Category Archives: Books

Christmas Crochet for Handmade Monday

I sincerely apologise to those of you who find it hard to think about Christmas in September, but I’m afraid those of us who hand craft seasonal bits and pieces have to start early or we run out of time! I could really do with an extra pair of hands, as I haven’t yet worked out a way of crocheting whilst needlefelting! I’m back with the crochet hook at the moment because I have just had a new delivery of Planet Penny Cotton Club yarn, and this time I have just a few packs with Christmas crochet in mind, lovely Snowdrop.

It’s perfect for the Crochet Christmas Bunting in the tutorial here, which is featured in a magazine published in a few days time, Simply Crochet.

I’ve been experimenting with my own ball of ‘Snowdrop’ to come up with a couple more patterns to use this lovely yarn. Would you like to see? There are crochet snow flakes…

…and crochet Hearts…

and Snowflakes and Hearts…

Christmas Crochet Packs of yarn, crochet hook, buttons and patterns will be available in the next few days in the Etsy shop…

Re-assuming my needlefelting hat, I discovered a fragment of old lace in a box the other day (you see how I’ve benefited from all that boring tidying up I’ve been doing?) and combined it with a new twig heart. I had been a little wary of it, because the wire shaping was so noticeable, (I presume it was made with florists in mind) but I’d raided my Mother-of-Pearl button box and it made all the difference…

And there was still that last dyed top to transform…Remember this?

A rather uninspiring blue/grey… But then I remembered some beautiful binding I bought in France over two years ago…

(… it was lovely to revisit the occasion on Planet Penny via this post – blogging is a wonderful thing!) and with some matching buttons came up with something which I am very happy to have in my wardrobe…

(The camera is lying about the blueness of the dye, BTW!)

There will be a short ‘break in transmission’ over the next week or so as I’m going to be away. Excitingly, I’ve been invited to a book launch in London on Wednesday for Buttonbag’s new craft book, closely followed by a trip to the South Coast to visit the family so there will be lots to tell you about when I’m here again (note to self: charge the camera battery!)

I’ll leave you now with the usual link to Handmade Monday over on Wendy’s Handmade Harbour. Have a lovely week and I’ll be back before long…

Guest Blog Post – Thomas Taylor

As promised, a guest blog post from Thomas Taylor, whose new book is launched at Heffers Book Shop in Cambridge today, 24th May 2012…

“Eddie, Adam and David have the same gift. Using their dreams they can travel in time, appearing as ghosts wherever and whenever they want. But each of them wants something different…

Eddie, the genius who discovers dreamwalking, is sworn to protect the course of history. Adam wants to use terror to change it for his own ends. And David, the novice dreamwalker who is linked to them both, must find a way to keep them apart – and save the future of the world…”

When Penny invited me to write a guest post, the first thing I wondered was how on earth I was going to link my Young Adult supernatural thriller with needle-felting and those delightful crocheted mice! Writers are supposed to be able to accomplish anything with words, right? But, er…

Well, I’ve decided I’m not even going to try to link what I do with what she does, but the reason for that isn’t creative cowardice on my part. The reason is simply that the real link lies in who we are: mother and son.

I have been thinking about ghosts since childhood, mostly because I was terrified of them. So scared, in fact, that I honestly thought I saw them as a boy. Of course, I realise now that I never did – well, probably never did, anyway – but I have spent a lot of time wondering what they may be if they do exist. And I’m sure Penny (hello, mum!) can remember how wound-up I got about it all! Over-active imaginations are never easy to live with, and I doubt she’s surprised that a haunted childhood has resulted in a book called Haunters. Certainly, I won’t deny that this book may also be a way to deal with all that childhood fear, especially now I have become a parent myself. And perhaps that’s why, in the book, only children can dreamwalk. In any case, what if ghosts aren’t something to be scared of at all, but something to be really excited about? I’d much rather that! I certainly wish my terrified, 12-year-old self could have read a book like this.

So Haunters is dedicated to Penny, for all these reasons. But also for…

…making sure there were always books around when I was little; for teaching me to love stories, and – when reading didn’t come naturally – for showing me not be afraid of words; for pointing out that behind the sofa was the best place to hide when Dr Who got scary, and then hiding there with me; for fabulating birthday cakes that made the other kids go ‘WOW!’; for never laughing at my early artistic ambitions, even though they were often laughable; for being amazing when nothing else seemed to be; for tolerating teenage fury and adolescent gloom and not biting back; for — along with her husband, Tim — providing me with the means, both moral and financial, to get through art school; for reinventing herself whilst never changing toward me; for passing on some of the magic to my own children; for leaving room behind the sofa even now.

Mum, thank you for all that, and for so much more. And thank you for letting my spooky book onto your blog!

I feel much better now. Honest…

But how about you, dear reader? Would you like to win a signed copy of Haunters? Simply leave a comment here to be entered into a draw on the 1st of June. Add a scary ‘hiding behind the sofa’ anecdote to your comment, and get yourself entered twice. Good luck! And good reading….

Thank you, Thomas… I’m off to find the tissues….

Edited to Add: Thanks so much for all the lovely comments – we’ve had so much fun reading them and some great trips down memory lane with your ‘behind the sofa moments’! It was quite difficult to choose between them, but in the end it was KateUK’s Aunty Betty who won through, making us snort with laughter with this story…

“The whole family used to hide behind the sofa when Aunty Betty came up the drive – not just us, my Aunt, Uncle and cousins would do it too at their house. If her car was spotted everyone just dropped like stones behind the nearest piece of large furniture until she went away. She was the sort of lady who, if the doorbell wasn’t answered, would peer in through windows, so we became REALLY good at hiding. Daleks? Pah! Small fry.”

Anyway, anyone with a scary relative like that in their childhood deserves to win a prize!

Thank you to all who took part, I’m sorry you couldn’t all win a copy of the book, but it should be available in most good bookshops or of course, Amazon. (If your local bookshop doesn’t have a copy by the way, order it and create a demand! This is the pushy mother speaking here!)

Hooray for Crochet Mice!

The Making of the Crochet Mice…

I’ve set myself a challenge, to see just how many projects I can get out of the Planet Penny Cotton pack, at one ball of each colour. One of the reasons I put this collection together is that I found it impossible to find one stockist, on the high street or online, who had every colour to make up a rainbow, and going from place to place, or buying a ball here and a ball there from different online stockists was time consuming and expensive.

From the time I dyed my own colours I was determined to use every scrap of Bluefaced Leicester 4 ply I had so painstakingly coloured myself. I’m still using the little leftovers the needlefelted pincushion from this post, and the Sophie Digard inspired scarf from this post.

I wanted a pattern for crochet mice which was just right for small amounts of yarn and this silky smooth cotton yarn is perfect for amigurumi, and the bright colours just lend themselves to something fun so I devised this cute crochet mouse pattern and made one in every colour.

So I developed my own simple pattern for crochet mice, and used beads for the features as I have made them to be strictly ornamental However, with embroidered features they are ideal for a small child (just right for little hands) or filled with catnip for your favourite puss cat.

And so the knitters out there don’t feel left out, there a knitted version too!

~~You can find the yarn, the knit and crochet patterns for the mice, as well as other patterns using the gorgeous Planet Penny Cotton yarn in the Etsy shop here…~~

Ed. to add. the Etsy shop has now closed but you can find the patterns FOR FREE here…

I’ll be back soon …xx

A Snowy Handmade Monday

If my Silent Sunday photo was the day before, this was what those clouds were heralding…

(and if you look closely you can see someone has made a little bow wave!)

Funnily enough, after the early morning excitement, Higgins was NOT very enthusiastic about a walk later on in the day…

But he soon got into the swing of things…

…and definitely appreciated the coat in the end!

So there’s been a good excuse to linger indoors and do a bit more crochet. I had a lovely book for Christmas which is full of inspiring things to make…

…and had some fun with these…

and in the spirit of re-using containers, and as excuse to use this fab ribbon…

I gave a tin of Heinz Tomato Soup a whole new lease of life!

I started on a little something for Valentines Day…

…and if you’d like a pattern I’ll be putting one on soon.

I’d also like to share some other little handmade lovelies which although are designed for Easter, are much to pretty to hide away. One of the wonderful things about the blogging/making world is the new friends you make. People you would never otherwise have met. I had lunch with one of these friends last week, a couple of hours of frantic chatter, comparing notes and trying to fit everything in! Gabriella and I both had stalls at the Pick’n’Mix Market last year, run by another blogging/maker friend Lisa of Bobobun, you might remember this photo of the Moobaacluck Stall. So I was so thrilled by this present from Gabs…

I don’t think I have enough handles in the house!

So now it’s time to join in with Wendy’s Handmade Monday over on 1st Unique gifts, where you’ll find all sorts of yummy things going on! It’s well worth a visit!

See you soon xx

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Are you superstitious? How was Friday 13th for you? It’s never been a problem for me and I’ve tended to let it pass me by, but I’ve had my Friday 13th moment now and after a little debate with myself, I’ve decided to share it with you.

I went to bed on Thursday with a hot water bottle on a sore tum, and although that subsided in the night, I still wasn’t feeling terribly good and so drove myself off to the surgery. Imagine my surprise when after questions and tests, it was decided that an ambulance should be called! My initial reaction was to want to go home for a lie down and wait for it to go away, but I was told firmly that they couldn’t actually rule out a heart attack or an aortic aneurysm and I wouldn’t be much good to anyone if I went home and died. Blimey! Oh all right then…

You’ve got to give the good old NHS it’s due. I’ve moaned a lot about it in the past, but when you need it it, it’s there, you get put in the system and there’s no one there waiting for you to produce your cheque book first.

So off in the ambulance, covered in sticky dots and attached to a monitor. It was all so surreal I didn’t feel the slightest bit worried, and was really excited when the siren went on!

Anyway to cut a long story short, I’m fine. I had loads of tests and everything came back normal. The worst thing about the day was I didn’t have my emergency knitting, or a book so I was very bored, and hospital Cauliflower Cheese is appalling, how do you cook carrots so they are both bendy and crunchy at the same time? (The suggestion is that I’ve probably got an acidy gastric thing going on so it’s just as well I’ve got back to home cooking!)

So I might have my gloomy January moments, but I do look on the bright side about a ride in an ambulance!

And talking of January gloom and adding some brightness, I was inspired by this post over on Countrystyle Living to try a bit of candle recycling. I had a couple of ends of scented candle which when added to an ordinary white household candle and melted down made enough wax for this…

I used the wick from the household candle in the cup…

…and I’m very pleased with the result. It gives a rather neglected little teacup and saucer it’s moment of glory too!

I also have a new LYS. Well I’ve cheated rather, there’s a lovely shop called Norfolk Yarn in a part of Norwich I just never seemed to get to , but now I can count it as local because my Son and Daughter-in-law to be have moved in just a 6 minute walk away (can you tell I Googled it!) So when we called for coffee on Saturday I knew I had to do a detour to have a little browse around.

This is also where I found the Silent Sunday spinning wheel. I had one once a long time ago, but it didn’t fit in with a small house, three children, a large dog and no time. As I still have a small house and no time I think I’ll just stick to admiring other peoples!

And I did fall in love with the beautiful bag which the shop owner brought out to show me…

…and this is the base…

It’s knitted with Noro yarn and felted, and I shall be investigating the source of the pattern shortly. I feel a project coming on!

I couldn’t come away empty handed though, could I? I was thrilled to see the Ashford Tekapo wool which Alice uses over on Crochet with Raymond and as she has spoken so highly of it I bought enough to get me going. The plan is for another sampler blanket similar to this one which I started this blog with…

This one went off to the grandsons to snuggle up in, but I’m hoping to make a more outdoorsy, cosy one for sitting under when it gets chilly by the barbecue so I’ve chosen something a bit subtler than my usual colour pallette…

I’ve got some pattern books for inspiration, a new one…

This one I’ve had a while…

…and this one dates back to 1979!!!

…but it’s got some amazing inspiration inside!

After that, my first dabblings look a little tame, but we’ll see!

Well, I’d better stop now. There is a chicken roasting in the oven with a bunch of thyme stuffed in the cavity and there’s a most tantalising smell wafting my way! I’ve got a few last things to get ready for teaching the Needlefelted cupcake pincushion course at The OutHouse in Aylsham this coming Tuesday. If you are in Norfolk there are still a couple of places left, it would be lovely to see you!

I’m off to link up with the amazing Wendy of 1st Unique Gifts, who does so much and still manages to host Handmade Monday each week! Do go over and find all the other links and see what’s been going on…

See you soon…xxx

Reasons to be Cheerful 11

Hello! It’s very cheerful here on Planet Penny…a blue, blue sky and bright sunshine – a perfect winters day. And when Higgins and I went round the garden this morning we found these little lovelies optimistically anticipating Spring…

They are probably being a little too optimistic seeing as we’re not even in the middle of January yet, but I shall enjoy them while I can!

And I have my usual post Christmas bunch of daffodils which I have to welcome the New Year. There’s something so fresh and hopeful about the delicate lemon/yellow and green after the bright colours and rich decorations of Christmas. They’re not quite open yet…

…so I’ve got it all to look forward to!

Can you see those spools on the the top of the dresser? I bought them at the Knitting and Stitching show last year and forgot to show them to you. They were empty when I bought them, but it was an ideal way of showing of some ribbons, tapes and bindings I’ve had in my stash waiting for the right moment to star…

The top two and the far right one are some I found in France and wrote about in this post, the blue and white stripe bias binding is made from a favourite shirt of Tim’s and the seashell ribbon was tied round a birthday present. This way I can enjoy them even though I haven’t actually made anything with them yet! (I can’t remember the name of the company I bought them from at the Show, but I’ve found them for sale via Not on the High Street from Jane Means)

And the other thing which has made me happy is a little rabbit. I don’t really knit animals much as I love to needlefelt them, but yesterday I discovered a bag of sample wool…

and this Debbie Bliss book which I’ve had for years…

click image for info

As I discovered it while I was looking for my mislaid sock pattern (which I needed as I’d got to the point of turning the heel) I abandoned the search, grabbed the most bunny coloured wool and some needles and created my own version of a Debbie Bliss rabbit. (I know, what a butterfly brain!)

I’ve used vintage mother-of pearl buttons to attach the limbs and shirt buttons for the eyes so he wouldn’t be suitable for a little one, but I think he’ll be staying with me for the moment!

So that’s what making me cheerful this week, how about you? Do share your thoughts by adding your blog to the Linky below, or if you don’t have a blog, leaving a comment. I really appreciate all your comments on every post and always read them. If you are linking your blog, don’t forget to link back to Planet Penny so we can really spread a little cheerfulness!

And now I’d better get back to looking for that sock pattern….

See you soon! x