A Baa-rilliant Doorstop

Is it just me or does the Summer seem to be much busier than Winter? Maybe in the Winter it's just easier to curl up cosy with some wool and needles, or to ensconce yourself in front of the sewing machine for the whole day without being distracted by the outside world? I don't know but I'm finding it hard to get the time to make as much as I want to at the moment!
Thankfully I do have a list of "have to make" items which gave me the excuse to stop everything to craft.
On top of the list was a sheep doorstop for a friend who asked me to make it for a gift (by the way, please forgive the rather boastful title, I just liked the play on words). I didn't have to ponder for too long on how I would make it- out came the crochet hooks and wool and I designed it as I went along.

For the body, I decided upon a standard creamy, "sheep colour". For added texture I used seven strands of yarn together making it nice and chunky with a 10mm hook.

Four of the strands were the same yarn along with three different yarns of slightly different colour and texture. I started by chaining 5 stitches, adding a round of treble crochets (doubles in US terms) into the chain then continuing to work in rounds of treble crochet.

For the head and tail I switched to black yarn, again using different yarns together, in this case two types, and a 4mm hook.

The head was made with three different crocheted sections sewn together with two ears sewn on once crocheted. I attached the head at a slightly jaunty angle as I always think it gives a slight quizzical impression that I find cute (could be just me).

The tail was was a crocheted strip folded and the sides sewn together. Both were made using double crochet stitches (US singles).

I partially stuffed it with the filling from an Ikea cushion- my go to stuffing of choice, it's so much cheaper than buying the stuffing directly from a craft shop and still meets all the safety requirements!

To give it weight I set plaster of paris in a bowl with odd screws and bolts I had cluttering up a kitchen drawer. I wrapped this in scrap fabric to cushion it. (In a previous post with an owl doorstop tutorial I give more details about weighing it down) 
For the base I sewed a piece of green felt to the bottom row of crochet stitches.

A couple of black beads were sewn on as the finishing touch for eyes.

Fingers crossed she likes him?!
If you would like the actual pattern to create one yourself just let me know and I'll sort it out.
Until next time, craft in earnest! Craftin' Ernest x

Wool, Bees & London!

Ooh I've been a little lax of late post-wise as so much has been going on!
The weekend before last was truly wonderful thanks to the fantastic City of Bristol! Although I live in South Wales I am just a hop, skip and a jump from the border with England and thus only 20 minutes from Bristol (where I actually work and got married).

Bristol is such an amazing and colourful city, it's quite small but has a lot of diversity and has a truly ethical spirit. It has it's own barter currency, it really promotes supporting "local" and has a real artsy feel about it. The famous graffiti artist, Banksy is from Bristol and there's always some impressive art project taking place, for example see my previous post about Knitted Bristol here.

Being such a great place, more often than not there's something that attracts my attention but that weekend was extra special... Bristol hosted it's first WOOL FAIR and a BEE FESTIVAL!! Whoop, whoop, two of my favourite things :-D

I volunteered for 3 hours at the Wool Fair, my duty was to stand at the entrance/exit gate collecting people's tickets and giving them a wristband. It was a lot of fun and I met some interesting people, many of whom were quick to give their opinions (most of which were positive thankfully) and saw lots of sheep and a couple of lovely alpacas. 

For the few hours of volunteering, I had free access to the event and felt totally justified spending the money I had saved on the entrance fee (and a bit more too) on woolly goodies!
Here is my lovely haul...

If I really had to choose a favourite it may be the pair of 11mm rosewood knitting needles from The Little Knitting Company. They're such a pleasure to knit with and what made me love them even more was my husband thought I'd bought myself a Harry Potter wand when he first saw one of them.

The Bee & Pollination Festival was hosted by The University of Bristol's Botanic Garden which is a wonderful venue in itself. There were lots of exhibitors, talks and demonstrations and, as it was a beautiful day, there were lots of bees and pollinators about, doing their thing, buzzzzz!

After the fun of the weekend I had my birthday to look forward to so made a week of it. I headed to London for a girly break with my sister for a few days. We shopped a lot, caught a West End show, "The Pajama Game" which we really enjoyed and it included sewing (it was set in a pyjama factory), perfect!

We returned in time for my birthday on Friday, this was spent exploring the amazing Roman ruins in Caerleon which is only 15 miles from where we live and eating lots of cake.

Then on Saturday I hot-footed it back to London for a long weekend, this time with the hubby for more sight-seeing and BBC Radio 2's Festival in a Day. 
Of course, I took some crochet with me to keep me busy between the bands.

Again we had a fantastic time and we got to see the incredible poppy art installation at The Tower of London, "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red". It marks the anniversary of the First World War and by the end of Autumn the Tower's dry moat will be filled with 888,246 ceramic poppies, each one representing a British or Colonial soldier killed during the war. The last poppy will put in place on Remembrance Day. Already it is a pretty incredible sight and very moving.

So all in all I've been pooped since we got home on Monday, I returned to work on Tuesday and I have only just returned to "normality"!
Thanks so much for reading, I really appreciate it.
Until next time, craft in earnest! Craftin' Ernest x

Sheepskin Slippers

This post probably isn't for you if you are a strict vegan! I’m most definitely a meat eater. I know there are a lot of good arguments for and against eating meat, I’m afraid I love the taste just too much to contemplate giving it up. My Mum is a strict vegetarian and has been since she was fifteen, so we’re used to veggie food although she did cook meat for us, but she eats dairy and wears leather.

Up until about 2 years ago my parents had a couple of sheepskin rugs in their house. One on the floor in front of the television and from childhood right up until they gave them away, I use to lie on it when watching TV. Here’s a good old 80’s photo (hence the poor quality) of my brother and me doing just that!

My boss, Pete, keeps sheep on his small holding for breeding and to sell the meat. They are all the same breed, Lleyn which originated in the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales. http://www.lleynsheep.com/ He sells the ewes for breeding and the males (wethers) for meat when they are old enough. Until then he gives them everything they could want on his orchard/farm in North Somerset overlooking the Avon Valley. Here's a picture of me helping to feed some of the ewes:

Last year I went over to his during lambing season just in time to see twins being born. Unfortunately the first did not come out smoothly, it took over an hour and was quite traumatic but the second popped straight out no problem. They were both fine and healthy though. This is a picture of the first lamb: