Over on Nayu's Crochet Dreams #71 Sunshine sock

  Come check out how much progress I've made on making this sock on Nayu's Crochet Dreams

Review: Creative Embroidery and Beyond by Jenny Billingham, Sophie Timms, Theresa Wensing (Non-fiction, 8/10E)

 

                     June 2023, Walter Foster Publishing, 144 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Book Summary from Quarto 

 Practice the mindful art of hand embroidery with 18 gorgeous projects you can use to create home decor, upcycled clothing, and personalized gifts.

Creative Embroidery & Beyond expands on the best-selling Creative...and Beyond series, which includes Creative Lettering & Beyond, to focus on one of the most popular crafting methods out there: embroidery. In this visually stunning book that presents hand sewing as accessible and fun, three talented, on-trend artists—Jenny Billingham (@flynn_and_mabel), Theresa Wensing (@get.stitch.done), and Sophie Timms (@mindfulmantra_embroidery)—each present six designs. They are ideal for embroiderers of all skill levels, from total beginners to more advanced. You will find:
 

• Step-by-step embroidery projects featuring flowers, animals, insects, and more
• Instructions for how to embroider on denim, hats, and t-shirts
• Primers on essential stitches, including whipstitch and satin stitch
• Information on embroidery tools and how to use them
• Advice for threads and brands to use
• And so much more

Embroidery is a fun, accessible art medium that’s proven relaxing and mindful for millions of crafters around the world. Make your own embroidered gifts and more with Creative Embroidery & Beyond.

Nayu's thoughts

I've been doing cross stitch, a form of embroidery, since I was 7 or 8 years old, yet it's only in the past 2 years I've started to dabble in what I call 'proper' embroidery, every stitch that isn't cross stitch. It meant that the request to review Creative Embroidery & Beyond was well received and I was delighted to check out the book. There are so many beautiful designs, mostly what I call classical looking embroidery style but used in interesting ways (such as on clothing and household items). I had never thought of using fabric pen to colour in the centre of a design instead of stitching it, something I may try in the future. I liked most of the designs which made choosing just one a little tricky In the end I opted for Cup of Planets by Theresa Wensing. 

 

Design in the book

As you can see it is a beautiful pattern...however I'm not mad about hands so I removed them. I needed some fabric so I decided to put the design onto a spare hijab I had. Let's bypass the unorthodox methods I used to get the pattern onto the headscarf, here is it on me. 

 

And here it is as a full hijab. 

 Now, while the book does do some diagrams for most stitches, there was one stitch, reverse chain stitch, which was not explained in the book so I had to Google it as I had no clue how to do it. Given how many other stitches are explained I felt this was a bit of a let down as beginners will not have a full library of stitches in their heads. I also had to watch some videos of the stitches that were given diagrams, whipped backstitch,  as I didn't fully understand exactly how to do it from the diagram which used a really dark thread which is not the best for when stitches are displayed. Again this was a bit of a let down as I had expected the book to explain all the stitches required for every pattern. 

Stitch explanation aside the pattern was a delight to work. I didn't use the recommended 6 threads for the french knots so had to do many more than the pattern indicates, but I rather like French knots so I didn't mind. Please ignore the pink planet: again I didn't do the recommend number of threads for the planet rings, so I unpicked it but it wasn't easy to unpick, resulted in holes and um yes moving on from that! 

I love how the planets turned out overall, I made do with what thread I had, whch is why the green dots are green rather than white, so I like to think of them as little aliens floating around space. I loved doing whipped backstitch, it gives a pretty looking effect on the cups. 

Apart from not having all the stitches explained in the book, or explained clearly enough for a beginner, this book is full of great designs to use. I'm already eager to use some planets on the bottom border on my hijabs, as well as some of the flower designs as they would look good since they are mostly plain. I like how Creative Embroidery & Beyond sparked my interest in using embroidery on clothes I own to make them unique, and will share my progress as I slowly do more.

Over On Nayu's Crochet Dreams #64 Explained absence

unamed heroine in anime series Amnesia

 To find out why I've been quieter than I hoped check out my post on Nayu's Crochet Dreams. 

Nayu's News #253 Good Intentions

 

Ichigo from Aikatsu!

I'm alive! Which if on Twitter you know as I'm there daily. Life has been it's usual self. Despite officially being Spring, and some days hitting a maximum of double digits, my silly body reacts to the coldest temperature of the day, which has consistently been under 5C, occasionally under 0C, which is when I simply don't function at all well. So apologies, I really am going to try to check in once  week not once a month. Even if it's just a short paragraph and a cute  picture. 

 

Yurika from Aikatsu! (I'm in an Aikatsu! mood)

Life continues being life, there's still some stress which I can't talk about and probably can't for a few more months - I will when it's all over. I can be found gaming most days. I am slowly starting to do a little sewing and crochet, progress pics will happen in due course. I am slowly fitting in more reading time (also a good thing). All family and pets are well. Been busy growing some plants, again pictures will happen later (I really do post everything on Twitter. I'm only on 1 social media now.) Ramadan is coming to an end but I will try and do a special post before it ends. I've been managing to mostly hit my goals which got adjusted but that's ok too.  Life is all about adjustment and good intentions! 

Aoi and Ichigo from...you've guessed it, Aikatsu!

Happy New Year!!!

 

Morning! Happy 2021 (or 0021 as I initially typed). I'm sorry for being so silent for several weeks. Me and winter don't get on at all, add on to that current events that were present in 2020 and yeah, I focused on surviving.

This year I'm trying my best to blog more regularly. I tend to think I have blogged, then realise all I've done is posted updates on Twitter. It's the sole social media I'm on and I use it daily. I know not everyone is on it, so I'm sorry for not keeping this and my other blog updated. I am going to try harder, even if it's just a couple of sentences to keep you up to date with life. 

Today I'm patiently awaiting a fun parcel. Although I wish I didn't have to buy it, I am excited about it's contents. I'm getting a new Nintendo Switch Lite! Yes I still have the one from last January, but unfortunately I'm experience the dreaded Joy Con Drift. It isn't as easily solved in a Lite as it is in say the original Switch where new joycons can be bought and used. The Lite is my favourite console of all time. I play on it over 6 hours a day. It truly is important part of my life, and I do rely on the games I have to help my mental health. Yes I have other hand consoles, and yes I had wanted to wait to see if there would be a new version of the Lite this year. Unfortunately the third party PowerA wireless controller that I have did not work well with all games - Super Mario Odyssey I'm looking right at you. It was a case of buy a pro controller, or for 4 times the price of a pro get a new Lite. 

Ever since I bought my Lite last year I knew this could happen. Nintendo recently told me my gaming time, and with over  2000 hours of gaming clocked up it has more than paid for it's price tag. Once everything is trasnsferred onto the new Lite, and once a week or two has passed to get through the post new year rush, I will send the faulty one to Nintendo and pray they can fix it for me. If they turn round and say they won't, or if it will cost a lot of money then I will say no thank you and just keep it as it is. I'm praying they can fix it for free - I've never used them for repairs before. I have bought new joy cons when my old ones started drifting. I've never had to buy a new controller in my entire 30 years or so of gaming, which is pretty reasonable, so I think the problems are just a build up of my being so lucky with controllers. 

Anyway, that's it for today. Craft...yeah let's just say I need to slowly build up my craft skills again. Like I said, unless you lived under a rock you know what 2020 was like. Begin extremely high risk from the virus, living with two key workers one in a hospital, plus some other life stuff I'm not yet at liberty to say but I will share later in the year when it's hopefully all sorted, means life is rather stressful for me, despite not having to work so I can stay isolated at home. 

I know 2021 still has the issues of 2020. But just by being a different year there's more hope. I pray that it is a great year for all of you. And here's to regular blogging! 

Artist unknown

 

Happy 2020!

Apologies for the extreme lack of posting for well over a month. Winter has been rough as usual and I haven't had enough brain power to blog. I have been sharing my gaming choices and my craft progress on Twitter, which until the weather improves is like a super mini version of blogging. 

I hope you are all staying away from germs and have had a good start to 2020! My plants are already flowering! The image used is from previous year so not exactly what I am looking at but very similar. It is amazing it is alive with my very random waterings, but it has survived for 4 years now! 

I have already started 1 new type of craft this year! Not a project, a type of project. I will blog more once I have had more practice/made more progress. You can see my crochet projects on Twitter though. 

Anyway, sorry to be short but the weather is so cold my body feels like it has flu (it doesn't). Hope to be back as soon as the weather improves! Will be reading more then too. Gaming is a bigger distraction with pretty images.

Nayu's News #243 Coolbags aren't always cool.

I've got all of these bags (not my photo) I use the wherever I go and I like them! The cool bag is the one I used later in this post.

Morning! It's a rainy day today, no heatwave either so it's mostly a rest day as my body doesn't take kindly to rain. I am positing this on my other blog Nayu's Crochet Dreams simultaneously  and I get to the main title topic quite a bit further down in the post. 

I've been super quiet over this past week because last Thursday I had to go on an errand for something I'm not discussing yet in public. Where I went was within a shopping centre, so I did peek into a toy shop and picked up a new friend, who I showed on Twitter. 

She is a good hugable size! Also very pink.

At first I wasn't sure whether Tulip was a llama or an alpaca, so now I think she is an alpaca. I got her in a bargain summer sale where I got this set of Disney Tsum Tsum toys for a crazy low price compared to the original. 

It must be noted this eraser set did include Pinoccio, who I absolutely hate so he went bye-bye in the bin. I dislike him that much! I didn't realise you can actually switch heads and bodies around, that's not something I enjoy as I like my Disney characters whole and in their own body thank you. 

Shared a moment similar when Stitch felt lost.

 Now I did almost lose my car in the shopping mall, I couldn't quite remember where it was, so I thought I'd start at one end of the several car parks and hope for the best. Went to the 5th floor, no joy. Thankfully the 4th floor was my stop as I was super tired by that point (that kind of going out even though I don't go far in the mall is an awful lot for my body). 

I knew I'd be resting for a few days after, but this was hampered a little bit by having younger family members to stay. It was fun but they are permanently on the go. I got to game several hours with them on Saturday morning when I wasn't feeling great to begin with. Being social that long is tiring, and add to the fact they couldn't sit still (as in constantly figiting (fi-git-ing (not fighting)) on the same sofa as me my body didn't take well to that either. 

My base! This is the 3rd level, one is a bedroom for a girl, another is a work room for a girl, and the blue and white structure is my room! Sadly the boys do wander around up here, but I like it as a girls only space!

I'm still playing Dragon Quest Builders, I'm on the 3rd chapter (still) which is hard but I'm starting to get better weapons and building materials so I'm hoping to get to chapter 4 soon. The honeymoon period was over for a little bit - I still love it but it's definitely not as easy as it was in the earlier chapters. 

This isn't my picture, and as far as I know I can't ride on the larger animals, but the character is similar to mine. I finally have a cute hairstyle (loopy braids) but I also just got a headscarf as an item and my character looks so cute! When I have more time I'll do a post on NRC about it - I'm trying to complete it before I write a review.

I've unexpectedly and happily got in Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles. My younger family members loved it, it was so much fun going around having them look for stuff for me including the 55 cats that need rescuing in the game. I'm now over 50% through the main story which makes me a bit sad. I heartily glad that I think I've built all the bridges I need to - getting enough stone was quite an issue! It involves making things with the materials that you collect around the world which is never dull, because the world feels quite large and for some reason I'm not able to remember where everything is so it always feels like a new area even when it isn't. 

That's all I've been gaming (mostly), although I must get back into Pokemon Sun because I want to finish the main story by the time the next Pokemon game comes out. 

Such a shame a pretty parasol can't make it easier to craft in heat.

Craft wise not much has happened because I haven't had the energy, and when I did it was too hot to handle metal: I hate the way metal feels in high temperatures, which is why it may be a few weeks before I can continue with my craft.

I have been reading a few good books that I'll be reviewing soon.

Thank you for being patient in my non-posting: I've some life stuff going on (nothing bad) which may affect my blogging from time to time over the next few months, but I'm doing my best to keep you updated when I can. My priority is to rest! 

the good white stuff! Which I get in a carton.

On that note I can finally get to this post's title topic. Usually when I go grocery shopping I'm able to put everything away straight away (the main storage fridge is in the garage which I can't access on my own). The last time I went I couldn't do that, so for some unknown reason I decided milk would be ok in a coolbag, with frozen food and a tray of ice cubes for a few hours. There wasn't  much room in the internal fridge so I thought it would be ok. 

While it was very cool, I don't think it was cool enough: every single pint of milk I'd bought then and used this week has gone off. I'm not sure why I realised it may be the cool bag thing (it's organic milk which my family pointed out may have shorter shelf life, I'm not sure) but that is the one thing I did differently to other milk. From now on no matter how tired I am I'm putting milk in the fridge as soon as I get home! Thankfully the flavoured milk is fine which suits me. Cool bags do keep food cool, but it's advisable to put perishables away promptly to avoid them spoiling and you temporarily being wary of using milk. 

Essential emails are almost done, this blog is ending and it's nearly time to go back to some gaming! I hope you have a good day whatever you are doing, and plan to put up the next post this weekend!

Searched for 'see you soon' picture, saw this one, thought it was adorable and then discovered I already had a copy ^u^

Over on Nayu's Crochet Dreams #45 See what I'm sewing!

I'm getting creative!

 If you want to know what sewing project I've started, head over to Nayu's Crochet Dreams to find out! (link is generic until the post is out)

What do you think it could be?

 

Over On Nayu's Crochet Dreams #42 Food themed blankets

This post might make you hungry...

To be more precise I've been working on chocolate theme blankets (well, chocolate inspired...or simply a matter of having yarn that makes me think of chocolate! Got check it out over on Nayu's Crochet Dreams (generic link until I have time to add a link)

Over on Nayu's Crochet Dreams #32 Ink stamping!

I'm being creative!

Head on over to Nayu's Crochet Dreams and see my recent experiment with ink stamping!

Over on Nayu's Crochet Dreams #31 I'm Growing Things!

Being in a flower field would set my hayfever off, but love the girl's dress!

Find out what I'm growing over on my other blog Nayu's Crochet Dreams! I was due to have reviews up before today, but waking 2am Saturday dictated my weekend would be a quiet one. I was crafting on Mon with a friend, Tues I was resting, then blogger didn't cooperate, so it was a delayed post. Enjoy!

Nayu's News #234 The Photobucket Issue

Me this morning (no idea which anime it's from)

This morning my craft blog, Nayu's Crochet Dreams looked absolutely fine. A few minutes later, and I had the most awful background ever, making my blog virtually unreadable thanks to the font settings having been set for my custom background. 

This was ghastly and very distorted.

I didn't know what to think. I checked my Blogger gadget, which seemed ok. I thought it may be an issue on the designer's end, so I messaged them but we are in very different time zones so didn't get a reply yet. However, I then Googled it, and it turns out this is a humungous issue for all who used Photobucket for free. Search on Photobucket, then check out the news articles to see what the problem is. 

To put it simply, Photobucket looked after images for free for many blog users (and other users too). They kept them safe in the internet. Apparently there have been emails about the change...but it was buried in a load of legal speak, so even if you read the email (I know I didn't, as I ignore Photobucket emails since I didn't think I used it much), you couldn't find the info unless you had oodles of time to read it. They now won't host for free, all the pictures are gone, unless each user pays $400.

Fairly sure many users will be feeling like this girl is.

That's is insane. I'm fortunate in that as far as I'm aware the only image I had on photobucket was my beautiful craft blog background: 

Having it as plain white isn't fun or my style. However, I got off lightly. There are lots of tweets about the Photobucket Issue, with bloggers having hundreds and thousands of photos that they need to change. I'd be devastated if I was in their shoes, which is why I don't mind having a white background for now until I can figure something out. It's a fairly low priority issue for me now, until I'm caught up with blog posts, but I know I'm one of the lucky ones. I hope that somehow Photobucket allows people to recover their photos so they can find another company to store and share their images on. 

If you've been affected by the Photobucket issue please do share what happened, and what you are now doing to resolve the issue. 

Not entirely all sunny now.

Other news - summer weather is no longer here. We are getting lots of rain, and had a storm last week, both which my body reacts bady too hence lack of blog posts recently. I'm doing them slowly! Unfortunately the Photobucket issue took up a chunk of time today, while I figured out what was happening. Lunch time now, followed with the usual afternoon rest anime session, then probably some gaming & reading!

 

Been listening to Aikatsu songs while I blog, including one of my favourites feature Kokone and Miyabi Love Like Caramaliser which can be found here on Youtube

Over On Nayu's Crochet Dreams #23...

She's so cute! One of many random pictures I find online. Love her odd socks which match what I wear ^o^

... check out what unusual gift I'm taking to my friend in Norfolk! I'm fairly sure she doesn't read my blog regularly - sorry if you've seen this though!

Over on Nayu's Crochet Dreams #22

I wish you a happy Wednesday and show you what I've been working on craft wise this week! It involves crochet and fabric....

Nayu's News #229 Slowly getting there

Love this Muslim themed Hatsune Miku! Pretty in purple ^o^ Playing a lot of her game this week

Hello! I'm back from Devon, and slowly getting back to what counts as normality round here. Had an amazing time, did underestimate the exhaustion of it all though. Then had mega meds ketamine on Weds & yeah, it's been an interesting few days, full of an insane amount of DVDs, gaming, & a little reading (craft isn't an easy thing to do when lying down). 

Today I'm working through a week of emails, I'm out tomorrow, and hope to do a little blog work Weds. So it'll be a few more days until I'm back to normal online. Which includes tomorrow's meme, which is being skipped due to lack of ability to put words together before today.

Nayu's News #219 All back to normal!

It is wonderful to feel back to 80% normal (what counts as normality for me)! I like not having to be careful what I eat. Eating cake again makes it taste that bit more delicious! Still a bit more exhausted than normal, but it always takes time for me to get over being ill.

Bit fuzzy but you get the idea of my pretty house!

Over the past week I've gamed a lot (always good), mostly Animal Crossing New Leaf , some Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer and a bit of Aikatsu My No.1 Idol! More news on those soon. 

managed to read a bit (progress as I've read little lately), even done a bit of craft! And today...I'm going grocery shopping! 

I've been eek-ing mine out (the phrase means stretching, although I'm not sure if it's a regional phrase or a well known one. I may have the spelling wrong!), which has been ok because I've stayed away from milk for quite a while, and thankfully had enough yogurt to last me. I only need a few items, so it shouldn't take long. That's being done after blog work. 

So what can you expect over the coming week? Maybe a book review (I don't have many waiting to be written), definitely some gaming news too. Who knows! I'll post what I can when I can :) 

Over On Nayu's Crochet Dreams #7 The week runs away from me

Find out exactly what's been going on this week with Eeyore over on my craft blog, Nayu's Reading Corner.

Nayu's News #212 A Craft Filled Day!

Had my own sleeping beauty moment at the weekend

I'm back from my fun weekend away, which consisted of me being super tired almost every day, so much so I had a 4 hour nap on Saturday afternoon. I don't nap unless ill, but it helped me so much that in the future if I'm tired I'll nap! It didn't seem to affect my sleep. 

Probably going to be a few more days until I'm fully recovered from the weekend, but today I'm  heading off for a day of craft and fun with a friend! Will update you on what we do in due course. 

This is a big part of my day today!

One Skein Wonders for Babies by Judy Durant (Non-fiction, Craft, 9/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

 September 2015, Storey Publishing, 288 pages, Ebook, Review copy 

Summary from Storey Publishing

This irresistible collection offers 101 original knitting projects for babies and toddlers — each using just a single skein of yarn! From mittens and hats to tees, sweaters, hoodies, pants, dresses, socks, and bootees, you’ll find the perfect wearable for every child and every occasion. You’ll also discover beautiful bibs, blankets, and sleep sacks, plus adorable stuffed toys, blanket buddies, and more. These beautiful projects were contributed by designers and crafters around the world, and each comes with complete step-by-step instructions and a photograph of the finished piece.

Nayu's thoughts

Sometimes knitters have an odd ball of yarn which isn't enough to make a big project, but a smaller one is needed. That's where this book is useful! The range of projects is extensive, including accessories, clothes, blankets, and of course baby items which as a smaller product suit using 1 skein.

Tada!

Here's what I did, a cute baby bootie! I didn't note down the pattern name because I thought I'd still be able to access it when I wrote the review. Unfortunately I've gone into the program and unlike novels apparently there was an expiry date so I no longer have this wonderful book. I will look to buy it in the future! 

The instructions are easy to use with large pictures so I had a good idea of what the finished product looked like. The ribbed effect meant I knitted the equivalent of two socks in one, so it took a fair amount of time to do. I'm not sure I'd use this particular pattern again, but I would look at some of the more complex patterns in the future.