New Listings

I have finally got around to listing some sock creatures over at both my Etsy Shop and my Folksy Shop. There are some new creatures, as well as some you may have seen before, along with some pairs of socks.

As a sneek peek, here's some pictures of my newest creations:




I've also made this funky little creature:



But she's not for sale - she's going to be a birthday present for the boyfriend's niece. She watched me making her and fell in love with her, and as her birthday's next week it just felt really mean not to give it to her!

Today I'm planning on sewing up another monkey, and if there's time, I might sew some new socks, so keep an eye out for more listings soon!

Of Ugly Sock Rabbits and Gingerbread Cakes

Yesterday I finished what I think is the ugliest sock rabbit I have ever made. I'm not entirely sure what went wrong with it, but it just doesn't look right to me. I have named it Wonky...because, well, that's how it looks to me. The boyfriend however, thinks it is lovely, despite it's wonkiness, and has decided to keep it. So we have yet another creature that lives in the bedroom with us.

And here he is - in all his wonky glory:



I also made gingerbread cakes at the weekend. I started out with the intention of making gingerbread men, but on inspection of my baking supplies I realised I had no plain flour. So instead, I cobbled together a cake mix from the gingerbread ingredients.



They actually came out really, really well - they're slightly crunchy on the outside, and really soft, fluffy and moist on the inside. The recipe went something like this:

300g Self Raising Flour
300g Butter
300g Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 and 1/2 tsp Ground ginger
1/2 tsp Ground cloves
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tbsp Golden Syrup
Milk

I didn't measure the milk - just poured it until the mixture got to the consistency I wanted! I am from the 'Add ingredients until it looks and tastes right school of baking.

I put them in the oven at about 180 degrees for 12 minutes (ish) and they were perfect! It makes about 20 cakes - by the time I came to take a picture it would appear that the boyfriend and the landlord had got to them!

The recipe is probably not exactly how I made them, so if anyone does make them, I apologise in advance for them not coming out well! Next time I invent a recipe I shall be sure to write it down as I go!

Big Catch Up!

I have the internet back at home! Hooray! And that means a big catch up post of everything I've made while the internet has been down!

First up: Cross Stitch.

I made a post a while back about the two big cross stitches I was working on. Without internet to distract me in the evenings, I've got some more of the Looney Tunes one done:



Next up: Embroidery

I had an idea a while ago about embroidering things on the back of underwear. And now I've done some:







I'd like some opinions on these - not so much the designs, as I was just playing around, but ideas, thoughts, constructive criticisms - I'm pondering whether to sell them, but don't know whether they would sell.

And then we have sock creatures:

I made 2 monkeys and a bunny that were sent off around the world this week, which I stupidly forgot to take pictures of first. One was a monkey for my step-sister's birthday, made from socks with pink and sparkly hearts on them, and the other was a monkey made of fluffy socks for my friends in Finland. The bunny went to Finland too - he was made from black socks with purple red polkadots!

I did make another bunny though, which my boyfriend has now claimed as the girlfriend for his other bunny. He has named her Violet, and here he is holding her:


And finally...(getting there, I promise!) Today is my lovely boyfriend 34th birthday. And so we went to Legoland! We both love Lego! Whilst there, we bought:

The Kraken Attackin' Lego Pirates set (put together by me!):


Lego Minifig shaped cookie cutters (for when I make Gingerbread!):


And a really cool Lego bag (I have a major thing for handbags of all shapes and sizes!)


The boyfriend also bought a mini Lego Bulldozer, but I haven't taken a picture of it!

Oh, and before I forget - my monkey swap present arrived too. It's a gorgeous little monkey from Mel over at Felt Me Up. He also came with a really cute banana:




And I'm now taking part in Meri's 50's B Movie swap!

Woooow, that was a long post!

Pirate Socks

I love Pirates. I love anything to do with Pirates. And so, when I found socks with skulls and crossbones on, I knew I had to make Pirate sock creatures. I've made two so far - a monkey, and a rabbit.

Before I post any more, please excuse the pictures. The weather here's awful, so I've had to take the pictures indoors. The light's really bad. Hopefully I'll get better pictures soon!

Here we have Captain Blacktail, the most evil Pirate Rabbit known upon the seven seas:


And here, his friend and ally Captain Bananas, who is an equally scurvy dog (or monkey, as the case may be...):


And here's one of them together:

New Job!

I started a new job today! The first day went pretty well, and although I'm very tired I'm also glad that I managed to work for a full day! Having not worked for 3 months it's a big achievement to me!!

Sadly, I think this will mean I won't have as much time to craft - although for the first few weeks I'll only be working part time, as there's so many of us that they need to train!

So, I'm off tomorrow, and plan to use it photographing and listing sock creatures (as there is now an army of them in the bedroom!).

I've made a new Monster since I posted last, and I've 3/4 made a new Bunny, but I haven't had a chance to photograph them, so no pictures yet I'm afraid. Hopefully I'll manage to get pics tomorrow and there'll be a big update then!

So, just a quick update from me, before I go and shower and collapse! I'm hoping I won't fall asleep before Ashes to Ashes start!!

And Normal Service Is Resumed

After being horribly unispired for a couple of days, and feeling generally like everything I make is worthless, I'm actually feeling better and doing some knitting today. I think a couple of days of not doing anything crafty at all has put things into perspective and made me realise how much I do actually enjoy doing it, regardless of whether or not things I make are selling.

Despite this fact, I still had a facebook message from my step-mother, asking for a sock creature, free, as no one in my family seems to factor in that I have to pay for supplies and suchlike (even a few quid to cover the cost of the socks would be nice!) and I'm considering making her one, in the hope that she'll show it to people and it might generate some interest.

I'm also having a think about how I could make my sock creatures unique, and at the moment I'm considering maybe giving them knitted accessories of some kind. It's still a bit of a work in progress / idea at the moment though, so it could all change yet!

I haven't really been up to much crafty, but I do have a finished Sock Rabbit to show off:

Lack Of Confidence

I don't know what's wrong with me today. I seem to have seriously lost my crafting mojo. It's taken me the best part of an hour and a half to make arms for the Sock Rabbit I'm making. Normally it takes half an hour, tops!

Partly, I think I feel unappreciated. Everyone in my family seems to love the stuff I make, whether it's knitted or a sock creature, or whatever. They all want some of it. My mother, step-mother and step-aunt all want sock creatures, and my aunt wants a corsage brooch. Which is all well and good, but they seem to expect me to do it for free. Never mind that I have to pay for wool and buttons and socks and stuffing and needles and thread and lord knows what else, they all seem to assume that I'll make things for them for free. The closest I've got to payment for making things for people is being given the socks and buttons I needed to make sock monkeys for my boyfriend's neice and nephew.

The other part of it is I think, lack of sales. I spend time making all the things I make, and so far I've only sold one thing. Okay, so it probably doesn't help that I have the attention span of a gnat, and like to change what I make on a daily basis, and probably have no one else to blame for myself, it doesn't help me feel good about myself and the things I make.

This has turned into a bit of a pointless rant really, but I think I needed to get it all off my chest. Ho hum. Back to the Bunny creation!

Sock Creature Round Up

I've been making a lot of sock creatures recently and only a few of them have had pictures taken and posted here. I have now taken pictures of all of the ones I have made, and those that haven't already been posted will be now!

First up, Monkeys:

This is a monkey made for my boyfriend's Niece - she/he/it doesn't have a name yet:


This is Spot:



This is Stripe:


This is Bruce (note the bats comic-fans!!):


And this is another un-named monkey, made for my mother:


And now, Bunnies:

This is Lilah


Springy:


And my absolute favourite-est sock creation ever - Captain Blacktail, the bunny pirate:


And then this, is a monster. He doesn't have a name really. I like to make Rawr-y noises at him though:


Some of these will be appearing in my etsy shop over the next few days! Keep an eye out for them!

Sock Bunny

I haven't posted for a little while, mostly because I'm busy writing a Sock Monkey tutorial, which is taking much longer than I anticipated. Hopefully it'll be done in the next couple of days though! In the meantime however, I had an idea about making different animals out of socks, and it being Easter and all, the first idea that sprang into my head was to make a rabbit.

And here he is:



I don't think he's too bad for a first attempt at something, and I'll be making at least one friend for him at some point, so expect lots of pictures of more bunnies, and more monkeys too at some point. My bedroom currently looks like a stuffed monkey sanctuary!