Wednesday 21 September 2011

Skinny Love

Its officially the end of my summer and what a way to spend it. After months of sitting and knitting my cruel and ironic finale, by the fate of a knitting needle, leaves me sitting and knitting for one more week. Honestly I needed this summer, almost to repent and rediscover myself as an individual. For two years I've been very caught up with these ideas of love and 'soul' searching, the fear of being single and the depression that came with losing friends. It may have taken some time but I do feel at peace and all those moments that felt like the end of the world wash over and I can just smile.

The combination of some very good friends, knitting and learning about a different way of life has done wonders on my personality. I may have seemed hidden away but I'm about ready to get back into the world. Going back to university excites me as I'll be working on a different game plan.

I have so much to blog about and patterns I'd really like to post but I drove myself crazy knitting my dad a hat for his birthday. As I was ill for it I wanted it to be lovely for him and staying up till 4am may have warped the design slightly. So watch this space for all my new uploads, but for now I've gotta go back up to Bournemouth and make the most of my student time.

Dads Hat 
Pattern I made and worked from
Where The Wild Things Are hat designed, made and modelled by me! haha

The reason behind my 'accident' was this hat here. My dear friend Kris asked me to make it for him and whilst knitting it the trauma occurred. I don't blame him for what happened.... much! 

Spongebob Design
So when I was last at uni, April some time, I was knitting a jumper for some guy I was seeing (rookie mistake, stick with quick knit hats or scarfs for men with potential). I stopped knitting it but picked it up last week when I was ill. I had the back made and the start of the front, however had lost the pattern. The result in shape is a little mis-match, however designing the face was fun and a prototype really. I'll upload the picture design as soon as I get a chance to digitalise it!

Finished front, the back looks a little crazy! 



Finished the embroidery on JC and made the back on my machine! Just need to stitch that together! 
Also this week I've been making a red fox to send off to America, I've got its ears to sew on then its ready to go! Just want a lovely box to put it in!

Grumpy and hard at work!

Three foxes!

My work room I'm sadly leaving. 
 Soooooo I'm sorry if my postings a little all over the place. I've gone into over drive as I've so much to do and no time! Click click see you in Bournemouth!

Saturday 17 September 2011

Three lovely days and a trip to a&e

Friday

On Friday I went up to Hylands House to be a wedding photographer, something I had never done before. As I knew the bride and groom it was quite nice, a real Walker day out as my mother did the hair for the bride and my father shot along side me. The wedding was beautiful making it a pleasure to shoot!
Saturday

On saturday I went back up to Hylands to do a shoot. Thanks to my friends Truly Madly Vintage we had some lovely pieces to shoot with, as well as sneaking some of my foxes in!


Sunday

Sunday was my day out with I Knit London, however things did not run as smoothly as I had planned. With my sister Kate we headed up to London on a slow train making us 20 mins late and missing the special train we had tickets to go on. As Kate predicted everything worked out and we had a lovely day on vintage trains, busses and looking at beautiful classic cars. We also headed over to the V&A to see their exhibition 'The Power of Making' which was amazing. They had a giant piece of knitting which only furthered my want for 28mm needles. My favourite exhibit was the crochet bear, I think it was to scale but I couldn't be sure! It was beautifully done and an inspiration for my next project. I believe when you see what you truly love doing exhibited in a way such as this you do feel a pride of being apart of the knitting community.
Monday

Monday started off well, I saw an old friend and later my parents dress rehearsal for the show they are currently starring in. A while ago my sister told me if I ran my knitting needles through my hair the grease made it easier to knit, so as I knitted in the dark with a vintage pair of 3 3/4 needles and the wool being a little tough to knit with I misjudged my head and stabbed myself in the ear.
With an explosion of pain and a ringing I never knew existed off to a&e we went. Luckily I had only made a huge hole in my ear drum and not destroyed my inner ear, however It's not healing too fast :( I'd like to be in Bournemouth for Friday so I'm praying it'll be okay!

So here's a little update on my knits this week:
And finally Happy Birthday Dad :) had a lovely meal at Frankie and Bennys despite my leaky ear! Going to make you a fabulous scarf and hat once I can walk in a straight line :)

Thursday 8 September 2011

Patterns and Patterns and Patterns



Although I knit everyday the items I am knitting are only really seen by my facebook friends. As I receive requests mainly from friends I don't worry too much about promoting myself.  However, a couple of days ago a friend from Bournemouth asked if I could knit her a cat for her mothers birthday on Sunday, so with a day and a half to do it I recorded the pattern rather than free handing it. She sent me a couple of photos of knitted cats she liked and the real life cat I was basing it on. Luckily I had a ball of smoking black wool so I could start on it right away. Here are some photos of the cats transformation and you can see the final project on my free pattern page. I sold it via Etsy, so it is my first 'official' sale! I have now submitted the pattern to Ravelry and another website so I hope people enjoy it! 

Yesterday I started on a snowy fox I could use on a shoot on Saturday! I need to get the body finished, but will do that on my machine! I also wanted to do another red one for the shoot however I may just have to take my first one! I've got a busy weekend ahead, a wedding tomorrow, fashion shoot saturday and day out with I Knit on sunday! I really hope the weather is nice!






Tuesday 6 September 2011

Blue Tits and Spaceships

Knitted Tie Fighter 

I'd like to think I could knit most things by hand, free handed even, however knitting a Star Wars Tie Fighter was a real challenge. After being shown some photos of one by my new friend Ben Swalies I had to attempt it. I knitted 4 versions of the outer pieces: the first in separate shapes, second and third free handed and the forth I had to digitally make the pattern to finally get it looking somewhat presentable. Other versions I have seen of it have all been crochet, so if I was to attempt it again I wouldn't knit it! (well maybe chunky wool on small needles rather than DK to make it stiffer). He seems to like it so it all turned out okayyy!  

Outer Piece Pattern


So with my new friend Ben I braved London for the day. I wouldn't say I am a massive wimp when it comes to cities, but definitely need some assistance when bumbling around them. We had a nice day, visiting Brick Lane where I brought two beanie babies! I also saw this jumper, which was a nice bit of inspiration! Simple but really lovely! With the cold and rain just round the corner the wooly jumper will rise again and I'll get to see loads of beautiful designs where ever I go :))

Lovely Jumper in a Brick Lane Window 

After Brick Lane we visited the Natural History Museum and I got to see the amazing animatronic dinosaurs, I'm not too sure if they were to scale, they seem to be different sizes in different parts of the museum, and a lot bigger in Jurassic Park. Despite having some beef with the sizes of the exhibits and the lies about the dodo bird it was a lovely trip. Looking at all the stuffed (and model) animals it did give me some ideas for my knitting and I learnt an awful lot!

Long Neck

Getting some ideas for future knitting projects. 

On my train journey I was working on a baby hat I had been asked to knit, I still have four more to do but I think this was a good start! I first attempted to do them on my dpns however it did not give as nicer finish as just working on regular needles. Working with one of my favourite colour wools I created this. It could be a monkey or a bear cub, however you want to see it! I finished it yesterday and will get started on the rest tomorrow. 

Monkey/Bear Cub New Born's Hat

After finishing the newborn hat I was thinking about going back to uni and what to shoot. I began looking into animal cruelty and the use of animals in fashion. I wanted to knit something that would ultimately fit with my faux foxes. I found a pattern online for a blue tit and started working on it but changing the colours to oranges and browns. I thought about the use of birds in fascinators and thought I should try out a pattern before designing my own. I was quite happy for a nights work, however it has let my arm in a support bandage and clicking like crazy. Ooopps. I'm getting in quite a few orders at the moment so I'm moving between machine knitting and hand knitting to keep my bones from snapping! 


Working on Four Needles 


Finished Bird! 

Saturday 3 September 2011

Sly Days

Yesterday I met with make up artist Laura Jane Brown to talk about the shoot we are doing on the 10th. Over a Starbucks she showed me her ideas and the models which she had sourced, who were all beautiful! We then headed down to Truly Madly Vintage to get some styling ideas and purchase ourselves some lovely pieces.




We picked out some items and had a good look through the shop! I brought a skirt and a pair of amazing trousers. After some charity shopping we visited Hammonds photography studio to talk about doing some headshots. Overall it was a fantastic start to the day.


Once I had returned home I had a fox to finish and whilst browsing facebook saw that I Knit London were giving away 10 tickets to ride a vintage tube train with their knitting circle. I phoned up and got two tickets! So next weekend I have a wedding to shoot, a fashion shoot and a trip to London! I hope the weather holds up!



With my uncle ordering a fox I decided to make it on my machine. It was a lot quicker and had a neater feel to him, although i did hand knit the head. There were a couple of nicks but the more I am using the machine the better I am getting. I am really just playing around with the design, making each one different and seeing what works. This one has a much lighter feel to him than my first, and the wool is darker like the monocle fox. I would like to do one in a lighter, ginger colour. And speaking of that I'm dying my hair today :O





And lastly I have been working on a small fox for a stop motion I am planning to do next term. I will be knitting the whole set, so it is a big project! Watch this space :)))




Friday 2 September 2011

Purls by the Sea

Recently I took my first trip up to the plot of land my parents have brought in Overstrand, Norfolk. Like any untended land it was pretty overgrown  and according to the neighbours even had deer living in it. Mother told us to dress for the rain, so I felt it was the perfect occasion for my jungle, acid house shell suit jacket. 


One of the reasons for going up to Overstrand was to see the Belfry Arts Centre, which was having a small knitting exhibition called 'Purls by the Sea'. Free to enter and with a nice atmosphere it hosted some really unique knits and crochets. One of the most interesting exhibits was of hanging jumpers, each with a different design and technique. The tags on the jumpers said North Shaw, however I cannot seem to find any links online to the artist. I think seeing work 'exhibited' opens your eyes to knitting as an art form, I do feel my course has sucked dry my inspiration and changed how I see the world however when I knit I do feel like me again. You can submit pieces to the centre for their forth coming show which I may start doing today, as the date is pretty soon. 








As the drive was ever so long I was knitting and knitting and knitting and managed to get another row of unicorns completed. The tension is a lot better than the first row because I twisted the wool slightly differently. I can't wait for it to be done so I can put the pattern up on some websites! 

The Etsy Awards - One Year On

I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I won the Etsy Awards. Time has flown by and my small business has grown so much. Winning th...