Brooch Love

I have an absolute, unwavering love of brooches.  I have always worn a brooch on a coat or a jacket but over the last few months, after much inspiration I have started to wear a brooch on cardigans too.  in fact brooches are my now daily accessory go to.  At work a necklace isn't always practical and I have learnt the hard way after having many a cheap necklace broken.  Brooches make a statement while remained firmly out of the way!
I have a few favourites which I'm sure you're all itching to see and a few favourite brooch makers that I would like to introduce you to if you don't already know of their talents.

Through Instagram I have *met* the super lovely Ali who makes adorable felt and Liberty print brooches available here To say I am a fan is a little understatement.  I am smitten with Ali's gorgeous creations and I have quite a fine collection!  Here's a few of them:

Cute fun brooches that brighten up any outfit!  Ali's stitching is exquisite, I only wish I could work such tiny neat stiches. 

Another super talented lady who has made a number of my favourites is the very gorgeous Hen I have admired her work for years through being a bit of a lurker on her blog *slaps wrists* and am happy to say that Hen is now one of my real life crafty buddies who is an absolute pleasure to hang out with.  I have some of Hen's gorgeous felt flower posies inspired by original 1940's designs.

Anemones are my absolute favourite flower so I knew I had to have this when I saw it in Hen's Etsy shop 

 

 



 I am also the very lucky recipient of two brooches gifted to me by Hen, someone who has a mutual brooch love and knows me so well already.

 

 

 I just love this fun quirky tic toc clock brooch.  It adds a lot of colourful fun to an outfit and gets many admirers whenever I wear it.  I just love it!

 

 

I was blown away and completely overwhelmed when I unwrapped this one at my little birthday gathering.  It was the first time I had met Hen and was amazed to receive such a gorgeous generous gift.  This has to me THE favourite and I save it for weekends and holidays so it doesn't get grabbed by little hands.  Such beautiful stitching and fabrics.  Swooooooooooooon.

 

 

 

My friends know me well and I have received several brooch gifts for occasions and some just because I have very lovely, thoughtful friends.

 

 



 

My gorgeous friend Nicki gave me this brooch as part of my birthday present and I just love it.  Everything does indeed stop for tea!  Love the little dinky doily on there too! 

 

 

 I received this brooch as a *just because* gift from the super lovely Claire who is an absolute gem and someone I am so happy to call a friend (check out her Etsy page for the lovely jewellery makes, maybe my Mummybird collection should be my next post!)  This brooch was made by one of Claire's market friends, Teresa, and I feel really bad that I don't know what her Etsy shop is called to link to.  I feel extra guilty about that as I spent the day yesterday on Claire's market stall right next to Teresa's!!

 

I also have a couple of very sweet birdie brooches which I adore.

 

 

This cutie was made by the very talented Anna Wiscombe and I bought this brooch from the lovely lady herself at Spittalfields market.

 

 

 

Not forgetting this very cute little birdie bought here

 

I have been dabbling in a little brooch making myself and have had some mixed results.  I love the inspiration I get from brooches I own, brooches I see, from Pinterest and of course ideas I dream up (which probably are a combination of all the aforementioned places! )

 

I knitted this little brooch as a sample for a knitting session where I acted as assistant teacher to the super knitter and crocheter extraorindaire Catherine 

 

 

I made this little brooch to practice my French knots, a stitch which I find so tricky to get my head around!  I think I've cracked it now though!!

 

 

What's your go to accessory of choice?  Any fellow brooch lovers out there?  Please do share your favourites and introduce me to your favourite makers at my peril!!

 

Love love love

 

Erin x



A Blanket Story

Well, I've said before how much I love making blankets.  In fact blankets are my favourite thing to crochet.  I dream of filling my flat with handmade blankets.  I dream of piles of folded blankets......one day that dream will be a reality.  For now I make blankets for myself in between blankets for the new babies popping into the lives of friends and family as well as plenty of other smaller projects to keep my creative juices flowing.
I obvious love making blankets because the final items are lush but aside from that I love making blankets because of the memories that are stitched into them.  Each blanket I make is filled with a whole variety of different memories of places and people.
I wanted to make a blanket for a friend at work who is having a baby boy in September.  I started the blanket in May half term.  That seems massively organised for me, I'm normally a last minute person, but said friend was leaving work in July to start her maternity leave and I wanted to have the blanket ready for her baby shower at the end of term.  Here is The Blanket Story for this baby blanket.

Ok so this blanket story starts in the same place as all good blanket stories, at The Wool Sanctuary (those beady eyed folks amongst you will realise that this pictures was not indeed taken during May half term.  I didn't take any gratuitous yearn pictures that trip.)  I was staying with Cuckoo and her family and went to Suzie's for Knit Club.  It was a fab Knit Club, slightly fewer people than usual due to it being school holiday time and an extremely sunny day!  This was good as it meant I could really pick Suzie's brain about colour choices.  I also had a bit more spaces to fondle the yarn in the living room!!  I had an idea in my head that I wanted to use mustard and grey and I wanted to do some kind of hexagon design.  We pulled yarns from the shelf and shuffled them around.  Suzie showed me some photos of tiled floors that she thought might inspire me.  I loved the colours in the tiles but to get the overall effect that we thought it would need a very large blanket. 

So here are the colours we decided on.  Yellow, green and light and dark grey.  A gorgeous combo for a boyish blanket without being boring or pastely.  I spent a lot of the weekend making these hexagons.  At one point Cuckoo thought I was going to finish the whole blanket in the weekend and was ready to christen it The Weekend Blanket.

The sun was shining that weekend and I sat in the garden stitching lots of love into that blanket and taking in the gorgeous views from Cuckoo's garden.  Perfect scene for stitching.  As the sun was out, Cuckoo's two older boys were out playing most of the weekend.  I got the odd call of "Owen look at me!"  "Owen watch this!"  I had the odd bit of company when one of the boys joined me for a chat or to play with the yarn (I had my scissors well hidden as remembered the fascination with them last trip!) 

Plenty of stitching took place in Cuckoo's Bird Box (craft room.)  I was crocheting hexagons and Cuckoo was trying her hand at making her dream pair of bloomers........

 

a bit too much of this (Pimms) was consumed so many hexagons were remade as I kept forgetting a row of the pattern and Cuckoo's bloomers were re-named "bloopers" due to the number of mistakes being made!  Yes, the Pimms definitely didn't help on the crafting front but it stitched in lots of laughs and joking and fun times.

 

 



 

 

 

Despite the huge number of hours I put in over the weekend I didn't finish the blanket in the weekend.  At the end of the weekend Suzie took me home (very kindly all the way to my door) as she was staying in Essex that week.  That meant we went to Knit Club at MD&M on the Wednesday.  There was a little party at Knit Club that weekend for Kath's sister who was off to start an amazing adventure in Australia.  Suzie saw the colours of my blanket in the jelly beans (and then in true Instagram style took a picture of it and in true Suzie style said that it was me messing around instead of using the time to crochet!!)

 

 

 

 

I also worked on the blanket at Nicki's gorgeous cottage over tea and sandwiches and scones and cake!  I made a few hexagons here but I mainly just looked at them and admired them.  At this stage I was still deliberating the layout and weather to make some half hexagons for the end of the rows.  I was trying to weigh up the possible preferences of the recipient and my own choices.  If the blanket had been bigger with more colours I would have gone for a less orderly colour placement but due to the fact that this is a small blanket then I decided to follow a pattern (I was also thinking of the recipient or recipient's mum and thought there would be a preference for order!)  I did however go with my personal preference and not make the half hexagons in order to give a more interesting shape and pattern.

 

 

 

Now the above picture represents a time when the blanket was talked about, hexagons were admired, joining intentions were there BUT nothing was done (apart from taking a picture!)  This photograph represents a lovely morning/afternoon spent with Kath and my old boss Jan eating cake and scones and salad and drinking lots of tea and talking creative talk in The Granny Shack.

 

Considering I started the blanket so far in advance I think I did put off the joining, the sewing in of ends and thinking about the border (as I was still undecided) so it did end up being a big concentrated effort over the last week of term.  We had a little craft fair at school which took a lot of my crafting free time as I had a stall so I knew I would have to finish the blanket after that.

 

 

I took the unfinished blanket to a barbie at my aunt and favourite nearly uncle's new house.  My family are used to my crochet projects (and knitting and embroidery) being brought to various gatherings.  This event was a bit of a house warming, our first visit to the house and plenty of Pimms and champagne was drunk to mark my mum's retirement after 25 years at the same school (after about 14 years at the school before.)  I can't imagine teaching for that long!!

 

 

It took me a long time to decide on what kind of border to do.  So many borders seemed too fussy or too girly for a blanket for a boy.  I did a few rows of doubles while I thought about it!  In the end I opted for a simple picot border to finish it off.

 

 

Now this seems apt that the only picture I have of the finished blanket is one taken from my phone (and not matter how many times I enlarge it and try and take a new one, I cant get rid of the details!!)  I think it's quite fitting really as I had to take this one off IG!  I may even have a picture of the baby on the blanket for you in a few weeks (parental permission permitting!)

 

So there is The Blanket Story.  This blanket doesn't have a name.  Maybe it's new owners will give it one!  This is quite a well travelled blanket with much love stitched into it and memories of time with family and good friends.

 





love love love

Erin x 

 

 

Blanket Love

One of the main reasons I wanted to learn to crochet was so that I could make blankets.  Right up there on the top of my list was a traditional granny square blanket for myself! 

This is the beginnings of that blanket!  Only three years later I am making myself that traditional granny afghan. 

The reason for this massive wait?!  Making lots of lovely blankets but giving them all away!!

There were the ripple blankets..........

 

 

 

 

 

The granny stripe blankets............

 

 



 

(That there on top of the Starburst blanket is a granny stripe for my aunt's birthday.  Her birthday was 6th March!  I still have the blanket in my flat.  Only difference is that it's now safely away in a cupboard not adorning my sofa but the temptation is there, I'll tell you!!!)

The Spring Time Throw blankets........

The Fancy Square blankets .........

 

 

 

The Blankets That Appeared in a Book Blankets ......

 

 

 

 

The Catherine Wheel Blankets ........

 

 



 

 

The Tiramisu Blanket

 

 



(This one was for Kath's baby George.  I've make another one like this, very similar indeed.  Just different ribbon.  It was the original one that Kath admired so I said I'd make her one for when her little one.  Had to make this a bit quicker than I'd planned as George was five weeks early!)

The Japanese Hexigon Blanket.......

I love this one.  I'm currently making myself one of these too (running out of yarn has halted the process at the mo!  I'm reliably infomed at least one of the colours I'm using has been discontinued!)

Finally The Granny Square Blanket......

It was making the blanket above that made me get my ass into gear and make myself a granny square.  I found it very hard to part with the blanket above (but doesn't little Bethany look content with it?!)

I have made many other blankets.  I just don't happen to have pictures of them all.  The problem is that most of my friends keep reproducing.  I can't help but make blankets for all the little babies that keep popping up.  Blankets are a joy to make.  They're not quick projects but a whole lot of love get stitched into each and every one.  The added bonus to making baby blankets is that they are small (although I do tend to make them a bit bigger than I probably should.  I like a blanket to look like it would be a useful size for a very long time and babies grow you know!)

What's your favourite thing to make?

Must dash.  There's more blankets to be made!

Love love love

Erin xxx

About two years ago, yes it was two years ago, May 1st 2011 to be precise (thanks Statigram) I set myself up an Intagram account.  I didn't do very much with it.  I only joined because I was being nosey.  A couple of my FB friends were posting IG pictures on their pages and I wanted to see what it was all about.  I can't remember when I started using my IG account as much as I do now (and by that I mean obsessively!)  I think that may have been around Easter time last year but without trawling through my account I'm not really sure how I'd find that out.  I think it may have been after reading about some of my favourite bloggers using IG so I went to check them out (ie. stalk!)

It was only after I started using IG more and following more people and talking to people on it that it got me thinking a bit more about my IG aims.  Here, inside my phone, were loads of people with whom I shared multiple interests.  People who I would never have met or found if they hadn't lived in this little community in my phone!  The more I got "talking" to people the more I thought about how great it would be to meet some of these people IRL (see how I'm converting to text speak! haha!!  I don't use it seriously, just as a bit of a joke with a few other IG buddies.)  These people didn't make me feel like I was strange because I enjoyed making things in my spare time (an aside to this, I have been told by a lady who worked with me that I was born in the wrong century and that I should be out pole dancing of an evening, not embroidering or crocheting!!)  The more I thought about it the more I thought that some of these people could actually be "my kind of people" and I was sure that we'd get on swimmingly in real life.  I often got that feeling when I read other people's blogs but as a non blogger I didn't tend to leave many comments on people's blogs and thought that contacting bloggers was a bit stalkerish if I wasn't a blogger myself!  Although there is a stalkerish elemement to IG at least there was the potential for it to be mutual!! hehe!

So, reason no. 1 for loving Instragram my new found crafty buddies. 

Without IG I would never have met the super lovely Cuckoo  and the gorgeous Beany  both of these fabulous ladies I now consider as dear friends (IRL.)

 

Cuckoo is one of the "my favourite bloggers who started using IG that I went to stalk" as mentioned earlier!  I have already confessed to Cuckoo that I was a bit of a stalker.  She's ok with this!  She's even given me a couple of tests to check!  I must say I failed the test, so maybe I'm not such a stalker after all!  The first time I met Cuckoo it was a bit like meeting a celebrity (in my eyes!)  She said I looked a bit shellshocked when she threw herself at me! haha!!



Haha!!  Cuckoo will no doubt go mad when she sees this! ( It's the only pic I had of you, honest!! I wish I still had the text in which you gave me permission to publish any pictures I had of you!)  Cuckoo in her Bird Box after we'd had a couple of drinks with dinner!!  Such a fun weekend.  I love my time with Cuckoo and her brood!  Can't wait until half term!

I'm laughing now as this is the only picture I have of you Suzie!! haha!!  (thought I had the one of you holding the baby you found in your tights!)

This picture makes me smile.  Suzie loves beans and this is one of her cuddly beans!  I was making one of these while at Suzie's one weekend and it turned out far bigger than it should have been.  Suzie tells me that my tension was too loose.  I gave it to this bean as a hat!  I think he looks happy about it!

Not many friends would knit you!  This always makes me laugh.  It's a pincusion that Suzie designed of my head.  I can't even remember how this came about other than one lazy crafty Sunday Suzie decided to knit me!!  I'm definitely adding this to my CV.  Pin cushion model!  I bet no-one else has ever done that!

A Little Sunday Crafting

Last Sunday I had an utterly blissful day.  I didn't get dressed.  I stayed in my PJs all day and didn't leave The Granny Shack.  I pottered around and crafted to my heart's content! 
I had a little idea in my head. 

 

It started with a little customising idea.  I decided I wanted to put a little something on the pockets of a plain nave cardigan I had.  I fancied the idea of some cherries (I have a soft spot for cherries.  Anything with a cherry design gets my vote!)  I'd made a cherry brooch before but that used red spheres for a more 3D effect.  I just winged the pattern.  I made two red circles (or four as I made a pair of cherries for each pocket.)  I then didn't fancy faffing about with leaves (even though I know they are super simple to make.)  I wanted this to be a very quick make.  I decided that a long green chain tied into a bow would look just darling for this purpose. 

 

 

 

Ta dahhhhhhhh!  A super quick, super simple make.  It has definitely brightened up this cardie.  I've worn it once and it was much admired.  Now I feel the urgent need to change the buttons.  I think I have just the ones too.........

 

My super crafting Sunday didn't come to an end there.  I found some cute flowers that I knew would make lovely brooches in this book So I had a play around with the pattern and made this.

 

 

 

 

This was a fun make and I enjoyed doing a bit of stiching for a change.  I wore this one day last week but unfortunately I lost the flower!  That'll teach me for taking short cute.  I used my glue gun to attach the flower to the brooch back.  I should have stitched it!  Lesson learnt!

 

Still, there's more!  I have developed a little love of all things cute and housey (you may remember my little line of homemade house on my Mantelpiece of Special Things in my last post.)  When I was at Knit and Natter the other week I purchased this gorgeous brooch from the selection of gorgeous hand made goodies on display in the Glass Cabinets of Temptation in the shop!

 

 

 

I love it and this brooch together with my gorgeous beany pal's Arthur pattern got my creative cogs a tickin and I decided I could knit a house brooch of my own.  I raided my fabric and button stash and the ideas kept a flowin!  First I knitted a house...........

 

 



 

Then I crocheted a house .............

 

 

Then I knitted another house (and had fun with stripes and dinky bunting......

 

 

 

 

By Sunday evening I felt a great sense of achievement.  Sometimes making small things really hits that urge of instant satisfaction.  I had great fun playing around with different ideas.  Each house lead to new ideas and half way through each one I was excited about possible ideas for the next!  I still have some other ideas jotted down in my Notebook of Crafty Ideas but they are saved for another day.

A few days later, on Wednesday, I was out in my local shopping centre with a friend I am teaching to crochet (although we didn't do much crocheting this time!) and we ended up browsing John Lewis' habadashery department.  I found some cute bird box fabric which I knew I had to buy for my gorgeoud buddy  Cuckoo as her craft room is called The Bird Box and all things birdie/bird boxy always make me think I her.  I had no idea what she'd be able to do with it or if she'd even like it but I just had to get some.  The fabric created another little crafty idea in my head.  Her birthday is today but I had it in my head that it was later in May so hadn't even started making the (not so little) project I had in mind so I hoped I could pull off my new idea in a jiffy and pop in it the post in time for her to get it for her birthday.  Here's what I made.......

 

 

a dinky bird box brooch fitting with my current crafty theme!  I'm rather pleased with it.  It was made with a whole lot of love and thoughts of Cuckoo

 

I wonder what kind of brooch I can make next?!  I loves a brooch I do.  I find that they really perk up a cardie or a jacket (or a cape!)

 

I'll leave you with a little WIP that became a FO since I last posted.  A baby blanket for an old uni friend who had a baby in March (I got a bit slack at sewing in the ends.  The blanket was finished yonks before I actually got my ass into gear and sewed them all in!)

 

 

I found it tricky to part with this one as I had grown quite attached to it and think it looked quite good over the back of my sofa on top of the other one!  Currently planning a Cath Kidston inspired granny square blanket for myself!  Watch this space!

 

What have you been making lately you lovely people you? Hope your days are being filled with sunshine and crafting!

 

Love love love

 

Erin x