Author Archives: pennygj

Life is What Happens To You…

…while you’re busy making other plans, as John Lennon famously said.   This week life has not turned out as planned.

If you’ve been visiting Planet Penny for a while you’ll know about Clovis, the French Cat.  He belongs to my son Thomas, and has staying with my mum while his own family have been settling after transferring from France.

Clovis is quite a character, and has led an eventful life.  As a tiny kitten he chose his family by climbing into the car in a remote place where no unattended kitten should have been, and after unsuccessful attempts to locate the owner,  he was welcomed into the family.   I’ve always been a bit of favourite of his, as the only person mad enough  to arrive to stay with a large and exciting bag, full of balls of wool and knitting.   On one visit it took less than 10 minutes with an unattended knitting bag for him to create a wonderful art installation. Yarn was wrapped round the legs of every chair in the room and up a flight of stairs where there were more chairs, and out of the cat flap and all around the garden furniture!

He’s madly affectionate, but won’t be held or picked up, just trampling madly over your lap purring furiously.  He’s frightened of everything in the garden, hurling himself through the catflap to avoid marauding butterflies and vicious baby rabbits.

He lived for a while in Rouen, France, pretty near the city centre and close to one of the main arterial route through the city and came though unscathed.  So why was it that now, living in a sleepy little cul-de-sac in rural Norfolk, he gets hit by a car?  Well, not hit exactly, one back leg run over, and horribly broken.

So the last few days have been all about visiting the vet, and xrays and a big operation.

He is now back with my mum, in a large crate…

and wearing a fetching blue bandage.

I’ve been my mother’s carer for a while, but now I’m Clovis’s too, spending a lot of time sitting on the floor with my arm through the door of the crate tickling his ears and making soothing noises.  Fortunately so far he hasn’t been too frustrated by his incarceration, but he must be very bored.  I’ve suggested a film this afternoon.  He does watch television a lot when it’s something he’s interested in,  ‘Kung-Fu Panda’ being a particular favourite! (I just hope he’s not taking notes!)

So that’s why this hasn’t been the week I’d planned, or the blog post I’d intended, but I hope you’ll bear with me.

I’ll be back soon x

 

Wearing my Needlefelt Hat

I’m resisting having too much of a moan about the weather having seen just how badly other parts of the country have been hit by floods, but I had a soggy old trip on Thursday when I went off to teach needlefelting at The OutHouse Studio!  We’ve had a brief interlude of windy sunshine since then, but today is grey, and soggy and Higgins had a horrid morning because of a thunderstorm.  We’ve had the longest day, but when are we going to get some Summer?

Still, on Thursday we were warm and dry with needlefelt, coffee and homemade biscuits.  It was only a small class, but it does mean those there get more individual attention.  We were making brooches again, which is a nice way for people to learn needlefelt basics and have something wearable to take home.

These are my samples…

…but being definite ‘Duck Weather’ the final choice for the class wasn’t surprising!

There are all sorts of pretty things in the shop itself….

I’m kicking myself for not taking close up photos of Caroline Nash’s beautiful and unusual jewellery which she makes from pieces of old cutlery. You can just see them in the first photo.  I was terribly tempted, I think I will be going back before too long when I have more time to choose!

Back on Planet Penny, I was very grateful for a really useful comment on last week’s Handmade Monday post and my pondering about the relative merits of Folksy v Etsy.  Thank you, Siobhan, for helping me make up my mind.  I really needed a buyer’s point of view to add to my own feelings about the ease of using Folksy, and as I’ve used it more over the last few weeks there have been several issues about the ‘clunkiness’ of the Folksy website which have been quite inconvenient.  I haven’t taken the decision to move over to Etsy lightly; I tend to be very loyal once I have given my allegiance to something, added to which a couple of weeks ago I was number one in the Folksy best sellers list, but I couldn’t sit on the fence any longer!

You’ll find the yarn, patterns and kits are all on Etsy now in the Planet Penny shop.   All the new Fridge Magnet Kits sold very quickly last week but I’ve been beavering away making more, winding yarn…

…and making magnets which are a bit boring…

…look pretty!

I know that, despite loving the colours, the cost of Airmail postage on a 750gm pack is off-putting for some people in the US, so I hope that by making up the kits which weigh so much less it will make having a little piece of the Planet Penny Rainbow a little more affordable!

Looking outside, it seems we are having a sunny interlude, and so I must step away from the computer, put on the wellies and persuade a small dog, who does NOT like puddles, that a spot of exercise might be a good idea!

I will leave you with the usual link to Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour.  Do go and visit, there’s a lot of creativity going on!

See you soon… x

Crochet Mini Mice for Handmade Monday

crochet Mini Mice

When I introduced the Mini Mice on a Handmade Monday Post a month ago I had just finished making them, hadn’t written the pattern and was in the run up to Open Studios etc.  Definitely the last time I introduce something that isn’t in the final stages of going ‘live’!  Since then I have been asked over and over about the pattern, the kits and when I would have them available.  The thing is, I really want to get it right.   I don’t want to disappoint anyone with a pattern that doesn’t work or a kit which doesn’t look like fun, which is why I’ve been beavering away all week to get things ready for this post.

As you can imagine, the Crochet Mini Mice kits take a little while to build, and I had to find a way to supply the yarn so it’s tidy, but also looks attractive.

I now have a new little windy gadget and some cards.  Here’s the yarn in all it’s rainbow gorgeousness…

The Mini Mice kits will also contain the magnets, the stuffing, the eyes and noses and the all important pattern, enough to make 14 mouse magnets. All you will need is a 3mm hook and a needle and black thread.  I think my next quest will be to source a supplier for 3mm hooks as I’d love to be able to add those to the kits.

The pattern will be for sale on my new Etsy shop.  I’m sort of teetering in the middle at the moment between Etsy and Folksy.  Because I have so many visitors from the US, Etsy seems to be more geared toward that market, while being very user-friendly for the UK and other places.  Does anyone else have any thoughts or experiences about this? I’d love to hear from you if you do.

If you have previously bought a full pack of the Planet Penny Cotton Club yarns from me and would like a copy of the pattern, do let me know and I will send you a copy free of charge.

I will be putting the kits on Etsy this week at £17.50, but as an introductory offer I have 5 to sell at the special price of £15.00 on a strictly first come, first served basis.  If you would like to buy one, please contact me through the Planet Penny Contact Form.

groups of crochet Mini Mice

I was all set to leave you with the links to Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour where you will find all sorts of crafty goings on, but I embarked on a mini project today inspired by the lovely Penelope by the Sea on her blog L is for Love.

She has been Noticing Yellow this weekend so I popped out for half an hour to see what ‘yellow’ I too could notice.  Quite a lot as it happens…

What a lovely sunshiney end to the week!

See you soon…x