Deja.....vu?

I'm highly unoriginal this week - some of these projects may seem a little familiar if you've looked at this blog lately.
More facecloths - now with color.

More quilting - now with wonky corners. We have now achieved pillowcase size.

More necklaces - now not heart based. I don't know if this qualifies as making a necklace. I basically just put some charms I bought from this seller on DaWanda, which is a lovely site, similar to Etsy. For those who don't know, these are online marketplaces speciailising in handmade items and supplies for making said items.

Have a lovely weekend everyone. I'll be taking a much overdue trip home to Donegal. And you? Your plans?

Quilting quandry

I've been curious to try quilting for some time now. Not to make a big-ass heirloom quilt or anything, but more just to have a go at the technique of it. On and off over the last few months I've browsed various tutorials and such online, and to be honest they put me off. From measuring out the pieces to cutting them, laying them and sewing them, it all seemed like it had to be so precise and exact - I was led to believe that if you were a quarter of an inch off in any of these steps the whole thing would be a disaster. Now, I don't know if you've gathered this from my blog thus far, but that is not my way of doing things at all. In my sewing career thus far, I've never attempted to use a 'real' sewing pattern, and frankly I wouldn't know where to begin with one. I really should learn, I'd be a a much better sewer for it - but the fact of the matter is that so far I've been winging it completely. This never really mattered yet, as I've only ever sewed things for myself, but I was afraid my laissez-faire attitude rendered me ill suited for quilting. I was pondering this while browsing on Craftster last week, when I came upon this thread discussing quilting advice for beginners, and the running theme seemed to be that you should just jump in and give it a go - I mean in honesty, what's the worst that could happen? So that's what I did.

I really enjoyed piecing these little guys together! I sewed two together at a time, then sewed them together lengthwise, and pressed open the seams to help it lie a little flatter. The points where the corners join aren't perfect - they're a little crowded on the wrong side of the fabric, but maybe I'll improve at that over time.

I realized the bit that was taking me the most time was cutting out the pieces and pinning them together, so with the help of my awesome fabric scissors I did a bunch of them at once, which I plan to add to the piece above. I reckon I'll keep this around and add to it when I have little bits of fabric spare. As someone who detests waste and hangs on the scraps 'just in case', I'm delighted to have found something I can constructively do with them.

As well as this I've been continuing with Christmas preparations with an old reliable - face-clothes, served with a side of soap. These clothes were crocheted with two strands of Rowan Milk Cotton held together, and an 8mm hook. I improvised each one as I went along as the mood took me, so some have ribbing, some have double crochet rows, some have a border - hopefully the recipients won't dislike this touch of randomness.

 I think I go nap now. Hope you're all having a lovely weekend - I know I am. 

Masterclass mittens

A little early this week - have to get a bus at 6am tomorrow to go to a 'Carbohydrate Masterclass' in Dublin over the weekend. Yes, it really is as exciting as it sounds. Nah, in honesty I think it'll be pretty good, if work related. I knew I had to finish my made-up mittens before I went though - otherwise they'd languish, literally minutes from completion, like so many other Unfinished Objects that pollute a craftster's life.

Hope everyone else's weekend is as exciting as mine is going to be! 

Flu increases productivity.

I've realized with a start that it's September. When did this happen? A few weeks ago it was July! I've decided to start preparing myself for October form today so I don't suffer this shock to my system again. Along with September came the realization that I should start preparing myself for - you guessed it - The big C. The big hypocritical C and all the gift giving implied therein. At all costs I want to avoid the manic crocheting of cowls that ensued last December - I very nearly sprained my wrist. I was off sick for a day this week so I idly picked up some double pointed needles which I recently bought on the best website ever. A couple of episodes of Doctor Who and Murder, She Wrote later and I nearly have one present sorted.

I plan to add thumbs when I'm finished the second one. I'm hugely pleased with these as I made up the pattern with the decreasing and such as I went along, and they've turned out, well, certainly wearable, so that's something.

 As well as this I whipped up a quick kitty hat for my niece, her birthday also falling in December, typically enough. I made this in some Big Softie I got on sale and as you might imagine, it knit up incredibly quick on 10mm needles. I would definitely recommend this yarn and hat combo when you need a quick gift for a child - or a playful adult.

 

Have a good weekend everyone. I'm going to give my hungover head a little snooze now.

Worth the wait?

I realize I'm a day late, but I was done by yesterday I swear! Not having my own camera here is really throwing me off. Rightso, for the past few weeks I've been working on some little bits and pieces for my best friends birthday,which fell this week. I haven't seen her yet (we are cruelly separated by geography) but as this week was spent finishing said gifts, I've warned her not to read this post.
You may remember my first adventures in decoupage. It was really easy, and really fun, so I thought I'd give it another go and make her a funky jewelry box. Well, I say make, but I mean decorate. I bought a fairly sizable sturdy cardboard box in Feanor and set to work cutting up my old magazines. The original plan was to have it 100% covered, but I'm afraid time got away from me. Also in sad news, this has more wrinkles in it than my first decoupage project - it was harder to smooth them out on the cardboard surface than the polished wood I'd worked with previously. Nonetheless, I hope she likes it. When I have a few more magazines for the sacrifice I'll be making one for myself - I really need one with all the necklaces I've been knocking out lately.

I think the top is my favorite.

Another simple device crocheted up with the delicious (or so I think) Rowan Milk Cotton - a DS Lite case.

And you may have noticed the 'Tx' motifs on the jewelry box? A little nickname for my bestest. And so I give her this.

And finally for something which I was only 25% responsible for, but we're all damn proud of, so I'm going to show it off here. As you may know, I am currently doing my PhD in chemistry, and somehow have found myself on the committee of An Cumann Ceimce, or the Chemistry Society. Societies Day was last Tuesday, so we wanted to do something special to draw people to our table (would you believe the Chemistry Society doesn't always pull a big crowd?). You may be familiar, if only vaguely, with the chemist's staple, the periodic table of the elements. Meet the new improved periodic table.....of delicious cupcakes.

Remember when you're appreciating how awesome this is to think of my fellow chemist/bakers - Fiona, Christine and Valerie.

Have an awesome week everyone.

Duck sh*t up.

I love ducks. I really do. I really hate swans. but I really love ducks. Naturally, I have a collection of rubber ducks, ranging in size. When I saw a bag of cheap plastic ducks in the 2 euro shop a while ago I couldn't resist. They were so plain, without even clearly defined eyes really, and just begging to be jazzed up. These 2 are my prototypes (apologies for the slight blurriness).

I love my glue gun.

Skuld is NMR active.

Hello there, I'm coming to you direct from college thus Saturday. Due to the high demand placed on the NMR machine, on which I do basically all my work, this may be a semi-frequent occurrence. But it's ok - it was miserable weather this morning, which meant I didn't resent coming in as much, and now that I've half an hour before my final measurement is done, the sun is shining, huzzah! How has your weekend been going?

As I mentioned last week, due to my drunken rush for the bus I left my camera in Donegal. As such, this weeks pictures were taken somewhat hurriedly in a college corridor using a friend's camera and a timer function (friend being unavailable to operate camera at that time). I do apologize, and I hope this craptacular theme to my pictures will not continue. I got out my sewing machine for the first time in an age on Wednesday evening, and spent much of the evening repairing my house-mate's much-loved and heavily patched jeans. I really should take some pictures to show you - they're damn impressive. He said someone once asked him if they were designer. Ha! Anyway, my machine was still out on the table when I got home on Thursday evening so I grabbed a HUGE man's t-shirt I've been meaning to make Skuld-sized for some time. I originally planned cut off the top and add longer straps, hopefully achieving enough length to make a mini-dress, but on trying it on for size I quite liked the wife-beater, 80's tee look on top, so I left it. A couple of zips on the bottom to punk it up a bit, and voila, another comfy top which differs at least slightly from the majority of my bog-standard, t-shirt apparel. I thought about adding some more buttons or something but in honesty, I don't really do yellow so I left as is.

Again, apologies for the less than perfect pictures. Over the next week I plan to finish the cardigan I've been crocheting and....who knows what else? All I know it that I get to leave here soon, go home and relax with an ice lolly and a beer. Huzzah! Happy Saturday everyone.