Flappy Flambé

A while ago I drew a little critter for a contest on another blog that I am a participating member of.

Cute isn't he?

Well, after it was all over and the prizes had been won. We decided to make up a real one and send him around Europe meeting all the members of the Handmade in Europe Blog. showing their crafts and countries off to the world.

So, it was up to me to create a 3D version that we could all play with and take photos of.

Here we are. Not only is he a cute little crocheted critter; he is also a hand puppet with posable wings - this should make for some interesting photos.

The story of how the picture turned into a "real bird" is in the blog here

You can then follow his adventures as they unfold

So far he has met me
and visited South Wales
This week I sent him off to London for his next adventure.
Stay ahead of the action on http://handmade-in-europe.blogspot.com/

Creative challenge 52 in 52 - May 2010

Wow, this was a mega-busy month. I even made some special items which I will tell you about in another post.



So the goodies I finished in May are as follows:-

• Flappy flambe. he is a crocheted hand puppet who will be having adventures on another blog. Check him out on http://handmade-in-europe.blogspot.com/ He's lots of fun.
• Two Snuggle bunnies; one pink one purple off to live in Greece. yeay for people who order things off me (easy to do, just email me, tell me what you want and I'll make it - you will see it before you buy and are not obligated to buy unless you love it.
• A footballer handpuppet. He already is in a post of his own before this one.
• A very strange and magical house elf.
• A knitted lace scarf in gray silk yarn -mmm.
• A skull bag. Yup, the head opens up and the mouth also has a zip for keeping little items in.
• A green leaf scarf. made for "knit something green grass or leafy trees related Swap" It really does look like leaves. I'm going to make one for myself too I think,

So totals again?

January = 9 items
February = 7 items
March = 9 items
April = 7 items
May = 8 items

So we have 40 items in 21 weeks - yippee I'm still ahead of 52 items in 52 weeks. I may do it in half the time (but don't hold me to it LOL)

World Cup 2010 - go Germany!

OK so Wales did not make it through to the World cup this year - ahh sad.

But never mind; I'm backing Germany this year

Why?

Well, my favorite player is there Michael Ballack.

He is a Chelsea boy you know. Ok he was born in Germany but he plays for Chelsea football club all year but now he is to be the Captain of Germany.

Why do I like him so?

He is more like a rugby player than a football player. You won't see him on the floor pretending his leg hurts like most players. In fact, last year they had to drag him off the pitch as his nose was bleeding and he was still playing! Tough guy.

In fact, I've even made my own puppet version of him to play along (in his German team colours of course) He can kick, score and do a victory slide - yeay.

Here is a rear view. (albeit fuzzy) you cannot see this (because his shorts are black) but they wrap around the glove too. He is knitted as part of the glove not just attatched to it. I made him as a right-handed glove for me. I can make left-handed gloves too and any team that you can think of (but no badges; my embroidery skills are not up to that lol)

Now I just need to make another for him to play against - maybe Brazil - that'd be fun

Creative challenge 52 in 52 - April 2010

Okay Kokay so here is April in all it's glory.

These are the items I have completed this month. I have a few more on the needles, but we can't count those - only finished items.

• first you will find 2 more Zodiac crabs; these are the rest of the "5 crab order" from Germany last month.
• Tabbee cat. I was privileged enough to be allowed to test on of Bobbi Padget's patterns for her before she puts it up for sale on Etsy. It's a great pattern
• Troll doll for a swap - this was for "a wind- related" swap - how is it wind-related? Well, it is called "the wind in my hair" fun eh?
• Next is Sgt Froggee - another Bobbi pattern test. I'm getting addicted to her way of knitting. It's so fun to knit with NO sewing up afterwards
• Tea time monkey. He was much harder work - lots and lots of sewing up involved. But he is kinda cute.
• Finally an alien in a UFO. Yes I know the alien looks a little like a baby giraffe -that's because the pattern was for a baby giraffe. The UFO is all my own design. I think that the little boy who gets it will use his imagination and it will double as a boat, or a paddling pool - that's fine - I love kids who use their imagination.
• I also made 2 cross stitch pictures - but I'm not including them - only knit and crochet.

So totals so far this year?

January = 9 items

February = 7 items

March = 9 items

April = 7 items

So we have 32 items in 17 weeks - yippee I'm still ahead of 52 items in 52 weeks.

Creative challenge 52 in 52 - March 2010

So March is gone and April starts today.
Here are my finished items for March.

1. A tea cosy in the shape of a turkey (already sold)
2. A little green garden gnome made for a "package of green swap"
3. A crocheted bag (with a sail boat on it and bamboo handles) made for "make something wind related swap"
4. A knitted black and white cat - made on request and already sold
5. A colourful nursery tortiose - also made on request and already sold - and another ordered!
6. My travelling scarf. This was a group effort made by 10 different knitters, but I made a section for each of their scarves too - so although it wasn't entirely made by me, it deserves to be here as it represents the sections I made on each of the 9 other travelling scarves.
7. A red knitted crab
8. A red knitted crab
9. A red knitted crab - yes they are all part of a requested order. She wants 5 - yippee

Oh yes, I can hear you unbelievers saying , "she just used the same crab photographed in different ways.

Well, just for you, here is a picture of 3 completed crabs plus the 4th in a state of wip (incomplete) taken just before the finished 3 were posted yesterday. So at least 2 more will be in next month's chart. I do love requests.

It's been a good month. Both for orders and sales. A big thanks to my customers at http://eddyspressies.artfire.com/

The challenge then?

• 9 items for January
• 7 for February
• and 9 for March = 25 completed items in 12 weeks

Gosh this 52 items in 52 weeks is easy with a better system of keeping count.

My travelling Scarf returns home

Ok so your first question is probably, What is a travelling scarf?

Well, 10 knitters across Europe all got together on Ravelry.com to create a unique scarf for each other.

This is done by each knitter adding a bit to each scarf and sending it on to the next person in the chain.

By the end, each of the 10 knitters has her own scarf back with 9 extra panels worked.

we put some rules in with the package. Mine said, each knitter must do skinny stripes using the yarn before and their own choice of yarn. That way the scarf changes colour one section at a time. for example, the first panel is green and pea, the next is pea and black the next is black and white etc.

Once it came home i crocheted an edging around it to even up the edges ( the tension varies as you can imagion with 10 knitters) and to pull it all together. I think it looks great and will definately wear it about town.

The scarf also came home with it's own little diary to say who worked on it, with what yarn and where in the world they were. So this scarf is very well travelled (hence the name) It went from South Wales to North Wales to Cheshire UK, to Stoke UK, to Wakefield UK then all the way to Austria, Two stops in Germany, Finland and Scotland before finally returning home to me.

I wasn't sure if I should put this scarf on my Finished objects calendar as I only made one section and the edging,

but I decided that I would put it on the calendar as it represents the other 9 sections I've made for the other members of the round robin.

many many thanks to all those who took part. Maybe you could join us next time on the "travelling scarves" group on Ravelry.com It's the best place for all knitters and crocheters and yarn addicts of all kinds.

Hooked on breaking records

Not many people know but our little town of Bridgend is in the Guiness book of Records.

We won the world record for the longest line of drinks cans in 1986

and then won it back again last November from the Home Nursing federation of Singapore

All the people of the town saved their cans so now the record stands at 106,000 cans beating the previous record by more than 15,000

Well now that I hold a world record (along with many others but I still helped to both collect and stack them)

I'm hungry for more. I'm now crocheting squares for the world's largest blanket.

Granny squares from all over the world are being collected to be put together to win this title.

Here are some of mine. all 5 inches

across. They are still looking for more. See http://planetblanket.wordpress.com/

But of course, this method of crocheting is not just for squares.

have a look at this little guy. Totally done in the same style.

Fun isn't he?

find him and more at http://eddyspressies.artfire.com/