And here’s

Posted on April 26, 2016 by The Little Room of Rachell

what I’m not doing at the moment…
Craft blogging is a weird thing. From time to time, basically every few years, I get a real feeling of how ridiculous it is; basically show and tell for adults. I can’t imagine my Granny photographing every new thing she crocheted, knitted, sewed or embroidered, even if Instagram had been invented back then. She would probably have shaken her head at the thought.

I was just trying to take a pic of the ribbed border I’m crocheting for my Cozy Cowl. I was going to put it up IG, and say how satisfyingly fast it’s working up. As I was waving my iPad around I caught sight of the baby hexagons on the screen, as they’re down the side of the sofa.
Maybe for variety we could each post one photo of something we’re not doing at the moment?!

Yarn Along

Posted on February 24, 2016 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’ve just started this audio book: A Gathering Storm by Rachel Hore. It’s one of my favourite kinds of stories; a family mystery, an old English Manor House and a picturesque Cornish seaside town. As well as crocheting to audio books I also love walking while listening. This morning I strode along in the lovely bright sunshine listening to the first few chapters. It’s a very promising start. I haven’t read anything by this author before and hopefully I’ll enjoy this book. I see she’s had quite a few books published; it’s good to find someone you like and read their back catalogue.

Can you see that this baby hexagon piece is finally beginning to look rectangular? It’s proper fiddly and slow crochet. I’d definitely like to make hexagons again, but I won’t be joining them as I go again. I want the sides to lie neatly together, the way these look are still making me feel irritated. Larger hexies would make a more drapey fabric too.

My last audio book Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (very good, I recommend it) has occupied me for lots of my crochet time recently. Near the end when the final twist was revealed I dropped yarn and hook and punched the air. I knew it! I knew. Kind of anyway…

I’m joining in with Ginny’s Yarn Along again.

The Colourful World of Kaffe Fassett – The American Museum, Bath (part 3)

Posted on April 12, 2014 by The Little Room of Rachell

Even when the stunning Kaffe Fassett exhibition is no longer at The American Museum, Bath, (after 2nd November) it’s really worth visiting. As you see I wasn’t exaggerating when I described the beautiful Wiltshire countryside. What a stunning location.

The museum has a collection of over 250 American quilts. A large proportion are displayed in impressive racks which you can flick through like you used to be able to do in The Poster Shops of the 1980s and 90s, albeit on a huge scale. The last three quilts are hanging at the top of the house and were created by Kaffe Fassett, aren’t they beautiful? There are also his sketches and swatches too, dotted around the main museum building. So if you visit the exhibition don’t pass the main house by; it’s full of interesting American folk and decorative arts, as well as furniture and original interiors bought by the museum’s founders before demolition in the States.

I bought a few treats from the shop too. Some edible (naughty naughty Reeces which I grew up eating courtesy of American rellies and friends, and some of those OTT flavoured Snyder’s of Hanover honey mustard pretzel pieces – love ’em), a sweet patchwork log cabin patterned tin and a few cards which will be posted to friends in the future. The shop is always a really fun last thing to do on a special day out isn’t it?

The Colourful World of Kaffe Fassett – The American Museum, Bath (part 2)

Posted on April 11, 2014 by The Little Room of Rachell

The pics above and below is the flooring of the green room, very cleverly, and expensively according to one of the curators, created for the exhibition.

Oh dear you can really tell that this was a windowless room, despite my clicking the ‘enhance’ photo button. But isn’t this a stunning display? After leaving this part of the exhibition I really felt as if I had spent time in a garden. There seems to be something incredibly refreshing about being surrounded so many shades of green. It’s strange but I’ve never chosen to wear green ever; if you asked me pre-2011 I would always have said it was my least favourite colour. Since I learnt to crochet in 2011 I’ve found myself inexplicably drawn to green. It’s really odd. At times after reading about those who’ve had strokes and discovered they now love eating vegetables that they previously couldn’t bear, I wonder if I’ve experienced a small one which changed my colour perception and tastes. This is not meant to be disrespectful or flippant, I am completely (if oddly) serious.

There is going to have to be a part 3 about the exhibition. I took so many photos. I don’t look back at my blog much at all, it’s very much of the moment and I move on to the next thing, but the two posts I’ve revisited fairly frequently, when I want a jolt of inspiration, are my visit to The Fashion and Textile Museum last June to see Kaffe Fassett: A Life in Colour and last year’s Spring Knitting and Stitching Show.

I’ll leave you with some of my favourite quotes from Kaffe’s publications from a display at the exhibition:

‘Working with colour is not an intellectual game. You should see what the heart feels, that way you will stumble across more and more personal excitement in your work.’ Glorious Inspiration (1991)

‘The main thing is to have a go at trying 0ut colours, the wilder the better. None of us designers really know what works until we see it, so sampling becomes wonderfully exciting as you stumble on really unpredictable and interesting colouring.’ Pattern Library (2003)

‘My first lesson about design – when in doubt, try it!’ Glorious Knitting (1985)

‘Since I was such a freak – a six-foot-three Californian man who was knitting – I got a lot of attention from the press.’ Dreaming in Colour (2012)

‘Purple or red cabbages are fabulous objects, with deep, mysterious colours. I once heard of a garden planted with rows of purple cabbages and lined with chunks of black coal – how elegant it must have been!’ Glorious Needlepoint (1987)

The Colourful World of Kaffe Fassett – The American Museum, Bath (part 1)

Posted on April 10, 2014 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’ve long been an admirer of Kaffe Fassett’s work since the 1980s when Mum introduced me to some of his books. The colour! The tapestry vegetable cushions! The knitting! The handsome man with the cheeky twinkling eyes! (I had rather a crush on KF.) I’d loved visiting his exhibition A Life in Colour last June in London and couldn’t wait to see more.

Well as you can see I had a fantastic visit to The American Museum in Bath yesterday. There’s been such a buzz about the exhibition online and in craft magazines that I just had to go SOON, although it’s on until 2nd November. I loved reading Kaffe’s take on the display. The exhibition’s housed in a separate building from the main museum, which has existed for 50 years in the renovated Claverton Manor. The American Museum is worth visiting simply for the grounds alone. If you want to sit, or walk, in warm Spring sunshine while enjoying a view of verdant rolling hills and stunning English countryside this is the place for you.

While driving to Bath I fleetingly wondered if I should keep my iphone firmly in my bag and simply look, exclaim and take it all in. But, during days out like this, I just think how much you’ll, probably, enjoy seeing such an explosion of colour, design and inspiration. Especially if you’re the other side of the world and unlikely to be able to visit. I experience a very strong urge to share. There are many, many items exhibited and I’ve shared just a selection of my favourites. The last photo is not great (there wasn’t a huge amount of natural light in the building, which you’ve no doubt gathered and flash photography is a no-no) but I’ve put it in as a cheeky hint of amazing things to come. Really. The exhibition was grouped into areas by colour and I’ve saved my favourite until last. I arrived just after noon; only twenty minutes into opening so was lucky enough to see the green room alone for some minutes. Bliss.

More to come tomorrow….

Kaffe Fassett: A Life in Colour

Posted on June 2, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

Natasja of crochetime and I met yesterday at The Fashion and Textile Museum in South London to ogle Kaffe’s designs and use of colour. I used to be a huge fan of his tapestry (aka needlepoint) and have owned a copy of Glorious Needlepoint for a long time. Mum reminded me, over Sunday lunch, that she has several of Kaffe’s knitting books and heard him talk in the early 1990s.

It was great to see my favourite tapestry designs in 3D, especially the vegetable cushions. Radish anyone? Or perhaps you’d prefer a beetroot?

I know that many of you are not near London, or even in the UK (if you are then the exhibition is on till 29th June) and so here is a good selection of what I loved. If you like tapestry you’ll probably be swooning along with me.

Click on any image to view a larger version.

Do you recognise this pair?

So clever

You could giver Kaffe anything and he could turn it into a texture, just name the medium

If only I could draw & paint

The colours complement each other perfectly

Cushions in rings going high up the exhibition space walls

Subtle patchwork

A huge knitted piece around a large post

Such potential to be tangled in balls of colour!

I really wanted to the back as well as the front! (it was part of a texture wall we were encouraged to touch)

The one section of crochet we saw…some caps

Amazing to see items I’d only seen in a book before

A close up of the chair

Oooh the colours

A fruity chair with a veggie cushion? Yes please!

I always loved Kaffe’s veg cushions

“Colour themes that run throughout his textile work include the historical hues from early-medieval and Renaissance decorative arts, traditional pairings of blue and white, and the rich inspiration of China, India and international travel. In 1992 Fassett visited India as part of a charity delegation to explore what handicraft might be produced there to sell in Britain to raise money. The experience was profound and sparked a shift in his use of colour.

‘India proved to me that colour is a vital ingredient in life.'”

The Middle

Posted on October 6, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Week 2: CAL Blocks #4 #5 #6 #169(!)

Posted on September 15, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#4 Bobble Diamond
I’m pleased that I found bobbles so easy after my concern that I’d struggle. They are a piece of cake! As I said before; I checked The Harmony Guide and did a chain after each bobble to secure them.

So easy in fact that I made another! (They curl a bit at the top right and bottom left corners so I pinned them to the carpet to photograph. Anyone else have curly bobble diamond blocks?!

#5 Twin Stripes
It’s crucial to get the very end stitches of the foundation row right otherwise row 1 is completely off-kilter!

#6 Textured Bluebells
I like this one a lot, I think the DBBC colour fits the name and pattern perfectly.

And uh-hum *cough cough*

#169 Interlocking Stripes
I just wanted to see how my Debbie Bliss colours, well 8/9 of them anyway, look together. I decided there’s something missing and bought number 10 yesterday. All will be revealed soon!

A word for the future – this is a ‘darn heavy’ block (whichever method you prefer, mine’s sewing at the end of the block.)

Have you noticed that I’ve stuck to my CAL Resolution? So far so good anyway…..

I’m going for a little wander round blogland now to see how others are getting on, there are also some fab pictures on Ravelry and more being being added to the group’s projects page all the time.

This is fun! Week 3 here we come. :-D

Naughty wool shopping

Posted on August 28, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Tuesday: I’m a terrible shopper, a classic browser who can spend hours in shops looking, touching and picking things up, even restacking and neatening displays, but I’m not actually any good at buying most of the time. Often when I go clothes shoppping I return home with multi-packs of socks. At least now they’re stripey or spotty colourful socks; not the terminal black packs I always, always bought during my non-craft decade.

This afternoon I deliberately left my yarn shopping at Mason’s till the last ten minutes before the shop closed so I would be forced to make a decision under serious time pressure. Well technically it was that, and leaving home late due to the fact that I wanted to finish last month’s Mollie Makes in the bath before moving on to the new issue. The first of my year’s birthday subscription plopped onto the doormat this morning. Ya-hoo! I know I’m very easily pleased: Mollie Makes, a hook and some socks and I’m happy.

There is a LOT more wool/yarn than this, plus fabrics and haberdashery (and two more shops in the town) but I still take very surreptitious photos in shops. It is a tad embarrassing but I thought some of you might want to see what the shop looks like since I know they send international orders.

So what I’m leading up to is that I’ve bought yarn. Better than that I’ve bought wool, proper grown up sophisticated posh wool, Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino. If it’s good enough for the Queen of Crochet Blogs (you know….) then it’s more than good enough for me. I’ve really only ever crocheted with 100% acrylic. I am a fan of the Stylecraft Special DK but seriously wanted to try something different.

It is pricey but it’s gorgeous. I adore the range of colours. I want to put it on my face and leave it there it’s so soft. I also think it’s going to produce a nice sized block for my CAL though unlike serious, sensible crocheters I haven’t been swatching. My approach is to crochet and accept whatever block appears. I’m definitely not working out yarn quantities ahead either, yikes that could end up being scary given I’ve spent lots of pennies. “Look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves” I’m choosing to think about the pennies and not the pounds in this case.

I’ve chosen a starter range of colours for my initial blocks that are inspired by my memories of our cottage garden style flower beds which were in my childhood garden here in England. I remember red-hot pokers, lupins and delphiniams, plus marigolds, little flowers called pinks, moon-daisies and iris and….

I might add some light pink and maybe a splash of yellow, but I know that I want oranges, purples, some deep dark and bright colours. So that’s everything I suppose, but no neutrals.

I’ve started putting a Cottage Garden board together on Pinterest if you need any pretty pictures to look at for inspiration. It’s a work in progress as I’m still finding my way round the site.

Thursday: I could say I’ve done a swatch, deciding to make a sample and be a sensible crocheter, or I could say I couldn’t wait and I crocheted the first two blocks. (More about that later.) Either way I’ve made a decision about the yarn I’m going to use….

…Any ideas for what I can make with softer than clouds DB baby cashmerino?

DoNT sAy a BlaNKet!!!

Crochet village

Posted on May 12, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Aren’t these beautiful? They really add a homely touch to a school setting, and made me feel v happy to see them being used and enjoyed.
There is a shop nearby which has started to sell old and new crochet blankets. They’re proving to be really popular with the resurgence of knitted and crocheted items.

Of course you can’t walk on the carpet!

Posted on May 8, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’m afraid it’s been undone again…I just can’t seem to decide the colour combination. Nothing seems to fit quite right. I’ve taken out all the squares with red in them and just kept the dark pink pomegranate colour.

On a positive note all the ends are now darned in!

I think the secret might be to carry on crocheting squares (and darning!) but without making any decisions about the final joining together of the squares.
This blanket is not going to be as random and easy as I thought it would
be; but maybe the finished product will be more satisfying because of all the thought that went into it?!

We can only hope!