#Craftblogclub Icons

Tweet I've been a busy bee, creating blog buttons for the #craftblogclub community. I've got six options so far, and a poll underneath, but obviously if you want to make any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment!

Option One

Option Two

Option Three

Option Four

Option Five

Option Six

What do you think?

Which option do you prefer?
	One
	Two
	Three
	Four
	Five
	Six
	None of them
pollcode.com free polls

#Craftblogclub Secret Santa

Tweet Earlier this year, I took part in two challenges as part of the #craftblogclub community on Twitter. In September I knitted a notebook cover, and in October I made a Halloween lantern. For Christmas we had a Secret Santa challenge, and we were tasked to craft something for a named recipient!

I chose to hand knit a cowl, or scarflette depending on your chosen terminology. Using two strands of DK yarn (King Cole Merino Blend DK and Sirdar Softspun DK) and 6mm needles, I created this little wonder using rice stitch.

The pattern itself is pretty easy. Holding the two strands, simply cast on 53 stitches.

On row 1, P1, *K1 tbl, p1; rep from * to end .

On row 2, knit all stitches, and repeat these two rows until the work is long enough to wrap around your neck!

Near the end, I created buttonholes by casting off two stitches in three evenly-spaced places on a right side row, and then casting on two stitches in the corresponding places on the wrong side.

Knit six more rows of rice stitch and bind off. Choose three buttons to fit the holes and sew into place!

I really enjoyed making it and I know from Twitter that Denise received it safe and sound, so I wish her all the best with her cosy new cowl! Scarflettes like these are really cool because they don't get in the way like full-length scarves can, and they keep your neck nice and warm. They're also a quick knit!

We were also supposed to post pictures of what we'd received, and this is what I got on Monday! It's a truly beautiful gift and is now happily hanging on my tree with my metallic stars and Venetian masks. The colour scheme matches my usual palette perfectly, and I love the fact that it is personalised! My secret Santa has been very secret indeed so if you made this beautiful item, let me know so I can thank you properly!

Craftblogclub October Challenge Reveal

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As we rapidly rush towards the end of October, it's now time to finally show off my product for October's #craftblogclub challenge. The challenge, discussed here on Emma Berry's blog, was to create a Halloween decoration using a craft we'd never tried before. Naturally, for me, that ruled out digital artwork, knitting, crochet, and jewellery. Plus, I also wasn't sure entirely what could be classified as a decoration. Should I make bunting? Confetti? Weird decorations for a seasonal take on a Christmas tree, this time decked out with spiders and bats?

I considered making felt decorations, as my sewing is a craft I need to improve and could therefore be considered a new craft, and also a papercraft response, but as the days began to run out, I decided to have a go at making something out of a glass jar to save time. My mum's marmalade comes in gorgeous straight-sided hexagonal jars, and I thought I'd use one for something. I did want to make a little witch and a cat out of polymer clay to do an updated version of a witch bottle, but I didn't have time, so instead I decided to do a twist on the traditional Halloween pumpkin.

I've always wanted to carve a pumpkin, but as I don't actually like the vegetable itself, it seems like it would be a waste to buy one and throw away the parts I didn't use. So I decided to paint onto a jar, turning the transparent glass orange, except for the clear 'cut out' face. That way, I can burn a tea light inside and get the feel of a pumpkin without having to cut one up. I can also put it on the windowsill, something I wouldn't be able to do with a pumpkin.

Sure, the paintwork looks a bit shoddy, and I need to drill some more holes in the lid to make sure enough oxygen can get inside to keep the flame burning, but I think it's not entirely terrible for a first attempt!

What do you think?

Handknitted Notebook Cover

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I've talked a bit about the new Twitter community I've found, #craftblogclub, which meets on Tuesday evening between 7 and 8pm UK time. Our fabulous founder, Emma Berry, set us all a creative challenge for September - I finished this last week but it's taken me until now to post! Our challenge was to create a notebook cover using whichever craft we liked. As much as a sewn cover might have been quicker, sewing has never been (and I suspect will never be) my forte, so I decided to knit one. I even went so far as to concoct a pattern myself.

This is the first time I've written a pattern, so I hope it makes sense. If you want to adapt it, bear in mind the central chevron pattern is worked in blocks of twelve stitches and sixteen rows, but you can always add more stocking stitch rows for the flaps, or more for the spine, if your notebook is bigger than mine. You'll also need to take yarn into account - I've used 100% acrylic DK as I had some lying around - I didn't have enough so part of the back flap is knitted in a different colour, but a 100g will easily be enough. My notebook measures 21cm by 16cm and is 1cm thick.

Using 4mm needles, cast on 48 stitches using your preferred method.
Row 1 - Knit.
Row 2 - Purl.
Repeat these rows another eighteen times so you have 20 rows of stocking stitch.

Now begin the pattern for the front cover. There is a moss stitch edging so on each right side row, add (k1, p1, k1, p1, k1) to either end of the chevron pattern. On each wrong side row, add (p1, k1, p1, k1, p1).
Row 21 - Moss stitch band, (yfwd, skpo, k10)x3, moss stitch band.
Row 22 - Moss stitch band, p36, moss stitch band.
Row 23 - Moss stitch band, (K1, yfwd, skpo, k7, k2tog, yfwd)x3, moss stitch band.
Row 24 - Row 22 - Moss stitch band, p36, moss stitch band.
Row 25 - Moss stitch band, (K2, yfwd, skpo, k5, k2tog, yfwd, k1)x3, moss stitch band.
Row 26 - Moss stitch band, p36, moss stitch band.
Row 27 - Moss stitch band, (K3, yfwd, skpo, k3, k2tog, yfwd, k2)x3, moss stitch band.
Row 28 - Moss stitch band, p36, moss stitch band.
Row 29 - Moss stitch band, (K6, yfwd, skpo, k4)x3, moss stitch band.
Row 30 - Moss stitch band, p36, moss stitch band.
Row 31 - Moss stitch band, (K3, k2tog, yfwd, k3, yfwd, skpo, k2)x3, moss stitch band.
Row 32 - Moss stitch band, p36, moss stitch band.
Row 33 - Moss stitch band, (K4, k2tog, yfwd, k1, yfwd, skpo, k3)x3, moss stitch band.
Row 34 - Moss stitch band, p36, moss stitch band.
Row 35 - Moss stitch band, (K2, k2tog, yfwd, k5, yfwd, skpo, k1)x3, moss stitch band.
Row 36 - Moss stitch band, p36, moss stitch band.

Repeat this block three times - the pattern block should be 48 rows. That finishes the pattern for the main cover. Knit ten rows of stocking stitch, continuing the moss stitch pattern at either edge.

Repeat the above pattern block of 48 rows, continuing the moss stitch edge, for the back cover. Knit twenty more rows of stocking stitch for the inside back flap, and cast off. With right sides facing, sew the edge of the flap to the cover at either side for the back, and repeat for the front. Turn the right side out and slip onto your notebook!

666th post - Handmade Necklaces

Tweet Yes, it amuses me that according to Blogger, this is my 666th post! Who would have thought it? Anyway, inspired as ever by my continuing attempts at making jewellery, and the fabulous #craftblogclub group on Twitter, I got out my big box of bits and decided to make a couple of necklaces this afternoon. The first is for me, hence the shorter chain as I like pendants to be more like chokers.

It's comprised of a heart charm and an envelope charm, with the addition of a wing and a key charm on shorter lengths of chain. I've never really made 'dangle' pendants, or necklaces which involve more than one pendant, but I'm quite pleased with how this one turned out. I liked it so much that I decided to make another one with a twist.

This one features the same envelope charm, with the addition of the same key and wing charms, but I also added beads to the design, particularly two burgundy beads that are more of a deep purple, and a single pearl coloured bead to add some contrast. I picked these colours as the whole necklace has an antique bronze finish, and I thought the colour scheme worked well. The chain is slightly longer, at approximately 18", but the difference with this one is it's actually for sale. It's £8, plus postage to wherever you happen to be. Email me at icy (at) icysedgwick (dot) com if you're interested!

But now for the big question. Which do you prefer - silver or gold?

Using Silver Clay

Tweet I've always enjoyed messing about with anything that lets me use my hands, and I was a big fan of Fimo Soft for a long time. I've been making jewellery for a little while now, and I always enjoy finding new materials or techniques to try. I was browsing available one-day workshops around Newcastle when I came across a Silver Clay class at the Mushroom Works. I've known about metal clay for a while but haven't been able to get my head around how it works, so I thought I'd go along and give it a go.

Silver clay, in this case Art Clay Silver Standard, looks just like regular polymer clay when it first comes out of the packet. You can roll it out, cut out shapes, all the usual jazz you'd expect from clay. I made these shapes by pressing the clay into silicon moulds, the type of thing you might use with sugar paste for cake decorating. The ammonite on the left came out looking like that, but I added the last of my clay as a tiny ball onto the heart on the right.

Next stage is to dry the clay - we used heat guns but you could leave it out overnight. Once it's dry, you can use emery paper to smooth off the edges and buff out any imperfections or fingerprints, and you can use a pin drill to make the holes. Then it needs to be fired.

We used a kiln, in this case at 650°C, and it comes out white (you can also use a blowtorch or a gas stove). The pieces also shrink by up to 10% because the binding agent holding the silver particles together burns off in the firing process, leaving behind 99.99% silver. Using a brass brush, you brush off the white coating, revealing the silver underneath. An agate burnisher helps to buff it up to a mirror shine.

Next, I used the pin drill again to make sure the hole was big enough, and I attached a jump ring so I could hang it from a cord. A length of 3mm black satin ribbon helped turn the heart into this choker...

And I repeated the process for the ammonite (which I only realised looked like Ursula's shell from The Little Mermaid after I was finished).

It still baffles me how I could now have two pendants made of silver which started life looking like clay, but it's definitely something that I want to experiment with further. I think I'll try the copper next as it's cheaper, and while it can't be fired on the stove, it can be fired with a blowtorch, making it a more accessible route into metal clay jewellery!

Have you ever used metal clay?

Icy Goes Owl Daft

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Anyone who follows me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or Google+ will know I make things. In fact, I make a lot of things. I've been knitting since December 2008, crocheting since around January this year, and making jewellery since around April. That's not to mention the twenty years I've been taking photos, fiddling with Fimo soft or fixing broken clothes. Yet I haven't been blogging about it.

I think part of the problem comes from the fact that all of the blogging gurus originally told you to keep one topic to a blog. According to them, your baking buddies wouldn't be interested in your DIY tips, and your fiction writing friends wouldn't care about fishing. That's one reason why I originally put all of my design related stuff on a separate blog. In trying to promote my writing, I didn't think anyone would be interested in anything I'd made. But due to the way a lot of us now tag and categorise our blog posts, there has been a sea change, and I asked my favourite blogging guru, Kristen Lamb, if I should keep my writing and crafting separate. She said no - you never know which of your writer buddies might also love knitting, and how many of your knitting friends might like your writing.

I also got involved with the inaugural #craftblogclub chat on Twitter this evening, organised by Emma Berry, and decided I'd start blogging about my crafty endeavours. After all, they take up a lot of my time, so why wouldn't I talk about them?

I thought I'd blog about my most recent creation, Sidney (the little owl pictured up there). I originally got the parts as a kit from Let's Knit magazine, and all I had to supply was the needles, the stuffing, and the time. I took the yarn to London on the train last week when I went to the Pompeii exhibition at the British Museum, and ended up knitting the whole thing - I finally assembled him on Sunday. I'm rather proud of him!

I love owls. I've got owl ornaments in my room, a satchel I got in Bonn that's covered in them, various necklaces with owl motifs, and now a cuddly one. As much as I love puffins, I think owls are possibly my favourite birds, particularly snowy owls (Hedwig FTW) and barn owls. They often represent wisdom, in part due to their ability to see in all directions, and they're the bird sacred to Athene. The ancient Greeks even featured them on coins to keep a watchful eye on commerce. English folklore hasn't been so kind, with superstitions tying them to death as heralds of an imminent passing, and tales linking owls to death also appear among First Nation tribes in North America. Regardless of their associations, I think they're magnificent birds, and I'm proud I've now made one!

Self Publishing Is Nothing New

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No matter what blog you read, or tweet stream you follow, the Internet appears to be buzzing with various proclamations about the state of publishing, ranging from the so-called death of print (which, technically, Dr Egon Spengler predicted in Ghostbusters, way back in 1984) to the so-called 'revolution' of self-publishing. I'm not quite sure how to break it to you, but self-publishing is NOT a new invention. Not only have people been doing it for years via so-called "vanity presses", but authors as diverse as Beatrix Potter, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe and Leo Tolstoy have all dipped their toe in the murky waters of self-publishing. The only thing different between then and now is the format - and I'm pretty sure that if Smashwords was around in 1901, then Beatrix Potter would have had The Tale of Peter Rabbit out in various electronic formats, instead of the 250 limited editions with which she had to make do. In many cases, these "big names" chose to initially self publish because they couldn't find a publisher who would take their work on. By contrast, many writers nowadays choose to self publish without even trying the traditional route first, swayed by the lure of the profit margin.

The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. 1896
© The British Library Board

Other blogs are afire with talk of independent publishing presses, or authors setting up their own companies through which to publish their work. Again, this is nothing new. William Morris, a key player in the Arts and Crafts movement in Victorian England, established the Kelmscott Press in 1891 – over the following five years, it would produce 18,000 copies spread across 53 titles. He modelled the books on fifteenth century texts, with attention lavished on the relationship between type and illustration. Each element of production – the paper, the type, the letter spacing etc – was just as important as the next, and the books proved to inspire better production standards among the generally poor commercial presses. Some of the Kelmscott books were by the likes of Coleridge or Keats, making Morris an independent publisher, although some of the books were his own, making him a self publisher. Either way, the Press highlights the emphasis on artistry and aesthetics rather than the mass-produced or commercial product.

On Saturday, I went to visit his Red House in Bexleyheath, Kent - now cared for by the National Trust. He and his wife Jane lived there between 1860 and 1865, and the house provided a communal atmosphere for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. This was an entire art movement originally founded in order to operate against the mainstream grain, to pursue its own ideals in the face of accepted opinion, and to place a belief in art above that of commerce. True, many of the artists went on to become rich or famous after the work of the Brotherhood became popular, but they never lost sight of their purpose – to create art that didn't necessarily conform to what the Royal Academy said could be art. Indeed, isn't that what independent publishers should be trying to do? Shouldn't they be trying to step outside the boundaries delineated by the established authorities, and using this reclaimed space to promote art?

I'm not for a second suggesting that all independent or self published titles need to be high literature, but art can and does mean many different things. Indeed, a pride in aesthetics, and care taken in quality control, would go a long way towards ridding the Internet of poorly formatted and poorly written self-published books which do nothing to persuade people that a self-published work is as worthy as one put out by a traditional company.

Fate, holding the Wheel of Fortune
Edward Burne-Jones

Indeed, if we're going to speak of William Morris, then we can't avoid the Arts and Crafts Movement, which is usually accepted to have lasted between 1860 and 1910. The Red House, designed by Morris and architect Philip Webb, is believed to be the first Arts and Crafts house. The movement was principally concerned with a fascination for days gone by, for times when skilled craftsmen would make buildings or furnishings. Of course, this was partly as a result of the Industrial Revolution, which divorced people from the idea of a "master craftsmen" since the new technological processes made people simply "cogs" in the machine. The Industrial Revolution made mass-production possible, but that just made the new products too uniform. The "human touch" was missing. The movement sought to restore this touch, and so get back to a more honest form of design that celebrated the skill of the maker.

Of course, many of today's self or independently published writers clearly desire commercial success and rightly so, yet the Arts and Crafts ethic can still be applied to contemporary endeavours. Write a book that is so fresh and so original that it towers above the “book-by-numbers” often churned out by the big names. Go for the handmade aesthetic but do it for the sake of the art, not because you’re trying to save money. Love what you’re doing and take care to do it well – don’t just slap something together because the Internet says you can become a millionaire with 99c e-books. With its “one click to put online”, e-books are almost mass-produced in themselves, so make sure yours is a well-made, well-presented and most importantly well-written BOOK rather than a poor quality commercial PRODUCT.

There's no reason why something commercial can't be art as well.