Craft Review: Week 15: Sunday 1st April - Saturday 7th April

As  it is half term, I have had plenty of time to do art and craft. Admittedly, an awful lot of that was taken up by my Art Exam prep, which I have been annotating faithfully, as well as adding the experiments for at least another 6 pages in my book (A3). I haven't done much of my other work though yet, so I'm going to have to try and get that done this week....

Sunday

I made two more hearts. These are not designed to specifically given, but I am beginning to build up my stocks as my Mum says she might let me have a stall at her school's summer fair, to sell my crafts. I'm awfully excited, as it would mean I would have something to prepare for after my exams, and an easy way for me to earn a little bit more money. It's a win-win situation!

If anyone has any tips or tricks they'd like to share, or even any ideas for what I should sell, please comment and tell me!

These hearts are very simple to make, and I've re-adjusted the pattern from the book 'Kirstie Allsopp Craft'. These ones skip out beads and nonsense, and look far more rustic with shorter tails and a knot. Once I've assembled all of the equipment, it takes me only about 5-10 minutes to assemble them, and they really are gorgeous. Perhaps I shall share a pattern later...

Monday

On Monday, I painted little Ida... I love that shade of blue...

Tuesday

I finished the last few rows of My second Fluffy Buckbeak Scarf, and I then spent the entire day doing my Art Exam Prep. I even got my acrylic paints out to do a fair few studies. I love this project so much, but  the exam is looming and I'm beginning to panic...

Wednesday

I knitted another square for My (long-neglected) Harry Potter Blanket! This is a Gryffindor House Scarf Square, and it's a really simple pattern, which I will share when I have finished all 4 of them.

Thursday

I spent the morning knitting, and the afternoon painting. I knitted a fair few more rows of my Ravenclaw scarf, my faithful WIP, and then I painted Erick. Not bad for a day's work in my opinion. 

Friday

Today, twas another art day. But I forced myself (it's such a strain... *sarcasm*) to knit another Hogwarts Scarf Square for my Harry Potter blanket. I hope to do Slytherin and Ravenclaw next week, and perhaps even a couple more, of various descriptions.

Saturday

I had my first experiment with crochet today! And I have to say, it's looking rather successful. It took me a while to to figure out how it works, I'm completely self-taught here, except for the tutorial I was basing it on, and I think I'm beginning to get the hang of it. I chose to experiment here, because I have lots of friends who like bracelets, and I don't, and this seemed a nice way to get rid of the bracelets without making it look too obvious.

Look what I found!

I found these in a drawer the other day while clearing my cupboards out

I made that! About two years ago.... It used to work, all of the electric wiring's etc. It's a steady hand game whereby you have to get all the way across the metal loop without touching it with the handle. If you did, a little LED in the wand lit up. Unfortunately, it doesn't work anymore, one of the components has snapped off and i can't remember where it goes. I made it in school, in woodwork, and I was very proud of it, as it was one of the only projects that I made that ACTUALLY ever a) got finished or b) worked.

This is a wooden 'jumping toy'. It was meant to be a golden snitch, but I didn't finish this one, and it never worked anyway...

The top always fell off because it was too heavy. This picture shows the 'mechanics' behind it - two circles bouncing up and down (I can't remember the correct term for it). Either way, it failed. Dramatically.

So, unfortunately, these will be finding their way to the recycling/rubbish bin as I can't see any more use for them. Shame, but I wanted to archive them anyway.

My Harry Potter House Bookscarf pattern

This is for people, like me, who are beginner knitters, can't knit on the round, don't even understand the concept of dpns and just want  to knit a nice little Harry Potter bookmark.

You will need:
Wool in the colours of your Hogwarts House (red and gold/yellow for Gryffindor; blue and bronze/silver/white for Ravenclaw; green and silver/white for Slytherin; yellow and black for Hufflepuff)
Knitting needles of choice (I used 4mm, but I'm sure it would work with most needle types (you'd just end up with a bigger scarf))
A  crochet hook (don't ask me what type, I have no idea... I just found a plastic one in the drawer and used it)
A tapestry needle (for weaving in ends)

CO 7 stitches in Main Colour (red;blue;green;yellow)
Rows 1-8  Knit all Stitches

Stripe Pattern
Change to Second Colour
Rows 9-10  Knit
Back to Main Colour
11-12  Knit
Change to Second Colour
13-14  Knit
Back to Main Colour
15-22  Knit

Repeat Stripe Pattern With 8 Main Colour Rows after 3 times more, so that you have four blocks of stripe pattern, and 5 blocks of the Main Colour
Cast Off.

Attach the fringe by cutting 3inch pieces and tying them through the Cast On and Cast Off edges
Weave in all ends (apart from the fringe!)
And place inside your favourite Harry Potter Book.