Psycho Delia

Oh dear.  Blog week didn't go all according to plan here at eggbird did it?  I'm quite sad I missed out, but these things happen.  I wasn't feeling too great last week, and lost interest in a lot of things that I usually enjoy - blogging seemed to be the worst hit.  Sod's law really, but happily I can report feeling much more enthused now and normal service should be resumed forthwith!

The squares you see at the top there are the starting blocks of my new BIG project, which I'm pretty excited about.  But first, I'd like to share a story.

 
You are of course all aware of the terrible tragedy which happened in Japan.  A couple of weeks ago, a group of Japanese students in Bangor started fundraising for the Red Cross.  They did a really amazing job, and raised an incredible amount.  As part of their efforts, they organised a cultural day: an event to promote Japanese culture which would also raise funds to send to the Red Cross.  My friend Yuka asked if I would like to be involved by crocheting things for people to buy.  Since I only had a couple of days, I needed something quick and simple, so I made some Pretty Little Petals (you can find the tutorial in the sidebar) in the colours of the Japanese flag

We asked only for a small donation for the flowers, but people were incredibly generous.  It was a fantastic day, with so much love and support for the people of Japan and for the Japanese students in Bangor.

And then on the way home from evening service on Sunday, we were approached by a friend of a friend of a friend, who from nowhere asked "are you the girl who makes the flowers?"  That was a strange feeling I can tell you!!  Such a strange coincidence, but it really lifted my spirits when I'd been in need of them lifting.  And now I have another Japan flower made which will be passed via friend via friend via friend to someone I don't know.  Awesome!  Just goes to show that kindness and love is always returned somehow or other when you most need it :)

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Psycho Delia - or Granny P. Delia - is finally making progress.  I had so many false starts, I uhm-ed and ah-ed about colour combos (hence the psychedelic reference in the project title), I very nearly gave in and sold off the Stylecraft via Rav (madness I know!!).  But then I looked again at Lucy's Sweet Flower Blanket from which I'm drawing my inspiration, and decided to just GO FOR IT!  Hurray for Lucy, eh?!

Even though I'm joining-as-I-go, the amount of ends already trailing about is really rather frightning!  Good thing I can ignore those for a while then!!

Anyway, I'm very glad to be back in blog-world - now all that's left is to catch up on all of your marvy posts that have stacked up in my reader!

Much love,

Kim x

Blank Canvas

It's another gloomy grey day out in North Wales...  luckily I have my orchid to cheer things up.  Those pink freckles are just so happy-making!

...another thing to be happy about: the granny stripe leftovers have been organised into complementary palettes as above, and been assigned to Specific Projects....

...which is where the blank canvas comes in.  I bought this pillow a few weeks ago in Lidl for just a couple of quid, and have been itching to work on a cover for it ever since.  The Rico and Patons leftovers seem like the ideal choice - I'll have a pillow that compliments, but doesn't match, my granny stripe.  Perfect! :)

And the extra exciting thing about this project is that I've written a new pattern especially to suit the yarn and the squareness of the pillow.  There are just a couple of tweaks to make, and if all goes well with this project, the pattern will be ready to share with you all!  :D

In other news, I'm now well underway with preparations for Blog Week.  This is my first time participating, but I'm very much looking forward to it.  If you'd like more info about what happens in blog week, and how to get involved, you can click on the little poster at the top of this page.

Anyhow, enough waffle from me, time to get back to some hooking!

Kim x

Granny Oblong: Part One

You might remember that last night, I posted about having lots of ideas fluttering around my brain... well this afternoon I sat down and set about bringing a few of them to life.  What happened is perhaps best described as "unexpected"... I'll let the pictures do most of the talking:

Close, but no cigar...

Now we're getting somewhere!

Where've the petals got to?  ...Ribbit ribbit!

Ooh, I'm liking the cut of your jib!

An oblong, eh?  Fair enough.

A granny oblong!  Where did that come from?!  It needs a bit of neatening up, and a bit more tinkering, but hopefully I'll be back sometime next week with a fully written up pattern to share, and maybe even a completed cushion cover. 

What d'you think?  Be gentle with me - it's my first design! ;)

Much love, Kim x

Scribbles

Clicking on the images in this post should take you to larger versions...

I've had so many lovely, encouraging comments about the sketches in this blog, that I thought I would dedicate a full post to sharing some more...

I'm afraid that I've not a clue how to reply to your comments directly (or even if that's possible...?), but I do read and appreciate them all...

     

I don't have any sketches framed (although perhaps I should think about it), but I do sometimes blu tack some to the wall.  The rest stay in the sketchbook or folder.

It made me laugh that upon encountering this sketch at a university exhibition, the Mayoress of Bangor had absolutely no idea what it was meant to be (she even held it upside down for quite some time).  I decided to call it "Mystery Fish" in her honour.

       

     

The pictures of animals tend to come from photography in the National Geographic.  I did the life drawings as part of the University Art Society which I helped to run, and the flowers either come from real life, photos or brain-doodles.

Unlike knitting or crochet, I find that sketching can sometimes be a bit frustrating because it's not always possible to acheive the exact effect I'm going for.  But when I'm in the "zone", I think it's probably my favourite hobby of all.  :)

Grannies, Tulips & Butterflies

I'll admit that granny was having a bit of a snooze (no progress for more than a week!!), but as soon as I re-started, I was - as they say - hooked all over again.  ;)

It's currently 41 stripes long (82 rows!  Golly gosh), and only something like 19 stripes to go before it's border time!  Oooh, it makes me soooo happy happy happy :D

But, happiest of all is that the granny-bug has bitten not one, but TWO of my housemates!  Both came and requested I teach them the basics so they could start on granny stripes of their own.  I'll have to ask their permission to take photos, but they're both looking lovely.  Only one more housemate to convert *ahem* inspire...

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Tulips are without doubt one of my favourite flowers.  These turned up on Valentines Day, during our anti-anti-valentines/embrace-your-singledom celebrations.  I expect that they'll show up in a few doodles later when I get round to scribbling down some ideas.

The trouble is that there are just so many ideas fluttering around my brain like little butterflies at the moment.  That's how my art teacher used to describe my thinking: "a butterfly mind". 

It's not a terrible thing in and of itself.  If anything, it makes me happy because at my lowest points my imagination disappeared completely and that was a terrifying thing to feel.  But having so many thoughts; images; colours; strands of sound at one time, it becomes exactly like trying to catch a cloud of butterflies: they don't want to be stuck down and tamed.

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining though.  I try to embrace these periods - they make me feel well again :)

A Wonky Stitchalong

The lovely folks at feeling stitchy are now in the second week of their stitchalong of this pretty flower pattern.  I've been meaning for ages to learn some proper embroidery techniques, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

It's a little bit wonky, and a few of the stitches have twisted, but I like to think that adds charm ;)

There are some really lovely modifications of the patterns happening in the stitchalong.  Perhaps once I'm more confident with these stitches, I'll have another (neater!) go.

Green

Here's a little preview of something I've been working on for FAR too long.  Somewhere in the region of 4 months in fact.  And when you discover what a simple little thing it really is, you'll wonder how on earth it's taken so long.  I've not a clue I'm afraid.  What I do know is that it WILL be finished by the end of next week, OR ELSE!  ("Or else" what is yet to be decided.  An extension of the current self-imposed "no WIPs please, your indecisiveness is costing me a bloody fortune in materials" policy?  Probably not.  Maybe just an outright biscuit ban?  Hmm... something to ponder there methinks!)

Anyway, the real reason I start with this is because it's led to a bit of a new thing.  Namely, I can't stop buying plants (my dad will be so proud)

This is Henry.  His label refers to him as "a prickly desert friend", and I'll be honest, that's the main reason I bought him (what can I say, vague anthropomorphism is clearly a plus in my head).

Anyway, Henry is where it started.  Then I spotted Cuthbert (my friend Jo named him, just if you were wondering...)

So sunny and happy looking.  The yellow looks especially good next to the window, where the view is most decidedly un-sunny at the mo.  He reminds me of a couple of sketches I did a while back - there's the same kind of overlapping of petals/feathers/leafy bit going on...



...sort of...  I never did finish that parrot.  I love the shapes in the bromelia though, so no doubt I'll end up sketching that as well at some point.  I see it in a very symmetrical Art Nouveau style (but then again, that's how I see most things).

Probably at this point you're asking what any of this has got to do with that WIP up top.  Not much really, except that I only went into B&Q in the first place to buy the bits that I need to finish it.  I was fatally distracted by the "bargain!" sign (my Mum's turn now to be proud) at the checkout.

And now, even though it's gusting at about 50mph, and the rain is (as it always is in Bangor) falling horizontally, I'm setting off to walk back up to B&Q to buy the orchid that yesterday I decided was definitely too expensive.  It's quite a long walk though, so at least the exercise will do me some good!

Fuchsia