A needlecraft competition

How's this for a competition... Stitch and Pitch

Crochet with string and Lego Ball Winders

How's this for an ace idea - a lego ball winder. I came across this when I was looking for instructions for dyeing wool in the cone. I have quite a lot of cones I want to dye up and was hoping for a short cut to save me ALL that unwinding followed by ALL that winding!

I've written on BellaOnline about crocheting with string. I was motivated to do this after knitting some outdoor placemats - and I thought that working with string would work for a variety of things - even crocheted plant hangers! The BellaOnline article can be seen here.

Seeking soles

I would love to know where to buy soles for boots and shoes - I really quite fancy having a go crocheting boots like the UGG boots here.

I've made some boot-type slipper socks - so it is only a small step from making boots. Just need to find the soles......

Fleece, lambs and easter egg dye.

I've been doing some dyeing over the last few days - and cleaning fleece. So the house has that faint smell of wet sheep and goat... nice. I nearly got a whole fleece clean and dry ready for spinning and it started to rain. Grrrr. This fleece is from my herdwicks. They are great sheep and are the breed that was kept by Beatrix Potter. Their fleece is coarse - no good for crocheting fine underwear - however great for bags and accessories. Herdies are the most friendliest of sheep - read more about them here. They are born black and later turn grey. Because they are indigenous to the Lake District and spend their life on the fells they have short stocky legs. They also 'heft' to an area and can walk miles back to their original farm. We were for ever going to get some of ours back as they set off on the 20 mile walk back to their home farm. Eventually they 'hefted' with us which was nice.

Here in Spain it is just coming to the end of lambing time. The farmers pick a lamb and train it with a bell and the other sheep will follow this when they later go roaming in the 'campo'. This little lamb is destined to be a great leader!

I've written about dyeing wool with Easter Egg dye at Suite101 - the article can be found here.

New Crochet Articles on BellaOnline

I've been thinking about spring - and have written an article on spring crochet which can be seen here at BellaOnline this week.

I've also just finished an interview with the husband and wife team behind BrainsBarn, who make hand crafted crochet hooks. This is an interesting interview - I didn't appreciate the high amount of work required to produce these lovely hooks.

Almost made me get out a penknife and start whittling....

This interview is now live at BellaOnline here.

I've done a few interviews recently and people do seem to enjoy reading about other crocheters, designers and people in the wonderful crochet world. I'd love to hear from other people who'd be interested in doing an interview.

Copyright

I was enjoying some YouTube videos last night and suddenly realised that I was being a little (lot) hypercritical. I was enjoying some music videos and then thought that I was in fact, supporting copyright violation. These were copies of music videos etc and it is doubtful that they were published with the artist's consent.

The digital age means that now it is easy for people to copy and pinch ideas - rip off designs etc and call them their own, reproduce designs and distribute them etc. Which is patently wrong.

But on the other hand - sometime people misuse copyright in another way. The internet is packed with examples of, for instance, scans of old designs which have then been 'copyrighted' by the person who did the scan. How can this work? If the design is old enough to be in the public domain then how can someone simply scan it and then copyright it? Often people make the mistake of thinking that just because the copy of a pattern or design they have is old enough to be out of copyright makes it automatically ok to republish - but forgetting that it was subsequently republished and therefore, perhaps, still in copyright.

Creative Commons is a great way to license designs, patterns and other creative work. This is a licensing system that allows you to keep the copyright of your work - but share it with other people with certain restrictions. This has been specifically designed for creative people. The way that it works is described on the Creative Commons website as follows:-

"Offering your work under a Creative Commons license does not mean giving up your copyright. It means offering some of your rights to any member of the public but only on certain conditions."

More information can be seen about the types of licenses offered - and some examples of how they are used can be seen here.

Crochet Slipper Pattern

crochet slipper.jpg
Originally uploaded by Marchena.

This pattern is posted on 10,000 Great ideas today. it is really easy - and can be adapted in a variety of ways. I can make a pair in an evening - so I think that these might feature highly at birthdays!!

Tonight I am working on some wire crochet samples - I might have another project coming up and I want to try out some new techniques. Now I am no longer using the crutches my hands are near enough back to normal - which means that working with even fairly thick wire won't be a problem now. About bloomin' time!

Sock Tops - The Movie

The finished video

World, now's the time to Hit the Button

The new 10,000 Great Ideas site goes live today.

Galvanize

Croc Socks

Croc Socks
Originally uploaded by Marchena.

I am evangelical about Crocs. The story started with Helen last year, who bought a pair of Crocs. She was such a fan - indeed has worn her Crocs every day since having them (although rumours of them having to be surgically removed are unfounded). When I broke my ankle everyone clubbed together to buy me a pair. They are light to wear, non-slippy soles and great for use inside and out.

And I became hooked! As soon as the swelling went down I was wearing my Crocs and I too have been wearing them everyday.

So - Ian quite admired them, better than slippers, and more versatile (and less smelly) than trainers.

....and you've guessed!! We are now the proud owners of matching Crocs. Ian said that there was no point in having a pair if they were going to be dull brown, so here I am in a little orange number.

So - what does every pair of Crocs need - a pair of Croc Socks of course!

Crochet Books

I returned from the UK with my case yet again over weight. How does that happen? OK, last time it might have had something to do with the 10kgs of yarn, but this time I had hardly anything, other than the one or two books I bought in the charity shops. Well, perhaps a few more than one or two and as I opened my case to remove some of the offending articles to carry in my hand luggage an embarrassingly large number of books, patterns, odds and ends of yarn and cottage cheese (it is impossible to buy here and I do miss it) were strewn across the check in desk. Luckily she took pity on me (I am still using a crutch when I travel) and allowed me just to take a couple of books in my hand luggage and checked the rest in. Phew.

Oh, and I also had a pretty heavy book with me on how to use my Palm TX. The TX is a great little tool - but I really could do with a manual. I bought the How to Do Everything with your Palm book which I highly recommend.

Egg Cosies / Cozies Competition

egg cosies.jpg
Originally uploaded by Marchena.

I'm never sure whether to write the UK or the US spelling of 'cosies' - I try to write both UK and US crochet terms so I do the same with spelling.

Anyhow - these are some crochet egg cosies. We are running a competition at 10,000 great ideas and are welcoming entries. The competition is simple - we want pictures and instructions for how to make great egg cosies. The more imaginative the better!