My Creative Space: little winners :)

I'm a few days late with my creative space - but I have a couple of winners here :)

Firstly, here are some little cork knights I made for a friend's little boy - I love this pattern by Lucy Ravenscar.  Visit her blog and you can find some awesome patterns and gets lots of inspiration.  Her crochet creatures are fabulous.

And here is a winning creation of our own - literally - my Little Man won himself a prize for his Easter hat at school the other day.  I was only there as his technical assistant - he knew exactly what he wanted, so I did as asked and helped with the more tricky parts.  Isn't it wonderful?  Hot glue is officially our best crafty friend :)

Here's wishing you a wonderful peaceful Easter.

Look for more creative winners here ...

My Creative Space: Crochet Along Show and Tell

Work in process

My lovely wool-eater CAL is going well - I've decided I don't need to go too mad as it's lasting for the whole year, and if I did more than one row per week, the blanket would be big enough to cover the house by the end of 2012.  I'm so loving the bright colours!  Though it is a tad hot to be doing ANY crochet at present - 37 degrees today and 39 forecast for tomorrow apparently.  YUCK!  Guess who will be taking the car to school?  I am just such a wimp when it's hot ...

Detail - yummy ...

roll on the time of year when I can snuggle up under my delicious crochet blankie ....

See what other delicacies are on offer in the crafty world of our creative spaces ...

My Creative Space: Poncho for a birthday girl

Well, I've been really busy creating for the past few days I'm pleased to say, but I can't share much of it here at the moment because it's either for a mystery activity or for someone who may read this blog before their big day!  However, I can share the little poncho I've hooked for my niece as she's not reading this blog yet (but I'm sure she will when she's old enough :))

I'm particularly proud of the two tone lilac and pink tassles!

It's knitted in acrylic 8 ply for ease of washing for her mum; I used a pattern from Spotlight (the 'Charmed Knits' mini booklet).  I used really pretty girly colours as she does love pink.  Best news is that it is incredibly quick to make up, you'll be able to make one in a weekend.  Winner!

and another pic, just because it's so pretty ... :)

My Creative Space ...

I'm still plodding on with my teeny granny squares - I like to have a pot to chuck them in as I make them.  I found a slightly battered biscuit tin in the laundry, so I hammered out the worst dents and covered it in pretty wrapping paper ...

treasure revealed inside!

And look what the postie left on my doorstep today, a very cool amigurumi crochet calendar for 2012 by crochetme.  So fabulous you can even download all the patterns - looks like I'll have at least one crochet project a month for the next year :)

Check it out here to see other creative spaces ...

My Creative Space

Patchwork!

Look at my messy cupboard, alas with no door ...

Patchwork comes to the rescue ...

Doesn't that look a whole lot better; so simple yet so pretty and I made it all myself!

Someone always has to come over to have a look at what's going on ...

Wondering what else is going on in the creative spaces across the globe?  Check it out here ...

My Creative Space

It's been a chocolate cake sort of day ...

Children at home ill and I'm feeling a little bit homesick, so made a very chocolately choccie cake, with a very high dose of cocoa in the real butter, butter icing.  Yummy!  Funny, now we're all feeling better ...

And look at this - my dpn crisis could be over - I'm actually doing it - knitting on 5 needles!  Yes, there are a few odd stitches here and there, but I will wear these socks proudly and everytime I see the little holes I will be reminded that I didn't give up.  And the great thing is according to all the sock experts I aspire to be, the more you practice the less holes you make!  AND apparently there's nothing quite like a handmade sock - I shall persevere!!

Look at some more lovely creations here.

My Creative Space

... or how to frame a cross-stitch the cheapskate way!

My creating took on a new project today - or not so new.  I've had these cross-stitch pictures for over 10 years, hidden away in a box.  The cost of framing has always put me off, but I am a great believer in not paying somebody to do something I could do myself, so here goes:  (do not read any further if you are a cross-stitch/framing purist, the following may make you faint)

Materials used:
Ready-made frame $4.99
Mount $3.95
Board $2.50

I used boards which are used for acrylic painting, they are sold in newsagencies/stationers and are acid free, so they shouldn't discolour your stitching over time.  Cut board to size with a box cutter - be very careful!  And use a mat to protect the table!  Position the board centrally over the reverse side of the piece of fabric and fold edges over to back of board.  (Make sure your work has been pressed -  use a gentle steam setting and place the piece upside down on top of a towel so that the stitches don't get squished).

Thread a needle with a long piece of strong thread (I used quilting thread) and sew back and forth in a zig zag across the board - I did this five times to give a nice even tension to the stitched fabric.  If the fabric is long enough to fold over the ends, repeat the procedure.  If you leave long ends on the threads, it means you can a tie a double knot for security.

You'll have to keep testing to see where the stitching lies in the frame - I had to wriggle the picture up over the board a few times, smidgen by smidgen until it was centralized in the mount.

Put the frame together - mount, picture, backboard - and you're done!  I did use framer's tape on the back of one picture as the layers altogether were quite thick and the fasteners wouldn't bend over the back board!  But I think you'll agree, although done on the cheap - less than $15 per picture - they look pretty good.  And it sure beats being shut away in a box, never being looked at ...

... and one more thing, I also learned it's probably a good idea to store your stitching flat - trying to iron out 10+ year old folds is not easy ...

So that's my creative space for this week - click here to go and view others!

My Creative Space

It needs blocking ...

We all tried it on for size, but it definitely looks best on HB ...

Today I finished my woolly hat - and it looks rather cool!  It's so comfy and cosy, not at all tight fitting like a beanie, so no danger of 'helmet hair'. :)  I knitted it from a pattern from Ravelry - if you go to their site and enter ETTA in the search box, it should come up - the pattern is by Kim Whelan.

Finally managed to find the 'Our creative spaces' blog as well this week!  Yay!  So I'm posting my hat pic there and have already checked out a few of the other blogs listed.  What a creative lot - it's hard to pick just a few, there's a lot of creative talent out there.  Go visit.