Crafty in the Med

I am here to enjoy meeting other bloggers and to share my love of craft ,mostly crochet, my thoughts and my daily happenings here in Alicante,Spain, my adopted country. I belong to a local choir because singing and music makes me happy. Flea markets and book shops are two of my favourite places to be. I read lots......sci´fi/fantasy,buried treasure, and off world adventures. I have a passion for history! I walk and walk and walk for about 10 months per year during the hot months I swim.

Sunday 29 July 2012

Two down ...... three to go


 W.I.Ps    Work in progress

I suffer as many of you do from the W.I.P syndrome...correct me if I am wrong please ...we love to start them....enjoy making them .......but keen to finish them!

But first of all before I go into the W.I.P rant let me introduce you to Pepe:

Pepe the Guitarist

 ...Pepe's vocation is strumming the guitar and most particularly serenading beautiful señoritas...but Pepe has now emigrated from his Spanish homeland to Australasia and to be precise to, as the locals themselves call it, Magical,Marvelous Melbourne where he will live the rest of his days serenading his devout love to SANDI who has finally received the jar of love I sent her for the Jar of Love Swap,hosted by Katie at Booty-ful things.
 ENJOY Sandi! 

Back to my W.I.Ps...... and now there is one less:

 I did actually manage to finish this mug cozy and matching coaster in time to send to Sandi in her jar of Love but I couldn't show it to you before now. I had to wait until she received her parcel.
I have never made a mug cosy before nor a coaster and can't think why because its a quick straight forward project and you can very easily adapt it to the different sizes of mugs. It is also a very practical type of gift. I was very pleased how this turned out taken from a pattern I found on Marion's blog . As usual I had to tweak it somewhat as I wanted to send Sandi a cozy for a standard size mug. I was quite chuffed as well that I manged to use up some stray bits of yarn...and an odd button from my stash.
Although the yarn was DK I thought the coaster was a bit flimsy and I was going to sew on a felt square but I then remembered the squares I had cut from an old Vinyl coated tablecloth. Those were the  parts of which I had saved from going in the dustbin thinking I could make use of those bits sometime in the future. Well this was the future.

W.I.P and now there are two less:


My first heat pack cushion!  
This came about from inspiration produced on reading Penelope's post at L is for Love about the pretty heat pack cushion she made and I also followed her tutorial. Which incidentally was really easy to follow...the only BUT I have to add is a BUT produced by yours truly as I think I put much too much lavender in the pack. It heated up nicely and retained the heat for quite sometime but the aroma of Lavender essence was overwhelming and I had complaints from Sr P and some rather peculiar antics from Willie S the cat (is Lavender like catnit I wonder?). In fact he couldn't leave the pack alone!   I had to rip it open and pour out some of the rice and lavender.
That seems to have done the trick.

I used flannelette fabric from here to make the pack :

This is an old dressing gown that was much too small for my grand-daughter and had a rather unsightly bleach stain on the back but all the rest of the garment was fine. Do you see the floral pattern?  I just couldn't cover that with a crochet doily so I decided to mix crochet with embroidery...a heart here,a flower there!
Actually the finished product reminds me of a flan...something sweet!
What do you think???
I also crocheted the edging and extended the edging a little to make up a hook to hang up the pouch in the wardrobe...yes wardrobe ...its smells lovely in there now.


and there you are so I'm down to 3 W.I.Ps ....phew!

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If you haven't entered already please remember I have a giveaway on the go (here )and it is open to everyone,
you are welcome to participate .
 
My goal was 80 followers and I'm there 
so I happily present to you my very First Giveaway

WHY DO WE PREFER CERTAIN COLOURS?

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A very big hello to all my new followers: AeAoinki.Sunset, Kashi at Kashi's Corner, Marie-Anne at L'Atelier de Marie-Anne, Victoria, Dimi, Gill Watson,(sorry can't find your blog link Gill)  Sally at Lavender Attic,Rachel at RachelRadiostar,Rajeswari at Diaper Mum,thank you so much for visiting and do call in whenever you can. I look forward to hearing from you.:-)

Amanda :-) 




35 comments:

  1. Hi Amanda

    Your work looks wonderful

    I love the mug cosy and mat.

    I don't know what a wip is but
    it judging by your photos it must
    be a term for your lovely crochet work....

    So glad you have many more followers
    but I am not suprised as you have a great blog

    Have a good week

    Fiona x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Fiona
      W.I.P are the initials for Work In Progress :-)

      Many thanks for your comments.

      A xx

      Delete
  2. Hi Amanda,

    The mug cosy and coaster are gorgeous, I love the colours.
    I laughed at your WIP's. It took me 10 years to cross stitch the last supper
    for my mother in law. It was on black aida and a nightmare. I'm improving
    although I have a crochet sweater which I haven't picked up for about 4 weeks.
    Thanks for your giveaway, I displayed your link on my blog. Ali x

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  3. Oh, I love the heat pack cushion!! I bet it's so soft. And I have at least 6 W.I.Ps seating here right now :( Really need to get to work!

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  4. Hi Amanda.
    Your work is too good.Loved the cozy and mat.
    Well said Amanda,Even I have W.I.Ps in my hand.Time is less but need to get it done by tomorrow.:(

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  5. I'm ashamed to say how many W.I.P. I have! Is there a support group for us?? XOXO

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  6. Hi Amanda, love the coasters you made ! Seen your post over at Nanny's Place (Debby). Will be popping in to see what else you are up to with those W.I.P.'s . "Just Me"

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  7. I forgot to take a photo of the back of the coaster as I loved it, reminds me of summer and the beautiful stone fruit we have. I can almost taste the peach!! And I must add Pepe is doing a wonderful job with his guitar...for a little man he has a big heart!!:)
    I think I need to make a new heat pack as my daughter has heated ours beyond heating and it smells 'burnt' now. I love the mix of material, crochet and embroidery of yours.
    xx Sandi

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    Replies
    1. Going to have to look for a Conchita who can accompany Pepe with her castanets....they can chat in Spanish then and he won't feel so homesick! LOL

      A xx

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  8. Great post Amanda, I bet Sandi loved her jar of goodies. Way to recycle and make something new! I try and give everything a second look now, before I send it off to the donation store. You never know when you could use the buttons, zipper or fabric from an old item. I'm putting those warmers on my Christmas makes list. Have a great week!
    Lynne xx

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  9. Great finished projects! 3 WIPs are manageable, I reckon!!!
    Carly
    x

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  10. Well done on the finishes, you've made a big dent in the WIP pile there! Awww Pepe is lovely serenading the ladies :-) I'm always stashing away clothes for using later, I can't throw anything away, that's a great use of the cloth on the coaster and the heat pack is lovely too in such pretty fabric.
    Lori xx

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  11. Congrats on the completed WIPs and such an ingenius use of a dressing-gown. The bloggy blanket chain is on its way to you. Hoping the post doesn't take too long.

    Arwedd xx

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    Replies
    1. Hello Arwedd
      thanks for your comments and for visting
      Not received it yet Arwedd...should be here by Monday I imagine.I've already made up two squares but I plan to make a few more.

      keep well

      Amanda

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  12. Hi Amanda
    Gosh, your heat pack looks great with the fleece and crochet combo, very snuggly indeed! Yes, its an easy mistake to make because if you love lavender, the temptation is so high to just put in a little more which can lend itself to being so over powering! I hope you kitty cat is ok? and that you can now enjoy the lavender wafting from your wardrobe now xox As for a mug cosy, well what's not to love? and don't get me started on WIP's...I think I'm one of the worlds worst:o) xox Penelope

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  13. Hi AMANDA!I love your crochet combo,the heat pach is lovely!!!I dont know what a wip,s is!I put your image of your giveaway,on the sidebar of my blog!!I hope to be lukky and win at your giveaway!!Many kisses my friend!!Happy week!!

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    Replies
    1. Hello Dimi
      W.I.P are the intitials for Work In Progress. thank you so much for the metion on your blog.

      A x

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  14. Hi Amanda!I forgot to tell you for my 1st summer giveaway!!Come and join to!!Kisses my friend!!Have a nice day!!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks I'll pop over today and have a look.

      Amanda :-)

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  15. Well Done for finishing some WIPs!The heat pad looks great!
    Gill xx

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  16. These are all wonderful, Amanda!
    Hugs,
    Anne

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  17. Dear Amanda,
    I just found your lovely blog and I am now a follower. So many wonderful things. You are very talented and so creative. Thanks for sharing
    cheers
    maggie in Maine

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  18. Hello Maggie

    Thank you for visiting and following my blog.
    I would like to follow you back and do likewise but I can't find the link to your blog .
    Please send it

    Keep well

    Amanda :-)

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  19. Thanks for the lovely comment Amanda! It was certainly an epic task but I enjoyed it and it was so worth it in the end!

    Sandra x

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  20. Aw Pepe is sweet. I'm sure he'll love his stay in Oz xxx

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  21. he must because its lovely over there :-(

    A x

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  22. Hi Amanda,

    Your wips look exciting :)

    Thanks for your lovely comment on my blog the other day. I am definitely not involved with the Olympics (other than watching) but I am a Londoner trying to commute to work amongst many tourists so it's been..challenging..although not as chaotic as I first expected!

    Lexie x

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    Replies
    1. Hi Lexie

      thanks for popping in. I used to live in London and work in County Hall...I really hated the journey by tube everyday and rush hour was a nightmare so I can imagine its pretty well heaving with crowds everywhere now. Not my cup of tea at all!!

      keep well

      A xx

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  23. Hi Amanda, thanks again for joining as a follower and your second comment this morning. I did welcome you and link you in to the following post: http://justnorthofwiarton.blogspot.ca/2012/08/pretty-sure-i-got-handle-on-it-now.html?spref=fb

    Look forward to your posts ! "Just Me"

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  24. oh dear second comment......sorry about that I wasn't sure if I had already commented on your blog or not!

    Keep well

    Amanda :-)

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  25. You have such a interesting blog I will look forward to having a good read this evening I love the mug with the cosy knitted warmer Its very cute. Thank you for your lovely comment. Tracy x

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  26. Hi Tracy
    Many thanks for popping in and for your kind comments.

    Keep well

    Amanda :-)

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  27. Oh, reminds me that I have so much to get done...
    Brenda

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Thank you for your comments. I do read them and try to reply to all as well.Please keep them coming. Amanda :-)