So, what do you do when you suddenly have a free Saturday?

You ask friends that you haven't seen for months to join you for coffee and it seems such a good idea that your friend asks a group of his friends to join up for coffee and before you know it you have a gaggle of spinners and stitchers at the local art gallery cafe :-)

We got there to find that the cafe had already been yarn bombed by the local school. Check out the spelling of guerrilla...conjures up some image of monkeys knitting!

and swiftly set up wheels and a drum carder, drop spindles appeared out of bags and 3 versions of the same shawl made an appearance.

 
It was good, a real buzz that made people stop and watch, even come in and find what we were doing. A few new recruits for Ravelry and possibly even one for ourselves...we can work on that one.

Another week over

I seem to have less and less time to do the things I enjoy, not really sure why. Maybe I am just too disorganised at the moment :-) still I think that I will have to stash bust next year or I will not be able to get through the door. With that in mind I set out this morning intent on getting to the Spinners, Dyers, Weavers Guild,then promptly forgot my good intentions and bought a pack of Indian block printed cotton patchwork squares at our local oxfam shop... no hope for me really especially since I have not unpacked my purchases from Harrogate yet!

On Wednesday nights, as many of you know, I go to Stitched Up to catch up on the gossip and stitch/knit/spin/craft as the mood takes me. Off and on over the last few weeks Laila has been learning bobbin lace using thick colourful threads and we now have a fish and some seaweed which will soon be joined by a fluffy eel.



SDW meeting today was busy with at least 4 new spinners having their first go on a wheel. Sally showed off her felted scarf made with dyed roving and the help of a tumble dryer, Sally also bought along her cool blue wheel which I found difficult to use mainly due to the fact that I was wearing hiking boots!!





Peter had been busy dying fibres with kool aid and food colourings, had his first go on a wheel and wowed the ladies with his prowess on a drop spindle.



I finally finished the scarf, really pleased with this and now want to try knitting my own hand spun.



Have a great weekend everyone, whatever you may be doing.

another lace challenge :-)

Hi, a couple of weeks ago at Stitched Up ,Margaret handed me a plastic file and said I think you may be interested in this as its old and has lace in it. the papers turned out to be an extract from The "Needlecraft Journals" Published by the Manchester School of Embroidery around 1906. They are described as a descriptive and illustrative journal for the teaching the practical working of Pillow Laces.
Apparently to start lace I require 50 to 60 pairs of bobbins retailing at 8d per dozen which translates to around £0.03 in today's money (sterling) and to obtain a pattern to work from, I need to place the lace I wish to copy on Daylight Printing Out Paper, under glass, expose to the sun , then tone and fix as an ordinary print. According to the instructions, this is the way the Italian peasants take all their patterns, pricking the lace holes through the photos onto parchment. I had always imagined that patterns would be passed down and I find the thought of the countryside strewn with bits of lace attached to photo paper rather amusing.



The written instructions are a little confusing due to different lace terms being used, there are photos of lace and working diagrams but no actual patterns/prickings.



This piece is described as Torchon where I would possibly describe it as Bedfordshire. Maybe someone could help me here? anyway I have worked a sample and later today I hope to buy some coloured thread to try another sample. I have changed one or two elements to fit in with my vision of what it will look like in black/silver maybe? I quite like the large, open scale of this piece (width just over an inch)

Here are two of my lace making companions, they are divider pins, used to keep sets of bobbins separate on the pillow, aren't they cute?




More progress from the beginner lace making classes are here along with piccies of crochet, embroidery and knitting from the talented Wednesday ladies.

On a separate subject, the take a stitch Tuesday revisited group are starting again next week, more details here and I hope to join in again and play catch up. I and also hoping to visit one of my friend who has top whorl drop spindles so I can have a play :-)

Stitched up learn to gatecrash..part two

Hi, just received some more photos from Saturdays gatecrash so here is one of the missing member of the clan, Me!

Complete with wool and drop spindle.

like many people, I just hate having my photo taken and there seems to be an increasing number of photos of myself appearing on facebook at the moment!

Stitched up learn to gatecrash

wasn't our fault! someone told us that there was a Knit and Natter in the craft team at the Sherwood Art festival. Off we toddled, yarn in hand only to find out that it was all just a rumour! so what do you do? simple, commandeer a table and set up your own group:-)
Three crocheters and one spinner had a blast, ate ice creams, got accused of doing finger knitting and weaving! and possibly recruited students for the textile workshop and members for the Stitched up group.
Next time we will be organised - the guerrilla branch of stitched up will strike again, so look out for us!!


NB, I must admit that Claire, Vicky and myself found the beer tent rather early on.

snow, lace and thank you

Hi, a big thank you to everyone who has sent kind wishes with regard to my arm :-) more comfortable now but also more inconvenient in some ways.

Firstly, like all UK bloggers, I am going to show off today's snow fall.These are all views from inside as I still do not want to slip over although part of me wants to grab the sledge from the garage and join in the fun!!







I have now put the lace on hold completely as cannot pick up the bobbins at all but this will only be for 4 weeks hopefully.




malmesbury lace-Annies Pattern from malmesbury lace by Joan Blanchard

Finally, some friends blogs to browse, Frilly Bits monthly patterns and instructions for making vintage undies,Hannah and Bella, more vintage and altered clothes and Victoria Louise who is learning to embroider and alter clothes. ohh, better not leave out Pinky and Boo! We can all be found most weeks stitching at the Wednesday Stitched up meeting, Textile Workshop, Sherwood, Nottingham.

Quiet Wednesday

had to stay in so nice man could fit carpet

postman delivered latest ebay purchase, two girls at stitched up are wanting to learn how to make lace and we have had a kind donation of a pillow, bobbins and thread. (thanks Caroline)

Ian had to move a set of drawers to make room for the carpet and look what I found, substantial evidence of a cross stitching phase.

and a friend popped round with these

altogether, not such a bad day

Tempted again

As many of you know, I go to Stitched up on Wednesday evening at the Textile Workshop in Sherwood, Nottingham. We just sit and natter and work on whatever our currently project is. If you are in the area, all are welcome. Also check out the workshop courses, they are very reasonably priced and popular. Anyway, what I'm rambling on about is this.




couldn't resist it!! it will probably go under the embellisher this weekend:-) Karen had a section of unusual wools in the shop as well as the usual range of dyed fleece etc.
Unfortunately I can't get the link to the courses to work so if anyone wants anymore info, let me know.

Crochet ladies at Stitched Up

On Wednesdays evenings I go to a local stitch/craft group at the Textile Workshop in Sherwood, Nottingham. There are usually around 8/10 of us working on different textile related crafts. Knitting and crochet are popular with embroidery coming a close second. Sometimes I stitch, sometimes I take my lace pillow.
last Wednesday I remembered to take my camera so here is some detail from Lailas finished crochet panel





and Margarets noughts and crosses





If you are in the Nottingham area, why not come and have a natter. If not, we blog at Stitched Up.

Bobbin lace and tatting

On a Wednesday nights I try and get to Stitched Up craft group meeting held at the Textile Workshop. I usually take some hand sewing that I can do easily whilst chatting. Last night I realised that I don't really have anything portable so I dug out my lace bobbins which need the old thread unravelling and my tatting shuttle which I haven't touched for years. Hopefully I'll get the bobbins sorted and paired ready to set up a practise pillow to take in one week for everyone to have a go.

quick practise run with the shuttle last night

my favourite bobbins are black with metal work like these

Wedding Lace

Claire of Pinky and Boo is busy making wedding preparations and mentioned on her blog that


As I am making the crochet flowers to applique on the dress, I would like to make leaves from pieces of old lace, to kind of make them into corsages. This is the bit you guys come in - if you have any small pieces of old lace that you don't mind parting with, I would love to include it in my dress - I am looking for anything white or ivory/cream that could be made into a leaf, so it doesn't have to be a huge bit - a couple of inches will do just fine.


When I spoke to Claire at the Stitched Up meeting last night, she chose this Honiton Lace sample to include in her dress. I remember making this piece about 10 years ago and would love it to be used rather than be sat in a drawer forever.

Claire was also busy stitching lovely little needle cases shaped like baskets of flowers and cupcakes to sell on etsy.

Stitched Up

For a while now I have been looking for a craft/textile group to meet and stitch with, more for the chat than anything else as this is what I miss most from doing the C&G course. We would bounce ideas around and generally put the world to rights, all be it in a textily sort of way. A few weeks ago I found a group called Stitched up meeting in Nottingham on a Wednesday night and took myself along to a meeting. This proved to be a small group of girls meeting to stitch or work on whatever project was most portable. For myself, it is the perfect place to hand stitch ATCs or postcards in in pleasant company and I may even use it as an excuse to take out my lace pillow which hasn't seen the light of day for a few years.
My thanks to Claire, Vicky, Allison and Pamela for making me so welcome.
NB.they even have a blog which may be of interest to stitchers in the Nottingham area.