Cup of Tea & a Yarn: christchurch

Showing posts with label christchurch. Show all posts

Sunday, 17 February 2013

Hooks are flying!

Literally...
I've been popping about the country quite a bit recently, and that means time spent at airports and on the plane is extra crocheting time :-)

I've finished 3 more shawls for the Felt Shop plus two shawls and a blanket that were asked for, as well as the usual couple of dozen hearts to be hung from random trees for Valentines Day (oorrrrrrr).

3 shawls in the Felt Shop

Now for something new.
I'm attempting a cardigan.
So far I've pulled it apart four times, tried 3 different patterns and now I'm winging it. It's based loosely on a pattern from my 70's Family Crochet Book, I'm saying loosely because after I'd finished the back I realised the stitch pattern was all wrong and the pattern I'm 'kind of not really' following is for a jumper not a cardi....

The yarn is lovely it's a very fine mohair and silk mix, I'm also aware that it may expand quite a bit when it's blocked so I'm really trying not to add extra stitches or it'll end up being a very holey coat for someone like Hagrid!

More flying this week, so I might get it finished by next weekend. I have high hopes :-)

Friday, 4 May 2012

Container Looks Lovely

I talked late last year about a massive yarn bomb taking place in Christchurch:

"To protect us from more rock fall, massive shipping containers are now lining the Sumner and Redcliffs strreets. It is necessary however not a beautiful sight, but we can change it!

Container Love is about prettying up these metal giant boxes.
The idea is to turn the unpleasant look of the containers into a positive feature for people to enjoy and comment on.
The present project is a GIANT CONTAINER COSY made entirely out of knitted or crocheted squares"

Today it was finished

Container Love

I see a couple of my squares :-)

If you're in the Christchurch/Sumner area I'd suggest it might be quite a cool thing to go and have a look at

Sunday, 5 June 2011

Squared Away in May

I did the Square-a-day -in- May 'a-long' from a Ravelry group, and I've shown some of the results here. I got off with a hiss and a roar, and you know.. I always do this... off too quick and then it stops. I ended up finishing 20 of the 30 squares and I put them all together and gave them to a lovely couple of ladies who are making blankets for Christchurch before I just stopped totally!

I've also got a new addiction in Yarn Bombing, Yarn Graffiti, aka Guerilla Knitting and some other fancy names. It's International Yarn Bombing day next Saturday (11th June) and there is loads going on around the world, keep a look out for something in your area.

I've set up a separate blog to keep up with my bombing , so if you fancy please go and visit Her Hook to see some amazing sights such as this:

Thursday, 7 April 2011

Faeries & Squares

I've been spending any extra money in the Handmade4Chch Trademe shop, I've bought some presents for friends and family for their birthdays, and I bought myself this fantastic faery headdress made by PixieMoon. It's very cool and I've been wearing it everyday since I got it!

Crocheting stuff has been busy as well. Today in the mail I got some gorgeous NZ Wool from Skeinz which I'm going to use to make slippers for my mum to take to her sisters in the UK and USA when she visits in June.

And I've just joined a CAL (Crochet Along) on Ravelry to make a square everyday for the month of May. So I should have a gorgeous throw/blanket for the winter months :-) If you fancy having a go - check out the Hooked on Handmade blog, it has all the info on it

Sunday, 27 February 2011

What to do?

Watching the news and feeling helpless

I donated my spare cash to the Red Cross

Some lovely ladies have set up a TradeMe account to auction off crafts so I've sent them all the berets I had left

Felt.co.nz are talking about setting up FeltAid again to raise money, however with them based in Christchurch it's been hard for them to organise, and so they've suggested we label things in our shop with FeltAid in the mean time. I've recently popped 3 pairs of fingerless mittens in the shop which I've labelled FeltAid, which means that all proceeds go the the NZ Red Cross.

Heck I'd give all of everything I've ever made to help, though I think there is only so much crochet New Zealand can take at one time!

Friday, 25 February 2011

O for Awesome and O for Awful

I am in awe of the fantastic spirits of the Christchurch people.

I read the news, I cry.

I watch the news I cry.

For the valour.
For the courage.

I can't comprehend the thought process of (as an example) people who would break into someones' home whilst they are at the cordon area waiting to hear about whether their family members have survived.

Who are these people who look for stuff to steal in a city that is so crushed?

Is it really possible to have such little compassion?

Can people who are there really have no emotional attachment to what has happened?

I have.

And I'm 1020 kilometres away!

And so a glass of wine, whilst I balance the good and amazing against the stupid and shouldn't exisit.
I'll show you the craft stuff another day

Thursday, 16 September 2010

George Felt like Helping Out

www.felt.co.nz has opened a temporary shop to donate handmade items. The proceeds are to go to the New Zealand Red Cross, who are doing loads of fab things in Christchurch to help out those affected by the big earthquake. George felt like he wanted to help out, and here a few of the loads of other fab people who also felt the same.

Miss Olivia Handpain...