recently finished items

Dolly jacket- Jaeger (6-12 mnths), originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff

Handknits for Babies and Children by Martin Storey
4 ply Baby Merino Jaeger

Scalloped Baby Blanket for Isla, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

Pattern from Amy Karol - bend-the-rules sewing
Fabric from Liberty,

me and my clara, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

Clara from Hip Knit Hats - Cathy Carron
Brown Sheep Chunky
The sun was in my eyes - so please excuse the squinty look ;-)

PLEASE note you can find errata notes here for this book

Knitted Atari 2600 Console with CRT

Knitted Atari 2600 Console with CRT, originally uploaded by jm3.

How cool is THIS - I found it here Not sure how I get my hands on the pattern for this!

the pieces - Dolly Jacket

Dolly Jacket, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

Nearly there now - just got to sew it together.. 3mnths in the making.

bunny hop to Istanbul

wee wonderfuls bunny, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

I just love the wee wonderfuls - this little'un is now residing in Istanbul, safe in the care of a Lea. I made it in November 2007 but didn't get round to posting it until now. I am also behind schedule with my gardening projects - I only planted my daffodil bulbs today, hopefully they will be in flower by easter (fingers crossed). I choose a pastel variety for a change - I usually plump for the classic yellow. I have completed two other sewing projects this week that I will share with you soon.



Until then let me mention a children's book I added to my collection this week: A Child's Book of Poems by Gyo Fujkawa, first published 1969. My sister and I owned a board book by Fujkawa when we were children called Our Best Friends, published 1977. I loved this book because the illustrations were so vivid - I was amazed with the detail of the clothes and grass, yet the eyes were just black dots. The collection of poems in this book includes William Blake and Kate Greenaway - there are lots of colour illustrations but my favourite are the drawings.

Festive Production

Cushions, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

Cushions in Amy Butler Fabric with pink satin trim. Cushion pads from John Lewis 30 x 40 cm. feather filling - think they cost about 3.95 each. Liberty have now started selling Amy Butler fabric at 8 quid a metre - the patterns are gorgeous, really distinctive. The green fabric here looks fairly traditional but the lovely green and pink give it a contemporary twist - combined with the spotty fabric on the reverse of the cushion the look is complete. These cushions were gifted to my nan and my boyfriends mum - both were pleased to receive handmade gifts - both were a former knitter and seamstress (sadly not possible now due to ill health).

NOTE: I noticed this on the Amy Butler selvage...
Lotus © by Amy Butler for Rowan fabrics for non commercial use only.
Fair enough I guess - we all have to earn money. This is the first time though that I have seen such a bold statement printed on a selvage - I am not sure how strictly the non commercial usage is enforced - but there must be loads of crafty bods out there making beautiful stuff for sale on Etsy, (for instance) who may consider that a wee trim of Amy Butler fabric here and there would make all the difference to their handmade goodies. That got me thinking to ways around using the fabric for non commercial use, such as exchange by barter/swap shop type enterprise. There may also be implications in the future for crafters who remix fabrics and garments such as Anti factory (my fav blog of 2007), especially if in the future more designers made use of these and rules and they were strictly enforced. I hope not...

Blimey how time flys...

I have returned from my 7 month residence in Istanbul and am now back in the UK for good. All around me babies are appearing. Currently I am busy knitting Baby Dolly from Jaeger, Baby handknits, J29, (size 6-12 mnths) for my cousins new born daughter Daisy Mae. I have at least 2 more babies to knit for before the end of 2007.

On my return, about 4 weeks ago! I joined the social movement that is called facebook. I am trying desperately not to get hooked... but it is difficult. The good thing, as well as keeping up with all my mates from Turkey, is that I have been invited to a couple of events by fellow knitters > I been invited to "knit a tit", an event that will raise money for breast cancer. It will be held on Saturday 27th August at "I knit" in south London > and I found out today that the knitting and stitching show is on this weekend at Ally Pally. How exciting I would never have found out about this otherwise! I intend to go tomorrow :-)

Last up, CONGRATULATIONS to Charlotte

Sending the Princess of Purple to Peru

My friend Charlotte, aka cfknits is going treking in Machu Picchu, Peru for charity in 13 days time. Donations to support the charity can be given at just giving. There are also some fabulous auctions on ebay, here, here and here. Please support Charlotte in her expedition as it is for a fantastic charity.

By way of this post I am wishing you, canım Charlotte, all my love and best wishes for your forthcoming expedition - iyi yolculular Lxxxx - see you back in London in October.

blocking!

blocking!, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

well not quite - this shawl is knit with acrylic yarn so it isn't going to block - but I went through the motions all the same - with a bit of help from a warm iron I seem to have simulated the desired results.

More hair...

More hair..., originally uploaded by louise makes stuff.

Mohair is the thing to buy in Turkey apparently...
Linate Rabbit - super kid mohair - varigated colourway - 85% mohair, 15% polymide
YarnArt - Mohair Classic - 80% mohair, 20% acrylic

wikipedia says:
The angora goat is thought to originate from the mountains of Tibet making their way to Turkey in the 16th century. Until 1849 the Turkish province of Ankara was the sole producer of Angora goats. Charles V is believed to be the first to bring Angora goats to Europe. In 1849 Angora goats made their way to America as a gift from Turkey. Today South Africa and the United States are the largest mohair producers, with the majority of Amerian mohair being produced in Texas.

umhh - you may have spotted that one of the brands is called Rabbit - nice label though!

I bought these goodies from GALERİ 77 - it is about a 20 min walk from where I live... it is near to Osman Bey metro station. The lady in the shop was very helpful.
( TUHAFİYE LTD. ŞTİ. ERGENEKON CADDESİ NO:20 PANGALTI ŞİŞLİ )

A big thank you to Crafty? Who? for telling me about this store.

Lellabella

Lellabella, originally uploaded by louise makes stuff.

I visited Venice during my summer hols. This is my fourth visit - we go every two years to visit the Arts Biennale. This year I spotted the one and only Yarn Shop in Venice Lellabella. It sells loads of beautiful Italian yarns - I should have bought something but the our trip to Venice had already burnt a hole in my purse. Venice is soooooooo expensive :-o

Directions to Lellbella:
Walk toward Campo Manin from the Rialto, it's just over a bridge on your right hand side, the block BEFORE you reach Campo Manin. It is technically on Calle della Mandola (aka Della Cortesia).

Fiery Maiden

A few weeks ago I made a trip to Kürkçü Han (Furrier Han) in Mahmutpaşa, Eminönü where you can find really cheap yarns and fabrics. It is a stone building located on the right while climbing Mahmutpaşa Street from Mısır Çarşısı (Spice Bazaar). This building is as old as Kapalıçarşı (Covered or Grand Bazar) and was once built for the accommodation of furriers; however, now it is an a busy shopping area. I love Eminönü it is probably one of my favorite places in Istanbul, it assaults your senses with a blast of smells, sounds and colours - its fab.

Anyhow, I bought two lots of yarn, some lovely bright red cotton DK that is now back in London and some acrylic in fiery shades of red, orange, yellow, pink and rust. I am using this to knit Earth Maiden Shawl by Ilga Leja. Not exactly the desired colourway but I think it will look good. There are loads of good acrylic and cotton yarns in Turkey. This one is made in Turkey but packaged by Belday home, a Geman company, I can't find any information about them on the web.



I have a few more yarn shops to visit in Istanbul and have bit more time to do so - my time here has been extended, I will now leave on 16 September. But that is it NO more extensions, I am missing my loved ones in Blighty - it is time to return.

shake it up şekerim

Blimey... it is along time since I last watched eurovision - but I have to say it was a proud moment on Saturday night when the UK gave Türkiye - on iki - leaving Kenan Doğulu's Shake It Up Shekerim ranking fourth overall. Anyhow nothing to report on my cable project - it is getting longer but I have given it up for a while. Work is keeping me far to busy and there are sooo many shopping opportunities. So on a sweet note here are some soaps I spotted in Kanyon

my first cable project.... ?!?!?!?!?!?

I am knitting this. It is called CLYDE. It is in the RY winter classics, book 6. I am using soft tweed in Kingfisher, number 9, colourway. It is 56% wool, 20% viscose, 14% polymide, 10% silk. I bought the yarn and pattern at the January sales at Liberty of London.

THE PATTERN IS WRONG! ? !



Look! The picture above clearly shows that the pattern is symmetrical from the central front rib. The cables clearly mirror each other forming a circular pattern just below the chest and at the neck line, as the cables lie flat and echo the v neck. I googled to see if any fellow knitters have spotted the difference (this knitter has made a good job of their CLYDE, but it doesn't look like the photo).

This is my first project using cables, I have followed the pattern just over the first set of cables but it was obvious my project is NOT going to look like the lovely garment pictured in the book if I carry on following the pattern ;-( Here is the pattern...





As I see it the bottom cables, that I have coloured pink, should be slipped to the back as instructed by the pattern - but the bottom cables marked in blue should be slipped to the front, not to the back as the pattern instructs. Then the top cables that I have marked in pink, again as instructed by the pattern should be slipped to the front - but the ones marked in blue should be slipped to the back otherwise it won't be symmetrical.

This is so frustrating - but at least I have only passed the first set of cables - My plan is to rip this back to the first cable - agghhh and as this is moss stitch it is going to be real fiddle to put the stitches back on the needles.

I am a bit hesitant at changing pattern elements - but I am sure I am right to do so in this instant. I would greatly appreciate any comments on this one....

salut là-bas petit fella

Here is baby Gabriel modeling the pixie hat I made for him. Gabriel is living in France with his lovely mum and dad - hope you are all well :-) Hope the title translates OK? My French is rubbish.

turkish
baby - bebek
little - biraz
mother - anne
father - baba
family - aile

Support the William Morris Gallery

The William Morris Gallery is located in Walthamstow, London E17 and is under threat of closure.

This post is dedicated to the community of Walthamstow Forest art lovers everywhere who appreciate the politics and craft of William Morris and observe the right of access to public collections of siginificant cultural value and beauty :-)



Designer, Craftsman, Writer and Socialist William Morris was born at Elm House, Walthamstow, on 24th March 1834. He died, 'having done more work than most ten men', at Hammersmith on 3rd October 1896.

The WILLIAM MORRIS GALLERY, opened by Prime Minister Clement Attlee in 1950, is the only public museum devoted to England's best known and most versatile designer. The Gallery is located at Walthamstow in Morris's family home from 1848 to 1856, the former Water House, a substantial Georgian dwelling of about 1750 which is set in its own extensive grounds (now Lloyd Park).

The Gallery's internationally important collections illustrate William Morris's life, work and influence. There are permanent displays of printed, woven and embroidered fabrics, rugs, carpets, wallpapers, furniture, stained glass and painted tiles designed by Morris himself and by Edward Burne-Jones, Philip Webb, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown and others who together founded the firm of Morris, Marshall, Company in 1861.

Please follow this link to sign the online petition.

craft in the media

A spring post dedicated to recent stuff in the press/tv/print featuring craft>

one - bir     8<--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Extreme Crafts 25 May - 8 August 2007
Siuolaikinio meno centras / Contemporary Art Centre
Vokieciu 2, LT-01130 Vilnius, Lithuania

Curated by Catherine Hemelryk & Jennie Syson
Call for participants/submissions

Extreme Crafts is an international exhibition project held in Vilnius. We
are looking for contributions for a part of the show called the Rogues
Gallery. We're looking for the weird and the wonderful, the inventive, the
amusing, the twisted, the political, the subversive and whatever is being
made at the fringes of the fringes. The project opens in May 2007.

To contribute or for more information get in touch by email:
jennie@hinterlandprojects.com

two - iki        8<--------------------------------------------------------------------------

CRAFT CORNER DEATHMATCH
A new programme on Style network.  Anyone seen it?  It sounds pretty
awful...  Who is Jason Jones?

three - üç     8<----------------------------------------------------------------------------  

DIY ARTS AND CRAFTS NIGHTS - Just popping out for a swift paint
An article in The London Paper about social crafting activities in London.
featuring:

HungaMunga We want people who think they can't make art to make art

PaintJam offers you a rare chance to release the artist in you

CraftNight hosted at the Notting Hill Arts Club 
Cutting edge music combined with the childhood thrill of making 
something all by yourself. And then taking it proudly home.

four - dört     8<----------------------------------------------------------------------------    

THE CRAFTER CULTURE HANDBOOK - by Amy Spencer 
A cool new book I bought recently tho I have hardly had chance to look
though it  ;-(

five - beş      8<----------------------------------------------------------------------------   

OLD FRIENDS OF HAND AND FEET - socks and gloves
An article on knitting in the February edition of Turkish Airlines in-flight
magazine.

In Anatolian culture, socks and gloves are a virtual lexicon of knitting
motifs, each one with its own distinct meaning.

the final cut  8<----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just in time >

The sun is shining, but it is pretty cold outside - just as well I finished my hat on Friday! I wore it yesterday and it kept me cosy warm :-D I am really pleased with the colour. I have nearly a whole skein left but not sure what to do with it! Any ideas?

Next up... I want to give Clara a go - this is another hat from Hip Knit Hats. I have spotted a fo on CatKnitz - it is certainly my fav pattern out of the entire book- but alas I will have to go shopping as I don't have the required needles - what a pity. Great excuse me thinks.

Turkish words for today are:
merhaba - hello
selam! - hi
hava - weather
ilkbahar - spring
güneşli - sunny
gün - day
Şubat - February

Until I learn the rules I will be sticking to words for now rather than sentences.

I love red pink blue white...

...wow I am so in love with this yarn - these are so my colours. I spotted the yarn first on imaybeknittingaranchhouse - just look at those fab socks, a very well chosen pattern - AND then when I looked up yarntini on pureknits the yarn came up super BIG in a window - those guys know how to tempt a weak willed customer. Oh boy - it has been 4 weeks since I went yarn stroking/shopping.


My Turkish words today are:
kirmizi - red
pembe - pink
mavi - blue
beyaz - white

şapka - violet seed wip

Tomorrow will be the start of my third week in Türkiye. The language is a challenge but I am progressing, slowly. When I do try my new lingo 'skills' out around the city my efforts have been much appreciated, so this is spurring me on. So from now on to help increase my vocabulary I will add at least two new Turkish words to my posts. I can't guarantee the translations will be correct mind you, or that I can pronounce them properly and would like to encourage anyone out there to correct me. First up...

menekşe tohum - violet seed
şapka - hat



There hasn't been much time for knitting since I arrived, but this weekend I finally started my Violet Seed hat from Cathy Carron's Hip Knit Hats. I am using ggh, aspen chunky weight, merino/acyrlic 50/50 mix, colourway 23. My gorgeous blue, 8mm Crystal Palace daisy needles were bought a few months back. I adore the colour of these and would love to be buy the whole yummy set- çok güzel :-)

London > Istanbul

I am now safely installed in my new pad in Istanbul.
I have a pretty impressive view from my little balcony.





Any how this is a knitting blog so here comes the knitting bit.... I was knitting in London right to the last minute, busy finishing a baby pixie hat for a friends baby boy, Gabriel who lives in France with mummy and daddy. I took inspiration from this beautiful example from castoncastoff. I don't have a finished pic but I will ask mummy to send me one soon. So at the mo please be content with a WIP photo.