The sun is out, leaves are growing on the trees now and the winter cobwebs are starting to blow away. Spring is in the air! As the weekend is nearly upon us I’ve been thinking up some ideas of fun things to do. Why not try something new?
Learn to crochet at the craft studio in Nottingham www.thecraft-studio.com. It is a morning class for £35
There is a great looking fair in Carlisle “A very vintage affair” www.veryvintageaffairs.com They will have over 20 stalls selling a selection of crafts and beautiful vintage and retro fashion and homewares. Take a look at www.coolcrafting.co.uk who will be exhibiting, they have classes making funky clothes for teens.
At the Make Lounge you could make yourself a kimono www.themakelounge.com.
Here’s a novel idea, what about making a deer head for your wall! Homemade London have a class on 17th April www.homemadelondon.com
The Grand National is on this weekend, so I’m inspired to bring you some definitely non-crafty ideas. I do have a flutter every year I have to admit, and I have been quite lucky on several occasions! Get your sweepstake going, and bet placed! There is loads of information on the official site if you’re not sure how to place a bet http://www.grand-national.me.uk/
While we on the theme of having a flutter, bingo is another idea. http://www.foxybingo.com/ have live bingo games so that could be something new to try this weekend. Have fun!
Well, I am going to start on a journey of setting up some online classes. Tomorrow morning I am going to shoot some clips to explain what they are about and to encourage people to join in.
It would be great if we can get a community built up of people who can meet each other over the internet but face to face. When you have children, going out in the evenings (or the day) becomes almost impossible and very expensive so participating in a course or learning something new becomes very difficult to achieve.
Classes using a video link would be a solution to the going out problem… I would like to give this a try and invite anyone out there to join me.
Please subscribe to my blog if you would like to join in, learn from home and meet other friendly faces by video link.
It’s great looking through all the patterns that are downloadable online as there are so many different projects available. It makes you realise what you could achieve yourself with a bit of hard work. Choosing the colour of yarn or fabric is the best bit, so you can make something just right for you.
I’ve picked out some sites that have a great selection, or some really nice ideas.
Sirdar have lots of tips on their site, and some great patterns including toys. It’s not free, but I love their new patterns and snowflake chunky wool which is great for toys (www.sirdar.co.uk):
Rowan have a really good selection of free knitting patterns, and of course all the wools to create them at www.knitrowan.com
The poncho below is one of their free patterns (called Megan):
Knitting pattern central has a great directory of patterns so you can search by the item you would like to make rather than the designer – take a look if you need inspiration:
http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory.php
Debbie Bliss have a regular free pattern posted on their site you can download – currently it’s a really nice jacket.
http://www.debbieblissonline.com/FreePattern.asp
At Burdastyle.com there are all sorts of great designs – clothes, cushions (a neck cushion), camera strap, a wolf hat, ties, baby bibs, children’s clothes – a veritable treasure trove of free patterns to take your pick from… they cover sewing and knitting, really all types of projects for house and home.
http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns?free=1&most_recent=1
DIY Eva bag by Nettevivante:
party dress by grosgrain:
So I’ve been researching the ways in which I can go about learning to knit.
A good starting point seems to be http://www.learn2knit.co.uk/. It’s a comprehensive site with everything from how to cast on the reading patterns and where to buy everything.
http://www.stitchldn.com/index.html - is a great resource to find a knitting group. They have beginners sessions, resources. events and locations of shops to buy yarn, free patterns, competitions and a community in London.
www.knit-a-square.com - 8″ or 20cm square for children in Africa. This is a fantastic charity, and a great reason to start knitting. You make your square to the right measurements, and then post it to the charity in South Africa, all details are on the website.
www.cyberseams.com - great instructional video on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uw-nUvGrBY. This is a crystal clear instructional video – really nicely shot against a plain background so you can really see what’s going on.
My sister has suggested starting with making squares – I really like this idea as it seems achieveable as you could end up with any size of blanket! I may have a baby blanket by the end, but it would still be complete with some beautiful soft wool it would be perfect…
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