Knitting

I got a beautiful knitting needle case and some wool from Nat and Pete for my birthday and taught myself to knit basic stitch from good old YouTube.

My beautiful case from Nat, and my first rows of stitches.

Heidi, Alex's aunt and my mum patiently taught me and helped me with mistakes all Christmas.

The first scarf

We found a great shop on Globe Road in Bethnal Green called Prick Your Finger which sold handwoven wool - this one had plastic bits in too.

Scarf for Ben

Finally, a scarf for Jess for her birthday, with wool from Fun 2 Do in Carlisle.

Birthday scarf for Jess

A new toy - Super Galaxie 2000

I got a sewing machine for Christmas. Slightly intimidating at first as I've never used one before. It's a Brother Super Galaxie 2000 - bought by Alex from a lovely lady on ebay. Luckily, because it's electric and has a touch screen in the corner, it tells me when I'm doing basic things wrong - like trying to sew without the foot down. I had a number of sewing for beginners books, but to be honest, the operation manual for the machine was most helpful for getting started.

Looking a little nervous

My first creation - a thank you cushion.

I made a buttonhole - although it's only recently I worked out how to make it the right size for buttons.

First go at patchwork

Customisation & screenprinting

Clothes making and customisation feels a bit hard at the moment, but I tried a couple of small things.

Buttons added to a vest top - told you it was simple stuff!

Screen printing is a bit more complex, but Ben, screen printer extraordinaire showed me how to do it and we made matching tops for me and Alex's niece Ivy (well, she was excited about it!).

Make a template online using a black and white picture, print it out and use a craft knife to cut out the picture. Use acrylics to paint the template onto the screen. For the screen you can use thin synthetic material from a charity shop and an old photo frame, secured with a staple gun and duct tape. When it's dry, the acrylic acts as a waterproof barrier to prevent the printing paint getting through when you use it to print.

Yes, my top is matching one for a three year old...

Halloween pumpkin

I got slightly obsessed with this pumpkin, submitting it to Guardian photos of pumpkins (and taking a screenshot) and hassling everyone on Facebook to 'like' it so I could win an iPad. I didn't win, but the trick or treaters seemed to appreciate it.

Making plasticine people - for stop motion animation

Evidence that Alex and I came up with the plasticine pirates idea before Aardman! After a trip to 4D model shop on the CS3 cycle route we started our plasticine people experiment.

We made armatures out of wire twisted together using a drill.

We used plastic to cover the armature joints and add bulk. The plastic balls were melted in hot water. We added balsa wood feet so they stood up on their own.

Building the figures.

Finished products.

Me and my pirate.

Alex and his old man

Earring holder with a photo frame.

This was a bit of an experiment but it seemed to work quite well. Old frame from the a charity shop, little tacks and wire from Cowling and Wilcox.

Too many odd earrings...

Rag rugs

First attempt at using material to make things was rag rugging.

Rag rug made for mum using blue, green brown rags

Rag rug base ('hessian'), tool and bag of rags

Rag rugging tool and hessian from a  bead shop in Kentish Town and the rags from charity shops, my old clothes and some bits and bobs begged from work colleagues.

Rag rug for Alex, I tried to make it look like a branch, but it doesn't work and looks more like a dinosaurs foot.

Looks a bit better from the back tho.  I just used duct tape to seal this one, if I had more time I would have hemmed it properly.