Do You Mind if I Crow?

You know that things aren't going well when some of your dearest friends and colleagues enthusiastically request the details of your first ever craft fair and you give them rather vague answers.Some conversations have even gone like this

'Oooh you're doing a craft fair - that sounds exciting. Can I come?'

'Please don't.'

Not that I haven't enjoyed dabbling with felt,ric rac and bells but the thought that someone else might actually want to buy the end result is rather daunting. What if nobody likes it? What if everybody sells out and I am the only one left standing with a table full of deformed bunnies? What if everybody starts pointing and laughing and I look down and realise I am naked?

So many doubts. But this week something happened. I don't know how or why but suddenly something has clicked and I'm actually looking at my work (ooh - get 'er) and feeling a little bit pleased.

Please may I crow?

There are some lubbly jubbly nubbly crocheted dishcloths with coal tar soap

Some fabric notebook covers

A Jingle Owl

(A little bit cheerier than his bunny friend)

And the thing I am most excited about - a reversible shopping bag

Look!

I followed a wonderful tutorial by Handmade Jane which you can find here.

At last I've made some things that I might actually buy myself!

I must say I am thoroughly enjoying tapping into these different ideas at the moment - even though my  immaculately organised home (excuse my nose growing a little) is perhaps looking a little neglected and my family don't recognise the barely seen figure that sometimes makes an appearance covered in thread and bias binding. There are so many ideas out there that it's difficult not to be inspired - go and check out the lovely zipper flowers here made by Jo at Three Stories High.

So - crowing done and out of my system now - thank you for allowing such self indulgence! My doubts are also alleviating a little - next time I worry about people pointing and laughing I will at the very least be in my pyjamas.

Have a glorious week!

Jane

x

Hold the phone...

... I've finished a thing! 

Or two things to be more precise.

I used this

and this

(obviously lured in by this)

 and ended up with these!

(modelled by our very own Little Sis after several bribes and a promise not to get her face in the shot!)

The wool was lovely and soft to work with and the pattern was indeed as easy as an easy pie who lives in easy land.

Lovely warm arms now.

What to do about the fingers ....?

Jane

x

P.S. Hello to my new followers - I hope you enjoy it here!

Not all the best things come in small packages

Take elves. 

Pinterest is bursting with them and with my impending craft fair they seemed to provide the perfect opportunity for a middle aged woman to be let loose with some felt and a dolly peg. What could go wrong?

I was particularly taken by this lovely image here.

Oh joy. I sat at my little table and excitedly sorted out some colours.

Little grey trousers - check.

 A mulberry cape - check (yes it is a bit big but have you ever tried to cut a neckline for an elf?)

How about some green accessories? Mittens - check.

Oh yes it could have carried on in such a wonderfully whimsical way but sadly it was not to be. The first sign of the tinsel tide turning came with the hat. A nice pointy elf shaped hat. Let's try putting some ric rac on for a hangy thing.

Now let's try gluing it together.

Those of you who have ever been enthralled by the power of a hot glue gun will know that when it blobs on the end of your fingers there is little you can do but hop out of your chair and try and rub it off with your other fingers (all whilst merrily singing Jingle Bells in a rather cracked fashion). This then gives the hat freedom to purchase itself on either extremity whilst the hangy thing falls to the floor. Strangely I did not manage to record this episode for posterity.

At last a hat was put together that actually sat on top of the peg. It was way too big and slipped over his eyes but with some glue and a prayer it stuck - and it's staying stuck.

Now for the face.

Oh how I fretted.

Remember this?

Festive the Unfortunate

This little elf had to be right.

I practised on paper.

I practised on other pegs.

I used pencil, biro, fineliners.

I thought I'd cracked it - took a deep breath and  ...dot, dot, line - dot, dot, line - dot, dot, line ...

WHAT HAPPENED THERE?

If there was to be a festive version of the Joker this would be it.

Rather menacing I think.

If the hat hadn't been stuck on so blooming firmly I would have swapped it around and tried again on the other side - but it is most definitely stuck for good ...

So there he hangs - slightly too smiley - a cautionary tale to those who are too cavalier about their elves.

And as for the hare - he's in hiding!

Oh dear.

Jane 

x

P.S. For those of you who might be taking part in Ladybird Diaries Christmas decoration swap don't worry - I won't be making an elf!

October Mood Board

Hello November

'The Star Coins' by Viktor Paul Mohn

In true Plain Jane tradition here is my two days late mood board for October.

The weather has delivered it's best and it's worst. Bright blue skies followed by howling winds and flooding. But nature has remained determined and on cue has delivered some of the most beautiful colours of the year.

Our 'mast' year has provided an abundance of berries

And the very last flower in my garden is still optimistically budding

Of course now we are on the countdown to the holly and the ivy but lets savour the last of this most beautiful Autumn while we can.

Jane

x

P.S. Take a look at Bee's board over at The Linen Cloud and Caroline at Scraps of Us

P.S. I have been making things - I really, really have - I'll show and tell soon!

A Ghostie Post

One of the many things I love about this time of year is the proliferation of all things spooky. The darker nights lend themselves to creating the perfect atmosphere - light some candles, stoke up the fire and off you go.

As a child I devoured ghostly tales. Usually they were compilations of short stories - read under the sheets with a torch - they were just enough to scare me into not wanting to go to the bathroom on my own! I remember 'The Waxwork' about a man who took up a dare to stay overnight in a wax museum, and 'The Doll's House' with it's slightly too realistic inhabitants. Later on I delved into some Edgar Allan Poe and M.R. James but it wasn't until I found 'The Woman in Black' a few years ago that I was able to revisit those early feelings of being genuinely spooked.

Of course this was also the heyday of Hammer Horror films. Each Friday night we would settle to watch Peter Cushing fight off some demonic beast whilst amply bosomed ladies wilted in the background.

Tales of the Unexpected provided more fuel - the hypnotic title music was often the best part - but it was relished nonetheless (the man who turned into a bee, the wife who 'tidied' her fastidious husband away into his own filing system of screw topped jars).

Several years ago the BBC ran a series of ghost stories running up to Christmas and each one was a treat. If you have never seen the Michael Hordern adaptation of Whistle and I'll Come to You it's a must see. Alongside Dicken's The Signalman. Both call for a nip of brandy to steady the nerves afterwards!

So - have I ever seen a ghost?

For many years I thought I had. At the age of six I woke in the dead of night to go to the bathroom. The door was directly opposite my bedroom and only a few steps away. Alongside the landing was a banister - the solid type that was popular in the 1970's. At the end it opened out on to a smaller landing at the top of the stairs with a window that allowed in the natural light. As I passed this section I froze. Standing in front of me was a young girl. She had a short silver coloured bob and was wearing no shoes. Her sleeveless mint green dress had no sleeves and a pocket with a large white daisy on it. I screamed and to this day remember how long it seemed to take for me to get back to the safety of my own bed and under the covers. Mum and dad were so convinced that someone must have been in the house that they searched high and low but, of course, found nothing. This mystery stayed with me until fairly recently. Watching one of these nostalgic 'let's remember all the kid's shows we grew up with programmes' there - alongside Mr Benn and The Clangers -was my ghost. Frustratingly I can't now remember the name of the character but she was a young girl who used to press the daisy on her pocket to grant a wish. Her clothes and hair were exactly the same as I remembered. I'm pretty sure the hairs must have stood up all the way down to my toes. After all these years the mystery of the girl on the landing was solved. So why even now, sitting in my sunny kitchen with a fresh coffee and Mr K's home made tea loaf, do I still feel a bit shivery?

Mum also has a ghostly tale. When she was three she had a particularly nasty bout of chicken pox. She was tucked up on the old sofa which was pushed up against the window. Outside the snow was falling but through the blur she saw a lady standing on the garden wall. The lady looked down at her and was smiling. Mum called her Grandma over and asked her to look. Of course her Grandma could see nothing so mum went on to describe a young lady with short dark hair and kind eyes. Grandma said nothing. Later on mum discovered that the lady she had been describing was in one of the family pictures - it was in fact her own mum who had died two years previously from tuberculosis. A combination of fever, memory and the hypnotic swirl of the snow - or was it something more?

Grandma Irene - looking after her poorly daughter?

There are many other tales. A close friend tells of hearing his dad having conversations late at night with his Grandad who had died several years before. Mr K once though that his glow-in-the-dark mummy was growing and chased him out of his bedroom! 

Do I still believe in ghosts? Not really. I believe our mind and imagination are incredible things and given the right conditions they will produce experiences that we have no other explanation for. So why is it that I still see things out of the corner of my eye, still imagine that that pile of clothes could be a figure and still have to - on occasion - ask Mr K to accompany me to the bathroom in the middle of the night?

I think there's someone behind you!

Jane

x 

Bakewell - more than just a tart?

Anyone who grew up in the UK in the latter half of the last century will have been familiar with the kindly benevolent baker we shall call - for legal purposes - Mr Pipling. He was a purveyor of 'exceedingly good cakes' and in our house a box of his delights were rare treats - even now the prospect of a French Fancy makes my want to pick up a china cup and stick out my little finger! His cherry bakewells were the cream of the crop and, to me, visiting the homeland of Bakewell in Derbyshire always fills me with joy. This weekend was no exception. Coming at the end of National Wool Week (believe me that passed me by too!) Bakewell hosted it's first ever Wool Gathering. Hot on the heels of Yarndale it opened it's agricultural centre to a myriad of woolly craftspeople. 

There were spinners

and weavers

This lady had spun and dyed her own wool before designing the pattern for her rug

Baskets of fleece

Wool

Inspiration

And talent - so much talent!

Sarah from didyoumakeityourself was there with a fantastic mix of crafty goodness - check out her blog here.

Jenny Barnett displayed her felted figures.

How cute is that dog?

Lynda from Rebellious Rags was giving some fantastic demonstrations but I was so glued to what she was doing I'm afraid I didn't get around to taking any photographs.

After the first trek around it was time for some refreshments and a little bit of thinking time. I'd treated myself to a needle felting start up kit from The Threshing Barn and no sooner was it on the formica topped table than a magic lady appeared and gave us a lovely demonstration as to what to do with it. As if by magic she disappeared but left me with a focus - buy more roving.

So I did.

Then feeling really brave I bought another kit. 

This time from Jenny with a verbal guarantee that even a blind hamster could make one of these delightful hares.

 They have not seen my work!

Of course it would not have been right to leave without buying some wool - that's the law.

We took our leave and wandered across the bridge toward the town centre.

We were serenaded

(Not too sure what the man facing the other was doing - doesn't look good!)

Wandered through the soft stone streets

And strolled the beautiful gardens

Loved this door

And who can resist an Autumnal mushroom?

On the way back to the car we noticed this

Strange to think that this trend has stretched right across Europe to a sleepy Derbyshire town

So - Bakewell - more than just a tart? Definitely. 

Dare I mention Bakewell pudding?

Have a good week

Jane

x