Crafts

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
Staff member
Joined
19 Apr 2015
Local time
10:13 PM
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46,957
Location
Maidstone, Kent, UK
I noticed that Vickie1982 (new member) says in her intro that she runs a craft shop. I wondered if anyone else here enjoys a craft. Apart from being obsessed by cooking, I also love knitting. So-oo therapeutic. I knit all sorts of crazy patterns, not just traditional things and very often knit freeform. I have realised, over the years, that I'm not really happy unless my hands are busy. Thats partly why I love cooking. I worked as a film editor many years ago (in the days of celluloid) and that was intensely hands on.
 
I used to be able to carve whenever I wanted, but the house we live in now does not really allow me to send wood shavings everywhere. I really want to be able to whittle somewhere again, and not just outside.

I would love to be able to take up wicker or basket work as well. Mat making from reeds and the likes is always of huge interest to me and I am notorious for unpicking these things in my mind.
I have been considering taking up crochet work again as well since my back went, but so far have not really found the hours in the day. Somehow between the drugs I am on and everything else, the days just seem to slide by without me noticing :whistling:.

My mother however, can knit the most amazing blankets, of which I have 2. I am seriously considering doing one myself, but I know how much the blue one cost her in wool and I am not certain I can afford that right now! I know I don't need to buy all the wool in one go but...

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It is roughly 6 foot by 6 foot (folded in half)

There is a lighter one over me at the moment, but I don't have a photo of that one. Perhaps I will take one tomorrow.
I also fancy an autumnal one plus a really lightweight version for a summer blanket. That is the one I am considering crocheting.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
I used to be able to carve whenever I wanted, but the house we live in now does not really allow me to send wood shavings everywhere. I really want to be able to whittle somewhere again, and not just outside.
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Taken by this. My Dad was a carpenter and used to whittle and carve outside work hours. Its the hands thing handed down! My Dad had that all important place in which to do stuff... a SHED.:)
 
morning glory said:
Taken by this. My Dad was a carpenter and used to whittle and carve outside work hours. Its the hands thing handed down! My Dad had that all important place in which to do stuff... a SHED.:)
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Yeh, I used to use our really large sitting room which was also the dining room and study. It still had space to spare and I could easily put a ground sheet down and lean against the sofa which meant I could spend time with my husband and whittle at the same time. Despite being tenants it wasn't an issue due to the age and neglect of the house. It was also easy to clean up because I never sanded anything indoors, that was always an outdoors job!

Sadly nowadays with us being tenants and there being absolutely no land with the property, there is no room for a shed. And to be honest, if there was I suspect that the shed space would need to be taken up with at least some of our 8 bikes first!

We are looking at buying our own home, but we haven't found anywhere suitable for us yet. A double garage and a couple of sheds will be a major requirement!
 
I used to play around with metal , making pub sign brackets ,weather veins and such like, had all the kit , sadly as some bits went wrong i drifted away from it but some of my work still survives
My wife's cousin makes spars and
Hurdle fencing a real old fashioned skill
and my wife is also using all her old material from when she made all her own clothes , into bunting to sell at her coffee morning in aid of the brrast cancer ward
 
Radio controlled models. Now just the cars.
Used to build them for those that either couldn't build them or wanted one ready to run.

Wrote to Tetley to get permission to use Sid & The Gaffer on a mini. Surprised when they gave it me, and the colour mixing required to get it correct.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
My mother however, can knit the most amazing blankets, of which I have 2. I am seriously considering doing one myself, but I know how much the blue one cost her in wool and I am not certain I can afford that right now! I know I don't need to buy all the wool in one go but...
View attachment 911
It is roughly 6 foot by 6 foot (folded in half)
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Its lovely. I often buy wool in charity shops where its very cheap. People throw out odd balls they have left over after a project. I've picked up lots of expensive gorgeous yarns in this way - 100% wool, mohair etc. In fact, I was looking in a charity shop today and saw 3 gigantic 'bobbins' of a turquoise 'bobbled' wool. It might be enough for a blanket I think. And it was dead cheap. But you could collect different odds and ends in this way and then make a multi-coloured blanket in stripes. You can mix different weight yarns but knitting two strands together, for example. I realise you can't really get out at the moment, though.:(
 
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morning glory said:
Its lovely. I often buy wool in charity shops where its very cheap. People throw out odd balls they have left over after a project. I've picked up lots of expensive gorgeous yarns in this way - 100% wool, mohair etc. In fact, I was looking in a charity shop today and saw 3 gigantic 'bobbins' of a turquoise 'bobbled' wool. It might be enough for a blanket I think. And it was dead cheap. But you could collect different odds and ends in this way and then make a multi-coloured blanket in stripes. You can mix different weight yarns but knitting two strands together, for example. I realise you can't really get out at the moment, though.:(
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My mother is very good at scouring charity shops and often knitss with as many as 6-8 different threads at once. Her skill which I lack is seeing what will go together and work. My skill is in being able to sit and unpick anything she has purchased, rescued or had donated but even so, a blanket like the blue one is very expensive to make. There is a colossal volume and weight of wool in that particular one because our was knitted as a winter weight blanket and is almost at the limit of what my mother could actually lift up! The other blanket is much older and more of a spring or autumn blanket so didn't have anywhere near the same weight of all in it, nor is it as long or as wide sadly.
 
Berties said:
I used to play around with metal , making pub sign brackets ,weather veins and such like, had all the kit , sadly as some bits went wrong i drifted away from it but some of my work still survives <SNIP> and my wife is also using all her old material from when she made all her own clothes , into bunting to sell at her coffee morning in aid of the breast cancer ward
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Oooh!I had a bit of an Archer's moment there (there's a current storyline about Fallon's stolen home-made bunting!). But seriously, its a great thing to do. And metal work is such a great skill. :cool:
 
My wife has many skills - knitting - card making - painting [not the house] and embroidery but basically I am an engineer. I restore bikes [bicycle and motorcycle] and any mechanical object really. My lathe and small workshop keep me happy for hours. What I can never understand is people who will not 'have a go' at very simple [and I do mean simple] tasks. There is a great satifaction from your own work that just isn't there when someone does it for you.
 
I love to garden and play in the dirt. I hope to have time today to spend some out in the back cleaning up all of the limbs that have fallen and rethink if I will plant a few plants this year. I do like to go to the thrift shops and find interesting materials or patterns and pull them apart to be made into a skirt or a rug or something, just because it is now a shirt does not mean it has to stay a shirt.
 
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