Crochet and other crafts

Last week, the Old patchwork group met up for a reunion to decide what we were going to do for this year.
It was decided to form a separate group from the ladies association here in Competa, so at least we can look forward to learning more patchwork techniques ....I have already paid the subscription fee for this year too...
Anyway, one of the ladies there heard that we also had a crochet knitting group, and that evening brought some crochet to my house to show me, which had been made by her mother, who was well known in the village as a very good crocheter. She told me that this beautiful work was just kept in a cupboard, what a shame.
I loaned a couple of pieces to show the ladies on Monday

they are just gorgeous

And here is my attempt at recreating the motifs
I have also begun another watercolour painting of the church tower here in Competa

They are proving to be very popular as well..
(the more observant may notice that since I last painted this view the  planting has been changed) :D

Back to the patchwork...

Saturday proved to be a busy day, as I was representing both Intercambio and the Intercultural knitting/crochet club at the second leisure fair here in Competa.
The event began at ten o'clock and lasted until 2pm, showcasing many of the leisure activities to be found here in the village.
I eventually had a clearout of my little craft room, sorting through the wool, material, crochet cotton, and art materials to name just a few things.... I reminded myself that the Kaffe Fasset patchwork book I bought in Sitges was still sitting on the bookshelf, so I had a first attempt at paper piecing a 'pickle dish' block.
This involved tracing the pattern onto greasproof paper (my cheap alternative to proper patchwork paper)
and sewing strips of fabric onto the paper
Here are a couple of my first attempts

This first attempt was not too good as I did not iron as I went, this has caused the bottom of the piece to be uneven

My second attempt was a bit better.. but unfortunately I should have noticed that The top of the pattern paper was not covered by the material :( I don't know if I will be able to use this one now

Practise makes perfect... my third go was much improved, and turned out much better than the previous ones.
However, the placement of the right hand side stripy material is actually upside down.
More practice is needed I think ... I quite enjoy the technique though.

I gather that the idea is to have these sections so that they alternate the final pieces with dark and light fabric.
The idea in my head is to make these with scrappy bits and make the background plain red.

Busy week..

This week, on Tuesday, I went to a Spanish friend's house for tea, and managed to talk and gossip in Spanish for 2 hours!!
I didn't know that I knew so much :D
Wednesday was the normal Intercambio meeting, where we foreigners and Spanish meet to talk in Spanish and English and improve our speaking and listening skills.
Yesterday, I met up with friends and played a game of scrabble in Spanish, which we all enjoyed. We allowed ourselves a good look in the dictionary and also helped each other out, as we are all learning.
Dave and I also celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary yesterday, and went out for a lovely meal at The Museo del Vino here in Competa. We had to stop the owner Pepe opening a bottle of champagne for us, as Dave does not drink, and I had already had a few glasses of wine as well...
The food was delicious too!
Tomorrow, Saturday, I will be taking part in The leisure time fair here in the village, representing both Intercambio and the Intercultural knitting and crochet club....
never a dull moment eh?...

Basketweaving, crochet butterflies and seedlings

The charity shop had a craft book about basket making for beginners, so finding it so interesting, I played with some stronger grass I do not know the name of and some esparto yesterday and soaked it overnight to make pliable.

This is the reverse view the different grass is greener and rounder than the esparto, and had to be soaked overnight to get it to bend so I could thread it through the weave. It will be trimmed once it has dried.

And this is the right side, as it got bigger, I had to coil the esparto to try and keep it together to weave.

Then, whilst sitting in the shade this afternoon, I made a couple of crochet butterflies for a friend..one in shades of pink/red and the other in pink/lilac, which she saw online and knew I could make.

Whilst I had the camera out, I couldn't resist taking some photos of these gorgeous baby cyclamen plants that  appeared around the base of a plant, which I carefully pricked out..

Here are a few larger ones I did the other week, they will soon be ready for individual pots...

and this tiny tiny plant was a seed that I collected from my friends bush  (think it is called a bigonia) but I am not sure... Hers is very large...hopefully there will be a few more as I sowed lots of seeds. I also took a lot of plant cuttings which I am hoping will grow roots soon.
They are all sitting in the shade so they will not dry out and shrivel in the hot sun

Crochet boho bag

While I was reading my crochet how to in the 'Readers Digest book I have had for over 25 years I decided to play with shapes and made some triangles in black chunky wool

I have made four triangles per side to create the shape I wanted

Then I am crocheting a band to act as both the sides and base of the bag and will continue to make the handle in one single piece

It should be quite large when finished.. then I will think about decorating it too!

Esparto grass log basket

a view of the basket showing the handles (two to balance it)

view from the side showing the braid of five for the basket and  seven for the handles

top view of the handles which are crossed over (they may be wrapped later)

This is an esparto grass basket I have designed to hold logs for the fire during the winters here in Spain. I am busy sewing the handles on at the minute and hope to finish it soon

New shower base

We have been having a bit of work done in the house following the discovery of a cracked shower tray.
It had apparently been leaking for quite a while between the tiles on the wall and the base.
It has now been replaced by a lovely hand crafted base, complete with swimming pool lining and lovely mosaic tiles.

The old shower tray showing the tiles in between the wall and the base

The newly built base and lining

Drying out

The gorgeous new shower base

The drain was also moved into the middle so all the water will now run to this point too.
We are very happy with the result, and can recommend Paco Lopez based here in Competa to anyone who is thinking of having this type of work done.

The Finished Esparto grass vase and knitted lacy cowl

The finished esparto grass covered vase

 This has turned out better than I thought.. It also looks very different from the 'normal' baskets and other things that can be seen around the village. It is now hanging in the dining room.

The cowl I have finished knitting

I also finished the lacy knitted cowl. This was a 'fan' pattern knitted in the round, and was my first try at knitting following a chart for the stitches instead of a written pattern. I found this method to be very very easy to follow, and wonder why the knitting pattern makers do not use this easy method (which could be easily translated into many languages)

I have followed knitting charts in the past, but only for such things as fairisle and intarsia and other motifs

Weaving an esparto grass braid

Today, I continued to make the esparto grass braid to cover an old vase

Adding extra esparto grass is always done from the left had side. 

I am only adding one blade of grass at a time as this particular braid was very thin to accomodate the shape of the vase I was covering

The braid is continued adding extra grass as needed

extra braid was made until there was enough to cover the vase 

All the ends that were sticking out were trimmed level with the braid (this forms the 'wrong' side)

Using a special needle and thread the braid is stitched together through the 'loops'

As you can see I am wearing gloves to protect my hands from blistering

The braid is stitched to mould around the form of the vase in a spiral

I made a handle by looping the braid and sewing it firmly into place

Ta Dah..... the finished article. Just need to get some flowers to fill it and probably hang it on a wall for decoration.