Baa baa grey sheep

I've not had a lot to blog about as I've been pretty flipping sheep busy since my last post. I've made loads of them in that time. Massive thanks to all who have purchased them.

The sheep are available in grey and dark grey now, as well as the original cream.

I also got a big batch of stitch markers made.

These markers are all £4.50 each and they come with your choice of fitting - lobster clasp, leverback clasp or ring - so they will work for both knitters and crocheters.

Sheep and stitch markers are available in my shop.

Talking of stitch markers, here's a dark grey sheep one doing his stitch marky thing on my current knitting project.

This is a cable and lace jumper in a leafy green. It's knitted with two strands of yarn - one of DK merino and one of laceweight mohair - for a soft and fluffy finish. The pattern is Urban Romance by Veronika Lindberg from her fab new book Knits to Wear.

I finally finished my other jumper and I absolutely love it. I'll take photos of it when there is some decent light; it's so dull and overcast right now but then it is December and I won't lie, I kind of enjoy the gloom and the greyness of it.

How are your Christmas preparations coming along? I'm pretty much there with the present buying so I just need to wrap them all and post the ones that need sending to people and I also have to write my Christmas cards. Our tree is still in its box in the garage. We keep threatening to put it and all the decorations up but it still hasn't happened. It will, as it always does.

I'm away to the shed now. More sheep and some non-sheep are on the agenda for today. 

Have a good Tuesday!

Baaa!

The other day I was knitting and I was using my sheep stitch marker. He's the original sheep I made over a decade ago now.

The original 'Baaarney' bead

I decided that it was high time that I made a few more sheep so I set about reminding my hands how to make them.

My third attempt at Sheep Bead V2.0

I gave the sheep a little redesign around the head area in order to make my life a bit easier; the first ones I made used to have a tiny bit of 'fleece' on the top of their heads but it was always a faff to do and often resulted in ruined beads so I left it off these ones.

Sheep on mandrels

Obviously the sheep are handmade so no two are truly alike and just the slightest fraction of a millimetre difference in size or positioning of the eyes and ears changes the face of the sheep which gives each one their own little character.

As you can see, I've spent the last couple of days making sheep and this morning I added them to the shop.

They are available as...

Loose beads - £8.00 each

Pendants - £10.00 each

Stitch markers - £9.50 each

Stitch markers are made with your choice of fitting - lobster clasp, leverback clasp or ring - so they're suitable for both knitters and crocheters.

I'll be making more sheep this afternoon because they're selling quite well already. Big thanks to everyone who has bought some.

If you'd like to buy a sheep, the loose beads and pendants are here and the stitch markers can be found over here.

Have a good afternoon!

Stitch markers

I kept a few Lonelies to one side to turn into stitch markers. That section of my shop has been sold out for a while so I've given it a little restock.

This time around I've given people three choices of fitting.

With the lobster clasp you can mark one individual stitch and if you a crochet you can use it on your working loop when you put your work down so that it doesn't accidentally unravel.

The leverback clasp works for both crocheters and knitters because you can attach it to one stitch or slip it onto a knitting needle.

And the ring is for knitters and will fit needles up to 7mm.

These are all available in my shop. I'll add a few more when I get some more leftover beads.

It may be a Bank Holiday but it's been a normal sort of Monday here, just pootling around the house. The weather is sunny one minute and raining the next. I should have popped out between the rainy bits to mow the lawn but the day has sort of dissolved into a nothingness of endless little tasks.

In crochet news...

I loved Otto so much, both the making of him and the finished item, I decided I needed an octopus too so this is Ringo and he's now living on top of the tall bookcase in my crochet nook.

Pattern: Anchor the Octopus by HumbleChildCo

Yarn: YarnArt Dolce in colours 770 and 753

Hoots & Fruits

I've finished updating the Beads-O'-Whimsy section of my shop. There are now owls and strawberries in there.

Just like the sheep, ladybirds and Bumblebeads, the owls and strawberries are available as individual loose beads, as charms and stitch markers and also as feature-bead-and-a-dozen-spacers sets.

I had some backing cards printed for my stitch marker sets and I'm pretty pleased with the way they look.

I'll soon have some sets featuring beads that don't have eyes, so stay tuned ...

Buzzzzz

They're back! The constantly perturbed Bumblebeads have returned and they've settled in various sections of my bead shop.

They're available as ... 

... single loose Bumblebeads (£4.50) ...

... Bumblebead and spacers sets (£7.00) ...

... charms (£5.50) ...

... knitting stitch markers (£5.50) ...

... crochet stitch markers (£5.50) ...

... stitch marker sets (8.50) ...

... and as part of a 'Honey' bracelet (£50.00). This bracelet features five Bumblebeads, half a dozen honeycomb-esque rounds and some honey-coloured spacers. The two in the shop are silver plated ones but I can do a sterling silver version if you'd like.

I've had a little shop clearout and switch around. Nothing major but you can now find all of my beads-with-eyes in one place.

Loveliness of Ladybirds

Look what I found in my kiln! A whole loveliness of ladybirds. And no, I haven't made that up; I Googled it and apparently 'loveliness' is the accepted collective noun for ladybirds. How very ... lovely.

Anyway, I've been a-cleanin', a-makin' and a-photographin' all the ladybirds in their various finished states and they're all available over in my shop.

You can buy them as a ...

... single bead (£4.50) ...

... ladybird and spacers set (£7.00) ...

... charm (£5.50) ...

... knitting stitch marker (£5.50) ...

... crochet stitch marker (£5.50) ...

... or a stitch marker set with the fitting of your choice (£8.50).

Whew! There you go.

Here, have a picture of a dandelion. I took this in the garden yesterday.

It's just an unaltered iPhone shot with an Instagram filter over the top but I really like it.

Have a super Saturday!

Sheep, sheep and a few more sheep

Well, I'm overrun with sheep beads here. They're in the kiln, on the kitchen window sill, on the dinner table, on my knitting needles and I can also spy one on the coffee table. Sheep everywhere.

They're also in my shop.

They can be purchased as ...

... an individual loose bead at £6.00 ...

... a charm at £7.00 ...

... a knitting stitch marker with a ring fitting at £7.00 ...

... a crochet stitch marker with a clasp fitting at £7.00 ...

... or as part of a set of five stitch markers, made with the fitting of your choice, at £10.00.

See? Sheep all over the show.

Have a very good Good Friday and a super duper long weekend!