In between writing I like to take time out to do some creative arts, my project at the moment is making a quiet book for a relative. A quiet book is made from felt and each page can contain an activity for a child to do. I’ve sourced lots of ideas on Pinterest and I am now ready to put the needle to the felt! Here is my plan…
An order for a little girl moving into her own bedroom for the very first time.
…When you’ve completed 40 out of a total of eighty squares…
…that’s when!
Felt it deserved a slide show.
Whoo hoo!!!
…A simple commission to make a funky super chunky hat based on a well worn loved model…
I don’t know when the going out on a Friday night… ( drinking and dancing, plenty of dancing, in ridiculously high shoes dancing, dancing until feet cried dancing…) ended and the visit to luncheon clubs and knitting with the elders began!!!
I must be getting old….
You can stick your double brandies and neon coloured shots! I like to listen to the elders telling stories, stories of coming to England, of living in the Caribbean… stories about pioneers, rude boys and girls…
One of the ladies I’ve grown to love… (We’ve become friends despite the massive generation gap.) …is a Ms Catherine. She specialises in babywear… you can see some of her makings below. If you’re interested in purchasing some of these from her let me know. Her prices are very good and her craftswomanship excellent.
I was asked to make a hat in this style but in black with a red, yellow and green pattern…
so I thought making six panels like this would give me the shape I needed…
This is four of the panels sewn together… I should add I’ve never made a hat like this before… so wasn’t sure what the outcome would be!!!
Six panels later and it wasn’t the right size so I had to make a seventh panel! My concern was would the seventh panel throw the shape out… would I have to start from the beginning? The answer to that turned out to be no. It looked fine…
The customer was very happy and I had successfully duplicated a hat adding my own creative design and flair. I was also commissioned to make 50 more. This is the biggest knitting order I have ever had. Now I’m looking for someone to outsource some of the work to.
Here are ten more patches I’ve completed. You may remember me saying I need 80 to complete my project.The total number of patches I have completed to date are 20… so still a long way to go!
Here’s a quick knit done in an evening. Can you see the hand of my customer trying to sneak it away!!!!
Tiny tunic
…it’s easy… do something you really like doing, that’s what I did and I feel richer for it. Half term means a step away from the curriculum and working with children without a clock ticking and Ofsted wagging a finger! This week has been fantastic fun. Teaching children to crochet made me feel like a millionaire. We made pom-poms to start off with, then we moved on to a spot of weaving and once the fascination had been cultivated, we then moved on to making chains with our crochet hooks. It was exactly the type of workshop that had me fascinated as a youth. I hope one of the many children I’ve worked with this week pursues textiles, if not as a career, as a very rewarding pastime.
