life-of-its-own bag?

I finished my doily bag last night.  It hasn’t turned out much like the image in my head (which was pretty fuzzy, granted), so I’m calling it the life-of-its-own bag.

 

 

Each side is a semi-circle, with a folded-over doily as the starting point. The finished thing is far too wide, so I gathered it up a bit in the corners.

It’s lined and has a fancy magnetic clasp, but — I know, it’s still WEIRD, right!?  Anyway, it is what it is and at least I got the idea out of my head now, and can go on to making something far more sensible.

Back soon x

tin can lid coaster and doily lamp

I was so inspired by Janette’s coasters and bowl (The Green Dragonfly) the other day that I had to try one myself:

I used Vinni’s DK Nikkim (cotton) and a 3.5mm hook. It’s turned out slightly bigger than I wanted so the next one will be with a 3.00 mm hook. I wanted to try an idea that I came up with all by myself, thinking about garbage and trash all the time like I do, and a smaller coaster would obviously work better. I did it anyway!

Glue a piece of felt or soft fabric to one side of a tin can lid. The can opener I use makes a pretty smooth edge on the tin but there might still be a bit of sharp here and there, so that’s the side I stuck the fabric on.

When it’s dry, trim the fabric so it makes a neat circle. Smear some glue over the other side of the lid and press the coaster onto it (wrong side down).  I put the bottle of glue on top of the coaster so it would dry nice and flat:

If I was going to make these to sell them, I would make sure my fabric side was perfect and that no tin showed round the edges (ie. when you look at it sideways). But for my own coffee mug, I’m happy with it just as it is.

Apart from coasters, I also have doilies on the brain. Jam Tarts is going to be at the Doilie Market in Durbanville this Saturday,  and I’ve been up to lots of repurposing with vintage doilies to give them a new lease of life.

This is my new bedside lamp: a doilie draped (permanently!) over a wire frame and the stand made from a liqueur bottle (cabled up by Rob wearing his electrician’s hat), painted white, then coated with modge and white tissue paper. I got the idea for that here.

Better go tidy the kitchen now. You can imagine what a mess it’s in.

To be continued…

easing up

I wasn’t exactly nimble this morning when I got up, but at least I didn’t have to grunt and stagger like I have the last couple of days. Clearly I’ve got off quite lightly with this slipped disc thng, and I think I’ll be ready to drive again by tomorrow. Just one more day of compulsory rest…. haha

I did manage to get a couple of things done while laid up: made a colourful doily, made some flowers for brooches, experimented with edging a baby blanket, ordered a Sharp crochet hook online, started Cindy’s babydoll top, made lots of lists, read lots of Hiaasen, allowed myself to be driven (in a reclining position) to friends for a braai yesterday, and made a resolution to finish what I start. Probably my biggest failing. Or one of them. Definitely up there with making impulsive purchases and not vacuuming regularly.

Thank you for all your kind thoughts and sending happy back-recovery messages my way.

To be continued…

A (s)light obsession

I’ve been busy with all things lampshade. I think the fixation started with the papery flowery experiment a couple of weeks ago, and it’s been fed by interest from an interiors gallery owner in Durban.

Experiment #1: shade made from crocheted doily found in charity shop for R10; soaked in a mixture of white glue and water, left to set over a bowl; installed the smallest bulb I could find at Northern Lights for R22 (yes, I know it won’t work tied on with a piece of string, I just wanted to see the effect!); not sure if beads are required.

Experiment #2: wire frame found in the same charity shop for R15; made up crochet pattern using two balls of Vinni’s hand-dyed cotton, fitting it to the frame for size every couple of rows; still going to add big fat flowers in purple and white.

Experiment #3: rice paper ball shade, 13 cm in height; crocheted cover using Vinni’s hand-dyed cotton in Natural, very very fiddly to fit and impossible to crochet directly over the ball (as one idea I found on the internet suggested). But ultimately quite successful and very cute, I thought.

To be continued…