Beach Treasures 2: Grading beach/sea glass

Grading glass

Sea glass is graded according to its smoothness and shape.

Grades range from A, best, to D. Grade A is the hardest to find, D is the most plentiful (after glass which is freshly broken or really hasn’t had long enough and should be tossed back in the water to get some more tumbling!)

Grade A is ‘jewellery grade’. The piece is thoroughly frosted and has thoroughly rounded edges, with no nicks or broken edges, and the size and shape is suitable for jewellery. Even with a large collection of grade A pieces, it is very unlikely than any two will be a perfectly matching pair.

Grade B is quite well frosted and rounded, but with more defined edges and there may be one or more visible defects. It might still be usable for jewellery, if the defect is hidden by the mount or wire-wrap. The shapes may be more lumpy or uneven. Sometimes, that can work in its favour; you may find pieces which are like triangles, arrowheads or hearts.

Grade C is usually thought of as the better ‘craft’ grade. Pieces are quite evenly frosted, may have chips or defects on both sides, distinctly angular edges and one edge may be rough or cracked. Pieces may not be flat. Note that the grooves on the neck of a bottle are considered defects, and the curve of the bottle neck would put a piece in this grade. That said, I think the grooves and slight curve can make a very interesting, usable and wearable piece. You can also make ‘defects’ such as raised letters work in your favour.

Grade D is a lower craft grade, but it is still good for craft projects such as mosaics, pictures, light-catchers and simply filling a vase or jar so that the light shines through it. It may not be as frosted, it has chips, defects, rough, shiny or sharp (broken) edges. This grade includes larger pieces which may also be a strange shape. Pieces with an edge sharp enough to cut should only be used in something like a mosaic, where the sharp edges can be embedded in grout and do no damage.

Beach Treasures: Water-worn glass, pottery, stones and shells

As my printer continues to be temperamental (especially when I need to print something for my upcoming workshop!), I decided to publish my workshop notes on my blog.

Introduction

What is sea or beach glass? It’s glass which has been worn by wave action against sand and rocks until it becomes smooth and has a frosted, semi-opaque finish. It’s usually called sea glass when it’s found on beaches open to the sea and having been worn smooth in salt water, and beach glass when washed up on estuary or lakeside beaches, with fresh water. Beach glass may be less opaque, but there is no real difference.

Although these notes are about sea or beach glass, they apply to other beachcombed bits too. Broken pottery becomes worn in the same way and can also be wire wrapped, as can seashells, stones, driftwood and other weathered items such as pieces of clay pipe stem or glass bottle tops.

‘Artificial’ sea glass can be created by tumbling broken glass until smooth and is sometimes passed off as the more expensive ‘genuine’ sea glass. However, it may be less random and a better grade than what’s available on your local beach. It can also be created by using a glass etching paste on beads or glass cabochons, which contains a mild acid which is still strong enough to etch glass (and burn skin).

Some pieces of natural sea and beach glass have been 200 years in the making, and very occasionally, may be older than 1800. Some pieces may have features (e.g. the shape of the tops and bottoms, writing or makers’ marks) which help to date them and identify what type of bottle it comes from.

Collecting sea glass, pottery and shells

Health, safety and ecological considerations

Beachcombing can be absorbing, so stay aware and take care!

o       Check the tide times and be careful not to get cut-off.

o       Be careful of streams and storm outlets, there may be patches of quicksand.

o       Glass may still have sharp edges. Be careful of your hands and fingers. Anything recently broken which could cut feet should be buried under pebbles, or tossed back out to sea.

o       Be careful where you tread; weed-covered rocks can be slippery, and barnacles can leave a nasty graze. Try to avoid treading on living creatures.

o       Glass with organisms attached (eg anemones, shells); leave it where it is, or if sharp, place under a ledge in a tidal rock pool, or gently toss back into the water.

o       Don’t touch jellyfish; even stranded, their tentacles could still sting.

o       Apparently empty shells may still have a resident, such as a hermit crab. You can check by placing them on damp sand or in a pool, and being still and quiet for a minute or two, they will often come out to see if the coast is clear.

Occasionally, the sea may erode an old rubbish or glass factory dump and copious amounts of glass end up being washed out (as at Seaham in Northumberland). Supplies around the Pembrokeshire coast largely come from household and bottle glass which has been discarded on beaches and into the sea or rivers.

The weight and shape of sea glass allows it to move differently to some stones. It seems to be washed up in patches and tends to collect in drifts of shingle and shells, or get trapped between and around rocks. Very dark green bottle glass can be mistaken for stones; if in doubt, hold it up to the light. Glass will let the light through.

Collecting sea/beach glass has become a popular hobby, and it is now harder to find as a result. There is a trade in sea/beach glass, with lots available on eBay and through craft sites such as Etsy. The value depends on the grade, colour, shape and size.

Cleaning glass, pottery and shells

Sea glass, and especially glass on estuary beaches, picks up sand and mud, as well as salt from the water. This should be cleaned off and the pieces left to dry before sorting and grading. This can be done in a sink or bowl with warm water, washing-up liquid and an old toothbrush. It’s a good idea to rinse off the soap in case it leaves a residue.

Take care:

o       Glass may have unnoticed sharp edges. It may also break against other glass and stones, or if you drop it.

o       It is translucent in water, make sure the sink or bowl is empty before draining the water – you don’t want your bounty disappearing down the drain!

Create 366 January

Following on from last year's Create 365 paltry output, I restarted the clock from the winter solstice. It's a leap year, so it's Create 366! Even if I don't manage to create 366 items, the aim is still to do something creative every day and then brag, sorry, blog about it. It will also be a continuation of the destash, getting projects and ideas off my chest and out of my overcrowded head.

I've made a good start, I think, over the first six weeks (although it could be better, of course!). While I was fetching the Christmas decorations, I came across a bag of bags of works in progress (WIPs) and there's nothing like a spot of knitting or crochet in front of the TV on a winter night for some some relaxing, happy, flow time.

The process of working out patterns is perhaps not so relaxing. Trying to get the decreases on a hat (to match the cowl, below) while keeping the pattern going, the frogging (that is, unravelling, ripping back) has got to me. It's sitting by the side of the sofa, looking at me accusingly, while I remind myself that I must pick it up again - this is the way that works in progress become hibernating Unfinished Objects (UFOs). As usual, I aim not to have UFOs and finish the WIPs, because these posts are all about the finished objects (FOs), but it really takes an effort of will. It's still a good idea, it just needs some persistence.

The WIPs included bags of knit and crochet motifs; sets of different coloured leaves, to be attached to a scarf (yet to be worked out and knitted, or possibly 2 scarves, depending ...); a bag of flowers in pinks and pinky-purples, with some leaves, to be made into a flower scarf; another bag of motifs in orange and yellow shades, with some greens for leaves, to be made into a summer jumper - better get on with that! I started all of these five years ago. FIVE! High time they were finished. So I've picked them up again and in so doing, made a start on another idea which has been lurking in my subconscious for a while.

Create 366 

Here's the 'January' output:
'Hillview Road' cowl. The textured stitch is absolutely scrumptious. I shall do a separate blog post on this when I've sorted out a hat pattern, providing I can get my head around the decreases, and possibly mitts too, if I have enough yarn,
A 'destash' crochet square.
A double layer flower knitted with the last of the Stylecraft Cabaret. It needs a matching leaf or two before it becomes a brooch.
Various knit and crochet leaves: 9
Various crochet flowers: 5

Create 366 totals:
Total this month: 17
Cumulative total to date: 17

The Last of the 2019 Create 365

As the weather turned colder, so grey, rainy, windy and miserable, doing some more knitting appealed more and more.

I found a tear in my turquoise sequined tie top, so I mended that before it got any worse. The pale green lightweight hoodie doesn't get worn much - it's my size, but the arms are disproportionately skinny. The last time I wore it, one of the arm seams came apart, so that's now mended too, ready for a glimmer of an idea I have to get more exercise ....

I made a few more tinsel trees for a craft fair that I was too under the weather to go to, in the end. I also finally got my pattern for swirly trees together (although I haven't got it written up and posted on Ravelry and as a tutorial on here - that will have to slip to the continuation of the craft output next year). They come with two options, for an open bottom or a cork/bottle topper bottom.

And knitted (another) pair of socks, this time with a pattern of pine trees on.

I found the tail end of the Cabaret used for the Virus Shawl earlier in the year and decided that it would make a lovely flower, with a few leaves as the yarn shaded to green and red, add beads and a brooch back as a present for my closest friend, (who received the shawl; now she has a matching brooch!)

I made another swirly tree, this time with the off-white Hobbyknit Alpine Spark. I'd used the green colourway when working on the pattern. It, and the red and blue I used for the Fibonacci inspired lounge socks, are a slightly heavyweight DK. The off-white is slightly heavier and stiffer. I also have a ball of a muted blue with a blue metallic thread which I used to try out a crochet shawl pattern, which turned out to be a yarn-eater; the 200g ball wouldn't go far enough, so I frogged it. I then tried it on a lace shawl, but it really didn't suit, so I frogged that too. I suppose it counts as daily creativity, and I might learn something but have nothing to show, or count!

While I was making the swirly trees, I was intrigued by the way the inside of the tree looked. I played a little and found that by not knitting the point of the tree and flattening the knit upside down, it made a stylised rose. So I made a couple of those (patterns and tutorials to come, too) and a few leaves to make them into rose brooches.
So that's it for the year.
6 tinsel trees, 5 swirly trees, 3 flowers, 7 leaves, 2 items mended and a pair of socks.

Create 365 2019 totals:
This batch of things: 24
Cumulative total: 61

A far cry from 365, so I hope to do better next year!

Spreading some colour!

Yesterday I saw a note on my To Do list - 'Check Zazzle and Add something!' . It must have been there for months.

Zazzle is a print-on-demand (or POD) site based in the USA but with an international marketplace. People can create their own templates or upload images for use on various printed and personalised products, and also sell their designs. I was starting to get to know my way around it (and other POD sites) better, when my old computer crashed terminally and I lost access to Photoshop Elements, which I used to use to manipulate images to create digital art.

Amongst the deluge of messages into my inboxes, at some point there will have been a 'we are changing our policies' message, which prompted me to add the job of checking it out to the list. But, as usual, I didn't get around to it for months. When I checked my account, there was a minus figure! Wait, what? 'Non-contributing account fees' have wiped out the paltry balance I had from sales commissions, because I hadn't been in there to do anything but look for since their policy change back in April.
Zazzle also have a policy of expecting their users who sell to create 'collections', curating designs they like from other Zazzle users, and sharing on social media. This way, you complete your user profile and raise your visibility. If you don't, your designs are consigned to the bottom of the search pile. It's fair enough, the products need to be promoted and POD sites have a huge number of designs, all vying for attention.

So, okay, lesson learned. I shall have to be more active, and that will be okay, because over the past few months I have been learning how to use GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program). I also have a new image to go.

I remembered that I didn't find the POD sites easy to navigate as a designer/seller and had written myself some notes. These came in handy so that I could upload the image easily, but when it came to applying it quickly across a whole range of products, the system only came up with 20, and only a few suited the image. Hmm. I suspect Zazzle's 'quick create' option over their range of products left them with huge numbers of items, some of which weren't ideal for the image. They want their designers to think a bit more about what they offer and that's fair enough. It might also be a difference between working from Zazzle.co.uk instead of Zazzle.com, as most of the designs are made up in the USA, hence a UK Sterling price which makes me gasp a little, so that's another thing to look into.
I went through to my existing products list, and found most of it hidden from the public, so it wouldn't come up in a search or be available for sales. That's not good, I thought I'd left it all public; perhaps this is another difference between .co.uk and .com? There were also some products which were being discontinued, so I deleted them and a few other items (like dartboards and baseball caps) which I don't really want to offer my designs on.

While thinking about what I do want to offer, I had a look at my 'collections', started several months ago. Some were empty, and I know I hadn't left them that way, so probably the items I'd previously added had been removed by their designers. I created a few new collections, including one for cushions, not that I can afford them, unfortunately.

With a bit of work, I found my profile completion had gone from 25% to 60%.

While I've been playing with kaleidoscopic art, one of the issues is creating a nice image on a rectangle; a square seems to lend itself much better to the reflections and repetition of a kaleidoscopic image. I tested out my new image on a square cushion and liked it, so completed that for sale (although it will take 24 hours or so to show up).
Then I loaded another image (which I thought I'd already loaded, but couldn't find it) and did another cushion. I'm biased, obviously, but I think they look lovely. There are options for two sizes and different fabrics.

I checked my profile completion and it had gone down to 55%. How does that work? A bit more product 'tidying', and it bounced up to 75%. I looked for my cushions so that I could copy their links into this, and the profile completion had bounced back down to 55%. I visited my store description, replaced the banner with a neater one, and the completion rate is up to 65%. And my products' visibility depends on this?

Aaargh!

With the amount of work involved here (it's not as simple as just uploading something!), I claim 2 creations.
Create 365 totals:
This batch of things: 2
Cumulative total: 37

Celebrating socks!

As the weather turned cold and I started to wear my wool socks again, I found myself looking back at the socks I've made in the five and a half years since I learned to knit socks.
After my first pair, which in my normal, perverse way I made with impulse-bought yarn which didn't show the pattern to best effect and the instructions for which I had first to translate from Finnish/Suomi, they rapidly became my favourite thing. I was astonished by how the immediate warmth dispelled osteoarthritis pain from my feet.
I needed more; more pairs, more knowledge, more practice. I've experimented with patterns made cuff-down and toe-up, singly and two at a time, circular needle with magic loop and on dpns, plain knit, patterns with yarn overs or cables and a little stranded colourwork. From the basic heel-tab-and gusset with a couple of variations, eye of partridge and other slip-stitch patterns, I also had a go at an afterthought heel, wrap and turn (frogged, not doing that again, what a faff!), Priscilla Wilde's no-fuss short row, German short row ('boomerang'), 'Strong' heel, and, my favourite so far, Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato heel.

Patterned socks

I have a pair of intricately patterned socks which are sort of being worked on in slow time, because the twisted stitches and change of pattern on every row, the charts for which are tiny (I'm thinking of getting a Fresnel lens magnifier to help out here) as are the stitches on 2.5 mm needles. So I started another pair of patterned socks.
I've worked out my own, plain pattern for socks and tweaked it a couple of times, so that it fits my wide foot and ankle and round heels.

Plain socks

I've used my basic pattern, adapting it for a narrower foot and different sizes to knit socks for sale.

Socks for sale

I've just finished my tenth pair of plain socks for myself, in DROPS Fabel Wooden Rose long print, because it looked so pretty in the ball, despite containing pink and purple, which I really don't wear. Except on my feet, it seems.

Wooden Rose long print plain socks

Yes, all these socks represent more expense than the usual chain-store cotton socks, as well as hours of work, but they are so much lovelier. I wash them on a 30 degree wool wash in the machine and hang them to dry, simple!
I think everyone should have at least one pair.

My name is Dancing Moth and I'm a hand-knitted sock addict.

Create 365 totals:
This batch of things: 1
Cumulative total: 35

Dribs and drabs

It seems I have some creative mojo again, or it might just be that the miserable weather and need to rest my knee means I'm sitting knitting a bit more. This set includes a jumper and a pair of socks which have been languishing by the side of the sofa since spring.

I've also had a go at another prototype knitted swirly tree. It's still not quite there yet, I need to correct some things.

I have a bit of a stash of batteries, from the time that I used a CD player for class, torches in the country dark on a regular basis, and various other things. Trouble is, they needed to be sorted into dead ones to be recycled (new recycling scheme here next month is going to take these in the kerbside recycling, hurrah!), recharged, needing to be charged and good to use. So I reused some plastic take out containers, labelled them (colour coded, even!) and, more by good luck than good planning, they fit neatly side-by-side across the drawer I currently use for batteries and other associated bits.

I've also had a couple of sessions recycling a few more old socks and knickers into jersey yarn.

It doesn't count, but I've also learned how to make a collage in GIMP. I got a bit fed up of tweaking things so it's not perfect, but good enough.

Clockwise from top left: swirly tree, jumper, jersey yarn, battery pots, socks

I'm going to need to crack on and create some more stock for a winter craft market - providing I get a table.

This batch of things: 6
Cumulative total: 34

My Cup of Tea socks

I saw this pattern on Ravelry and thought it would be a nice one to allow me to keep my hand in with a heel-flap-and-gusset heel, and a decorative pattern which confined itself to a neat panel down the front.

I used Drops Fabel Sand long print, even though the pattern wouldn't show to best effect with the stripes, I think it turned out well.

The first thing I needed to do was adapt the pattern to my usual 72 stitch cast on, on 2.75 mm dpns. I  also decided to work in my usual way, with the sole/heel stitches all on one needle and the instep stitches divided evenly over two needles. I start by knitting the sole stitches and don't 'number' my needles (effectively working clockwise rounds), so I was rather flummoxed by the redistribution of stitches and renaming of needles at various points in the pattern. I expect it works, but I couldn't be bothered with it.

Another thing which puzzled me briefly before I dismissed it was the rib pattern on the cuff, and I carried on with my usual k2, p2 for 16 rounds.

My additional cast on stitches resulted in 6 (knit) stitches either side of the central panel. Having been so used to knitting plain socks, I found adding a pattern a little slow going, but it's always lovely to see a pattern developing. As I'm short-legged, I decided to work one less pattern repeat down the leg, finishing on the row 11 to work the heel flap over half my stitches (36).

I enjoyed how fast the heel flap grew, and then I had to recalculate again to work out how many stitches to work when beginning to turn the heel. Here comes the maths - don't fret, it's only numbers!

The instructions call for sl 1, k17.
17 is half the heel stitches (32/2=16) plus one; with the slipped stitch at the start, this comes to 2 stitches past the half-way point of the heel.
So for my heel: (36/2=18+1=19) so sl 1; K19 (etc).
I didn't change the numbers of purl stitches on the wrong side row, although the resulting heel start is a bit pointy for my round heels.
Once all the heel stitches were worked, with an ssk (RS) or p2tog (WS) taking a stitch from each side of the gap created by turning the work to 'close the gap', there were 20 stitches remaining for me, instead of 18 as shown in the instructions.

One of the reasons that I like an all-in-one heel is that I'm not fond of picking up stitches and get bored with keeping track of gusset decreases. Luckily, I have a couple of sets of 2.75 mm dpns, which allows me to use extra when dealing with gussets, instead of redistributing stitches. Because I ended the pattern on a R11 before doing the heel flap, my pick-up-and-knit 20 sts down each heel flap was a pattern R12. I then did a round (pattern R1) to 'establish' the gussets, each on a separate needle in addition to the heel/sole and two instep needles, so a total of 5 needles for stitches.
I decreased 1 stitch each side of the gusset on even pattern rounds (starting R2); taking 2 pattern repeats to get back to 36 sole stitches.

I decreased back to 72 stitches, but I could have decreased by a couple more on each side of the instep. Finishing the foot and toe was straightforward, although I left the toe at 12 stitches top and bottom to kitchener stitch.

I could have finished the foot a few round early - I did 30 rounds after the design ended on the instep, assuming the toe would be 4.5 cm, but it's more like 5 cm with my tension gauge, only a tiny bit long in the foot. The decision to do one less pattern repeat on the leg turned out to be a good one - I would have had to cast on more stitches in the cuff to accommodate my bulky lower calf, and then decrease them away after one pattern repeat.

The photo shows the socks unblocked. They were perfectly comfortable, and are now in the washbasket!
I've still got a 'fiddly pattern' pair of socks on one set of needles, but am itching just to do a plain and straightforward pair again. In the meantime, I've picked up the alpaca jumper which has been left over summer while I tried to work out the instructions for the sleeves and how that applied to my arm length. That will be next, watch this space!

To Ink or Not to Ink ...

As in, Inktober ... that is the question.

Inktober is a concept created by artist Jake Parker, an invitation to accept the challenge of producing a piece of ink-based art, and posting it online, every day for the month of October. 31 days, 31 drawings.

I considered it this year, not because I am an artist, really, but because I keep saying I want to get into art and produce something good, and that needs doing rather than thinking about it. I set myself a challenge to produce 365 'creations' in a year (with less than 90 days to go, there is no way I can make this, but hey, no reason to give up!). And even if I only created doodles, it's all practice, and it develops an approach and style, a daily spot of drawing discipline. It would get me completely out of my comfort zone, as neither ink as a medium nor monochrome drawing are things I'm drawn to.

I set about finding paper; the pad I thought I had must have been my imagination, but I found a sketchbook which would do. Next, drawing pens, unused for at least 15 years, clean and hopefully ready to go. So far so good. Ink ... ink ... I was sure I had some bottles of ink. Eventually, I found it. Of course, I could just use biro/gel pen, Sharpie, any and all would count. I had a look at the prompts, (theme words). I can do this!

Can I though? I stopped doodling in the mid-80s, when it attracted adverse comments at work. I recently picked up a pencil again to sketch something and felt very uninspired and insecure, and critical of what I drew.

Do I really want to do this? There are so many other things I ought to be doing. Of course, I could set a daily time limit, but at the moment, I don't need the additional, self-imposed pressure. I'm already tired from knee pain, especially when it disturbs my sleep, and feeling the pressure of the things I'm not getting around to because of my need to rest, even if I would be sitting down to draw.

I agonised about it for a few days and then thought, if it's this hard to decide, the answer must be No.

I need to start drawing again first, to build a little confidence. To be effective, I just need to do a lot, consciously learning, but also letting go of perfectionism and attachment to outcomes, allowing it to just be.

Then, maybe next October.

Sparks of joy

Deary me, my Create 365 challenge seemed so feasible at the start of the year, and here we are, last day of August without even a month's worth done.

Still, the idea was to motivate me to sort things out, one of which was a new pair of trainers which were comfortable the first time I wore them, and then, for some reason, increasingly uncomfortable. After the fourth time wearing them, I stopped and put them away.

I watched a documentary featuring Marie Kondo, and not for the first time, I wondered about the concept of 'sparking joy'. The answer seems to be straightforward, a binary yes/no.

Not generally one for getting satisfaction from tidying and decluttering, nevertheless when I went to put clean knickers away, I found myself folding them into neat little shapes, then took out some knickers that I only go to as a last resort. Why was that? Did they 'spark joy'? Actually, no. They've always been too uncomfortable, with thick elastic edges. A couple of sessions resulted in balls of  jersey yarn.

I also sorted a few pairs of old socks, a couple of sessions yielding 4 smaller balls of  jersey yarn again. Soon I'll have enough to make something!

I mended a T-shirt which had a couple of small tears in it, probably courtesy of my cat Greebo, who seems unable to jump up for a cuddle without creating holes in whatever I'm wearing.

But back to the trainers. I looked at them, all turquoise and pink and light, and was surprised to find a spark of joy. But they had been cheap, probably wouldn't last long and there was no point in keeping them if they were uncomfortable, so what to do? I slipped them on again to walk around and focus on the discomfort. Something was rubbing my heels, irritating my Achilles tendons. I slipped them off and looked at the backs - they were quite high and curved in a little, unlike my heels. The centre back seam ended in a hard knob, just in the wrong place.

I was unsure if I could fix this, but on the basis that you don't know until you try, I used a stitch ripper to undo the seam where the lining joined the outer across the back of the heel, cut both outer and lining straight across and trimmed the centre back seam, before adjusting the small foam heel pad and re-sewing lining to outer.

This worked, although they may still not last long now that they are wearable!

This batch of things: 6
Cumulative total: 28

A Creative Lull

I have been struggling a bit over the past few months; ill, stressed-out. Having got myself together a bit from mid-May, I did more work on the front garden, as the pressure to get that done was a source of stress which I could address. I could picture myself doing another create 365 post and adding the paths and beds of the front garden to my creations.

Just being out and working on it again felt good, even though I was low on energy. I soon found that I could only do so much weeding, wrangling the path edging into place and knocking in pegs before my hands started to ache. At first, I put it down to just being out of condition, unused to the work. Switching to the computer to do some typing and editing didn't help, something as simple as doing the washing up felt like hard work. Within the week, I found my finger joints were so painful I couldn't make a fist. Putting on hand cream felt wonderful, cool and smooth.

I had hoped that I'd be able to get the garden done, get crafting and generally catch up in all directions, but with burning, aching hands, it was hard to get anything done. I've always been good at opening jars, and now I'm struggling with them. I am so not impressed. [Expletives deleted - Ed.]

I fixed my washing line, where a line had worn against the hole in the arm and broken next to the fastener. It was easier than I thought it would be, as there was enough spare line in the fastener at the other end to rearrange it. Then I cleaned the line (although looking at it today, that's difficult to tell!) and it was ready for some of the dry weather we had in April. It's fixed, that counts!

I've just had a heavy cold and felt really under the weather for a fortnight, with sleep a welcome respite from the coughing and sinus headaches. At the beginning of the week, it felt like the lights were coming back on, and I've been madly trying to catch up ever since. I'm wary about getting frazzled out, but the sun is currently shining (which it hasn't done very much here so far this summer) and I do have lots to do. According to the weather forecast, we're due a few days of thunderstorms and heavy rain (yellow warning issued) from Sunday (the day after tomorrow), so I'm making the most of it and hopefully seeing a friend tomorrow for some downtime.

This batch of things: 1
Cumulative total: 22

A Little Milestone

After I'd been using  Ravelry for a couple of years, I started to think how lovely it would be to design and share a pattern (and even lovelier if I could design something which I could sell!). The tutorial for Little Tinsel Trees has been written up and published on this blog and (fanfare and drum roll!) it's my first pattern published in Ravelry! Now I more or less know what I'm doing with that (and I have the ability to create a .pdf file easily, not something I had with my old computer and software!) I'm planning to get some other patterns written up and published as free patterns. I love Ravelry, I love the other designers who happily publish their patterns for free, so I'm so happy to have become one! Squee, it's even got compliments already, despite it now being past the season when everyone is furiously crafting things for the winter holidays and celebrations.

I'm counting the tutorial and the published pattern as two items. There are only a few other things which count towards the creation goal:

Three crochet squares. The sizes are only approximately the same, a couple have taken a bit of invention to size up (learning point, do 2 rounds of trebles (UK terms) rather than a round of double treble and a round of double). The first set of four seemed so quick and easy; not so much these, each one taking me an evening (with breaks and interruptions). I've learned a neater way to join in a new colour and can now do stitch clusters without wondering if I'm doing the right thing. I also feel like I can switch more easily between UK and US terms.

A pair of summer palazzo pants bought in a late summer sale last year (when it had started raining again here in Wales, although the rest of the country was still parched and sweltering). Two inches too long, now taken up and ready for summer if and when it eventually arrives. We need to get through spring first.

Another pair of old socks reduced to jersey yarn.

I've spread out a selection of sea glass and found my wire (the law of the stash - I'm missing the gauge of wire I really wanted to use for some of the pieces). Other stuff has taken over for the moment, but watch this space!

This batch of things: 7
Cumulative total: 21

Create 365, second set

Things are crawling along. The first thing which has become evident (and should be a no-brainer) is that to be productive, I need to be more organised. It's one thing to sit down for 10 minutes to knock out a pair of earrings, but if I can't quickly find the beads I have in mind for them, I can spend 30 minutes or more looking. Which is exactly what I ended up doing for the pair I made. The idea was to make earrings to sell but I love these too much.

The second thing is a question of when, exactly, I have created, made, recycled, upcycled, whatever. So I'm making that up as I go along.

What do you do when you have old jersey, not right to make a t shirt bag, no more space for dusters, not right for flowery things? Make jersey yarn, to be crocheted into some sort of basket, bowl, bag or mat or something. The thing is, does each recycled item count? Perhaps the yarn, as a craft supply material, doesn't count until it's been made into something? I decided against these two and am counting a 'session', so one jersey long-sleeved top session, and another two sessions making yarn from seven pairs of old knickers and a pair of socks.

Talking of socks, a replacement pair of socks in what has become my 'standard' pattern, utterly in my comfort zone.

I also made the Virus shawl, for more details see this blog post.

My ridiculously long Ravelry queue contains lots of crochet block patterns, which I added for no other reason than they were pretty. I picked one and did a set of four blocks. Even though these are also an intermediate stage on their way to being something else, if I can count a jersey recycling session then I can count a crochet session.

Crochet blocks, socks, earrings and jersey yarn. The Virus shawl has already been given to a friend.

Other WIPs are trickling along. I'm going to have to pick up the pace a bit to meet my target at the end of the year!

Set 2 total: 7

Cumulative total: 14

Virus Shawl

I'd had the free pattern for this shawl queued in Ravelry for a while. It was such a popular pattern and everyone seemed to find it easy, so I thought it might be a good bet for increasing my crochet confidence.
Stylecraft's 'Cabaret' yarn, an acrylic DK plied with a polyester tinsel thread was a popular choice, so I bought three 100 g balls (a quantity recommended by others making the same shawl with the same yarn - ah, how wonderful is the Ravelry community for sharing details like this!) in the 'Rainbow' colourway, deciding this would be a Christmas-New Year 'hibernation' project. In the event, I didn't start it until early January, still intending this to be a shawl for myself.

Before Christmas, my friend Chrissie came round for a cuppa. She's had a pretty miserable year, losing her mother and learning that one of her siblings has been diagnosed with cancer. I showed her the yarn and she smiled and squooshed the ball, admiring the softness and the colours. Seriously, the photos don't do this yarn justice. It is wonderfully soft and squooshy, the colours are lovely and the tinsel thread twinkles.

As someone else commented, this yarn isn't great. I had a knot in one ball, a weird thick bit in another, and found that the rainbow inexplicably contained shades of russet and khaki green in with shades of blue, green, purple and pink, (rather than any red, orange and yellow) which didn't seem to follow a pattern. The yarn itself is a bit like a single with a loosely plied tinsel thread. The tinsel thread would break if it were tightly plied, but it sometimes snagged and pulled and I managed to break it in a couple of places. The ball band suggested working from the centre, but I couldn't find a centre-pull end easily and when I did find one, it just pulled a snarl of yarn from the centre of the ball. As others found, the balls are soft and loose, so great loops of yarn fall away from the ball until you're about half-way in. I found them quite easy to manage; even when the loops started to tangle, gently lifting and separating the yarn loops was enough to avoid knots. I doubt I would use this yarn for a cardigan, because matching stripes would be impossible, but I'm going to buy more (perhaps in another colourway) to make a shawl for myself.

Just after I started the shawl, I saw a Facebook post from Chrissie that she had lost her mother-in-law. I'd only just seen a Christmas photo, with Chrissie resplendent in a red dress, her MIL smiling at the head of the table. As I crocheted, I kept seeing Chrissie in my mind's eye, smiling as she caressed the yarn, and decided that this shawl had to be for her, with love.

It really is an easier pattern than it looks and I started to appreciate crochet in a way I hadn't before. The rhythms can be more complex than that of a row of knit or purl. Gone wrong? Just pull the stitches back to where it was right, pick up your loop and carry on. My 'Longshore' throw has been hibernating for a few years now, as I fell out of love with it, unsure of what I was doing and becoming increasingly inconsistent. I now feel I can pick it up again, even if I frog it back and redo it.

The pattern repeats over 4 main rows: create a foundation row of loops creating chain spaces, (UK) trebles in clusters in the larger chain spaces, with loops in between. The third row is trebles onto trebles and the last row is treble+chain 1, before it repeats, As I was getting to the end of the third ball, I finished up on a row 4 and went back over the edge with double crochet into each chain space, with a picot in the centre of each arc.

What do you mean, I can't sit on it?

I took a couple of photos of the finished shawl and marvelled at how light and drapey it was, working just as well as a scarf. I hadn't washed and blocked it (or taken any measurements, but it's about 1.5 metres/5 feet wide) by the time Chrissie came round in mid-January, but she was thrilled with it and immediately put it on. Smiles all round, (except for Xena with the ridiculously long whiskers, who was a bit put out that I wouldn't let her snuggle into the shawl!), job done!

Create 365: The First Set of FOs

It's been something of a slow start, despite my various WIPs and UFOs. And yet, this is a learning journey as well as creative exploration.

The first FO (finished object) was to create space, have a bit of a clean and tidy, and decorate for Christmas. Even though this is only a temporary thing, it counts as a creation for me; with no friends or family visiting, it would be so easy not to decorate. Putting up the tree and some decorations, if only for myself and for a couple of weeks, gets me out of my rut a little and creates some seasonal cosiness. There is a nostalgic sweetness in unpacking the decorations; some of the baubles are at least 45 years old! It also meant that I took the time to swap around a cupboard and a bookcase, which I've been meaning to do for months, and which makes the living room look a little larger. The decorations are now down and put away again, except for the cards, which I shall come to soon.

The first set of Create 365 FOs

In mid-December I started a pair of plain socks in Stylecraft Head Over Heels 'Etna', because I'd made a pair to sell and loved the yarn colours, so wanted a pair for myself. Having finished them and unable to resist, I made another pair (King Cole Zig Zag 3158 Pinecone, a blue/brown print). The burgundy print socks are the 'desk drawer socks' I made a back in 2014 (blog post here)  which needed some mending at the angle of the heel and instep.

The next item on the bottom row is the 'Wellen Baktus' (Wavy Baktus) scarf, which was technically finished before the start of Create 365 (so it doesn't really count). I had intended to use the faulty dyed, white bits of yarn I'd cut out as I was knitting to create a couple of tiny snowflakes, one for each end, but there wasn't enough yarn even for a couple of tiny pom-pom snowballs. So it's finished except for a hand-wash to test for fastness.

The silvery blob in the lower right corner is a little cork/bottle topper tree. I made a few of these in King Cole Tinsel Chunky for the craft market in mid December, but forgot to write down what I did, so I made another and wrote it down before I forgot! I'll write up the pattern and find out how to list it on Ravelry as a separate 'creation'.

Top right is a mended scarf. There is a Japanese tradition and art called Kintsugi or Kintsukoroi, of mending broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum. The mend shows and is beautiful in itself, reflecting change and imperfection. Having attempted to darn the holes in this scarf (and wondering why I was even bothering, considering it's just a cheap, viscose scarf which crocks dye even after several washes) and found the loose weave just pulls apart, I decided to use a coppery metallic embroidery thread and cover the holey areas with chain stitch. I could never darn this to disguise the holes and make it look perfect again, so the embroidery both mends and embraces the imperfection.

Centre back, an attempt at a crochet motif. The brushed acrylic yarn was donated, and I thought I might use it to make some sort of crochet, snowflakey baby blanket, but I lost patience with the catchy yarn (and I needed to use a larger hook, but that's already in use for something else). So the motif, and the yarn, can be donated to the Yarn Bombers. No doubt they will be able to create something wonderful. #alwayslearning #lifestooshort.

Back left, a 200g ball of super-chunky acrylic, which is also destined for the Yarn Bombers, as it will make a nice something-or-other, like a tree trunk out of a lamp-post. I experimented with seed stitch and linen stitch and different needle sizes and stitch numbers to make a rufty-tufty, manly cowl, but found the yarn colours too drab and the yarn made my eyes itch!

I need to pick up the pace, but can't spend all day crafting!

Total so far: 7

Happy New Year 2019

Here we go again!

Looking back over 2018, it wasn't as great a year as I'd hoped. It was supposed to be a year of changes, but it doesn't seem like much has changed. Even the fireworks picture feels a bit 'same old ...'. Will I ever feel as though I've got my life together?

The United Nations have declared 2019 to be the Year of Indigenous Languages, so I'm quite surprised not to have heard or seen a peep out of the Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Society).
2019 is also due to be the international year of the periodic table of chemical elements, and from Chinese New Year on 5 February, the Year of the Earth Pig/Boar. I wonder what it will have in store for this metal ox?

I didn't manage to put my Christmas decorations up any earlier than Christmas Eve.
I got closer to side-sit/jazz fourth but haven't managed to do it properly (yet!).
I had to get a new computer when my old one went phut and am still getting used to it. So much new stuff to learn!
The house and garden seems as chaotic as ever, possibly even more so.
I'm still scarcely earning anything.

Looking forward, this is going to be the year of changing my beloved old TARDIS of a Fiat Panda 4x4 for something else. I realised last year that I had absolutely no idea of what makes and models were out there, and the jargon that goes with them. I had people saying 'oh, you'll be looking for a city car, perhaps a CX1'. What's a city car? What's a CX1? I've done a lot of reading around and now know the answers to these questions. I also did a lot of soul searching, because running a car is expensive, both financially and ecologically. People who live and work in cities might decide that they could live without one, and hire one occasionally. In Wales, that's only about 25% of the population. The rest of us rely on personal transport so that we can live efficiently. The amount I would spend on buses doesn't bear thinking about, because I know I would not be able to walk into Haverfordwest or Milford, much less carry the shopping back.  Could I manage with only a bicycle? I wouldn't be able to teach without a car, or do WI talks, Not that I can find enough interest for classes, and this is the first year in several which I've started without any WI talks booked.
I've already been car-shopping locally and there isn't a lot to choose from in my price range which isn't a little gutless city-car runabout.

It's also going to be the year the UK leaves the EU. I'll be dressing in black on 29th March, our planned leaving date. It will contrast nicely with my flaming cheeks. I'm so embarrassed to be British.

What else? My 'Create 365' project. Finishing the JWAAD 'understanding music used in belly dance' course. Getting an editing qualification, perhaps, at last? Doing some belly dance workshops, if I can find anyone who wants to and is available?

Trying to keep calm and carry on. We'll see how this year unfolds!

Create 365

I'm in awe of some of my arty friends, who are so productive and create such loveliness. Even some friends of mine who have been posting about what their naughty Christmas elves have been up to, complete with pictures.

Glancing through old posts, especially those from this time of year, I despair at myself; the same old aims pop up time and again. Lose weight, exercise more, earn some money, learn how to do all sorts of things, get everything sorted out, get a grip!

I spotted a post in which I talked about peyote stitch bezels around stones and the offending articles are still in the UFOs box, where I left them years ago when I couldn't decide how to create the bails. I had another look at them when a crafty friend came round for a cuppa and decided that I would not be able to get a pinch bail or even a jump ring into the beadwork, (because I didn't 'cheat' and use a strip of double-sided tape around the stone, so the beadwork is as tight as I could make it). Beaded bails it is, then.

With the turning of the year at Yule, and thinking about my recent creative impulse, I set a goal. I need to be more productive and to do a major de-stash, so I am going to make, create, renovate, repair, alter and complete 365 things.

I have an appalling record when it comes to personal goals, as they often dissolve and disappear within a month, displaced by important and urgent stuff or other interests. Given that I need to be smarter about the goal setting, I decided posting every day and having a photo of every object would be unfeasible and unsustainable, so I'll post periodically and keep a running total. Although 365 is one object a day, I probably won't complete one a day, but I shall have to try to produce more or less 30 things a month just to keep on track. If I run short of time I might start making lots of earrings (although that at least will help de-stash the beads and give me something to sell!).

I've a long list of crafty things I want to try, and have been saying for years that I should pick my art things up again.

Choreographies will count. Making/repairing elements of the garden will count. Making everyday meals will not count, nor will making a mess (something I can do with no effort at all!) I've also decided that blog posts won't count unless they are tutorials or patterns, but I do need to complete a lot of draft posts too.

So that's a major aim for the year, to bring things back into use and create lovely things. How do you think I'll do? Feel like joining me? Let me know what you think in the comments below!