Goodbye Old Friend...

 

Last week I had to make the sad decision to get rid of my beloved car...I've had this car for over 15 years and it has been a great little workhorse.  I've carted art materials to exhibitions, rubbish to the tip, dogs to and fro, garden supplies, ferried my daughter and granddaughter around, and I think it only ever broke down once.

I've had numerous dodgy geezers over the years knocking on the door asking if I wanted to sell it - no - even a couple of them sniffing round the front garden in the night and shouting up at the bedroom window asking if it was for sale. A tad scary if you are in the house on your own, I shan't miss that aspect of owning the car! 

However, no matter how good the engine was, rust was always the worst problem. Almost every MOT in recent years noted that something or other under the car needed welding as it was rusting away.  Last year, after squeaking through it's MOT the previous year, it finally failed spectacularly and I was quoted a ball park figure of £1,500 for enough welding to get it through the test - ouch...  I half-heartedly investigated other garages but had to admit to myself the day had come when the car was costing too much money to keep repairing it., especially as I am now on a pension.

 So after a few months of indecision, I called up We Buy Any Car and got an appointment.  They agreed to take it off my hands, and I didn't get much money for it but at least a bit more than if I had scrapped it. Sad to see it go, but a part of me was relieved that I would not be throwing any more money at it.

 While at the car dealer, I had to show my passport as photo ID - and discovered that it only had 10 days left on it before it needed to be renewed!  So that was serendipitous!

With all that to sort out, plus trying to get the vegetable & flower seeds planted in readiness for the summer, there have been no arts and crafts going on. Not had the time nor the inspiration.  Hopefully now that it is all sorted, I will be able to get back to the paints at least.

Shhh - It's A Secret!

After months of work (on and off, not all the time!) the knitted car is complete.  Obviously it has to be kept under wraps until it is revealed in all it's glory in the animated film, but Ihave been allowed to give you a sneaky peak.

The dashboard nearly caused a major domestic rift - it took me two days to make, then I was told by my other half that I had done it wrong, I was supposed to have only covered a front section, not the whole mounting.  I could have cried.....however, I managed to pry it away from the wood (my glueing is second to none!) and re-mount it with a bit of careful unravelling.  Beep-beep!

Humdrum.......

Whose silly idea was it to knit a car? More to the point, whose silly idea was it to ask someone who rebuilds vintage cars for a living to assist with the design!!  I know this is going to look absolutely great when finished, due to the accuracy and precision of the under-structure, but the box in my bedroom full of unattached and unidentifiable templates is a scary place.

So for now, I am just knitting quietly away, covering them, and will leave the assembly to the master when the time comes.  I was going to complain about the amount of knitting involved but actually it is quite nice to just make boring straight shapes of plain knitting, no need to think too hard, no need to write any pattern down, just soothing stocking stitch.  I did possibly make an ill thought-out choice in using thin cotton yarn for the main body colour as it takes longer to knit, but the finished result is well worth the extra work.

Yes, I'm Knitting A Car......

I don't know how people manage to cover a full size car with knitting, covering a small one takes up enough time!  So far I have done the wheels - black tyres, grey walls and silver spokes.  I'm very lucky that my partner restores vintage racing cars for a living and has therefore been able to make the basic structure for me, as well as having the forethought to drill sewing holes in the wheels for easy attachment of the knitting. I have also knitted a pair of wheel arches - the car is to be this lovely dark blue.  I chose the yarn because of it's colour but it is a thin cotton which means smaller needles and longer knitting time.  However, it looks great!

I've also received a commission for another moorhen - certainly easier to make third time round!  I did have problems with the legs though, firstly as I had run out of the really stiff wire used for the first moorhen, and secondly as all the florist tape I had bought on the internet just wasn't good enough.  I visited my local florist yesterday and managed to source a reel of the decent waxy green stuff which covers a treat. Now all he needs is a beak and his legs painted a nice bright yellow.  Oh yes, it took me three days to find his centre of gravity in order for him to stand upright steadily!

Another WIP this week is a knitted replica dog - a Tibetan terrier this time.  So far he has a bed and blanket - now to make the dog itself!  If you would like your dog made in miniature from yarn, just give me a shout!

It's Going To Be A Long Road...

Here is one wheel of the knitted vintage car - it took a whole evening to make.  Hopefully now that I have worked out the logistics, the other four should not take so long.  This car could take a very long time to make...

The pink doll scarf is coming along nicely - I have turned the corner, literally, which means the rows start decreasing now.  Will I finish it before Saturday? Perhaps if I give up sleeping!

Far more enticing than the above projects is the current painting.  I have a chance to get on with this acrylic of Old Basing, using a photo I took when we visited last month.  I want it to be really chocolate-boxy, with the English countryside and sheep, a real olde-worlde picture.  Wish I could sit and paint all day but I have to go to the day job.....

Sunny Saturday Morning...

For the past week I have been without a car (curse you Japanese manufacturers, why are spare parts so difficult to source - and five times more expensive?) which has meant I have had to walk everywhere.  Not so much fun when you have to carry a ton of shopping a mile home, but you do get to see some pretty scenery.  This is Basingstoke canal this morning.

We found a couple of ducks to throw bread at, and admired all the gardens on the opposite bank.  We walked home a quicker way though - bags of vegetables from the market to carry!

Hopefully with the better weather, my tomatoes might improve.  Despite their weedy appearance, I discovered we have some flowers on one of the plants.  I do know that down in Devon at Soggibottom cottage there is a tiny tomato however  - I may have already been defeated in our competition this year!

Tempting though it was to go outside and potter in the garden, I chose to get on with this repair that has been hanging over me since last week.  The bracelet belongs to a colleague of mine at the day job.  I have never re-strung pearls before but figured it would be quite simple.....  Actually, once I worked out that I needed two needles and thread in order to tie the little knots between pearls it went quite smoothly.  Very fiddly however and not something I would want to do on a regular basis.

But it is almost as good as new - I hope she is pleased with it.  I'm getting paid in red wine for this - no complaints from me about that!

I saw this pattern in a magazine last month and really wanted to try it out. It's a Waspinator - the theory being that if you hang up a fake wasp nest in your garden, the wasps will think they have a rival colony to contend with and go elsewhere.  I do hope it works as I hate seeing wasps dead and dying in the glass wasp trap we have used for the past few years, plus other bugs and even butterflies get stuck in there as well.

This had been crocheted in a combination of yarns to get the stripy effect - I stuffed it with plastic bags as per the instructions so that if it gets rained upon nothing dire will happen to it. These can be removed from the opening underneath which ties up with a drawstring.  I shall keep you posted as to whether or not it works!

Closing 2012 - Caught Up!

 

I had great fun crocheting this angler fish - a very simple pattern from the brilliant book, 75 Shells, Corals and Sea Creatures.  It is so clever, with effective little touches such as using a lace border to make the ring of teeth - just the picots show, the rest of the lace is tucked inside the felt mouth lining.

I just suddenly realised that with the completion of these little guys, I have finally finished all outstanding projects from 2012!  There are still plenty of items still to be made for the animated film and a couple of very recent commissions, but the long list that has dominated my computer screen for the past few months is finally empty - yay!

However, I am about to embark on possibly the most ambitious knitted article yet.  Luckily I live with someone who restores classic cars for a living and who can help me with the basic structure; although I have a sneaking suspicion I may end up beating him over the head with it at some point in the future.....

Can you see the 7 jars of marmalade I made yesterday in the background?  It came at a price as I sliced my hand open on the Mamade tin.....I told you I shouldn't be allowed to touch sharp objects!
 

.....And Breathe......

Well, that was the week from Hell indeed and I am very glad it's over!  Dealing with various disasters took up most of my time and I didn't have much left for this, but some progress has been made.

I don't normally (ever!) try and reproduce a picture painted by someone else as I find it not only boring but frustrating due to discovering the other artist's errors or differences in style and technique along the way, which make for a stilted and awkward result.  However, this is for a very good friend of mine who has been a gem for us during difficult days and who has just singlehandedly re-decorated her bedroom and turned it into something from House Beautiful.  She wanted a painting to go on the main empty wall and has been searching for months to no avail.  What she finally found was a greetings card with the perfect scene, and asked if I could reproduce it.  Then she bought an enormous canvas that doesn't even fit on my easel...must confess my heart sank when confronted with that!

However, I have to admit I am actually quite enjoying this - the colours are pretty, the view is calm and not having to think about composition but just matching the colours and slapping them on in the right places has been very therapeutic.  There are a couple of white chairs, some flowers in pots and the balcony railings to still go in, which might be a little trickier than normal (I'm not great with perspective!) but all in all, I'm happy so far.  This is in acrylics by the way.

Would you like a list of my misery from last week? Let's condense it...car failed MOT, costs 4 months' wages to fix due to expensive Japanese part,no car in meantime, huge amount of time wasted fruitlessly searching for seondhand part, phone bill will be massive, walking everywhere, carrying heavy shopping, daughter missed dental appointment due to lack of car, electricity bill wrongly jacked up to silly level (sorted), large cheque lost in post (sorted), dog needs vet (will have to wait until car back), dog pooped twice on carpet (he's a big bugger too, so poo is proportionate), child I work with spectacularly pooped in pants two days running, shoulder hurting due to dog throwing himself after cats while on lead......I think that just about sums it up!  However, I haven't cried, thrown any tantrums or toyed with the idea of doing a Reggie Perrin...yet!  Let's hope the coming week is better!

This Little Piggy Went To Market......

Here is Momma Pig with all six of her piglets.  Each one has different markings, jointed legs and a wired tail.

They each have a 'popper' on their snout so they can do this....

It's a bit of a crush - someone always gets left out!

This was such a fun little project - I can honestly say I didn't start getting bored until half-way through the last piglet and as they are a fairly fast knit, that wasn't for long. Now I have to figure out the cow - it is not only to be jointed, but must also have a mouth than opens......

Someone likes their new mode of transport - he can stand up properly and look out of the window for the first time ever!

And he has a wibbly-wobbly travelling companion....this makes my daughter laugh like a drain every time we go over a bump in the road. 

Loose Ends Tied Up...

This is the first knitted pig I made using someone else's pattern....not much good for animation and I am not keen on it at all.  Ok for a child's toy I suppose.  So I have had to put my thinking cap on and come up with this instead....

A bit different I think you will agree!  The head swivels and the tail is wired for stop frame animation.  And when she lies down with her belly exposed....

..she is ready for her piglets with those snap fastener nipples!  Now I just have to work out a piglet pattern...my head hurts!

Today I finally got closure on the saga of the damaged jellyfish painting.  After having to send the packaging to Royal Mail's customer service dept and explaining that I had to sell the picture with a discount, I received a nice little cheque today which just about covers how much I was out of pocket.  Thank you Royal Mail, I feel duly compensated.

While we are talking about damaged items (bit of a recurring theme so far this year), today I have gone from this:-

to this:-

I know, it's a four-wheel drive but I figured if you can't beat them, join them!  More to the point, I can now cart about the dog, art equipment, garden supplies, stuff for the tip, and even my family, without having to jam it all in with a shoe-horn.

Regarding the tomato challenge with Soggibottom blog - I'm not going to win but at least my tomato plants are big and healthy.

Not a flower to be seen as yet though.

Unlike this thing which has been struggling under a shrub for years and never flowered.  We cut theshrub down a few months ago and now this oriental poppy has several buds.  I can't remember what colour it is supposed to be so it will be a nice surprise.

Don't forget the giveaway - it's open until Sunday.

700th Post & a Giveaway!

Who remembers this little guy?  Well, in celebration of the 700th post on this blog, he is up for grabs in a giveaway.  All you have to do is leave a comment and please become a follower* as I am beginning to feel a bit of a Billy-No-Mates as my total is going down not up! (Was it something I said? )  I'll pick a random number next Sunday to draw a winner - anyone from anywhere is welcome to join in.

*you don't have to become a follower if you don't want to!

Do you remember this?  The damage done to my poor little car by some careless idiot in a 4x4 who left the scene of the accident and who the police cannot/will not find?  Well, I never felt the same about driving this since, as if it has a big ol' target painted on it now saying 'hit me'.  So I have been looking for a replacement for the past couple of months and yesterday I think I fell in love.....but you'll have to wait until Wednesday to see my new wheels and I bet you will laugh your socks off at my choice!

On the arts & crafts side of things, I have been asked to knit a jointed pig and cow to go with cat for an animated film.  Tricky isn't the word but if I manage to fulfill the brief, they will be the cutest of the cute. And I am painting something totally out of my comfort zone for a commission.....

Soft Prawn......

           I Am Just A Prawn In The Game Of Life....

Just a follow up to yesterday's post regarding my poor car.  After several phone calls this morning and some extremely helpful people at Waitrose, Waverley Borough Council, and Surrey Police, I have reported the incident to the police and hopefully with the help of CCTV footage we may have a chance to catch the culprit.  I'm like a dog with a bone when it comes to an injustice, particularly when it's personal, so fingers crossed they get a glimpse of a number plate and I can get some sort of recompense.  If not, at least I know I did all I could.

On Wristwarmers, Unravel, and Unscrupulous People......

Last night I finally finished these complicated wristwarmers knitted in yarn from recycled blue jeans.  I am so pleased with these - the stitch pattern shows up beautifully in the yarn, they fit perfectly and I discovered when I blocked them that they do just what regular jeans do when you wash them - shrink! This is a good thing as there is nothing more annoying than to find your wristwarmers have gotten baggy after a few wearings.

They had their first airing during a dog walk this morning and I can safely say they will replace my beloved Noro wristwarmers nicely.

You can always tell when the Unravel show is in town....

..most of the posts in The Maltings carpark had snug knitted jackets today.  Someone had also been really busy knitting the signs too....

Down by the river, there was a giant yarn spider web.

If you look closely to the right you can see some knitted bugs and flowers too.

They had a bit of a mole problem on the front lawn.  How cute are these?

Even some real sheep minding the door - we weren't allowed to touch them though.

I just loved this knitted hanging basket in the entrance hall.  The tree trunk behind was knitted too.

This was cool!

Inside, there were lots of stalls full of yarn, knitting accessories, spinning, wonderful garments, so much to look at.  Despite that, I was rather conservative in my purchases this year -

It's not that I didn't see loads of yarns that I liked, it's just that I have a very full stash at the moment and plenty of projects lined up so couldn't really justify buying anything just because the colours were pretty!  There were also very few bargains this year - I guess the recession is biting.
The soft brown and white yarns above will no doubt morph into small knitted animals at some point, using the small bamboo needles.  I'm not sure when or how I will use the incredibly fine brown linen - the day I decide to destroy my eyesight forever perhaps!  And no, I don't really plan on knitting pizza, but in this book is the cutest pattern for knitted prawns........

So, we had a really nice morning - such a shame it ended so badly.  I had parked my car in the Waitrose carpark in Farnham and walked down to the show.  When we returned, it was raining so we hurried getting into the car and drove off quickly home.  Upon getting out of my car in Fleet, I discovered that while we were in Unravel, the owner of the very large, black, shiny 4X4 that I had parked next to had seen fit to do this...

...and drive off without bothering to leave a note.  Thank you so much Mr.or Mrs. 4X4, you have to all intents and purposes turned my car into a write-off.  I know it's only a little old Peugeot that has seen better days, but it's all I have got and you thought it OK to smash in it's door and leave without a second thought.  I hope you can sleep tonight - although if you can do this, it has probably already been forgotten.  Lucky you for being wealthy enough to own a big shiny powerful car which probably doesn't even have the smallest scratch after thwacking into mine.  I know that if this cannot be fixed by my very resourceful DH, then it is going to cost me money I can't spare to replace it.  Just as well I didn't buy a lot of yarn........

My Dream Car...

No, really, this is what I dream of owning one day - you can keep your brand new gadget-filled cars, I would love an old battered American pick-up truck.

This is a watercolour painting I did using a photo of a truck we saw at a car show earlier this year and then putting it in an imaginary meadow. It's the first time I have successfully painted any kind of motor vehicle - it even passed muster with my other half who restores classic cars for a living. I think it's the closest I'll ever get to my dream..