new hat

my new hat knit and modeled on Lady Esmeralda,this is a gift for my friend Kath to keep her warm at the moment –she loves blue and this yarn was fabulous to work with –nice to wear not itchy but still cozy

Mia and summers end –maybe not if you knit this hat! –just love the fabulous job that the team at http://www.knitonthenet.com have done with my design –go have a look at all the other fabulous knits over there.Well back from France and the design book is full now for next falls designs so heres to all the swatching I need to do,will miss the sun and the lovely people I met.Seeing my sister for a few days without being ic of little folk was great and nice to reconnect  

Mia

after all the childrearing years.Our husbands had a good time with their own brand of humour –not lost on us really. We ate some lovely food and drank some very good wines, La Caminade http://www.lacaminade.com where I stayed was just perfect and Joelle and Christian both perfect hosts .

Mia— summer days at la Caminade

Summers end –or maybe not

Mia

Twilley’GORGEOUS’

Been using some differing yarns just recently and I have to say the Twilley Gorgeous is a great yarn with a lovely drape but holds your stitch pattern firm and the colours are good too–well done Twilley ,seems an age since I designed for them the ‘knit to felt’ kits usingFreedom.More colours in this range would be great maybe colours like theSincere organic cotton range .

 

No cobwebs in my chapel so decided to knit one –love these colours

Parisienne Romance New lace shawl in UK Magazine

Parisienne Romance

Lovely to see my lace shawl in the magazine seems ages since I did this one but that is how it all goes .Nice to see I made it onto the cover as well –sure this will be available via Ravelry soon.I love using Filatura and the colour was superb.The deseign is from the Paris sketchbook and reminds me of the Eiffel Tower on a blustry May morning.

new homeware patterns available now on Ravelry

the new quillow design pattern is now uloaded and ready on Ravelry as is the bolster cushion this is great fun to knit as is Cushy cashmere knit in the beautiful Shilasdair yarn
The patterns will be on http://chrissieday.co.uk very soon but for now please visit Ravelry.Happy Knitting

Memories and Aching Bones

The only wedding pic I am allowed to show you until the bride and groom return from honeymoon.
We had a family party the night before the wedding as family had travelled many miles for this event and the joining of 2 families is importrant and the party was great the weather good the food good –thanks to my mil Cindy who I could not have done it without her,and she made the wedding cake -! so a couple of piccies from there showing my brother and sister(aren’t they good looking dudes)who had not met before the party for 16 years when we buried my Mother,the other a kitchen shot (most good parties start and stop in the kitchen ) of Cindy my mil,Bart my brother and Kath one of my longest ever friends hahah( she rescued me in a snow storm when I was pregnant with my son 29 years ago).

But back to reality now and what can I say! my back aches, my knees scream,and my hips feel like they are singing at me but apart from that I am fine, as fine as someone moving at my age can be.
There are so many casualties of this move, tons of yarn- I really felt it was a competition as I made each hank or ball of yarn justify its existence in my stash some did not make it and the load got lighter –the next day round 2 and it started all over again and more casualties until I had reduced the stash. It is amazing how focusing on justification gets rid of so much we cling on to.
I have cleared my studio and apart from feeling sick and crying when 2 of my vintage sewing machines left home I am doing ok I think.The plants in my garden I will mourn over and wonder how they will do –pathetic really but the cherry blossom each April is awesome and the first taste of my own plums is something else.The frogs in the pond and all the birds I will miss, wonder if my baby robins will follow me.
I know there are horrid things happening in the world but I never wanted to move again and here I am off again.How I envy folk who have lived places for 30 or 40 years .The longest I have managed to be in 1 place was the childrens childhood home and I did 17 years there and leaving it nearly killed me and have not settled since really.I have my beautiful Teasdale home where my bones will rest when I am older.
Back to this move and more looking forward ,the new village is lovely the new garden is looking good and I love my home and am ready to make some good memories.My new lounge looks out over the main part of the garden and again my dreaming table (I call it that because as I sit to write or create I dream the day away gazing outside )has a great view so cannot see the new book getting finished very quickly.
I am not hanging onto anything any more that is not functional and needed by me now right now or so beautiful I cannot face the day without it,
So once again new beginnings to face and changes to cope with, lots to do, lots to learn, and lots to look forward to.
I am so happy for my daughter and her new hubby and I adore my new sil but I am so going to miss her and she will be living even further away from me but as you will see when I post some more piccies no-one could be happier, she oozes happiness and I never saw her look more beautiful apart from the 1st day I ever looked into her face. I was honoured to design and make her dress,and tiarra and bag I enjoyed every hour I spent doing them and very proud when I saw her ready for her big day ‘Thank you Emma for giving me that opportunity I will never forget it ‘.
Moving date looms and there is still fabric to sort, knitting needles to sort,views to say goodbye to and more than likely hundreds of decisions still to make,but they will be made, I salute the future.To any of my blog readers who are also moving –good luck !!!check out http://feltingfibres.wordpress.com for news on latest felting classes to be held at Viking Loom York in November

felted slippers

Oh sometimes I wish I had never knit any felted shoes,slippers, shoes, etc the hunt is on again and it always shows in the stats the trawl for my patterns all over . Patterns which are free are on the download pages here and in Ravelry and those which I charge for are available through the proper channels and stores which stock me .I now have a fabulous American editor to do all the pattern checking and writing which also helps with copyright and documentation needed.

It is enough to put you off knitting but every designer goes through this I hear, so I persevere and try to stay optimistic. well to a more cheerful note I have just finished all the felting tests on a brilliant felting yarn more to come on this –it really is worth looking hard for the best yarn that will not lose its colour as you machine boil your knit to felt projects ,and will not pill up and ruin your knit effects .

  I find Louet loses colour as does the ‘Knit 4 fun’ yarn –this used to be good as I used it in my first felting book not happy now with the colour tests .   Oh bring back Maya .

Knitting and innovations

It has  been a while since my last post and this is simply down to me. Liz a great friend of mine and very talented artist has started blogging this past week and I am so pleased for everybody out there in cyber land because for you all there will be some treats in store, as she shares her knowledge and creativity with you . Liz is the artist responsible for the beautiful square beads in my jewelry. It is an amazing material and with Liz it is a perfect partnership so go visit her at http://rarebird.wordpress.com and follow her links to a great web site and now an etsy shop where us lucky folk can buy a great piece which will be unique .Combining this medium with felt and knitting (making your own zipper trims, or buttons etc) making jewelry ,introducing handmade cards into your arena are all more ways to delve further and push the boundaries of ones own creative forces.

I would love to do an art piece using knitting and FP together .Watch this space .

I will not be going far for a while as I have broken my toe –yes my toe! how stupid is that .Let me tell you though I do have a high pain threshold but this ‘hurts’ and makes me feel sorry for myself do not even feel like knitting –now that is bad .

new knitting

Well here is a piccie of the new scarf  and  in this yarn it is going to look so cool,I love all the colours interplaying with each other and the way it changes depending on the twist of the pattern –being silk it will be lovely as the weather warms up yet you  still feel like having something around your neck.

By delving back into all my pattern manuals from earlier studious times I am finding pattern drafts I had forgotten about and blocks that I had done .

 inspiration was my vegetable patch and how I want to redo it and have crisssrossed paths interlaced with my herbs. It was drawing this out that started the shawl and with the first 18 rows drafted up and bed time looming –the rest will have to wait until morning.

I am actually using a 4mm needle which is quite a heavyweight for me with lace but we will see how it goes .

 My good friend Emma is 6 months pregnant and we wait the arrival of her son with delight.Emma wants to start a baby pram blanket and I have just the right yarn for her from Filatura which is pure bliss to work with. She is a very competent knitter but maybe not adventurous but this yarn I know will inspire her and I have drafted that pattern as well today.

Sunshine has been with us all day today, the poor old greenhouse got such a shock she lost a pane of glass and yep we now have a frost forecast tonight –is that my early start plan ruined .

Also been doing lots of sewing as well the last few days reinventing the bag haha–

if you like bag making go and visit my good friend Lisa over at

 http://www.u-handbag.com there you will find professional tutorials re bags and purses making which are designed to help everyone not just show ioff a talent .

Her website shop has amazing fabric and I can never resist the odd metre or so to put by ‘in case’.So pop on over and go visit Lisa.

So from an English country garden Goodnight America wherever you all are .My geography is certainly improving these days as I go cyberwise across the States visiting my new friends .

yarn piccies

Ok I am showing off now,managed to get card from camera to computer and some of my yarn pics I am really proud of like this ‘need lace’ pic, beautiful yarn from Sundara .I have started one of the patterns from Jane Sowerby’s beautiful book.Think the colours just great and the names swung it for me when I was buying it believe it was something like ‘blackcurrant over raspberries ‘ 

More  fab yarn  and this piccie of my hyacinth flowers the colours in this make me wish it was yarn.Back to yarn colours and my last piccie on this post watch out though there will be no stopping me now .

       This was some beautiful yarn from Poshyarn over here in the uk ,this is one that did not get way and I have enough for a huge shawl–yummy yummy .So just to counteract all this talk of colours and food thoughts I have been to the gym on the bike, on the steps machine and 6 lengths of the pool,cannot describe how self righteous I feeel but I can tell you that 3 hours on now and my legs ache ache ache –arms are ok but they get lots of exercise normally.

Next nice thing that happened today was I got an invite from my daughter to go and stay for the weekend -so in between felting and Cologne I shall be in Cardiff ,this is going to be a good month .

Nice to have visitors from across the pond and do hope they check back soon .

Next post will have free bag pattern for knit to felt from moi,it is very chic and tres french.