Got Milk?

My younger sister, a very talented knitter, knitted this fantastic little specimen for her best friend's 18th birthday. She found the pattern onhttp://knittedtoybox.blogspot.com/2009/05/milk-cookies.html I think he turned out rather fantastically well. Her friend instantly fell in love with this calcium-rich creature!

However, the creation of little milk carton was not all plain sailing... Sewing him up proved INCREDIBLY challenging. My sister and my mum spent about five hours sitting at the kitchen table the night before he had to be finished attempting to figure out the sewing instructions. The tension at the table was PALPABLE. But in the end he was all finished off and looks rather awesome!

The snuzzle cat is all sewed up so pictures are coming soon! Have a fabulous weekend :) x

Rosettes

Thrift stores are a beautiful thing. While on holiday in California this summer Brid and I indulged in hour after hour of crazed shopping. I had the idea to use old mens ties to make these rosettes. It was great fun finding out the Prada, Ralph Lauren, Dolce or just generally deadly ties each costing about 25cents and making new things out of them.

The ties are twisted and then curled around themselves sewing as you go along to hold them in place. Then simple attach a saftey pin to the back and your done. You can make them in any size by finishing off at the back and cutting off the excess tie for a smaller version. Here i've made tails for them out of the left over pieces of tie. If you want detailed instructions, that's no problem just comment and i'll post them. 

I've used the tie rosettes mostly to embelish gifts for people, they look brilliant attached to handbags, makeup bags, on tops, the lapel of a suit and on hairbands. 

XX

Nat

Homemade Happiness!

Mum got a lovely gift of these beautiful cupcakes today from her friend in work Alison. They are so beautiful they had to go straight up on the blog! Thank you Alison!  Handmade gifts are really so special, knowing that someone has made you something from scratch makes you appreciate that thing 100 times more. 

Alison's cupcake decorating without a doubt blows mine out of the water... I'll have to up my game. ;-) xx Nat

College knitting...

The land of the two Knit wits has been invaded by a terrible event... The return to college... All the festivities are now over and we are faced with looming exam results, the daily uphill struggle on the bicycle to college and the "joy" of lectures.

I now find myself SWAMPED with stress and law books!

All I can muster up in the crafting stakes at the moment is some simple and monotonous scarf knitting... Row after row of gentle relaxation There's nothing quite like it for a good de-stress! It's the best kind of therapy.

I made this scarf out of some wool I bought at the Knitting and Stitching show in Dublin a couple of years ago. I knitted it in a night! Then I knitted up a nice little rose to jazz it up a little and I must say that I'm rather pleased with the result. The wool was a little difficult to work with. Good tension proved to be quite a struggle to achieve. But I love the texture the uneven wool creates!

As the stresses of tackling a law degree continue... I can't quite deal with the challenge of increasing, decreasing, intarsia or cables! So I'm continuing with nice and easy scarf knitting!

I'm using Lamb's Pride Bulky and LOVING IT! It's so easy to knit with. I got this big cone of it on ebay for $20. Quite the bargain indeed! I think a Lamb's Pride love-affair has commenced :)

So I shall continue to alternate between digesting legal waffle and working on my lovely scarf! Hope you have a wonderful day!

Love Brid x x x

Bows, Bows Bows!

Hi everyone!

Below are some bows I made as a gift for my lovely mum. She has amazing thick long brown hair and I have tried to use colour combinations that would suit it. The bows are attached to hair slides and made using ribbon from Rubanesque and Hickey's. If you haven't already died and gone to heaven as a result of the absolutely stunning stock at Rubanesque (Powerscourt Centre, Dublin)  you need to get yourself into that shop... quickly! I'd go as far as to say it is the most inspiring shop I have every been in. EVER. My only complaint with them would be that their prices are a bit high (especially for the impoverished student)  But there is no place with the quality and selection they have so it seems worth the cost. They have a big selection of photos at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Rubanesque-Ltd/76754714791#/pages/A-Rubanesque-Ltd/76754714791?v=photos. 

xx

Nat

Baby blue and brown bow,

One of my favourite colour combinations.... Helps me forget this is fake synthetic lace (shudder)

White velvet bow

Regency style bow,

Vera Wang uses this brand of ribbon on her wedding dresses, can't think of the name right now will post it when I do. 

Crazy oversize bow,

The brown and gold ribbon is hand woven so it has a great weight and texture to it.

Bikes, Baskets and Blooms

Back to college yesterday so back to the disgusting cycle uphill to Clonskeagh, my daily tourture. Thought I'd make things nicer so I've woven some fake flowers into the wicker basket on my bike. Got the flowers in The Camden Casket, that place is amazing they have everything a cheapskate craft girl could ever want! 2 bunches for 4Euro. 

Next stop painting the bike a retro colour... hmm that could be interesting! I'm thinking maybe a nice pastel yellow or maybe a red like the royal mail postage colour. Though I saw some very tempting gold spraypaint on Camden Street today which was only 5 yoyos and says it can be used for metal. More photos of the completed project soon! XX Nat

Little bit of crochet today. Just started these cute little flowers. The plan is to make a load of them and stitch them together using some antique lace as a little border to make a lacy scarf.... more photos soon. Nat.

There's nothing quite like pink icing...

Check this out... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1gfZwejPv8. If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake sung by the great Eileen Barton. Very appropriate musical setting to get your baking groove on to we feel. Sexy stuff indeed. ;-)

Some lovely multicultural cupcakes above! Dotty cases from London, Icing stars from California, ingredients from Dunnes stores Dublin, Ireland. "Always better value". Yummm. Nat.

Team Effort

One of the things that's so fantastic about crafting is that there's always something new to be learned. No matter how accomplished a knitter or crocheter you are you can always develop your craft that little bit more. The best way to learn a new craft skill isn't from a book or a video, the best way is to sit down with someone and have them teach you. Once you have been taught something well, you know it for life. I love that crafting brings you closer to people as you have that common interest (well obsession in our case.. hee hee). But to me, there is nothing quite like sitting down with another crafter and have them pass their knowledge and skill onto you.

In the case of this little make-up bag, a team effort was the theme of the day! We made it for a friend of ours, Anita, who kindly provided the photos. I knitted the bag but was clueless as to how to sew in a zip or how to line so Natalie did that part. She cut, ironed, placed, pinned and sewed as I sat and watched. This was a lovely project to work on. Not only did Anita get a present with combined Twit and Purl love but I also became a Jedi Master of zip and lining installation thanks to Natalie's flawless tuition and patience.

This project unleashed a Bríd obsession with crafting make-up bags. Armed with my newfound lining and zipping skills... There was nothing to stop me... Be prepared for a torrent of make-up bag posts. Hahaha!

Also, Snuzzle-Cat The Second has been knitted... All he needs is some sewing up and then he'll be ready for some snuggling and nuzzling! Pictures coming soon...

Have a great day. Love Brid x

Snuzzle Cat!

I would like to introduce to you... The Snuzzle Cat. This little fellow is a cat that loves to be

snuggled and nuzzled. A very easy pattern to knit, and using big wool and big needles it goes up very fast. The wool I used for it came from a thrift store in California. I got around 17 skeins of the same wool for about $8.00. It must be said, there is nothing on earth quite like an American thrift store!

I found this pattern on a website called http://www.cabbagepatchtreasures.co.uk. This is an awesome website, a really great find! It makes vintage toy patterns downloadable for free. The snuzzlecat is part of a trio of other crazy creations called the Knit-Wits.

I started to knit the cat for a very dear friend who would love nothing more than her very own big fat cat. His arrival created quite a storm! As a result, another snuzzle is currently on the way for another cat-lover!
He's still a work in progress but I'll keep you updated!

Have a great day! Brid x