Sneak Preview - Mermaid Shawl

I've been labouring on the patio in the shade on my mermaid shawl. Here's a quick preview of what I've done so far.


There are still loads of unfinished threads and many more rows of knitting, crochet, many more stitches to embroider, a lot more assembling, and general agonising over what to do next....

However, here are some of the details:

Seaweed fringe at the bottom

Webbing


Little Shell


Spiral Disk Sequins

Shell Sequins


Snail


Anemone


I've used a whole range of yarns in a myriad of shades- from a silvery white to dark blue to every shade of turquoise and teal. The textures range from fluffy kid silk mohair to feathery to silky to glittery to sparkly. Some of the shapes are done separately and then attached to the shawl, others are knitted or crocheted onto the main body of the shawl. Some parts have been embroidered, to others I have added sequins. There are pearls and beads yet to come.

At the moment the shawl is only about a fifth of it's final length... so a lot more to go.

Mimi the Wishing Cat

Here's a little cat I made earlier....

... she's a special present for my sister who's moving house soon. She loves cats but is allergic to them and I thought this little cat is perfect for her.

Mimi

Little Mimi is a special wishing cat. She makes wishes come true. :-)


She's knitted using a pattern I made up as I went along in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in rose, fuchsia and burgundy.


Her face has been embroidered with embroidery silk, and cotton, and yarn and her eyes are two black buttons.

The flower (she insisted on having) is hand crocheted and embellished with another button.


Mimi is all soft and squishy as she's stuffed with pure lambswool.

Her paws are also embroidered.


Mimi can't wait to get to her new home....

If you want your own special cat, let me know and we'll sort out something. :-)

Presents - Wrist Warmers and Silk Flower Brooch

It was my friend Nicki's birthday yesterday and I made her some wrist warmers in purple cotton.

Purple Polka Dot Wrist Warmers


When the cotton yarn I'd ordered from eBay arrived, the purple was dull and dreary. It's a lovely yarn but the colour was terrible. So I ordered some yarn dyes and dyed it. The result was a lovely deep purple, much more intense and a lovely shade. I am so pleased with my first attempt at dying yarn. The only problem was, despite tying up the two balls of yarn in skeins, one tangled up so badly it took me 3 hours to just untangle a quarter of it! It's still all tangled up... luckily the other one was okay and I could knit with that.

The pattern is my own. There's a small pattern along the bottom of the front and then the lacing with the polka dot ribbon.

On the back I've used a cable pattern as I find it means that the wrist warmers keep their shape better this way, which is especially important as I've used cotton. Cotton tends to loosen up when you wear it, and it usually means washing the wrist warmers to make sure they tighten up again.

Nicki seemed very pleased with them, especially as she'd been nicking the wrist warmers I made for her daughter (see here, Funky Punk Wrist Warmers) for Christmas. These match Nicki's coat much better. :-)


Instead of buying her flowers, I made her one to keep and wear.

Rhapsody in Silk Flower Brooch

This is my first silk flower made with dupioni silk in wonderful shades of duck egg blue, turquoise and purple, teal taffeta, ivory organza and hand crocheted flower and petals. Each layer of silk and taffeta was embroidered with embroidery cotton.

There's a lovely turquoise button in the centre with three teeny purple fresh water pearls for a finishing touch.
I am pleased with how the silk flower turned out so will make more. I like the vintage, shabby chic feel of it.