Loose ends

I've been flap, flap, flapping around the house this week trying to tick things off the craft to do list. I knew things were a bit out of control when I was sitting at work being stressed about coming home :) But now:

• Loose ends have been woven in:

• Glue has been applied (with a paintbrush of course):

• Things have been hung in their new homes (this is what you see when you walk in the front door. Well, this and cats.)

• And the last of the birthday brooches have been made and sent!

The universe obviously felt I deserved congratulating for all that ticking off (we won't mention the poms) because I got a little surprise in the mail:


Yarn pirate. Oh how I have coveted thee. Well the lovely Melissa must be my fairy-yarn-mother (or something) cause we're having a little sock yarn swap and this is what she sent me. I often drool over the yummy yarn on US knitblogs (koigu, socks that rock, yarntini, sundara yarn and yarn pirate are all on the shortlist) so I'm super psyched to have some of my own. Thanks so much Melissa, excellent choice. And I must have been extra good, because look what else I got - gorgeous little hand made coasters.

• Oh, and your parcel's in the mail Melissa.

Tick.

Ed: I know I said it in the last post, but the cross-stitch pattern is from Subversive cross stitch and there's instructions for the framed fabric at purl bee. Oh, and the brooch pattern is from mollychicken. Didn't want it looking like I was taking credit for other people's ideas!

Worms

Worms. I have the craft equivalent of worms. I just can't sit still on anything.

It's not such a bad thing though I guess. It means I've been fiddling with a new craft: a bit of subversive cross stitch (an inspired birthday present from JD).


I'm enjoying this an unreasonable amount, it feels hilariously risque to be cross-stitching naughty words. Juvenile, but hilarious.

I've been sewing together strips of left over fabric to turn into little gifts for some swaps i'm doing at the moment. This is of course a distraction from what i'm actually supposed to be making. Procrastinating? Me?


I've been cleaning out my fabric box too. I'm a terrible hoarder when it comes to fabric. There's something about not being able to look at it in it's little folded piles that makes me reluctant to actually use it. Well, that and the fact that my sewing ability is actually so craptastic it seems like a waste. But there is a resolution to this little problem. One that involves no sewing. One that means I can still ogle the pretty fabric.


I'm well in to the foot on the pomatomus too, but I don't think you need another photo of that. Hopefully if everyone crosses their fingers I'll have them finished this week.

That is if I can sit still for long enough...

Badcaul socks

I'm very jealous of people that seem to be able to match a sock yarn with it's perfect pattern.

Cases In Point.
And some more.

So when the badcaul socks started to look like this it was a bit, um. No. I don't think so...


The pretty little cables were obscured by the darkness (ha, that sounds quite profound doesn't it?). To be honest this yarn wasn't at all what I was expecting (colinette jitterbug in jewel). There's much more dark blue and maroon than I thought there would be. A bit too school uniform for my liking. I guess that's what happens when you buy yarn off the internet though.

Things were soon rectified, however.


Ahh...that's much better (do you see that? Toe up! Magic loop! Two at once!)

Speaking of yarn off the internet, I've been doing some serious salivating over this stuff.

Anyone got any recommendations for the rejected badcaul yarn? I'm up to the heel on the poms, so it looks like i'll need to cast on another pair of socks to maintain the trifecta.

ED: Holy Crap! Cookies shop's open! I adore these sock patterns. Huzzah! This makes me seriously happy. Is that sad?

You won!

Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes ya'll, you know how to make a gal feel spesh!

If you wanted a brooch, you got it. Send me your address and it's on its way mybrownpants(at)gmail(dot)com.


Happy International Women's day too everyone. It's a good excuse to think about how much things have changed for some and how much is left to be done.

Link to card template - Thanks Applehead!

Birthday giveaway!

So it's my birthday today (yay!)

Since I can't celebrate in real life with most of you, how about a blog giveaway?

The patterns for the brooches are from Mollychicken, tutorials here and here.

This is a special shout-out to any lurkers out there. I'd love to 'meet' you :)

1. Greens and reds


2. Or maybe Blue for you?


3. Pink and green


4. Pinks and brown


5. A bit of everything (I have two of these)


Please speak up if you want one of these, I'll post international no worries :) I'll be so embarrassed and depressed if no one wants a brooch, and we can't have that on my birthday!

I'm off to eat birthday dinner and open presents.

EDITED: Yay, all the brooches have been rehomed! Thanks so much for sharing the birthday love!
p.s. did I get spoilt!

Swimming in a sea of socks

If socks were food I'd be eating pretty well at the moment.

For entree we'd have some freshly frogged pomatomus. Whilst one may prefer them in a more advanced phase, sometimes they are much sweeter after a trip to the frog pond*. There's always the chance that they'll spontaneously multiply, which is a real treat. The subtle tonal striping forms the signature mark of this dish.


For mains we'd have some charming Baudelaire. The sophisticated colour compliments the difficulty with which the dish is prepared. The standout feature the utilisation of the Turkish cast on, a brilliant device that isn't half as complicated as one may first think.



For desert one could not go past the jitterbug jewel, which has now become the embryonic stages of badcaul. Oh come on! All the cool kids are doing it.


I need some knitting viagra so I can actually finish the job on some of this stuff.