Crochet Virus Shawl

I have been really enjoying knitting socks over the last few years (and shared a few pairs over here), but I've recently come to terms with the fact that my hand problem (inflamed tendons due to RSI) flairs up more with knitting than any other hand activity.

However I love working with the self patterning Regia sock yarn, and have accumulated a fair stash of it too, new balls and leftovers from pairs of socks.

Earlier in the year, when I was still trying to knit, I had an idea to try to learn lace knitting and use up all my left over sock yarn in one big crazy multi coloured shawl!

I have tried a little lace work before and found it very hard. I thought I would get better with practice and started with this 'fountain lace' pattern (you can see it a little better in the closeup photo below).

But I really can't take the amount of concentration required. I keep all my hand work for when I am relaxing of an evening in front of the tell. Well lace knitting is not relaxing - it is hard! Maybe eventually it would come easily but I just don't have the time or brain cells to work on this now.

You can't really see how bad my lace knitting is due to the coloured wool, which is some comfort!

And then back in the summer one of my students Tess introduced me to the Virus shawl, which just happens to work really well with sock yarn, and is crocheted!!

Oh my goodness it is such a doddle compared with the lace knitting! And crochet seems much easier on my hands.

I used my favourite Arne and Carlos Regia sock yarn in this wonderful mix of orange, ochre and blues. Someone described it on Instagram as looking like a sunset! Here it is a few weeks ago.

I used 2 x 100g balls but still needed two more rows of the pattern to properly finish.

So I used a charcoal grey 4-ply by Cygnet, which works really well as an edging (there are greys amongst the colour mix too).

Here I am modelling the finished shawl.

You can also wear it 'cowboy style'. Well there are loads of ways you can use it but I quite like the traditional 'draped around the shoulders' look. It's going to keep me warm on winter nights (and I don't care if I look like an old granny!!).

The lovely Tess, who first introduced me to the pattern, is teaching a workshop to make the shawl (well get you started anyway) at myBearpaw a week on Saturday.

Tess is hiking to Machu Picchu in Peru next year to raise money for Global's Make Some Noise charity. Her fee for teaching will go towards her fundraising. If you would like to book a space or find out more then head over here.

As you would expect this won't be the last one of these shawls I make. In fact I have already started a new one!

This one is going to be a Christmas present.

I have pulled out that awful lace knitting and will be using all my sock yarn ends to make a crazy psychedelic virus shawl for my son's girlfriend!

Pouch Problem?

Is an addiction to zippy pouches a recognised condition?!  If so I think I better get some help as I can't stop making them!

I've been talking about my Tendrils Technique in my last few posts.  The pouch above was the first one I tried with this technique, using Dashwood Studio 'Paper Meadow' fabric. I sold this the other day with funds going towards the Makers for Grenfell fund.

These next three were all made with leftovers from my Shangri la farm Sherbet Quilt, with the one at the back using the panels I made in my FOQ Aurifil stand demo.

Talking about Aurifil, my new thread collection got a proper launch on the Aurifil blog on Sunday. You can read the post here which includes an interview with me and a giveaway to win a box (which has one day left to run - so don't hang around before entering!). 

I should get my stock of thread boxes very soon and I'll be sure to let you know when they are ready to sell!

Back to the pouches. This narrow pouch (without a gusset) was made from the bottom part of my aborted attempt to make a new laptop case (documented in this post).

I put this one up for sale on the Makers for Grenfell site but it didn't sell (I am going to use it for  a giveaway soon instead!). But I did sell the other pouch I made from the rest of my failed laptop case.

So that's four pouches sold and a total of £135 raised! A huge thanks to all four buyers!

Here's a close up of the finished pouch made with my Tendril Technique demo sample. I'm holding on to this one as a class sample. This is going to be a new myBearpaw Craft Class next term and also one of my Thread House workshops for our 2018 Retreat. 

We announced all our Thread House workshops yesterday. Here's a wee look at them...

We are so excited about the 2018 retreat classes! I wish I could do them all! Take a look at our website here for details.

As we are unlikely to have enough time to make a scrappy improv panel AND a zippy pouch in a class session I thought I would try the tendrils technique over a plain quilted panel. So I broke into my hoarded stash or the amazing Outback Wife fabric by Cathy of Gertrude Made fame. This is a beautiful bark cloth and the slightly heavier feel works so well here.

I also experimented with a more rounded leaf shape, which is a little bit tricky but probably worth it.

And here's the finished pouch. I call these large gusseted pouches 'Project Pouches' as they are large enough to carry around your current craft project. They measure approx 10in high by 12in wide and 2in deep and the base.

We'll have the new myBearpaw classes for sale at some stage new week including the Tendrils Project Pouch. Meanwhile we have plenty of space on some of our current classes. Check them all out here.

Now, I think it's time to make another pouch! Oh dear!

New Snowball Bag

I've been busy this week organising our next term of myBearpaw craft classes. We have 5 new classes but I have to admit to not making anything new for them, but I did manage to make a new version of my Snowball Craft Bag.

This was originally made as a pattern for issue 22 of Love Patchwork and Quilting, along with a matching needle roll (I wrote a post about it here). The original version was rainbow coloured and I gave it to my sister as a birthday present.

But then last year I decided to use it for a class, but instead of making the same bag I made this very different version of it.

Recently we've been selling the wonderful Quilter's Linen by Robert Kaufman in the shop (we have some great bundles available here online too). This has a very subtle crosshatch that resembles the texture of linen and comes in some gorgeous colours. Everyone has fallen in love with it and I decided I wanted to use the red along with some black/white/grey to make a new bag for the next class.

I was all set to cut the pieces up when I was minding the shop last Friday when my colleague Barbara popped in and said 'use the mustard instead'. And of course I immediately saw she was right, the mustard would work even better than the red! Thanks Barb!

Though I did sneak some red into the lining - a Denyse Schmidt design from 'Winter Walk'.

I made the first side of the bag with the shades 'checkerboard' style and then thought, hmmm...

So I made the other side in a colourwash (shadewash?) style with the snowballs changing from dark to light from one corner to the next.

I think I still prefer the first side though! What do you think?!

But what about the rest of our new classes!

Here's a little mosaic of some of the new classes, including the Slalom Quilt (Bias Tape Curves) by the wonderful Jenny Haynes of Papper, Sax, Sten, who will be visiting us from Sheffield. Our local quilting legend Tatyana Duffie will be teaching an FMQ masterclass, and one of my students, Tess Joyce, will be switching rolls for the day to teach that amazing Crocheted Viral Shawl and raise funds for her charity event at the same time!

Expect to see more of that viral shawl soon as I can't wait to give it a go!

You can check out all our classes and even book one here!

New Patterns and New Classes!

I have had a VERY busy weekend! In fact I have had a very busy couple of months! And tomorrow I will be lying beside a pool in the sun as I am off on my hols to Tenerife!! I can't wait!

But before I go, I just have time to tell you about our new pattern release and our new 2017 prospectus!

Karen, Lynne and I have just released three new patterns under our The Thread House brand. Above is Karen's Painted Village quilt, which I absolutely love! It's my favourite of Karen's TTH quilts so far. 

Then there is Lynne's Cube Quilt. As usual with Lynne you get fantastic value with two versions of the same pattern, the new one above or the original version below - both absolutely stunning!

And then there is my Starlight's Quilt. I posted about this here, and if you would like to buy any of our patterns new or old, please visit our payhip store, or you can also find us on Etsy or Craftsy.

The Starlight's Quilt isn't only a new pattern, it is also a new myBearpaw evening course!

We launched our 2017 Prospectus this weekend with 8 new classes! And I thought it would be good to have a look at them all in more details here.

These cute little amigurumi critters below were made by my colleague Jane Wilson (who is taking over teaching some of my classes now). Jane will be showing you how to use simple double crochet to create adorable little friends. She designed that cat herself, look at that cute outfit!

Do you remember my Embellishing Patchwork Tech piece for Love Patchwork and Quilting earlier this year? Some of my regular students have been hassling me to turn this into a class so it will now become a 5 week evening course starting in January.

Another new make (as of two days ago!) this sweet flower taggy (or maybe sunshine taggy? I'm still in two minds) is a great beginner project for new machine sewers.

My Christmas Patchwork Dresden Centrepiece workshop went so well this term that I have made an all year round version (which is now a lovely cushion, with no photo as yet - it was all a bit last minute as usual!). As Nicky said on IG this is very much a 'pimp my Dresden' project, what with patchwork, a porthole ring and priarie point edges!

The centre was a sad neglected class sample from a very old embellishment workshop that I found at the bottom of a basket. It works perfectly with the Hotel Frederiksted (by Jennifer Paganelli) Dresden fabric. Using stuff up which makes me so happy!!

I think the quilt of mine that made the most impact this year was definitely my New York Beauty Parade which featured in Today's Quilter. So I am offering this as a one day workshop too.

My new applique class is yet another TQ project. We will be learning needle-turn applique by making my Spring Garland cushion.

Next term I will offer my Summer Garland cushion, and in the Autumn the Autumn Garland cushion (you are getting the idea now!), so that eventually you can make all four.

Our bag making tutor Naomi Crowley will be teaching a new bag, the Boston Bag, which looks like a cute diddy weekender bag!

Lastly I will be teaching my new Passionflower embroidery (see top of the page) over three half days (one in Jan, one in Feb and one in March). I have tried to incorporate a lot of crewel work type stitches such as coral, buttonhole, long and short, plus some laid work. I am really in love with this piece, it turned out even better than I expected (but I was up till 1am for a couple of evenings last week to get it finished in time!).

So that's a wee run down of our new classes but there are plenty more on offer, check the whole lot out here, and hopefully I will see you in the New Year!

Meanwhile normal service will resume here in a week or so...

A Journey of Some Scraps

I'm not the sort of quilter who keeps every last little scrap, in fact I'm pretty brutal with the sizes of scraps I throw away (otherwise I would be drowning in them even more than I actually am!), but when I finished making this 3D Improv Dresden block the fabrics were so pretty and looked so good together that I couldn't bear to bin them.

The block was made as a class sample for my Stitch Gathering workshop in September and I used mainly fabrics from our goody bag, including beautiful Cloud 9, Michael Miller and Lotta Jansdotta fabrics. The background is from Euclid, the gorgeous range of printed Essex linen designed by Carolyn Friedlander.

I was feeling a little frazzled and over stimulated the day after the Stitch Gathering, so I turned my phone off and went to my sewing room for a little relaxing play time.

First of all I sewed the big scraps together, these were the off-cuts from the strips. I made a nice scrappy panel. Then I sewed the little scraps together, these were off-cuts from the Dresden wedges and I had enough to make two pieces, one big and one small, which I bordered with strips of Euclid.

We were very lucky to have Carina Envoldsen-Harris visit us to teach workshops at both myBearpaw Studio and the Stitch Gathering and I was so inspired by her work. Carina is a fabulous embroiderer with a few excellent books of motifs to her name. She taught a class about embellishing patchwork with her beautiful embroidered flowers. So I decided to have a go.

I've been a bit obsessed by teasels recently, there is big patch of them that I can see from my sewing room window and I love their shape and their 'spikyness'.  So I drew up a design and (because I had left the lead to my light box at the shop) free-hand drew it on to the scrappy panel.

I then spent some lovely relaxing hours embroidering the teasels.

I totally love the way this turned out! 

I had intended all along to turn it into a zippy pouch but put it aside until my next workshop which was a week or so ago. 

I used it as my class sample (loving the fact that the fabric had started off as another class sample!) and made this rather fetching pouch using the other scrappy panel for the back.

I may not have mentioned it yet but I am going to QuiltCon in Savannah next year and this little beauty will be coming with me so I can show it off in the workshops I am taking!

But what about that other scrappy panel I mentioned? The small one? Yes I still had a little more life to squeeze out of those scraps yet!

This one got the matchstick quilting treatment with a variegated pink Aurifil 50, together with a few rows of hand quilting with DMC Perle 8.

And then it became a cute little needlebook!

Which of course goes perfectly with my pouch (those QuiltCon ladies are going to be SO impressed!).

So there you go, a journey of some scraps. Instead of binning them I turned them into two (excuse my bragging) beautiful handmade items and had lots of fun along the way!

So next time you go to bin your little scraps - think again!

Linking up with Scraptastic Tuesdays!