. To start with I have only had to do one night shift instead of the three I had been doing of late, so I have almost felt human again. Dare I say it but there have been no accidents or illnesses either, so another nice change!

Before much crafting could happen, there were a few jobs that have been waiting patiently for me to finish. The first one involved quite a lot of this.

I am in charge of painting around these parts. Pale walls and four children mean that this is almost a full-time occupation in itself. This week I gave the hall stairs and landing a much needed freshen up. It's hard to ignore this part of the house, it's the one space that can't be shut off but at least I can now ascend the stairs without cringeing. The trouble is, some of the other rooms look grubbier in comparison now so I might be plying the brushes and rollers again sometime soon. Ish.

Next on the list was a spot of gardening. I had bought a tray of bedding plants a few (ahem) weeks ago, but between accidents, illnesses and torrential rain, they had remained in their polystyrene tray, taunting me each time I looked out of the back windows. I took advantage of a break in the downpours on Tuesday to transplant them to my pots and gave the decking a little tidy while I was out there.

Thankfully you can't see my 'herbaceous border' in this picture (it runs down the right hand side of the garden) as it too requires a little attention. You might just be able to make out our raised veg patch on the left. The green stuff you can see on it is our strawberry plants, which seem to have benefitted from the rain. We have got a few flowers on them here and there so now need some sunshine to bring on the fruit.

I hadn't made it to either Wednesday morning Knit and Natter or Thursday evening Stitch and Bitch for a while because of work, so this week I actually went to both. I rescued this little project from the bottom of my knitting bag and am now well on my way to completing it.

Unfortunately (well, not really) I was once again tempted by the shelves of goodies I was surrounded by on Wednesday and this little pile found it's way home with me. Spurred on by the success of my blanket, I have got a few other items in the queue for future crocheting and I think these colours will fit the bill perfectly.

On Wednesday evening it was my craft group that I have at home fortnightly. I used the time to start a batch of leaves and stalks that I will need for my fruit pincushions that I will be starting soon.

I also made a start on the cushion back for the crochet cushion covers.

In between all of this, I had a very long catch-up with an old friend I haven't seen for about a year over a lovely lunch, and also had a nice lunch out with my Mum. With such a busy week, progress on the brooches hasn't been as good as I'd hoped but, all in all, it has been quite a productive week and the extra sleep and a few treats have done wonders for my soul!

I know I promised you a tour of the craft room, but to be honest, all the production has messed it up a bit, so you will have to be patient a while longer.

I hope you have had a good week, and wish you all a lovely weekend.

Thanks for stopping by,

Beth x

This Week in the Nest

Finally the littlest Magpie has recovered from all his mishaps and we had a great time yesterday celebrating his birthday. As you can see, cake decorating is not one of my talents, although I can confirm that it tasted delicious and was speedily devoured by the clan.

Another little one in the family is having her birthday next week. so today I have been stitching up a teddy bear sleeping bag (designed by Florence), like the one I made one for her sister in February. This time I used another Annela Hoey fabric, from her new range 'A Walk in the Woods'. I love this fabric, and treated myself to a very restrained three half-metres from Alice at Backstitch.

Since writing the last post about my blanket, I have added another half-dozen or so rows, including my rainbow section. Work on this has got to slow down now though so you won't be seeing it again for a while.

This new granny square has taken the place of the blanket. the idea is to turn it into a cushion, along with the two other fronts already made, as these can be sold at Larmer Tree. This way I get my crocheting fix without the guilt that I am not making stuff to sell. Perfect!

I know I mentioned that I went to Ikea a few weeks ago, but I didn't show you any pictures of the fabric I bought. Ikea fabric really is great value for money, especially from the children's department. These fabrics work out at £2 per metre and they are really popular with my customers.

  The idea is to turn these into more drawstring wash bags like the ones below.

I have also been busily cutting out felt shapes to turn into brooches. At last year's craft fairs I sold pretty much every one I made, the bird design in particular was a big hit so I am planning on sewing lots of these to take with me to the festival. I'm not sure that the photo does the colours justice, but please can I have your thoughts on the colour combinations?

Well, I had better be off to feed the family. I'm hoping to go to Stitch and Bitch tonight as it seems like it's been ages since I went to a knitting group and I'm really missing it. Pop back next week for some finished brooches and that look around the craft room I've been promising!

Thanks for stopping by,
Beth x

Knitting, Sewing and some more Knitting

This has been a week of trying to finish off some of the projects that have been patiently waiting for me to return to them. A while back, I showed you the mug cosies from Mollie Makes, and some wool I had bought at Knit and Natter to make one with. As predicted, it wasn't too difficult to accomplish, although upon finishing it I realise that I'm not actually that keen on using one, so I might adapt it to cover a jar instead.

Remember the felt I showed you in the last post? Well I have been having a great time stitching up these little birdies that were such great sellers at the fairs last year. As it is such a lovely day again today I thought I'd take my pictures in the garden.

Finally, I used the book Mum lent me (see here) to whip up these little beauties. They were really easy to make and took hardly any time, or concentration, always a bonus!

My middle son was even impressed, and requested a white version so he could have a 'Mario Ghost'. This was the result, and it's recipient was very pleased with it, praise indeed.

Last week I attended a new knitting group, as well as my regular one. The new one is held in a cafe, so no wool temptation, just cake temptation. I'm not sure which is preferable really. A lovely lady called Vanessa who goes to both groups kindly looked up some beginner crochet patterns for me after witnessing my feeble attempts last week and has offered to talk me through it tomorrow night, so watch this space!

Thanks for stopping by,
Beth x

Attempting the impossible.

I don't seem to have found my sewing rhythm again yet, there still seems to be so much going on in everyday life. Knitting has fitted in nicely around the madness and I really look forward to my evenings by the fire, when the children are upstairs. Hopefully asleep, but in bed at least. Indeed, I am enjoying them so much that last week, when an opportunity arose for me and the Mr to go out by ourselves in the evening, I practically had to have my arm twisted to leave the sofa! I was persuaded out though and was glad of it in the end.

At last weeks Knit and Natter I fell in love with some gorgeously soft alpaca wool. It is a bit fatal attending a knitting group held in a wool shop where you are sitting for a few hours surrounded by so much eye candy and I usually end up buying something. With a vague memory of this pattern in my head, and it requiring two skeins, I bought said amount with a view to making myself a lovely cowl.

After waiting a few days for a circular needle, (purchased for a snip from ebay) I was able to cast on my first ever piece of circular knitting. Aside from a  few mishaps at the beginning I was soon merrily away, finding it completely addictive, with no obvious place to stop. This stopping and starting anywhere ought to be more convenient but to me it felt a little like the time I read a novel without chapters (Moll Flanders if you're interested, it was great!) and you keep getting drawn back. Sometimes I like saying 'you'll have to wait until I get to the end of the row'!

So there I was, knitting happily. The pattern is so simple I didn't have to refer to it or keep tedious tallies and notes as I usually have to. However. I was nearing the end of my first skein with the work measuring a mere three inches or so. Given that the finished width should be about eleven inches, I realised that I would need to buy at least two more skeins to complete the project, which would make the cowl quite pricey, but as it is for me and I love it, I decided what the heck. Obviously I had misread the pattern; skeins come in different weights!

Upon returning to Knit and Natter yesterday, I asked the owner of Carly's Crafts  Michelle, for two more skeins, but alas, I had bought the last two in the brown that she had and she thinks it is being discontinued now. Aarghh!!

I tried matching in another yarn but it was too late really, and my heart had been set on the alpaca, so with a heavy heart I pulled the whole lot off the needles and in the spirit of economy bought myself these, at the bargain price of the cost of one skein of alpaca. You can see from the pictures that it is nowhere near as stroke-able as the alpaca, but at least it will be machine washable.

A quick comb of the internet has revealed that I have pretty much no chance of buying any more of the original wool, so I will have to find a pattern that uses a smaller amount.

In other news, there have been other knitted makes happening, and even a little bit of sewing for a friend's birthday, but I haven't got pictures just yet.

I did buy some really gorgeous new 100% wool felt, in a 4mm thickness from Blooming Felt so that I can start making some brooches again. Just setting out all the supplies got my craft fingers tingling, I love the process of deciding what to make and with what colours.

I have started making some brooches, so pop back soon to see how they turned out.

Thanks for stopping by,

Beth x

My First Post!

After much procrastination, here it is, post number one. It seems unreal to me that anyone will be interested in my ramblings, but if you are reading then you are most welcome, and I thank you.

I have spent a long time reading the blogs of others and finding lots of inspiration from so many clever people. I thought it only right that I should offer something back so decided to give you a quick peek at some of my latest creations.

I had seen these and admired them online but hadn't managed to find a decent tutorial. Then Mollie Makes featured them and with not too much swearing, I managed to produce my own.

This was my first attempt

I had bought some felted wool a few weeks previously at a vintage fair without really knowing what I would use it for. After making the pincushions, I was inspired to make these brooches

 After that, I went a little bit brooch crazy, and made these

All of the hand sewing gave me a little rest from the sewing machine, which was needed as we hadn't been getting on all that well for a while. I've just bought some lovely new oilcloth which is waiting to be turned into bags, so hopefully the break will have done us good and normal service will be resumed.

Thanks for stopping by,

Beth x