Market Maths

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I’m hard at work making stock for the WI Christmas Fayre in November. That means every spare minute I’m hook-in-hand, including on the train to and from work. This morning while I was hooking away (entertaining the people standing in the aisle pretending to read the newspaper *if you don’t turn the page I know you’re watching me*), I did some Market Maths.

If I want to make eight sets of six granny stars, I need 48 granny stars. I managed to do four stars this morning on the train. I do two train journeys per day. That means eight stars per day. 48 ÷ 8 = 6. Just six days, or 12 train journeys, and I’ll be done with the christmas decorations for the market!

I couldn’t resist hanging the stars off the gladioli that I bought for my boss who is coming back from maternity leave tomorrow.  Christmas trees are so last year. Gladioli are the way to show off your decorations!

Terrific Tuesday

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On a Monday I can still remember the fun I had over the weekend, Wednesday is the middle of the work week, on Thursday I start getting hopeful and on a Friday I can taste the weekend. But what about a Tuesday? It’s so…. just there. Weekend memories are too far away and the upcoming weekend might as well be a year away.

What we need is a bit of colourful inspiration to get us going on a Tuesday, don’t you think? A pretty picture, beautiful scenery or colourful imagery. Yup, that’ll liven up Tuesdays and turn it into a terrific day!

From now on I will go through my holiday snaps every Tuesday and find us a pretty picture to add colour and joy to the day.

xxxxxx

Here we have the PG Tips Monkey (pronounced “Monkay”) at the leaning tower of Pisa. He’s such a cutie we didn’t mind that he popped his knitted little head into our shot.


Did it work? Did Monkay put a smile on your face? I hope so!

Have a terrific Tuesday.

Natasja

Terrific Tuesday and charity blankets

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On a Monday I can still remember the fun I had over the weekend, Wednesday is the middle of the work week, on Thursday I start getting hopeful and on a Friday I can taste the weekend. But what about a Tuesday? It’s so…. just there. Weekend memories are too far away and the upcoming weekend might as well be a year away.

What we need is a bit of colourful inspiration to get us going on a Tuesday, don’t you think? A pretty picture, beautiful scenery or colourful imagery. Yup, that’ll liven up Tuesdays and turn it into a terrific day!

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Today’s colour burst comes from four lap blankets I made for Huis Uitsig in South Africa. My grandmother, who passed away in July 2004, was very involved with this carehome. Right up to the age of 73 she helped out at the carehome. She used to call the residents “ou mensies” which is an affectionate Afrikaans way of saying the “old people” – she was older than a lot them, so it that just speaks to her-young-at-heart attitude which I so loved. 

I only started to crochet after my grandmother had passed away, which is a pity.  Making these blankets is my small way of continuing the good work she did at Huis Uitsig. I’m sure she will approve.

The technical bits of these blankets: The body of the blankets are white polar fleece with crochet edging done in Stylecraft Special DK. I had to choose unisex colours, and had to be careful not to make the blankets look like baby blankets.  The rows are just shells of 2dc, with the very last row done in sc. In order to tie the borders in with the white fleece, I did the second to last row of all the blankets with white.

I’m definitely going to make more of these in the near future. I was so aware of my grandmother whilste making them! Every time I chose a new ball of yarn and wondered whether it’s too bright, I thought of Gran and I knew she would have said “Go for it! It will cheer up the old mensies.”

I hope these cheerful stripes brighten up your Tuesday!

Surbiton Festival 2011

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Post market stall greetings to all! Today was A Good Day. I sold a record breaking six brooches and a blanket!!! I know it doesn’t sound like much to you, but to me, it is. At the last market we didn’t sell anything, so things are definitely improving!

Apart from people buying, a lot of people took business cards. I even had two people taking photos so that they could show it to friends / family. It was really lovely getting such a lot of positive feedback from passers by. Ladies stopped to chat with me about crochet, french knitting (still have to Google that…), the price of yarn, one even said she was going to email me a pattern for a shawl that she has made more than a hundred of! So so so lovely!

But you know what I enjoyed the most? Seeing the smiles on people’s faces as soon as they see my table! I just love that! Even if they don’t buy, I cheered them up. Result!

Just like last time, I learned a few things which I am going to put to use for the WI Christmas Fayre in November:

  1. Baby blankets sell better than clocks;
  2. Brooches sell better than clocks;
  3. Leading on from point no. 1, I should have more blankets, including unisex colour options;
  4. Leading on from point no. 2, I should make more single colour brooches, especially ones that can be word on red coats;
  5. You can never have enough business cards;
  6. Me crocheting at the table draws more people;
  7. Children really like the clocks;
  8. The over-60’s really like the clocks;
  9. You can meet lovely fellow crafters at a market. I met Maudi of MaudiMade, who is also going to be at the WI Christmas Fayre. Maudi is a trainee book conservator and book binder. So interesting and such a lovely person! Do yourself a favour and visit her website and her shop – especially if you have filofax or prefer the dying art of writing things on paper (as opposed to clicking, typing or swiping on a smart phone or iPad).

All in all it was a very good day. The Festival was well organised and drew A LOT of people! I posted a video to the crocheTime Facebook Page if you want to see the Morris Dancers and a couple of old cars.

I also have to say a big big thank you to my lovely husband who sat patiently next to me entertaining himself watching the rugby on his iPhone, and later playing Angry Birds on his iPad. He also did the coffee & pies run for us and was just generally being a loving and supportive husband.  Love you like Rowan ♥

Another market stall

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Saturday it’s the big one. The Surbiton Festival 2011 market stall. The one day event in Surbiton when roads are closed, the Mayor of Kingston does the opening ceremony, marching bands march and street entertainers entertain. It’s a biggy. Apparently there are “over 100 stalls” – I’m number 58 so at least 58 stalls. Wowzer.  

Last year the Surrey Comet quoted David Randal as saying there were about 25,000 people!!!!!

(Image from Surrey Comet)
 
Hubby and I are really looking forward to Saturday. Even if I don’t sell anything it’s going to be a very fun day. The Grand Parade will be marching by in front our stall at 12 noon, and the entertainment is taking place a couple of meters from us from 10 am to 4pm.  As stall holders we have free parking for the day as well. Bonus!
 
Luckily I still have all my stall things ready from the Merton Abbey Mills market so preparation won’t take long. All I have to do is remake a couple of price tags, iron the table cloth and glue broochpins onto a few brooches. Easy.  

Something else I’m really forward to is meeting Kelly from Maple Village WI who invited me to have a stall at their Christmas Fayre on 19 November, way back in June. This year will also be the WI’s first year at Surbiton Festival. Their stall is on the other side of the entertainment area so I’m hoping to pop round and say hi (and maybe buy a cake or two – supporting the local community and all that ;-))

Keep an eye on the crocheTime Facebook page for updates and photos during the day – that’s if I’m not too busy selling all my clocks!

 

Crochet jewellery, proper jewellery

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Lots of people make crochet jewellery.  I had a go with amigurimi balls that I threaded through ribbon. I’ve bought crochet earrings from FR33na on Etsy. Crochet jewellery are cheap and cheerful. Right? Nope.

WhiteFly, an Etsy seller from California, takes vintage crochet and casts it in sterling silver or gold! Gold people!

When I first saw the top photo on Pinterest I thought, just like the person who originally pinned it, that it’s grey yarn, or metallic yarn at the most, stiffened with fabric stiffener and shaped into a cuff. How wrong were we?!

This item is cast from real vintage lace in Sterling Silver, then plated with a thick coating of 14K gold. Every intricate detail is evident in the metal.

It is stunning to wear, a show stopper with any outfit.
Please note I cast all my items from an actual piece of lace, I use only the highest quality vintage lace and I can only make a limited edition.

Flexible to fit all sizes, stiff to hold it’s shape. Very comfortable to wear. Fit size is a standard 7″ wrist circumference.

Available in 14K gold for $6,000. Please contact me for a listing if your interested.

Have you ever seen anything so exquisite and unique?!

If you want to know more about Whitefly, bikudesigns did an interview with her on her blog. You can read it here.

Crochet jewellery will never be the same again. Suddenly my amigurimi balls on a ribbon seems very drab.

Terrific Tuesday

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On a Monday I can still remember the fun I had over the weekend, Wednesday is the middle of the work week, on Thursday I start getting hopeful and on a Friday I can taste the weekend. But what about a Tuesday? It’s so…. just there. Weekend memories are too far away and the upcoming weekend might as well be a year away.

What we need is a bit of colourful inspiration to get us going on a Tuesday, don’t you think? A pretty picture, beautiful scenery or colourful imagery. Yup, that’ll liven up Tuesdays and turn it into a terrific day!

From now on I will go through my holiday snaps every Tuesday and find us a pretty picture to add colour and joy to the day.

xxxxxx

This morning around 06:20 I was browning meat, frying onions, chopping carrots and opening tins of chopped tomatoes. I hadn’t even had my morning tea yet! The reason for the cooking frenzy so early in the morning? I bought a slow cooker. 10 Hours in the slow cooker means getting started before dawn for the inaugural meal of oxtail stew tonight.

The cooking reminded me of a day I spent with my brother at Borough Market in 2007. We saw lovely things (including a lady in a very very very ill-fitting red dress that just seemed to be everywhere we were – it was like a train crash. We so wanted to look away but we just couldn’t!).

One of the prettier red things of the day were these bowls of beautiful tomatoes. 


Have a terrific Tuesday everyone! I hope the photo inspires you to eat healthy / use red in a crafty project / make a Bloody Mary – whichever rocks your boat.

Natasja

Free People crochet

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These beauties, and lots more, are available at Free People. Truly beautiful!

Carnival Crochet Maxi

Avenue West chemise

 FP Spun Eighty Stage Crochet Dress

I love the idea of adding a crochet edge to the sleeve of a floaty top, and the circles at the bottom of the long skirt is really something. (I would prefer a longer lining though…)

I wonder of the Eighty Stages dress really had 80 stages in the making of it – quite possibly if you look how many seperate crochet parts there are to it. This dress makes my Identitiy Crisis blanket look like a hook in the park!