Monthly Archives: June 2013

A Pain in the Neck!

If it’s been a bit quiet on Planet Penny the last few days it’s because its all been a bit of a pain in the neck…quite literally! I don’t know how it’s possible to lock one’s neck up completely just turning on the pillow to look at the alarm clock but that’s what I did, very effectively. So my midweek post got delayed, and now I’m back in the chair with strict instructions from Lara, my amazing chiropractor, to set an alarm and step away from the computer every 20 minutes….

Which is quite tricky…

I was mobile enough to take the second Needlefelt Workshop yesterday at Arts Desire and like the first one it was great fun.

It’s always fun to see the different interpretations of the same basic skill when we all get together, last week we had these little chaps (spot the bumble bee!)…

…and yesterday these little feathered friends were born…

The Craft Lounge at Arts Desire is proving a great venue for these workshops and I’m looking forward to the 27th July and the Planet Penny Bakery when we will be needlefelting lots of low calorie high fibre treats! If you are interested in joining us you can find out more right here…

Meanwhile, I have been responding to many requests for a Rainbow Mouse knitting pattern for all those who don’t crochet and I’ve come up with this little fellow…

and introduced him to his crochet chums…

What do you think? As soon as I feel happy with the design it will be available alongside the crochet Mouse pattern via the Etsy shop…

He seems to be looking very much at home..

And the sun is shining! The creaky neck has put paid to much gardening, but my lovely son has been over and planted my Sarah Raven Sweet Peas. It’s a super scented collection of white, blue and deep pink …

…and I just can’t wait to pick my first bunch and fill the house with their scent.

I don’t think I’ve shown you my Planet Penny Cotton garden project! It seems a bit mad, but so far has withstood the weather really well…

A possible tutorial? Let me know what you think…

And now, because the sun is still shining and it’s heading towards being the hottest day of the year so far, I shall take my basket of yarn and the embryo mouse pattern into the garden and enjoy the rest of my Sunday, knitting under the cherry trees.

I hope you enjoy your Sunday too!

See you soon…x

The Knitters Mobile

Do you remember the Knitters Mobile? Back in February I returned to the Knitters Christmas decorations I made for the Advent Calendar in the run up to last Christmas…

…and decided to make a mobile. I knitted some tiny bunting to go round a wooden hoop, suspended all the little balls made with the Planet Penny rainbow colours and ‘Hey Presto’, a Mobile!

It’s been hanging around quite literally, for a while and was a source of amusement during Open Studios but over the last few days it made an appearance on the Loveknitting Facebook Page which has sparked a fresh wave of interest. Planet Penny yarn is perfect not just for crochet but knitting too so a pattern to reflect this is well overdue. The Knitters Mobile requires minimal knitting but is a fun project to start off with. I have written a set of instructions and you can download them here, for free.

(Ed. to add: due to a few Facebook comments about sharp pointy things I would like to point out – This is a decorative piece for a craft room. It is NOT a toy, it is NOT intended to hang in a crib, it is for the enjoyment of adults, not children!)

I still have a fancy for a lampshade with these hanging all round the edge, wouldn’t they make wonderful shadows?

There have also been requests for a kit. I am thinking of perhaps a pack containing all the materials necessary to make the mobile which could be bought along with Planet Penny Crafty Cotton Pack. Would love some feedback on this idea, especially from those of you have bought the cotton already!

And finally, I’ve cracked the challenge of a knitted version of the Crochet Rainbow Mice! The Knitted Rainbow Mice Pattern is now available from the Etsy shop as an instant download, as are all the other patterns…

Enjoy your week, I’ll be back soon…x

Turf, Surf and Needlefelt Birds

A mixed bag post today, I’ve been lurking inside a lot consoling myself with needlefelt because of the unseasonably cold weather, but then rejoicing in sunshine and warmth when at last we get a brief indication that it’s actually summertime! I’m only wearing TWO layers today, and no thermal fleece!

The wind seems to have blown constantly for months in this part of the UK and we live in the windiest corner of the village, near the remains of the old mill. Wind always seems to make everything worse, doesn’t it? Colder, and so noisy with it whistling around the chimney. Yesterday’s walk was a bit scary, with small branches being blown off the trees. I wasn’t sorry to see some rain for the garden though, and Higgins was relieved that the thunderstorm which hit Norwich skirted around us. Despite all this Mother Nature is flourishing in the hedgerows…

The grass is long enough now to ripple in the wind like water, and is such a lush green…

But, in true English fashion today the weather is completely different. The sunshine in the garden brought the bees to the chive flowers…

I know you are supposed to snip the flowers off if you want nice chives for kitchen use, but how can I deprive the poor bees?

Such a beautiful morning was too good to waste, so Higgins and I headed to the beach before breakfast. What could be better than a deserted Norfolk beach in the sunshine?

The sand is gradually returning after being scoured by the winter gales. Only a couple of weeks ago this stretch was down to red clay.

Higgins was very happy..

And quite intrepid too in the shallows…

…and the pools…

Back home I’m getting ready for the first Needlefelt Workshop next weekend at Art’s Desire Craft Lounge in Norwich. The first one is all booked up and the second one is filling but fear not, further dates have been added to the calendar! The Birds on a Branch piece I created for Open Studios last year is in the shop window because we’ll be making birds, of all descriptions…

This is my latest flight of fancy….

Happy, not Angry Birds!

And, in case you were wondering, there is a winner for last week’s giveaway of a copy of Caroline Zoob’s gorgeous book, The Hand-Stitched Home. Thank you, to everyone who entered with wonderful stitching memories, I really enjoyed reading them. It seems for every school day horror there was also a wonderful teacher or relative who passed on their own love of the subject.

It was so hard to choose, I wanted everyone to win, but there’s only one copy of the book!

Please imagine the drum roll, or the pregnant pause beloved of TV Games shows so that I can announce…the winner is… Nikki Pierce who writes her own blog Tales from Swallow Barn.

Congratulations Nikki, I hope you enjoy your copy of the book and that we see some of your creations on your blog before too long (No pressure or anything!)

I’m off now to put the kettle on. I hope you’ve got your feet up with a cuppa too!

Have a great week and I’ll be back soon…

Daisy, Daisy….

I promised a daisy post and while they are still shining vibrantly in the lane I’m fitting in this little post.

I love daisies, don’t you? They are the simplest flower, their shape is the one we first learn to draw, the one we doodle while we are on the phone. They are a link to childhood… did you sit on the school playing field in the sun making daisy chains with friends as I did? And they have become very much linked with the Open Studios season, as each year the edge of the lane leading to the studio is lined with a mass of Ox Eye Daisies…

Last year Kit, my Open Studios partner-in-crime, was inspired by the daisies as you can see from this post and turned her sketches into a beautiful little etching. I treated myself to a pack of cards as they are perfect for personalised letters…

And that would have been all, but for the new book which I reviewed last weekend. Caroline Zoob, writing in the The Hand-Stitched Home featured a beautiful curtain, patchworked from vintage lawn and lace.

It would take ages to amass such a wonderful collection but, nothing daunted, I called into our local charity shop just in case someone had been clearing out Miss Haversham’s attic!

Well, they hadn’t..but in a pile of textile odds and end I found a little crumpled treasure which, carefully washed, starched and ironed revealed…daisies! It’s a wonderful piece of hand stitched cut work on fine lawn, a little frayed in places but this, I think, adds to the charm…

Unfortunately my name isn’t Susan…

but for 25 pence – 25 PENCE! – that’s a minor detail…

I have been debating for a week or two what to put in the little window in the new door into my office. I’m not a fan of nets, I didn’t want to lose the light but I just wanted to hide the interior from prying eyes if anyone called while I was out. This small piece is perfect and with the help of some pins I covered with vintage fabric a while ago I have my own little bright white curtain…

And 25p was well spent, I think you’ll agree!

If you’ve been inspired, there’s still a chance for you to win a copy of The Vintage Home. Visit the post and leave a comment, what’s your sewing story?

The Hand-Stitched Home – Book Review

I promised you a lovely book to coo over and The Hand-Stitched Home by Caroline Zoob ticks all the boxes.

I’ve had very little time to exercise my sewing muscles lately and had rather forgotten how much I enjoy it so leafing through Caroline Arber’s beautiful photographs discovering the projects within was a real pleasure.

Do you hand sew? Is it something you love or do out of necessity? Sometimes it’s so easy just to get the sewing machine out and wizz around a few seams, or as I did over half term to piece together a spectacular tear on some nearly new tracksuit bottoms which had come off worse in a tree climbing related incident!

I had a very mixed introduction to the craft of stitching. Being left handed my school experience was almost entirely negative. Whole lessons miserably stitching a ‘blind’ hem with a length of thread grubby and grey from countless pulling out. And, being made to wear a thimble on my right hand because that was where they were worn! (I was nearly an adult before I found out what they were actually for!) However, during the school holidays I stayed with my left-handed grandmother, Bam-mum (who never used a thimble) and she introduced me to a love of stitching which has never gone away despite school’s best efforts.

Caroline Zoob’s book is all for pleasure, little hand-stitched treasures giving a new lease of life to vintage fabrics which then become part of the fabric of the home. From tiny projects such as this Heart Key Fob…

…delicately stitched shelf edging…

..and pretty egg-cosy made from felted wool blanket fabric…

..to larger pieces such as cushions, curtains and table runners there are plenty of ideas which you can use to inspire you to use and recycle pretty fabrics, trimmings, buttons and precious scraps of fabric.

Be aware that the instructions for some of the more complicated pieces do presume a fairly sound knowledge of basic sewing skills. However, this is book about hand stitching and embroidery and there is a lot of help and inspiration for even a novice at decorative stitching. And of course the joy of a book like this is that it is positive encouragement to go off and brush up on or learn new skills!

And what was my inspiration? Well, it was daisies. I’m planning to feature daisies in the next blog post for reasons which will be explained, but this was the image in the book which inspired me…

It’s so pretty and simple. I had a frame which I bought months ago in a closing down sale, and a remnant of linen so I spent a happy evening with my box of embroidery threads and this was the result…

So, I’m sure you would love to get your hands on a copy of this book. And you can because the lovely people at the Aurum Publishing Group have a copy to send to one lucky person. It could be you! I’d love to hear your sewing story, what got you stitching? Was it love at first stitch, or a gradual blossoming? Simply share your story in the comments, and next weekend you could be the winner!

This week I’m linking up again with Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour so follow the links there to discover lots more creative people and ideas.

I’m off to the studio now to get ready for the last day of Open Studios. If you are in the area we’d love to see you, but if not I’ll be back here soon…x

Norfolk and Norwich Open Studios 2013

It’s hard to believe this is the third year we have taken part in Norfolk and Norwich Open Studios, but then it’s always hard to get one’s head round how quickly time flies. This weekend will be the last for this year so we’re really hoping the weather stays kind and encourages lots of people to drive out into our beautiful Norfolk countryside to visit us.

If you are a regular visitor to Planet Penny you will know I share my studio with my good friend Kit, a printer, for the purposes of Open Studios. It makes it more fun and more manageable when several people arrive at once and we both know enough about each others work to be able to talk about it. (Although I wouldn’t recommend anyone goes away and attempts etching after an explanation from me!)

I know only a handful of people reading this will be able to visit so this is virtual invitation to our studio so you can see what’s been going on over the past couple of weeks.

This is the studio, through the archway.

It looks so much better when the sun shines!
Norfolk and Norwich Open Studios - garden

The Japanese Maple which last year formed part of the wedding decorations (which you can see in this post) is now a great place to display the felted ‘River Rocks’ which were first exhibited as part of the Bergh Apton Sculpture Trail several years ago…

Inside, it’s so tidy! It’s lovely, I wish it would last!

Can you see the tell tale streak across the mat? Well, for once it wasn’t Higgins. The very first day, dead on 10 o’clock when we were officially open, the little oil filled radiator which we had been huddling round because it was so ridiculously cold went POP and leaked hot oil all over the floor! Several teatowels were sacrificed in the frantic mopping up and that trail was created as we dragged the darn thing outside where it dribbled over the gravel.

Not a good start and I’ve had to dispose of the mat which I rather liked. Never mind, next week I’m having vinyl laid which will withstand tidal waves of hot oil as well as muddy little paws!

Oh gosh, have you noticed Higgins has crept in yet again? Not what I intended but since he’s here I’ll just say he’s well rested now and is all geared up to greet his public should they feel inclined to visit him over the coming weekend. You’ll find general details of Norfolk and Norwich Open Studios on the website, and our Art Trail in particular on the Two Rivers Trail website.

After this weekend I hope to get back to a more normal blogging routine. Coming up next time is another book review. A gorgeous new publication and the chance to win your very own copy. If you haven’t signed up to follow Planet Penny yet now might be a good time so you don’t miss out on a prize!

I’ll be back very soon…x