flower frame

Looking for a quick and easy project when everything else you’ve been working on seems to be going seriously wrong or you lose interest or is clearly not viable or the cat vomits hairballs on it? Yes, I was, too.

Take a plain wooden frame. Paint it with white acrylic paint.

Crochet some flowers. (I got my pattern from Little Birdie Secrets, they also have other lovely stuff).  Stick the flowers on the frame (by the time you’ve made enough, the paint will be dry).

Insert photo.  Take a pic. Show and tell.  Feel sense of achievement. Acknowledge that this project is very similar to the recent wreath thingie, but perhaps no-one will mind?

To be continued…

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in the spirit of….

Just to prove to you that I don’t actually hibernate over Christmas, I made a photo frame with a darling season-appropriate message:

I have done frames with various captions, and for some reason they have flown off the sales table.
Bonus: this will be my entry for Maryanne’s December Made-It Challenge.

An aside – the heat is still rising here in Cape Town. I have no words to describe how ghastly it was yesterday, and Alex and I had to drive around doing stuff. Pure utter hell.

To be continued…

Better than facebook

I finished the big round mosaic frame this week and delivered it to Anne (not my Jam Tarts Anne, another Anne).

Some of you asked to see the finished product, so here it is (sorry for lousy photos) :

Anne is an ex-colleague and works where I used to work full-time, at a large software developer in Newlands.  The company has a pretty big staff complement, many of whom are my facebook friends so we can keep up with each other’s news.  Delivering the frame to Anne meant that I bumped into loads of people I have only seen online in the last few months, and guess what – It’s much nicer to see them in real life! 

Ok, that’s it from me today. I still have lots and lots to do for tomorrow’s market at Rondebosch Park.  Please keep your fingers crossed that everyone likes our stuff :-) also that I remember to pack all the pieces for the gazebo!

To be continued…

 

Monday resolutions

Those selfish animals of mine forced me to get out of bed just before 5h00 this morning.   Jessie  starts a sort of wild ride on one of my hips, which is a bit odd but not terrible, but Choco has started reaching up next to my bed and swatting my face.  It’s not nice to be woken up that way, especially when it’s dark and cold.

Anyway, as I trudged down the passage to feed the vermin and get my coffee going, it struck me that I could turn this into a positive thing: since I was up, I may as well use the time to get going with my day and tackle the Big Item on my list – tidying the lounge.  I have a friend coming for tea tomorrow and there is no way I can let her into the flat the way it is now.  Literally or figuratively.

In order to reach the Tidy Lounge state, I need to finish a mosaic mirror frame that a friend has commissioned.  It is round, nearly one metre in diameter, so I am working on the lounge floor to give myself enough space with it.  Happy to say I have now completed the first stage of grouting, and tonight it will get the second. (I know not all mosaicers do it that way but I prefer it, I think it gives a smoother and better finish.)

I chose iridescent glass in shades of mother-of-pearl through to a soft peachy shade. It picks up the light in different ways, and looks amazing.

Right, enough of that, I’m off to continue with my resolution.

To be continued…

Framed

I’m the first to admit that this idea still needs work, but I’d got it into my head that I wanted to crochet a frame cover for Maryanne’s Made-It Challenge. So here it is:

The photo is of Alex when she was 8 — and she will kill me if she ever reads this blog! (But she was gorgeous even then, despite one or two missing teeth…)

I’m happy with the stitches I used and the way the cover holds down at the edges, but I need to work another couple of rows of dc on the inside edges. I’ll also probably put a little dab of glue on the corners, just to make sure it stays in place. A flower in one corner might also be nice…or stripes…or a couple of buttons…anyway, you get the idea.

To be continued…

Flowers and just one last lampshade

Isn’t it fabulous when things fall snugly into place? I heard about a book of crocheted flowers from a friend on facebook 5 days ago, I immediately ordered the book from Loot online, and on Thursday I had a note from the post office to say it was ready and waiting. Guess what I’ve been busy doing?…

Jan Ollis’s daisy pattern was perfect for my latest lampshade. And I promise this will be the last one I tell you about for a while, I’m sure you are getting sick of them!

Lampshade frame = R20 from Milnerton market — what a score!  I used 2 x 50g Vinni’s pure cotton in Natural and a bit of left-over sea-green for the flowers. Contrary to my own expectations, I am now perfectly comfortable crocheting directly onto a frame!!! Nifty tip = I spraypainted my frame with metallic copper first, it just gives a nice colour on the bits of metal that remain visible.

To be continued…

Occupational therapy. Not.

You’ll remember how I recently raved on about Solveig in Norway and her wonderful crochet ideas? I was eager to make a lampshade like she does, using an old frame and a shell stitch pattern. I’ve covered a lampshade before, but I made the cover separately and then fitted it on afterwards.

It seemed to work well, but I thought perhaps Solveig’s method would work just as well, if not better, and be more professional. It occurred to me that it might occasionally be awkward to work directly onto the frame, but I figured if she could do it, so could I.

All I can now say is that Solveig must have a zillion times more patience than I do, and maybe smaller hands. And a bigger lap. It’s a real flipping mission to get the angle of the thing right as you go round, balancing it on your lap at the same time. I have tried doing it leaning far back, then leaning far forward, propping the frame against a small table, even tried holding it sideways. Aargh. Nothing is comfortable and it makes for very very slow work. It has taken me two entire evenings to get this far:

At this rate, it might not even be finished by Chanukah, let alone Christmas. I will finish it, and I’m sure I will be pleased with the result, but those other old frames lying in the garage waiting to be covered…? — they are definitely getting the Jill-quickest-way-possible-Goldberg treatment. And I bet no-one will be able to tell the difference. (Except Solveig!)

To be continued…