yarn eater/rug muncher

potaytoe.potahtoe.

so i've now got a handful of little crafty vixens here at work that i've taught to crochet.
and last year our learning project was to create versions of the house of holland shawl for ourselves.
this year's project is going to be the wool eater!

both me and beautiful and wonderful caroline started ours out in peachy colours today:

fast and easy...

well the black merino scarf that i started at the royal festival hall this week is almost finished!

and tomoro i'm off to a super top secret crafty vixen event to be involved in an uber exciting new project...more information and lots photos to follow...xxx

long long long hiatus

from life, love, and even hooking.
i set down my crochet hooks a couple days before xmas and only picked them up again yesterday to attend the big new years event at the royal festival hall.  it was so nice to catch up with everyone and feel a bit 'normal' again...

things i miss...

it is sooo lovely being back home and seeing my family here in orange county, but after almost three decades living in london, england there are sooo many things i miss when i'm here! things like...
a cafe on every corner
being able to get a nice meal with a lovely bottle of wine after 10pm
walking everywhere

and then there are two things that i'm really really missing - so much i'm not sure which i'm missing more
my husbandboy AND my stash of yarn

the blondeboy had to stay behind as he's double booked on plasterwork. he's finishing a new bulgari hotel in knightsbridge as well as starting a new project on fleet street.  and my yarn stash, well hey i decided to travel uber-light and reckoned that i could just pick up whatever i needed here...i've just not had a chance.

its so horrid not being able to just cuddle up on the sofa with blondeman and whatever colour yarn i need and hook away!

guess i'll just have to talk to my family, lol...xxx

sweet home california

yes, i'm back home in orange county california and have to admit that i've been spending more time in shops buying hair dye and bleach than yarn!  my daughter is gonna multicolour dip dye my ends for me - wohoo, i can't wait...

i actually came over here travelling extremely light - its amazing now i'm an extra-small instead of an extra-large how little room my clothes take up!  so anyway, am travelling with just a ball of sockyarn and have been free forming away on little skulls mostly.  photos to follow if they actually become anything!

now, off to check the weather forecast and see if i'll be sunbathing again today. x

yesterday...

well yesterday's adventure to the wilds of crouch end was interesting...
i sold absoutely zilch at the crafternoon but the crowd/stock just didn't fit and i'll know for the next one (eastertime).  both myself and the girl next to me that had handknit items sold nothing - but girlie across from me with the most awesome machine knit felted monster stuffed animals did really really well.  her stuff was the cutest and i wish she had a site to link to! i traded her the salt and pepper mustache below for the cutest red plaid monster...and i'm gonna see her again soon as she'd like to learn to crochet - in fact, i had more interest in my crochet clinics than anything else so i'll be doing more of those for sure!

and note for next time: take more amigurumi and jewellry items rather than scarves and bunting...

still, it was a lovely day full of crafty vixens and old friends - and on the way home i spied a couple of my old iknit homegirls in the window so popped over to say HELLO. they'd not seen me in ages and were amazed at my long natural coloured bettie page hair and UK size 8 body!
 (last time they saw me i was probably a still a size 16-20)

crafternoon today!

still not sure what you are up to this afternoon or you are going to be around crouch end anyway?
well the lovely ladies of happily ever crafter have crammed me in a last minute stall at their crafternoon today because they "frickin love" my skully pirate crochet stuff...

so if you'd like to buy some or just hang out then pop on up to the hornsey vale community centre this afternoon...and experience the spectacle of cherie matrix outside zone 1 for two weekends in a row!

of course this means another saturday evening that i miss my gypsy dance rehearsals for the brixton hafla in december. i'm really torn as now my crafty vixen time is really fucking interfering with my bellydance time. however, with the latest knee problems i wonder more and more if i should slow down/give it up altogether? i "frickin love" the bellydance girls and musicians that i've met, and would miss them too much. luckily, the crafty vixen communtiy is just as interesting and loving so i'm replacing one with the other - FOR NOW.

sometimes there just really isn't enough hours in the day to squeeze in everything that i'm interested in - when this happens to you, how do you choose?

thanks for the weekend!

BIGGEST warmest loveliest thanks to ms marmite lover for the fun weekend at her underground farmer's market. Juicy Lucy and I spend an entire weekend in bed together wrapped up warm while the rest of the market had to battle with the elements. And that we had a bar set up on the ironing board was just a bonus. And on Sunday with had the lovely Jo and Amelie from Rubyshoes Rocks Bunting on the bed with us learning to crochet...so basically my usual weekend just with more interesting alcohol and more hookers!

Here's a link to a video of the weekend.

A London Plinth write up.

Oh! and PIE, not just any PIE, but the bestest american PIE, by Miss American Pie...who has pie crust to die for and makes something called a 'thing' that just drips with eagle brand milk and coconut.  This on top of Paul A Young continually plying me with brownies in hopes I'll make more brown and purple bunting for his shops - definitely means that I went over my usual calorie count for the day...but can I say that thanks to all the reprogramming I've done to my brain with the Beck CBT method I was still fully in control and enjoying every last morsel.

Still will be interesting to see my weight at fat rehab this Thursday night!

Oh, and as this weekend was such fun it has inspired me to do more of the crafty markety thingies, and maybe to organize my own as well...so watch this space!

AND ONE MORE THING

I'm doing crocheted mustaches for movember...they are a minimum £10 each or 6 for £50 and all the money will go to charity - so please buy buy buy! Email me to place an order, thanks.

don't forget! underground food rave this weekend!

yes, my poor little blog has been sooo neglected! and i'm so so sorry to the few of you that still pay me any mind...but i've been busy hooking things to sell to your good selves that are attending ms marmite lover's underground food rave this weekend.

i am also putting together some learning materials for those lucky enough to join me and juicy lucy in bed to learn to crochet! but for those of you intent on coming, i need to remind you of the RULES...same same as any other awesome underground rave...you GOTTA BUY YOUR TIX IN ADVANCE to get the address...and i swear on my bag of antique hooks that it's not in some field off the M25 (shhh...kilburn)

so to make it easy for my little lovelies click the date to reserve your space now!
Friday starts at 18:00
Saturday starts at midday

well that's my service announcement
its going to be such an awesome event that you'll be a smelly dogshit covered fool to miss it!

enough. from. me.
i've had really bad stomach flu so i better get my ass offline and back to blocking out some crocheted skulls to tempt all ya'll to part with some big fat british pounds...but make sure you bring extra! because my friends  paul a young will be there with their chocolates too!

come join me and juicy lucy in the bedroom

so this evening i was supposed to do a hilal bellydance workshop, but am blowing it out for my friend lucy's birthday for a couple reasons...
1. there is nothing sexy at all about hilal bellydance!
2. i need to focus on my tribal drills for shows in december.
3. it's juicy lucy's birthday!!! and i gotta take care of her as she is going to be my personal bitch at THIS

yes, i shall be teaching granny square crochet and selling my buntings and scarves at the underground farmer's market over bonfire weekend.  if you have never been to an underground supper club even then you must come along and experience the food rave that is the house of ms marmite lover.  she is truly a visionary of the new DIY age.  she's turned her uber-top secret beautiful house location into the funnest restaurant experience i have been to in a long time - and what she is doing with her indoor house market is amazing and inspiring!

in fact, i just had to fill out a survey on some women in biz website and when it came to role models - the only person that came into my head was ms marmite lover kerstin herself!  if you know me in real life you know that this isn't something i would say lightly - as no one is as old or as experienced as moi in most things, lol!

please do come along.
hang out with me and juicy lucy in the underground bedroom market and enjoy!!!

great minds...

so last night i wrote a loooong post about bellydancing taking up all my weekends and needing a friday night craft market to sell my day of the dead and xmas crochet.
THEN LOST IT TO THE ETHER.

(and blogger is still being funny) ugh!

but never fear - because just putting the idea out there meant my prayers were answered...
there was a lovely message waiting for me on twitter when i finally logged in this morning.
(something i'm doing less of now pinterest rules my life)

so watch this space as there is crafty bonfire weekend market coming up!!

rain rain go away...

i want to be renegade renegade today!

so i am now toying with the idea of tying my smaller crocheted garlands to the inside of an umbrella and just standing around on brick lane selling my wares that way.  

i'm also wondering if i could add this somehow to a raqis tanoura costume - hiding the crochet under the skirts and lifting layer by layer to reveal crocheted halloween and day of the dead skull items...

still. probably. not. best. for. the. rain.

but just imagine a combination of:

CROCHETED PIRATE BUNTING and long flowing layered skirts!!

also guess i should look into getting a proper indoor stall...ho hum. doesn't feel quite as fun or punk rock.

renegade renegade craft fair

so as i've been travelling so much, i just realised that it's the fucking 'renegade' craft fair this weekend in london, and remember i was planning my own renegade renegade craft fair as i couldn't afford the fucking $400 deposit required to apply for a stall? so tomorrow morning i will be going down brick lane with a blanket and my wares and flogging them on the sidewalk like all the other weekly sidewalk sellers...who would like to join me...it's free!!!

and this is the sort of thing i will be selling, what do you think?