No. 9

Gosh - the last project I posted was on the 3rd. Not quite meeting the project a week quota, am I? C'est la vie - the sun is shining and I have that rather carefree attitude which accompanies such glorious days. Here is project No. 9 to start the big catch up!
Domesticali posted about these fantastic kidney warming, short top/builders bum savers called Haramakis. I'd never heard of them before, but they are marvellous. Most of my tops are slightly too short (or rather my jeans are slightly too low) and I spend my life pulling my tops (not jeans...) down to keep warm. I had a couple of vest tops in the charity bag, so thought I'd have a go. Off with the top of the vest, out with the sewing machine, a little zig zag action and on it went. And I haven't taken it off!
I was a bit rushed for time, so didn't take the sides in. Instead, the top folds down like those rather funky yoga bottoms from Sweaty Betty. I have a feeling that I may be making a few more of these.

No. 8 (at last)

I'm still playing catch up following my course the other week which is the excuse I'm sticking to for my projects being ignored recently. We have fallen into the trap of catching up over a bottle of wine most nights - which whilst productive for the mind, isn't for the hands. Half a baby cardigan sits looking rather dejected in my knitting bag - and that's just the tip of my knitting bag iceberg.
To get the ball rolling again, here is project No. 8 - a bead and hemp necklace.
Quick and therapeutic. Small enough to not feel as though I'm deserting the big job hunt, but big enough to feel thoroughly satisfied at the end of the task. The project is from Erika Knight's Beads and buttons book. It's full of beautiful projects, photos and - best of all - illustrations showing you exactly how to thread, knot and finish. I have a feeling that I may be making a few more of these - I have squillions of beads and this necklace only used up twelve of them!

No 7 (only a week late...)

Hello there! Here is the rather late project No. 7 - another corsage... I promise to stop my corsage addiction soon. They're just so quick and easy to make. Anyway, I had a few scraps left over from the previous corsages and was loathed to throw them away. So, armed with a needle, some thread and a pile of random squares, I set about sewing the squares in rounds and finished off with a brass shank button. I think it looks rather like an Aeonium Zwartkop...which has just given me an idea for another corsage...oh dear...

No. 6

Thank goodness the rain has stopped. What grotty, snotty weather. This week's project was to cover two old cushions that we've had since our university days and are currently used as a space filler between the head of the mattress and the headboard.* At the time, it was really cool to have faux fur cushions. And, at the time, they were really, really soft - they were pretending to be husky fur and were a great substitute for a cat. Over time, they have gone from cool to naff and, dare I say, a little sad looking. So, off came the covers, out came the sewing machine and a remnant from Ikea and voila, two pretty cushions.

The only problem is that they look quite good on the chair, which means that there is now a gaping hole at the top of the bed once again...curses.

*Small tip to those buying a new bed. Buy both frame and mattress from the same place - don't try and be clever like us...

No. 5 (oh, so pretty!)

Ooo - I do like corsages. My favourite is a fabulous bright pink flower by Lynsey Walters and my latest is by Jessica Preston in berry and claret - perfect for Winter. They can really make an outfit and they seem to be something that people always notice. So, I am really excited about this week's project - a pretty corsage. It was very easy to make, used up some fabric scraps I had and only took an hour or so to do. I'm so pleased with it, that I thought I would turn it into my first tutorial. The only problem is that I can't fathom out how to get pdfs onto Blogger. So, I've improvised...
Hopefully you'll be able to view to them, but let me know if you can't. Would love to hear what you think!

No. 4

A girl can never have too many pots for paper clips, pencils and pretty things. Last Christmas I got some Donna Hay goodies which came in the most scrumptious packaging. Having spent the last 12 months on the kitchen work surface looking pretty, they were starting to look a little scruffy so I thought I would spruce them up with some delicious Agapanthus wrapping paper that I had leftover and put them to good use elsewhere in the flat.

I could pretend and say that with a quick spritz of glue they were finished in no time at all. That would be a little bit of a fib. The spray glue that Mr M had bought was very effective at coating my hands in glue, and not the paper - thank goodness I did it outside. Having scrubbed said sticky stuff off my hands, I resorted to standard glue and hey presto!

If you're thinking of having a go, I would recommend using a good quality spray glue (my expectations had been that of spray mount - not gloop at high speed) and making sure the paper is flat (mine had been rolled and was therefore highly disobedient). I think some coloured pencils are called for - they would go perfectly in the smaller pot. I can hear Muji calling my name...

No. 3

Hi-de-hi! Perhaps not quite as grand as Projects 1 and 2, this card was the perfect end to my week of literary loveliness and just the ticket to congratulate my friend on her new job as a copywriter. A couple of pages from a free novel, a button or two, origami paper and some lashings of glue (quite literally...a small glue explosion had to be mopped up. Ahem.) - jolly good fun though!

p.s. The little snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug cat in the last post is the cheeky Mr Blue. He is actually our neighbours cat - we've known him since he was teensy and he likes to make himself at home whenever the back door is open. I have the feeling that quite a few people around the block have similar pictures of the little monkey.

No. 2 (Ooh la la)

Here is project no. 2.
Tres chic, n'est-ce pas? Last week was peppered with petit pieces of France - croissants from Chez Julien up the hill, photos from our trip to Provence last year, Bonne Maman jam, the beautiful beret by Love those cupcakes and reading about this fashionable quest. All signs were pointing to the Moss Stitch Beret by Debbie Bliss. It was really easy to do - I used Rowan All Seasons again and knitted it yesterday afternoon/evening.

I do look utterly ridiculous in it. Mr M was rendered speechless. So it will be wending its way, courtesy of Royal Mail, to my little sister who could make a saucepan lid look chic and is about to sit her January finals - French and English, naturally.

No. 1 (in the nick of time)

We woke up this morning to snow! Hoorah! For some, this is merely a dusting of icing sugar. For us, extreme excitement, we are Londoners and this rarely happens.

Now, one of my resolutions for 2009 is to be more creative. And my plan? To make something each week. It doesn't matter what form it takes - knitting, sewing, baking a pretty cake - as long as I post a project each week. (I may well start to bend the rules as the weeks become more hectic...)

So, here is my first project of the year - and talk about timing!

My first knitted hat (from here).
My first knitting experiment - different wool (Rowan All Seasons) and needles.
My first weekend project!

Next!!! It might just be a birthday cake for Mr R's birthday this weekend.