Hit me with your ideas and inspiration!!

My lovely Auntie has passed on to me a couple of huge balls of wool ... and when I say huge ... one of them is enormous! 

It is so thick and has a lovely smell of lanolin ... I am thinking of weaving it into some place mats, but I wondered if you had any other ideas for me?

On Saturday we went to Wonderwool Wales ... I have been quite a few times now and each time find it so inspiring and just want to come home and dig out all my wool and get making!!

I didn't buy much this time, but did treat myself to a simple circular loom ... perfect for making mats and coasters!

I of course got going with it straight away and dug out my bag of wool scraps.


I love how its an easy thing to pick up and put down when I just have a few minutes!


As you can see I have a bit to go!
I am not sure what I am making ... nothing specific in mind, but will probably end up as a table mat.

What have you been making recently?

After going to Wonderwool Wales last weekend, I felt inspired to dig out some weaving that has been on a frame loom for (cough) probably years!! (head in hands!)

I had planned on doing an owl in a tree picture ... you can see here, 2 posts of work in progress ... planning my project and working on the project ... however, I wasn't happy with how it was working out so I undid a lot and just decided to do a pattern. Unfortunately in undoing a chunk of it, it thinned the warp threads on the loom and some of them broke ... this meant that I just had to finish where it was up to and take it off the loom ... so here it is!!


I managed to find a stick in the hen pen that was pretty straight and the right size to use at the top.


My favourite bit is the maroon stripes at the top as the colours are so lovely together.


I did a few macrame knots at the bottom and added some beads ...


It is a funny little bit of weaving and not at all how I had originally planned, but the colours go nicely in our living room and I like it! :)

Yesterday we went to Wonderwool Wales. I have been a few times now over the years and have loved it each time!!

Here is my stash of goodies ...

I spent more than I had planned ;)

I bought a new pin loom and some weaving sticks. Some lovely olive green rope for Macrame, some gorgeous rainbow wool and a tiny weaving frame!

This morning I decided to put off starting the week by doing a little bit of weaving on the tiny frame!

It came with some merino yarn, but I have also added some odd bits of wool that went well.

You can keep the weaving on the frame, but I decided to take it so I can use it again.

I have hung it in my hall, where I have a few odd bits and bobs hanging  :)


These lovely little frames are available from The Wool Couture Company, check out their website as they have some lovely bits! The Macrame cord was from there too!

I like greens and pinks/maroons ... most of what I crochet and knit are these colours! So I end up with lots of little balls of wool that all look lovely together but not big enough to make into something ... unless I put them all together!

So I have been crocheting them into squares for a granny blanket with a soft green edging ... this is what I have done so far ....




What have you got on the go at the moment?

I seem to constantly have a load of half finished craft projects on the go . . . I thought I would share some in a hope that it would kick me in the butt to get on with some!

first up is this latchet rug making kit . . . my mother in law bought this to do for Billy's bedroom over the winter, but her eye sight isn't up to it . . . so I have the fun of it :)


half the work is working out the colours!


I have actually done more than this as have had a bit of a blitz . . . but think it will be another year before its done.


This is a birth sampler for Billy . . . I usually like to design my own, but I saw this a thought it was so perfect with the woodland theme for his room that I couldn't resist! I haven't picked this up for a while, but hope to get it done before he actually moves into his own room (whenever that will be!)



. . . and there has to be a bit of knitting . . . I think this has to be my favourite colour . . . I bought the wool to make myself a hat . . . I find it hard to find the perfect hat as I like them nice and loose . . . I made it a bit too loose . . . well the story is that I knitted it on a journey and had worked out how many stitches I needed but Steve thought it would be funny to keep saying different numbers while I was counting my stitches . . . I'm easily distracted at the best of times, so of course I gave up and ended up with too many stitches. (I was making it up as I went along anyway, so it was all a bit hit and miss) not sure I will show you though, as it did end up a bit big . . . but anyway, I had some wool left over so thought I would make a scarf to match . . . it will probably be for next winter now!


oh go on . . . here it is . . . the huge hat! I did gather the bottom in with some wool (as shown below) but then it wasn't as comfy, so will have to get some sheering elastic and have another go . . .


hope you enjoyed a giggle! ;)
wish me luck in getting some finished x