My One World - One Heart Giveaways

The giveaway is now closed but please still leave a comment if you like and please check out my other pages

Hurrah Hurrah - I have finally managed to get myself sorted out and created some lovely knit and felted hearts for One World - One Heart.

I am going to give to 7 lucky people one of these knitted and felted hearts


They are about 7" across and make fab pot holders or are just a decorative item. The main heart will always be red but I might include some blue stitching, or even yellow or something else entirely.

If you would like the chance to get one of these lovelies then please leave a comment on this post (please look through my other posts but and feel free to comment if you like). Make sure that there is a way that I can get back in touch with you to say if you have won.

I love this idea and am planning on visiting ever person who is taking part - not just for the giveaways but because I think that this is what the internet is for - finding new friends and discovering new ideas.

One World - One Heart goes live

Here's a swift update for those that might be reading. There is a blogging event called One World - One Heart that has started. Basically it is a way for us to read other blogs that we might not have read before and find new friends through the wonderful medium that is the world wide web.

The sites that are listed on the main One World One Heart site are giving away some freebies for those that comment on them (there's will be a particualr page that you should comment on). Hopefully it will introduce you to other sites and get people looking back onto yours (if you have one).

I will taking part once I am back home - I'm working away until later in the week and didn't manage to get things sorted before I left. But please check out the link and if you can add your own to the ever growing list of participants.

The BIG 4 OH

Yesterday, or today depending what time slot you are in, was my 40th birthday. I got thinking about what I wanted to change in my life and how I wanted things to be going forward. I have made the decision to move from my job. I am not happy there and haven't been for ages so it seems better to make plans to leave than be unhappy and dreading going into work every day.

I'm not going to jack in a perfectly good job, especailly in the present fiscal situtaion that the developed world is going through, but I am making plans to move on. My real plan is to become more crafty and offer a range of different products for sale, gradually concentrating more and more on the craft stuff. A few years ago I would never have thought about this as an avenue but my re-introduction to knitting has made me realise that I am creative, that I can sew, that I do finish things and that I do have some pretty good ideas about colour and design. I know that it's going to be hard work and because of that I need to get other things in my world sorted but I have also started on those too so it is a move in the right direction.

They say that life begins at 40, but I suppose that you can change your life at any point (I did when I went off to university at 27). But by 40 you have a pretty good idea of where you are, what and who you want to be, and hopefully the life confidence to get it underway.

I do not know what the next year will bring for me. I could be sitting in a year's time in the same job and still talking about moving on. Or I might have truly taken off and my craft products be doing well. Or it could be a bit of both but I shall continue to dream and plan and try and sort out things. Happiness in life is the most important thing, whether you get that from your family, your lover, your crafts, your friends or anything, but you have to be happy to thrive. and I plan to thrive.

Felted Purple Flowers

I was playing around with yarn, tinkering with the idea of a felted flowers type of thing. I had tried the one in One Skein Wonders but it just didn't look right so I tried again with an improvised pattern based on that. These were knitted using Rowan Lambswool DK (a discontinued yarn) and if you are wanting to felt them afterwards them make sure the yarn felts

And here they are


They came out okay and I might play a bit more once I have some time free.

Basically it’s a cast x number of stitches on needles a couple of sizes larger than you would need for the yarn. Knit front and back every other one. Then knit a few rows, or knit and purl a few rows, or even do some ribbing for a few rows. Then increase again whenever you fancy. Knit a few more rows and cast off in whatever weird and wonderful way you want. For one of them it was a cast of 1 cast one 2 cast off 3 type of affair and the other was a cast off one cast on 1 cast off 2. That’s how the bobbles are formed. Then roll it up and stitch it down into a flower shape. I then threw them into the washer on a sheets and towels cycle and they came out as they have.

One World - One Heart

I found this through the delights of linking from blog to blog. I always think of my web browsing as some sort of Tarzan (or Jane (or Cheeta if you prefer)) swinging from branch to branch and limb to limb as they navigate their way through a fascinating but sometime inpenetrable jungle of stuff.

Anyway, I digress, I came across the One World - One Heart blogging project and thought that it seemed like a good idea so will be joining up for it on the 19th January. Basically, as I understand it, all of the participating blogs are giving away things to those that comment on the blog post. I haven't yet decided what I shall be giving away (aren't I a little tease?) but it will be knitted and I think that I shall give 10 of whatever it is I shall be making.

The great thing is that I will be visiting the other blogs and see what is available to snaffle too.

The project runs until 11th February and on the 12th the winners will be notified.

Box of Fun

My lovely fella asked what I wanted for Christmas ages ago and since we had decided that we were not going to spend much over a tenner on each other I said that I'd really like to try and learn to spin. This came from us visiting the delight that is Wingham Wools at Wentworth during the summer and me getting far to carried away in the various sheds of stuff that they have there.

So I pointed him in the direction of the website and said the most basic sindle would do because it seemed folly to spend out on a 2 minute wonder.

So Christmas morning (just) arrives and he wants me to open my gift - he loves giving presents and I usually have to restrain him from going over the top so I was really pleased that he managed to contain himself and only get what I suggested. I was dreading that he had splashed out on a spinning wheel but my fears were unfounded.

So this is what he got for me


So far I have just been fiddling around as the last time I tried spinning was when I was a school over 20 years ago but it is a basic thing - just twist the spindle and draft out the fibre and a yarn type of thing will be produced.

This is my first attempt - I haven't finished it yet but I think that it's a good start and I am inspired to continue.


I said that I would knit him something from my first attempt but since he doesn't wear gloves, hats or scarves it might just have to be a pair of underpants - that way he won't blind anyone.

Cracked it - finally

I can hardly believe it but I have finally finished the dreaded "Smackdown Stole". I have been battling away at this since August and have finally finished it so hurrah hurrah.


The stole was almost finished a short while back but I noticed that something had been nibbling on it - not moths thankfully - so had to frog back almost half of the stole and start again. But now it is done and I am so pleased.



I have it now packed up and ready to post off the the US in the morning where my victim can finally have her soft and warm stoley death