Freda ...

As this is a blog of my creative projects then by rights I should blog about Freda who has dominated my creative outpourings today.  Back from holiday and with the LAST WEEKEND of the Summer hols nearly upon us it was time to do 'something' about Freda.

Freda was an ill thought out and rashly made Ebay purchase some months ago.

The (slightly) impulsive side of our partnership  (i.e. Me) desperately wanted a caravan and the rational 'lets think about this' side of the partnership  (i.e. NOT me) was being a bit reluctant. Anyway long story short we placed a bid, won the auction on a caravan that in photos looked good but on picking up looked like a bit of a white melamine and Bostick covered bodge job 😧!!

(TOP TIP: DON'T buy things off Ebay without looking at them first...but then you probably know that....sigh)

So we payed someone who's 'Good with Wood' to make us a bed and after several weeks of head scratching I embarked on Operation Freda.  With a trip to the most fabulous of places Wiltshire Scrapstore and a masterclass in Wallpapering from my Dad I Hippied up my van...

We are Festival ready...just at the end of the season   😀

She's a work in progress but today was a start. She a sweet little thing really and I do hope we can learn to love her. She might even get her first outing this weekend....

Coming Up...(possibly?!)...more alpaca, a bit of crochet and the start of a new routine!

😊😊😊

x

Home Sweet Home

At last...the weather is agreeable enough to do some Ostentatious Carding on the towpath. We are back home in ALL senses having returned Mercy to our mooring in the beautiful Limpley Stoke Valley.

I've got a lovely big bag of raw alpaca fluff which I'm whizzing through the carder. I'm desperate to get the wheel out and see how it spins but will hold out a bit longer.  It's not a particularly creative job but it's repetitive and soothing so I'm practicing doing it mindfully.

Wool work outside is always a win-win situation...

Firstly (and possibly most importantly ) people don't get fluff in their tea or dinner...always helpful when trying to maintain good relations in a tight space...and secondly it's a good way to chat to people interested in what I'm doing...and I am quite (pleasantly) surprised at how many people ARE interested! It's an opportunity to present a friendly face from the boating community that can, at times, be judged quite harshly. 

I used to be a bit embarrassed by the attention towpath woolwork used to bring but after thinking it through I've decided to embrace it. Why not stop for a few moments to talk about both aspects of my life that I love and sustains me?

I'm doing lazy phone blogging as our internet connection isn't great...more interesting pics to follow...

💖

TTFN x

Summer Holiday Boredom

Today I am meant to be preparing for a few days away from the boat...our home...as she goes into dry dock for routine maintenance.

With excellent foresight I've packed my spinning wheel and laptop (I'm blogging from my mobile phone...how convenient is that!!!)

My only other distractions therefore are washing up (done), tidying (meh), packing  (an ongoing process) or....

CROCHET 😁

I picked up crochet (and became immediately hooked 😉) last summer. I kind of felt I wanted to learn something new....and after a few lost hours trawling the internet for pictures and tutorials I fell in love with the Sunburst Blanket and just had to make my own...

I am currently working on two crochet 'things' at the moment. Whilst they might not be as portable as knitting I really love how they evolve....bits fit together  (or don't!). It's quite a departure for me who as a knitter was used to following patterns and knowing how things should end up....

I have a vague idea what these projects may become and that's both exciting and challenging in equal measure.

I'm sorry I can't format the pics...I'm not sure how on my little phone...so here they are in one big splurge!

TTFN xx

Torture (update)

I'm not that mean.

Managed a bit of carding while the paint dried 😉

Torture!

I'm absolutely torturing myself today...

Lets roll back a bit for a bit of context...

Last weekend Woollycraft Wonders had a stall at the little fledgling Kennet and Avon Floating Market. I, and fellow boaters touted our creative talents with any number of handmade goods.

I was surprised but incredibly heartened by the interest in my handspun wool.

Now, in a matter of a few short months the Floating Market is back in Bradford on Avon hopefully under a sky of led twinkly lights and a definite Christmasy feel (many apologies for mentioning the 'C' word).  Which is obviously giving me a perfect, cast-iron, ready-made excuse to make more yarn....

I even have the resouces!!!

But, no,  what am I doing? Painting the youngest's cabin whilst she's visiting Big Sis!

Ooooo. ....I'm such a tease!!!

Eta...we have used up all our monthly internet allowance 😔 do this post is coming via my phone and an intermittent 3g signal...fingers crossed as I send it out into the ether 😀

Time for a catch up.

So....back story ....

It's been fun looking back through the posts and remembering the projects good and bad (the Tussah silk dress has only ever been worn once and spends most of it's life buried in a drawer and the mitred square blanket got eaten by moths!!). 

 I have been trying to recall why I stopped blogging because it was way before I started working more or less full time....I suspect that I just got fed up with reporting on failed job interviews and got ground down by it all.  I ended up taking a job at my local primary school as a TA which for the most part I enjoyed.

But by far the two most scariest things I've done in the last few years have been moving back to the canal in 2014 ...

Finding NB Mercy

and leaving a job that was no longer fulfilling...

The former was a fairly long drawn out process of looking for the right boat and sleepless nights worrying about the madness of it all....the later was a decision made over just one sleepless night and executed fairly swiftly!  

The processing of both decisions though were ably assisted by lots of crafting. I find replacing worrying thoughts of 'how will 3 people exist in a space 72x7ft', 'what if a tree falls on us' and 'how will we survive without my regular wage' with 'should I edge in white or black' and 'where can I find the right type of autumnal wool' far more favourable!!  Because as the end of the day the only thing you can do during times of uncertainty is to sit it out and wait for it all to settle down...and if your're having a sit down you might as well do some knitting!!

And so I suppose today's pearl of wisdom is that the process of getting older is really just a case of wracking up more and more experiences I know I can survive and get through ☺

I have a busy day today. The youngest returns from a week of sophistication in London so I will need to rebuild her nest to cushion the blow and I'm off to have my hair cut at the The Floating Salon who we are very conveniently moored near. 

What I MUSTN'T do is get distracted by this...

I have few projects on the go at the moment but updates on those will have to wait...I really need to crack on with the washing up (seeing as we no longer have the luxury of a dishwasher). At least I have a nice view :-)

TTFN x