A scrappy Sunday

Oooh, look at that...March was nearly running away with me. The last few weeks have been ever so busy with birthdays, holidays, and not least Mindy opening her new shop. She's had a corner of Mum's shop for a few years but as her business has grown both she and Mum needed space. I am so proud of Mindy for having the courage to step out and do something like this. Go Mindy!

This is probably the quickest that I have ever scrapbooked an event. Seriously, it's less than a week since I took these photos. I'm using a real mix of supplies at the moment. Some of them are like the white background cardstock...it's been in my stash for a long time. The brads and chipboard letters have been around for a while as well. The patterned paper is new from the Amy Tangerine Yes, Please line. I have updated my paper collection with a few 6x6 pads from different manufacturers, and this is one of them. I love the bright spring colours and watercolour effect. I also love that the 6x6 pad has two cut-apart sheets which have small scale journalling and embellishment cards on - the 'hello adventure' and pink label on the right are both from this. A great way to add little embellishments without breaking the bank.

I have been a follower of Scrappyjedi (Melissa Stinson) for a while and though I love her style I have never managed to incorporate it into my pages. In my bid to expand my own style, I went with smaller photos and mounted them on vellum. Genius! Why didn't I think of this before? I love the subtlety of it and the way it creates another layer without making it too heavy on the page.

I am still practising. At the moment each new page is my *favourite* and I like it that way!

Whoops, I did it again

I know, I know.

I said I would keep up with this thing, and look at me now.

Sorry.

The last few months have been harder than expected....now there's an understatement. It's taken me far too long to realise that I push myself way too hard. Work/study/craft/play/music/life....I can't believe that I am still learning that I don't have to fill every minute of every day to make life worthwhile. Something had to give, and this time it was my OU course. I cried for about three days solid. 

But. It feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Suddenly, I have time to do all the other things I wanted to do. And it's amazing how much crafting you can get done when you don't have to spend 16 hours a week studying Shakespeare.

Yes, these are crafty projects including a cross-stitch first started in 2001. There's a story in that, and I'll tell you another time. There has also been knitting, crochet, and many things involving paper and paint. And, for the first time in about a year and a half, today I played the piano. 

My list of goals for 2012 has been radically revised....but only in terms of timescale. I will keep reminding myself that it is ok to take things slowly. To be selfish in what I do and how I spend my time. I will get there in the end, but the joy is in the journey.

Sidetracked

I can never work on one thing at a time. My last crochet project was going really well, and then I had some sudden inspiration for a new colour pattern and got sidetracked. This one is much more spring-like, with pretty pastel colours and a splash of hot pink and aqua. Also, a lot of white. It's the same ripple pattern but the colours make it look completely different. 

This blanket is also whizzing along, but I hope I manage to finish it before I start something else!

Work in progress

I have come to a sort-of conclusion that maybe knitting is not for me. I love it, I really do - but nothing I have made this year has turned out right at all. It's very disheartening.

Crochet, on the other hand, is much better. It grows quickly and in the blanket pattern I'm using I only have to count up to four, and even I can manage that.

So why, in my little pile of works-in-progress, do I have two knitting and two crochet?
The knitting is down to sizing issues. Neither of those pieces are finished and I already know one is going to be too big and the other too small. I am too close to the end to give up completely, but my motivation for finishing them is distinctly lacking at the moment.
The crochet is all down to colour. There is some incredible inspiration on the internet, and when it comes to choosing my own colour combinations I get overwhelmed and then keep second-guessing myself. These are the remains of two blankets that I started, decided I didn't like, and have left in the pile because I couldn't bear to frog them all.

The good news is that I have started a third blanket. I finally decided that I had to STOP looking at other people's work, pick my colours from my stash and stop buying more yarn, make a plan and get on with it. And remember that the 'look' of the blanket changes with each row...I've just done two rows in purple, but the overall look will not be very purple at all. I've done about 16 colours so far (two rows of each) and without wanting to tempt fate, it's coming along nicely. Fingers crossed this one might actually progress to being a finished item.

A summer knit

This yarn is just absolutely gorgeous. I had been indecisive about what to make for a while - I really wanted to crochet something but I just couldn't find a pattern. Then Mindy took a delivery of this, and the patterns to match, and I knew it was the 'one'. I haven't knitted for ages, not since about 2009, in fact. Complicated patterns scare me, so unless it's labelled an 'easy knit' I'm not really interested. Fortunately, this yarn is self-striping so I don't need to do any complicated stitches, just knit & purl and let the yarn do all the work. Isn't it gorgeous?

Well, when I say the yarn does all the work...the pattern I chose has rows of over 300 stitches, which is not exactly easy. But, as it's knitted all in one piece, at least I won't have too much sewing up to do. It's still a work-in-progress, as I need to sew two seams and knit the edging. I have a sad history of unfinished knitted pieces, which is why I was a bit wary of sharing this in case in never makes it out of the basket...but it's looking hopeful that it will be wearable soon.