Olympic Yarnmobbing!

Hampden stadium will soon host Olympic football matches, so Scattercraft are planning on decorating the surrounding area with crafty goodness.  To contribute I knitted a fair-isle football, adapted from this pattern by Erssie Knits.

I also went along to a craft drop-in yesterday at Make it Glasgow.  There was yarn, wine, cake and good company.  Perfect for creating crochet flags.  And even mrTrekky got involved with sewing a football pitch!

Farewell to the miracle...

My QR code has been having some adventures recently. Firstly, it was mentioned on the very cool Mr X stitch blog, and then on craftzine (when I realised this I almost fell off my chair!). The QR code is currently taking part in the Farewell to the Miracle exhibition at Make it Glasgow.
The exhibition is in response to the legislation being put forward which will cripple grassroots arts and culture in Scotland. You can read more, and sign the petition here. The exhibition is up until the 31st of March, and features some beautiful embroidery from Frayed at the Edges (including some glow in the dark thread!).
Check it out if you can.

A Rather Foxy Waistcoat

Yesterday at Make It Glasgow, whilst I was getting started on my holly, there was an extra special treat for us all. Textile collector and historian Graham Hunter brought in part of his collection of 18th and 19th Century embroidered waistcoats.
These were amazing to view, the detail incredible. One particular item drew my attention, this beautiful fox waistcoat.
Repeated fox faces, complete with tiny beads for eyes, and little stitches for whiskers.
It would certainly suit a fantastic Mr Fox.

Stumpwork Embroidery Holly

Today I spent a number of hours hard at work here...
At Make It Glasgow for a Royal School of Needlework stumpwork day class. I had never tried stumpwork embroidery before, it looked far too difficult to be attempting at home alone! Luckily tuition was on hand to talk us through creating a holly pin.
Admittedly mine is not finished, I still have hours of buttonhole stitch around wire still to do. Plus I need to finish my needle lace, which may take some very deep concentration! There were some amazing examples of what you can do with stumpwork, although first I better finish my holly...

Sunshine & finger puppets!

Yesterday was the last day of the Merchant city festival. I must say with the sun shining Glasgow scrubs up pretty well. There were stalls, music, a parade, pole vaulting, plus a caravan being pimped!
We saw comedian David Kay (see the very funny Freedom) in Make It Glasgow. It was very civilised with tea and scones, and afterwards we all got to make our very own finger puppet of David Kay!
I think mr crafty captured his hair perfectly! Also this week I sent in my very first entry for write in for writing' sake. By giving a topic and a deadline, they help to inspire writers. The title was headhunting, and you can read my entry here.

My very first handspun knitting!

Learning to spin has been on my to-do list for a long time. So when I saw that Make it Glasgow were having a free workshop on learning how to use a drop spindle as part of voluntary arts week, I just had to have a go.
I arrived not knowing one end of a spindle from another, and left with my very own yarn! Tuition was provided by Ashley, who talked me through the process. We were using some lovely undyed Shetland from Scottish Fibres.
Getting used to feel of turning the spindle took some practice, but I got there.
It was quite relaxing to stand and spin, knowing that you were creating a unique yarn by a method that has been used for thousands of years. In the end I had managed to create a small ball of yarn.
And as with most things, this ball looked better with googly eyes.
As this was my first attempt the thickness did vary quite a bit, but when I plied the yarn together, it became much more uniform (though not completely!). I used the 2-ply yarn to knit a swatch.
The resulting fabric is very strong and rugged, quite like a Shetland sheep really.
My efforts this afternoon have created a 5cm x 6cm piece of knitting. At this rate it may take some time to create a jumper from handspun!