Etsy Shop + discount code = happy!

Hello lovely peeps!
I hope you're all well.
Good, good.
What? You're tired of all your jewellery and wish you had something new?
And affordable? 

Now, let me see what I can find for you in my new Etsy shop...

How about some new earrings?



Maybe a necklace?



A ring, or two?



What about something to grace your beautiful locks?



If you like what you see, then do come and visit my Etsy shop to view my full range - just click on the box over there on the left,  grab yourself a cuppa and take a leisurely stroll through my aisles. 

And so, dear reader to thank you for visiting me, I would love to offer you a special discount code: HAPPY1
It entitles you to a 10% discount on ALL items in my shop and is valid until the 9th August.
You can use the code as many times as you like, so pass it on to your friends and other bloggy readers too.

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you at the checkout soon!
Have a super week.
X  

Tatsy Bear (a tale of brushing your ami)

You can tell I have kids.
I wanted to make a Teddy bear (a bit like the one Peppa Pig has) - you know, big head, little body and teeny tiny arms and legs.

So I did. 
I found a ball of random mohair-ish stuff in my stash and played around a bit.



Then I thought I'd brush it.   
(I even made a special trip to the pet shop buy a special pet slicker brush)



But let me warn you, brushing is a no-return affair.
Once you start, there's no going back. 
You must persevere. 
(Scratching your fingers as you go, I found)

And then? 
You wonder if you did the right thing.
If perhaps, you preferred it before you attacked it with the dog brush....?



Much fun, anyhows.

And before I go lovely peeps, I must apologise to many of you for not being able to comment on your smashing blogs.
It seems that Blogger, combined with my iPad (which is in need of an update) have decided that I cannot comment on those of you with an embedded comment box. (If you have a commenty pop-up-box like me, then I can)
So sorry.
Hope to catch up with you all soon.

Xx    

Still with the stripes

I have FINALLY finished my stripy monkey.
I used Rico Creative Cotton and the CAL monkey pattern (with a couple of tweaks).



It was an enjoyable project to work on, especially once I'd mastered Jogless Stripes but blimey, it took ages to make all those colour changes on every round.



So it got me thinking.... There must be an easier way... (I am such a lazy crocheter, after all)

..... And then it struck me. Of course - self-striping yarn.

Now I've had a go with a few dodgy yarns in the past, where there are only short runs of colour and the results are, quite frankly, pants.

I had seen this stuff (Red Heart Economy Super Saver) on t'interweb and so, after not finding anything quite so chunky or cheap here, ordered myself some from the USA.



top to bottom:
Peruvian Print, Primary, Stars and Stripes, Heartfelt, French Country.   

[Even with shipping, 10 balls of this lovely stuff still only cost me just over £30. Not bad, methinks.]

It has good long runs of colour and as it's worsted weight, makes a nice chunky monkey. And being acrylic, not as bright as the Rico Cotton, but still ok.



Oooo, they look very serious, don't they?
And so, from left to right you have:
Heartfelt, French Country, the Rico Monk, Stars and Stripes, Peruvian Print.
(I'm working on a Primary one right now)

I love that Peruvian Print. Reeeeeally long colour runs here. And I like the effect. Very, erm, Peruvian.

So my wonderful bloggy friends- do any of you know of any good striping yarns? Do let me know. I'd love to try them.

Have a great week.
Xx 

Jogless Stripes

Ok, so my last post lamented the unsightly problem I had with 'stepping' when making colour changes on my stripy monkey.

Not any more!

Many of you suggested the Jogless Stripes tutorial at NeedleNoodles.com, so I tried it and BINGO! 
No more stepping. (And it's so easy, too)



I began my jogless striping method from the yellow round (see arrow) downwards and look! Virtually seamless colour changes.
Genius, I tell you. 

Thanks to all of you who made comments and suggestions- you peeps really make my day.

Xx