Bits ‘n bobs

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I have over the years not only made blankets and soft toys. I enjoy making things that I believe will be of use to the recipient. Handmade gifts are always so special – and I love being able to give something to someone, made by me, knowing that they will use and love it.

I’ve listed some of the things I’ve made for friends and family (not in any particular order) – who knows maybe you’ll be inspired to make your own gifts too 🎀

Wrist warmers:

I’ve made several versions of this “Inca hat” which I originally made for a dear friend who was emigrating to New Zealand and I just know she loved this style a hat.

Talking about gloves – I’ve even won a work competition for the most creative *Christmas gloves at our work Christmas dinner one year…

* Christmas gloves

And the next year won the Christmas (massive tree) hand made *Snow man bauble… And even got orders for them from my colleagues! How cool was that!

Christmas is my favourite time of the year – and of course – involves gifts for children… Making these hats as winter warmers for the little kids in my life was great fun – except the agony I had of trying to keep the antlers upright on such soft yarn 😃 But the kids loved these – and I’m sure I will be remembered for a long time as the lady who made them those silly hats ☺️

Christmas is great time to make all sorts of things. I always garnish my gifts with handmade tags and little special trinkets. Something I suppose I was inspired by my mom and I always remember – no matter what the gift – recipients would be guaranteed of having a very pretty gift with lots of trimmings and things (for example crochet stars which they could use on their tree the following year)…

The love for Chirstmas and crochet – I decided to make me (and my mom) a Christmas tree skirt. My mom really loved the 2nd one so that one went to her last year as her Christmas gift from me…

When it comes to fashion, I suppose I do have a rather unique sense – and the 70’s top I made myself was certainly ‘unique’. I used a pattern found on Etsy, but I had to adjust it to fit me – I think it was meant for a lean slim short girl in the 70’s rather than a woman approaching her 40’s… never the less, the pattern was a little mystifying too – ended abruptly with no particular instruction for the back, so I duplicated the front for the back and was very pleased with the result! The costs and time involved making this top – I cannot justify making any for sale, but worth a go if you wanted something special for yourself!

I have previously made this Summer top too, and I must admit – I quite like making clothes – its especially rewarding and a huge ego boost to admit “oh this thing?… I didn’t buy it – I made it”

I’ve also made myself a very warm Cowl neck poncho – I used a pattern, but again added my own flair to it.

I mentioned before that I had a break from crochet… I was probably exploring all avenues of creativity.

In 2003-2004 I was commissioned by Vets4Pets to design *murals for their new vet surgeries popping up over the UK. I was asked to create something with a “uniformed identity” but fun – for the “play areas” found in all their waiting rooms. I decided to stick with 3 characters – dog, cat and bunny. After some research on the locations of the surgeries, I took inspiration of the local attractions / what made the location “unique” to create a scene on the walls which would be playful and fun. For example, Darlington Vets4Pets – there is a brick statue in Darlington of a steam engine, as according to the research I did at the time, Darlington was the home of the steam engine… naturally, the bunny, cat and dog had to be featured on a steam engine shaped just like the brick statue! Unfortunately I don’t have photo’s of all the murals I did, but here are some that I have done…