Who can resist a pumpkin?

Not me! 

I luuuurve carving the pumpkin. 

I have no desire to do lots.

Just one!

Or two.

Once a year.

Maybe I'll grow out of it...

When I'm a grown up ;)

Here are a selection of previous years pumpkins. 

 carved by me and the kids.

Till next time

love 

Fi, the phantom pumpkin carver. x

And now for something a little different...

 Let me introduce you to Gilbert the grumpy garden gnome. 

Why a garden gnome?

I have absolutely no idea!

I saw a garden gnome on the telly (not physically) a week or so ago and something in my sludgy-fudgy brain went PING! And then again the same day another item on the telly with garden gnomes. 

Gnomes on the the telly, twice in one day, it has to be a sign doesn't it!

So out came the felting bits and bobs and a lot of soapsuds later I had a piece of felted wool. Next was a whole morning spent with a very sharp felting needle and some wispy woolly fibres. Followed a few days later at the sewing machine with some free motion embroidery, a length of suitably spotty red fabric and....

Bobs your uncle, Gilbert's a gnome! 

A bit of stitchy stuff and fiddling about and...

A grumpy garden gnome felt handbag!

I rather like him but then I like things that are a bit quirky and out of the ordinary. 

I don't suppose there are many ladies out there with handbag like this. There maybe good reason for that. We'll have to wait and see, lol. Gilbert is now waiting impatiently in my Etsy shop for a lady with a taste for something out of the ordinary.

So, if you like to raise an eyebrow on your way to work, you know where to look ;)

till next time

love Fi x

Edited to add -

Thank you for all of the Gilbert love. All of your lovely comments brought a lump into my throat this afternoon. Just what I needed after a nasty visit to the dentist. Anyhow lucky old Gilbert has been parceled up and  is now on his way to the USA to live with Susan. 
Thank you Susan.
love Fi x

Vintage Linen Bunnies.

Ssssh! Don't tell anyone but I shouldn't really be here now! 

I mean here blogging...

No I've finished putting these yummy bunnies together...

And I should reeaaally be putting together a felt handbag!

I've cut out the pieces, honest...

but I just couldn't resist popping by to show you these....

Two little cuties!

Heading to my Etsy shop shortly, I really have neglected my online shops this year but I'm going to make a concerted effort to keep at least one of them stocked.

OK! OK!

I'm coming back! Tut!

There's a piece of felt tapping me on my shoulder.

Till next time

love Fi x

Rosey Cosy

Fancy a cuppa?

Hello all. Before anything else I must say a huge thank you for all of the 'Boxing Hares Felt' love on my last post. I am quite thrilled and a little surprised with it myself, which might seem a strange thing to say coming from the artist herself. But anyone who wet felts knows it's a bit of an unknown quantity. We make allowances for shrinkage and movement during felting but even then you never quite know what to expect when you unroll that wet sheet of wool! Anyway the hares are now languishing on the spare bed in the attic waiting to be embroidered. 

There has been more felting of late but we'll save that for another time and switch over to knitting fun today. What do you think to my chunky garter stitch tea cosies? 

This has been one of those projects that sits simmering for years and years, you know the type, we've all got them. They're the 'One day I want to make a ....' project. There is an ulterior motive for making these cosies, I have been invited to take part in Christmas Craft Fair and  a mild panic is now starting to set in. 

I knew I wanted to knit a really, really chunky, big garter stitch tea cosy but could I find a pattern for one? No I couldn't (I know at this point you're all shouting at your laptops that there is one available at such and such a site.) anyway I couldn't find just what I wanted so there was nothing for it but to design my own pattern! Yes my lovelies, it may only be very basic and it may be taking it a bit too far to call it designing but this is the very first item I've ever knitted without a proper pattern! Whoohoo! (apart form a Dr Who scarf at the age of 12!)

I knew I wanted garter stitch and I wanted it BIG. I knew I wanted it to fit a 6 cup pot (the red one fits an 8 cup pot) and to fit snugly around the handle and spout. I knew I wanted to pop some flowers on the top like the lovely tea cosy on the front of this book, but something with a bit more uumph!

SCRUMMY! 

I luuurve the finished result...lets hope my craft fair customers do too.

Till next time

love Fi x

Half way there.

Boxing hares in a magical meadow.

Wet felted Merino wool. This one is about 45" x 33" I don't think I'd like to work any larger than this as the weight of the wet wool fibres and the physical nature of wet felting made it difficult. 

Next is free motion machine embroidery and a little hand embroidery. Hmmm....stuffing it under my little domestic sewing machine is going to be a challenge. I bet my little Husqvarna groans when she sees me coming at her with a bundle of felt,  and a box of threads. lol.