Friday 25 June 2010

Friday

well this is the last post until Saturday
......off on a few trips out and about. My kids are staying home and looking after the house (they are grown ups )....we are going to York for a few days on a coach holiday....wish I could take my crochet with me...but I will find some nice yarns and ideas while we are away.
I have started more cowl neck scarves and some beanie hats for when I come back, so watch this space.......
It is hot today and the sea is sparkling....Devon is just about visible from my window but there is a lot of heat haze out there.
Dh just bought me a nice cuppa , so I will enjoy that....
followers, please don't desert me...i shall be back next weekend with lots of ideas and info....

Thursday 24 June 2010

Thursday


Here is one of my freeform purses.....it is made from a mixture of yarns and fibres and is soft and scrunchie. It has a dc (sc to the US) lining.
I have this listed in my folksy shop
I love doing freeform crochet because there are no patterns and you just choose a yarn and go in whichever direction you feel like. It is also a way of using some of the smaller balls of yarn that fibre artists accumulate !!
It has just started to rain....nothing new for the UK

Wednesday 23 June 2010


here is a little girl's first shopping bag....it is made in a glazed cotton which I think is synthetic....(someone gave me the yarn...so I have to guess!!)
The bag is about 7" square (ish)...and I hope to list it in my folksy shop at the end of next week.
It was fun to make because it is full of pretty Spring colours .
It is nice outside again today and the sea is sparkling....in fact there is a heat haze over the sea and Devon has disappeared !! I need to get my hook working and making more items. I am going to stock pile things for the Christmas rush...says me...living in hope.....only 6 months away you know !...why is it that the winter drags and the summer rushes by?????
Time for a nice cuppa......

Tuesday 22 June 2010

Tuesday


well here is what I have been busy making today. I also made a purple one both of which will be listed in my shops soon. I won't list until the first monday in July because my pc is going to have some work done on it and I don't want people trying to buy and wondering why it hasn't been posted.This is a cowl neck moebius scarf which can be just worn around the neck or even pulled up over the head like a hoodie....
In the winter time, I make them in all colours and I am already thinking of making them and stock piling them ready for the hoped for Christmas rush....The price will hopefully just be £5 plus p&p which I hope is a reasonable price. The one in the picture is in a soft and pretty cream coloured acrylic....... I have lots of other items that I have made this week, all waiting to be photographed ready for listing....

Monday 21 June 2010

Monday

well Folksy are replacing my listing fees for the cardigan that the person didn't want to buy, so that is good. I managed to make another dolly cot bag which I will list in a few days.....this one is in cream and navy.
I also finished another cream moebius cowl neck scarf/neckwarmer.
Now I need to sort out my stash again so that I can see what to make next......
I shall be missing on here next week as I am having my pc overhauled......so if you are reading this , please don't desert me..missing from next Monday and .I will be back next Saturday....in the mean time....back to my crochet......

Sunday 20 June 2010

Sunday

not a happy bunny today.....I had an email to say that someone had bought the cardi that I showed a picture of on Friday...I was thrilled....
then i got an email to say that the person concerned was only showing a friend how to use folksy and that they hadn't completed the transaction....so NOW as well as the disappointment, I have to relist it and possibly pay another listing fee for it.
aaaargh......

Saturday 19 June 2010

Saturday

Had a nice lie in this morning and then sorted out some yarns. My next project will be a granny square handbag....not sure what size it will turn out yet so it might be for a little girl...we will have to see. I have some pretty yarn in spring colours that will look nice.
I might not be able to start it until tomorrow as we are having friends round this evening....
It is a lot more cloudy today but still warm....
I hope everyone else is having a nice weekend

Friday 18 June 2010


today I finished the circles cardigan that I was making.....and I managed to take pictures and get it listed in my folksy shop....
I had to undo the bands twice because I didn't like them.....took a while , but I would rather that they were well done and looked nice. Second best isn't good enough for me.....
I also went to town and got some more yarn...I need it like a hole in the head but the shop was like a magnet....come in and buy....come in and buy....lol....so I DID !!!!!
here is the link to my folksy shop

Thursday 17 June 2010

Thursday

well I finished the new baby cardigan but I didn't like the bands on it, so I unpicked them and redid them...oh the joys of designing your own things......often they don't work out quite right and you have to change what you have done.
I have now sorted out my yarns ready for my next project which will be a purple moebius neck scarf......watch this space.
I hope to get some pictures of the cardigan done soon and then it will be listed in my folksy shop
http://www.folksy.com/shops/teabreaks

Wednesday 16 June 2010

Wednesday

a lovely lady with a folksy shop has set up a blogspot which is featuring all sorts of fabulous hand made products...there is also a flick group with wonderful pics of things that talented people have made....I have tried to copy and past it here but it won't paste...duh....

I have now started a new baby cardigan in pink/mauve and white...it is in crocheted pinwheel design...I used to make lots of jackets in this design so it is nice to go back and make something that I used to love doing....
I hope to get it finished by tomorrow and then if I can get my head round it...design a larger size...which is not easy because it isn't just a case of adding a few stitches, you have to add a whole pinwheel on each front and two on the back...so the size increases quite a lot....
mmm....need to do some thinking....

Tuesday 15 June 2010

Tuesday


today for a change, I listed some of my cartoons in my folksy shop.....I have dozens of them in boxes in cupboards and they are taking up valuable space that could be filled with yarn !!!
I used to draw, paint and sell cartoon greetings cards at craft fairs but then the world and his wife started selling cards and for me, the bottom dropped out of the market...
Crochet has always been my first love so that is what I have gone back to.....

Monday 14 June 2010

Monday


well I have been busy sorting out more yarns and reading all the forums on folksy.....I am now going to see if I can upload a picture on here....I hope it will make more interesting reading for everyone....here goes with one of my little dolly cot bags....these cots turn inside out to make a little drawstring bag and I make them for sale in my folksy shop


Oh wow it worked...thank you ...I think it was AverilPam on folksy......

Sunday 13 June 2010

Sunday

well it started off sunny outside and then the rain came...nothing unusual there then...lol
I have finished the main body parts of another child's cardigan and sorted out more yarns for a freeform purse....I must do some more of the dolly cot bags.
I have made a lot of nice people on the folksy group...they are SO helpful and it is nice to read and see what others are making. I just hope that we can all get some customers soon as there are such beautiful things on offer for sale. I know that now, having found folksy that this will be the first place I will look when I am looking for presents in the future
Http://www.folksy.com/shops/teabreaks

Saturday 12 June 2010

Saturday

well I finished another dolly cot bag which I will list later in the week. I have also started another child's jacket.
Dh was at a meeting today, so I spent all morning drooling over my dvd of Margaret Hubert's freeform crochet.....she makes such fabulous lady's jackets. I used to make lots of jackets but I am not sure about putting them in my folksy shop due to the weight of them and having to take them to the post office, (if they sell).
That is why, at the moment, I am sticking to babies and children's items.....
perhaps soon I will make a lady's jacket and give it a chance. they are VERY heavy.
well, it is a beautiful day so I think I will sit outside, looking out over the sea and crochet.

Friday 11 June 2010

Friday

well I have spent most of the morning finishing off some crocheted items and even longer trying to get good pictures of them. Took nearly 1.5 hours to find pics that were reasonable.
Anyway they are now listed in my folksy shop
http://www.folksy.com/shops/teabreaks

Now I can sort out some more yarns for my next project...and perhaps take a quick trip to the local yarn shop.......the car is on automatic pilot to get there....lol.....

Thursday 10 June 2010

Thursday

well I have worked hard this morning and made half a baby cardigan....mauve (of course)...next best thing to purple.......
I hope to do the other half this evening and then add all the edgings etc later tomorrow. I need to go and get some more colours too......I might take a trip to town to see what is available.....
I also need to take pictures of the dolly cot bags so that I can list them tomorrow
http://teabreaks.folksy.com

Wednesday 9 June 2010

Wednesday

Got up this morning and had an email to say that I had my first sale on ETSY !!...woohoo...
Only a tiny pair of prem baby shoes but it is a start. So now I have a sale on Etsy and a sale on Folksy....I am really pleased with that.
I finished another dolly cot bag and now have to find the tiny dolls to put each one. I have dozens of them upstairs...just need to locate them.
When I made these little cots before, I bought a box of the dolls as they are quite hard to find .Tomorrow I want to start another little baby cardigan.....I want to try to list a variety of items in each of my shops.

Tuesday 8 June 2010

Tuesday

well I have had a very busy day, so this is short and sweet today. I wound some yarns and made a tiny dolly cot bag...a little crocheted cot that contains a little doll. You can turn it inside out and it becomes a little drawstring bag.
I used to make these years ago and thought that I would make a couple for my shop.....hopefully they will be for sale by the end of the week.
we have had visitors most of the day....so now it is my bed time...night night

Monday 7 June 2010

Monday 7th June

well I have just listed a traditional granny square cushion cover and a tiny freeform purse in my folks shop
http://www.folksy.com/shops/teabreaks

I had trouble getting nice pictures and then when I downloaded the ones of the cushion cover they were enormous !!!...not sure why , because when i downloaded them to my flickr account they were perfectly ok.
hope you like them

Sunday 6 June 2010

Sunday

well I continued with the granny square cushion cover today...but to me it is a "no brainer".....bit boring, so I am only doing a bit to it each day.
Instead I wound off some yarns and made a magic ball and made another freeform purse.
I hope to take pics tomorrow afternoon and get it listed.
For those who don't know, a magic ball is a lot of short lengths of yarn joined together and wound into a ball...you crochet and never know when the colour will change, so everything you make will turn out different.
The purse I made today was mostly browns and oranges. It measures 4" x 4" and will be in my folksy shop soon for just £3.50
http://www.folksy.com/shops/teabreaks

Saturday 5 June 2010

Saturday

well, another beautiful day here and the sea is sparkling in the sunshine. I might sit outside and crochet today.....I need to go to my stash first and wind off some smaller balls of yarn.....
I have seen some wonderful crochet websites today...very inspirational......
My favourite is my friend Prudence's ...such a fabulous lady......
http://www.knotjustknitting.com

I love freeform crochet and want to make some more freeform purses....I like the thrill that you never know what the end product will be.....watch this space.....

Friday 4 June 2010

Friday

Lucky me.....three weeks ago I had a phone call from a lady asking me if I had recently done a survey....well we get SO many unsolicited calls that I nearly put the phone down, but for some reason I didn't. I told her that I didn't remember doing any survey. She said it was on computers....yeah right...no chance....I told her that I would not have filled in anything about computers because I am not very technical.....she said the company that she was from... and a little light came on in my head.....it was the company that published "Papercraft Inspirations"...I told her that I received this magazine (It was a Christmas pressie from my son)....and that there was a remote possibility that I might have filled in something about card making and crafts in general.....
Then she told me that I had been picked out of a draw and had won £100 in vouchers for any high street store !!!!!...the vouchers came this morning...woohoo....i feel a shopping spree coming on !!
spent the rest of the day defrosting the freezer....took 3 hours !!! with a hammer and chisel !!!...now to crochet ..............

Thursday 3 June 2010

Thursday

well today I spent a lot of the afternoon trying to take pictures of the items that I want to list for sale.....I reckon it takes me longer to get ONE decent photograph than to make an item to list.....aaargh.....
I have tried taking pictures outside but they come out much too bright...indoors too dark....think I'll climb up on the roof tomorrow...only joking....lol
Decided to make some Granny squares today...this is breaking away from my normal style. My favourite crochet is freeform but it is difficult to make freeform into wearable garments that are a reasonable price. My days of supplying items to Harrods are in the past !! I used to machine knit suits that were sold in London's West End....those were good days.....
I want people to appreciate people like me who put a lot of hard work into what they design and make. There are a lot of talented artists out there who are struggling to make ends meet.....in some ways I get annoyed with the cheap imports and at the same time feel sorry for those talented people overseas who get paid a pittance for their hard work. I hope one day that people will be paid what they are worth......lecture over...lol

http://www.folksy.com/shops/teabreaks

Wednesday 2 June 2010

Wednesday

well I delivered the baby set to my customer today and she loved it so much that she paid me DOUBLE !!!! I tried arguing with her but she insisted...how kind of her. Someone that really appreciates all the hard work that goes into making a baby set....she knows that I will never do another one exactly the same, so her set is unique.
In order to keep a variety of items in my shop , I now intend to do a few items from granny squares. I don't usually do traditional but a lot of people like them, so I hope to add a few of these items to my folksy shop soon. Usually I design everything that I make but with granny squares I cannot claim fame to designing them, so that will be a bit different for me.
Going to sort out some matching yarns now........

Tuesday 1 June 2010

Tuesday

made two pairs of bootees today and delivered a baby set that was ordered.....
Listed my lemon baby cardigan in my folksy shop...now I need to sort out more yarns for my next project...I might do some more freeform crochet purses or perhaps a bag...I will sleep on it and see what i fancy making tomorrow.