Shamballa-style bracelets

In between skidding on black ice, rescuing a friend who's car conked out and needed a jump start and generally spending most of my days defrosting after waiting endlessly for buses, I managed to fit in another jewellery making class at The Beaderie , run by the fabulous Sally.

This class was how to make a macrame shamballa-style bracelet.  This style is bang on trend right now, so I was really keen to do this class.

We made two different types in 2 hours - they're quite quick to make, believe it or not.

We made a thin bracelet which incorporated two knots between each bead:

I went for blue/green colours with a a light turquoise cord

The finished article!

The knots look really complicated, yet they're so simple to do

 We then made a chunkier version, which is the type that you see in the shop:

Look what I made, Mum!

I was really pleased with them and plan to make a few more.
And to my friends with forthcoming birthdays, you really shouldn't have read this post.......you've probably just ruined your birthday surprise!

Modelling my new makes!

If you want to try these yourself, there are loads of great videos on YouTube.

Winter woolies

I finally got round to getting some pics of finished winter knits.  I love my King Cole Galaxy Chunky jumper (although certainly not loving my hair in this photo - refer back to last post of 'Bad Hair Day' poster!!!)  I've bought the yarn to make this jumper in cream too.

Phew - the ironing basket (on the right of this pic) is empty!

I also finished this Riot scarf ages ago and forgot to take any pics.  The colours are fab and really cheer me up on a cold wintery day.  The pattern had tassels and I did think about adding them.  I sometimes feel the scarf does need something else, but to be honest, I'm not a tassels kind of girl.  I wear scarves a lot around the house or at work and tassels just end up in your cup of tea!

Why do I always look startled or stoned in photos?!

A blustery day on the beach

Well, HP and I weren't at the beach.  We had a little drive out to Haddenham, a small village about 8 miles SW of Ely, Cambs.

I had discovered there was a bead shop there (how did I not know about this earlier?!) so I dragged HP there with the promise of a long walk afterwards followed by a pub lunch.

 So, first stop was 'Spoilt Rotten Beads'

and I was in heaven!!  Look at all the lovely sparklies! 

Then, after about an hour there (sorry, HP!  Even the girls in the shop felt sorry for him, but he was very good and didn't complain once) we went on a little walk....

 .....we found a lovely craft shop (with the bonus of a tea room, as it was a very cold day on Saturday)

 which had a great poster in the Ladies' toilet.  Maybe not the best choice for wall art considering its location, but I can really relate to it....

 ....saw some horses in a field, where I nearly fell over in some mud!

I adored this cute little house.  Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not a lover of pink, but it just works here.

We then had a lovely meal at the local pub, 'The Three Kings'.

The pub cat had the right idea!

And then it was off home, where we curled up with a cup of tea on the sofa, snuggled up under a duvet and watched 'Columbo'.  It was a perfect day and we've both decided we have to allow more time to do 'couply' things.

On the Sunday, I just caught up on some stuff around the house and even found time to make some choc chip brownies and choc chip shortbread, which in our house will last about 2 days!

I was in the mood for a quick craft fix about 5pm on Sunday, so knocked up this cute little gross grain ribbon brooch with a polka dot button.  It only took about 10 minutes.  It's probably more of a summery brooch so I will make some more in different colours ready for the slightly warmer months, so I'll have one to match nearly every outfit.  I absolutely love brooches!

Hope you're all managing to keep warm during this snowy patch.

Narnia would have been so much more colourful......

......if that lamp post had been treated to some guerilla knitting!

All of the lamp posts on Jesus Green, Cambridge have been yarnbombed and amazingly the council has actually left this up for ages now!  Usually, the old miseries take it down within a couple of days!

 These pics were taken rather early yesterday morning as I got into work before HP's alarm had even gone off!  But it was almost worth it to see this lovely sky:

Early mornings are my favourite time of day - there's hardly anyone around and the world feels fresh and new.  And of course, there's all that crafting time ahead of you :-)

How long.....?!

How long does it take to sew together a jumper?  Well, considerably longer than I expected!  But it's done and I'm wearing it now.

 As a reminder, this is the front of the jumper - knitted in King Cole Galaxy Chunky (Jupiter).

Pics of the finished article to follow shortly.  I'm really pleased with the result and am going to make one in cream, more suitable spring colour, me thinks!

I know my friend, Smo, will be keen to see it as I was still frantically knitting away when I met her for dinner on Thursday.  It was great to catch up as I hadn't seen her for months.




I even got belatedly birthday and Christmas pressies - a craft book, some cupcake cases.....

Must get these filled!

.....a Christmas stamp 

Have to wait a year to use this!

....and a sparkly calendar for my craft room.  She knows me so well!

I've now got to get back to knitting my other King Cole project - a cardigan in DK Riot, which is taking an age to knit!  Think that's why I switched to chunky yarn for a while - to give me a sense of accomplishment!  But I am determined to finish it this year! :-)

Christmas card craft

I wanted to share this lovely print that I got from a good friend for Christmas.  She's a most talented artist, but like all crafty people doesn't get to spend as much time on her art as she would like (how many of us feel like that!)  I'm afraid the photo doesn't do it justice - as you can see, I have still not completely switched over to my new camera!

I think it is so beautiful; I'm going to get this framed and hung in my craft room for inspiration!

Thank you for such a lovely gift, AJ!

Baking and knitting

Here we are in 2013!  I hope you all had a great New Year.  HP and I just had a meal at home and then watched the local fireworks at midnight.  We had a lovely festive week together, just the two of us.  It was the first Christmas we'd ever spent alone so it was very special.

I had a busy day yesterday.  I cracked open the Brownie Maker that HP got me for Crimbo

I love the logo!

Oh well, if you insist!

and made some chocolate and orange brownies, and I have to say they are delicious!

 

A big batch for everyone at work

 These brownies would look fab on the great gift I got from my Secret Santa at work - a gorgeous porcelain two-tier cake stand!  Someone at work obviously knows me very well indeed!  I absolutely love it!

 

I'm sure like me, many of you have recipes scribbled on bits of paper or printed off the internet.  I've been meaning for ages to collate all of these into one recipe book, so I'm not always searching for scrap bits of paper.  I found this lovely book in Paperchase on sale!

 

There are plenty of recipe pages and ingredients cards.  There's even a section on Dinner Party Planning!  I hope to get all my recipes added before the end of this month.  That's one of my first New Year goals!

 One of the others is to finish my King Cole Galaxy Chunky jumper.  I've just got the front to do now and I started that yesterday and got quite a bit done......

The lighting is rather poor, so it doesn't do the colour justice

 ....admittedly, I did spend a few hours in front of the TV, but hey, it was a holiday!

I got a great book of Knitted Boot Cuffs for Crimbo from HP too, so I must make a few of these:

I like the simple but chunky boot cuffs

Loving the pigs

Hope you've all had a crafty start to the New Year!