Hand stitched note books

I have been wanting to make some hand stitched note books for a while. I had collected a stack of A4 cardboard from the recycling tub at work years ago, along with superseded letterhead paper. Trimmed up with my paper trimmer to half A5 size (ie. cutting an A4 page into 4). Handmade style magazine (UK) had this project in a recent issue, which was just what I needed to figure out how to get the sewing right.


The hardest part was finding a bookbinders awl tool- eventually had to buy a set of 5 weird tools from Bunnings to get the one I wanted, and got a very sore hand "drilling" the holes through each book. Vintage crochet cotton to sew them together, and some cute washi tape & fancy packing tape for decoration...ta dah!


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Lamp makeover

I bought this lamp for the boy's room years ago, for about $5 from Kmart. It was moved into a lounge room when we rearranged the room earlier this year, hoping for inspiration to give the lamp a "make over".



Flicking through some copies of "Better homes & gardens" mag, and watching "Kirstie's vintage home" on Thursday night, I had an idea!



Many many years ago, at uni (although it was actually still a "college" back then), when I was doing my teaching degree, our art course was very thorough. One of the multitude of amazing things we did, was to spin a ball of wool! As I have only taught myself to knit in the last few years, this ball of very badly spun natural wool (it still has a fair bit of lanolin in it!)has languished in the bottom of a craft box, waiting for its moment to shine!


...which it now does, literally shine! Wrapped around the lamp frame, there was just enough wool, and the lamp is actually brighter now, with light peeping out from the little gas in the wool ( ie. the unevenly spun bits, some thick, some thin, are now a "design feature").

Max

Max rarely sits still, especially for a photo (note the wagging tail!)
In fact he tends to run away from cameras & mobile phones. Luck he wasn't sure what the iPad was, so I managed to sneak a quick snap on the weekend!
Craft stuff coming up - http://www.northcotetownhall.com.au/Page/page.asp?Page_Id=1177&h=0. Winter artisan market at Northcote Town Hall. Can't make hyperlink work though, sorry.
Brunswick NorthWest PS have their winter market coming up, Saturday 22 June I think.
Melbourne Craft Show at Jeff's shed is coming up late July too.
Coburg West PS will have a craft stall at the Officeworks birthday party, Coburg Mill homemaker centre, Saturday June 22 ( must remember to sort out some stock & a display!)

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Knitting mitts- easy as pattern

Another pair of mitts, for my other niece who is rather fond of purple. They are very quick & easy to make. Good for knitting on the train or in front of the tv
I like a quick result, so prefer to knit with 2 balls of wool. This also makes some unique colour combos, especially with the multicolour acrylics I use for the base of these mitts (bought from Big W or K-Mart), teamed with either a plain colour/ mix colour, usually from The Yarn Barn down the road in Reynard St.
So... The pattern. Cast on 24 stitches (22 or 20 for smaller kids, or maybe 26 or 28 for grown ups) with 2 wools. Knit 2x2 rib for about 6 rows, then change the plain colour for another and continue in stocking stitch for about 25 rows, change back to first colour again for 2 rows before casting off. OR stay with same 2 colours. OR finish with more 2x2 rib. Up to you, easy to do lots of variations. Sew up, leaving a gap for a thumb hole. That's it! Easy as.


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