Happy New Year

 

Thanks very much to all those who read my blog during the year, those who commented and those who started following me. I know that blogs are less popular than they used to be, but as long as writing the blog suits me, and someone is reading, that's fine. I hope that 2023 is a really good year for you all.

In case you're wondering, I thought that the lily buds on my veranda could symbolise the potential of the new year. 

A Week?

 Goodness, I seldom go for a week without posting on my blog. Sorry about that. We have had family members here, which has been wonderful. I did make an amigarumi mouse for Annika and a tatted bookmark as a gift, but didn't take any photos. Everyone has left now, though the Australian contingent are on a nightmarish journey after a plane delay caused them to miss a connection. Now I'm busy washing sheets and getting straight and then I'll get back into crafting.

Dottier Than Ever

 

I made a hat using a bit of fabric left over from the polka dot dress.  Hats are always useful of course, but my main aim was to practise using a rotary cutter and ruler. It's a gift from my brother, which my daughter kindly went shopping for and carried across the ocean. 

Mmm, it's more difficult than I supposed. It looks so easy when the people in the YouTube videos do it! I'll get there, the hat is just the first step. 

Polka Dots

 

It looks better worn than hanging on a hanger, so I tried to take a selfie in the mirror, but it didn't really work! I made the polka dot fabric I showed in the previous post into my favourite put-on-and-go dress. It doesn't have any zips or buttons so is easy to put on in a hurry. Not that that's the only reason I like it of course, it ticks many of my boxes. 

Jack's portulaca looks so pretty this morning that I couldn't resist taking a photo:

Past And Future

 We had lovely weather for the market on Saturday and it went well. I sold some puppets, Christmas decorations and key rings, and spent my earnings at the other stalls! Oh yes, I sold a woolen hat too and had a long conversation with the man who bought it. The conversations are half the fun of the market. 

My daughter has been on a shopping spree for me, she brought me all sorts of sewing notions as well as these fabrics. The polka dot material is three metres in length, I'll make a dress with that. The others are two metres long, for skirts. Watch this space, as they say. 

Towels For Market

 

I made five puppets yesterday morning and sold four in the afternoon! I decided that I would make the two hooded towels I want for market before I make another attempt to reach my puppet target. So here they are - unicorn and flamingo. The flamingo is from Crazy Little Projects, here.  I had a pink towel handy, so a flamingo seemed appropriate. 

Waiting For Outage

 

Our electricity supply has been really erratic lately. It's on this morning, so I started early and have done the machine work on five puppets. I'll finish them off when there's no power. I prefer to finish a puppet completely before moving on to the next one, but needs must... I sold three puppets yesterday, which is great, but means I have to work a little harder to have enough puppets ready for Saturday's market. 

A Little Cow

 

My granddaughter Isabel asked if I could make a little amigurumi cow. Sure. There are hundreds of pictures of amigurumi cows on Pinterest, but finding a usable pattern proved more difficult than I expected. I settled on this one.  I printed out the pattern (these patterns are difficult to follow on a screen) and followed it meticulously. And finished up with a head that was bigger than the body!

Mmm, no. I undid a fair bit of the head and then assembled snout, ears etc. I think she's in reasonable proportion now. 

Bits

 

I fiddle with pattern pieces when I'm cutting out puppets and towels to minimise wastage, but I'm necessarily left with little bits of toweling. I've thought of various ways of using them up, such as patchwork bath mats or scrubbies:

The problem is, they're all fiddly and time consuming and not cost-effective. So I"m now using the bits as disposable cleaning cloths. That is, I clean something with them before I throw them away!