New in my Etsy Shop- Fair Isle Brooches

I'm just stopping by today to tell you that I've just added some new pieces to my Etsy Shop! I had a great photo shoot last week with the always fab Hammonds Photography Studio and I'm gradually adding the pieces to my shop. I hope you like them!

The first pieces I have added are these three Fair Isle triangle brooches. They are hand knitted in Shetland wool to my own Fair Isle design and they are finished with a pom pom. I love making these, they are so much fun to create! I have made Fair Isle brooches and necklaces in a lot of different colour combinations but these are my favourite so far. I'd love to know what you think!

New Button Brooches

Just stopping by to share a little shop update with you all today! I'm working really hard to add new pieces to my Etsy Shop at the moment and I'm photographing all the pieces myself, so it's a learning curve, but one that I am enjoying very much. This week I added three new button brooches- two knitted ones in a lilac and a pale blue and a lovely mustard toned Harris Tweed one. They are all handmade by myself and embellished with tiny pieces of upcycled fabric, stitched onto the brooches in gold thread. 

The button brooches look equally lovely worn on their own or as a group to brighten up your favourite cardi or jacket.

Thank you for letting me share these with you today, I hope you have had a fab week!

Louise xx

New Work- Fair Isle Brooches

March has been a strange month as Mr Writer was away for most of it- he worked in Korea for 4.5 weeks and this was the longest we have been apart in the 13 years we have been together. It really was so strange to be so far apart! Whilst my family and friends were so great at keeping me busy and distracted (thank you to you all!) I lost a lot of motivation and positivity and sadly didn't achieve as much as I would have liked to. I was so surprised at myself, I thought I'd achieve so much with all of that time on my hands, but I really underestimated how much Mr Writer motivates and encourages me. Thankfully he's back now and is having a good rest and I'm once again making and loving my work. I've got a week off from the day job and I'm looking forward to making a start on some new things and planning new content for the blog. Watch this space!

Today I thought I'd share some things I've finished so far this week...

I'm really enjoying making these hand knitted Fair Isle brooches, designing the Fair Isle patterns and hand knitting them using Shetland wool. I'm learning more about Fair Isle with every one I make- I'm seeing this as an evolving project and a learning process

I'm hoping to take these particular brooches to show a potential new stockist of my work- fingers crossed!

When I first started making Fair Isle brooches I made them rectangular, but as I'm finding that these new square shaped brooches are getting a really good reaction, I'm going to go ahead now and always make them square, unless requested

Although I plan the patterns on knitter's graph paper, sometimes the design doesn't really pop until you knit it up. I had previously knitted this design in other colours and I thought I'd try it using different colours- it's one of my favourites. I don't intentionally try to make the patterns look like anything, re. flowers etc, as I like to design in a more spontaneous way, but I think this one looks like little houses!

Thank you for letting me share an insight into life lately- I'll be back later in the week to share my Instagram photos from March and also sharing a sneak peek at what I'm up to on my week off. I've also got a floral Spring themed How To in the planning!

Hope you've had a lovely March and wishing you a happy week!

New Products: Denim Button Brooches

I've just added a little selection of Denim Button Brooches to my Etsy Shop! Each one is handmade from upcycled denim and colourfully embellished with recycled fabric pieces. I've been enjoying wearing mine with my favourite denim dress (double denim, haha!). Take a look at them in my Etsy Shop and check out my other upcycled fabric brooches here

Photo Shoot part 1!

Here are a few of my favourite images from today's photo shoot at Hammonds Photography Studio! Thank you to Emma for the great shoot! 

I wanted to have some promo images for recent work including my Aztec inspired brooches and hand knitted Fair Isle brooches and I'm really pleased with these!

Over the coming weeks I'll be busy further developing the Shetland wool Fair Isle work (see brooches below) into a mini collection for the Etsy shop and getting ready for photo shoot part 2! I'll be sure to keep you posted. Hope you've had a great Sunday!

Hand Knitted Shetland Wool Brooches

On Wednesday I shared some new materials and today I've been knitting with the beautiful Shetland wool, making these Fair Isle brooches! If you've been reading along lately you'll have seen my many and varied experiments in learning Fair Isle knitting, not all of them successful, so I'm really pleased to be able to share some finished pieces with you. Here are a few Instagram snaps from today...

I love to use Bamboo needles but I don't have any that are fine enough to use with 4ply. My tension is very loose so I've had to go down to 2.25mm metal needles to achieve the correct tension- it's a little like knitting with cocktail sticks (!) but I'm finding the finer yarn looks a lot less bulky for this project than the DK wool I had been using

These are the pieces I've finished today, but I've knitted pieces in other colour combinations and I'll be making them into brooches later this week. I'll keep you posted!

Aztec/Carnival brooches

I've been in the studio today continuing with the Aztec/Carnival themed brooches, made using up-cycled fabrics, eco friendly screen printing inks, sequins, gems and embroidery.

I've been making slow progress on these because I've been working on lots of other things, but I'm really hopeful that in the next couple of weeks I'll be posting to tell you that I've made a small collection! I'm enjoying wearing the original one I made with summery clothes in this lovely weather.

Happy Friday everyone!

The Hazel Gallery Spring Arts Fair

On Saturday 26th April I will be taking part in The Hazel Gallery Spring Arts Fair, at The Waiting Room, Colchester. There will be lots of stall holders selling original handmade pieces, gifts and artwork, as well as live music, workshops, tea and cake (!) and vintage pop-up-shops on board a Routemaster bus! Well worth a trip!

Come and say hello, I'll be having a sample sale of pieces from my new Spring collection, as well as showcasing some new knitted rings and brooches in Spring colours. Hope to see you there!

Up-cycling experiments

Experiments with Liberty fabric off cuts, a hand embroidered tray cloth and a stripey sheet! I'm not entirely convinced at the outcome at the moment but it's work in progress- I'm going to try making some brooches in other shapes and experiment with embroidery, beading and perhaps some dying over the top. I'll carry on experimenting and keep you up to date on the progress!

This week in photo form...

A few things I've been up to this week!

Making (and eating!) chocolate cake! 

Making chicken, leek and mushroom soup

Making new brooches and rings in the studio

Restocking my shelf at Make Do and Mend, Chelmsford

Experimenting with punch cards on my knitting machine as part of my Fair Isle project. More on this in the coming weeks

Knitting a ladder stitch cardigan in beautiful Rowan Drift

What have you been up to this week?

Bookmark Display Cards

 Today I've been making bookmark display cards using pages from magazines (I can't bring myself to cut up a book!)

A couple of times lately  my bookmarks have been mistaken for unusually shaped brooches, so hopefully this will solve that problem! I'm going to try out several ways of displaying them to see what works best.

In case you're curious, I'm currently reading the new Bridget Jones book "Mad About the Boy." I heart Bridget Jones!

Take a look at more of my bookmarks in my Etsy shop

Tartan

Lately I've been making some cover button brooches and rings using Tartan off cuts- great if you love the Tartan trend but just want a subtle Tartan hit!

 I've taken a little selection of these new pieces to The Hazel Gallery in Colchester today and I'm going to add them to my Etsy shop soon, watch this space!

A lovely gift

My friend Jean Muir makes beautiful ceramic pieces including these gorgeous rabbit Brooches. I was lucky enough to receive this lovely little rabbit from Jean for my birthday, I just love it! You can visit Jean's Gallery, The Jessica Muir Gallery, in Long Melford, Suffolk, to see more of her creations. Find out more here

In the meantime I'm wrapping up warm in the studio at Cuckoo Farm now winter is here- it's got quite cold! I'm keeping busy though and I'm currently making some hand knitted pieces (cosy!) for some events I've got coming up in early December. I'll keep you posted!

New Brooches!

Some new pieces I've made in the studio today today... Harris Tweed brooches and also knitted brooches, embellished with recycled fabric pieces. Each one is unique and perfect for accessorizing in the cold with big knits and a winter jacket! I like to wear a big cluster of them together for a hit of colour.

These ones are heading to an event I've got coming up (more on this soon!) but you can check out similar ones in my Etsy shop.