Finishing School

 Lately we haven't had a chance to go any more road trips so do not have any new on location shots of craft and vintage, but on the other it means getting the chance to knuckle down and get a few things finished off. Firstly some new ideas have been baking in my head since I discovered the sheldon dolls over by Amidorable Crochet ... i haven't finished yet so dont want to give away too much but here is the progress so far.

This is the sheldon doll made following the pattern by Amidorable crochet, you can find the pattern here

The sheldon doll has inspired this project, the doll is complete with snug fitting grey boxers. I've knitted a pair of jeans using a pattern from the Knitted Dolls book by Arne and Carlos but much to my dismay it's turned out a tad too small around the belly area and my doll ended up with a muffin top :( back to square one i suppose. I think this time i will crochet a pair and make up the pattern.


Also been making a few of these cute kitsch tea cosys, these will be making their way to the CandyBelle vintiques fair. Already sold one at the shop so i think these will go down a treat, here's hoping so anyway.

Candybelle is on the 11th May at the caledonian thistle hotel on Union Terrace so hope to see you there! 

hello Hoooked...

Part of our new years resolution for the shop was to possibly start selling supplies. This came about after a wee poke in the right direction from my neighbours at Bead Pop alongside a major light bulb moment during one of my classes, i noticed i kept sending folks over to John Lewis to get this needle or that wool and I thought - why am i doing this?? shouldn't I be profiting from this instead of a big multinational?? Don't get me wrong I love John Lewis but an extra pound in my pocket shouldn't harm their bottom line too much.

So I did some detective work over christmas, in particular I was looking for Hoooked zpagetti. This was introduced to me by Babs of Rocking Stitch. This lovely lady hails from Holland and attended one of my crochet classes to initiate herself into the Aberdeen craft scene whilst meeting some new buddies at the same time. She was kind enough to bring back this yarn after her holidays and I have to say i was hooked (literally). So in my christmas eating haze I found the supplier after much sleuthing and quickly registered to become a stockist and hoooked has finally landed and it has been a super success! It is a fab yarn as its lovely and chunky and to add to your green credentials it is a by-product of the textile industry so each cone could be a slightly different shade and fabric so it makes it all the more exciting. Only drawback being the troublesome knots you inevitably get but I suppose with it being a recycled product it would be hard to find great big bits to make into the yarn. but the knots are easily hidden inside so its really no biggie.

I have been busy making doily mats (which has been turned into a intermediate crochet class) and a knitted cushion. As the yarn is quite heavy it is quite hard-going on the ol hands but it is sturdy and i reckon it would make fabulous bags and baskets which is my next project .... after the millions of other projects i have planned.

hoooked doily mat

intermediate class making hoooked doily mats

chirpy cheep cheep - its springtime!!

This week it finally feels like spring may be peeking its head around the corner after record levels of coldness and flurries of snow last week. It really felt strange to be putting together a spring window while getting pelted with hailstones each time I went outside to check it. Well after months of prep the window was finally put together - do we like??

the window in full glory, i realise there is actually lots to look at in this window and punters probably need to come up close to appreciate it.... some feedback for myself for next time

crocheted daffys, pattern courtesy of lucy from Attic24

crocheted daffodils and vintage needles make a lovely display and ain't that needle-felted bunny just the sweetest?

crocheted chickens and hens on a knitted loop stitch panel. 

my favourite piece - the crocheted springtime garland.

hoooked yarn.