Memories...

I'm currently painting a picture of our old dog, Jasper, on a cushion cover using Inktense pencils and colour blocks.  The idea is, if this works then I will offer the chance to have your own dog immortalised on a cushion cover...or scarf...or t-shirt.  I quite like the idea of having Jasper still sitting on the sofa even after he's been gone five years - he was a game little chap and we still miss him.

 It was quite sad going through al the old photos yesterday trying to find a decent one to use, I even found a snippet of video with him in the garden which brought a tear to my eye!

Very excited today - we are going toUnravel at Farnham Maltings, showing the knitted animation Tickled Pink by Nudinits and giving a talk afterwards.  Not only that, there will be rooms and rooms of yarn.....

Friday...Again

The weeks are just flying by, I'm not sure where the time is going.  This week I have been sewing, mostly hand sewing a tiny walkman for a new animation.  I did get a few minutes to run up this cushion cover with some very cool fabric - I just love jellyfish!

Working from home is proving to be a good decision - I have bits and pieces coming in that are enough to keep me going.  Next on the needles is a fabulous vintage men's cardigan - I cannot wait to get started, it is the coolest design I've seen for ages.

Next weekend is the Unravel knitting show at Farnham Maltings.  If you are planning a visit, try and make it on the Saturday as we will be there as 'nudinits', showing the film at 1.30p.m. and fielding your questions!  I have a feeling it might get raucous...

Pretty Polly

Currently on the needles, a green parrot scarf!  Now that the fun part of making the head is over, it's a long boring haul knitting the scarf in 2 x 2 rib.  It will be worth it when it's done though.

Spending my days mostly sewing at the moment - tiny fiddly little things for a new animation.  Certainly makes a change from dealing with recalcitrant five year olds - I feel a whole lot calmer these days!

I'm looking forward to Unravel at Farnham Maltings next week - as part of the Nudinits team, we're showing the film and giving a Q&A afterwards on the 21st February, 1.30 p.m.  If you are in the area, come along and say hello! (There will be yarn too, oh yes, there will be yarn...)

Duck Disaster Diverted!

So there I am, putting the final touches to this painting, carefully arranging the driblets of water where I wanted them and making sure they were wet enough to leave the right marks when they dried, when *BAM!* Whole lot, drawing board, double layered box of Inktense pencils & blocks, paintbrush, all slipped off my lap and on to the floor. (I paint at my desk but have the board on my lap propped up against the desk as it makes the best angle for me to work at.)  I sat there for a few seconds in horror then leapt into action with kitchen paper and a wet brush to try and limit the damage - I've been working on this for a week now, and to ruin it at the last minute?

I think it is still OK - you can see where the pigmented water shot off to the right but I am hoping that adds an air of movement and spontaniety to the painting....

This was a bit of an experiment - I had the photo of this very inquisitive duck that we had taken last year and I wanted to use it but not in a boring animal portrait kind of way.  So I began just painting him on his own but as it progressed and I worked on the water droplets and irridescence of the feathers, I thought it might be fun to have him get his colours from the 'rain', and also have them slide off him onto the ground.  It kept me amused anyway!

Upon reading a comment on yesterday's post about how to use Inktense colours, I think I might run up a little tutorial later on today - I have to admit that when I bought my tin of Inktense, I had a couple of tentative attempts with them and then put them away as being far too scary.  The colours are bright and once dry, very, very permanent.  They sat under my desk for months...nay, years...until one day Derwent asked me to illustrate some packaging with them.  Gulp!  So it was time to take the bull by the horns and work with them properly - since then they have become one of my favourite mediums.  So watch this space over the next couple of days.

I've also been knitting millions of tiny red flowers.....it felt like millions, that's for sure!  These will be some mini hanging baskets for the animation - now they need the chains and brackets.  Actually, they are more crochet than knitting - the baskets and flowers are crocheted, whilst the leaves are knitted using a cast on/cast off technique.

I'm very excited about going to Unravel at the weekend.  A festival of knitting? Absolute heaven!  Better make some room at home for a stash upgrade and check the bank balance.....

Balls of Wool.....

The Unravel show nearly passed me by for another year - I had found out when it was on, made a mental note that I must go this year....and then promptly forgot all about it.  It was only when talking about yarn with a stallholder at a craft fair yesterday she mentioned it was on this weekend - phew, thank goodness for fellow yarnoholics!

So off we went, through the cold and snow, and spent a couple of hours drooling over more yarn than I could use in a lifetime. Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on how you look at it - the ticket desk would not take card payments, so I had to pay my entrance fee in cash, thus depleting my wool budget. I still managed to come away with a decent haul - some glorious rainbow sock yarn, a skein of multi-coloured fabric yarn, a ball of Guernsey wool, a ball of brown alpaca (which has been earmarked for a crochet Dr.Who as someone has a birthday coming up) and 8 assorted balls of wool which were 50p each.  And a bag of bells. 

I had a go at spinning - now that's a lot harder than it looks!  We also had fun petting this sheep which was very friendly indeed.  I think Stacie would have taken it home given half the chance!

This was on display - absolutely incredible. I would have liked to have had a very close look to see how it was made, but there were a lot of us admiring it.

There was also a fair bit of discussion about how very anatomically correct it was too.  Balls of wool indeed.....

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........

Unravel

After weeks of anticipation, today I went to the Unravel knitting show at the Farnham Maltings. Looking at the weather, I was wondering if I'd get there in one piece - torrential rain and the road I took was awash with running water and huge puddles. The river in Farnham was just on the verge of bursting it's banks - about another inch to go on the footpath side!


I knew I was on the right path to get there - the lamp-posts in the car park all had knitted jumpers, as did this finely bedecked tree. Shame it was all wet and soggy!

A couple of hours later, I left with a large carrier bag full of woolly plunder. There were so many lovely stalls with yarns, buttons, knitting accessories, spinning, weaving, finished articles and a Best in Show exhibit. It was hard to keep within my budget....Ok, I admit it, I overshot my budget by a long way but who could resist this.....


...a bumper bag of Fiberspates yarns in mouthwatering greens, all for £15! Or these lovelies......


....lots of doggie buttons - don't you just love the vintage black Scottie dogs? A big cone of cotton/cashmere laceweight yarn for £2! Three balls of what appears to be Noro Kureyon but isn't - it's a pretty fine replica, 100% wool, but half the price - and the stockist is the wool shop in Farnham...oh dear! Some Mille Colori, a pair of No.2 bamboo needles - glorified cocktail sticks really, I am determined to destroy my eyesight once and for all - and a pack of mini buttons for felt animal leg joints. Not a bad haul, and all things I will definitely use in the future.

It's been a good weekend for bargains - our local art shop had lots of craft acrylic paints at half price yesterday - I only bought 6 colours that I know I will use.


I've already started to paint a small wooden box with the pale green as the background with some pink roses scattered across the lid - pretty!