NezumiWorld Blog

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

2012-01-01T14:39:00.000-08:00

A Happy New Year 2012 to everyone filled with lots of yarn and creativity

And to get the year started I am planning a test design-a-long beginning with very simple fingerless gloves for knitters or crocheters (or both!) approx. start time is 22nd January 2012 I will list the details very soon :)

Yummy Tomatoes

2011-11-25T04:15:00.000-08:00

Back in March we bought some seed pots, tomatoes and strawberries in April we started growing them and watched as in late May the seedlings grow big enough to be replanted.

Lots of little tomatoes plants (the strawberries grew but it was a little late for them so hopefully next year for them) were replanted, it took until August for the yellow flowers to appear and a storm then knocked them over but with the help of lots of sticks they were straightened up and keep growing and they are still growing and producing lots of little cherry tomatoes even now at the end of November. The top photo shows our lastest bowl :)

Flowerbird Fabric Collection

2011-09-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

I finished making the 1st of the little flowerbirds I posted about a few weeks ago, plus now the rest of the matching fabric samples have arrived. The finished bird is a silk & cotton mix fabric, its very soft and has a nice shiny surface. All the other samples are 100% cotton I will make another bird up to see how it feels in the cotton. The main different between the fabrics so far has been the colour the silk mix is slightly paler but the shine of the fabric also brings out a aqua tint in the blue. The cotton print is much crisper and the colour stronger also the cotton has a more matte finish. I am going to have a play with the samples to see what else I can make. :)

International Jewellery London 2011

2011-09-15T05:15:00.000-07:00

Last week I attended the International Jewellery London 2011 at Earl Court 2.
I enjoy this trade show, Its good to see the new trends for the future year.

From what I saw there the big trends are -

Silver and white metals - silver was everywhere, big chunky statement pieces to delicate findings holding an assortment of gemstones, lots of different types of silver chains, some of the more expensive ranges had white gold and platinum keeping with the white metal trend.

Pearls in all shapes and sizes, classic to fancy coins, hearts, crosses irregular shaped, even the cheaper ranges had freshwater pearls mixed in with coloured glass.

Colour lots of strong colours - deep purples, all types of pinks, deep greens, teals all reflecting the colour trends for the coming months in fashion/ clothing.

There were still charms and individual bead style components.

Vintage pieces were popular and this saw some gold with aged finishes, very delicate again mixed with pretty gem stones and cabochon cut stones.

Long-chain necklaces and pendant style charm necklaces, some with vintage style beads and gems but updated with leather & rubber woven into the chain giving a more updated punk style, some were very steampunk inspired. There were very shiny modern charm necklaces.

Lots of cuffs very big and chunky some had decorate cutouts in the metal others were adorned with lots of crystals and stones. Fabric cuffs also.

Macrame friendship style bracelets with embossed patterned beads. I also saw little bits of fur some real :( and some fun-fun in bright colours :)

It will be interesting to see what appears in the shops in the coming months.

International Crochet Day 2011

2011-09-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

Today 12th September 2011 is International Crochet Day, last year I designed a couple of free crochet bookmark patterns and I decided this year to add the open heart bookmark. If you do make it, it would be great if you could post your blog-link or photo link of your finished bookmark. Or you could make it into a scarf if you make it with a thicker yarn, maybe a trimming or applique : ).
INSTRUCTIONS:
Starting at bottom of pattern chain 10.
Chain 3 more and turn (these 3 chains will count as first double crochet USA/ treble crochet UK of first
row), double crochet USA/ treble crochet UK into the 5th chain from the hook,.double crochet USA/ treble crochet UK in next 2 chains to complete bottom right solid square of row 1. Continue following pattern for first row reading pattern right to left.

Continue following pattern until row 60 is complete.

MATERIALS (based on crochet cotton size):
Using Crochet Cotton no. 20: about 60 meters, steel crochet hook 1.15mm/ US size 9 or SIZE FOR GAUGE/ YARN
APPROXIMATE FINISHED SIZES:
Using Crochet Cotton size 20: width = 6.1 cm, height = 36.6 cm (metre)
Using Crochet Cotton size 20: width = 2.4 inches, height = 14.4 inches (Inches)

Here's the graph on the left, do you like the new colour I have filled the graph squares with? Do you find it easier to follow or prefer the black and grey graphs?

On the right is the bookmark using crochet symbols, sorry I could not make it bigger here, Hopefully when I get time I will make this a pdf file and add it to ravelry.com.
Whichever you follow the graph or the symbols please start at the bottom and work your way up :)

Happy Crocheting

Spoonflower Birds (palette-limited) Fabric Contest

2011-09-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

Here's my latest entry for Spoonflowers - Birds limited palete (only 4 colours allowed) Fabric Contest
my "Patchwork Flower Birds" I am also making a little 3D version of one of the birds to store my crochet hooks, they will rest on its back between the wings :) I'll post it when I have sewn it up.

Two Owls and a Pussycat

2011-08-27T03:21:00.000-07:00

Both July and August have gone by so fast, as I am in-between teaching jobs (they start again in September) I had planned lots of projects to finish and to add more to the website, back-up the data on my computer, start some new knit and crochet patterns, design more fabric prints and order them for proofing.

I did somethings on my list and it was lucky I started first with backing-up my computer as a nasty virus (I do have a firewall and up-to-date virus software which was useless) took less than 3 seconds to mess up my computer. I tried lots to sort it out (4-5 weeks of trying something everyday) but in the end there was only one solution I have had to wipe it clean back to factory settings and reload (when I found them and remembered there passwords) all the software back on again, which has taken so much time and I still have a few things to find and reload but I am nearly there and am feeling so lucky I had backed up all my files.I recommend everyone does this at least once a month I will in future.
I did start writing up the new knit and crochet patterns and begin new stuff but it will take time before I had them to the website, as even with the back-up files I now need to sort them out. I did manage to proof a few of the fabric prints, this ones for cut and sew soft toy owls, they are printed on a fat quarter of fabric.Small enough to hand sew, but I would recommend not chatting on the phone and sewing or like me push the wrong end of the needle into your thumb OUCH!
A neighbours cat popped into the garden and posed with the owls when I photographing them, its like he knew how to pose in the right place.
The smaller owl I entered into Spoonflower.com latest contest "Plushie Pattern Fabric Contest" its interesting to see how many cut and sew toy patterns are available.

PS. Any votes would be greatly appreciated, "Thank you" :)

Free Swatch at Spoonflower

2011-08-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

Spoonflower's Third Annual Free Swatch Day Starts Thursday, Aug. 18th, 2011

Get a single free, custom fabric swatch for 24 hours between
noon EST on Thursday, August 18, and noon EST on Friday, August 19 shipping of the swatch is free, too. Check their site for full details.

Purses

2011-08-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

I decided it was safer to stay in at the start of the week due to the madness that spread across London and cities in England.
I had a few purse frames that I was keeping until I had some time to play with them, I decided on hand sewing which was very relaxing, I used some of my fabric samples the floating coins and purple dandelion.
I made a purse and glasses case (or it may end up as a crochet hook case)
I had to glue the fabric into the frame, I have not made a purse for years I forgot about this tricky stage I managed to stick the correct bits to the purse frame (and not parts of me)so it all went well in the end.

Now onto my crocheted purses they have sew in frames but take a little longer to make : )

Little Barn Owl Cut & Sew Bag

2011-08-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

My "Little Barn Owl Cut & Sew Bag/ s" fabric arrived today so I spent the day cutting and making the bag :)

I used my cheap-O mini sewing matching, great for quick projects.
The fabric has a reversible project bag, scissor keeper, pin cushion, pockets. I decided to cut new linings and use the printed lining as a bag also, so I have 2 bags that match.

It was good to see the design/ pattern worked. I had made a little demo bag (approx. 5th scale) in calico before designing the full scale bag, but you never really know if the pattern and seams will all match until you test the printed fabric design. I will post the other bag design in the next post.

New Swatches

2011-07-28T12:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got my new fabric swatches from spoonflower.com it takes about 3 weeks (because I am the UK) from order/ printing & shipping. When you open the package the fabric is nicely wrapped in tissue paper and the person who has packed it always adds thank you and their name to the invoice, a nice personal touch. I get a batch of swatches printed together (its also cheaper than getting them done singly) you have to proof them before approving them for sale, I never really know if the prints will be the right colour until I see the samples as what looks good on a computer screen sometimes looks totally different when printed, it can even look flat or if the detail is clear, again ink will blur when printed on fabric so detail and colours can mix to much. I am happy with this batch ( the last batch had a few I had to totally redo) A lot of my designs seem to have owls or cogs/ gears or both. It even seem's to be crossing over to the crochet I have been working on lately (while waiting for my next fabric to arrive a preprinted cut out and sew craft project bag) but that's for another post : )

Knit Nation 2011

2011-07-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I spent a relaxing day at knit nation's marketplace. Touching yarn, chatting to suppliers, renewing magazine subscriptions, buying a few goodies.
Habu Textiles had beautiful copper and bamboo yarn perfect for the crocheted jewellery I have been making, I love the colour and glimmer.
And at last I got hold of some knitpiks yarn now to start some crocheted socks : )
A soft skien of Misti alpaca (I just loved the colour and feel it may become a scarf or gloves) and some Manos silk blend in a beautiful sea blue and green mix, which I may knit into a lace shawl, for a change.
Now to have fun experimenting with my new yarn :)

Summer Porridge

2011-07-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

One great thing about summer, now its here (the usual sun one minute rain the next) is all the fresh fruit that's in season especially the berries - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries all yummy and as they are in season much cheaper.
At the weekend I like breakfast this week I made some porridge with nice chunky rolled oats (cooked with milk) a little honey and lots of tasty juicy berries, a great healthy flavoursome start to the day my favourite in summer.
Fuel to make me ready for my beaded projects, beaded crochet (some tunisian crochet) and beaded knitted bracelets and necklaces. I have even been remaking some can tab/ pull bracelets, I'll post some finished pieces at a later date, here's a few images of my hours and hours of stringing, its so much quicker to crochet the beads than string them.
Plus I am not sure how but some beads always escape and end up in the carpet, the poor hover now sounds very unhappy.

I am still busy designing fabrics, I'm waiting for a new batch of samples, again I'll post when they arrive. Last week I was lucky I had a fabric that was just the right colour and subject matter (the competition had a limited colour palette and butterfly theme) so I entered my "butterflies together" fabric (it matches my filet crochet chart "butterfly dance") into this weeks spoonflower competition if you like the fabric please vote for me, any votes would be greatly appreciated :)

Sales and Cupcakes

2011-06-26T03:02:00.000-07:00

This has been a very busy month, so a little time to myself and some shopping (mostly window shopping, day-dreaming of what I will buy when I win the lottery) as it sale time again I took a visit to John Lewis and I broke my yarn diet (only a little), I decided in January I needed to use the yarn in my collection that tucked away in boxes and bags (hidden in the wardrobe) and could not buy anymore unless I had a plan and timescale to use it, plus I have no more room for storing. But feeling the nice soft Mirasol Wachi 85% Pima Cotton & 15% silk which was only £2.95 a skein (and I do have a plan for it) plus Noro silk garden at £3.95 each I decided to make a small purchase. With a quick trip to the food hall and I found my bargain of the day half price cupcakes (well the yarn diet was broke so might as well have a naughty day) I got some cherry & geranium which tasted a bit to floral for me, but other family members liked them and lavender & lemon, I liked this one it reminded me of the violet sweets I eat when I was a child yummy.

Project Ocean

2011-05-30T18:43:00.000-07:00

I was walking past Selfridges and saw their stunning new window displays for "Project Ocean"

The windows will be on display until 12th June 2011, Selfridges has partnered with 20+ environmental and conservation groups.

Celebrating the beauty of the ocean and highlighting the issues of over-fishing, which is scary to think of, no more fish, no longer been able to cook or eat fish (I love fish and have not eaten red meat for about 20 years)

Their large corner window is a dead sea coral installation (most of the photos I have put in this post) made from coral seized from illegal smugglers by customs officers.
Beautiful but a sad reminder of how much life we are losing from our oceans.

New Hook

2011-05-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

Here's some photo's of my new Boye interchangeable thread hook set.
It has a hand carved Maple burl handle created by the talented hands of Jimbo check out his blog for more great hooks. The handle is very lightweight and a pretty grained wood, I find its a very comfortable hook to use. When I first got the hook I had injured by thumb and could not hold most of my hooks, but this one I could. I was able to use my index finder in the thumb grip and could crochet as normal. My thumb is now working again and I can use my hook as intended, but its good knowing I can hold the hook comfortably both ways.

Its also good not having to touch the metal of the hook, holding the wooden handle is much kinder on my hand, I have been doing a lot of thread work (tape crochet and filet) and beaded crochet usually I end up with a dent in my finger (anyone else have that problem?) when using my normal metal hooks but now all that has changed : ) no dents and happy fingers.

You can see the pretty grain in the wood in this photo.

Fabric samples and food

2011-04-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

March was a very busy month and April is speeding by just as fast. I went to went to the Stitch & Craft Show in Olympia 2 I was very good and don't buy much (only 5 balls of yarn must be a record for me and a new crimping tool for my stitch marker making), well the reason I was good (sort of) was I bought a Boye interchangeable thread hook set with a hand carved Maple burl handle by the brilliant Jimbo the day before I went to the show I will photograph and post the set when it arrives.

I had also ordered more samples of the fabric prints I have been working on, they arrived this week and I was happy with most of them (some I need to adjust the colours) sorry I know a few people emailed about the 'here come the bees' and ladybird ladybird' prints I the 'butterfly dance' is OK) they were the ones I need to adjust. The ones I was happy with are now available on spoonflower. I am ordering larger pieces to make some cushions and bags to hold yarn (trying to be tidy) The owls will be sewn together to make lavender bags for the wardrobe (and put them in with the yarn) I will post the results and how they were made when I have got the larger pieces of fabric.

I have also had the cooking bug and made a few tasties for the family and even managed to add the recipes to the other blog.

I did manage to fit in some, knitting and crochet time playing with tape yarn (again a future post when I have played more). I added a new filet chart to the main NezumiWorld.com site- decorated Easter eggs and have been very busy planning things for the coming months including more new filet charts, a line of stitch markers for crocheters and knitters plus getting things ready for some Crochet/ Knit-A-Longs even some Design-A-Longs but I post more about that when things are in place.

Bargain Hunter

2011-03-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

I confess when I am in the supermarket I go to the reduced price section, I have limited funds so try to make them go further, plus I like tasty foods. A couple of days ago they had one of my favourite vegetables reduced - beetroot. My preferred method of cooking is to bake them. Its very simple with little effect- try not to damage the skin the juice will bleed out its also something to look for when buying that the skin is un-damaged. Gently rinse and trim off the stalks, wrap individually in squares of cooking foil sealing all edges (again you don't want beet juice everywhere), place on a baking tray. Cook in the oven for approximately 1 hour at 180C/ 356F /gas mark 4 the skin should peel easily when cooked. Unwrap and peel, some wear gloves for this as usual I forgot I now have red hands!. You could use the beetroot skins for dyeing yarn it produces beautiful shade of red to pink.
You can now use your cooked beetroot in soups, salads, even chocolate cake. I just sliced mine up and added a splash of vinegar with some chili flakes.
Talking of beetroot I was looking yesterday in Selfridges for the new baked and delicious magazine (which have not been able to find anywhere) and Petit Pois Cakes where launching their new healthy cupcake range which has half the calories and fat of ‘normal’ high-street cakes they are gluten and lactose free. They replace the butter with vegetables using grated pumpkin, courgette or beetroot.

Spoonflower Fabric

2011-03-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

Got my sample print back from spoonflower.com I am really happy with the results, the colours have come out just as I hoped and I like the feel of the fabric (it is soft you cannot feel the dyes) I also ordered a colour guide and fabric samples. I plan to make some project bags with the fabric and cushion covers. I have ordered some more samples and larger lengths of fabric and will be adding extra designs soon.
If you have never visited the site take a trip there, they have so many great fabric prints to choose from and ideas of items to make. If you like designing they have weekly competitions to enter (I just entered the "Leprechauns Fabric Contest") If you prefer looking you can vote in the competitions and don't even need to sign up to do so.

46th Wedding Anniversary

2011-02-27T09:14:00.000-08:00

A quick post for family and friends, my parents celebrated their 46th Wedding Anniversary this weekend. Mom had a very good day, she even walked with a little help and sat in a normal chair.

Celebrating with some cake and tea : )

Arts and Crafts in the Community

2011-02-22T10:01:00.000-08:00

I recently did a couple of taster sessions (a knitting & crochet session and a colourful felting session) for BACES with Workshop24.

Workshop24 is a wonderful project from the empty shops network it is using an empty shop as a temporary, flexible and informal space. Running a variety of projects for people in the area to take part in for free. Its so good to see something the community can take part in and get people in the area together.

In January the knitting course (at the college) had a visit by a poet Niall O’Sullivan from the southkilburnspeaks project who are also using the shop at workshop24.

He chatted to the students while they knit and crocheted about their memories of the area old and new. We all discovered lots of information about the area. He developed a poem based on this visit "Adult Education"

Spoonflower - Rabbits and Carrots

2011-02-11T16:40:00.000-08:00

Another one of my New Years Resolution's was to finally put some of my textiles designs onto Spoonflower (a fabric-on-demand printing service) Spoonflower prints using eco-friendly, water-based pigment inks on natural fiber textiles. No additional chemicals are used in the printing or preparation process. You can keep your designs private or make them available for sale (after ordering a test swatch to make sure the colours/ design are OK) There are lots of great designs, fabrics and ideas on their site it worth a visit.
I entered my Rabbit and Carrots print into there weekly contest (eek this weeks theme is "Year of the Rabbit") I read on their blog there are close to 250 bunny fabrics entered. I have ordered a test swatch for my rabbit print can't wait to see how it prints and feels.

I also added a filet crochet inspired heart print called "Little Hearts", it matches a large filet chart for a large cushion or small throw I designed last year, except this repeat pattern is really small and cute.

Valentine's is in the air

2011-02-02T10:26:00.000-08:00

I have been busy designing both knitting & crochet patterns this month (one of my new years resolutions to finish and publish the patterns, I am trying to stick to some resolutions this year) plus I have been working on some textile prints (the textile prints are still in the early stages I'll post more as they develop)

I have had a little time to play also and with valentines coming I though I'd play with making some heart pompoms using a heart pompom maker (if its a gadget I have to buy it.......) to go with some little crocheted 3D hearts & larger roses (for a necklace) I am making. Can not say my heart pompom turned out very heart shaped but that's easily solved with a scissors I'll post the finished results soon.

Keeping with the valentines theme I have also added a new chart (can also be used for any square related craft) to the Nezumiworld main site it's a filet heart bookmark make with a thin cotton thread for a bookmark or a chunky yarn for a scarf.

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-02T06:34:00.000-08:00

Its goodbye to 2010 and Hello to
A Very Happy New Year 2011
to everyone :)

NezumiWorld looks forward to 2011

2010-12-30T08:01:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for 2011 the NezumiWorld Main Site has now transferred to a new host and is back up and running. Also my email is working properly again. The new host has unlimited traffic (I kept hitting my traffic limits mid month which caused all sorts of problems, mainly limiting the site so it has not been able to grow as big as I wanted it to. Plus I hope my email will now be working much better as I lost a lost of emails last year again due to traffic limits.