The Trouble with Hand-Dyed

  

I love hand-dyed yarns, felt and fabric, the sometimes subtle changes in colour, and the dramatic.  The trouble comes when you are trying to match the yarn and felt that was used in a project.
Two people wanted to buy the large reindeer, like this little one from the Christmas window, there was a trouble with timing as one request was through Can Do Books and one was from my friend Glyis.  So Plan A was to sell to the first and make Glynis another reindeer to match this little one that she also wanted.  I had very little felt left and not a scrap of the yarn from the house rooves.  So off to Fibresmith for the yarn and Winterwood toys for the felt.  Went to Fibresmith first, none of the dyelot of yarn left, that's ok, I still had a plan.  Off to Winterwood toys, they only had felt slightly lighter and slightly darker in the dyelot of felt, so I bought those.  And on to Plan B:  make two matching reindeer, a big one and a small one for Glynis.  Back to Fibresmith to find new yarn for the house rooves.  So all is similar, but different to the original reindeer.

Jacaranda Tree

I can see a lovely, very large Jacaranda tree out of my craft room window.  I wasn't able to see the tree before as it was blocked by the neighbour's tree which was removed earlier this year.  I was very sad when they removed the tree, loved it being so close and watching all the birds in it.  But being able to see this lovely tree in flower is a big positive.

Window By Night

  

  

On Saturday night we went over to Can Do Books to see the window.  It is easier to see all the reindeer without reflection.  I'm going over there today for the usual Sit & Stitch.  Some of the reindeer have already been sold, so it will look different.

The Big Reindeer

   



Remember all the little squares of knitting I did earlier in the year?  They were not the body of this very large reindeer.  I sewed the knitted squares to felt to give it enough strength for the body.  He was finished in June and has been sitting on our piano since then.  He was very happy to get moving on Saturday.  Here he is in the car, seatbelt on, safety first.

Christmas Window at Can Do Books

  

  

  

  



Here it is, lots of reindeer in the window.  99 by my count.  Lots of love and fun went into making the reindeer.  Can Do Books is at 608 Burwood Road, Hawthorn in Melbourne.  A lovely bookstore full of lots of crafty books.  Christmas is coming.

Pile of Hangers

Ready to have covers made.  Thought it would be a good project over Christmas, in the car, at quiet times.  Nice and small and not much counting.
Off to set up the Christmas window at Can Do Books today.

That Time of Year

Christmas card making.

Left on the Doorstep

When I left for my morning walk yesterday these three sweeties were in a bag at my front door.  My friend Jo left them on her way to work (she leaves quite early).  They were made by Jo's Mum Judy.  Thank you Judy, they are lovely.

Christmas House

  

  

This is one of the first doorstop houses I made.  Very Christmassy with poinsettias, presents and a Christmas tree. The base felt is also one of the first pieces were I knitted a large square and then felted it.

A Better Do

  

That's better, before and after the cut.  The hair is a mix of yarn and embroidery thread.

Having Trouble with Hair

The third figure I am making is a female.  The figures are also actual people I am trying make in crocheted dolls.  So getting the hair close to the people is important.  Getting the colour of the lovely lady right, in yarn has been difficult, and then getting the yarn to sit in a particular style is also difficult.  This head of hair was close to, but not quite right in colour.  I took the photo at the stage just before I cut it.  Once cut it wouldn't sit right no matter what I did, so it all came out.  Going to try again with something different.

New Book

  

  

I picked up this lovely new book by Japanese artist Yumiko Higuchi.  Love her embroidery work.  This book has a mix of felt and embroidery.

Another Coat Hanger

This one is in turquoise/blue yarn from Morris&Sons.

Janette's Reindeer

Janette has been coming along to the workshops and Tuesday Sit&Stitch making reindeer.  The lovely lady has made 15.  This particular little reindeer has a story.  One Tuesday I was leaving Can Do Books, in my car about to turn into Auburn Road when I noticed something in the middle of the road, a reindeer head!  Janette had left half an hour before me.  The head must have jumped out as she crossed the road.  No one was behind me so I was able to back up into a car park and rescue the reindeer.  At this particular point he was just a crocheted ball with eyes.  I took him back to Can Do so Janette could pick him up.  So glad he didn't end up being reindeer roadkill, he is a sweet little one.

Coat Hangers

I finished the coat hangers, or granny hangers as they were called the other day.  The yarn are both hand dyed from Fibresmith, front one 8ply, back one 4ply.  Such a nice little project, I have rewrapped another two hangers to work on.

Little Crocheted Top

  

The third figure has a crocheted top.  I was trying to make it like the top in the second photo, not necessarily an exact copy.  The orange, light grey and dark grey yarns came from Fibresmith, the white and a very fine darker orange were in the stash.

Coat Hangers

I need something to work on at the Sit & Stitch at Can Do Books today.  I have been meaning to do this for awhile, revamp covered wooden coat hangers.  I made some years ago and they are in need of a redo, or a throw out, redo it is.  New cotton batting, and then a simple crochet cover.

Making Glasses

All three figures that I am making wear glasses so I have been wrapping wire with thread to make the different styles.  These ones need a bit more work because the sides should be a different colour to the frames around the 'glass'.

Grey Hair

The second figure has grey hair.  Made from two strands, one white, one grey yarn, worked in long and short embroidery stitches.

Pricing Reindeer

It is two weeks when the Christmas window will be set up at Can Do Books.  I was pricing all the reindeer yesterday.  Just a couple more little jobs to do and everything is all set for the window.

Making Hair

  

One of the figures now has a head.  To work his short back and sides hairdo I first embroidered the wool in long and short stitches around the sides and back.  Then I used short cuts of wool and a crochet hook and knotted the longer hair on top.  Then gave the top a hair cut.

Another Little Top

Knitting a top for the next figure.  This one has a collar.  Need to knit the sleeves next.  The yarn is from Morris&Son, it is on the blue end of the turquoise scale.

Last Night's Dinner

Trialling vegetarian Christmas dinners.  This one is Beetroot and Pumpkin Wellington from BBC Food magazine 2016.  The beetroot and pumpkin also have lentils, onion, garlic, sumac, hazelnuts, and the green layer is a pesto made from kale, all wrapped in puff pastry.  It was rather tasty, but I think I would leave out the hazelnuts with the pumpkin/beetroot as the texture wasn't very nice.  There are hazelnuts in the pesto, so the flavour would still be there.

Little Knitted Top

 



I finished the little top I started the other day and shared.  I made the body whole first, then knitted the sleeves, sewed them on, then cut the holes for the arms to fit.  Not something I would usually do, I would normally shape the body as I knit and make room for the sleeves.  I got the idea from Arne & Carlos.  They make a cardigan whole then cut up the centre front then add the edging.  I don't think I would do this technique on an adult's top, but it worked really well on this little one.

New Chair

  

  

My husband and I went for a drive to Geelong on Saturday afternoon.  While he went to the bike shop I dropped into Lily Pond.  Bought another little chair, a Christmas decoration and some antique candle holding clips.  Not that I would put real candles on them, maybe embroidered ones, or something else handmade.  The little doggie was very quick to claim the new chair.  He looks very happy sitting with his friends.