COMING UP BLANK: Swap

Showing posts with label Swap. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Swap. Show all posts

Monday, June 23, 2008

Cluster Necklace for Craftster swap

I signed up at the last minute last week for a swap taking part over on Craftster for 'friends of craftster'.

It should be interesting as the items are posted on the Gallery first. Then, one by one the names are drawn from a hat, a prize is drawn from a hat and the two are paired up.

Here is my contribution, a cluster of red beads which includes a mix of glass, plastic, ceramic and seed beads.

One of the participants in the swap said the beads reminded them of pomegranite seeds! And I think they're right.

The beads have a lovely golden hue to them. Just wish I could remember where I bought them now! Lol.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

ISE6: Forest Canopy Shawl finished

Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once more... I absolutely adore this pattern and can't recommend it enough as a great beginners lace shawl project. It would also make a quick knit for more experienced lace knitters.

To my surprise, my non-attention span coped with the pattern repeat. I took my time and completed the shawl in two weeks. I imagine the next one will fly off the needles (she says hopefully!).

FCS grows pretty quickly and I can't wait to start another one using DK weight yarn and bigger needles.

Blocking this shawl was fun, if a little bit of a challenge. I've never blocked a triangle shawl before and I got there in the end thanks to Yarnharlot, Eunnyjang and Morehouse Merino.

I do hope my ISE pal will like it.

Pattern: Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl by Susan Pierce Lawrence
Needles: 4.5mm circular needles, knit loosely
Yarn: 100g of GeminiKnits sockyarn in 'Pacific', 75g used
Pattern repeats: Twelve
Blocked size: 51" x 21"

Friday, April 18, 2008

Craftster journal swap, 2nd journal made

Check out the 2nd journal I made for the Craftster 'Make me a journal' swap. This was made especially for 'Karia' who didn't receive a journal from her spoiler. Hopefully it should have arrived by now and she will like it.

I also included an empty sweety box which I filled with ideas and journalling prompts for days when inspiration is lacking. I downloaded the ideas sheet from www.milliande.com and printed them out onto coloured paper. Milliande.com is a fun resource for art and writing stuff. Check it out if you get a mo.

I'm getting better at the coptic stitch binding and I used STR wool to bind this journal instead of embroidery thread. The stitch definition is much better with a thicker yarn or thread. There are more details about the journal on my Flickr page. Thanks for looking. x

Saturday, March 29, 2008

March Swap - Fat Quarters

And finally.... the last post for today is a picture of the fabric that I received from my swap pal as part of the March swap on the CTnY forum.

I received 3 gorgeous Fat Quarters that coordinate with each other, as well as some pretty beads and buttons keeping with the theme.

Everything was tied up in a pretty red ribbon. The 'sheep' on the tag must be the clue to my spoiler who I think was Franney, but will have to double check.

The little pink and black box is adorable. I'm guessing my pal made this. We've only ever made mini boxes out of recycled Christmas cards so they've never looked that great. I'm really impressed with this little pink and black number so will have to keep it in mind next time I make one.

I was late sending out my package to my swap pal but hopefully it will make it there safely before the end of next week (fingers crossed)!

And now I am officially up to date with all swaps etc..

ISE6 - Yarn Purchased

The yarn I ordered before Easter arrived yesterday, all beautifully wrapped and packed. Two yarn cakes of 4ply merino sock yarn from Sarah (Gemini Knits) in various shades of blue, blue and blue!

Sarah is lovely and extremely helpful, even winding the skeins into lovely center pull balls for me (I really don't enjoy winding skeins of 4ply yarn by hand off the back of a chair!)

Blue seems to be the dominant colour on the ISE6 blog so far and I'm amazed at the progress some people have already made!

Now, as per usual, I will be 'umming' and 'awing' for the next few days trying to decide which colourway to use for my pal's scarf. Time to knit me some swatches!

TTFN

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

ISE6

It's scarf exchange time again! I'm helping out as a hostess in this round as I wanted to return some of the crafty kharma following the wonderful Angel package I received from Martha in ISE5.

I received my spoilee's details early by the very organised Tami and have been in contact with my pal via email. I am really looking forward to this round and have pretty much cleared my swapping schedule so that I can concentrate on this fully.

Join me later while I debate with myself the pros and cons of numerous patterns and yarn types, as I do!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Swaps: ISE5 Angel scarf & goodies - piccies!

It's been a busy few days in Casa Craftybernie. In between sleeping as I get over the dreaded 'lurgy and keeping Katie busy during half-term, I've been slowly working my way through all the recent finished projects and swaps, posting photos of everything that I have received or completed.

About 1/2 an hour ago I finished uploading the photos of everything that I received from my amazing ISE5 Angel, Martha.

Check out the results of Martha's hard work starting with this beautiful scarf in Rowan Felted Tweed. The scarf pattern is Eugen Buegler's 'Streaming Leaves Lace Scarf'. And it is DIVINE! It's so soft and squishy. Martha was a little concerned about the alpaca guard hairs but it's not a problem - it feels lovely and soft against my skin. Beautiful! I love it.

Martha also kindly included a second scarf, Edgar from the fall 2005 issue of Knitty knit in Silk Garden Lite, for Katie. I guess I could have claimed it for myself but I will probably end up borrowing it anyway and this way Katie feels spoiled too! She was seriously stunned that a stranger across the ocean remembered her in this way and she asked me to say that she "absolutely loves the colours and the pattern". Thanks Martha (from Katie!)

Another indication of Martha's thoughtfulness, is the undyed wool and Kool-Aid packages that she enclosed so that Katie and I could dye the wool together. How lovely is that!! Katie was very interested in testing the Kool-Aid for herself when I explained that we would be using it to dye wool and not drinking it! "Imagine what it does to your insides", she said! Kids. Lol.

The box was absolutely stuffed full of thoughtful little extras and I know that Martha & her hubby had a lot of 'fun' squeezing everything in. By no stretch of the imgaination was this a small box. There is enough fiber, yarn, beads and more to keep me going for months of projects!

I put together this little photographic collage of the items that my amazing Angel sent me. Working left to right, starting with the top row we have:

1) Clover Natural Wool Roving
2) Bluefaced Leicester
3) Dream in Colour Sockyarn
4) Precious Petals
5) Tubes of Street Bead Connections
6) Naked Cat Fiberworks
7) Edgar Scarf in Noro Silk Lite
8) Patchwork Fat Quarter Bundle
9) a Beautiful Notebook (has graph & plain paper inside!)
10) Sugar'n'Cream Dishcloth Cotton

There's an element of crafty Kharma that goes with being a swap Angel. Stepping in at the last minute to make and send to somebody across an ocean is a challenge-and-a-half, especially when everybody else has had months to get to know their pal and work on their projects. The kindness of our swap Angels is invaluable. It takes a special person to fulfil their duties in a swap, only to do it over again for a second pal.

Thank you Martha for being a true Angel. xx

About my Scarf Angel: Martha lives in Vancouver Washington, with her husband, 2 dogs, 3 cats and 1 or 2 of her 3 children.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

ISE5 Angel on my shoulder..

My wonderful scarf angel has been in contact with me via e-mail and I am now officially very excited. I've been an angel myself in other swaps so I appreciate what a commitment she has undertaken. Thank you Dorothy, my ISE hostess, and thank you Angel for stepping in.

Monday, January 07, 2008

ISE5 scarf pal missing in action

My ISE5 pal is MIA and sadly no one has heard from her. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a teensy bit disappointed., however, the hostesses are looking for an angel for me.

I always make a point to stay in contact during swaps, even if things don't always go to plan. Afterall it's part of the fun writing to and teasing your pal. I just hope nothing bad has happened to my spoiler as it seems she has been a reliable swapper in previous exchanges.

'Thank You' ISE5 Hostesses for dealing with this so efficiently and I look forward to 'meeting' my angel.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Swaps: Birthday Swap on CTnY RECEIVED

I received my birthday swap package from my spoiler this afternoon.....

Want a little peek inside??

Ok, you win! Here's the glorious lavender infused yarn, fabric, scarf and cat. Oops, sorry, the cat is mine! The smell of lavender from the talc included is just divine. It was a real pleasure to open the parcel!

Perhaps Mademoiselle Jade thought this lot was for her, as she didn't waste any time trying on the beautiful scarf and hogging the yarn!! Pah.

Of course, opening up presents can be exhausting and what better thing to do after you've been spoiled...

take a cat nap!

Thank you Carolinne for my wonderful gifts. I love them all! Especially the cat!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Sewing: Embroidery Patch Swap 3B

This patch is a little extra, to be included with the 'ducky' patch.

The design is another original of mine. The shoes were inspired by the 1920's and the swirls were traced from the lid of a now empty box of Thornton's chocolates!

Enjoy!

Sewing - Embroidery Patch No 4

This is the 4th (and final) patch for the embroidered patch swap over on craftster. Here's a scan of my original drawing...

And here's the finished piece. I've left out the wings but there's enough space for my pal to add some if she wishes.

It's been a great swap and I'll post some piccies later today of the patches I received.

Hope you're all well - we're still struggling to exorcise the 'lurgy from the house.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Sewing: Embroidery Swap Patch No 3

Embroidered Patch No3
Originally uploaded by craftybernie

Here's my tribute to A Warhol! It's the third patch for the Craftster swap (three down and only one more to go). For more info, check out my Flickr page.

TTFN

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Sewing: Embroidery Patch Swap on Craftster

I'm taking part in my second Craftster swap. This one is a swap of embroidered patches sized between 3" sq. and 10" sq. We're split into groups and each member sends one patch to the other members in their group. I've got four to make and this is the first one.

Here's a link to the Gallery if you fancy a gander at the other patches being made: Swap Gallery

Although the image looks quite green in colour, it is actually embroidered onto white fabric (Irish linen or something similar). I hope my pal likes it.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Knitting: ISE5 Update

This is my 3rd International Scarf Exchange (ISE) and once again it feels like my first. I start off with the best of intentions - researching, stalking, planning. Then indecision kicks in, followed by a confidence crisis, topped off with a pinch of performance anxiety.

Best intentions are fine but they're not very productive. So having coasted through a myriad of emotions and possibilities this week, I think I may have narrowed it down - the pattern anyway. I'm desperate to have a go at a lace scarf which incorporates beads. Sadly I cannot cope with a lace pattern with more than a 4 row repeat. This is due in part to my impatient nature and also down to the medication I take. Roughly translated, I have the attention span of a gnat!

Lace knitting is supposed to be intuitive (I had a discussion with myself about this when I made the Backyard Leaves scarf) and many people who dare to attempt the beautiful shawls out there just amaze me. It's not a complete loss since I can identify where the YOs are and whether to use a K2tog or a SSK on the small pattern repeats, but that's my limit.

At this point, my plan is to cannibalise some of the lace patterns that I like. I think I've narrowed it down to two contenders - Yarnharlot's snowdrop shawl - I think the center panel would make a nice panel for a scarf, and Sivia Harding's diamond lace bookmark (which looks coincidentally a lot like the Angel Pearls Beaded scarf.

I had thought about making the Heartstrings Beaded Lace Scarf II (left) for my pal but I really don't think I could cope with it just now. It's certainly one I would love myself and I fell in love with it when I saw a few versions made during the ISE4. Maybe next time round I'll tell my pal that I like it alot!

One other scarf/shawl that I wouldn't mind trying (eventually) is the Lady Eleanor Entrelac Shawl from Scarf Style. There's something magical about it - perhaps it's the yarn, or the knotted fringe. I'm not sure, but I do love it.

The next hurdle is yarn. I'm trying to decide whether a lacy whispy scarf with beads or a heaver DK weight scarf with beads. I'm working on some swatches at the moment (yes, me, swatching, amazing!) with everything from laceweight to DK. Guess I'll wait and see which one turns out best.

Swap: I forgot the pins.... (photos added)

OMG I forgot about the pins. Doh! I made some shrink plastic pins to decorate the pincushion, using this tutorial on the Weewonderfuls website. BTW, I pinched Gilraen's photos and put them together below - thanks for sharing Gilraen!

I decorated the shrink plastic with chalks, and rubber stamped some flowers, hearts, dresses and lace using Stayzon ink. As I was short on time I used my paper punches to cut out some shapes (the flower and butterfly punch are about 2cm in diameter to give you an idea of size).

I used gelly roll and souffle pens to add more colour and depth. But you can also use colouring pencils, gel pens, permanent markers etc... Just remember that the colours intensify as the plastic shrinks so less is definitely more.

If you're having trouble applying the colour to the plastic, use either the rough side or take a piece of low grade sand paper and rub it gently across the plastic a few times. This gives the colour something to grab onto.

You can shrink these in the oven but I did them one by one using my heat gun. Basically you pierce each shape with a pin and push the shape all the way to the pin head. When you apply the heat and the plastic shrinks it sticks to the pin. Well, nearly always it does!

I think my favourite is the dress. Actually it's the flower. No wait, it's the butterfly.... Oh well. I think they all look pretty good actually. ~~It's just a shame the photo quality is so cr*p! That's what I get for rushing.~~ Thanks to Gilraen's photos and a little TLC using paint.net these photos are much better than the one I originally posted!

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Swap: little toadstool pincushion, delivered!!!

I am sooooo happy to report that my pal, Gilraen, has received her pincushion, safe and sound. I've been dying to share this on my blog and I have literally been chomping at the bit today hoping and praying that it would arrive safely, especially in light of the impending postal strike.

Enough talk. Time for some pictures of the little Toadstool Pincushion. I've posted these pictures on Flickr, with comments and notes if you want to check them out. Just click on one of the photos to take you there.

pincushion swap (right-side view 2)

Toadstool Pincushion (left-side view)

Toadstool Pincushion (girl on hill)

Toadstool Pincushion (window, flowers)

Toadstool Pincushion (steps/door)

Toadstool Pincushion (tiny flowers)

Thanks for looking!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Pay it forward Exchange

I saw this over Amy's blog.

*Pay it Forward*

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment here on my blog (don't forget to leave your web addy so I can find you, or email me).

I don’t yet know what that gift will be, but you will receive it within 365 days (most likely before).

The only thing you have to do in return is "pay it forward" by doing the same lovely thing for people on your blog.

I originally came across the Pay It Forward Exchange when I started blogging last year and thought it was a great idea. I haven't actually seen the film yet but I love the concept. So many generous crafty bloggers out there have done swaps, exchanges and even gifted me some wonderful things during the past 18 months. It's time to share the crafty love!

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