my Fun a Day Dundee project

my finished Fun a Day project

Hello! Today's blog post is all about a project I was involved with in January. For the second year in a row I took part in Fun a Day Dundee, a project which has been running in the city since 2011. "The premise is simple: pick a project (take a photograph, make the bed, draw a picture, bake a cake, etc) and do it every day in January, then show your work the following month in a big group exhibition." (quote taken from the Fun a Day Dundee website).

initial sketchbook ideas

Last year I drew a flower every day for the month using various methods and a wide array of materials. Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed making 1 finished piece every day it did feel quite pressured and there were days when I was pushed for time or simply didn't feel very creative. This year I decided to crochet a doll over the course of the month, working on it a little every day - more time or less time depending on what else I had on and my creative energy.

beginning to have character

I have made quite a few crocheted dolls over the years because I love the satisfaction of making something tangible, full of character and personality in a fairly short space of time. For this project I chose to design the doll myself writing the pattern for it as I went along.

Hello!

I crocheted the body using Rico Creative Cotton in the colourway Powder because I really liked the pale skin colour of this yarn. The huge mop of curly hair is created by needlefelting Debbie Bliss Lara (in the colourway Anna) in place - I love the bouncy curl it has. After crocheting the doll I began working on a little outfit for the chilly wee boy - it was January! I knew that I wanted to add lots of little optional details to my pattern and I had great fun designing pockets and even adding orange thread top stitching.

tiny details

shoes with laces

The shoes were possibly the most tricky design element because the feet are essentially quite shapeless and the shoes have to be able to be pulled on without stretching them or the doll out of shape. I added little contrast soles and gave them laces too, giving them more destinguishing features.

making him a friend!

By the 25th of January I was finished the doll and the clothes and had to make a decision: make more clothes and accessories or make another doll? As you can see from my first photo, make another doll won! I knew the process would be much faster this time because I had my pattern written up, ready to follow.

needlefelting the hair

Sure enough, I had a second doll in next to no time (not an awful lot else got done in these few days mind!). I decided to give the girl doll bright orange, Japanese manga style hair so I ordered Cascade Magnum in the colourway Living Coral and when it arrived it was perfect! I needlefelted the hair in place again, a technique which I had followed in the past and really wanted to use in my pattern too.

January 31st

So, by 31st of January I had 1 completely finished doll and 1 almost finished doll - she just needed her hair sorting and some more clothes. I was chuffed with how productive I had been! It was lovely to have feedback and encouragment from fellow participants on Instagram and in turn to follow their creative journeys - I loved this aspect of the project!

more details

Last week I added the final touches to the girl doll's outfit - a green cardigan and a pair of sandals. for both dolls I used DMC Narura cotton yarn partly because I like to have a different texture for clothing when I make a doll and partly because the colour range in this cotton is fantastic - so many to choose from! All I need to do now is add the final touches to my pattern and do an outdoor photo shoot of both the dolls. The weather here hasn't been in my favour and I think I will leave it another few weeks for some spring flowers too. Also, both dolls need names! If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

finished doll

The group exhibition for Fun a Day Dundee takes place over the Easter weekend, 10th - 12th April at Generator Projects in Dundee - my dolls will be there alongside so many other different projects, I can't wait!

Until next time,

Marta xx

getting back to it ...

Hello and a belated Happy New Year to you all. It's been a while since I posted on here, hasn't it? Well, I am here today to put that right! Firstly, I want to take a moment to introduce myself to those of you who don't know me, or have just started following me.

me, at the beach on a windy day!

I'm Marta and I enjoy writing crochet patterns. I have been designing for around 4 years and I feel confident that I have reached a level in my pattern writing skills to know that they are going to be easy for others to read and enjoyable for them to follow. All my patterns are tested by at least 3 crocheters and often I send them to be tech edited too. I particularly like using natural fibres in my designs because I enjoy the feel of wool, cotton, linen, bamboo etc on my hands. I do like to knit as well as crochet but crochet will always be my first love!

finished Advent Socks

Of course I follow other designers patterns and want to share a few projects with you which I completed at the end of last year. I challenged myself to knit a pair of socks following Natalie Sheldon's Advent Socks pattern. These were a real joy to knit, I absolutely loved watching each new stripe appear!

Beekeepers' Quilt, a work in progress

close up, aren't they cute?

The Beekeepers Quilt is a long term project that I began in April 2019 with the intention of knitting one hexagon a day for a year! At the moment I have exactly the same number of hexies a s days but I hit pause for 2 months (December - Christmas prep & January - Fun a Day) with the intention of starting again in February. The hexagons are knitted on double pointed needles using scrap 4ply yarn from my stash of leftovers from crocheting socks.

sketchbook work & my chosen yarns

My current WIP is an amigurumi doll that I am crocheting as part of the Fun a Day Dundee project. It's a doll that I am designing myself, crocheting a little everyday and writing up the pattern as I go. I began with some simple sketches and ideas of the direction I wanted to go in - quickly discovering that it should be a boy doll! I am finding real inspiration in following the hashtag #FADD2020 on Instagram and seeing what everyone else is doing every day - we can be a real encouragement to each other in what can sometimes be a long and bleak month.

beginning to look like a little person

So, let's hope this is the first blog post of many! I have certainly scheduled future posts in my diary and have a list of potential post titles. Is there anything specific you would like me to blog on? Share your ideas in the comments below!

Until next time,

Marta xx

Badge Bombing!!

Last Friday I took a trip to Dundee to go badge bombing for the first time! I went around the centre of Dundee and attached small badges to places for other people to come along, find them and keep them!

the finished badges, day before my trip

For a while now I have been following the adventures of @dymagate and @whimsicallush on Instagram and they both inspired me to leave something small of my own in a public place for someone else to stumble upon. I chose to make little badges with big smiley faces to brighten up someone's day.

 badge left near Dundee train station

I kept the badges simple, just button eyes and an embroidered mouth, and I hand stitched the word "Daft" on the back (my Instagram name is @mrsdaftspaniel but that was too long to stitch!). 

this one made me smile!

There were plenty of places to leave the badges, for example attached to fencing or abandoned cord and I pinned one to a yarnbombed tree!

 I like this one, blending with background colours

I had also brought a sample of weaving with me to sew onto a lamp post or something and I found the bench in the photo below to be the perfect size for it! I sat on the bench and sewed it on during lunch hour, I wonder if anyone even saw me?

and of course I did a yarnbomb!

As soon as I could I uploaded photos of my badge bombing to my Instagram and Facebook pages and was surprised to see that the badges were quickly found by people! Of the 5 badges I placed I know that 3 were found and brought a smile to those who found them, which makes it all worthwhile!

Help me!!

I am already planning my next adventure when I will set another load of badges free! Follow me on Instagram if you would like to stay updated :)

I'm back! (and sorry I've been away so long)

I seem to have taken a rather a long break over the summer - ooops! The school holidays were full of long sunny days, trips to the beach, picnics and of course lots of crafty days with the boys!

Rather than typing thousands of words about what I have been up to over the last few months I will use photographs to tell my story. If you would like to know more about anything you see please leave a comment and I will get back to you.

 the youngest and I learning how to use double pointed needles

 a giraffe I crocheted for the middle boy and an elephant for a friend's baby

 a new style of brooch which I have designed and started selling in my folksy shop

 the youngest drew this monster and I recreated it in crochet!

 middle boy wanted the same, of course!

 youngest showing off his finished hat in Fluph wool shop, Dundee

 anniversary day out with the hubby! He takes his loom knitting everywhere!!

 a friend commissioned me to make this sweet little mouse

middle boy designed and made a den for his crocodile and a water bowl

 eldest sprayed and painted his Nerf gun

 my latest yarn bomb in Dundee, Blackness Road area

 I finished the african flowers blanket which I had been working on for a long time

 detail of finished blanket

I have taken up quilting using the english paper piecing technique

Well, that's a snapshot of my summer! School has been back for a month now and I will get back into blogging and restocking my folksy shop https://folksy.com/shops/martasecocrafts

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design Degree Show 2014

I had an hour in Dundee this morning to take a speedy look around the Degree Show at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. I graduated from this art college in 2000 after studying Fine Art, specialising in sculpture. As soon as I entered the building the distinctive art college smell of oil paint and turps took me right back to to my student days. I enjoyed walking the familiar corridors which have changed very little since then.

I decided to concentrate on Fine Art and Textile departments because I was so pushed for time. In the Fine Art department I was struck by the variety of techniques and media that the students had used. My visit began at 10am and there were no artists there to talk to and ask permission to take photos so I am unable to share any images with you on here. I settled for taking a photo from the 6th floor corridor, from the window my middle sister, Aimee Henderson (BA(Hons), 2011), looked out of when it was her studio!

The view from the 6th floor, looking across the River Tay

By the time I reached the Textiles department the students had woken up and I was pleased to chat to a few of them. I enjoyed the work of Jennifer Heilbronn because of her eye catching use of mega chunky yarn!

Jennifer's tunisian crochet

I liked Jennifer's use of colour, mainly blues and oranges, invoking images of the sea, sand and maritime life. Take a look at her website, the photography is stunning!  http://jenniferheilbronn.wix.com/knit

I am looking forward to next year's show, when I will definitely make sure there is time to see more work!

Dundee Yarn Crawl

A few weeks ago my friend Jo posted a link on my Facebook page asking if I had been to 'Fluph', a yarn shop in Dundee. A week or so later I posted a link on her page, asking if she had been to 'The Knitting Pin', another Dundee wool shop. Several comments later we agreed we would do a yarn crawl of the 4 main Dundee wool shops!

After a little more organising, I caught the no. 73 bus into Dundee with Jo and her daughter, who loves to knit. I had my youngest and eldest sons with me too because they are just getting into knitting and crocheting. Our first stop was 'The Knitting Pin' up Albert Street (here is a link to their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Knitting-Pin/249792755194830?rf=263565830472270  ). We timed it well because my friend Liz, who had a greed to meet us there, had arrived moments before us. We spent a happy 20 minutes looking high and low at all the different wools. This shop is jam packed, bursting at the seams with hundreds of different types of yarn! There is something for everyone, and if you can't find what you are looking for the super friendly staff will help you. It was the owner's husband who was in charge today and he kindly gave the children lollipops too! I bought a ball of Sirdar Eco wool, DK which I have been using lately to dye with natural dyes.

inside The Knitting Pin

Next we strolled down the hill to the town centre (about a 15 minute walk). It was a sunny day and we all chatted away as we walked. We soon reached 'Wool Craft' which is a hidden gem in The Keilor Shopping Centre. The shop was very busy as usual, both with customers and stocks of wool everywhere! A large and unusual variety of knitting and crochet books were displayed for sale. There were special offers and bargain buckets too. I bought 4 little Anchor tapestry wools in different colours to fit into my latest granny square project. I can't find a website for the shop, but here is a link with a little more info and a map  https://plus.google.com/111923526296304615649/about?gl=uk&hl=en .

Wool shop no. 3 was only a 5 minute walk and we headed straight through the city centre towards it. Wool&co. is the newest of the Dundee wool shops and immediately we noticed how different it was to the others! The shop had a simple, uncluttered layout set against clear white walls. All the wool was set out beautifully on the shelves. There were some gorgeous knitting books and patterns on display too. We noticed that this shop also caters for machine knitters with lots of cones of wool. The yarn was high quality luxury brands, such as a large selection of Erika Knight wool (one of my favourite brands!), Blue Sky Alpaca and several types of Rowan wool, including their popular Big Wool. My youngest son spent his pocket money on a ball of Erika Knight's british blue wool and some bamboo needles to knit it with. This is a link to the shop's website  http://www.woolandco.co.uk/index.php .

me and my eldest, outside Wool&co.

From here we had another 15 minute walk (up hill this time) to 'Fluph' (here's a link to shop's Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/fluphshop ). I think our tiredness left us immediately as we entered the beautiful shop. We were full of wonder as we looked around at the beautiful wool and quirky handmade decorations. The wool was a mix of skeins and balls of pure wool, alpaca and silk. The owner Leona and her super cute cocker spaniel made us feel very welcome, inviting us to rest our weary legs on the comfy sofas and work on our current projects too.

concentrating in Fluph

While the others caught their breath I nipped across the road and attached a yarnbomb to the lampost. It was my first yarnbomb of the year and it felt good to put it up as everyone walked past or sped past on bikes and in cars. When I went back to the shop I bought 3 balls of Drops alpaca, 1 ball of Drops karisma and my sons bought a ball of Drops eskimo each.

yarnbomb on Blackness Rd, opposite Fluph

We left Fluph with our purses lighter and our bags bulging with wool agreeing it had been a fantastic morning, full of discovery!