No Creativity here

So I have achieved a sum total of nothing over the past month. Many many consecutive hot hot days, no air conditioning and just general busy busy life has resulted in me neither starting or finish anything. Or even working on something already started... I sux.

Now just to prove the weather hasn't killed me yet I give you some cute public crocheting. 

A Bombardment of Cats

Fenn the Evil Kitty - My cat.

Dude - My brother's cat, responsible for all the scratches in the walls. The carpet destruction was a joint venture between Dude and Fenn.

Moustache - my sister's kitten (brother to Po)

Po - my sister's other kitten (sister of Moustache)

Yoa - my sister's cat whom she was worried was lonely so got her two kittens to play with...

Floss, floss and more floss.

Anyone remember the bag of second hand floss I picked up at Savers in November?

Well today I utilised my free weekend time to sort it. At $3 such a bargain.

So from a bag of random floss to 34 bobbins of colour. I'm going to use these plus the leftovers from the kits I've done to make some cross stitch buttons. (Self covered).

The amount of brown makes me speculate that the kit the floss originally came from may have been a teddy bear of some sort.

My First Biscornu!

So I've been wanting to make a biscornu for a while. But I work mainly from kits and the kit market for biscornu is sadly lacking and what little there is seems overpriced.

I was resisting temptation!

Until...

I got issue 209 of the World of Cross Stitching with some neat free gifts and a second magazine (maybe cross stitcher? unfortunately now lost somewhere in the house - I'm sure it'll turn up at some point) with an article on making biscornu. Clearly it was meant to be.

The World of Cross Stitching came with two free gifts;
two lots of Metallic threads (Madeira 4012 and 4011) and a chart book '50 luxury Christmas charts.' I chose two of the snowflake designs and put metal to Aida. Three months or so later I finally finished.

Also of note this was my first time using metallic thread as well as my first time making a biscornu.

I did the side with the four squares in each corner first. Very determined not to make any mistakes...
I noticed halfway through I'd somehow inverted the colours. It only HAS 2 colours and I got them wrong. I'm a disgrace.

Fortunately the error didn't really detract from the ultimate design so I just carried on.

I decided to put little beads in the boxes (as can be seen in the photos) rather than an additional cross as shown on the cart. This was partially for pretties and partially because I forgot the crosses and didn't want to mess around going back for a single random cross. Lazy. But I do like how the beads look and if they hadn't done the trick I would have gone back and done what needed to be done.

It was also nice to dig through my bead box and actually use some of them rather than the box just sitting there gathering dust. The beads I used came off a now defunct bracelet purchased in a bulk bag of similar dead jewellery from my local second hand shop for a couple of bucks. If previous posts haven't already shown I love my second hand shops :-)

Working with metallic thread was significantly different from working with cotton. It made me pull my hair in frustration on several occasions and swear off using it ever again. And in a couple of places on the back of my stitching the threads got pretty ugly. I'm very thankful by it's very nature a biscornu will prevent the horror ever being seen again.

Next time I use metallic thread I'll get some tips first. And yes there will be a next time - it's just too pretty.

The other side is the one I stuffed up while slightly inebriated.  Then when I eventually frog'd the affected area and redid it made the same mistake again - completely sober. I think the problem is I just can't count and nobody bothered to inform me of this fact.

I also relearned, as clearly once was not enough, that you should read the instructions fully before commencing a project. I didn't allow for a sufficient boarder around my design. I started stitching the pattern only 1 stitch away from the selvage. Meaning that my boarder joining the two pieces together was a maximum of one stitch away from my design. It was incredibly fiddly to stitch together and probably not the best option for a complete novice.

Lastly the end product is a little light on stuffing. I put enough in then panicked that it was too much so took some out. I was right with the first amount but it's too late to fix now. And regardless it's so cute I'm still very happy with it.

Bad Christmas Kitty!

He kept eating the hat before I could get a good shot

Fenn's a bad Christmas kitty!

Wattle bookmark

About all the stitching I've done in the last month. Sad really.

The design is a bit 'flat' as I had to iron the hell out of it to get the creases out. And the little wattle flowers at the bottom of the bookmark are only vaguely correct. I finished them while tired and grumpy (not a good mix) and just couldn't care less.

That and it's for my grandmother - she loves me and isn't going to hold some dodgy stitches against me.

Danico design
Wattle Bookmark
Design size 5cm x 25cm

The instructions for finishing were also a bui meh. Fold in half and hem stitch down the centre.  Needless to say the stitching down the back is anything but centred and looks pretty messy. The half stitches at either end look quite nice though and it was fun pulling out the threads for the frayed effect. (Simple pleasures, I know.)

I also loved the chart; hand drawn :-)
So old school.

Perfect? No. But as noted above, grandmother, love, not going to hold it against me.

Markets, Markets and More Markets!

I haven't really done any new stitching since my revelation that stitching while somewhat drunk is not the best idea. I'm not even game to look at the poor little piece I sabotaged. 

What I have been doing this weekend is going to markets. Lots and lots of markets! Well okay THREE markets but that's a fair effort in my books.

#1
Saturday 7th December
Nagambie market;
8.30am - 12.30pm

Nagambie is a small (but exceptionally scenic) town about 90 minutes from Melbourne.  It has the most incredible lake and hosts regular rowing regattas.  Also if you're interested in horse racing it's the home of Black Caviar. 

My sister and I were driving by on our way the Shepparton and decided to stop in for a rest and have a look at the market while we were there. 

Rowing was on, weather was lovely and the market was small and cute - much like the impression the town gives. 

Some general craft stalls, the usual market bulk goods (socks/dvds ect), a few fruit and veg, goat meat, olive & goat milk products and the local scout group had on a sausage sizzle. There was also some music in the form of a busker - she was very good and added an nice element to the whole thing. 

We brought delicious apricots for ourselves and the grandparents. Before I came home today our share was already mostly gone.

Basically a sweet little country market. If you're passing by or headed that way for some rowing stop in and waste 30 minutes or so browsing. 

#2
Sunday 8th December
Rose St. Artist' market;
60 Rose St. Fitzroy
11am - 5pm

Love it! This is a regular weekly event (every Saturday and Sunday) I'm ashamed to admit how often I DON'T make it. In fact it may actually have been a year or more since my last visit. 

As it says it the name this is an artists market so a fair bit of locally created higher end artist work and creativity. It's only small but has a very diverse mix of items that never fail to satisfy.

There's also the draw of Brubswick street itself with its many cafés and quirky shops. 

The market was as sweet as I remembered. I purchased some photo prints by a local photographer Esther Frieda. She had a lot of Melbourne but I liked her nature shots more. The three I purchased felt very calming when I looked at them together.

There was so many nice things. I kind of regret not buying some sweet Melbourne made soap - it smelt so yummy. There were several stalls with jewellery but all different styles so keeping it all diverse, I was tempted by a couple of pieces but held back from spending due to the fact I don't wear enough jewellery to warrant the purchase. I was also seriously tempted by a mixed media artist working with iconic Melbourne images, looked so nice like home but interpreted through someone else’s eyes - someone who loves it just like you.

I plan to repeat this soon; go in early, have breakfast at one of the multitude of nice cafés, check out the market and maybe have a coffee at the café next door then spend the rest of the day browsing along brubswick street! Through vintage and alternative fasion, spaciality shops and just plain interesting stuff. Yay. 

Probably lunch at Bimbo Deluxe ;) or may go rebel and eat healthy 0.O at the Vegie bar? So much to choose from.

#3
Sunday 8th December
The Big Design Market;
Sunday 8th December 2013
10am - 5pm

I had no idea this market was on until I saw a postcard for it at the Rose st market, it was on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'd had the vague idea to check out what was on at the Royal Exhibition Building on the way back from Rose street but finding the postcard cristalised the thought. 

Wasn't going to miss it :)

Wow, big. Lotsa stuff, not too much duplication. Though I ask all out there what's with the ugly chunky resin jewellery? and I don't understand the 'bespoke drinking jars' by Rainy Sunday at all. Really not at all.

There was a lot of interesting stuff to browse. I saw a lot of people sporting bags from 'Tomorrow Never Knows' and yes I was tempted to buy one of their tshirts as well. Quirky.

There was also some nice Melbourne inspired works but they came with 'Australian' prices which meant they were way overpriced and oustide of what I was willing to pay. Nice to look at though. Tempted again by a really nice screen printed pillow but it was a 'limited' edition. I don't want a limited edition pillow I want one I can use.

I ended up with a lama brooch from Kimono reincarnate. Hehe. LAMA :)

And lastly lets all look at the ceiling.