The craft wish list
A few craft projects I’d like to make. 1. diy clay feathers, 2. kimono shoes, 3. handpainted confetti tumblers, 4. bunting purse, 5. crochet cushion cover, 6. how-to: furoshiki wrapping.
Made recently.. a ribbed knitted scarf
Adam asked if I would knit him a scarf for Christmas, so after a bit of a hunt around on ravelry and knitting blogs, I came up with a few examples I thought he might like. We settled on this ribbed knitted scarf design from the purl bee. He just wanted something simple and warm to see him through to spring and this pattern looked perfect. With the freezing weather we’ve had since January it’s made an appearance on most days, so it’s definitely been working hard on the neck-warming front.
After knitting up a few test rows, I decided to make it a bit skinnier than the pattern called for so that it wouldn’t be too bulky when wrapped around.
It was a great one to knit in front of the telly as it’s a simple repeating pattern; we got through a lot of the walking dead during the making of this scarf!
Made recently.. origami heart earrings
Here’s a little guide to making these origami heart earrings, rather appropriate for Valentine’s Day I think. I’ve made mine with some handmade paper from Paperchase (yep, my paperchase addiction is still going strong), but you could use any paper for this project as long as it can hold its shape reasonably well.
Rather than attempt to (badly) draw out instructions for folding the heart, have a look at this website for step by step folding instructions. I made each heart from 3 x 3cm square pieces of paper.
You might want to use a little bit of glue on some of the folds to keep it nice and strong. I also folded the outer edges of my hearts in to make them a bit more rounded.
Once you have two paper hearts made, it’s simply a case of threading a bead onto a headpin and inserting it through the heart. Then add on another bead or two and using round nosed pliers, bend the top of the pin into a loop.
Attach to earring findings to complete your Valentine’s Day look!
Pinterest finds
Pinterest is full of things I want to make and I’m building up quite a collection of crafty bits and bobs that I will hopefully get round to trying out one day. Here are some of my most recent finds..
From the top: Image transfers onto objects – Better Homes & Gardens, Geometric Pendant – Dismount Creative, String and Hexnut bracelet - Cut out & keep, Knitting Patterns – Cherry Blossom blog, Squishy knot pillow, See-more Dream-more.
origami bow
I spotted a tutorial for making an origami bow ages ago on Pinterest and finally had a reason to try it out. This little bow will be decorating the hamper I put together for father’s day.
You can find the tutorial here if you fancy making one yourself.
A quick bracelet
Sometimes I really feel like making something, but I want the gratification of it being all finished and wearable right away without having to aquire lots of materials and spend days working on it! It’s really satisfying to just be able to have a rummage around in my boxes of materials and have something new and shiny made in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. That’s why I love quick little projects like this Josephine Knot bracelet.
All it took was a few watches of this video and I had myself a snazzy new knotted bracelet to wear. I think it would look great made from thick rope, or to combine lots of little ones in different colours. I’m thinking about having another go and adding beads along the way.
Wooly things
I’ve really enjoyed learning how to knit, I think i’ve got the knitting bug now. I keep eyeing up projects that are far too advanced for me on Ravelry..
Here’s my first completed project, a ribbed scarf:
(You’ll have to excuse the messy hair, I’m in the fun period of trying to grow out a pixie cut!)
I had some wool left over, so I was able to make myself some nifty matching hand warmers too!
I’m definitely going to be prepared for the weather when winter comes around this year. I’m itching to tackle something a bit more exciting next.. this cardigan has caught my eye, but I have no idea what most of the pattern means, so I think I’ll need to enlist someone to help me with this one!
Knitting
I decided recently to have another go at learning to knit. I wanted to do it properly this time, not just getting as far as a misshapen rectangle and giving up… So I booked myself onto a beginners knitting course at Warwickshire College. It wasn’t easy to find a structured course, there are lots of social groups where people meet to eat cake, have a chat and work on their projects (which sounds great), but I needed to actually get the hang of the whole knitting thing first. Unfortunately a few days before it was due to start, they rang me to tell me it had been cancelled, it would seem that there is only one other person in Warwickshire that wants to learn how to knit.. not enough to run a course! So I have been going it alone (with the help of the excellent book Knitty Gritty) for the last few weeks, and I really think I’m starting to get the hang of it.
I’m starting with the classic beginners project – a scarf, but have decided to go for a ribbed pattern to make it more interesting, just doing the same stitch over and over again was getting a little tedious! I’m using acrylic chunky wool by King Cole. As a vegan I was a little bit apprehensive about how much choice there would be out there as I don’t want to use real wool, but after looking around a few shops I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the colours and ranges of non-animal wool.
A full set of beautiful bamboo needles that I ordered arrived in the post a few days ago; switching to these from slippery metal ones has made things much more comfortable. And they look prettier too.
It may not be perfect, but it’s getting noticeably better as I go along, hopefully it will be wearable when I’m done!
I’m already planning my next project, these handwarmers found on creative yarn:
Origami
Every now and then I get the urge to take squares of beautiful paper and fold them into something pretty or useful. I’ve never been much of a fan of making origami animals, I like to make things that have a purpose or can sit on my window ledge and look decorative. It was my friend Alice’s birthday recently so I took the opportunity to practice one of my favourite origami things and make her a Kusudama ball. Origami purists would probably not count this as proper origami, as it uses (quite a lot of) glue. But I enjoy making them and think they look pretty cool, so it doesn’t matter to me!
You can find excellent instructions for how to make the Kusudama Ball here on the Folding Trees web site.
Spring
I was backing up some photographs from Easter today and I spotted a folder marked Easter 2011. It was full of pictures of us all in our summer clothes sitting in the garden and walking in the Cotswolds.. a bit different to this years rather chilly affair! It was (briefly) lovely a few weeks back though, so I thought I’d share a few photographs I took recently when I ventured outside. Having spent the last few years crammed into various little flats in London and deprived of outside space, I can’t wait for summer to get here so we can have vegan barbecues and sit in the garden!
Last year I had a go at a basic hand screen printing technique using an embroidery hoop and made Adam this t-shirt. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out and it’s still getting worn, so it would seem that Adam was too!
Welcome to Found by Sarah! This blog is a place for me to collect and share bits of my days and creative interests. 
