Brace yourself…. this is gonna be a long one!
I recently signed up for a stall at the Guernsey Arts Sunday taking place on the 9th of June 2019 along the Seafront in St Peter Port. I’ve never been a market stall holder and am full of mixed emotions including being extremely excited and on the opposite scale very nervous.
I’ve not written a blog post in quite a while as I have been SUPER busy trying to do as many of the ideas on my list of “things to make for the market”. Unless you’ve been following the Facebook or Instagram feeds, you’ll have no idea about the things I’ve been up to. Equally, I didn’t want to give too much away on the net so that I can create an air of mystery, so that you’d have no option but to come down to the seafront and see for yourself what I’ve been up to.
As mentioned above however, as I have shared some items on the social media platforms and to avoid having a longer post after the event to catch up, I thought I’d share with you what’s on my agenda so far…
*Heart Cushion
I’ve made about a dozen of these sweethearts. 3-D, crocheted in Amigurumi style using Extra-chunky yarn and a BIG crochet hook, I just LOVE how these turned out. The heart fills your arms as you pick it up and it makes for the most amazing hug buddy when you’re in need. 🙂
*Tealight candle holders
I came across a stash of jars with handles on at a local craft store. 18 to be exact. I was suddenly struck by an idea of turning these into lacey tealight holders. Each jar cover has been made in different colours and I’ve also created different patterns for each one. With the soft colours and lacey crochet designs, they make for really pretty little lights to dot about your home, creating lace-like pattern reflections on the walls. I plan to make more covered jars, using recycled jars from home as you can see from the one picture, makes even a simple bouquet of garden flowers look like a piece of art.
Sweetpea crochet blanket
I follow Sweetpea family crochet on Instagram and around Easter time, saw one of her posts about a beautiful blanket she designed. I immediately went onto Knitting Network’s web page and ordered the pack which includes pattern and all the yarn needed to make the blanket. It arrived on time for me to make over Easter Weekend.
*Crochet Lampshade
Another item which I could not find a pattern for and I really wanted one for myself, is a crochet lampshade. I struggled with this one I must say. No pattern, I had to crochet this “freestyle”, making up the next row as I went along. It took AGES. I probably frogged it about 100 times, but with perseverance, I eventually managed to make my very own crochet lampshade. I haven’t made any others, but I will be taking it with on show at the market and with some luck, someone might want to order one and even more luck I’d be able to reproduce it in a lot less time!
*Nox’s cat bed
Again, a one off that I’ll be taking with is this handmade cat bed as a “for order” item. As well as preparing for the market, I’ve also been very excitedly making preparations for a kitten. Currently, just over 3 weeks old (the picture was taken at 2 weeks old) I have a little while to wait yet before I can bring him/her home as its best kittens stay as long as possible with their mum. I’m pretty sure I’m going through some sort of nesting phase 🙂 as I’ve been distracted somewhat by making sure I have everything I need for a fur baby. I’ve crocheted a bed for the kitten in shades of grey using a tough cotton yarn for the exterior basket and a soft fluffy yarn for the interior. I’ve also added a layer of soft cotton cushion filling to make an extra squishy soft seat for Nox. (We’ve named the black kitten Nox because it is Latin for “night” and is also a Harry Potter term for “lights out”) Both yarns have their own difficulties when it comes to crocheting and both quite expensive. I’m not too sure if people will pay out much for a cat bed, but when its homemade and made with love, I’m hoping someone will also appreciate the cat bed and place an order too.
Suzzie the Unicorn
As you will know, I have designed my own soft toys before. Over the last few months I’ve been thinking about making a unicorn. I didn’t have much time though, so I searched the world wide web and found a pattern of a unicorn which I immediately fell in love with. I’m fairly confident that every girl in Guernsey will love to own a unicorn just like her. I purchased the pattern from Tatsiana on her Etsy shop if you’d like to make one yourself. The pattern is easy to follow and I’m quite pleased with the end result. I found making the hair the longest part of the journey, but it really is worthwhile pushing on to complete this sweet little toy. The yarn I used is different to that on the pattern, but I could not find it stocked in the UK and so I used Paintbox yarn for the unicorn, and ordered the required hair yarn all the way from Europe. As it took me a while to make, I’ll also be taking orders for her at the market so that I can have more time over the next couple of weeks concentrating on works showcasing my own designs.
Hopefully I’ve mentioned most of the items already featured on the social media accounts. I’m hoping to take lots of photos at the market and will share with you a full list of items made and let you know how my first market experience goes. If you’re a follower, living in Guernsey, please do come along to the Seafront Sunday market on 9th June 2019. It’ll be lovely to meet my followers!
See you there!
Nina
Leave a Reply