Daisy Doodle And More

 

The lady who ordered the third food cover said she wants daisies on it. I fiddled with stitch counts and different constructions until I came up with this. I'm sure there are similar patterns out there, but I'm not going to scour the internet looking for them. I'm all for protecting copyright, but I think the Just Tatting site on Facebook gets a bit carried away when it comes to people independently coming up with similar designs.  

I showed Chantelle the daisy; she likes it, and is happy to have other flowers on the food cover too. I thought I might do 'bouquets' in the corners and scattered daisies in the centre. Where to begin? I started with Jane Eborall's This Way And That Way pattern. If you look at the pattern, you'll see it's a snowflake! It looks like a flower to me, but to emphasise its floweriness, I did muskaan's leaf to put alongside them.

I love both these patterns, and they're both copyright-worthy!

Food Cover

 

All the butterflies are attached and the second food cover  is done. I listened to podcasts as I sewed and used white thread throughout and it went quite quickly. 

Angels and Butterflies

 

We made fabric angels at the retirement home on Friday. I saw several examples on Pinterest and then followed a series of links until I found this tutorial.  It's always fun to see the different versions of a project that emerge. 

I'm still working on Jane Eborall butterflies for my second food cover. I should have enough by the end of the day and be able to start sewing them to the net. 

Another Butterfly Net

 

My friend Grace asked me to make two butterfly food covers. I'm working on the second one. I've done the edging, with machine embroidered leaves and beads. I need to tat a lot more SCMR butterflies. 

I showed a picture of the first net to someone else and she asked me to make her a daisy one. So that's been added to my to-do list. 

The Market Went Well

 The weather was unseasonably cool on Saturday, but the market was well attended none the less. I was very happy with my sales. I sold the owl tow'l, shown in the previous post, and another towel, which was a big sale. I also sold smaller items  - gloves, puppets, jams, beaded key rings... Oh, and two small Kigelia trees that Jack has grown from seed. I like to buy as well as sell at the market, but definitely finished up in the black this month. 

I wanted some knitting to do while I was at the market, so cast on for socks on Thursday. In truth, I didn't get much knitting done at the market, but it's always a talking point. And I have finished the socks:

Ready For Market

 

 I've made an owl tow'l as well as some puppets for tomorrow's morning market. I hope the wind will have died down by tomorrow; the weather has been cool and windy, which doesn't encourage people to wander around a market. Oh well, we can't control the weather, so will have to take it as it comes. 

Ticking Along

 

I finished last week's tasks and then took the weekend off. I spent all day Monday tatting lavender bunches, while listening to podcasts.  I did five, to complete the order.  Now I'm working on puppets for Saturday's market. 

A Flutter Of Butterflies

 

 

I've tatted a flutter of Jane's SCMR  butterflies and am busy sewing them to the food cover. I need to deliver the food cover tomorrow, so I must get on with it. 

Of Bags And Butterflies

 

Once we got going, a lot of fun was had, decorating my cloth bags. The circles with a cross in the middle were done with cotton reels, the rest with bubble wrap and straight painting.  I do like how each one is unique. 

I had planned to tat more butterflies for my food cover after the craft meeting, but I had an urgent request for lavender, so I tatted those instead. I delivered one on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday, and have tatted another three towards the order for 10. Muskaan is right, I need to keep a few in stock.

I now need to sew more jewelry bags. The silversmith has asked for them to be a bit smaller, so I will have to work out the measurements before I start. 

Sold

 

A lady contacted me to say she'd seen the bath puppets at the market and wanted to buy four.  So the market wasn't such a bust after all. 

I had hoped to have finished the food cover by now, but I way underestimated the time it would take me to prepare for tomorrow's craft group. How did I think I was going to make 10 market bags in a morning? 

I have now finished sewing them and decorated a sample:

To make the flowers, I put bubble wrap over the end of a paper roll, put paint on that and used it as a 'stamp'. I just drew the stems and leaves with a wax crayon. The members of the group will likely come up with other ways of doing it. 

Butterfly Net

 

I showed my food cover to a friend recently and she said, "Ooh, please make two for me". My own cover has a tatted edging, but that would take too long, especially as Grace wants hers a little bigger than mine. So I used my sewing machine to sew a 'leafy' stitch and am sewing beads between the leaves. Beads help hold the food cover in place. I've made a start on the butterflies, but will need many more to decorate the cover. I'm using Jane Eborall's SCMR butterfly, using a variety of thread sizes, which will make butterflies of different sizes. 

Two Finishes

 

I'm done with Wiosna 2024, thanks very much Renata for the pattern. I haven't completed the doily, but it's already slightly too big for the space I want it for. I'm glad to have it done, it's been a UFO for a few months while I was busy with other things. One of the ladies in my knit'n'natter group boasts about how many unfinished projects she has, but I like to finish before I move on! 

I finished another project this morning, the knee blanket in waffle stitch:

I stand by my opinion that the yarn colour is not well suited to waffle stitch, but I carried on regardless and it's done. Summer has arrived, so I may need to put it away for a while before I find someone who needs a knee rug, but it was an excellent take along project, so the timing is secondary. 

Working On Round 12

 

 I'm working on  round 12 of this year's Spring doily. This is the last round I plan to do, so I want to push on and get it done. The whole doily has 22 rounds, but I don't need a doily that large and I don't have the time needed to complete it, so I'm stopping early. I'm enjoying the round and think it will finish the doily off fine. 

Tomatoes and Strawberries

 I enjoyed my morning at the market, but didn't sell much. All the stallholders I spoke to said the same. Oh well, it's probably a good thing as it gives me more time to do other jobs, like processing the tomatoes and strawberries that are ripening rapidly in the garden.

I cooked the tomatoes up yesterday with onions and celery for the freezer. Today I'm making strawberry jam and strawberry mousse. 

Replacements

 

I sold four puppets on Friday  - hippo, dog, frog and shark. I've made replacements for them, plus two monkeys. That will be fine for Saturday's market. The gift shop down the road has also asked for puppets, so anything that doesn't sell at the market can go there. Or I may need to make more replacements! 

Squaring Up

 I was very tempted to tat over the weekend. But I have another order for jewellery bags and I need to prepare for Saturday's market, so I got on with sewing bags instead. 

People who are experienced in using a cutting mat will say, "Duh!" But, new to me,  I discovered that when cutting the strips into bags, I need to make sure the ruler is aligned with the whole grid on the mat, not just the part covered by the fabric. I knew that using a rotary cutter and mat would need practice and experience. I'm not yet up to patchwork standards! 

Tomorrow's Project

 

Tomorrow, at a retirement home craft group, we'll be making bookmarks out of cardboard and tapestry wool.  I browsed Pinterest and found various pins that will help me prepare, many of them just pictures with no instructions. I've bought some chenille needles, no 18, that I think will be easy to use and sharp enough to pierce the cardboard.  The tapestry wool was donated. 

The Basket Looks Better

 

The basket is fuller, so I'm leaving puppets for now and working on jewellery bags again. We're back to the schedule of 30 bags in the last week of the month. The lady who made the bags before me was a quilter. I'm still following her instructions and tips, such as using a cardboard gauge when pressing the hem:

Refilling The Basket

 

Someone who bought a puppet at the last market wants three more. I also need puppets for the next market. So I'm working on refilling the basket. I'm not doing my favourite two-at-a-time method because I need as much variety as possible. 

Detour

 

I'm still tatting, but I took a quick detour from the Spring doily to tat a bookmark as a birthday gift for a friend. This is Jane Eborall's pattern, Flowery SCMR bookmark. 

Round 11

 

Round 11 is done at last. It took longer than it should have because I kept making mistakes. I had to use every trick in the book - untat, snip rings not chains, false CTM  - thanks muskaan for reminding me about false CTM. Anyway, it is now done and blocked. I plan to do one more round and then stop. 

Half Way

 

I'd forgotten how little work I'd done round 11 of  the Spring doily before I put the project on hold.  Anyway,  I've made some progress and reached half way. I put the doily on the grid of the cutting pad to make sure that half the number of flower motifs reached half way round the circle. I think it's fine. 

Ready For Summer

 

I've finished sewing the dress for me, all set to wear it as the weather warms up. I'm not good at taking selfies, so I didn't model it, sorry Stephanie! 

For Me

 I've completed all orders, yay, so I have time to do some of my own projects. I've tatted a bit more of round 11 of the Spring doily and I'm busy sewing myself a dress. Of course, I still have obligations like preparing a craft project every week, but there are enough hours and energy left to do something personal. 

Ten Years Later

 

The sheets that I sewed ten years ago have collapsed in a heap. I bought a set of sheets and pillowcases in 100% cotton. I like the idea of 100% cotton, but when I washed them, they were wrinkled and clearly in need of ironing. Hmm. My life is too short to iron sheets. So I bought polycotton fabric and sewed my own. It took a bit of time and effort, of course, but will save me both in the long run. The fabric cost about half what the bought set cost; I think that even with my labour I'm ahead financially. 

Oops, make that eleven and a half years later. 

Waffling

 I sold six puppets at the market on Saturday. I'll need to refill the puppet basket before the next market, in a month's time. I didn't sell any knitwear, which wasn't surprising because our weather is warming up rapidly. 

I finished crocheting my waffle stitch knee rug:

I really enjoyed making it, it's perfect for working at a knit'n'natter session, or at the market. So I thought I'd make another one. I bought some yarn on Friday, called Carnival, 80% acrylic and 20% wool, made in Turkey. 

It turns out to be a really bad choice for the job! The short, high contrast colour changes give a scrambled look that shows off neither the waffle stitch nor the yarn to advantage. I talked to the owner of the yarn shop at the market on Saturday and she said the yarn looks better knitted. I considered knitting a cardigan instead, but the wool is quite harsh to the touch, so I don't think it'll make a comfortable garment. I've decided to carry on regardless:

For Market

 

I've spun, dyed and wound two skeins of wool and made four puppets for Saturday's market. Monkey and crocodile are the most popular puppets, so I had to make sure I had those! I have another four puppets left in stock, so that should be alright. I'm going to be sharing a table this month, so I can afford to be a bit skimpy. 

Variation

 

I spun and dyed two skeins for fingerless gloves. I didn't want to make the pairs identical, so I used a pattern, Leaves by Valknitting, for the second pair. The stitch numbers are the same as the previous pair, but there is a pattern on the back of these ones.

Preparing For Market

 I finished all my orders and have delivered them all. The jewelry lady doesn't need bags this week. Which is just as well because I only have a week to prepare for the monthly market. I began by whipping up an easy pair of fingerless gloves

The weather is warming up rapidly, so I'm not expecting many sales, but I don't want to go along with an empty basket. I need to make more puppets, as well as more woollen things, so this week will be busy. 

Ticking Them Off

 I'm getting through my list. The socks are not quite finished, but I can do that tomorrow at the knit 'n' natter meeting. The jewelry bags are done and ready to be delivered tomorrow. The tea cosy and peg bag are done:

I'll have to make sure the tea cosy fits the teapot when I deliver it. I couldn't find mine to use as a pattern, so I had to wing it, and am not convinced it's correct. 

Just as I was seeing progress on my list, I had a  call from someone needing a cover for a salad bowl, with a beaded edge, before Saturday. Right. Here we go:

I've done the job, but it meant I've left it late to start preparing for tomorrow's craft group. Our plan was to paste pictures onto vinegar bottles to turn them into plant pots. But this morning I realised that I don't have enough suitable pictures for the job. I was thinking of using old calendars, but the pictures are much too big. Panic, panic. Plan B needed. 

I wrapped the cut off bottle in bubble wrap, and painted the dots. I hope that will work. Jack has chilli plants for us to plant in them.

Getting Through My To-do List

 

 The tatted lavender is parcelled up, ready for delivery. This is the second half of the order.

Yesterday, I made a small batch of piccalilli, using another cauliflower from the garden:

The bottles still need to be labelled.

I started knitting socks for an order at the knit'n'natter session on Friday. I made progress on sock 1 yesterday evening, but it's still a WIP:

This morning I'm working on the next batch of 30 jewelry bags, after a week off.

Next on the to-do list are orders for a teacosy and a peg bag. I do like the variety! 

Another Pair

 

I've finished knitting the second pair of gloves, Alder Fingerless Mitts by Agnes Zombori. I shortened the cuff length of this pair and the one shown in the previous post; the pattern shows a much longer cuff. I shortened them to make them conform with the other fingerless gloves I make.