Meandering

I don't know about you, but I store up random odds and ends to tell you as I go through my day, and then something happens and I never get to post about them.  But going through my pictures today, there are a few things that I just knew you'd like, even if they come across as a bit random.

1. My sister asked me to buy an iPad which we delivered the last time we were home a few weeks back.  We spent a little time fiddling with it and generally revealing that we are not part of the tech generation (or whatever letter that is - we had generation X some time ago now...)  While we were distracted with something else, my niece got hold of it and drew a self portrait:

Isn't she lovely?  She is eight.  (If she could send along a picture of her brother, I would love to show you that too.)

I gave my sister this:

2.  We had a lovely day out in Brighton.  After pootling around furniture shops all morning, we had lunch at a cafe with this in the window:

Bonkers.  Lovely, but bonkers.

3.   I read here that vertical gardens are very much the thing at the moment.  But have you seen the one in Trafalgar Square?

Apparently, it's inspired by A Wheatfield With Cypresses by Van Gogh.  How lovely is that?

4. If you are ever near the National Portrait Gallery, then make your way to the fifth floor.  The bar offers such a beautiful view over London, even on a grim grey day.

5. Isn't the ship in a bottle on the Plinth just lovely?

6. I never did tell you that awhile back, Mr. P and I went to hear Edna O'Brien read from Saints and Sinners, her new collection of short stories.  Of course, I went for the stories, which are beautiful.  It didn't hurt that she was being interviewed by Gabriel Byrne.

Dodgy photo taken with my iPhone - sorry

We will draw a dignified veil over my failed attempts not to drool...

So, there you are.  Random things that I felt you needed to know.

C.x

Giveaway - owl anyone?

I am reading in blogland that Autumn is in the air in Blighty and that children are heading back to school and generally that Summer is nearly over.  I thought it might be a good time for a treat.

It's Labour Day here.  Which means a day off.  We've been out and about a lot this weekend, but today has been spent making this:

Yes indeed.  I made that.  Not just sewed it.  Made it up.  From scratch.  Me.  I have realised how easy envelope cushion covers are to make, and now I want to revamp every cushion in the house.  But I want to start with a thank you giveaway.

I had an idea that it might be good to have my own interpretation of what seems to be the craft mascot of the moment.  

Google is awash with owl images so it was all a bit bewildering at first.  But eventually, I found this one and knew that I could make it work with what was in my head.  

I then spent lots of time faffing around with different scraps of fabric and generally making a mess.  I hadn't used my sewing machine in a couple of months so that was all a bit daunting too.  But in the end, it all came together pretty well.

Okay, so it's all a bit rough around the edges, but I think that makes it more home-made looking.  And I like the perplexed expression.  (If I didn't exist yesterday and now found myself living on a cushion cover, I think I'd be a bit perplexed too...).

I wasn't quite sure what to do about the feet (talons? claws?).  But then a particular piece of fabric emerged at the top of the heap and I knew this would be just the thing.

Anyway, all this is a prelude to saying thank you.  Eight months ago I had no idea how to sew or to crochet, and I didn't read blogs. Neither did I know that there was such a fab support network of lovely people out there just bursting with goodwill and enthusiasm waiting to cheer me on.  So I thought I'd say thank you with my owl mascot.  

I'm also very preoccupied with my move coming up.  So, I thought that should come into it somehow too.  

Here's all you have to do: 

1. If you'd like the chance to win the owl cushion cover ( padding not included but it's about 17 inches square), then please leave me a comment telling me where you'd like to live in the world.  

2. You don't have to worry about what you'd live off, or whether you could take your pet giraffe, or where your kids would go to school, or whether there will be sweetpeas there.  All that is included in your fantasy place. 

3. Maybe you're already living in your dream location (lucky duck).  If so, I'd love to hear about it. 

3. And if you blog about my giveaway on your blog, come back and leave me another comment and you'll be entered twice.

That's it really.  Hope you like it.

C.x

Oh yes, forgot to say the posts will be open until 19 September.

Rain

Hello everybody,

It's sweltering here.  It's 6.15am and already its 24C, and will go up to a high of 34C today, and 38C tomorrow.  We have the odd thunder storm, but all it does is make things more humid.  I'm not complaining.  My Mum tells me that the UK has forgotten all about summer this year, so I get that this might not be what you want to be hearing right now.

So, I thought I'd tell you instead about Rain.  Rain Africa is a shop in the Rockefeller Center that sells exquisite handcrafts and beauty products made by small rural factories in Africa.  Ethically traded, organic and environmentally friendly, it's a refreshing change from some of the tourist tat of nearby Times Square.  It's also stupidly expensive (sigh).  They had the most amazing crochet granny square blanket the last time I went in, and I thought to myself "I can make that." (If only I'd just get on and do it. ...)

But I couldn't leave behind the wool box, which seemed to be calling my name.  I have my (very small) stash neatly arranged inside.

(Yes, as you can see, I've only progressed a little with my own granny square business.)

And I have that lovely Alpaca red and grey wool that I blogged about here, to try to make this scarf if and when I learn chevron.

At the moment the box of sheep is shoved on top of a wardrobe so that I'm not reminded on a daily basis how slack I'm being in the craft department.  Somehow the thought of making a wooly scarf in 30C heat isn't doing it for me.  And my head is FULL of house and building work and decorating and travel plans and stories that I want to write.

I guess this is all a long winded way of saying that I'm feeling a bit of a fraud at the moment even having a crafty blog when I'm not doing any crafting.  I haven't written as much here lately as a result.  And that's a bit crap.

Sorry.

C.x

(A bit of a cheat, but...) Ta Dah!

Mr. P is in England at the moment, taking to an architect and builder about the old lady house. I had to stay here and work, which I'm feeling a bit peevish about even though I know we both didn't need to be there, and that gallivanting across the Atlantic every couple of weeks is all very well but we have to watch our pennies at the moment if we are going to have any money to spend once the house is bought.

And it's raining. And will keep raining for the next 5 days if the weather forecast is at all accurate. So to take my mind off my strop and the weather, I decided to do some crafting. (It was either that or endless episodes of Lie to Me...). I tried first to fix the iPad cover I started to make a few weeks back. All I achieved was to understand how to use my seam ripper. If anyone needs lessons in using this nifty little tool, I'm your woman. I can tell you that an empty flat is just the place for this exercise, because I had free reign to swear liberally and loudly all afternoon.

I eventually abandoned my efforts in favour of repeating an earlier success. If in doubt, stick to what you know...


So I made another bag. Smaller this time, because I had less material, and because I wanted it to be useful for my 8 year old niece.




I'd found this lovely fabric at Purl Soho when I made my first bag. It's so Springy and happy and has this lovely pattern on a deliciously slubby thick cotton...





Very Princess and the Pea... I decided to use grey thread which would blend with the darker colour way and provide contrast to the yellow fabric...


I realise this was a bit risky since my days of sewing in straight lines are obviously yet before me, but still... It has all the same feature as the first bag, with a magnetic snap for the outer pocket and two smaller pockets on the inside...






And, of course, it's reversible and washable.

Having made it once already, this came together pretty quickly and I'm chuffed to bits with it. I only hope my niece likes it too. Do you?

C.x
P.S. I realise I've been completely crap lately, not really crafting much, and not commenting on all your lovely blogs. But I am reading them all and planning lots of future projects, so please bear with me. There's just lots going on right now.

P.P.S. The quality of photos is appalling because Mr. P. went off to England with the cable that connects my SLR to the computer, so these were transferred using the Blogger App on my iPad, which clearly doesn't do photos.  Humph.

Bear with me...

Last weekend, I decided that it was about time that I started labelling my posts.  And I'm not very good at remembering to do it, so I thought if I went through the laborious exercise of labelling all my earlier posts, this would teach me to remember from now on.  So I started with the very first post (First, the name) and wasn't sure I could do this without having to publish it again.  It seems you can't so I published it and then quickly deleted this bcause it seems a bit silly to be talking about the name of the blog after two months.  But then I found that the post had disappeared completely.  I was a bit miffed, because after all, it's my name. I made it up.  I've come to like it rather a lot....

So, I went on a trawl and found the text of the first post today.  And because I clearly don't know what I'm doing, the only thing I can think of is to publish it again, so that at least it's there somewhere.  With apologies to those who already know why I called my blog noknittedknickers, here again is the explanation (complete with labels).  Lesson learned.

First, the name...

My New Year's resolution is to make things.  To some that might not be a very challenging or specific resolution.  If I 'make' beans on toast, does that count? But to be frank, I wanted to be free to bake/sew/knit/crochet/cook/photograph/write myself into being creative, without the pressure of needing to have re-covered the sofa or made a whole new wardrobe by the end of the year.

And I've never been much of a diary keeper but I thought it might be fun to write about my attempts, however pathetic they turn out to be.  And maybe even get some tips from people along the way. 

So, I was wondering what to call my blog.  All the good or obvious names were taken - Look What I Made! and Here's One I made Earlier were favourites.  Made by Me seemed factual but a bit lacking.  And then I started thinking about what it wasn't going to be about.  And I have no aspirations to become a paid-up member of the knit-your-own-knickers brigade.  So there you have it -
noknittedknickers. 

If you're in any doubt, have a look at these howlers.



Though these rather lovely creations are almost enough to make me change my mind.


(incidentally, if anyone knows a whizzy way to label old posts, I'd be delighted to hear from you...)

C.x

Liebster

Thanks so much to Gillyflower

Hurray!


A huge thank you to Gill from Gillyflower for thinking of me and noknittedknickers for the Liebster Blog Award.  I am delighted and flattered and not a little amazed.  Two months ago I had no idea how many talented women were out there creating the most fabulous things and sharing them with others.  You are lovely and amazing and I am so so pleased to join your gang.  I have such a long way to go in my creative endeavours and your comments and feedback ( and this award) all chivvy me along to keep trying, keep creating, keep writing about it all.  Thank you thank you thank you.

There's still time to enter the giveaway for the thread cutter (another thank you).  So glad all those who commented already realise that this little gizmo is all that's been missing from their lives to date... :)  All you need to do is leave a comment on my post of 17 March for a chance to win. 

A big hello to all those who've dropped by for the first time in recent days, and to those who are coming back to check in on noknittedknickers.  Lovely to have you here.

I gather that the Liebster award is all about paying it forward to other new and small blogs.  I am discovering new and exciting blogs every day, so this is a tough one.  Also, the rules seem a bit flexible on who should be included.  Anyway, I have randomly selected a cut off of blogs I like with less than 100 followers.  So, here, in no particular order, are my choices:

Knitted Back Together

Nimble Fingers and Steady Eyebrows

Apples and Pears

A Girl in Winter

These represent to me what is best about blogging: creativity, flair, sophistication, a sense of humour and engagement with community.  An inspiration.

Back soon with more creative endeavours.

C.x