ScrapHappy December 2022

The Snail of Happiness shop is keeping us very busy, but we are working hard to keep our ScrapHappy ethos firmly at the forefront – literally.

My most public display of ScrapHappiness has been the bollards outside the front of the shop – my yarnbombing activities having been mainly fueled by yarn left over from my own projects or gifted as unwanted by others. As the months have gone on there has been increasing interest, and I’m now getting asked by other people with shops in Lampeter if I might make something for them. My first commission was from the shop next door – Y Becws. A couple of months ago I made them a (ScrapHappy) bollard cover as a gift:

Owen, you see, is very well-known for his doughnuts (and his sourdough, but doughnuts are easier to crochet… or at least to make them look like what they are supposed to be) and so, once I’d thought of it, I just had to make this one.

Anyway, they were so pleased with the result, that they asked for a couple of festive ones. I stopped any other creative endeavours because I still hadn’t finished either of my own festive creations and off I went. You saw some ‘in progress’ pictures in my November ScrapHappy, but here are the final finished four (we have two bollards each outside our shops):

Every single scrap of yarn in these was a left-over from a previous project or was an unwanted ball from one of my very kind supporters. Even the stuffing was a part bag that was dropped off, unwanted, at the shop. The candy canes contain nose pieces from no-longer required mask-making kits, bent to shape. The little stockings were given to me; they are previously used decorations, knitted by past Knit-Nighters at the old Red Apple Yarn shop, alas no more. Rudolph’s eyes are left-over vintage buttons that I’ve had hanging around for ages having bought a card of them for a past project (there’s never the exact number that you need on a card, is there?). So, all-in-all a very public display of ScrapHappiness.

But just to add extra-special festive cheer, here are mine in the snow (Owen decided to keep his all warm and safe indoors!):

Oh, and that’s some new ScrapHappy bunting in the window – made from a bit of an old waterproof tablecloth that I bought secondhand… it’s all about the scraps!

-oOo-

Rudolph is from a pattern by Little Green Bear, which you can find here.

I’ve been inspired to write this (and future) ScrapHappy posts by Kate,  Tall Tales from Chiconia. On the fifteenth of every month lots of folk often publish a ScrapHappy post, do check them out:

Kate,  Gun, Eva,  Sue, Lynda, Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill, JanMoira, SandraChrisAlys, ClaireJeanJon, DawnJuleGwen, Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue LVera, NanetteAnn, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti, DebbieroseNóilin and Viv

If you fancy joining, contact Kate and she’ll add you to the list. It would be lovely to see more non-sewing posts, but any use of scraps is welcome.

ScrapHappy April 2022

I’ve been waiting so long to write this ScrapHappy, but finally I can share with you our completely scrappy window display. It’s been getting a lot of attention…

It includes several creations from other ScrapHappy participants: a box from Cathy, scarves from Jenny, a blanket from Sue. Also in there, there are many things that have featured in my own ScrapHappy posts, plus some new ScrapHappy bunting made from two old pillowcases and some scrap felt. You may also have noticed that the Snail of Happiness knitted snails (made from scrap yarn) have made an appearance.

Elsewhere in the shop there’s a great deal of scrapiness, including some crochet bunting made by my dear friends Sarah and Katie, plus the wreath I was working on in my last ScrapHappy post, and not forgetting Mr Snail’s triumphant and entirely ScrapHappy counter, decorated with another of my scrappy wreaths plus a scrappy garland made especially for that particular purpose.

I’m constantly adding to the stock in the shop and fiddling about with the way it’s organised, so you can see Sue’s blanket making an appearance inside the shop in the photo above, which was taken whilst the sign was still in the window and so there was no room for the display.

Many thanks to all the people who contributed to our ScrapHappy extravaganza… more on the use of scraps and scrap throughout the entire shop in future posts.

-oOo-

I’ve been inspired to write this (and future) ScrapHappy posts by Kate,  Tall Tales from Chiconia. On the fifteenth of every month lots of folk often publish a ScrapHappy post, do check them out:

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda, Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan (me), Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin, Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2 , Bear, Noreen, Preeti, Edith and Jule

If you fancy joining, contact Kate and she’ll add you to the list. It would be lovely to see more non-sewing posts, but any use of scraps is welcome.

ScrapHappy March 2022

I’ve been so busy this month that there hasn’t been much time to write, but some of the busy time has been spent making scrappy things. I’ve been crocheting more flowers for wreaths and garlands to decorate the shop, but none of these have actually been transformed into a finished object yet. All the yarn is scraps left over from other projects and where stuffing is required, I’ve used tiny yarn ends.

Away from the shop, poor Sammy has been feeling the cold a bit overnight, so I have managed to find time to knit a woolly coat for him out of yarn left over from a jumper I knitted for myself quite a few years ago. Becuase I changed my mind about the pattern for my jumper, I ended up with rather a lot of left-over yarn – enough to make a very snuggly coat for a chilly hound!

Next month there should be lots of finished stuff to share!

-oOo-

I’ve been inspired to write this (and future) ScrapHappy posts by Kate,  Tall Tales from Chiconia. On the fifteenth of every month lots of folk often publish a ScrapHappy post, do check them out:

KateGun, EvaSue, Lynn, Lynda, Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan (me), Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, HayleyDawn, Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin, Vera, Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2 , Bear, Noreen, Preeti, Edith and Jule

If you fancy joining, contact Kate and she’ll add you to the list. It would be lovely to see more non-sewing posts, but any use of scraps is welcome.

Stepping up to the plate

I’m pleased to report that after allowing my elbow to rest for a while, I was able to resume the knitting that had caused so much pain. When I put it to one side, it looked like this:

Temporarily abandoned

After a couple of weeks, I decided that, being pain-free, I would pick up my needles again. To begin with I just worked a round or two each day, but as I didn’t have any recurrence of the pain, I built up the amount I did every day and soon I’d finished my hat. It’s a very long time since I’ve done any Fair Isle knitting, so I’m quite pleased with the result. Possibly the most fun thing about this project is that you have to block it using a dinner plate, to get it nice and round!

Possibly the least fun thing was that there were about a million ends to weave in!

A different virus

A few weeks ago I felt the need for a new and challenging project and so I decided to embark on knitting a Fair Isle beret. The wool is from the wonderful Jamieson’s of Shetland, who produce the most astonishing range of colours. All was going well, until I noticed some discomfort in my elbow, which got more severe over a couple of days, and certainly felt worse when I was knitting. I think that I was probably holding the work quite firmly and the small needles were increasing the tension in my muscles. Feeling glum, I put my work to one side to return to once my arm started feeling better.

Clearly knitting was not an option, so I thought I’d do some crochet. The one ongoing crochet project requires additional wool supplies and I didn’t want to have to buy anything, so I had a think and realised that there was a pattern I’ve wanted to try for ages, for which I had the ideal yarn in my stash. A few years ago I bought a yarn cake with a colour gradation from purple through grey to black. When I got it home I realised that what I had thought was cotton was actually a cotton acrylic mix, which saddened me because I really do try to avoid buying plastic yarn. Because of my disappointment, I put it way in a drawer and have not, until now, felt inspired to get it out. However, in the spirit of using up what I have, out it has come and, despite the plastic content, it is actually a great yarn for the current project, which is called The Virus Shawl. Now, this pattern predates covid, but it does seem strangely apt.

The colour change is currently quite subtle, but will be much bolder as it moves from the pale grey to black, I think the finished shawl will be really striking.

Anyway, my elbow is now recovered and I feel able to return, at least for a short time each day, to knitting. There may be a beret to share some time in the future, but I’m not going to overdo it and now I’ve started, I’d rather like to get this particular virus finished.

Months of yarny makes

Being trapped at home over the past few months has not inspired me to write much, but I have been busy making, so I thought I would share some of what I’ve been up to…

There’s been plenty of crochet and a bit of knitting. I finally got round to completing a coatigan in Jacob wool for my friend Kt. This latter project got held up whilst I awaited the arrival of some beautiful handmade toggles, plus I added some pockets , which the original pattern did not include. It has gone to it’s new home now and seems to be greatly appreciated.

I made a duffle bag – a kit from the lovely Little Box of Crochet, who I’ve taken out a subscription with to provide me with a parcel of cheerfulness and inspiration every two months. Although the pattern didn’t suggest it, I lined the bag, which I think will make it much more useable. It’s rather subtle bleached driftwood colors, so I chose a nice bright green lining to provide a startling contrast. I also made a poinsettia mandala, which uses a surface crochet technique that was new to me and can be used to produce lovely effects., Then there was a tiny Daisy-alike using a pattern from Toft. Finally, there has also been a bit of knitting in the form of a pair of socks which had been hanging around unfinished for months prior to all this staying at home business and which I finally got round to working on because I needed a portable project to take with me when I went on a mission of mercy that required a lot of waiting around.

I’ve also made some more Dorset buttons after my initial trials. First, a peacock brooch and then a variety of sizes to form a necklace. They are fun to make and I think many future projects are likely to incorporate them.

As the winter draws in and we’ll be spending even more time at home, I’m planning a big scrap yarn project plus I have plenty of lovely wool just waiting for inspiration to strike, so I don’t think I shall be short of more yarny creativity for a while yet.

Mend It Monday #1

“If it’s not worth mending, it’s not worth buying” … so says my friend Sarah, and I have to agree.

We all know that over-consumption is destroying our world, and that a major way to combat this is to buy items that last, to value them and to repair them. With that in mind, I have decided to embark on a series of blog posts dedicated to mending. I’m not guaranteeing that I will manage to post every Monday, but I will do my best to share my mends on a regular basis… feel free to join me.

So, here is number 1…

I knit my own socks and having taken hours to make a pair, I’m determined to give them as long a life as possible, so a sock darn is an easy win. This took me about 30 minutes and will extend the life of this sock by several years – now that’s a good investment of time.

Write off

It’s a strange thing, writer’s block. I’m not sure why, but somehow I just haven’t been able to bring myself to write anything much for weeks – no letters, no work on the book and (as you may have noticed) no blog posts. It’s not that I didn’t have anything to share, it just felt incredibly reluctant to put fingers to keyboard. I’ve been quite busy – the root canal work is finally completed, I’ve finally finished a series of doctor’s appointments and I’ve spent two weekends away with two different sets of lovely ladies (hello to The Crochet Sanctuary Crowd and the Fabulous Fifties). I have stitched, hooked, knitted and sorted. Three boxes of books have gone to the Oxfam book shop, a box of craft materials has gone to be sold at an Emmaus shop that has a specialist craft section and a bag of bras has gone for recycling/reuse. I have had a great harvest of chillies and sweet peppers and a mediocre harvest of courgettes, peas and potatoes. There has been a new member of the household – Mimi the dressmakers dummy and I have learnt to do macrame. So, all-in-all, a busy time. It’s just that I wasn’t inspired to write, or even take many photographs. However, here is a little selection of what I’ve been making, doing and growing, with the hope that the next blog post will come more easily and sooner…

What a difference a yarn makes

I haven’t been very creative over the past few days… the gum infection transformed into an abscess, the antibiotics made me feel extremely unwell and I had to have emergency dental treatment last Friday. It’s the first time a dentist has ever had to take my pulse and that treatment has had to be suspended whilst I’m prevented from fainting! Oh well… I’m feeling somewhat better today and I’m waiting for an appointment to have a root canal, although I’m back at the dentists for a review tomorrow. Anyway…

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My Yarndale haul

Before all this happened I started (and it seems like ages ago now) knitting a shawl using the beautiful Little Grey Sheep mini-skeins that I bought at Yarndale last autumn. I realise now that I never shared with you much about my visit to Yarndale with my dear friend Mrs Robinson. We decided to go with specific projects in mind and one of mine was to get some interesting colours to use for a shawl pattern I’d had a hankering to make for ages – the Leftie Shawl. In the end I selected six colours: green, pale yellow, bright yellow, orange, pink and purple (for some reason the orange is obscured in the picture of my Yarndale haul – that gold with the big band is for a different project).

I already had a ball of Little Grey Sheep wool left over from the Poison Oak top that I made last year and I thought that this would be perfect for the main neutral colour, allowing all those bright yarns to shine. So, I started off, using the size of needles suggested… and quickly became disillusioned: the colours seemed diminished and the material I was creating stiff and not at all drapy, as I envisioned the shawl

At this stage of creating anything it’s hard to stop – you’ve already put some work in and it feels like a waste to give up. But I didn’t like it. This thing that I had wanted to make for months and months wasn’t turning out well. So, taking a big deep breath, I started again, still using the coloured mini-skeins, but this time with larger needles and some of the fabulous Milburn yarn from Eden Cottage yarns. I had too much of this for the project it was bought for (one that’s currently on hold), so this was going spare. Milburn contains some silk, so it creates a fabric with much more natural drape than pure wool.

And I wasn’t disappointed, the new shawl looks and feels much more like my vision. The coloured wool helps it to keep its structure and the soft silk and wool means it should be a joy to wear. Here they are for comparison, new on the left, original on the right.

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the two versions

Sadly the picture makes them look much more similar than they actually are, but, take it from me (and the Knit Night gang) the one on the left is much more striking than the one on the right.

Despite no progress over the last few days, prior to that I had done quite a lot and I’m rather pleased to be creating something with colours that I wouldn’t normally choose, but that I really do love. I’m so glad that I started again.

Dame Hilary, in the Library, with the Knitting Needles

In the United States of America there is a network of Presidential libraries and a library has been established for every president since Herbert Hoover, each located in their home state. In the UK we don’t have such a network, so there is only a single Prime Ministerial library: Gladstone’s Library in Hawarden in Wales.

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Gladstone’s Library

Being the only Prime Ministerial library is not the only thing that makes this place unusual, it is also the largest (some sources say only) residential library in the country. It’s a place that has fascinated me ever since I first heard of it and so, when I saw that Knit for Peace were running a short knitting holiday there, I couldn’t resist.

Last Saturday, therefore, saw me arriving at this amazing building, ready to enjoy meeting other knitters in some impressive surroundings. Outside, there are gardens and an area of woodland, but it is the building that is really impressive, both outside:

and inside

The books are mainly history and theology, so no light reading, but they are accessible on the shelves and you can even sign them out if you are staying and take them back to your room to read. However, I wasn’t really there to read, I was there to knit, socialise and visit some woolly places… which is just what we did.

Upon arrival, we congregated in the sitting room, where I was surprised to be introduced to the founder of the Charities Advisory Trust (the parent organisation of Knit for Peace) Dame Hillary Blume. Two other members of staff also attended the weekend as well as a number of their regular volunteers, meaning that I got to hear lots about their work, from who curates the wool collections for the monthly raffle (which I won last autumn)to the compilation of the Good Gifts Catalogue and what day of the week they have cake in the office.

Each day we went out and about, visiting local wool producers/ retailers, making trips to Abakhan, Black Sheep Wools, The Lost Sheep Company and the Chester Wool Company/Fibrespates, returning to the library to knit and chat. To be honest there was rather more chatting than knitting, and indeed so much chatting that at least two of us (me being one) had to frog some of our work because we made mistakes whilst getting distracted by the conversations!

So, the weekend was a great success – money was raised for the charity, lovely places were visited, knitting was knitted, crochet was crocheted, conversations were had and I made a hat from some of my raffle winnings (it will be returned to Knit for Peace, who will find it a good home).

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