Beanie, Wrist Warmers & a Snow White Sneak Preview

I did promise to post some pictures after the last teaser post.

Purple and Black London Beanie

Here's the beanie hat I made for Ben. I found the pattern for it on the net. It's been designed by Mark Thrailkill and if you fancy making one yourself, here's the pattern.



I slightly changed the original pattern to what Ben wanted and also to suit the wool I was using, which was slightly thinner than the one in the pattern. The wool I used was DK Super Stylecraft in black and Emperor. It's widely available and has the advantage that you can just chuck it in the washing machine. Very useful with a beanie hat. :-)


Teal Cable Wrist Warmers

I found this lovely pattern on Etsy in Nunt's Shop.


It was a lot more challenging than I had envisaged for my very first pair of wrist warmers, but I liked the pattern so much... and the pattern instructions were very good, even though I had to teach myself the Magic Loop Method of knitting in the round. I found a great tutorial video on YouTube. I also had to do other things I'd never done before - like make a thumb gusset! I'd done cabling before, but that was a long, long time ago and never anything as complex as the knotted pattern in the middle. However, I am so proud of myself that I managed this and they do look halfway decent and are lovely to wear.


The wool I used is teal bamboo which I adore. It's lovely and soft and great to knit with. Apparently it's also hypoallergenic and has some healing qualities (for most of us, some people find it itchy). The only quibble I have with it is that the threads the yarn is made up of separate quite easily which can make for messy knitting if you're not careful, otherwise I loved the yarn and I think it works really well with the pattern.

Here's the pattern in more detail. :-)



Snow White Necklace Preview

Here's a flower I felted ready for my Snow White necklace. It'll be quite a long necklace with the felted rose as a centre piece.


I've used merino wool, crystal organza and beads. The rose isn't quite finished yet, the edges still need tidying up and I am considering using some fabric stiffener to make the rose more sturdy as it's going to be used on a necklace.



More to come soon....

... I've almost finished my green chenille shawl. It's currently being blocked. I still need to make the Sakura felt flowers to decorate it (which I am about to do). The edging (my own design based on an Edwardian design - more about that later) turned out really pretty and so far it's turned out much better even than I thought it would. :-)

Rare Purple Spotted Baby Owl (in Felt)

The purple spotted owl is thought to be extinct. Only a very few eye witness accounts exist, which I have been scouring the internet for to get enough information to re-create the beautiful rare creature in felt. According to lore they are extremely fierce in protecting their own and take a mate for life.

Here it is for you to see.... The first of my new 'Rare Creatures' collection.

Rare Purple Spotted Owl



From the front.


From the back.


His cute little face.


His tummy and claws. Each claw has been needle felted separately and then needle felted onto his feet.


His lovely feathery wings with lots of spots...



And, finally, his bottom with tail and the special little heart each of the Rare Creatures in the collection will have somewhere.

The little critter is 10cm (4") tall and totally cuddly and sweet. He has been stuffed with banana silk throw waste (Charka) and has been made for my son Ben who loves it to bits. :-) However, if you would like one like it, let me know and I see what I can do.

There will be more in the collection - I have already planned a Zombie Fairy Cat and the Midnight Lizard. So watch this space. :-)

If you have heard of a rare creature you'd like to tell me about, feel free, I am always happy to discover new rare creatures. :-)

Rosy Posy

Another of my little brooches, this one in icy pinks. Not quite sure why but despite it being soft warm pinks it reminds me of snow. Maybe it's rosy cheeks in Winter snow?


Made in the same way as the Blue Poppy, but the centre petal is divided and I've used grey fresh water pearls in the centre (oh, and of course it's pink rather than blue). :-)




It is 8cm x 6cm (3"x2.5") and will be available in my Etsy shop soon.

Fibre Art - Poppies and Dahlia Brooches

Total melt down at the weekend. Once, I'd finished my shrug I fancied knitting something easier and quicker, and decided to use my beautiful recycled sari yarn to make myself a knitted knitting bag. I wanted something to put in my current project to keep it save whilst I wasn't working on it. So I started my knitting bag and ran out of wool! Not fair. So I ordered the wool on Saturday morning, but it'll be a couple of days at least before it arrives.

Next, I bought some wool (and as I thought the right needles) in town on Saturday to make the beautiful wrist warmers for which I'd specifically bought a pattern on Etsy. You can see the pattern here: Piquant Purls. However, my needles were too long to knit in the round. Sigh. So no wrist warmers until the new needles arrive... :-( Sniff. Luckily the sun is out and about so I don't desperately need them just yet.

Totally heart broken I decided to do something totally different and set to do some felting. Below is the result of my hard work. :-)




Blue Poppy Brooch

This one has been needle felted in three layers. Each layer had a border added in the same colour to make it look more like a petal. The centre has tiny Japanese charcoal matte cube beads to add detail.



The design has a simple elegance that really appeals to me. Sorry guys, this one's mine! Teal is my favourite colour. However, I will be making more of them in different colours. Or, if your heart really is set on a teal one, drop me a line. The brooch is 6cm x 5cm (2 1/4" x 2").





Damson and Mauve Dahlia Brooch

This brooch is a mix of wet and needle felting. The loops are in fact wet felted 'ropes' that have been turned into loops on a needle felted circle and needle felted securely into place. The brooch has a diameter of roughly 6.5cm (2.5").



The centre consists of two vintage beads (both plastic to keep the brooch light) in matching colours. I am really pleased with how this design idea turned out. The little loops look very organic and give the brooch a lot of texture. Like in the Teal Poppy design I've used three different shades of Merino wool.




Red Poppy Brooch

This was actually meant to turn out like the Teal Poppy, however for this design I wet felted each of the layers and when they were dry enough to handle I found they didn't work the way I'd intended them to. So I arranged them differently and I really like the boldness of the design.



The three petals were wet felted in three different shades of red, from very dark red to a coral red and then wet felted together with detail added in different shades of red. I must have used at least 5 different shades of red. The centre has been created from red/black lined Japanese seed beads. The brooch is 10cm x 8cm (4"x3").


All brooches (apart from the Teal Poppy brooch) will be available from my Etsy shop soon (or if you cannot wait, drop me a line). You can also order all brooch designs in custom colours. I currently have various shades of red, pink, purple, blue, green, brown and white, grey, and black. Prices vary depending on the design/size/etc but start from about £10.

Felted Flowers - Caroline's Brooch and Stacie's Hair Barrette

Caroline and I have been buying wool together and been swapping things rather than paying each other. I got the most gorgeous pineapple ramie scarf from her - you can see a picture of it on Caroline's blog.

I made the brooch for her in exchange for the postage. Yep, we've been having fun! :-) The little hair barrette was a little surprise for her daughter Stacie. They arrived today so I can finally post the pictures! ;-)



The brooch was made in three layers, first a damson layer, then the bright pink, then the paler pink. The conglomeration of beads in the centre gives it texture. The back is the same as for the African/Tribal brooch in the previous post.





Stacie's hair barette was made in several layers. Each of the leaves was made separately, then I made the pink flower, added the orange and yellow centre. The beads are stitched onto the centre of the flower, then I sew it onto the barette. It looks totally cute when worn.

Felting Frenzy - Cat, Penguin, and African Tribal Brooch

Here are some of my new felt creations:


I am really enjoying this needle felting lark - my creative voodoo! :-)

Here's a little cat I made. One of my first ones - made a while back, but I kept forgetting to take a photo of it.


Here's the tail in detail. I know, I know it's green, but I didn't have any brown or cream or grey, so green it was. :-)



This is the famous zebra brooch, but when it was finished it looked nothing like a zebra, but African/tribal instead. I still like it.


As you can see I used wooden beads: rondelles, round ebony beads, carved beads and a lovely carved bone bead in the centre.


This is the brooch from the back. The round brooch back works really well.



Here's my latest creation: a penguin for Steve based on the Linux logo penguin. Doesn't look quite the same. When it was finished I decided it needed some spikes on top of its head - a bit like a Rockhopper penguin. :-)


Here's the face in detail:

Black and White Felt Flower Brooch

This is my latest needle felting adventure:



I made it the other day from black Merino wool and white Tussah silk rovings.




The flower petals have been needle felted in separate layers (each colour layer - two black, one white) and then stitched together with the vintage glass beads in the centre and a circular sieve brooch back on the other side.




The brooch is quite large 3" or 8 cm at the widest point, but it's also very, very light and ideal for anything from coat lapels to silk scarves. I've been wearing it quite a lot as it cheers up any outfit and because it's so pretty and light it works with anything.

If you want one like it (various colours available - greens, purples, reds, blues, black in Merino, or white silk or any combinations thereof), let me know.




Size can be varied as well, if you want it smaller or bigger or with more layers, let me know and the petals can be more pointy if you prefer that (more like a stargazer lily). Anything's possible. :-)

Prizes start from about £10 plus P&P.

Little Flower Garden Brooch for City Dwellers

Always wanted a garden to grow flowers in? Now you can wear one as a brooch and it'll go with you wherever you go.

Here's my whimsical, totally cute Flower Garden Brooch, complete with grass and forget-me-nots.


The brooch has been made from needle felted merino wool in various shades of green (4 different shades!), little forget-me-not blue flower glass beads, Miyuki drops in various shades of blue and little bright yellow seed beads. The brooch sits on a round brooch back and is about the size of a 50 pence coin. Utterly sweet!

Felted Magic Flowers

I am so proud of this set as it is my first attempt at felting. :-)

The rope was wet felted - by sprinkling strands of roving in green and pink and pink silk strands with soapy water and rolling it in a sheet of bubble wrap.






The flowers are similar to those in my silk flower garlands as they've also been made from silk rods. However, I didn't use any cocoons this time but needle felted a green flower shape for the silk petals to sit on. The beads in the centre are carved mother of pearl three-petal flowers and creamy white glass pearls.

The necklace is a lariat design with a loop half hidden by the flower and two of the leaves feeding through the loop. The other leaf hangs separately.


The leaves were made with the needle felting method by laying out strands of roving in green and pink and stabbing it with felting needles to get the fibers to felt together. I added detail with two different greens and the rows of pale green seed beads.



The length of the bracelet is fixed and it slips over the hand and onto the wrist in the same way as a bangle. I have used fabric stiffener to ensure that it stays in shape nicely.


Below you can see the bracelet on my arm. It looks so pretty and delicate and it's lovely to wear because it so soft and light.


The flower on the bracelet and two of the leaves in detail:


A detail shot of the flower itself.
This set will be part of my new wedding collection. I think it would work really well with a traditional white, or pink wedding gown or even a deep dark red, a brown or a green one. Apparently, white is not necessarily the colour of choice for a wedding anymore. The set is organic and very, very delicate and pretty, although it's not fragile as I've made sure that everything is sewn on properly and that it is sturdy enough to withstand the trials of a wedding day.

It would also look great with a prom or ball gown or at that special dinner.