She says she's fine

Towards the end of 2017 I joined a textile art group. We meet every fortnight to explore the  possibilities of textile art, and the results of last month's work are exhibited in late August and in September (details at the bottom of this post).
My piece has grown organically : it consists mainly of embroidery with scrap materials (ribbons from T-shirts, plastic and metal bits, embroidery thread, rope) on white cloth stained with blue ink.

An anxious woman (We are all her, at some point in our lives), Expectations and demands (not in the least our own) are high. The feeling of failure, lost chances, being misunderstood. Sadness, the isolation of loneliness, brooding. Music and lyrics keep nagging at our brain. Eyes to the ground, lips tight, a sigh. The whirlpool of our minds.
But also a hopeful reference: the red mouth, talking with each other, conversation that clears things up.

I loved this way of being creative, without limits, without pattern or expectation.

some details :

The making of :

And everyone is very much invited to our exhibition "Women's portrets" :

(and to bring a friend :-))

My Calm Cowl

This is the Calm Cowl by Suzana Davidovich. It's a free pattern on Ravelry (you can find it here). My Calm Cowl is not as wide as the original pattern. It's an easy relaxing crochet pattern. I used Evie Sublime Yarns in 3 subtle colours, purchased at Social Fabric in Totnes, a delicious shop which, as mentioned in a previous post, sadly doesn't exist anymore.

Blackbird collecting the mail

This rather large flat dish I crocheted from self-made t-shirt yarn. The leaf and the branch are knitted, the blackbird is needle-felted. Bird, branch and leaf are sewn onto the dish. It's perfect for collecting the mail!

Protectors of the pans

This was a fun travel project : while travelling by train last summer I crocheted 2 pot holders. We use them now as protective layers between our pans when they're stacked up. The pattern is called 'the Cook's Pot Holders' by Purl Soho. You can find the link to the pattern here. It is ideal to use up leftover yarn.
Purl Soho is a New York based shop, with gorgeous collections of yarns, fabrics and patterns, wonderful designs and a passion for natural fibers. It's so high on my list of "would like to see, would like to do, would like to visit"... Perhaps I'll get there one day....

Another booklover

Here is someone who totally agrees with Jane Austen, who declared that 'There is no such enjoyment like reading'.

You wouldn't want to disturb wool-felted bear Humphrey, lost in a book!

Boho bag number 2

First, I knitted two pieces of fabric, inspired by a pattern for legwarmers in the Dutch book 'Breien en haken met dikke naalden' (p.56). The yarn is Sirdar Kiko, a wool-acrylic blend.
Sewn together, this knitted fabric has become the outer bag.
For the inner bag and the carrying strap, I used a well-loved old shirt of my husband.
I added a zipper, a ribbon with a hook for wallet and a small pocket for my phone.
To finish up, I added a beautiful wooden button I bought at Bunyip Beads in Exeter (great shop, very friendly people!). It's a bit smaller than the first one (check it out here), but still perfect for a city trip.

Useful handkerchief sweetness

I keep my yarn and fabric stash in these display cabinets. To keep the sun from fading the yarn and fabrics, I made a kind of screen or curtain from vintage handkerchiefs and attached it to the cabinet doors. Sweet colours from bygone times They make me smile...

A French market bag

This is a free pattern from knitty.com, you can download it here.
It's a market bag with a square base and it's knitted in the round.
I used Debbie Bliss Aran tweed, in a beautiful soft purple colour with speckles. Running out of yarn, I dived into my leftover stash and found just enough Debbie Bliss Donegal aran tweed (dark grey) to finish the bag. I think the colour combination works well.
This is a felted bag, which means that the finished work is put into the washing mashine on a high temperature. The fabric felts, shrinks and strengthens. Here, the purple yarn has felted less than the dark grey and you can still see the stitch definition in the purple knitted fabric. I don't mind, I like it this way. Perhaps I'll try to felt it tighter later on, but for now, it will do.

starting on double pointed needles:

finished, not felted:

before felting : clear stitch definition

after felting in the washing machine:

done and ready for shopping!

Who's calling?

Dr. Who is big in our family. This phone cosy (yesss it's the Tardis!) I knitted for my nephew. You can find the free pattern, by Erinn A. Starnes, here. I used some acrylic yarn from my stash (just the right colours!) for easy maintenance. Nephew happy = me happy!

Eco cotton slipper socks

This is the very first pair of socks I ever knitted. I chose slipper socks, because they don't need an exact fit and can be a bit slouchy (good choice, looking back...:-) )
You can find the pattern for these cabled socks in 'Knitted and crocheted slippers', by Alison Howard (p.102). The yarn I used is an Italian ecological cotton : Mondial Bio Soft, bought at a branch of 'Veritas', a Belgian retail chain. To my delight, Veritas sells every so often an ecological yarn, wool or cotton. They could make more ecological choices in their sales policy, but it's a nice start!