crochet post alert – look away if allergic to hookers..

So most of you out there will not have heard of the Japanese flower motif, and there is absolutely no reason why you should have.  Except that this crocheter has been amazed by the way word has spread in the hooky internet world in the last couple of months.

I saw my first Japanese flower courtesy of Lucy at Attic 24.  She had been looking for some time for a suitable motif to make a shawl with – and being picky it was taking some time.  Finally she came across two French blogs this one  and this one from which she downloaded the (french) PDF file and then she blogged about it.  Lucy’s blog is extremely popular and I and about a thousand other readers of Attic 24 also downloaded it – the pattern had gone viral.

It then occurred to the French woman who had put the PDF file up for download that maybe there might be a small copyright problem with doing that.  Being that she had originally taken the pattern directly from a Japanese crochet book – Pattern Book Vol 4.   She had the pattern on her blog for the last two years but hardly anyone had paid much attention to it so it all seemed ok – now every person and their hook was visiting and it all seemed to be getting out of hand – so she took it off.

But it was way to late, way, way ,way too late.

And now it is everywhere – like some weird weed that keeps popping up month after month.  And what a beautiful weed..

One would have thought that now the only way to get the pattern would be to buy the original in the Japanese crochet book (expensive) or to know someone who had got in on time and downloaded the PDF,  BUT  the wonderful Elizabeth Cat stepped in and posted a tutorial on her blog – slightly different from the original but it looks pretty much the same.

Since then I have seen references to this motif on many  blogs including Crochet with Raymond, one of my absolute favourite crochet blogs whose author hails from Wellington, New Zealand – my home town.  Also  I have found a Ravelry group who have been making this shawl for the last couple of years. If you are after inspiration check them out.

I am not going to comment on the copyright issue except to say that hopefully once all those thousands of crocheters get exposed to the incredible lovely crochet (and other craft books) that come out of Japan, support for the designers will go up hugely.

One of my favourites - this one is by Adelaide and can be seen on Ravelry

The motif was originally created by Mayuko Hashimoto （橋本　真由子） and pretty damned cool it is too.

stir the stumps..

It’s late.

Late for me anyway, it’s usually pumpkin time around ten – ten thirty.

But I’ve been an eBay listing fool for the greater part of the evening as well as cooking a chicken dinner for His Nibs when he got in.

So what with one thing or another, blogging got pushed to up to the time where my eyes are sand paper  and I keep making mistakes… CONCENTRATE!  Ah – that’s better..  I’ve just been handed a mug of tea.. enough to keep me going at least till I have finished this.

Now I have the eBay listing out of the way I have only one day of work tomorrow and then my time is my own until next Wednesday.    I have a possibly mad hope that I will get all the flower motifs of my shawl sewn together some time soon.  It really is a pain in the bum to have to do and next time I make something like it I swear I will join  them as I go along.  The thing is I suspect that it is going to look fricking fabulous when it is all put together and also – once you have actually crocheted 34 motifs it would be a crying shame  not to finish it.   Sooo..  I need to stir my stumps..

Two photos for you before I hit the hay..

Thirteen joined up so far

Mother Clanger

I have a small obsession for Wombles, Moomins and others of that ilk, including The Banana Bunch.  From another age when I was A LOT less cynical about television.  Anyway, I found this fair maiden at Past Times in Hereford the other week and just had to have her.  She even whistles when you squeeze her tummy – how cool is that!

A Fine Start to a Year..

Question

What has three bedrooms, one of which is the entire attic area with velux window, which will make a mighty fine studio.  A large bathroom (well large compared to the closet which we have at the moment).  And A BATH!  And a wood burner. And a dog door. And a garden, with a glass house and an apple tree and a walnut tree. And it backs on to fields and Mouse Castle woods.  And it has its own car park. And it is furnished so we will have proper  double beds in all the rooms, And has walls so thick you can’t hear the neighbours hoick.  And costs exactly the same as the one we are in now ???

Answer – Our new house, of course!

Yes we are moving yet again, only this time it is just about as close as can be to where we are now -  five minutes walk away in Cusop Dingle.

This is the New Years Good Things post, and about time too.

I feel bullet points coming on

• I am really loving our Stitch and Bitch group.  Just getting together with a lovely bunch of people purely for the sake of sitting and crocheting and talking and laughing.

• A British winter – well, what a winter!  It’s still grey and manky outside BUT the signs of spring are already here, snowdrops, lambs, budding plants.  And I can smell it in the air.  Our town has got ridiculously quiet, almost empty pubs and streets.  It is amazing to think that this is the same town that just six months ago you had to walk off the pavement to get around all the people.  And soon it will be like that again – perhaps I will just enjoy the quiet for the moment.

• A week after we move we are to be visited by our friends Julian and Kath.  This will be their first visit to us in Hay and I am just so happy that it will be at our new house.  Not only will we have a spare bedroom to put them up in BUT also we will have a proper bed for them to sleep in.  Hurrah!

• Books – oh the books.  I try not to go into the book shops here to often, just because it is torturous to the financially embarrassed person but – sometimes you just have to.  On one of my trips I came across Paper Cutting Techniques by Sharyn Sowell which I just had to have as I have been wanting to have a go at the craft for some time now.   Then I found Shoot the Damn Dog by Sally Brampton, an account of the writers journey through and out of severe depression.  This book is well up there on my list of best depression books and reading it has helped me hugely.

Paper cut by Julene Harrison. Just imagine cutting this! There are some amazing people out there

• Carol Shields’s Unless, is another book I just had to own.  I think Shields was one of the best novelists in THE ENTIRE WORLD – sorry about yelling but golly.  If you haven’t read this or the sublime The Stone Diaries, well then – you should

• After she threw the baby in, nobody believed me for the longest time. But I kept hearing that splash...     These sentences  come from my best read of the new year so far -  The Well and The Mine by Gin Phillips.  This doozy flew across the sea to me at the behest of an American friend Robin who I met last year at my local pub Kilvert’s, just up the road.  She was on her first solo trip around the UK and being a book seller, had to pay a visit to Hay-on-Wye.  The lovely Robin along with my friend Jenny and I spent a fabulous evening bonding over real ale and in the process I found out that not only was she from the southern states where I would just love to visit, but she was also a huge fan of Fanny Flagg, author of Fried Green Tomatoes as well as some of my other favourite books.  Robin, sadly, had to leave the next day but we have been in email contact since she got home and just after Christmas a package arrived from her.  Not only did it contain the latest Fanny Flagg hardback I Still Dream About You but a copy of The Well and the Mine which is the authors first novel – I can’t wait till the next.

• Just before Christmas I had received another package in the post – this time from Amazon.  I hadn’t ordered anything and so I gave it to T who promptly put it away.  It turned out to be a rather wonderful, and strange book entitled The Complete Book of Retro Crafts which I suspect was sent to me by blog buddie Katyboo.   Full of the most wonderful, crazy stuff that humans can make it includes how tos on every kitsch craft you can think of – including glitter encrusted pine cone elves, Bottlecap man, Pantyhose Poodle and festive Reinbeer.

• On Saturday afternoon I was in my kitchen making a Spiced Apple cake, the first baking I have done since we came to this country, and listening to Graham Norton and then Tony Blackburn on Radio Two, grooving away to 70′s funkiness when I suddenly realised just how happy I was feeling, one of life’s golden moments had just enveloped me and given me a big kiss.  I believe you must have had depression or been through some other terrible stress to understand how incredible it felt.  I am getting better…

The best cake I have ever made

We are moving on the 11th Feb and I have packing to do.  You have no idea how much I am looking forward to having a garden again.  I have to try to not get too over excited about it all otherwise I will have to go and sit in the corner, cover my head with a towel (remember you should always carry a towel – check your Douglas Adams)  and squeak.

Tardy With The Pumpkins

I learned a lesson last weekend – never leave your Samhain (Halloween) pumpkin buying till the last day.   Two weeks ago the foyer of our local Co-Op was jam-packed with massive orange pumpkins.  On the day itself there were only a few sad, manky ones left.  The first Samhain I have been without orange hands for many years, and I didn’t even have a swede to make do with    

So my friends from our local  Stitch and Bitch let themselves loose on the defenseless town of Hay-on-Wye last Thursday.  In celebration of Samhain they yarn graffitied all over the place.  You can check out photos of their exploits at my friend Emanation’s blog Yarn Craft Revival.  Take a particular look at the fourth photo on that post – I spotted the same devil hat in the pub on Saturday night.  The wearer was very happy to claim it for his own when he spotted it on its pole.

Nick and his new fiendish hat

I myself was not with the guerrilla yarn grrrls that night, as I was still suffering from the longest bought of flu I have ever had.  Have only just got rid of the cough now – it feels really good to feel fit and well again.

I have still not managed to get to Ikea, both times I was meant to go my friend backed out, so finally my darling Mr T has said he will come with me this Sunday.  I can’t wait to finally have some shelves to unpack our books and my craft gear.   Also we will get a table so that when my friend Julie arrives the week after next, we will be able to sit and eat dinner around it.  Cool bananas.   Also of course on Sunday, Tude and I will be able to scoff Ikea meatballs

Daylight saving finished in this country on Sunday and the clocks went back an hour – man does it get dark early now! At work on Tuesday afternoon I watched in amazement as  the lights in the shops across the road grew bright in the dimness – it was three pm.  Because of that I am getting a tad obsessed with bringing more light into our little house.  I’ve got my bright, plastic flower fairy lights going and will look for more fairy lights at Ikea.  I’ve got candles galore, just not many candle holders yet, or the shelves to put them on but it’s happening.  It will be a huge pleasure making a bright, warm haven against the dark and cold.  Remember I have just had two summers in a row – winter is going to be fun.  I have my fur lined boots out and have found a full length, wool, mans overcoat in the charity shop which needed to come home with me.   Bring it on..

Making it bright

In my spare time I have been attempting some hand embroidery.  Ever since I discovered subversive stitching it’s been just another one of those things I wanted to do but never got around to.  Well – no time like the present, and I can do it while watching a program or listening to the radio, I have massive amounts of tray cloths, doilies etc so I figured that they would be a perfect  canvas for a few choice words..

be here now - a reminder that I need constantly

Remember You’re a Womble..

I have a sore spot on the roof of my mouth, it has been there for a few days now and has discouraged me from eating my usual marmalade on rye sourdough toast for breakfast – too sharp.  Instead I got to eat my first porridge of the year.  Porridge with full fat organic honey, Greek yogurt, banana, and a large spoon of dark muscovado sugar.  Mmmm, soft, warm, rich and sweet, feel sorry for me?

The sourdough has been a recent addition to the household.  My neighbour Rosie kindly introduced me to her baker – a woman who lives on the next street over and makes bread to order for collection every Monday.

I have started, rather cautiously, making things again.  My recent attempt at chemical relief resulted in a complete non-interest in any sort of creative endeavor at all.  I did keep trying for a while, with rather disastrous results.  I had to pull apart my knitting several times, then I just chucked it into a corner.  And the bag I was making!  I had to unpick THREE TIMES, and when I did it wrong again, I chucked it into a corner as well.

A couple of evenings ago I picked up the knitting again, figuring the drugs must have worn off enough by then, and sure enough, no problem.  The same with my bag.  I got it out yesterday afternoon and a couple of hours later it was finished – not perfectly mind, looks a little ropy – as you would if you had been pulled apart and put together that many times.  But I was determined..

Made from vintage curtain material and lined with grey blanket

There are a couple of things I learnt from making this bag

• Next time I will alter the pattern and make the bag deeper, so I can lose things easier and..

• When you are making something for the first time do NOT use your most favorite vintage material which is probably IRREPLACEABLE.  So that if you DO cock it up and can’t fix it, it won’t be such a big shame.  Duh!
• Remember you’re a womble, and lighten up

______________________________________________________________________****______________________

A few more photos of the wedding..

Kath looked wonderful and THE DRESS!  Just lovely and made of silk..  I will never forget the moment during the wedding breakfast when, in the middle of a conversation, she hit her hand on her knife handle and flicked tomato pasta sauce onto the bodice – her recovery was masterful!   She is my good friend and absolute honey – I am so glad Julian had the sense to marry her..

Signing the register

Work Space..

My work table

Note large cup of char, small, handpainted tea cup full of malteasers and new set of coloured crochet hooks that are a dream to use. I'm in the process of putting together some more bright birds.

The other view from my window

I am in the process of listing some of my makings on Etsy – my shop name is fondle if you would like to take a look. 

A Name for an Owl..

Busy, busy – but not to busy to show off my newest creation.  This is my first stuffed toy (really a toy for grownups) and is made from bits and pieces of unwanted fabrics, old doilies etc, that people have given me or I have found in charity shops.  She was a learning curve that’s for sure as I only went to trusty google after I had made lots of mistakes.  Such as – always, always pin your pieces together before both cutting and sewing! (which meant going out and buying pins as our boxes haven’t arrived yet).   And for gods sake CONCENTRATE! – and then you won’t sew the toes up the side or the ears around the wrong way.  Really this is a credit to my ability to unpick seams. 

I also need to mention that the reason why she is a bit lumpy is because I don’t have any proper soft filling yet and so she is stuffed with socks and balls of wool – just so I could show her to you all.

Any suggestions for names (apart from fugly) gratefully accepted..

Next Post

Yes, I got plenty done yesterday, maybe too much as I had to stop crocheting at one stage because I was seeing double.

I was learning a new pattern, a fairly simple one but still.  I am making crocheted rounds to hang as bunting and on my third round I was just about finished when I noticed that it was remarkably smaller than the previous ones – and I couldn’t see why.  I unravelled most of it and did it again following the instructions closely.  Still too small.  I unravelled and redid again – too small.

I got up and did something else and after a think I decided that I must have picked up the wrong and smaller hook and been using that.  So I looked for the larger hook and couldn’t find it.   Right….  I looked at the round again.. looked at the instructions… and realised I had missed out part of a section.   Why?  Why did I not notice it before?!!!  I unravelled again and did it properly…FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!

…………………………………………………………………….

I am drawing the line above to separate it from the rest of yesterday which was pretty bloody good actually.  I had been invited around to a new friends home  (her name is Emanation – isn’t that cool?) to talk crochet and that is what we did – and it was fabulous.  There is nothing quite like sharing your obsession with someone else.  She is much more knowledgeable than me but is well willing to share it – and she has an enviable collection of crocheting books.

Another friend of mine from New Zealand – Alison from Agnes Coy recommended a podcast to me called Cast On by Brenda Dayne.  Brenda is an American who now lives in Wales and her knitting podcast is just what I needed to add to my diet of Radio 4.  I am not a great knitter at all but I find it interesting anyway and love the music she plays.

This is what I think too..

“Objects made by hand convey emotion, so handmade objects contain emotional elements, quite different from mass-produced objects.”
~ Ma Ke, Chinese fashion designer

The Pants of a Clown..

I have been keeping it a little bit quiet, but I have been sewing myself a pair of wide leg trousers.

As you may recall from earlier posts, due to a childhood trauma (caused by my complete crapness at the art), sewing and I do not see eye to eye.  Since those days I have studiously avoided it whilst keeping an envious eye on those who knew how.

Anyhoo  – in the last few months the feeling has crept upon me that it might just be possible that my earlier crapness may have just been callow youthfulness and maybe, just maybe, I might not be quite so ham fisted as I thought.

Queue visit to material shop with Phillipa my birth mother (the adopted mother being far too impatient to teach me).  Cloth purchased, extremely simple pattern chosen, I made a shaky start and have, over the last couple of days, managed to put together a recognizable pair of pant.  The trouble is they are huge – really huge.  I could fit another person in with me without wrestling.   Queue gales of laughter as I tried them on..  (and no, you are not seeing a photo).

Still, better too large than too small huh?  And Phillipa is visiting me tomorrow so a little remedial tutorial may be the order of the day 

I will show you a photo when they are presentable.