Clips of the summer

As September slowly shows it's hand, I find myself enjoying a very warm sunny Saturday morning. The children went back to school (gradually) this week and I ploughed through a pile of work. Now the weekend is here and I am determined to dedicate some time to creativity.

The school holidays are always a difficult time. With three children, self-employment which should offer flexibility but invariably never at the desired time, I often find myself frustrated for those six weeks.

Looking back at what I did manage to get done....well the results were few, but at least there's something to show.

Amigurumi Cat

I made this little fella for our friends, who just became proud first time parents. The pattern came from Janagurumi at Dawanda. 

My on-going project is  a poncho I'm making - I've made a few mistakes on this, it was a muddle up on treble and half-treble crochet, I've nailed it now though and and slowly ticking off the 92 starbusts I have to make! This gorgeous pattern is taken from Rowan, Amy Butler River Camp Knits

Starburst crochet Poncho

And finally, whilst trundling around in the camper van, spending a relaxed couple of days in Beer, Devon, we sheltered from a cloud-burst in a cranky antiques shop behind The Dolphin pub. I found the sweetest lace crochet hook and vintage french silver thread. The hook is victorian and features engravings and mouldings of a lighthouse. The hook retracts and is TINY. The lace making ladies of Beer actually made the lace for Queen Victoria's wedding dress....perhaps this very hook was used.....

Lace-making hook, from Beer, Devon

So this afternoon, I will set up a cosy corner in the shady part of the courtyard and will get busy...I've a wedding dress to make! Enjoy the weather
Katerina lalala xx

Initial ideas

Well it's London 2012, and I'm watching the velodrome action on the Beeb, fantastic. I have been busy creating this morning, finally doing some 'housekeeping' updating my GiftWrappedandGorgeous boutique. As my last post stated, it's mainly Christmas stuff, but other designs are popping into my head. Once that creative flow starts, sometimes it's hard to stop, which probably explains my insomnia last night. Seriously, 3 hours lost because my brain was working through designs, I should have got up and got busy!

Illuminated Initial Art

Crochet Christmas Bauble Card

Crochet Christmas Baubles (set of 6) 

Folky Bauble Christmas Card (set of 4)

Nordic Stocking Christmas Card (set of 4)

Partridge in a Pear Tree Christmas Card (set of 4)

Scandinavian Reindeer Christmas Card (set of 4)

It's July, therefore it is Christmas

I sit here, the rain is on it's way, I'm wearing a poncho, both of which are making my current work a little easier than it normally feels in July. I'm getting myself organised for Christmas - no not shopping - I like to leave that until at least November. My mind is on Christmas cards. I sell via Folksy and Gift Wrapped and Gorgeous, and the lovely Press Office have informed me that requests for Christmas items are starting to come through.

I wanted to revamp my range, give it a fresher feel. Influenced by letterpress with a Scandinavian feel, I'm reworking some traditional themes. I don't want anything glitzy and sparkly, instead aiming for bold, clean with really strong lines and shapes. Starting with an inked line drawing, I then rework it digitally and get busy with the vector lines.... The real fun comes when I play with the colour palette, 4 colour ways, I've shared one of them here.

Inked design

Working on the vector version

Finished!

Flutter through Folksy

Inspired by lovefromflorence.blogspot.com, I've been flicking through Folksy and wanted to share some of my current favourites. I'm drawn to the attention to detail, the choice of yarn and the technical skills used in these projects.

Owl Hat by ChayChay Hand Knits and Crochet

Symmetrical flower Cushion Cover by NostalgicPieces

Lavender Sachets by Nomolio

Apple Coasters by Tatjana474

Owl Apple Cosy by HeloiseV

Baby boots by Bamboots

Organic Cotton Cloths by Scrubbitty

Crochet Hook Roll by KnitsandKnots

Crochet Chirpy Bird Keyring by Simply Hand Made

Crochet Frog Pin Cushion by PawsomeCreatures

Pencil Toppers by Super Cute

Aromatic Crochet Hearts by Angela's cute crafts

Summer holidays.....crafty plans

Granny square blanket

Phew! After the very, very wet Nova Festival, and a lovely weekend away with my gorgeous man, I feel refreshed and ready for the summer (!)

School holidays are looming, weather not looking any better, so we may be inside rather a lot. I have a few ideas to occupy us, some film making - it's always a challenge but the results are so satisfying. There really is something for everyone when it comes to film, the story, the imagery, the music & sound and the team working opportunity. Watch this space - the finished film will be published, hopefully before the new school year.

Additionally I'm going to continuing hooking with my daughter, she did really well first time round, starting with a circular coaster and I'm confident with some relaxed, holiday time she will get the hang of it.

As for me, well I've been using up a vast quantity of wool which I have collected over my adulthood. Granny squares-a-plenty are slowly but surely forming this years winter blanket. Our lovely house can be a bit chilly and I like nothing better than feeling cosy as the nights draw in. All this rain has made me feel I need to be truly prepared for winter - avoid the blues! I started this 3 weeks ago, and realistically it needs to be twice the size, at the moment it would cover my knees in a bit of a granny way. Hey but the great thing about granny squares is you can just keep adding them!

Mobile crochet becomes Hook Therapy

Should I be worried? Found myself sitting outside the boy's school at pick-up, with hook in hand. Also know I'm going to take some with me to the festival next week.

Hooking on the move

Life at home can be a little tense, with number one child approaching 13 (behaving 15 sometimes) I often find myself needing to escape. Immersing myself in a complex pattern helps.

With this in mind, and having read Attic24 Lucy's post about hooking with her daughter, I'm going to try and teach my gal, working on the theory that doing something together may open up some closing channels between us. Hook therapy!

Tonight is the night, a friend is having a baby and I've found an amigurumi pattern, Booba from Menwy which I think she'd eventually be able to complete....which us luck!

Make a list and get ticking

katerina lalala & pablo meccano

I'm trying to tick some things off my list - got my fingers in too many pies at the moment and it's stressing me out. The film is almost finished, another 40 frames to edit and then I'll publish. Desperately would like to get this done today, my hook is awaiting me - want to get back to the paisley crochet!

Click, click, click...of a different kind

Last week I started creating our 'save the date' notice. I've toyed with a few ideas of how to notify our guests, from crochet notices to a cd with some of our favourite tracks. Ultimately money, or the lack of it, has guided me towards an electronic method.

My youngest son created a film last year, we had such fun and the result, after much editing, was fantastic, take a peak at it here Will's film. So with this in mind I began storyboarding and illustrating the elements

katerina lalala and pablo meccano a la papier!

Set design

Our lovely hosts' house

Everything has to be set up, lined up, adjustments made to camera settings, huge quantities of blue tack, wooden bamboo sticks, bits of cardboard and chunks of wood - very technical! I use i-stop motion - great programme, easy to use, click move, click move, 750 frames.

making movements between frames

Now all that is left is the editing process and choosing a cracking piece of music....

Editing in Photoshop CS6

Nova Festival Bunting

Just 14 more sleeps until I head off with 6 girl friends to the first Nova Festival. It's actually going to be my terribly early hen do (wedding not til next August). A festival is the perfect place to hang out with some of my lovely friends, have some fun but also relax. If you haven't checked out Nova, it looks amazing, "Racey acting, art displays, hot tubs and nighttime camp fires, hot showers, famous artists, a British pub and seriously good local food and drink"..... http://www.novafestival.co.uk. Can't wait! My good friend Jess has lent me her bell tent and I decided to make some bunting.

Bunting, crochet, stars, flowers, hearts all in a delicious vintage tea cup!

I've been crocheting stars, flowers and hearts for a couple of weeks. Finally I have enough for 2 streams of bunting.

Star bunting nestling amongst the climbing rose and honeysuckle

Such a satisfying moment when a project is completed, tucking away that final loose end......bliss!

Now all I need is the sun to shine. Putting up a tent in the rain is not my idea of fun!

Queen Anne Lace

Queen Anne Lace Crochet Cuff

So the wedding dress! I've got a vision in my mind, I need to translate it into reality whilst developing my crochet skills. A lot of the time I feel I am winging it, probably making lots of mistakes, which isn't terrible, so long as I don't want to create exactly the same thing more than once! 

I'm looking to create lace like crochet - something like Irish Crochet, although I don't want to end up looking like I'm wearing a gigantic doily!

I suppose what I need to do is learn how to create my own crochet designs. If anyone out there has any tips, advice or can point me to an amazing tutorial, please comment. 

Diving into the world of Crochet

Cosy coffee pot

I'm new to the world of crochet, I've knitted for years, but somehow the mysterious world of the hook had me baffled. Last year I had a bash and now I want to crochet everything, including my own wedding dress (elements of it at least). So, in order to get my techniques polished I had a little surf and stumbled upon Attic24 and Lucy's lovely coffee pot cosy. My pot is gigantic and I only restarted about 5 times before getting the size right. Treble crochet stripes throughout and a huge red button. Tried and tested on Sunday and the coffee stayed gorgeously hot......next project please!