First Post

My new years' post is a bit late I know, but better late that never! I feel so guilty with regards to my infrequent blogging but other things always seem to get in the way. I feel doubly guilty because I so enjoy reading other peoples blogs and I know what effort and dedication it takes to make a post every few days or, as in some cases, everyday! Thanks to all you bloggers out there!

I saw this pattern on Jezzes' blog and was intrigued. I printed out the pattern here and started to knit. It is fascinating and not that difficult but you can't stop in the middle of a row and you have to know exactly where you are in the pattern. I unpicked the whole thing twice because I lost my place and could't figure out where to start again, other than that it's really easy!


I didn't make anything out of it, I just wanted to see if I could do the pattern. It really is addictive, as Jezze says, and maybe I'll try again when the weather cools down a bit.

Treasury

Thanks to strawberry lane crafts for her beautiful selection and

to ARTbyMCB for including my bug cushion cover in his treasury.

SA silly sale

These are some of the items Jezze has selected from the participating 'SA silly sale' shops. To find more go to SAsillysale.

Gift Bag

A gift for a friend. I had some canvas bags left over from another project which I slipped inside the crochet bag. I hope this will add a bit of stability and keep it from stretching. The handle stretched to almost double it's original length and had to be shortened (twice)!

I used a piece of the fabric I printed a while ago, for a tag and I think it looked rather inviting! She loves purple, hence the colour combo!

Birdy notebook

This beautiful notebook I found on hensteethart blog inspired me to try one of my own.

I didn't use fabric for the inside cover, which was a mistake because the paper is a bit to soft and floppy. I love the idea of using random textures for the pages and I added in recycled envelopes, lace and handmade paper.

The paper was made by a friend of mine and I am going to give it back to her in the form of a notebook. I know she will appreciate it! I also used some paper from an old atlas in the cover.

Mine is not half as nice, but thanks Viv for the inspiration!

Leaf printing

My second attempt at printing, this time using leaves. The effects are fantastic but it is rather a messy process. The most difficult thing is getting the ink on the stem and leaving enough space to hold it when you place it on the fabric.

I don't have a very big garden so I've started looking for leaves where ever I go . This leaf is some type of lemon scented herb that I found in a friends' garden. It worked well but unfortunately I don't have more leaves to practise with. I 've planted a slip which is growing well but will be a while before I can pick the leaves.

This is a geranium leaf which also worked quite well. Apparently the softer and more furry the leaf the better. If it's shiny and smooth the dye doesn't penetrate well and you don't get such nice detail.

Printing

As my digital printer isn't working I've been looking at other ways to decorate fabric. My first try was cutting out a leaf, attaching it to an old block and printing. I just placed the leaf randomly and didn't really think to much about the spacing etc

Obviously the secret is the application of the paint to the lino, to much makes blobs and spreads, and to little limits the coverage.

The great thing is that you can print light on dark which I couldn't do with the digital printer. Not much compensation I must admit but at the moment I don't have much option!