Stone Necklace

I bought these stones over two years ago with the intention of making them into a necklace. It took me two whole years of pondering before I knew how I wanted to go about it, but I love how it turned out so it was worth the procrastination.

I crocheted around the stones with cotton from my grandmother-in-law's yarn stash that I was lucky enough to raid when we were visiting her in America awhile ago. I hung the stones on some hand twisted string I made from lengths of chain stitch crocheted cotton and silk I picked up at a garage sale cut into strips. And finally, I added some wood buttons from an old broken bracelet as decoration and to hold the three lengths of string together. 

I'm wearing my necklace over the top of the Cowl Vest I made two years ago, it has been one of my most used cozy accessories over the past couple of years. I like the effect of the necklace layered over the top of it.

Stash Scrap Scarf

 I haven't made much for myself lately, most of my creative work has been on things like dishcloths, cute little toys and a blanket I'm making from re-purposed yarn from an installation artwork I collaborated on last year; so it has been a while since I've had anything to share.

                          

My yarn stash is full of beautiful little remnants from past projects and I've been attempting not buy much yarn until I use up more of my stash so I dug up a few colours that complemented each other and I made my first ever knitted scarf. I thought the combination of different yarns would lend itself well to using a bunch of different stitch patterns to add texture and make the project more interesting. All that yarn I used was either wool or silk/wool blends. Some of the yarn brought up beautiful memories of the lovely things I made from them originally, so this ended up being a really special little project.

Crochet Triangle Scarf

After inheriting entire yarn stashes from a few people my stash has grown to almost ridiculous proportions. Although one can never have too much yarn I have decided to try to work on a few stash busting projects to get my collection under control.

I'm a little obsessed with triangles at the moment so a dug through my stash to find a few colours that I had enough of to make a big triangle scarf. The simple crochet pattern worked up quickly and has made these winter days just a little bit warmer.

Peacock Knickers and a Charcoal Shrug

I have been pretty quiet in the blogging world for a while now so I thought it was time I shared a couple of things I made in 2016. 

 Late Autumn I designed a shrug that is small enough to fit in a handbag but cozy enough to keep you warm if it gets a bit chilly while you are out, making it perfect for an evening out or cool mornings. It has proven very useful and I'm excited to play with similar designs and different colours.

Needing an outfit for Jungle Love festival a few months back I decided to modify the Dot Stitch Bamboo Knickers that I knitted a few years ago. Being inspired by peacocks I used yarn from my ever growing stash to create a gorgeous swishy outfit perfect for the most amazing party in the jungle.

 

Hand Painted Winter Skirt

The cold Melbourne winter has brought with it a desire for cozy knits and faux fur. My inspiration for this project was around winter warriors so I designed a tribal influenced pattern and hand painted it onto linen fabric. Lining the skirt with faux fur I salvaged from a remnants bin gave the skirt volume and a super cozy feel, so warm in fact that I may not take it off until spring! 

Knitted Cowl Vest

I had a hooded scarf that I crocheted but it never quite fit right. It was one of those things I made in the early days and I could never quite bring myself to give it away or pull it apart to make something else. I'd look at it with all my other scarfs and cozy winter things every time I opened the draw and then it hit me that I'd been holding onto something that I never wear for over 10 years. That realisation was exactly what I needed to pull it out and undo it. With all my balls of freshly unraveled yarn I wanted to make a kind of cowl vest, I like cropped sweaters and cowls so it's kind of a combination of both. I'm in love with how warm it is and that I still have left over yarn to make something else with.

Crochet Tablecloth Dress

I found a tablecloth in an op-shop and because I have a slight obsession with doilies I had to get it. For months it sat hanging over my clothes rack (looking pretty) while I thought about how I want to put it to use. I often picked it up and draped it around myself to see how it sat and to figure out if I could actually bring myself to cut it up. In the end I only cut a small hole for my waist and gathered  parts of the fabric to give it body and make it a little less see through. I made the top of the dress from a stretch linen blend which enabled me to avoid cutting the tablecloth further to put a zip in.