the big and the small of it...

Inspired by a tiny vintage brooch at a recent fair I have been busy sewing this tiny little lady. 

She has turned out a 'little' larger than anticipated but I am quite pleased with her. I shall however be trying to make a smaller version. I have no idea why I suddenly become engrossed in these miniature adventures, possibly my life long wish to own my own dolls house I can fill with tiny treasures. I seams to be some kind of oxymoron that I need a bigger home to house a miniature house. 

Spring 'Time'

Due to lack of funds we have not been out anywhere very much lately.

The only social event has been a friends wedding, but to be honest, after rather a wild youth I am more than happy to sit in front of the telly with a pile of knitting or crocheting to keep me busy.

Baby fig and I have managed to get to the odd jumble sale and at craft and vintage fairs we are usually on our stall avoiding spending money and trying to sell our wares.

Today all three of us went to Clitheroe to a vintage fair. I had not taken a stall as it was almost double the cost of other fairs we had done, but now I wish we had! It was packed with people, and the stalls were just gorgeous! We also found out why for the past few weeks there has been a distinct lack of vintage loveliness in a couple of the charity shops in the town. Both Age UK and Cancer Research had stalls with all the goodies I would normally look for but twice the already expensive price. I know, it is for charity - but I thrive on bargains and have no money! 

There was all sorts I could have bought, mainly useless things like glove finger stretchers (I don't ware gloves) or a shoe last, wooden skittles, more sparkly jewelry, or a grammar phone that only played wax records. but in the end I paid my £1 to get in, and came out without buying a single item.

I did come out with some inspiration however. So straight up to the sewing room and 2 hours later I had listed this on etsy. 

Now I am going to hunt for some extra thick socks and snuggle up on the sofa with my latest crochet project and the 6 balls of wool purchased in another of Clitheroe's vast abundance of charity shops for the princely sum of £2. Bargain.

Reality check

This week is the week my two subscriptions arrive. Country Living that I have been an avid reader of for about 20 years and Molly Makes, a relatively new mag my mum subscribed to for my birthday last year. 

I sit ALONE with a coffee, wearing my jimmyjammers and slippers, curled up on the sofa, and look wistfully at the artistic shots of gorgeous homes, spotless sofa's with perfectly placed blankets and patchwork quilts, a farmhouse table with vintage bake ware ready to be used for high tea, mixtures of old and new furniture artfully arranged, a bowl of dust free pebbles collected on the beach, at the end of the cottage garden. 

I dream of how I can transform my little terraced ex-mill workers house into a haven of eclectic ephemera, how magazines will clamour to photograph it, how I will swoosh around my home in long silk kaftan's and hand knit cashmere socks (that never get grubby underneath), slump onto my reupholstered patchwork chesterfield sofa and admire the glorious garden through french doors softly draped with shear linen that billows in the warm air. 

This whole scene is so far removed from reality! I wonder how close to reality the magazine images really are? Has the owner of the house spent days scrubbing, polishing, dusting and tidying up? has an artist been around thoughtfully rearranging items into a perfect tableaux? Is there a huge box of plastic toys just 1 foot to the right of the shot? are the kitchen cupboards crammed full of the Ikea crockery they actually use? is the 10 foot trampoline packed away in the shed? and where do they hide the washing machine?

A jealous part of me hopes it is all an illusion - but the romantic in me hopes they really do live in these serene surroundings.

Here are 2 photo's taken in my tiny sewing room today. The first is the arty shot. The second is the reality check!

Selling a little bit of me...

I have been making patchwork quilts since my legs were long enough to reach the treadle on my Grandma's old sewing machine. I LOVE patchwork quilts, I love old ones, new ones, plain simple ones, fancy intricate ones, bright ones, subtle ones, I love looking at them, touching them, and most of all sleeping underneath them which is why it always makes me sad when I put them up for sale. It is such a long and intimate relationship you often have with them from conception to completion it really is like selling a little bit of yourself.

I have just put 4 onto ETSY in the hope I can make a little money and that someone will really appreciate them for a very long time. Sometimes I secretly hope they won't sell so I can be excused for keeping them. 

- and sad though it sounds, my favourite one was wrapped around my shoulders as I listed it. It has been stored with some Vintage Rose scented hearts and smells delicious. 

Oh well. Sighhhhhhhhh

Baby Fig bought me these to cheer me up - and they have! 

The Weather.

What is going on with the weather?

I have been so cold for the past 2 days, and we have a gale blowing at the moment, rattling the tiles on the back of the house, and whipping ivy against my sewing room window in a hammer horror style! I read on the BBC news web site some months back about a woman who had been knitting, crocheting and sewing nose warmers and selling loads of them, I wish I had bought one now - my nose always seams to suffer from the cold more than any other part of me - even my newly crocheted slippers needed the help of a blanket last night, and I am determined not to put the heating back on as much as it was in the winter - it's supposed to be spring goddammit! 

Here is picture taken a couple of 'spring's ago that at least looks warmer! 

For the past 12 months I have had a 'spare' computer sat doing very little in my sewing room. My Dad gave it to me when he was upgrading his own. While trying to sort out cheaper Internet we ended going wireless and one dongle later I am all connected in the privacy of my own room - although I am a little worried I may get distracted reading blogs all day and not sewing! I have been very good so far and used the time to upload new items to my ETSY shop, and of course do a little bit of blogging....

I did think it would be easier to blog, more creative, quieter, less distractions - I somehow don't think it is going to work out quite like that though! 

I am off to our local knit n natter soon. I hope they have the heating on in the cafe rather than the air conditioning. I think a warm pair of woolly socks and a big jumper may be in order. Last week I was sampling there delicious Frape's this week might just be the hot chocolate. 

 

Warm Tootsies...

If we didn't have so much weather, what would we find to talk about!

After a glorious week, today is grey and drizzly and cold! I have been a busy little bee for the past few weeks though, and this week finally finished (or should I say "gave up on") my crochet blanket. It started off as a cushion cover, then grew a bit, and a bit more, then turned into an excuse to use up oddments of DK wool, then I had to buy some DK wool to get round the blanket in one colour - but then I became incredibly bored - sick of going round and round and round and finished the damn thing. However, the second it was finished my fingers were itching to start something new and as my feet have been very cold lately I decided to make a pair of slippers. 

These are so easy to make, just make yourself 12 granny squares and hook them together! They took me 3 evenings, and used up 2 of the colours I had bought for the blanket! 

This year I have been determined to get a head start on gifts for family. I ALWAYS leave everything to the last minute, and then end up having to go out and spend more than I have. As I currently have less than no money I have been through my stash and decided on what I can make for people - and I have actually finished one gift with MONTHS to spare!

(drum roll please) Tada!!!!!

A pair of socks for my wonderful Dad for Fathers Day! how about that for early?

And I have made a start on Mr Figs Christmas pressie - yes, that's right, his Christmas pressie! As his birthday is on New Years Eve I must also soon make a start on that - but for Christmas I wanted to really challenge myself and am knitting him an Aran sweater. I have done a couple of very small simple projects in the past using a simple cable, but decided if I didn't make a start and have a go I might never get around to it, no time like the present and all that.

The pattern for this is over 30 rows, and I can only knit it when I am alone and in silence such is the concentration needed, but I am really enjoying it! It is a little bit slower but so much more interesting than just doing stocking stitch. It is a good job he is the smallest size on the pattern though!

Here is is so far...

If I don't get back here before Easter, have a good one. I hope the sun comes out wherever you are, and whatever meaning Easter has for you, I wish you Joy.

x