Life's delights...

Here are a few of life's delights from my day...



My current work in progress...

"Just being able to put together these beautiful yarns... there is nothing in the world like it." - Kaffe Fassett.

 

 

A wonderful woolly present in the post...

 

 

"The act of being able to just take yarn and make something is high in the collection of life's delights." - Kaffe Fassett.

 

Today I sat and listened to some Kaffe interviews whilst salvaging this experimental square I made the other week. What looks like turquoise is emerald green in reality and much nicer than the photograph. It is now hanging in the porch sprinkling some colour therapy on our visitors.

 

I was rather drawn to this retro Dallas Simpson print but it smelt really musty. My husband and I made a deal, I would mow the lawns and he would spray paint the frame... I got the worst deal as I had to rake a mountain of moss out of the lawn as well! But he did a super duper job...

 

Thank you for your comments on the Kaffe exhibition post, I'm really pleased you enjoyed the photographs x

Kaffe Fassett exhibition

I was lucky to spend last weekend in London and we went to see the Kaffe Fassett exhibition at the London Fashion and Textile museum... here are some of my photos from the exhibition...

Seeing these walls doesn't help with my desire to re-decorate our home...



The first cardigan Kaffe made...



A "touch" wall as all other exhibits were not to be touched... I may have touched the shawl, my husband said he knew I would as I just can't help myself.

 

This was one of my favourite corners at the exhibition... perhaps because I am working with a
similar colour palette at the moment. I can see quilt making in my future!

 

 

My absolute favourite exhibit was this shawl

 



 

 

 

At this point I want to add that my husband came with me to the exhibition as we went on my birthday and he sat on a Kaffe pouffe and watched "Kaffe tv" with me - now that is love!

 

Kaffe Fassett: A Life in Colour

...and finally a crochet work in progress, my "Kaffe celebration" blanket:



Fairies at the bottom of the garden and a winner

From Kaffe Fassett exhibition in London...

 

The winner of issue 5 Simply Crochet magazine is:

Julie from Australia

 

Congratulations Julie, please email me with your address at memirose@btinternet.com

 

 

I've just celebrated my birthday and the fairies at the bottom of the garden gave me this gift... a row of lily of the valley coming up unexpectedly between the old wall and slate chippings. It really doesn't get much better than this! I love these unexpected gifts from nature that happen from time to time x

 

Simply Crochet magazine giveaway...

 

Lights available from Dotcomgiftshop.com

It turns out there was something missing with our welcome granny wreath in the porch... that something happened to be a pink fluffy flamingo! My husband may have rolled his eyes... I honestly wasn't paying attention. The flamingo lights I got the other month complained about the Arctic weather conditions and packed their suitcases and flew to New Zealand no less. Apparently a New Zealand autumn/winter beats the heck out of a UK spring/summer. What made me laugh at the time was my hubbie was quite sad to see them go, he secretly liked the pink flamingo lights. So I thought I would bring home some pink flamingo fluffiness from the charity shop to fill the void... Felicity likes her new home swinging from the granny square wreath.

 

The lovely people at Simply Crochet have given me a copy of issue 5 to give away to one of my readers. Issue 5 is extra special because of the hexagon feature I worked on, in my humble opinion. I went in WH Smiths today just to see the magazine on the shelf and say to hubbie "my crochet is in that magazine!" Small things and all that... So the giveaway is open to everyone, no matter where you live in the world.

If you left a comment on my blog during the month of April and you enter this giveaway, I will enter your name THREE times in the draw; a little extra thank you for contributing to my blog and keeping me going.

 

 All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post and I will draw a winner on 10th May 2013. Good luck everyone.

 

 

 

Hexagons and Simply Crochet magazine...

 

 

I did the hexagon shape feature for issue 5 of Simply Crochet magazine which is out in the UK this coming week... I put such a lot of effort into creating diverse projects using one simple hexagon pattern and I was thrilled with how it all turned out. The brief was to create items for a bedroom in pastel shades. I specifically wanted to use Stylecraft acrylic for some of the patterns because it is an affordable yarn and comes in a wide range of colours. So often with craft magazine the projects favour the more expensive yarns and  whilst very lovely and luxurious to work with, it is sometimes great to see what can be done with the cheaper brands.

 

 

Above are the hexagons I used to make a pyjama bag which I think you will love...

 

 

The dreamcatcher looks great in the magazine, I like the way they have styled the whole feature...

 

You'll be amazed at how easy peasy this hexie cushion/seat pad is to make...

 

There are six projects in total and all the patterns and yarn details are in the magazine. It's weird seeing my makes in a magazine, I feel really proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and accepting this commission. Remember when I posted the quote "Do something brave today" the other month? Well this was my something brave, usually I don't do anything which creates adrenalin these days! At first I told the commissioning editor that I didn't do my own patterns as a rule, but after accepting the work I made a real effort to create a set of beautiful projects and patterns using Stylecraft yarn and DMC cotton. I hope you like what I did!

 

I must also add that the staff at Simply Crochet are so warm, friendly and forever cheerful and it was an absolute joy to do this work.

 

Yesterday's charity shop find... nesting monkey dolls... too quirky to leave on the shelf. The smallest monkey had a bunch of bannas inside!

 

Thank you so much for your comments on my last post, I am enjoying making a blanket again. There is something so wonderful about blanket making and I have missed having a big project to work on of late.

 

Husband asleep under crochet!

 

 

 

 Sending you this posy from our garden with wishes for a happy week ahead x

 

 

 

And then it sang

 

I've been rather obsessed with Kaffe Fassett at the moment, getting his books out, reading his autobiography and generally getting excited about his passion for colour. This coincides with an insatiable desire on my part to start a new crochet blanket.

 

The blanket above is the first piece of crochet I made just over two years ago and recently it has been sat folded up on a chair in the bedroom. I have laid in bed and thought about how very different this blanket is from everything I have made since.The camera is being very very kind with this blanket; in reality it is poorly made and literally falling apart at the seams. There is however something very fabulous about my first foray into the world of crochet and that is the way I used colour. This blanket is quite garish "in the flesh." There is no denying this is a vibrant blanket and against all odds it works. In a Youtube video Kaffe Fassett said in an interview that you should aim to produce a rather vulgar colour scheme for your first project and get a feel for what works and what doesn't, as opposed to playing it safe.

  

I decided I wanted to make a similar blanket to my first attempt with my now improved crochet skills. Somewhere along the line however I have lost my ability to throw colours together with complete abandon... my recent attempts at creating a vibrant blanket have not made my heart sing.

 

 

I have persevered though with Kaffe's words ringing in my ears, "keep your mind open, you never know what is going to work." He talks alot about working until your work makes your heart sing and in recent weeks nothing I have produced has made my heart sing.

 

Now the photograph directly above did not want to be photographed and refused point blank to show its true colours! They are vibrant jewel colours including cerise, royal blue and emerald green and very nearly made my heart sing. The two panels directly above the jewel one have been made into placemats along with two others - waste not want not. Just as I was about to admit defeat and retire my crochet hook, it happened... I produced a panel that made my heart sing!!

 

Again this new work in progress is adverse to cameras and does not want to show its true colours, but above is a taster of my "Kaffe celebration" blanket. I know this will be a far more sophisticated creation than my first attempt and in many ways I did not want this to be the case, I wanted something crazy. Maybe "crazy" has left the building for now and my only hope is that this latest endeavour continues to make my heart sing.

 

 

Issue 5 of Simply Crochet magazine is out next Thursday 2nd May in the UK and you may just want to seek it out at the supermarket or WH Smiths if you are a fan of hexagons and MemeRose creations...