Just call me numpty!

Yeah - Numpty!  And let me tell you why......

On Monday my Laptop, very suddenly, started playing up on me.  It was actually as I was sitting working at it.  No ryhme, or reason, just random messing about.

I opened my banking screen and it just gave me so many windows that I was struggling to shut them down.  I managed to in the end, and opened a new window to type in "Giff Gaff" to put some credit on my Dad's phone, when it just started typing the most random array of letters instead.

So, whenever I have an issue with my computer, the very first thing Hubster (who is a computer genius) says is, "Have you done a restart?"

I did a restart.

Only thing was, I couldn't log back in as those random letters kept happening into my password box and all I was seeing was PASSWORD NOT RECOGNISED!

Yeah, thanks.

For the rest of the day I was left with my iPad.  At least I had some access, but there was prints-outs I needed for class on my laptop, and I cannot access my website to do any work from my iPad either.  I was not a happy bunny.

Hubster came in late from work that night and although he had a look at it, there wasn't the time to investigate fully so it had to be left until the following day.

Well, it was like loosing my right arm!  When and how did we get so dependant on these machines?  It's a little bit scary really.   And actually, I was starting to get a bit nervy when I thought about all the stuff I had on my laptop that I might potentially loose  (I am notoriously bad at doing back-ups, even though I get nagged to all the time).

When Hubster came home that evening, he had a job on his hands. My Laptop is quite new, although probably out of warrenty, it still has all the protective plastic sticky coverings on it, even on the screen, and it barely gets moved, so I knew it shouldn't be damaged.  And as for virus's, I am very very well trained not to download things or click on things I don't know.

Bless him, he struggled to get into it - managed, struggled to get to the control panel - managed, couldn't work it out, but presumed it was a keyboard damage issue.  He brought in a new keyboard - didn't work, he removed all connectors to the keyboard (he used much more technical terms than that), but that didn't work either.

In the end I got bored at watching him so went downstairs to watch TV and crochet - I was just getting in the way I felt  ;)

An hour or so later, he wandered down, "Found it" he said, almost nonchalantly.

"You have???  It's fixed??  You mended it??"    (I was quite excited to say the least)

"Hmmmmm", he said, come upstairs and I will show you what it was.

So off I trots, happy as a pig in poo that my Laptop is sorted.

Once in my office he says, "Hold out your arms", so I did, puzzled, as he piled them high with some crochet mags, a couple of meters of fabric and some balls of yarn.  It was a bit of a Crackerjack moment, all I needed was a cabbage or two and I would have been sorted.   You remember Crackerjack, right?  If not, watch this.....

I digress.  So there I am, arms outstretched, laden down with craft stuff, and feeling a bit cocky if truth be known.  If that man was going to try and tell me that I had been piling stuff up on my laptop keyboard he was very wrong, because this stuff was not on my work desk, it was over there.... (and I flicked my head to point, having no free hands) on my work table............ ......

Uh oh, as I flicked my head to point, I noticed that there, on my work table, right at the bottom of what would have been a pile of magazines, material and yarns, there was a keyboard.  A wireless keyboard. A wireless keyboard that was talking to my Laptop and over-ruling any key touches.

One of the magazines must have slipped and pressed down on the control key, which was making windows pop up, keys being typed randomly and all sorts of other nonsense.

He had removed the laptop from my craft room into his office where it magically started working properly, when he took it back in it played up again - that's when he realised.

What a numpty.  He's never going to let me live it down.  Good job he is so good natured  ;)

October Kid's Club activities at Hobbycraft

This October I will be running Halloween themed workshops at Hobbycraft in Carlisle.

I am running two consecutive weeks as we live on the border of Scotland and the schools have different term dates.  The first week should work for Scottish school goers, and the second for English.

No booking necessary, just roll up and enjoy the activities but please allow an hour for each activity, in other words please do not turn up 15 minutes before the end or there will not be enough time to complete your craft.   

Each activity is £1.50 per item, per child.

The workshops on offer are:

Monday 20th & Monday 27th October - 10.30am-12.30pm.

Shrink Plastic Keyrings.

Tuesday 21st & Tuesday 28th October - 10.30am-12.30pm.

Felt sewed shapes.

Wednesday 22nd & Thursday 30th October - 10.30am-12.30pm. (PLEASE NOTE: there is no class on Wed 29th, instead TWO classes will run on Thursday 30th.  Come along and do both activities if you like.)

Beaded Bangles

.

Thursday 23rd & Thursday 30th October - 10.30am-12.30pm.

Decopatch Lantern Jars.

Friday 24th & Friday 31st October - 10.30am-12.30pm.

Pom Pom Spiders.

Remember to pop the dates into your diary and come along with your little one (your older ones too!) and have some fun.

Infinite Drop-Stitch Scarf/Snood

A little while ago I finished this infinite scarf, but just got round to photographing it, coz I am bad like that  :)

Made from a glorious yarn in a treasury of jewelley colours with a golden sparkle to add a bit of glamour.

So, you can fling it over your neck and wear it in a long loop.

Or you can double it up and wear it as a tighter, cosier neck-warmer type snood.

It worked up very quickly as it is a drop stitch pattern.

I might make it into a kit  :)

Puffy Pom-Pom Blanket - Part 1

A good while ago I was given three large balls of pom pom yarn to play with - one pink and two rainbow.

I have had this yarn before and ended up throwing it in the bin is disgust as the blooming thing gets knotted so easily!  The pom-poms just don't flow past each other as normal yarn does and before you know it you are all in a knot.

Anyway, three balls, what to do?

I just decided to see what happened with it when crocheting.  In the past I have only knit with this yarn, so this was a whole new learning curve for me.

I decided to Double Crochet  (UK)  using each gap between pom-poms to make the stitch.  

It's a very chunky effect, solid almost, way too hot for a blanket... more suited to a floor mat in my opinion, or at least something to lay on, and as I had three balls I thought it would just make a baby size floor mat - squashy, comfy, cute and warm.

Wasn't long though before I got in a big fat knotty mess.

Poor Hubster got the job of untangling it all.  He does this, without fuss, for two reasons.  1: because he loves me, and 2: because he knows if I try to do it myself I will end up having a paddy and tossing it about making it in even more of a mess before demanding that he "sorts it out".  (He's a good guy that one)

So, one ball gave me this  (hook placed for size comparison)

So, now for the rainbow edging.............  notice the support socks, I had a little procedure done when I was making this so had to wear them, flattering don't you think?

I will be pleased when this one is finished as it's quite a challenging yarn to work with.

Learning Peyote Stitch - a free tutorial

Peyote stitch is lovely to do, and so so addictive.  By learning this stitch you could go on to make some gorgeous items, such as:

You can get 'odd count' or 'even count' Peyote stitch patterns. Even count is easier as you just work from side to side, whereas odd count you have to weave your thread through every other end to get to your beginning bead again.  This is a tutorial for EVEN COUNT, which means you begin with an even amount of beads. So, let's begin......

1. Thread a needle with a meter of Beading Thread.

2. Anchor a seed bead onto the end of your thread by sewing through it three or four times. (You will cut this off later, it will not get used within the beadwork)

3. String on an even number of seed Beads.

4. Leaving an approx 15cm tail between your anchor bead and your work, add another seed bead to your needle and missing the last bead on your thread sew BACK  through the second last one.

5. Pick up another seed bead and again miss a bead and sew through the next one.

6. Repeat Step 5, to the end of the row. This will form a row of ‘turrets’.

 7. Turn your work around and work back in the same way, picking up a bead and sewing into each ‘turret’ to the end.

To add a new thread....

You will no doubt need to add thread throughout your work, is it better working with a shorter length of thread than getting in knots with long lengths.

Do finish a thread off, simply weave through a few beads (diagonally, take care always to go through a bead and not over it or your thread will show), then picking up the thread inbetween two beads do a half-hitch knot (before pulling the thread all the way through, put your needle through the loop and pull tight).  Weave through a few more beads before trimming off.

Add a new thread in the same way, but weave it through until you come back to the point that you need to start at.

8.  Repeat these rows until your work measures your required length.

To follow a pattern....

A peyote stitch pattern will come to you as a chart and will look something like this.

You need to start the same as this tutorial, but in Step 3, you will thread onto your beading thread the beads as shown in the first TWO ROWS of the pattern.  For example, in this particular pattern the first two rows are marked with the letter "A" and are black.

The next row in this particular pattern will now be Row 3, which is marked with a B and is a white bead.

It might be useful for you to photocopy your pattern and mark off the rows as you work.  Photocopying it will mean you do not destroy the original and you have it to work on again.

So there you go, have a play and see what you come up with.

If you would like to download this pattern in PDF format, you can find a version HERE.

Courgette fritters recipe

I love free food, I love free food more than I love any other food, coz it's FREE!

So when my Auntie gave me this 'courgette'  (some may call it a marrow)  I knew I had a few days of courgette eating ahead of me.

As well as free food, I love fritters.  Ahh come on, who doesn't love a fritter?  Whether it be a Spam fritter like you had in school, or a pakora from your favourite Indian restaurant, fritters are good 'womb' food (warm, comforting and yummy).

Fritters would therefore be one of my dishes to use up this monster courgette.

I cut off the skin, scooped out the seeds and grated the flesh with my Tefal Fresh Express machine.

I then patted the courgette with a clean tea-towel to remove as much moisture as I could.

 (Question:  Why do recipes tell you to use a CLEAN tea-towel?   Would anyone ever think to use one that they had just washed up with?  Or cleaned the worktops with?  Just interested)

Into a bowl I shook a bit of plain flour - no idea of measurements, just a few tablespoons worth, and added some salt and ground black pepper.

Then mixed it to a thick paste with some fizzy water from the fridge.   Fizzy water seems to give a lighter batter due to the bubbles in it.

When that is done chuck in whatever you wish.  In this fritter I popped in some chopped black olives and some chopped sun-dried tomatoes along with the grated courgette.

any veg works as long as it is either pre-cooked  (leftovers) or grated thinly.

Give it a good mix, then heat up some oil in a frying pan and blob the mixture into the pan pressing down with the back of a lifter to flatten slightly.

Be patient and let the underside cook before flipping over, otherwise it will all fall apart.

Serve.  (my Auntie also gave me some fresh corn on the cobs too, so it was a very free dinner   :)

This recipe is part of #ShareYourTeaTuesday.  please feel free to join in by liking my Facebook page and posting pictures of your tea each Tuesday.

ps: The Amazon links I've scattered throughout the page are affiliated  if you click and buy I might get a few pennies.  

Crochet Crazy Chick

This is the new design I was working on last week.

I have a list of stuff I want to create for my kits, but this was not on them at all,  NO IDEA where she came from, she just popped herself right into my head and wouldn't go away.

So, grab it and run, I thought, and the "Crazy Chick" range was born.  I am sure more will be added in time, but for now, meet....

Glenda

She is designed to sit on the edge of a shelf, or bookcase, swinging her legs casually (whilst she silently whistles a happy tune - but you can't hear that as you are human).

You can buy her in kit form HERE, or if you fancy just the pattern then you can buy that HERE.

Owl Patchwork Project

I blogged about these beautiful fat quarters way back in June, having bought them for a specific reason.

Only months later I am finally getting around to working with them.

There are 6 owl colours and 6 stripe colours.  Each panel I am making consist of 3 owls and 3 stripes, so the plan right now is to make a piece with 6 panels in, each coloured material will have it's turn at each shape - does that make sense?

This is panel one, using pinks, whites and golds.

Then I add panel two, using navy, lemon and aquas.

Panel three added.

And panel four....

But right now other things have taken over and this project has to take a back seat unfortunately  :(   but I will be back on it real soon.  A laborious commission I am working on is nearly finished thankfully, which will free up some time.

In the meantime, I bought some more fabric for a second one  :)    Haha, I am just too naughty for words!

Sea Creatures challenge at "Crochet & Craic"

You might already know that I run a fortnightly Crochet & Craic  (gossip) group at Hobbycraft, in Carlisle.

Every  month we have a little challenge going, and last month it was "Sea Creatures".

We had two entries this time, a fabulous mermaid from Vera - made from her own head and without any pattern.

And a sea anemone from Pat, again without a pattern.

Aren't they just fab??

This month the theme is Halloween.  Join us if you like, the next one is on Monday 13th October, 5.30-7.30pm.  It is a tutored group which costs £5.00 - bring the project you need help with.

Hope to see you there   :)