Creative challenge 52 in 52 January 2010

OK so last year I tried this creative challenge to

Make 52 items (knitted or crocheted) in 52 weeks.

I got a little bogged down with other things and found that keeping count got really hard - especially since I started partway through the year.

So this year I'm going to try it again.

Each month I will show you what I made, and with my new chart system, keeping count should be easy

Some of these items are for sale in my Artfire shop, others are for swaps or challenges or even myself.
So here we go with the counting;

1. 12" tall Pink sparkly pony
2. Purple knitted piggy bank
3. 9" tall Pink dragon
4. orange knitted piggy bank
5. sheep teacosy
6. little knitted firebird
7. snowflake hat
8. snow princess doll
9. baby security blanket - polar bear.

Yeay 9 items in the first 4 weeks we are off to a great start - I really hope I can keep this up.

Reading

Well yes I do have many hobbies that sometimes seem to use up all my spare time but I always find time to do a little reading.
I know that it's not the kind of passtime that you can get really excited about but I thought I would share some of my tastes and selections with you.

Clive Cussler. OK so that's not a book. He is a great writer. Lots of adventure, treasure hunting and close shaves for our heros. The stories bounce along at quite a pace. Also very educational as I know quite alot about boats, classic cars, guns and special forces equipment.

Saucer by Stephen Coonts (not koonts; he's a horror writer) This book and it's sequel is really believable so even if you don't read sci fi normally, you should enjoy this. It takes place in modern times and tells of what would happen if an ordinary person found a real UFO.

They are my favorites at the moment. But I've read lots that I really enjoyed.

But do you want to know what I really hated? The Harry Potter novels. That's what. Sorry to those who love the boy wizzard but the books are awful.. The movies are great fun - but the books - ugg. She is such a slow writer; it takes forever for anything to happen. JK spends pages describing things that aren't even relevant to the story.

so lots of adventures and sci-fi and even the odd fantasy but Jk Rowlings - no way.

Snow snow and more snow!

Over the last few weeks we have had some major snow - much more than we usually get.

The kids were supposed to go back to school on Wednesday 6th January but didn't get there til Monday 11th. Then on Tuesday (the very next day) on the way home we had a blizzard; I didn't think we were going to GET home, but we did. So kids are back off school again. The sheep have only one thing to say about all this snow - baaa humbug.

I quite liked the little bit of snow we had; it made the mountains look pretty here in Wales.

But after our blizzard, we couldn't even SEE our mountains

Things I want to do in 2010

I think if I write them down I may be more inclined to stick to them or at least to work towards them. so here, putting my reputation on the line, is my little list.

1. I want to make a new knitted/crocheted critter every week. Whether I use it for a swap or put it in my Artfire shop doesn't matter - just that one item gets finished per week
2. I will plurk every day at least twice. So I had to pick some easy ones otherwise I won't get any done
3. I will give the whole house a new coat of paint, one room at a time, but by the end of the year all rooms will be re-painted (was going to do this last year - now it REALLY needs it)
4. I will attend all school teacher meetings - I know it's a yucky one and I usually come up with excuses to avoid it - I always feel like I'M being told off for how my kids are (or are not) doing
5. I'm going on a holiday by myself no kids, no husband, no responsibilities for at least a weekend. I know that seems mean but last year I had some nasty depressions that a break like this would have worked wonders on.
6. I'm going to help out at the school more Helping out at fetes and trips is another thing I used to do alot of and now I seem to have got out of the habit.
7. I'm going on a holiday with the kids - see I haven't left them out. They love Butlins holiday camps and they are not expensive. I enjoy it too - even though I still have to watch them and be with them all the time.
8. I'm going to put the bin sacks out every Wednesday Seems silly but I quite often forget and then the sacks kinda multiply out the back.
9. I'm going to stay in contact with my e-friends. I'm already pretty good at staying in touch with my plurky friends (that's a social network site) but the facebook gets neglected.
10. I'm going to excercise Isn't that a scary thought. I'm always making excuses like "no time" "too tired" but just walking the dog isn't doing it for me. I'm two sizes bigger than I want to be and, well, let's just say that me and diets don't last. I got a special offer on at the council gym so I should take them up on it.

I'm keeping the list short on purpose - if I try for too much they won't get ticked off. I can always add more later anyway. Will I achieve all these this year? hope so.

Happy New 2010 Sale

Nothing says Happy New Year like a SALE.

So until 5th January, you will find ALL my products at Eddy's Pressies at Artfire have been reduced in price by 20.10% That's puppets, accessories, toys and homewares. With more lines being added all the time.

I'm stuffed - but the toys are NOT!

Now that Christmas is over, and I'm all stuffed full of turkey and everything else, it's time to get back to toy making; I've got a lovely sparkly pink pony all knitted and ready to go but I've run out of toy stuffing!

Yes, no more toy stuffing; I only have a little left and that's not enough to stuff pony's leg!

My local yarn store has recently changed owners and has run out of lots of things (yes, stuffing is one of them) and due to the holidays and snowy weather, I haven't been able to get out to a different town to buy any. What am I to do? I can't make stuffed, knitted toys without stuffing - or can I?

That sounds like a challenge - and I love a challenge.

What can I think of that I can knit but is hollow and will stand stiff without polyfibre filling?

Well, yes, I pondered for a while until I got to experimenting.

A PIGGY BANK.

But not just a stuffed pig made to look like a piggy bank but an actual hollow bank with a slot for the coins and a plug in the bottom to take the coins out of. The knitted plug has a little button on it so you can get hold of it easier.

At first, I thought I would just cover a cardboard tube to get the stiffness. But cardboard does not stand up well to washing (and everything needs washing occasionally) Then I found this stuff called, EVA foam. It's sold in sheets and is usually used by card-makers to cut little shapes out of. But then I could see the brightly coloured foam inside and I didn't like that, so I knitted a lining too.
Hallooo in there! Yes as you can see, Once the plug has been removed, he really is hollow in there (you can see the slot on the other side) and it is quite a big space - Space for lots of savings. Now we are all starting to think about saving whether it be for next Summer Holiday or even Next Christmas.

A cowl just for me.

I recently bought some yarns off my plurk friend. Yes that's social networking like Twitter only easier to follow. Her name is Selana and she has a wonderful shop on artfire where she sells knitting patterns, stitch markers and this fab yarn.

She will happily make up any colours you ask for; for this project I asked for a blue/green mix. The yarn is 100% wool and very pretty.

Here is a better picture of how the colours turned out after knitting and blocking. Very nice don't you think?

and this is me trying to look all innocent in my new cowl. I made it a big longer than the actual pattern (by 14 rows) for snuggliness. The pattern itself is available free on ravelry (which is a free site for knitters and crocheters to socialise and get patterns and advice) We now have over 500 000 members worldwide so you're bound to find something you like or discover something you did not know.