Luck and Loop

Ends, ends, ends everywhere....

Sewing in ends has to be my least favourite thing, if someone invented a gadget that would do it for you, I'd be be buying it.  This scarf is intended to be worn this winter, there is a good chance winter might be over by the time I've gotten round to finishing it.

This scarf was mostly made (the pale green) with a lovely aran yarn  I purchased at Yarndale, from  the Eden Cottage Yarns stand. I have been guilty in the past of buying wool in a beautiful skein and then not doing anything with it. This time though I had a plan, I already had a selection of orphaned balls of green wool at home, but not enough to make a long scarf. I like the kind you can wrap around a few times. So at Yarndale I was on a mission to find exactly the right wool to complete my scarf project.

I wondered  past and eyed up yarns at Skein Queen and other stands, but I was the Eden Cottage yarn that won me over, with its super soft muted, vintagey shade Misty Wood.

 

 

 

The pattern is pretty simple, 21 stitches wide made with a 5 mm hook . The majority of the pattern was 3 rows of treble crochet, 4th row in the back loop of the previous row to create the ridged effect, rows 5-6 standard treble crochet as rows 1-3. I alternated colours to create the stripes. It will be really warm when it's finished.

Upcycled Mittens

I had an old favourite pair of mittens that I wasn't wearing anymore, but I didn't want to get rid of them either. I'd bought a book on sock creatures and decided I'd have a go at a mitten creature. Looking down at my old mittens I decided a rabbit was the way to go, those stripey thumbs were crying out to become ears and those ribbed cuffs would make great legs. It was a nice quick project, made in one evening.

 

 

Something a bit more hoopy

Embroidery is something I've recently discovered again, this little hoop is something I've been working on for a short while inbetween my crocheting pursuits.

I once went through a phase of creating small pictures of boats using scraps of fabrics, buttons and thread.  They were simple but quite sweet.

I had planned to keep this hoop composition quite restrained, but decided it needed a fancy border to frame the elephant in his rainy garden. 

So far i've used  mix of  tana lawn liberty prints, felt, embroidery thread and appletons crewel wool. I discovered the crewel wool at a local craft shop and fell in love with the colours. I like the contrast of the different threads,  the super silky embroidery thread and matt, muted colour crewel wools. I'm thinking about adding some butons to the picture too, but haven't decided yet...

 

A bear for a boy

This bear made last summer was based on the Amineko cat pattern by Nekoyama. It was made using some orphan balls of cotton picked up in a great wool shop called Knitting Pretty. My first thought for it was a frog as it was a particularly swampy sort of a green. However the frog just seemed to want to be a bear, so a bear he became, Green Bear as my little boy calls him.

Crochet Hearts on the go

I've  loved making the pretty crochet hearts from My Rose Valleys blog this summer, my train journeys to work have seen a rainbow of crocheted cotton hearts flying off my hook. Rico Design Essentials cotton was my yarn of choice for this project, with a bit of Langs Tissa too. 

The picture below was taken on a seat at the station after one journey, I liked the effect the pattern on the back of the seat made on the paper as the light streamed through. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hearts eventually were made into a garland as a birthday present for a friend and are now happily hanging at her bedroom window. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those end threads were mostly sewn in, but the bits leftover themselves being made into colourful tassels.

My First step towards CE Marking a crocheted toy

I've been thinking for a while about making toys to sell, but lack of time, work, child, house, something has always stopped me from moving forward. Then I decided last year to really go for it and invested in some pretty woven Luck & Loops labels. Then I found this post  by odds and soxlets in one of my meanderings around the internet and I realised it wasn't quite as straightforward as I'd thought. Toys need to be safe and the European Toy Safety Directive means that any one making and selling toys need to comply. 

So I waited, did some more research, joined a couple of groups on Facebook  for craftmakers who needed CE support and waited some more. I'm really good at waiting, thinking and reading about other people doing things, until finally I came to the conclusion I was just going to have to get on with it.

So I did, this is Kate rabbit, my first prototype toy I might one day sell. Shes made from 100% cotton, with wool felt and embroidered details. She hasn't been tested yet, that's for another day after a bit more waiting, thinking and reading...

 

 

Pom Pom Flowers - a good on the go make...

A project from earlier this summer, pom poms are one of my favourite things to make, fast and fun. An easy make for a commute too, I managed a good 25 basic pom poms on  a journey too and from work. Even easier with a neat little pom pom making gadget.

 

Who it's all for....

My Luck and Loop adventure is inspired by two people. my mum and my little boy (A). Nearly four years ago I lost some one very special to me. This was Kate my mum, she passed away in 2010 the same year I had A. She worried she hadn't done much in her life, but she was a determined, fiery, caring soul and her interest in crafts, making toys and gardening has been passed on to me.

When I was growing up she made doily angels and hung them down the staircase every christmas, and paper mache clowns that guarded the stairs. Knitted brownie dolls for myself and my sister, with our old badges stitched on their arms. Matching cream knitted ponchos and hats with tassels, that swirled around our warm heads.  She made us toy dogs and cats made from  her clothes.

I miss her everyday. 

 

A little bit of luck and loop

Luck and Loop has existed in my head for a while now and it's about time it made it into the real world.  Hello from Luck and Loop.