Hello,

I have decided to concentrate on listing my makes for sale on Etsy with updates and progress on my Facebook page.

Please take a look at both below.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ThistleRoseCreations

https://www.facebook.com/thistlerosecreations/


Thank you for reading my blog.

Kayleigh

Week update

Hello,

We are coming to the end of January and I am looking forward to the start of February and payday of course!
Last week I had a stall at a local market and although I sadly didn't make any sales it was a good incentive to get my stock sorted, labelled and photographed. I enjoyed arranging my area and some business cards were taken.

I have listed two new quilts on etsy, feel free to take a look here
here

Having felt a bit run down this weekend due to catching a cold that is going round the office, I didn't get any sewing done, I did have plans to finish another quilt which I will work on next week.
I have been working on a cross stitch project which is relaxing, I love seeing how the little houses are forming.

2016 a Year in Review

I think most people can say that 2016 was a rollercoaster of a year and many are pleased to welcome in 2017 with the new opportunities and fresh start it.

For me 2016 was a busy year, it was the first year owning a house with my partner and we have been adjusting to owning rather than renting a house. Having settled in the focus moved to decorating a few rooms and making the house our own.

The majority of my crafting has taken a step back while we have been doing the DIY. In November we finished decorating the spare room, which has given me the chance to sort out my sewing supplies and arrange my desk and storage space. 

Here are some photos of my main projects for 2016

 

  

For 2017 I want to make more items and get my etsy page more active.

I am attending a fair in Lincoln tomorrow, fingers crossed that I get some sales!!

Rowan Spring crochet along - weeks 4 to 7.

The Rowan CAL is nearing an end, the making up instructions have been published, so now I need to put together my hexagons.

Following on from Week’s 1 – 3, we have had week’s 4 – 7 with a new hexagon for each week. Some have been challenging, but as they are part of the pattern it is more of an incentive to work them out.

I have found that the first hexagon of each design has taken me a couple of hours to figure out and then the following ones have been much quicker.

I loved the appearance of the swirl hexagon and the texture of the stitches. I also liked the lacy flower version as it was so delicate and pretty.

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Rather than put them together into a hexagon shaped cushion I will be using a rectangle cushion I already have as it will be more practical for the room I am going to put this into.

Ripple blanket

Ripple blanket is complete!

I finally finished my ripple blanket last week and it is huge and very snuggly.

To recap, my sister bought me the yarn for my birthday in November and I started making it in January, so it has taken me about 6 months to complete. It was a kit for the blanket project and there is quite a bit of yarn left over, except for the Lavender which was used for the boarder, I have about a metre of that left!

Leftovers from the Attic24 Cottage blanket kit

I did find the starting chain and first 3 rows very difficult and frustrating and was about to give up on my 4^th attempt! Luckily this attempt worked and I carried on.

Once I got past the starting chain I found this an enjoyable and relaxing project to complete as it is the same stitch pattern throughout so I only needed to check the pattern for the next colour to use.  I loved watching the colour changes and how well they all worked together.

This lived in a basket next to the sofa and visited knit night twice, but then it got too big to transport, so it became my TV project, I think I got through a series each of Person of Interest, Elementary, Castle and Game of Thrones while making this.

Towards the end I did start to wonder how long the blanket was going to be when it was finished as it is huge.

It is made from Stylecraft Special DK and I would defiantly use this again as it is a good price and feels good to use. Also the finished blanket is very warm which some people may not expect from an acrylic blanket.

As you can see from the photos below, my biggest blanket fan was Bob the cat who was curled up on it catnapping at every chance he could get.

Cat snuggles and snoozes

I am now ready to make some very small projects and have some cute things lined up to make soon.

Rowan CAL update

We have had weeks one and two of the CAL and week 3 was released yesterday. So far it has been an interesting learning curve. This is my first crochet project involving making pieces to be put together later. 

The cotton itself is very enjoyable to work with, it is thinner than what I usually use, however it is lovely and soft, and it also does not untwist too much either. I am making the cushion version which requires four of each design and due to the way the designer has planned the colour changes each piece looks completely different and is creating a variety of patterns.

Week 1 & 2 - Rowan CAL

The first week’s design came together quite well and I quickly started to use the invisible join method, weaving in the ends of the threads and rotating the start of each round when joining a new colour. 

Week two was more challenging and required more focus to understand the instructions. I rewrote the instructions in a format which makes more sense to me and then I was able to complete the week 2 pieces a lot quicker.

My biggest mistake so far was on finishing my fourth piece for week 2 and feeling pleased that I have finished this two days early I realised that it was a pentagon rather than hexagon! Learning from this I need to double check the middle round is correct before carrying on.

Not quite a hexagon

I am now going to attempt week three, however it looks a bit complicated, I am wondering if I should have stuck with knitting!

Rowan Spring CAL

Today was the day that the first clue of the Rowan Spring  CAL (crochet along) was released.

I have to admit I was a bit last minute buying my yarn as I couldn't decide on a colour scheme. I made up my mind eventually and bought mine from Spins and Needles. I chose duck egg, blushes, high tide and periwinkle as I wanted something quite fresh and bright.

The first clue is made up of double and treble stitches. I made my first attempt using some Style craft yarn as I wanted to practise the colour changes. My finished hexagon is below, there are a couple of mistakes but that is why it is the practise one!