annarella | handmade : beaded stitch markers and original hand knits, london

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sunday, 25 december 2005

The morning after the night before

I went to see my bestest friend yesterday for a little pressies exchange, to catch up on the latest news whilst waiting for the rest of the crowd to join us to start doing some serious celebrating... I found this hat she had and I just had to take some pics, it's shop-bought, but I thought it was just too pretty! Like it?

Here we were just messing around, all the pics we took were either too shaky, too blurry or so terribly dark that no amount of Photoshopping could salvage them. Here's the best of a bad, but fun bunch...

saturday, 24 december 2005

It's Christmas for real!

So, I went yarn shopping yesterday with my mum and lil sis... Early rise after a ridiculously late night, but boy, was it worth it!! I bought LOADS! It's actually my mum's pressie for Xmas, wonderful, or what?? Most of it is 100% wool, some have a tiny percentage of man-made fibres, but everything is oh-so soft. And my sis asked me to make her a hat with ear flaps, so we got some yarn for that too. I'll leave you with the pics which say it all.

Happy Xmas everybody!

friday, 23 december 2005

Stuffing

My lil sis & I stuffing our faces with Xmas delicacies on our way to a yarn orgy ... ;) Mmm...

PS: A huge thank you to all who have commented on the Mini-clapotis, I owe you a reply, I'll try and get back to you as soon as I can, for now I'm enjoying the hols and generally being lazy...

monday, 19 december 2005

Mini-clapotis...

...finally photographed! I made this some weeks ago as a Xmas present for a charming old lady who lives across the grass from me. I had only taken pictures of close-ups previously, but these were taken after blocking it. I tell you, it's made an enormous difference, the ladders have opened up and it must have gained 20cm! I gave it to her yesterday, and she was delighted with it! She even took me to her closet to show me which coats it would go with. She's sooo sweet, I'm really glad that it was appreciated. Phew!

sunday, 18 december 2005

Forest berries head band

I have crocheted this head band using left over yarns from at least three projects. It's perfect for when I wear my hair up and it features almost all my favourite colours. I love that it matches my specs perfectly! (...ehm... yes, I'm in a coffee shop drinking a latte, as usual!).

I've joined Secret Pal 7

Rules and how to apply here - the deadline is 4th January 2006. Take a peek at the partecipants here.

saturday, 17 december 2005

Secret Pal 6 news

I have totally being enjoying taking part in this, totally. It's been such a blast gathering gifts for my spoilee as well as receiving those wonderful wonderful presents from my spoiler :)

I can now reveal that the girl I was spoiling was the sweet Lauren from I want a fiber farm...Shhh she doesn't knit... but she is into crochet big time... who knows... with a little persuation she may even join the knitting world ;) Do go over there and say Hi!

I don't know the identity of my spoiler yet, but I'm dying to find out... hint... hint...

thursday, 15 december 2005

Happy holidays from Annarella

Click on the image & have fun! :)

monday, 12 december 2005

Hand painted beauty

Ordered on 3rd December, received this morning - this was a super quick delivery, considering it comes from Uruguay, via Florida. Am very very very pleased with the yarns, they're all wonderful! The most accurate, colour-wise, of all my orders with HandPaintedYarn.com. This picture doesn't really capture the true shades, go and take a look at my post of 4th December to see the real colours. Am a very happy gal today! :)

sunday, 11 december 2005

DIY is our friend

Ok, so I'm untidy by nature. Shoot me, won't you? I swear, I do try, every few weeks (ehm... months, more like it) I'll go through a phase of being insofferent with all the chaos which usually surrounds me, and I'll tidy up! I'll feel great, cleansed, my thoughts will appear much clear, and life in general will make sense. That's until I stop admiring the fruits of my labour and resume my crafty (and not only) habits as usual.

But I think I also have the disadvantage of having virtually no room what-so-ever, and that little space I can call my own is poorly organised. So here comes da Man aka "DYI is my foe Ferdie". His mission for today was to gather all the spare bits and pieces of wood he could find around the house and "build" me a little corner for me to indulge in my beading habits. He also wanted to attach a couple of sliding shelves underneath my desk, but that would have meant moving some of my yarn stash elsewhere to make room, so the offer was promptly discarded.

You can understand the enormity of his gesture only if you are aware that mention the word DIY to him and he'll run a mile! But seeing how I enjoy keeping my hands busy, he decided he wanted to help me make the process even more pleasurable. Or he just got fed up with my beads being all over our tiny lounge. Either way, I am immensely grateful.

So, the first step was that of clearing my crafts desk of everything that had been squatting (yes, that's right, totally against my will!) over it. And, oh my god!, I hadn't been able to see the surface in months!!! Ah, if you were wondering, yes, that non descript cardboard box on the right hand side is also FULL of yarn. But what can you do?

This is a progress shot of a weird looking shelf being built. And on the right we have Ferdie's screws and nails box, because no guy should be without one!

And on the left I give you the results: a mini corner where I can store all my beading stuff, which I have already put to the test tonight, when I've made a few things, some for my up coming online shop (I'll tell you more about it later on) and some Xmas gifts.

It might not look like much, in truth, at a close up, it's one of the ugliest things I've ever seen(!), but with a lick of paint I'll be great, and you know what, it's actually VERY useful! So thanks honey :)

And he even had time to bake some olives and peanuts bread - oh so yummy!

saturday, 10 december 2005

Flower Power

I bought this little beaut when I went to Brighton last with Ann and Nikki a few weeks ago. I haven't worn it till now as I have been wanting to attach a nice clasp in order to avoid knotting the lovely satin ribbon. So that's what I've done today. I'm very pleased with the result. I love this pretty pendant!

Onto knitting related topics, today I have also been working for a few hours on Lady Heather, my DK black sweater. I had got a little bored with it, so it ended up at the bottom of the list for a while, but I'm back into it and halfway through sleeve #2. No way it's going to be done in time for Xmas, what with all the other stuff that's got a perverse way of waiting till I'm snowed under already before it makes an appearance... Arghhh!

Off celebrating our belated anniversary tonight! Yey!! :)

friday, 09 december 2005

Happy anniversary!

Today it's my n^th non-wedding anniversary! Congratulations to us! I won't give away just which one it is, but it's a big un. Unfortunately it looks as though this splitting headache which has been accompanying me for the past couple of days won't leave me alone, therefore we're going out to celebrate tomorrow night. Cozy night in tonight it is then. Love you so much hon! xxx

thursday, 08 december 2005

Being stalked by lilac

You may remember a few days ago, my dyeing experiment at Ruth's..., right? You know, when we attempted to salvage a 100g skein I had previously dyed in a yucky pink so-called colour.... Well, you will also recall that Ruth overdyed it using some of her purple acid dyes and whilst wet it sort of looked purple-ish... I have been waiting in trepidation while my wool took its sweet time to dry, finally I give you the pathetic results:

So, how did this turn into this?

Yep, as you can see, I have been making good use of my wool winder! :D What do you say? Looks like my wool is wound around a toilet roll thing-y? Well spotted! In truth, the winder could very well be used on its own, it doesn't necessarily need a cone, but as there's never a shortage of toilet rolls in this house, why not recycle a little and find another use for them? ;)

wednesday, 07 december 2005

Curly Whirly madness

...aka I've caught the bug!

Ladies & Gents, I give you Sangria & Cherries!

I made this CW using one of the most gorgeous yarns I've ever had the pleasure of handling, KnitPicks Andean Silk, which is a super-soft blend of Alpaca, Silk & Merino wool (that's the sangria) gifted by my Secret Pal, combined with Rowan Kid Classic (that's the cherries), just because this scarf is a greedy mother! 250g of yarn in total! Wow, I didn't see that coming! But then again I have made it rather long, I can wrap it round my neck once, tie it in a knot and it still hangs down my tighs, so it's a pretty nice size (I can't stand stump-like scarves meself).

So whaddya fink? I wore it yesterday and couldn't bear to part with it all day! :)

It was rather quick to make too (however, I was crocheting like mad to have it ready by yesterday), only took a couple of evenings.

tuesday, 06 december 2005

Glove-ish

Not too long ago I decided I would knit myself a pair of gloves for the winter, but had a bit of a pickle trying to find a pattern for my teeny tiny hands. Sheila from UKHK was so kind to send me one of her older patterns (ladies, I understand, have grown larger since then... not me). I also decided I would need some 2.50mm DPNs in bamboo as my metal ones kept on slipping. So off I went to Loop to get some (and not one for sticking to a 'to-buy list', I got a little side-tracked and managed to spend a small fortune too, but that, as they say, is another story).

So here's the progress of my little gloves. The yarn is a 100% wool in 4-ply in a mossy-aqua colour (the picture is a little dark), not my first choice, but I only wanted a practice run to start with.

So, what do you think? Doesn't it look pretty? I adore looking at all those minute stitches, and doing it in the round means I can try it on as I go along, and that's half the fun, I tell you!

However, life has a funny way of changing your plans, with my glove (note: singular!) not being given the attention it deserves lately, but I'm hoping that posting it here will motivate me to pick it up again :)

monday, 05 december 2005

Even more gifts!

Some weeks ago I left a comment on Ines's blog about some quirky and funky pens she'd made in the shape of knitting needles... little did I know that she would be so generous as to actually send me some. So look at what I got in the post yesterday. Knitting needles, but also a candy stick and a broom (which has become my favourite with its glittery straw hair:

She even threw in a little glass ladybird for good luck, which is now sitting on my keyboard. Ines, I am amazed by your generosity, thank you so much! A little thank you something is coming your way too :)

sunday, 04 december 2005

The day I dyed

What a colourful day yesterday was! I went over to Ruth's for some dyeing fun... despite oversleeping and getting there much much much later than planned.

Ruth had already been busy with acid dyeing and had several undyed skeins soaking in the bath waiting to be given the gift of colour. After a chat and admiring Ms Wormhead's hats (I tell you, she's one busy bee!), we had a go at some KoolAid dyeing. Lots of colourful packets, some 'normal' ones, some others with a 'magic twist', involving colour change.

So we took two of Ruth's 200g skeins and proceeded with mixing the solutions (mmm... fruity smells!!). One skein got purples, reds (pale!) and pinks and the other blues and greens. Except for the purple (Grape), all the colours ended up quite pastely, and not to our taste. So Ruth overdyed the green skein with some bluey acid dyes and the result was great! The acid dye managed to cover the baby shades and all the creamy patches from the original colour.

I didn't take any more pics after that, so I'm stealing some of Ruth's ones, I'm hoping she won't mind ;)

Then I had taken with me the skein of shame, which was my feeble attempt at dyeing months ago. Needless to say, I failed miserably and what should have been purple, ended up as a yucky baby pink... not good... so we threw it in a big acid dye pot and purple did come out! A little of the colour washed out, but it does look much better that before. Now it's in the other room drying, I'm keeping everything crossed that it won't lose its colour and became pastely again...

No afternoon is complete without a little retail therapy, so we headed over to HandPaintedYarn.com where I sinned repeatedly... with these... ;)

PS: I loved seeing how yarny goods had taken over 3 of Ruth's rooms... made me feel better about my own mess and the fact I have now officially spread to the studio and living room ;)

saturday, 03 december 2005

She did it again

I received my second parcel from my Secret Pal last week, but haven't had a chance to blog about it until now. She is super-lovely, just have a look at what she sent me this time: we have a pair of a plastic-cum-rubber knitting needles. I don't actually know what they're made of, they feel rubbery, but I don't think they are. The case says Bryspun and they're made in New Zealand. Regardless of the material, it's a pleasure to handle them. I'm loving discovering all these new things to play with! :) So thank you for introducing me to them. Ah, and if any of you know what the material is, do write in!

Then we have a gorgeous selection of yarn. I swear, I LURVEEE all the colours, she did stick to a cardinal purple scheme, and it's absolutely fantastic, exactly what I would have picked myself. I have tried to take some decent shots, but the light in here is pretty rubbish, so they don't really get all the justice they deserve.

From the top we have 2 balls of KnitPicks Andean Silk, which is a buttery mix of 55% Superfine alpaca, 23% Silk and 22% Merino wool in a shade called Sangria. I know I'll be making a Curly Whirly with these as they're so soft they won't irritate my neck. The only reason I haven't started yet is because I wanted to take some pics first. I know what I'll be doing this evening!

Next, we have a 4oz hank of Lamb's Pride Bulky, 85% Wool and 15% Mohair in Mulberry. Now, I've always seen this yarn used in American books (esp Stitch'n'Bitch), but never actually worked with it as it can't be found in the UK, so this was a really really well received gift. I'm thinking mittens, but need to calculate if I have enough for two, and then get some 6mm DPNs which are lacking in my collection.

Wait, there's more!! 2 x 50g 100% Alpaca skeins, one in black (which I'll admit to having drooled over in Loop and put on my 'to-buy' list!) and the other in a cerise/cranberry fuschia. Exquisite!

And to finish the cutest tape measure with a tail, which I have already put to good use and carried around with me everywherel! Adorable! :)

I truly feel soooo spoilt! Thank you so so much Secret Pal!

thursday, 01 december 2005

More stitch markers news

The Woolly Workshop is also stocking my beaded stitch markers now :)

They come in a selection of glass, plastic, wooden and rubber beads, in two sizes: small for needles up to 5mm and large for needles up to 7mm.

(doing the happy dance! :) )