I Am Satisfied

HARDCOVER BOOK

2012-01-09T07:26:00.001-08:00

HARDCOVER BOOK, originally uploaded by Lisa Margreet.

I love this book SO MUCH! I think it's one of my favourite things that I've ever made. I used an old road map of Sussex which used to belong to my Grandfather.

I learnt how to make the hardcover book at the workshop we ran at The Create Place. Suzanne Cowan is a fantastic tutor and I urge you to check out her classes! Her website is: www.suzannemcowan.com.

THE FEMPIRE WRITES BACK

2010-11-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

At the end of my lunchbreak, two male colleagues came over to ask if they could use my table. I said sure, adding that I was nearly finished. They apologised for disturbing me then with a nod to my laptop said that I was “probably doing domestic stuff”. I replied that actually I was working on an essay about Katherine Mansfield.

As they sat down they started asking about my novel which I recently completed and asked what genre it was. “Hmmm” I said, unwilling to say retro-hipster-bonkbuster, “its contemporary modern…” “Chicklit” said one, “Sex, shopping and chocolate” said the other.

I’m reticent to use the term “chicklit” to describe my book (although I’m sure that it will be called that by the uninspired) as the term is now almost universally used derogatively towards any book which is written by women that is aimed at women. I do write predominantly for women and I don’t see that there is anything wrong with that – there are loads of books that are written by men for men. Why don’t we call every one of those that comes out “dicklit”? When I put this to them (without the dicklit part) one replied “It’s all part of our conspiracy to keep you in your place.” Was that an ironic barbed comment or an understanding nod towards the complexity of a contemporary woman’s place in a patriarchy?

I narrowed my eyes and gave them the literature speak “I guess you could say that it has some almost Chekhovian sensibilities, although I really see it as an observation on how in contemporary society the more technologically advanced we become the more our haptic need increases.” They looked blank. “Don’t say all of that” one of them said “or they won’t publish it.”

KNITTING & STITCHING SHOW LONDON IS HERE!

2010-10-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

So finally after months of planning, designing and nail-biting decisions the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace is here. Starting next week on Thursday 7 October until Sunday 10 October from 10AM until 5.30PM (apart from Sunday when it ends at 5PM) there's a huge pile of crafty goodness available for you to peruse, try and buy!

Shop
As you may remember, earlier this year Craft Guerrilla offered the opportunity for six designer makers to exhibit at the Knitting and Stitching shows in London, Dublin and Harrogate. We are very excited to reveal to you now the six London designers who will be showcasing their items and selling their wares to you next week at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace.

Peppermint Twist - Ariane Dreysse

PEPPERMINT TWIST handcrafts quirky purses and bags in soft nappa leathers and fabrics. All are designed and meticulously made in London, in limited runs.

DESIGNS are whimsical, playful, a little vintage-inspired, yet practical. Common elements are appliqués of horses, ponies, hearts and doves, star-shaped cut-outs, punched motifs, and studded decorations.

Polka Dot Sundays - Jaina Kuntawala

PolkaDotSundays is the power of one woman on a mission, to make the world a more colourful place. After graduating from Kingston University with a BA in Fine Art (2003), she worked as a prop artist on the childrens television art show, Art Attack. It was here that she discovered the magical possibilities of newspaper.

Now, most of her personal works are made from the humble Sunday paper, transformed and recycled into polka dotted friends.

Boobou Designs - Lindsey Kealey

Boobou Designs create unique soft jewellery and accessories - every design is original and feels as good as it looks! Boobou regularly sell at craft fayres and events in the north London area. We highly recommend you come and see us as the luxury of a Boobou design cannot be fully appreciated without touching one!

Rosalind Price-Cousins

Rosalind creates innovative knitted garments and accessories. Using a variety of unusual yarns, within a combination of complex hand and machine knitting techniques; each unique piece has a surreal edge and has been created to evoke notions of fantasy and escapism.

Like delving into a dressing-up box, these pieces are made to provide enjoyment for decades, and to be loved, worn, and looked after for generations to come.

Forgotten Stitches - Rebekah McMullen

Forgotten Stitches is inspired by crafts from bygone eras and is dedicated to keeping these arts alive. Rebecca sells her items at vintage fairs and Portobello market. Her larger pieces focus homewards but she has recently been concentrating on producing a range of accessories as a result of several commissions.

Sarah Kerry

Sarah's work comes out of a Contemporary Crafts degree from Falmouth. She knits by a seventies hand-powered machine and uses a quilting technique to create her work. Her work is which is well-made, fun and playful - giant biscuits and such like.

Stitch
Craft Guerrilla will also be holding some workshops including beginners knitting, beginners crochet, upcycled t-shirt crochet fascinators (please bring along an old t-shirt to upcycle if you have one), upcycled t-shirt necklaces (again, please bring a t-shirt to upcycle) and beginners patchwork. Places are limited and advance bookings for Alexandra Palace have now sold out so please ask about places when you arrive. If you're coming to the Dublin or Harrogate shows then visit the twisted thread website to book your workshop place.

Swish
We are also very excited to be part of the swishing salon which is taking place again this year. Here's a bit of info about the Swishing Salon from the organisers:

The Swishing Salon
Back by popular demand! The Swishing Salon returns to The Knitting and Stitching Shows, and this year we're bringing it to Dublin too!

Dig out any good quality garments or accessories and bring them along to the Swishing area some time during the morning. From around 1.30pm, you can return to the area to exchange for the same number of items you donated. We ask for a small donation to Swish, but all funds raised go straight to Bliss, a charity for premature babies, so it's all for a good cause.

Even if you're short of items to exchange, the Swishing Salon will be a hive of activity with experts including Mrs Bear, Sissy Rooney, Barley Massey and Craft Guerrilla all demonstrating various customising techniques. Brother are kindly supporting the event and have provided sewing machines and Coats Crafts also have some demonstrators involved, so make sure you drop by and see what all the fuss is about!

Queenie and Ted, Karen from Creme Anglaise and Lindsey from Boobou Designs will be helping out the Craft Guerrilla team with their unique customising tips and tricks.

Watch this space for details of the Dublin and Harrogate designers coming up at the end of October and November.

Hope to see you there!

Lisa Margreet
x

Support your local roller derby team - the creative way!

2010-07-13T04:05:00.001-07:00

As you all know by now, as well as being a craft tutor I'm also a roller girl with the London Rockin' Rollers, skating under the name of Trixie Minx. If the blood, sweat and (other peoples') tears of being an actual roller girl isn't quite your thing (or if you're a boy and therefore physcially can't be a roller girl) then there is still a way that you can help out and share in the glamour of it all.

The London Rockin' Rollers are an entirely volunteer run league. Every bout that we put on in York Hall in Bethnal Green, each fundraiser we host and all the associated flyers, posters and other promotion (and much much more) is done by a team of tireless volunteers.

We are currently looking for people who might like to design our bout programmes and flyers in return for advert space in the programme and web links as well as credits, exposure and of course the undying love of 50 roller girls, which can never be a bad thing!

If you're an illustrator/graphic designer/creative artworker who knows their way around a mac and have experience of getting artwork to print on a deadline and you're interested in getting involved with the London Rockin' Rollers in this way then please contact Bloody Valentine on spittykittyuk@hotmail.com.

You can visit our website and find out more about our league and roller derby in general here: www.londonrockinrollers.co.uk.

Lisa Margreet
x

RETRO ROLL RIDER

2010-07-10T06:25:00.001-07:00

RETRO ROLL RIDER, originally uploaded by Lisa Margreet.

Look at these amazing retro roller skates that I got for £3 in the charity shop just now. They say "Roll Rider" on the toe stoppers and on the backs.

I'm now the proud owner of 4 pairs of roller skates. My husband says that's "too many". I'm still struggling to come to terms with that concept.

x

A CAT IN COW CLOTHING

2010-07-03T10:20:00.001-07:00

A CAT IN COW CLOTHING, originally uploaded by Lisa Margreet.

There are many reasons why I love my cat Lester but this is currently my favourite. He has a bit of a love/hate thing going on with Mabel our mardy moggie and he's always chasing her and jumping out on her and stuff.

Recently he's discovered this fantastic way to pounce on Mabel. He goes into my study and hides under the corner of the cow skin rug. Then when Mabel walks in he jumps out on her. She never learns that when there's a lump in the rug it means that Lester's under there.

He's patient too like a good hunter should be - I've seen him hiding under there for literally hours waiting for Mabel to come strolling in.

Oh Lester, I do love you so!

x

LEAPFROG

2010-07-03T10:06:00.001-07:00

LEAPFROG, originally uploaded by Lisa Margreet.

Today we took the His & Hers Pashley's out for a ride. We cycled down to Walthamstow Marshes then went along the canal for a bit. We then cycled into Hackney Marshes where there is this amazing huge open space ringed by really nice concrete path which is just BEGGING to be roller skated on!

All around the path are dotted these little workout stations such as the Leap frog one here. Maybe I should use it as an extreme roller derby workout area: cycle down there, chain up the bike and put on my skates, then skate around completing all the workout stations I go past - all in my roller skates!

Hell yeah!

x

STITCHED SELF #3

2010-06-23T12:59:00.001-07:00

, originally uploaded by Lisa Margreet.

Finished! Mini-minx is off to the Science Museum tomorrow! x

STITCHED SELF #2

2010-06-18T12:15:00.001-07:00

STITCHED SELF #2, originally uploaded by Lisa Margreet.

My mini-minx stitched self for the Science Museum project progresses. Now I need to make her (me?) some clothes!

x

STITCHED SELF #1

2010-06-09T10:51:00.001-07:00

STITCHED SELF #1, originally uploaded by Lisa Margreet.

Work on my stitched self for the Science museum project continues... currently though I look more like Mr Burns in this episode of The Simpsons!

Bank Holiday Stitch Up

2010-05-28T05:22:00.001-07:00

We've got your bank holiday stitched up like a good 'un, and you'd expect nothing less from your Craft Guerrilla gals, right?

Here's your itinery...

Friday: Start the weekend right with a party! Although not directly craft related as some of you know as well as being Lisa Margreet, Craft Guerrilla's knitting queen, I'm also Trixie Minx a rollergirl with the London Rockin' Rollers. Rollergirls play hard on and off the roller derby track and tonight we're having a party - and you're all invited! Please come along to our fundraiser at The Gaff on Holloway Road from 8PM. There will be bands, booze and broads - and I predict a particularly riotous evening as there are lots of roller girl birthdays to be celebrated (including mine)! Click on the flyer below for the full details.

Saturday: If you've been out partying with the London Rockin Rollers then you're going to need a little bit of a lie-in, but not too late as you don't want to miss the first edition of that glorious British Summer tradition - the East London Craft Guerrilla summer markets. There will be beautiful goods for sale which have been lovingly hand crafted by an excellent selection of local designers and artists. And there will also be cake and cocktails!

Sunday: Come and craft with us at the British Postal Museum Archive on Sunday! They are throwing open their doors for an open weekend where you can explore the array of items they have on display. There are examples of bicycles, letter boxes, motor bikes, telephone boxes, TV license detector vans and much, much more! The Craft Guerrilla have been working away on creating some kits to celebrate the collection and we think you'll like what we've come up with...

Monday: This day is devoted to a day of reflection, for thinking back on the crafty fun you've had this weekend - and for feeling happy about the handmade things you bought at the market, the items you made at the Postal Museum and all your new rollergirl friends.

Enjoy - and see you there!

Lisa Margreet
x

CROCHET WORKSHOPS

2010-04-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

I'm really pleased to be able to announce that the next
Beginners Crochet Workshop will be on Saturday 8 May 2010 at 2PM - 5PM at the Hornbeam Centre, Hoe Street E17.

We will be covering all the basics from mastering the "hold", making chain stitches and single and double crochet stitches in one 3-hour session. I will also show you how to make some cute items with your new found crochet skills such as bookmarks, bracelets and blankets.

The course costs £25 including all materials and there are limited spaces available so please respond quickly to book your place as they tend to get booked up fast!

Responding by email to mail@lisamargreet.com will provisionally book your place on this workshop and your payment will secure it. If you would like to pay by Paypal then I will send you an invoice so please advise when you email to me. Otherwise payment will be by cheque payable to Lisa Margreet Payne and sent to: 10 Winns Terrace, London E17 5EJ.

I will also be running two Intermediate Crochet Workshops from June onwards, exact dates to be confirmed. The first workshop will teach you how to "Crochet In The Round" so you will be able to make hats and vintage-style fascinators and I'll also show you how to crochet your own buttons! A lovely finishing touch to a handmade item.

The second Intermediate workshop will teach you how to make Granny Squares and Flower appliques.

Both intermediate workshops will be 2 hours long and will cost £20 each. If you are interested in attending either of the Intermediate workshops please can you email me at mail@lisamargreet.com and I'll let you know as soon as I've got the dates confirmed.

Don't worry if you can't make the Beginners workshop in May as I'll be repeating the workshops throughout the year as they are proving to be very popular. I hope to see you at the one of my workshops or at one of the Craft Guerrilla Craft Nights soon!

Lisa Margreet
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DERBY LOVE

2010-02-23T12:51:00.001-08:00

DERBY LOVE, originally uploaded by Lisa Margreet.

Look what arrived in the post today - my toe guards for my lovely new Reidell Vandal Roller skates. Mmmmm, yummy!

You can buy them from this awesome designer maker and roller girl (the BEST combination IMHO) here on Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/derbyvixen.

x

LOVE CRAFT? AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY FOR NEW DESIGNER MAKERS

2010-02-14T04:57:00.001-08:00

The Opportunity

An exciting opportunity has arisen for six individual designer makers to exhibit with Craft Guerrilla at the Knitting and Stitching Show in London, Harrogate and Dublin in 2010.

Six different designer makers will be selected to take part for each of the shows in London, Harrogate and Dublin, making eighteen places offered in total. Please be sure to indicate the nearest show to your hometown in your submission.

How to Apply

If you would like to apply for this opportunity then please send us up to five photos of your work by 11th March 2010 together with 200 words telling us why you should have a stall at the Knitting and Stitching Show, paying attention to the three criteria detailed below.

There will be interviews and requests for samples of work for those who are successful in the first round and a decision will be made by end May 2010.

Please send the photos as .jpg files no larger than 1MB each together with your 200 words, your contact details and the location of your nearest Knitting and Stitching Show (London, Harrogate or Dublin) to craftguerrilla@googlemail.com.

If you prefer, you can post your submission information to arrive no later than 11th March 2010 to:

Craft Guerrilla
c/o Lisa Margreet Payne
10 Winns Terrace
London
E17 5EJ

Criteria for Submissions

The opportunity for a free stall at the Knitting and Stitching Show is for designer makers who have not yet managed to translate their talent and enthusiasm into much more than a hobby. If having a space at such a large event would enable you to take the next step into the craft business world then this may be your chance.

The criteria used to choose successful applicants are as follows:

Artistic merit that broadens and compliments that of the Craft Guerrilla collective.

The Craft Guerrilla collective is made up of a variety of designer makers. We particularly celebrate work that is unusual, high quality, hand made and above all has soul. We will be looking for designer makers who we feel would compliment this with their work and would stand out from the crowd at the rest of the show. Craft Guerrilla is offering the stalls at the Knitting and Stitching show to provide new blood and open up the show to a new audience. We do not want to simply replicate other stalls in the exhibition.
Demonstration of support of the Craft Guerrilla manifesto.

Whilst not having to be a member of Craft Guerrilla we feel it is important that applicants support our Manifesto and don’t contradict it in their work. A copy of our manifesto is provided below.
The ability of a stall at The Knitting and Stitching show to have a profound impact on the craft business of the applicant.

If you already have a successful craft business this probably isn’t for you. If you wouldn’t be able to build on the success of the show then this may not be for you either. We are looking for people who need such exposure to enable them to take the plunge into building up a craft business.

The Craft Guerrilla Manifesto

The Craft Guerrilla is a group set up to work with independent Crafts People, Artists and Designers Makers of quality hand made goods. The aim of The Craft Guerrilla is to join forces with other creative individuals and set up craft events in vacant or unused venues, associate with "friendly" businesses, provide a community to link and cross promote independent designer makers, sister armies in other cities, share web traffic, and provide helpful information to other designer maker groups as well as individual designer makers.

"Our main aim is to work within a creative community, thrive and grow as a collective that benefits each and every person involved, share our creative know how, our experience and the ethos and value of hand made goods!"

The Craft Guerrilla Army is taking on the world for a better hand made existence! We've had enough of soulless, mass produced tat and so has the average consumer. The Craft Guerrilla was born out of a shared idealism with regeneration, recycling, sharing of knowledge and the revaluation of the handmade movement at its heart.

"We want to show people the true meaning and value of quality hand crafted designer goods through our ethos and principals of co-operation, collaboration and experience gained by working within a creative community."

We’re all for learning and that is why we set up our highly successful DIY craft nights and crafternoons. We have also started providing mini-workshops for the public at our DIY Craft Nights - "classes for the masses"- one off, short courses at affordable prices held by professional designer makers.

We're a peaceful bunch but we're looking to create opportunities, we're ready to take action, take over and DIY our own opportunities.

*******

Download the flyer to pass onto your friends!

LOVE CRAFT?, originally uploaded by Lisa Margreet.

PASS THE PIGGIES

2010-02-02T06:00:00.001-08:00

PASS THE PIGGIES, originally uploaded by Lisa Margreet.

My husband used to play the game "Pass the Pigs" all the time as a child a game which I had never heard of until one night a couple of years ago when Debbie bought it along as part of the vintage board games we used to provide at our "Put The Needle On The Record" DIY Craft Night.

Mathew and my friend Anna were both thoroughly over-excited and spent the whole night shouting "Razorback!" and other such bemusing words whilst throwing the little pigs all over the table. As both Mathew and Anna grew up in the Midlands I decided it was a "Northern" thing.

Anyway, for Mathew's 30th birthday last year in November I decided to crochet him his own set of Pass the Pigs from an excellent pattern that I had found online. Here's a link to the pattern if you want to make your own: littlegreen.typepad.com/romansock/2008/11/pigs-will-fly.html.

5 DAYS / 15,000 WORDS

2009-12-26T14:29:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to get my novel finished by the end of the year I've estimated that I need to do approximately another 15,000 words. With 5 days left until the end of 2009 I've set myself a new challenge to write 3,000 every day from today Saturday 26 December until New Years Eve on Thursday 31 December. I guess I'll give myself an extension if the novel isn't finished by that date but I want to meet my 15,000 word challenge by then.

I've rather floundered with the novel only writing about 3,000 words since Nanowrimo ended at the end of November, but then I did have to catch up on work, study, write an assignment AND make all my Christmas presents so I'm not going to be too hard on myself. Still, I didn't like the thought of Betty and Pearl stagnating in their story so I've picked up the strands again tonight and hope to draw them all to a close with the end of the year (apart from, as mentioned above, if the story needs to be longer than my estimated number of words).

It's started again well tonight with me rocking in a total of 3,617 words against my daily total of 3,000, so that's 600 in the bank for a start. This was probably aided by the bottle of red wine in easy reach of my right hand and the giant tin of Quality Street in easy reach of my left hand, a strategy which I will therefore continue throughout the five days of my challenge. I may end up looking like a polka dot beach ball at the end of the five days but at least the novel will be cracked! (Well, the first draft anyway!)

In other news, I submitted a proposal to an interested publisher for a craft book on behalf of the Craft Guerrilla collective so fingers crossed that it is well received.

x

NaNoWriMo WIN!

2009-11-30T04:03:00.001-08:00

NaNoWriMo WIN!, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Yay, I did it! 50,000 words in thirty days - well, 50,347 to be exact. I think my actual novel will be around 65 to 70,000 so I've still got a little way to go. Am hoping to have it finished this side of Christmas though. OMG. So happy!

What a difference a month can make. At the beginning of November I had no novel and was still a beginner skater. Now I've got a 50K nearly completed novel and am a rookie Rollergirl after passing my Basic Skills Assessment on Tuesday. Whoop whoop! As Madonna once said, Where's the Party?

x

ROLLERDERBY: FOR ALL THOSE WHO ASK ME...

2009-11-22T11:38:00.000-08:00

For all of those who ask me "What is this Rollerderby thing you're always going on about that you've been playing?" or for those who just want to bone up (heheh) before the film Whip It comes out in the UK, give me 2 minutes of your time to watch this youtube video.

Then head over to the website of my glorious team The London Rockin' Rollers who are probably still celebrating our tremendous win against the awesome Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames yesterday at York Hall in Bethnal Green. Whoop whoop!

x

CHRISTMAS CRAFT SPECTACULAR: SATURDAY 14 NOVEMBER

2009-11-09T04:27:00.003-08:00

CHRISTMAS CRAFT SPECTACULAR: SATURDAY 14 NOVEMBER, originally uploaded by uber trick.

The November Crafternoon at the Old Queens Head sees us back upstairs in the gorgeous Victorian bar. Not only will there be all the usual Craft Guerrilla goodness of craft kits and tutors but we're bringing you the chance to swap your clothes with the amazing Mrs Bears Vintage Clothes Swap Shop so you can sort out your Christmas outfit as well as your Christmas presents! The Craftivism girls from the Craftivist Collective are also joining us for a "Climate for Change" mini workshop!

Not only are there clothes, craft and craftivism to help you look good, make good and feel good but the Craft Guerrilla DJs are back so that it all sounds good as well: Dawn Chorus / Masonic Boom / Annagrammatical / Handsome Betty and VAO aka the Handsome Twins. AND it's FREE ENTRY!

Seasonal craft kits will be for sale for a small fee (usually around £5) which contain everything you need to make your item. Kits vary each month but examples include tattoo heart badges, needle-felted mice, crochet bobble chains to decorate Christmas trees or felted heart Christmas decorations.

You are also very welcome to bring your own projects (that jumper you never get time to work on knitting, that crochet face cloth that you need to finish) and enjoy the music, food and drink in a craft-friendly environment.

Craft Guerrilla tutors are on hand to advise on all things crafty and can help out if you've dropped your stitches or got your k2tog in a twist.

For more details see our website www.craftguerilla.com.

Hope to see you there!

x

DIY CRAFT NIGHT: THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER

2009-11-09T04:27:00.001-08:00

DIY CRAFT NIGHT: THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER, originally uploaded by uber trick.

The second night in the return of Craft Guerrilla to Walthamstow. Craft kits, mini-workshops and the usual craft mayhem in the lovely Rose and Crown on Hoe Street.

Unfortunately I can't make this as I've got my Roller girl training with the London Rockin' Rollers but I leave you in the capable hands of Debbie and Charlotte. I'm saving all my craft for Saturday's Crafternoon Spectacular - it's gonna be HUGE!

x

E17: STAY ANOTHER DAY? CRAFT GUERRILLA: OH GO ON THEN!

2009-10-08T04:52:00.001-07:00

E17: STAY ANOTHER DAY? CRAFT GUERRILLA: OH GO ON THEN!, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Ok, well if that hasn't got you singing E17's "Stay Another Day" then you're obviously younger than you look. Sorry about that.

*cough*

Well, Craft Guerrilla are very excited to be back with our original DIY Craft Night: Put the Needle On the Record in our home of Walthamstow E17. We are launching TONIGHT Thursday 8th October at the Rose and Crown pub on Hoe Street at 8PM. As usual it is FREE ENTRY
with craft kits for sale and tutors on hand to help you. You can also bring your own projects to work on and we'll even help you with those if you like. (That's HELP you, not knit it for you, sorry.)

As a special twist, as October is the Breakthrough for Breast Cancer charity's "Think Pink" Awareness month we've made some LIMITED EDITION PINK KITS. One pound from each of the pink kits will be donated to the Breakthrough for Breast Cancer appeal. The kits will be on sale TONIGHT at the Rose and Crown and also on our CRAFTERNOON this Saturday 12th October at the Old Queen's Head 2-5PM (details below).

BUT THAT IS NOT ALL!

In the spirit of thrift and handmade love, if you’re thinking about making your own Christmas presents this year then Craft Guerrilla can help YOU! We’re dedicating all of our DIY Craft Events for the rest of the year to helping you to achieve that goal.

We will be selling our exclusive craft kits for you can buy and make and give the resulting item as a gift – and they all only cost around £5. The craft kits themselves also make great presents if you know crafty people to give them to - plus that saves you some of the work).

If you’ve already got the grand plan of presents worked out (knitted scarf for Granny, crochet mittens for Mum, felt doggie-coat for Rover etc) but you’re just trying to find the time to get working on them, then our events are perfect for you as well. Put them in your diary
now and you can guarantee at least 20 hours dedicated craft time. (I did the maths!) What bliss.

Of course, you will also have the enormous benefit of having the Craft Guerrilla tutors on-hand to help with your projects, to answer any crafty questions you have or just to pick up those dropped stitches for you!

Forthcoming events:

OCTOBER
PUT THE NEEDLE ON THE RECORD, E17...08 October 2009 8PM-11PM
CRAFTERNOON, N1...................................10 October 2009 2PM-5PM

NOVEMBER
PUT THE NEEDLE ON THE RECORD, E17...12 November 2009 8PM-11PM
CRAFTERNOON, N1....................................14 November 2009 2PM-5PM
MAKE LOUNGE: CRAFTY CHRISTMAS........19 November 2009 6.30-9PM

DECEMBER
PUT THE NEEDLE ON THE RECORD, E17...10 December 2009 8PM-11PM
CRAFTERNOON, N1....................................12 December 2009 2PM-5PM

++++++ PLUS CHRISTMAS MARKET WITH CRAFT CORNER -
DATE TO BE CONFIRMED +++++

Please see www.craftguerrilla.com for details of all events or sign up to our mailing list to be kept up to date.

Hope to see you soon!
x

PLEASE RECYCLE AFTER READING THIS POST

2009-09-22T13:27:00.001-07:00

MAKE DO AND MEND - AN EXHIBITION, originally uploaded by uber trick.

This weekend we're off to Bury St Edmunds to spread some crafty love and check out the charity shops which Louise assures me are awesome. We're taking part in an exhibition at the Art Gallery on the Saturday on the subject of Making Do and Mending, and all things craft-tastic. On the Friday night you can find us in the pub. Although that could just be a general statement in itself, we will actually be in the pub (the Masons Arms) for a crafty reason: we're doing a talk on launching your own local Craft Guerrilla.

The notion of taking a “thing” and turning it into another “thing” is what draws me to craft. From recycling old bits of cardboard and plastic for use in kits, to the simple skill of using wooden sticks and wool to turn commuting time on the tube into a present of a scarf or hat for a friend. Here I talk a bit about the role recycling and upcycling plays in my craft kits.

How does recycling feature in the craft kits that you make?
In everything that I do I try to use as much of my existing stock of materials as possible before buying new items. As a result of my work as “Handmade by Lisa Margreet” either for my business or as part of Craft Guerrilla I am often donated items by members of the public such as a bumper load of vintage knitting patterns and other people’s unwanted wool stashes!

I also inherited a lot of my craft items (including my sewing machine and first knitting machine) from both of my grandmothers and it is this stock of resources that I turn to first when I design a new craft project or kit. If I do have a need for new items I will try to source them from charity shops, second-hand stalls at markets or from freecycle before buying new.

I try to ‘upcycle’ as much as possible as well. ‘Upcycling’ is taking something that was created for one purpose and using it for another. A simple example would be using the cardboard that was made for holding your Weetabix in and cutting it up and using it in kits to wind cotton around, or as a template for making pom poms!

Apart from fabric and wool, what else do you recycle?
Paper is the main thing that I recycle. Although people are now very up on recycling paper, I notice that they think nothing of putting the paper in the recycling bin when they have only used one side. I’m the nutty person in the office who collects up all the paper that has only been printed on one side and brings it home to use! I print on the back of it particularly if I am including a paper template or small envelope (for putting beads in, for example) as part of my kit.

I also use brown paper bags that I brought as a job lot from a cash and carry 10 years ago for my kits! Sometimes I print directly onto the bags, although that doesn’t always work out so well. I reuse the imperfectly printed ones wherever I can. I often take my sandwiches to work in a “Handmade by Lisa Margreet” brown paper bag which has a big ink blot on it from the printer!

If I’m not reusing paper that has already been printed on one side then I will try and use both sides of the paper to print on. Also when the text won’t come out as unreadable I will also shrink down the font size and print on double-sided A5 paper. This not only helps to conserve paper but also ink.

Although I very rarely get plastic bags from shops as I usually carry a spare canvas or knitted tote with me, I have got a big stash of plain white plastic bags that I also got from that same trip to the cash and carry all those years ago. I’ve not been sure what to do with them but I’m currently working on a few ideas like ‘fusing’ them with a hot iron and then using the resulting “fabric” to make waterproof linings for shower caps and laptop bags. I also like the idea of stitching them with the sewing machine to make a waterproof postage envelope for shipping out my orders.

You can cut plastic bags into strips to make ‘plarn’ (plastic yarn) which you can then knit and crochet with. Debbie (Craft Guerrilla’s founder) does a great plarn tutorial.

Does this philosophy stretch into other areas of your business?
I started “Handmade by Lisa Margreet” as a vehicle for selling my burlesque-style fascinators. The very first fascinator that I made was for myself. I wore it out one night and I got commissioned by a girl in the club toilet queue to make one for her. This happened several times; Different girl, different club, different toilet queue but the same commission. Following on from this I started to make a small collection of four of five fascinators every year.

Unfortunately although they attracted a lot of interest I noticed that the collections of fascinators that I made and took to craft markets never sold in the way that I could sell the one off of my head! Now that I have a portfolio of designs I have decided not to waste time and materials making a new collection every year and I am going to return to a “commission only” basis. I also teach fascinator making workshops as I love to share the craft skills I’ve learnt.

I try to reduce waste wherever I can in my life as well as in my business. At home I recycle everything that can be recycled and compost everything from potato peelings to fabric off-cuts. I use “grey water” and collect rainwater for watering my plants and I also try to conserve my time, energy and money whenever possible!

I love the cyclical nature of the fact that the leftover bits of food that I eat and fabric from kits and clothes that I make go onto the compost heap. The next year that compost grows the plants and some of the vegetables that I will eat, the peelings and cuttings of which will go into the composter again. The plants are watered by rainwater which I collect and from “grey water” from my bath or washing-up. Isn’t that just somehow so heart warming?!

Do you have any other words of wisdom to leave us with?
Think about what you need versus what you want before you buy something. Sometimes you really don’t need the thing that you’re obsessing about. Think about being satisfied with what you already have – that is the ultimate antidote to consumerism. This is why my blog is called “I Am Satisfied” to remind me. Also, next time you’re browsing around a craft market remember that even though it’s handmade and beautifully crafted, consuming is still consuming even when it’s craft! Finally, remember the old adage: “One person’s junk is another person’s treasure”. Be clever, be thrifty and keep crafty!

x

CRAFTIVISM: ONE / TWO / THREE

2009-09-15T12:08:00.001-07:00

CRAFTIVISM: KNIT A POEM (CROCHET A SQUARE), originally uploaded by uber trick.

Here is my completed crocheted square for the "Knit A Poem" project for the Poetry Society's centenary which I duly completed and posted off to them last week. There is a picture of the first words of the poem that have been stitched together here on the Prick Your Finger blog. They are still looking for blank 12 inch squares (in light colours) so quickly get knitting or crocheting and drop in a square or two at one of their "Stitching-Together-Athons on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September". See details on the Prick Your Finger blog or on the Poetry Society's website if you want to join in.

I'd love to go to the Stitch-A-Thon but I'm going to be in Bury St. Edmunds that weekend with my Craft Guerrilla gals. We're doing a talk about how to set up your own Craft Guerrilla and then doing a DIY Craft Event at a Making and Mending Exhibition.

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Reading through the many craft blogs that I follow, I've found my next two Craftivism projects which I thought you might like to take part in with me. The first one I found courtesy of Stitch n Bitch blog via a tweet from Knit The City. It is for a company called Seasalt based in Cornwall who are asking knitters to knit and donate scarves to raise money to help bees! Seasalt are a friendly, ethical company whose clothing range is certified organic by The Soil Association. (This will make my friend Laura smile - my organic jeans from Howies that I bought a few years ago amused her greatly.)

Here's the skinny from Seasalt via Stitch n Bitch:

Seasalt is a friendly little Cornish clothing company. As you may know, last year we ran a project called Go Knit! that raised nearly £3000 for charity. The campaign involved members of the public donating hand-knitted scarves for us to display in our shop windows which were then sold with all proceeds going to a chosen charity (last year we donated to The Cinnamon Trust).
The campaign is back for its second year, this time to support The Bumblebee Conservation Trust, a lovely charity that is responding to the plight of the declining population of our bees and we wondered if you could help?

If you could donate a scarf we would really appreciate it. Alternatively, if you could pass on our message to anyone you know who might like to help that would be brilliant too!

Each of the scarves will have a large ‘hand-knitted by…’ tag which is clearly visible to everyone passing the window. The knitter’s name (and optional website information) can be written on the tag, giving the knitter recognition here in Cornwall – and of course helping us to help the bees! The link to our website is www.seasaltcornwall.co.uk

If you would like to support our campaign please send any scarf donations to:

Kathryn Wild
Seasalt
1 Church Street
Falmouth
Cornwall
TR11 3DN

The scarves will be displayed throughout October, sorry, we know it’s short notice! It would be great to have any scarves by the 1^st October, or soon after as we will continually re-stock the charity window as scarves arrive.

If you would like any more information please email us.

Many thanks,

Leigh, Chloe …and the bees!

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Last but by no means least another heart warming opportunity to send the loving craft spirit overseas. The Australian craft store Meet Me At Mike's are holding their third annual Softie's for Mirabel to give soft toys to children who have been orphaned or abandoned by their parents drug abuse. All the details are on the Meet Me At Mike's blog and all entries will be displayed in the Meet Me At Mike's storefront window until they are collected by the Mirabel Foundation to be distributed to the children.

There is a round up of free soft toy patterns and tutorials on the blog as well as details of their flickr group and all the information you need to make and send your soft toy to them. Remember to allow loads of time for your toy to arrive if you're posting it to Australia though - they need to have received them all by 10 December.

As soon as I've found where he's been hiding Little Bunny Foo Foo will be making a trip down under! He's probably hopped off to bop some field mice over the head...

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Phew, there's a lot of links in that post! Once you've finished clicking your way through the links then it's time to get your knitting needles clicking, your crochet hooks twirling and your sewing machines humming to whip up some crafty creations to make the world a slightly happier (and woolier) place.

x

CRAFTERNOONS AROUND THE FIREPLACE

2009-09-07T07:03:00.001-07:00

CRAFTERNOONS AROUND THE FIREPLACE, originally uploaded by uber trick.

The Craft Guerrilla Crafternoon is your monthly dose of crafty goodness on the second Saturday of every month. Autumn is drawing in and Winter will be fast on its coat-tails therefore we're moving from our lofty heights in the upstairs bar to bring our crafternoon around the fireplace. How lovely! Be sure to arrive early to nab your place by the fireside.

Craft kits are for sale for a small fee (usually around £5) which contain everything you need to make your item. Kits vary each month but examples include tattoo heart badges, needle-felted mice, fabric pears, crochet daisy chains and knitted poppy fascinators.

You are also very welcome to bring your own projects (that jumper you never get time to work on knitting, that crochet face cloth that you need to finish) and enjoy the music, food and drink in a craft-friendly environment.

Craft Guerrilla tutors are on hand to advise on all things crafty and can help out if you've dropped your stitches or got your k2tog in a twist.

For more details see our website www.craftguerilla.com.

Hope to see you there!

x

BUST CRAFTACULAR

2009-08-28T06:07:00.001-07:00

BUST CRAFTACULAR, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Here's me and my nephew Jimmy (and my headless sister) in the queue waiting to go into the Bust Craftacular last weekend! It was great to walk around all the stalls chatting to people that I knew and making new crafty friends and NOT TO BE WORKING AT IT! I mean, I love craft, crafting and craft markets etc but it seemed such luxury to be a shopper than a vendor for a change.

That said, I'm busy making Brownies and Blondies today for the last Craft Guerrilla summer market which is tomorrow. When they're done I'll be working on some knitted shawls and upcycled fabric totes that I hope to have finished by then. Well, a girl can dream, right?`

x

CROCHET AWAY!

2009-08-26T04:40:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy combining things that I love: sausage and mash, knitting whilst listening to podcasts, sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll... you get my drift. Well two other loves of mine: crafting and writing are about to come together in an interesting and exciting way. Yes, yes, we're writing "Craft Guerrilla: The Book" (working title) but that's not it, oh no. Far from the usual writing about craft, I'm part of a project to craft some writing!

Some of you may have seen or even contributed to the gorgeous crochet coral reef and now here is a chance for the crafting community to be involved in another knitting or crocheting project.

The Poetry Society is knitting (and crocheting) a poem to celebrate their centenary. But wait! There is more - the poem is a SECRET! Loads of crafters are busily knitting and crocheting away on individual letters to make up the poem, but no-one knows what the poem is.

If you fancy getting your knit on and taking part in this project then read all about it here and then contact them asap to receive your instructions. You need to make and return your squares by 14 September so get those speedy fingers a clicking or a hooking and take part in a little bit of craft history.

Maybe a group of us participants can form a poetry knitting corner at the next Craft Guerrilla Crafternoon on Saturday 12th September? Email me if you're interested!

NEEDLE WITHDRAWAL?

2009-08-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

Have Wednesday nights been feeling empty over the summer? Fingers twitching and you don't know why? Sounds to me like you've got some needle-withdrawal going on.

Fear not, the Craft Guerrilla have finished their summer travels to other venues and festivals and are back and looking for their new E17 home. Put The Needle On The Record, the original Craft Guerrilla E17 DIY Craft Night, will be back this autumn after our E17 Arts Trail CraftTea Party, but first we need to get our new venue stitched up.

Help us in our quest by bringing knitting and other small portable crafts with you while we go on a crafty pub crawl to test out the light, space and ambience.

When? Wednesday 26th August

Where? 7.30PM meet outside the Rose and Crown, Hoe Street. We'll leave there for the Queens Arms, Orford Road at 8.20PM aiming to get there for 8.40PM then move to the Village, Orford Road at 9.30PM.

What? Marks of out of 10 will be given for ambience, lighting, willingness to accomodate us, ability to provide tipple of choice and adequate room for a gin and tonic next to Charlotte's needle felting pad. Craft, drink and be merry!

You can join us anywhere along the route and for those poor souls who can't make it we'll be twittering the event live so you don't need to miss out. Sign up to follow @craftguerrilla on www.twitter.com.

Hope to see you there!

With love from the East London Craft Guerrilla

CRAFTERNOON: 08 AUGUST

2009-07-29T12:54:00.001-07:00

CRAFTERNOON: 08 AUGUST, originally uploaded by uber trick.

The Craft Guerrilla Crafternoon is your monthly dose of crafty goodness on the second Saturday of every month.

Craft kits are for sale for a small fee (usually around £5) which contain everything you need to make your item. Kits vary each month but examples include tattoo heart badges, needle-felted mice, fabric pears, crochet daisy chains and knitted poppy fascinators.

You are also very welcome to bring your own projects (that jumper you never get time to work on knitting, that crochet face cloth that you need to finish) and enjoy the music, food and drink in a craft-friendly environment.

Craft Guerrilla tutors are on hand to advise on all things crafty and can help out if you've dropped your stitches or got your k2tog in a twist.

The Crafternoon takes place in the upstairs bar in the gorogeous Old Queens Head and entry is FREE. Craft Guerrilla DJs put the needle on the record and spin some crafty beats for your listening pleasure.

We start at 2PM and have to finish promptly at 5PM but you can always move downstairs and carry on the crafting in the bar there!

In August we've got the Craftivist girls joining us. Come along and find out all about it and check out their blog: alonelycraftivist.blogspot.com.

For more details see our website www.craftguerilla.com.

Hope to see you there!

x

18 JULY 09: HANDMADE HEAVEN

2009-07-15T14:54:00.001-07:00

18 JULY 09: HANDMADE HEAVEN, originally uploaded by uber trick.

It's that time of the month again and yes, if you're one of those organised types who set your monthly clock by the summer craft markets then yes we are having this one a week early. That's because the Craft Guerrilla girls are off to indietracks music festival to run a Crafternoon workshop (which we are thoroughly over excited about) in the usual end of the month market slot.

Come along to the craft market this Saturday for your monthly injection of handmade heaven. For a sneak preview of what you can expect see eastlondoncraftguerrilla.blogspot.com. Then pack a handmade bag full of handmade goodies and follow us to Derbyshire for Indietracks festival and free steam train rides - tickets are still available! See www.indietracks.co.uk for details of how to book.

Shhh-de-chuff / shhh-de-chuff / Toot-toooot! Come on Ivor, we've got to get to the East London Craft Guerrilla market before going to Indietracks!

11 JULY: CRAFTERNOON

2009-07-04T03:12:00.001-07:00

11 JULY: CRAFTERNOON, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Make CRAFT in the AFTERNOON at the Craft Guerrilla Crafternoon. An afternoon of craft in a pub with DJs. Perfect!

See www.craftguerrilla.com for more info.

x

27 JUNE: SUMMER CRAFT MARKET

2009-06-24T04:46:00.001-07:00

27 JUNE: SUMMER CRAFT MARKET, originally uploaded by uber trick.

The second edition of the Craft Guerrilla summer market is happening this Saturday 27th June. We will be, as ever, in the gorgeous garden hopefully in the shade of the amazing fig tree at Beautiful Interiors shop in Walthamstow Village.

Come along from 10am onwards until 5.30pm to buy handmade items direct from the people who made them. We love to give and this month our free cocktail is Pimms to celebrate the start of Wimbledon.

Hope to see you there! I'll have cakes and fascinators for sale and maybe a few other bits and pieces...

x

CRAFT GUERRILLA E17 VENUE & OTHER UPDATES

2009-06-17T03:15:00.000-07:00

Just a little reminder that at the moment our E17 Craft Night "Put the Needle on the Record" is still homeless so our third Wednesday of the month craft night i.e. tonight will not be taking place unfortunately. We'll being organising the "Find a new E17 venue pub-crawl (with added knitting)" and will keep you posted on that.

DJs - keep those tunes hot though as we'll be planning our events for August onwards very soon!

We've been keeping our craft fingers busy though and so far this month we've had a successful Clothes Swap at 93 Feet East and this Saturday was Crafternoon at the Old Queens Head. The Summer Craft Night at the Make Lounge last night was a fantastic event and we can't wait for our 'Back to School' event there in September.

The next Craft Guerrilla event will be the Craft Market on 27th June in Walthamstow Village and then we'll be off on the July rounds of Clothes swapping, Crafternoon-ing and riding the free steam train at indietracks music festival!

For full details see www.craftguerrilla.com or the Events and Workshops pages on www.lisamargreet.com.

x

JULY CRAFT GUERRILLA CLOTHES SWAP @ 93 FEET EAST

2009-06-17T02:36:00.001-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisamargreet/3634596807/, originally uploaded by uber trick.

The third of the Craft Guerrilla's Crafty Clothes Swap is taking place
in the Pink Bar at 93 Feet East on Tuesday 7th July 8PM - 11PM. Bring your unwanted clothes, accessories and shoes (as long as they're clean and in good condition) and swap them for something "new to you" from someone else. Please bring at least one item and a maximum of five items to swap. Remember: One person's junk is another person's treasure!

Craft Guerrilla DJs: Dawn Chorus / Annagrammatical / Crimes Against Pop / The Handsome Twins

Cost: £5 to take part in the swap or free entry if you're not swapping and just bringing your own crafty projects to work on.

www.craftguerrilla.com / www.lisamargreet.com

THE RULES OF THE SWAP

2009-06-02T05:51:00.001-07:00

Tonight, Tuesday 2 June 2009, sees the second of the Craft Guerrilla monthly clothes swap at 93 Feet East on Brick Lane. For those of you who have never attended a clothes swap before you might be wondering what on earth is going on. So to help demystify the washing lines full of clothes in the Pink Bar, and to provide some guidance for everyone else taking part here are the rules of the swap:

1. It costs £5 to take part in the clothes swap & you can swap up to 5 items (including pairs of shoes and accessories) as long as they are clean and in good condition.

2. You will receive a stamp on your hand showing you how many items you can swap - the amount you bring is the amount that you can take.

3. You will need to take any un-swapped items back home with you. Don’t worry we do a swap every month so you can bring them back next time!

4. The swap starts at 8PM sharp. The first hour is spent hanging up your clothes on the washing line and eyeing up potential swaps.

5. At 9PM you will have half an hour to try on any item that catches your eye. You have to return it to the washing line once you have tried it on so that other people also have the opportunity to try it.

6. At 9.30PM wait for the command then let the swapping commence! If more than one person wants the same item and agreement can’t be negotiated between yourselves then you need to come and see a member of the Craft Guerrilla team. We will choose a suitable method for deciding the matter e.g. tossing a coin or maybe even a bout of arm wrestling!

7. From 10PM onwards you will get the chance to wear your new outfit or speak to the Craft Guerrilla tutors about customising and making minor alterations. We’ll have some trimmings and buttons with us as well as sewing things and a wealth of handy tips!

8. The swapping session ends at 10.45PM so we can clear the bar area by 11PM.

Craft Guerrilla DJs: Masonic Boom / Anna / Dawn Chorus / Handsome Twins will provide crafty beats which you swap and snip and change your outfits. Fashion, recycling, music & craft – we love them!

Hope to see you there.

x

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisamargreet/3530411519/, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

JUNE EVENTS & WORKSHOPS

2009-05-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

The onset of summer sees loads of crafty shoots coming up all over the place. This month the Edinburgh Craft Guerrilla is having its first event and the East London Craft Guerrilla has something to keep event the most devillish hands busy!

02 JUNE 09: CLOTHES SWAP @ 93 FEET EAST
When? Tuesday 2nd June 8PM - 11PM: The second Craft Guerrilla Clothes Swap
Where? 93 Feet East, 150 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL
How much? £5 for the clothes swap or free entry if you just want to hang out!
DJs: Masonic Boom / Dawn Chorus / Anna / the Handsome Twins
Future dates: Tuesday 7th July

(Click to enlarge & download flyer)

13 JUNE 2009: CRAFTERNOON @ THE OLD QUEENS HEAD
Saturday afternoons crafting in a pub. What more need I say! With all the usual Craft Guerrilla fun of our DIY Nights but on a Saturday afternoon. Expect craft kits, craft related demos, tutors on hand to give advice, DJs and more. Top tip: Get there early to nab a table as we were packed at the May event and had to ask for more tables to be brought up!
When? The second Saturday of every month. Next date: Saturday 13th June 2009
What time? 2PM - 5PM
Where? Upstairs at the Old Queen's Head, Essex Road, Islington N1 8LN
How much? FREE ENTRY
DJs: Masonic Boom / Dawn Chorus / Miss AMP / the Handsome Twins
Future dates: Saturday 11th July

(Click to enlarge & download flyer)

16 JUNE 09: SUMMER CRAFT NIGHT @ THE MAKE LOUNGE
Tuesday 16th June 6.30 - 9.30PM: The Craft Guerrilla will be back at the Make Lounge in Islington for a summer craft night: Summertime means music festivals, barbeque's, swimming and picnics. So put on your crocheted flower headband and skip off to the fields for a handmade picnic. The Craft Guerrilla girls return to the Make Lounge with kits for making drinks coasters for your mojitos and embroidered napkins, perfect for putting under your felt sandwich and knitted cupcake! What is summer, after all, without cocktails and cupcakes? Go to www.themakelounge.com to book your ticket with the Make Lounge - but be quick they usually sell out fast!

27 JUNE CRAFT MARKET @ BEAUTIFUL INTERIORS (full details below)

24 - 26 JULY 09: CRAFT GUERRILLA @ INDIETRACKS MUSIC FESTIVAL
Friday 24th - Sunday 26th July: We're going to be at Indietracks music festival running a craft workshop and we're very excited about it!
For more details visit www.indietracks.co.uk.

CRAFT MARKETS
Some people think that seeing swallows is the first sign of summer but for me it is signified by the start of the craft market season. Back for another summer of craft markets in the lovely garden of Beautiful Interiors at 34 Orford Road, Walthamstow E17 are the Craft Guerrilla markets. Saturdays from May until August from 10am to 5.30pm.

I will be there each month from May onwards selling my fascinators and other handmade items together with lots of other great independent designers and makers.

1st edition: Saturday 30th May

2nd edition: Saturday 27th June

3rd edition: Saturday 18th July

4th edition: Saturday 29th August

HANDMADE BY LISA MARGREET WORKSHOPS

06 JUNE 2009: FASCINATOR WORKSHOP @ DREAMSPACE GALLERY
I'll be running a workshop teaching you all the skills you need to make your own fascinators for yourself or your friends and family on Saturday 6th June. You'll also get to design and make your own fascinator to take home with you. The workshop is taking place at the Dreamspace Gallery E1 as part of their Afternoon Teas series of
workshops. For full details and how to book please see the Workshops page at www.lisamargreet.com. Limited places available!

(Click to enlarge & download flyer)

20 JUNE 2009: BEGINNERS CROCHET WORKSHOP @ DREAMSPACE GALLERY
I'll be running a beginners crochet workshop teaching you all the basic skills you need to start crocheting your own items on Saturday 20th June. You'll learn the basic stitches, how to make the classic granny square, and also how to make the Crochet Flower Headband pattern that you can download from my blog, website or on Ravelry. The workshop is taking place at the Dreamspace Gallery E1 as part of their Afternoon Teas series of workshops. For full details and how to book please see the Workshops page at www.lisamargreet.com. Limited places available!

(Click to enlarge & download flyer)

Keep Crafty!
x

02 JUNE 09: CLOTHES SWAP @ 93 FEET EAST

2009-05-14T07:25:00.001-07:00

02 JUNE 09: CLOTHES SWAP @ 93 FEET EAST, originally uploaded by uber trick.

The East London Craft Guerrilla are back in the Pink Bar at 93 Feet East holding the second of their monthly clothes swap on Tuesday 2nd June. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, fling open your drawers and bring all those clothes, shoes and accessories that you don’t wear anymore (although please make sure they’re clean and in good condition) and swap them for new ones! The Craft Guerrilla tutors will be available to help you pimp your new clothes with vintage buttons and other trimmings.

As with all our DIY Craft Nights, please feel free to bring your own projects. Foxed by a knitting pattern? Got your garter tangled with your stocking stitches? Running stitch run away with you? Want to learn how to darn / knit / crochet? Ask our tutors to help you out!

£5 cover charge if you’re taking part in the clothes swap or free entry if you’re bringing your own projects.

Please get there with your clothes by 8PM as the first hour will be spent hanging them up and eyeing up your potential swaps. Please bring at least one item to swap per person with a maximum of five items in total. The amount you bring is the amount you can take home.

Craft Guerrilla DJs: Masonic Boom / Anna / Dawn Chorus / Handsome Twins will provide some crafty beats while you knit, sew and pose in your new clothes.

For more information and to download the flyer visit the events page at www.craftguerrilla.com or www.lisamargreet.com.

x

CRAFTERNOONS ARE HERE!

2009-05-01T03:59:00.001-07:00

CRAFTERNOONS, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

Crafternoons are the new monthly date from the Craft Guerrilla. We’re bringing you all our usual crafty goodness but on a Saturday afternoon, in a pub. Genius!

As usual it’s FREE ENTRY with a small charge if you want to buy a craft kit to make. Previous kits have included: Burlesque-style and knitted fascinators, felt tattoo brooches, lavender heart sachets, patchwork pin cushions and straw wish pendants. Prices range from £3-£7 per kit, averaging at £5.

You’re also welcome to come along with your own projects and craft in a friendly environment. The Craft Guerrilla tutors will be on hand to help you out should you need it and we can even teach you how to knit or crochet.

DJs Masonic Boom, Dawn Chorus and The Handsome Twins will provide crafty beats. The pub provides the beer!

Crafternoons are held on the second Saturday of every month in the upstairs bar at The Old Queens Head, Islington N1.

x

CRAFT CORPS

2009-04-26T03:37:00.000-07:00

Vickie Howell is launching "Craft Corps" a website and book documenting the development of the crafting community and my profile is in it! For those of you who haven't heard of Vickie, she's a huge part of the US craft movement, and author of several books, crafty TV shows, and mother of two boys with a baby girl on the way, among other things. Here's an extract from her biog:

"...she’s acted as owner, designer, web-mistress and CEO of three craft-based businesses. Mamarama, founded in 2001, offered cool hand-made garb for hip moms and their kids. In 2003, after relocating to Austin, Texas, Vickie co-founded Ruby Goes Retro (RgR) with her sister-in-law. RgR furnished hipsters worldwide with authentic, embellished and inspired by vintage clothing and accessories. In 2005 she founded VickieHowell.com under her company Vickie Howell, Inc., as a homebase for her many crafty endeavors. Networking for her businesses lead her to nine other crafty entrepreneurs and, together, they co-founded Austin Craft Mafia (ACM), an organization whose sole purpose is to promote and support independent, female-run, craft based businesses.

In efforts to do her part in the mobilization of the feminist-based knitting movement, she founded successful chapters of the irreverent but socially conscious knitting group Stitch n’ Bitch, in Los Angeles, CA and Austin, TX."

She is one cool, crafty lady! Here's a bit about the Craft Corps Blog, in her own words:

Hey there and welcome to the Craft Corps Blog, launched in May ‘09 in celebration of not only you the crafter, but also the one-year countdown to Craft Corps the book (May ‘10–which will include 30 interviews with craft super stars such as Amy Butler, Crafty Chica and Jay McCarroll )! I’m so excited about the Craft Corps projects and thrilled that crafters like yourselves will be able to join the movement with me.

The primary goal of both the blog and the book is to nurture our wonderful community by telling your stories and elevating the perception of the value of craft, all crafts, amongst society. Being creative, as a hobby or professionally, is a gift and deserves to be celebrated. I hope to do that here.

Want to join the Corps? Simply add your e-mail address to the Craft Corps Weekly mailing list to read a new, featured crafter’s profile every week. Dig through our archives for stories in genres from knitting to wood working. Submit your own crafty anecdote and be added to our links page. Recruit your friends by spreading the Craft Corps word.

I’m so happy to have you here!

Craft. Rock. Love.,
Vickie Howell

My profile can be viewed by clicking here. Spread the word - Craft Corps wants YOU!

FREE CROCHET PATTERN: DAISY CHAIN HEADBAND

2009-04-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

With summer festivals approaching this cute crocheted daisy chain headband/wristband/necklace is the perfect thing for posing as a saucy 50s sweetheart, or wearing around your head flower child style or even wrapping it round your wrist as a soft take on a rock chick wrist cuff!

The daisy chain is made by creating a string of flowers. There are hundreds of free crochet flower patterns on the internet and the one that I used for the basis of this daisy chain pattern is available from: www.freecraftunlimited.com/crochet-flowers-1.html.

The flowers are made up by four petals and each petal is created by making one “2-dc cluster” surrounded on either side by a chain of 3 stitches e.g. there are four strands to each petal.

How to do a 2-dc cluster:
No need to panic, it’s quite simple! To create a “2-dc cluster” double crochet into the centre of the stitch leaving the last two loops on hook; double crochet into the same stitch leaving last loop on hook; yarn over and draw through all three loops.

Note: This pattern is written using US terminology. A chart showing the differences between US/Canadian abbreviations and UK/Australian/European terminology is below (click to enlarge):

Pattern starts here (Click to download PDF):

Start by making the first tie for your head/wristband:
Chain 30
Sc into each chain of the base chain
(This forms the ties for your daisy chain head/wristband)

Now you’re ready to crochet your first flower:
Chain 4
Work a 2-dc cluster (see above) into the first stitch of the chain (this is the 4th stitch from your hook).
Chain 3 then sl st into the centre of the same stitch. You’ve just made your first petal!

Continue working into the same space, *chain 3, 2-dc cluster, chain 3, sl st (second petal created).

Repeat from * two more times (4 petals created).

Additional flowers
[Chain 9. In 4th chain from hook. work a 2-dc cluster, chain 3, and sl st. Still working in the SAME space, work chain 3, 2-dc cluster, chain 3, and sl st. Repeat from * 3 more times.]

Repeat instructions between [ ] for each flower you would like to add to the string. I found that 15 flowers is a good length but feel free to adjust to your own particular requirements.

Note: You start each additional flower after the first one by chaining 9 as this creates a space of 5 chains between each flower, while allowing for the chain 4 at the start of the flower.

Once your daisy chain is of the required length, chain 30; then sc into each chain to create the other tie as at the start of the pattern.

Now wear your crochet daisy chain with pride!

Psst! You can buy a kit with all the things you need to make the crochet daisy chain from my Folksy shop if you're in the UK or my Etsy shop if you're US based.

DO YOU WANT TO LEARN HOW TO CROCHET? I'm going to be teaching a beginners crochet workshop at the Dreamspace Gallery, Clerkenwell on Saturday 20th June at their Afternoon Tea. Limited places available so book quickly! This pattern and the kit to make it will be used as part of the workshop.

(Click image to view flyer on flickr in larger sizes.)

x

PUT THE NEEDLE ON THE RECORD: 22-APRIL-09

2009-04-21T05:24:00.000-07:00

The next monthly Craft Guerrilla DIY Craft Night is tomorrow - Wednesday 22 April 2009 - at our Walthamstow home The Castle pub. Join us for the usual fun and mayhem with craft kits (crochet craft kits are finally here - hooray!), DJs and board games.

Last month we were absolutely packed out for our birthday so I know that a few of you missed out on the darning demo. If you would like to know how to darn all those holey socks and tights then let me know when you arrive and I'll make sure you leave armed with the power to eradicate toes poking out coldly from threadbare socks!

Also, if you would like to learn how to knit or crochet then let me know and we'll soon have you hooking or purling.

Hope to see you there!

Where: The Castle Pub, Grosvenor Road East, Walthamstow E17 9LB
When: Wednesday 22 April 8PM - 11PM
How Much: FREE!

x

CRAFT GUERRILLA CLOTHES SWAP

2009-04-20T05:58:00.001-07:00

CRAFT GUERRILLA CLOTHES SWAP, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

Just in time to help you spring clean your wardrobe the Craft Guerrilla are holding a clothes swap at 93 Feet East on Tuesday 5th May.

Boys and girls, fling open your drawers and bring all those clothes, shoes and accessories that you don't wear anymore (although please make sure they're clean and in good condition) and swap them for new ones! The Craft Guerrilla tutors will be available to help you pimp your new clothes with vintage buttons and other trimmings.

As with all our DIY Craft Nights, please feel free to bring your own projects. Foxed by a knitting pattern? Got your garter tangled with your stocking stitches? Running stitch run away with you? Want to learn how to darn / knit / crochet? Ask our tutors to help you out!

£5 cover charge if you're taking part in the clothes swap or FREE ENTRY if you're bringing your own projects.

Please get there with your clothes by 8PM as the first hour will be spent hanging them up and eyeing up your potential swaps! Please bring at least one item to swap per person.

As always the Craft Guerrilla DJs & guests will provide some crafty beats while you knit, sew and pose in your new clothes.

For more information visit: www.craftguerrilla.com

Where? 93 Feet East, Brick Lane
When? 8-11PM Tuesday 5th May
How much? £5 for clothes swap or free entry if bringing own projects

x

FREE KNITTING PATTERN: LITTLE BUNNY FOO FOO

2009-04-09T04:40:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Easter here is the Little Bunny Foo Foo knitting Pattern for you. It only takes a couple of hours to make your own bunny so its perfect for last minute Easter presents!

I'll get the pattern on Ravelry so you can download the PDF and put the craft kits in my etsy shop as soon as I can, but I'm still without internet at home and snatching at wi-fi when I can!

On another note, thank you to all the lovely people I met at the Make Lounge last night! We had a great night and we're looking forward to coming back in June. Before that though there's lots of Craft Guerrilla events coming up so check the website craftguerrilla.com for full details.

NEW VENUES: 93 Feet East, Brick Lane and The Old Queens Head, Islington both launching in May.

LITTLE BUNNY FOO FOO PATTERN

Abbreviations
CO = cast on
stocking stitch = knit one row then purl the next. Repeat until desired number of rows completed
st = stitch
kfb = knit the front and back of the stitch e.g. increase one stitch
BO = bind off (cast off)

Note: For those of you who are not familiar with Little Bunny Foo Foo, it is a character in a children's nursery rhyme and also a song by The Moldy Peaches!

Front
CO 16 stitches

Row 1: kfb, knit to 1 st before end of row, kfb (18 stitches)
Row 2: Purl next row
Row 3: kfb, knit to 1 st before end of row, kfb (20 stitches)
Row 4: Purl next row
Row 5: kfb, knit to 1 st before end of row, kfb (22 stitches)
Row 6: Purl next row
Row 7: kfb, knit to 1 st before end of row, kfb (24 stitches)
Row 8: Purl next row
Row 9: kfb, knit to 1 st before end of row, kfb (26 stitches)

Row 10: Purl
Row 11: Knit
Rows 12–20: Continue in stocking stitch

Ears
Row 21: p11, bind off 6 stitches, p9
Row 22: k10, turn (leaving 10 stitches on needle)
Row 23: Purl on the 10 stitches you just knit
Rows 24-37: Continue in stocking stitch on these 10 stitches to make one of the ears

BO 10 stitches

On remaining 10 stitches (the other ear) work in stocking stitch starting with a knit row and continue for 15 rows, then BO.

Back
Work as for front of bunny.

Making up
Using the black yarn enclosed and a darning needle stitch on the eyes as crosses placing them where you like. You can totally change the expression of your bunny depending on where you choose to place the eyes!

Once you have sewn on the eyes place the right sides of your bunny together and use a running stitch to sew all around the sides leaving a space at the bottom for stuffing.

Stuff your bunny with the polyfil stuffing in your kit and then sew up the hole at the bottom.

Now go find some field mice to bop on the head!

x

DESIGNER HOOK UP

2009-04-03T11:36:00.000-07:00

I've been hooked up as a designer on Ravelry and my designer username is (unsurprisingly) lisamargreet! What does this mean? Well if you're not on Ravelry then not a lot. But if you are then it means that you can download my knitting and crochet patterns as PDFs, put them in your Ravelry library, add me to your faves and all the other wonderful stuff that you can do on that most awesome of websites. At the moment there is only the Poppy Knitted Fascinator on there but I'll add more in time.

I'm hoping though that this link will take those of you not on Ravelry to the PDF version of the Poppy Knitted Fascinator pattern. Could someone try it and let me know? Clicking the link should prompt your computer to download and open up the PDF pattern. So even if you're not on Ravelry (I'm sure there's a few people out there who aren't) then you can still join in the PDF pattern goodness.

In other news, the super-organised, perfectly planned, pre-move installation of the telephone and internet which was due to happen today, didn't. This may not come as that much of a surprise to the cynical among you, and it wasn't that much of a surprise to me to be honest - even if I did spend half the day in my new empty flat waiting for them to turn up. So, annoying though it is, they hopefully will be coming on Tuesday to hook this designer back up to internet. Phew, anymore than a few days and I start to get the DTs. If only the ***un-named internet supplier*** were as good at hooking up as Ravelry are!

x

POPPY FASCINATOR: FREE KNITTING PATTERN

2009-04-01T13:36:00.001-07:00

Ok then, here is an early attempt at pattern writing. I'm new at this and I'm doing it by instinct so please let me know if I've made any mistakes or if anything isn't clear. Also if you have any pattern writing tips that you'd like to share then please comment below or email them to me.

I'm in the process of being hooked up as a designer on Ravelry so when that happens you'll be able to download this and other future patterns as a free PDF.

I hope you enjoy the pattern and if you do make a fascinator or hair accessory then send me a photo of you wearing it!

Here's me wearing mine and looking moody:

POPPY FASCINATOR PATTERN OR HAIR ACCESSORY

PETAL Make 4 in total)
You can use any leftover wool that you have and an appropriately sized pair of needles. I used 4-ply wool and UK Size 4mm needles.

CO 24 stitches

Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: K1, K2tog to end (16 stitches)
Row 6: Purl
Row 7: K2 tog to end (8 stitches)
Row 8: P2 tog to end (4 stitches)

Break yarn and thread onto sewing needle then pull the yarn through the remaining 4 stitches on the knitting needle. Drop stitches off knitting needle and tighten.

Fold wrong sides together then sew up the side seam. Run the yarn back down to the point of the petal and leave approx 10cm tail for joining to other petals. Leave bottom (cast on) edge unstitched as it curls over to form the petal edges.

Make another 3 petals by repeating the steps above.

MAKING THE FLOWER
Once you have your four petal pieces join them at their points so they lie flat. You should now see the flower shape! Take the three black beads from the envelope and thread a thin sewing needle with black thread. Use a double thread and knot it then thread it through the three beads. Use the same thread to sew the beads in the centre of the poppy. Do not break off the thread as you will use it to join the flower to the base.

MAKING THE BASE
Use a paper template to cut a circle with a 6.5cm diameter
out of a piece of felt. Stitch the poppy to the felt base then sew it to the accessory of your choice. Use a hair clip if you want to make a fascinator, or use a hair elastic if you want to make a hair accessory.

If you are making a fascinator you could also attach some net veiling between the flower and the base for a more vintage style.
Wear with pride!

Psst! You can buy a kit with all the things that you need to make the poppy fascinator from lisamargreet.etsy.com.

x

LITTLE BUNNY FOO FOO

2009-03-30T15:20:00.001-07:00

LITTLE BUNNY FOO FOO, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

"Little Bunny Foo Foo
Hopping through the forest
Scooping up the field mice
and bopping them on the head!"

Little Bunny Foo Foo is my latest knit kit which will go on sale at the Easter DIY Craft Night at the Make Lounge on Wednesday 8th April. Sorry folks but this event was a book in advance one and has now sold out.

Fear not though, the Little Bunny Foo Foo kit will be available on Etsy and Folksy shortly after the craft night for you to buy: lisamargreet.etsy.com and folksy.com/shops/lisamargreet. I'll also put the pattern here on my blog and on Ravelry as a free download after then as well.

Easter's not far away now so I'd better *hop* to it.

(Sorry, I am oddly addicted to puns.)

x

ONIONS! DEAD AHEAD!

2009-03-30T15:11:00.001-07:00

ONIONS! DEAD AHEAD!, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

Remember those photos of the empty seed beds that I posted at the beginning of March? Well look now just 30 days later - there's onions, dead ahead! I'm so proud of my little darlings. I worried about them quite a lot after we'd planted them as the weather had that sudden cold snap but they look just fine.

Today we planted the first early potatoes, Duke of York Whites, and the second earlies, Romano. I've been watching them grow their little sprouts while chitting on the windowsill in my study and I feel very attached to them. I hope they like their new beds and grow us loads of lovely potatoes!

See the chard at the back of the photo? Well we picked it and a bit more from elsewhere on our plot and we're going to cook us a delicious pasta sauce for dinner one night this week.

Swiss Chard Pasta Sauce
(from Riverford Organic Veg website www.riverford.co.uk)

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients

350g (12oz) Swiss or ruby chard
1 medium onion
1 small piece wet garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
75ml (3 floz) double cream
50g (2oz) parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Roughly chop the chard and steam for 10 minutes until tender. Finely slice the onion and the garlic and gently fry together for 15 minutes until soft and browned.

2. Add the chard to the pan and stir in the cream. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the grated parmesan.

3. Serve with freshly cooked farfalle.

(recipe from Green Cuisine by Anna Ross)

Think you don't like chard? Have it with pasta and cream and you'll love it!

x

FASCINATOR-ING

2009-03-26T05:51:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my new range of fascinators which I'll be selling at the Craft Guerrilla summer craft markets which will be starting again soon in the garden at Beautiful Interiors in Walthamstow.

I've been wondering for a while about the possibility of making my own bases for the fascinators and have come up with a couple of ideas such as crocheting a circle, like when you start of making a circular crocheted hat, or of knitting up a swatch and then felting it to make quite a firm base.

During my research I came across these beautiful fascinators by Anushka Tay on Knit On the Net. I'm dying to try out some of those techniques. Simply gorgeous!

x

RIBBIT

2009-03-26T05:41:00.000-07:00

I'm going to have to frog the cardigan. I sat there last night with the pattern and my tape measure. I measured, I pondered and I calculated. Unfortunately there is no way around it, I'm going to have to unravel 35cm of cardigan to take it back to 23cm. This is on top of the 23cm I had to unravel a few days ago.

I've put the cardigan in the cupboard for a few days to let my emotions cool then when I take it out I'll just have to be brave and pull the cord. Quickly. Like ripping a plaster or waxing bikini lines.

x

OH, THE HORROR!

2009-03-24T05:43:00.001-07:00

I have posed a question on the Ravelry Forums and I'm going to ask it here: To frog or not to frog? For those unfamiliar with knitting terms "frogging" is the name given when you unravel a knitting project and start again (or fall in a weeping pile on the floor covered in yarn and fluff).

I have been making the Rowan Miss Marple cardigan since December 2007. It grows, then I notice a mistake and it gets frogged. Then I do some more and... you get the picture. But now, I was soooo close to finishing the back. I was on the bottom ribbing. I had dedicated songs to it (The Darkness "Growing On Me") and then it happened. I'll let myself take over from my Ravelry project notes as I can barely stand to repeat it.

20/05/08: After starting this project in December 2007, restarting in January 2008 as I realised it was not quite right, I have now frogged it and started yet again!

I got about 10 cms into the cardigan (I know but it takes a long time and I've got lots of projects on, ok?!) when I realised that the pattern was not quite right. I got it sorted but then had to decide if I could live with the slight inconsistencies on the first 10 cms on the top at the back. No-one would probably see it or notice it, but I would know it was there.

After considerable deliberation I decided that I was investing so much time and had invested so much money on the yarn that if it was worth doing it was worth doing well.

So in April I frogged the project then blocked the wool (or whatever its called when you wash it and straighten it, perhaps it has another name?) to make it uncurl, and re-balled all the yarn into centre-pull balls. (Centre-pull balls are a great idea btw and I would highly recommend the time it takes as time very well spent).

On my flight over to Stockholm on 6 May I recast on all 299 of those blessed stitches and I started out again, pattern perfect from the start. It was a big foot in the face reminder to ALWAYS DO A GUAGE SQUARE so you can learn the pattern as well before you start, especially on a big project such as this.

Anyway, a week later while I was about 4 cms into the project (see how much quicker you can go with no job and no other projects on the go!) I sat on my wooden circular needle and snapped it. Faced with the choice of putting the project on straights to carry on, which is very cumbersome with a project of this size, I decided to retire it for a week or so in order to wait for the delicious Addi metal circular needle to arrive that I ordered. At least it gave me a chance to complete Jimmy's Swallow Cardigan!

This cardigan is teaching me patience and positivity. My sister says even thinking about my cardigan makes her stressed!

24:03:09. I nearly got to the end of the back. After re-doing the wrong 10cms at the the top on my honeymoon, I'd worked all my decreases down. Then I realised I'd skipped a decrease so I didn't panic I just compensated, and got down to the rib at the bottom. I was, in fact, halfway through the 15cm ribbed band at the bottom. Then I looked at it and thought "hmmmm, this looks rather long" and measured it. It was already 13cm longer than the finished article should be! I pondered. I drank a glass of wine. I wondered if there was a way around it. I put the project in the wardrobe for a couple of days while I decided what to do (and to prevent me from ripping it up and jumping up and down on it like a banshee). I decided to undo the bottom 'compensation' decrease, which meant unraveling about 25cms of the cardigan. Yesterday I took a deep breath and I did it. I unraveled it, I wound all the wool back up, got it back on the needles and knitted a couple of rows.

Then two things happened: I noticed that one row of the pattern which had been throwing the pattern out for a few lines was only about 4 rows higher than where I had unraveled to. Should I stop my progress and correct this mistake while I was so close to it? NB: I had noticed this before but was so far away from it near the bottom I wasn't going to unravel that far just for half a line of pattern out of synch which was going to be on the back. But now I'm very close to it, perhaps I should just correct it?

The second thing that happened was that I realised that I'd been reading the pattern wrong for ALL the decreases. The pattern is on an 8-line repeat and I was rather inexperienced when I started this cardigan (oh what a learning curve!) so when it said to decrease "Every 6th row" while keeping in pattern, I thought that meant to decrease on the 6th row of the pattern. But of course it meant every 6th row of the cardigan. So effectively, apart from the inital 6th row decrease I was decreasing every 8th row - which would explain why it was so much longer than it should be.

So my question is do I adjust the pattern to compensated for this (perhaps shorten the ribbed band or something?) or do I take a deep breath, try not to cry, and frog all the way back to 23cm where the decreases start?

What do I do? Help me!

Here is a picture of the culprit, btw (I'll show you the pattern pic rather than my cardigan as my cardigan is currently in disgrace and dare not show its face):

GIRL GANGS WANTED!

2009-03-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

I've been contacted by a journalist who is doing a couple of features on knitting and people who knit. She's looking for groups of girls who get together only for these kind of activities:

groups of girls that only get together en masse for an activity, they should all know each other very well, a little like Sex and the City. Any girls getting together for a spot of needlecraft would be perfect.

Do you and your friends fit the bill or do you know anyone who does? Email me on lisa margreet at g mail dot com and I'll hook you up!

x

WHOOPS!

2009-03-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks, a rogue space had found its way into the link below for booking a place on our Easter DIY Night at the Make Lounge in Islington on Wednesday 8th April.

It's all sorted out now in the post below but to save your fingers for crafting and not scrolling I'll post the link again. Click here to look at the full details and reserve your place.

Hurry as places are going FAST!

x

KNITTING IS THE NEW CLUBBING

2009-03-14T06:17:00.001-07:00

KNITTING IS THE NEW CLUBBING, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

Craft Guerrilla are in the local Waltham Forest Guardian!

Ok, there are a couple of mistakes in there:

Debbie is from Portugal but not from Porto
Louise's surname is Batten not Batter
As far as we know the Stitch n Bitch girls aren't coming - but they're most welcome!
Debbie and I (who DJ together as The Handsome Twins) weren't recruited from Crimes Against Pop DJs - although we do love them and Carolyn Crimes will be DJing at our birthday party this Wednesday night
It's a free goody bag NOT a free craft pack but the goody bags are really pretty awesome. Can I have one Debbie? ;)

Hope to see you there!

x

PS. Don't forget our Easter DIY Craft Night at the Make Lounge in Islington on Wednesday 8th April. You can book online by clicking here as places are limited and our Valentine's Craft Night sold out super fast!

Also, coming soon:

CRAFTERNOONS (Craft in a pub in the afternoon) starting on Saturday 9th May at The Old Queens Head on Essex Road, Islington N1

MAKE-OUT MORNINGS (Coffee mornings with added Craft) - dates and venue to be confirmed.

Kingsley Hall Textile Workshop

2009-03-07T06:31:00.000-08:00

Kingsley Hall is a community centre in Bow and they are currently running a project to create a memorial textile screen. They are looking for people to take part by working on the tapestry, making a patchwork or perhaps painting a frieze.

For more details on the next textile screen workshop on Wednesday 11th March go to www.kingsleyhall.co.uk and follow the link on the front page to download the flyer with the details. Full details on the project (which is being funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund) "Kingsley Hall and the Legacy of Muriel Lester" are also on the website.

I was also excited to see that they are trying to set up an Organic Community Garden and Eco Reception:

The Peace Garden at Kingsley Hall.

We would love to create an organic community garden and eco reception area with sustainable energy source.

We need everyone’s help to make this happen! Have you got skills or knowledge in fundraising, gardening, permaculture, alternative energy systems, eco structures?

We are situated very close to the Olympic site and want to take advantage of the attention we could receive from this. Please contact us if you think you could help.

e-mail beatricenicholson@googlemail.com

I'm moving out of the area and off to leafy Walthamstow at the end of this month, but you're local to Kingsley Hall you should check it out.

x

WE ARE ONE

2009-02-28T07:29:00.001-08:00

Oh my goodness, Craft Guerrilla is ONE YEAR OLD in March! We need very little excuse to party so when we've got a genuine reason then we go all out. Our next DIY Craft Night is on Wednesday 18th March and it will be our birthday party.

There will be new Spring / Mother's Day themed craft kits to make or give as gifts and the launch of the Craft Guerrilla CRAFT-ZINE!

I often wonder if the crafting community is made up of especially generous people or if the Joy of Craft makes you become a generous person. Either way, crafters love to give and we Craft Guerrillas are no exception. Even though it's our party (and we'll cry if we drink too much gin) we are giving away a FREE GOODY BAG to the first 50 people through the door!

I'll also be on hand to advise on mending and darning tips so bring along all things holey and I'll help you to fix them. Fix them, don't throw them! That's HOLEY things for mending, not to be confused with HOLY things as I don't know how much help I'll be there.

If you fancy learning to knit then myself or Louise can help you out and I'm even thinking about basic crochet lessons if you fancy it? Bring your own hooks, needles and wool and I'll bring a few spares for you to borrow for the night or to buy for life. Don't get your k2tog in a twist! Got a pattern that needs deciphering? Kfb and bring along any troublesome projects and our craft tutors will do their best to help you out.

Don't forget your "Guilty Pleasures" tracks for the Handsome Twins to play and in honour of our birthday the Craft Guerrilla DJs are mixing up something special just for you...

When? Wednesday 18th March
What time? From 8pm onwards
Where? The Castle Pub, Walthamstow
How Much? FREE ENTRY (small charge per craft pack)

**** FREE GOODY BAG FOR THE FIRST FIFTY PEOPLE THROUGH THE DOOR. WHO LOVES YA? YOU CRAFTY LITTLE DEVILS! ****

x

WE ARE ONE, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

PART TWO: CAST ON

2009-02-16T07:50:00.000-08:00

Join the East London Craft Guerrilla at our monthly DIY Craft Night this Wednesday 18th February. It's Part Two of our Recycled Sweater Project: Cast On. Last month I showed people how to unravel unwanted jumpers and how to harvest the wool from them for use in other projects.

This month we're ready to Cast On with our recycled wool. I'll be on hand to help you with casting on and knitting and I can also advise on felting your jumpers if you fancy some 'cut and sew' projects. I can even teach you how to knit if you're a complete beginner or if you just need a bit of a refresher.

I've made a minizine to go with this project which you can buy on the night for £2 which has everything you need to know about how to recycle sweaters as well as simple knitting patterns including a pair of slippers and a moss-stitch face cloth.

You can also buy a kit to make your own Lavender Heart for scenting your drawers, hanging in your wardrobe or for putting under your pillow. It uses wool that I have felted myself and some recycled fabrics. The kit costs £5 and contains all you need to make the heart. Other kits on sale will include knitted or sewn projects and jewelery making. I will also bring some knitting needles and yarn for sale.

Bring your own knitting and sewing or any other craft-related projects to do. Tutors are on hand to help with queries. We also have vintage board games for when you fancy a break from crafting.

DJs: VAO / THE HANDSOME TWINS / MATHEW LEE / MICHAEL KNIFE

Don't forget to bring your "Guilty Pleasures" - tracks you hate to love (or love to hate) and The Handsome Twins will play them for you.

Date: Wednesday 18th February 2009
Time: 8.00-11.00PM
Venue: The Castle Pub, Grosvenor Road East, Walthamstow E17

FREE ENTRY

x

Craft Guerrilla / Make Lounge DIY Craft Night Video Review

2009-02-14T03:34:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Craft Night at The Make Lounge from Qype UK on Vimeo.

The next Craft Guerrilla DIY Craft Night is this coming Wednesday 18th February back in our usual home, The Castle pub in Walthamstow. I'm still looking for a couple of DJs for Wednesday the 18th so if you're interested then message me.

MY CRAFTY VALENTINE

2009-01-20T09:10:00.001-08:00

JANUARY CRAFT NIGHT, originally uploaded by uber trick.

The Craft Guerrilla's monthly craft night is tomorrow. Come one, come all. Learn how to recycle jumpers for their wool or to make felt. Or, you know, just have a drink with us. :)

x

SWEATER TO... SCENTED HEART

2009-01-12T03:05:00.001-08:00

SWEATER TO... SCENTED HEART, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

Another project from the "Sweater to..." recycling project. This is a felted sweater upcycled into a lavender scented heart.

Use it to scent your drawers or to keep moths away from your best vintage items in the wardrobe. You could also slip it under your pillow at night as lavender can help you relax and sleep well. Trust me, I'm an aromatherapist.

Full details and tutorial available at "My Crafty Valentine" craft night on 21st January. I will also post the tutorial on my blog after that date for those of you who can't attend!

WHERE CRAFT AND MUSIC COLLIDE

2009-01-12T02:20:00.000-08:00

Look at this incredible video made by over 700 individually crafted knitting machine pieces. Incredible! The song is really sweet too. I now want to make knitting machine animations...

SWEATER TO... SLIPPERS

2009-01-11T13:28:00.001-08:00

originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

I'm working on a three-part project for the Jan, Feb and March Craft Guerrilla Craft Nights. The idea is to recycle unwanted sweaters into other items either by unraveling them and knitting them into something else, or felting them and using the "cut and sew" technique. Part One on 21st January will be the "Unraveling".

Here are some photos of the wool that I harvested from one short sleeved jumper (55% Linen 45% Cotton) and the startings of a pair of ballet slippers I'm making for part of the project. Here's one completed prototype ballet slipper. It looks pretty but needs some tweaking such as a chunkier wool (quadruple up on the ply rather than just double up as I did in this one as the recycled yarn is quite thin) and also make the seam shorter on the toe portion. But all in all, I'm pleased with the result.

I pimped my stride with a sheepskin inner sole I got one way-below-freezing day in Stockholm the year before last where Sam, my sister and I coined the phrase "pimp my stride" when the man selling these inner soles literally prevented my toes from freezing off in my Converse!

Felting details coming in the next few days - my felting experiments today have not gone quite to plan... Time to sit down with a glass of wine and an episode of "The L Word".

JANUARY CRAFT NIGHT

2009-01-11T13:22:00.001-08:00

JANUARY CRAFT NIGHT, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Details on the "Sweater to..." project coming up...

SHOUT OUT FOR CRAFTY DJs

2009-01-05T05:11:00.001-08:00

Hello and Happy 2009 to you all! The East London Craft Guerrilla are back for another round of craft nights kicking off on 21st January at The Castle pub in Walthamstow. I'm looking for crafty DJs for this and subsequent nights so if you're interested in DJing or if you know anyone who might be then please get in touch.

You don't need to be an experienced DJ, I'm happy to give anyone a quick once over on the decks (fnar) and then you're all set to play away. A nice friendly atmosphere to break your DJing cherry at. The pub has two vinyl decks and a mixer and we have successfully plugged in laptops and ipods, and on one lucky occasion the wonderful Crimes Against Pop leant us their CD mixer together with their wonderful musical DJing skills. However, unless you have a CD mixer to lend then plan your set on vinyl and ipods/laptops to avoid disappointment when you turn up with a pile of CDs you can't play!

Please let me know if you're interested in DJing at the January craft night or if you're potentially interested in any future dates and I'll keep you updated. Please pass this email on to friends and myspace /facebook it etc.

Keep it crafty!

xx

WINTER ALLOTMENT

2008-12-08T10:30:00.001-08:00

WINTER ALLOTMENT, originally uploaded by uber trick.

We've been putting the allotment to bed for the winter. We spent half the day carrying wheelbarrows of manure from one end of the allotment site to the other and spreading it on our plot as a mulch. We've also got a few bits of old carpet to cover other areas.

Despite it being winter I still harvested a cabbage, some rosemary sprigs and some chard. I'll dry the rosemary; we used some cabbage in a stir fry yesterday and I'll put the rest into a winter veg coleslaw tonight. I'm using the chard to make chard and feta parcels (in filo pastry) to freeze as nibbles for my family champagne reception after my wedding. That will just use the greens though so I'll use the chard stems in a recipe for 'mustardy chard stems' to go with the winter veg coleslaw and Mediterranean baked plaice for dinner tonight. Delicious!

Night, night allotment, sleep tight. I'm off to start on that cooking. x

WE MAKE CHRISTMAS INVITATION

2008-12-04T13:20:00.001-08:00

Be there, bring friends.

x

DISCOUNT VOUCHER

2008-12-04T06:45:00.001-08:00

VOUCHER, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Download from my flickr (click to go there and view full voucher to download), print out and bring along to the we make Christmas market on Saturday 6th December in London for 10% off of all purchases on the Handmade by Lisa Margreet stall.

Don't worry though if you can't make it to the market as the voucher is also valid online in my Etsy shop from 6th December until 15th December.

Have yourself a crafty Christmas!
x

PLEASE VOTE FOR MY TOTE

2008-12-01T02:10:00.001-08:00

HANDMADE, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

WeMake Christmas is happening this Saturday 6th December at the American Church on Tottenham Court Road. I've got a stall there selling my fascinators and not-just-for-boys pants and other bits and bobs. The stall holders each designed tote bags which are filled with goodies that you can buy for £3. There are a limited number of totes so get there early if you want to snap up the goodies.

We're having a little design competition and this is my entry. A hand embroidered handmade handbag designed by Handmade by Lisa Margreet. Go to the We Make blog and vote for your favourite... vote for my tote! (Please).

x

CRAFT YOUR OWN CHRISTMAS: PART 3

2008-11-30T07:36:00.001-08:00

DJ DUO: THE HANDSOME TWINS, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

The pub was packed full of crafters happily knitting, sewing or making bead bracelets and Christmas decorations. All the photos can be seen here: http://eastlondoncraftguerrilla.blogspot.com/2008/11/crafty-people-in-walthamstow.html.

We're pretty much crafted out for 2008 as we've got a handmade Christmas (and my handmade wedding on 20th December!) to get working on, but we'll be back with more crafty goodness in 2009.

Keep it crafty!

x

CRAFT YOUR OWN CHRISTMAS: PART 2

2008-11-25T06:40:00.001-08:00

CRAFT YOUR OWN CHRISTMAS, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Craft projects to buy or bring your own, Learn to knit session 8.30-9.30pm, play board games, dance to the tunes spun by our guest DJs and drink an ale or two.

THIS IS HAPPENING TOMORROW // YOU MUST BE THERE!

x

CRAFT YOUR OWN CHRISTMAS

2008-11-24T13:41:00.001-08:00

, originally uploaded by uber trick.

The knitted face cloth kits in the "I heart craft" canvas bags will be available to buy at the DIY Craft Night on Wednesday 26th November at The Castle pub in Walthamstow. The kit contains bamboo knitting needles, organic yarn, a row counter and a pattern to knit your own face cloth in a printed canvas bag. I'll also be running a Learn to Knit session between 8.30-9.30pm, no need to book just turn up! You can bring your own knitting or buy the face cloth or knitted heart kit on the night.

NOVEMBER CRAFT MARKET // LEARN TO KNIT

2008-11-21T02:10:00.001-08:00

NOVEMBER CRAFT MARKET, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

The East London Craft Guerrilla will be having their next craft market on Saturday 22nd November 2008 1pm-6pm at the Wanstead United Reform Church.

I'll be running a free "Learn to knit" session between 2.30-3.30pm as well as selling my fascinators and a new range of boy pants (not just for boys)! Bring your own needles and yarn or I'll have some you can buy on the day. I'll be teaching the long-tail (or thumbs) cast-on method, knit and purl stitches, and how to cast off. You can also buy a kit for knitting your own face cloth which I can help you to start making. You might as well get something useful out of your sample squares of knitting - we all get dirty faces, after all! Email me for more info or just turn up. There's even somewhere to buy a cup of tea and a slice of cake to have while you are knitting. :)

If your fingers are itching to get going and you just can't wait to start, here are my favourite links to knitting resources on the net:

Knittinghelp.com: Excellent videos on every aspect of learning to knit. Indispensable, bookmark now!

Vogueknitting.com: Free patterns, How-to's including beginner basics knitting 101 and a great stitch library.

knitrowan.com: The website from Rowan yarn, includes how-to's, free patterns and a forum.

craftleftovers.com: Excellent blog, free patterns and very useful tutorials on all things crafty.

Mochimochiland.com: Really cute amigurumi patterns created by Anna Hrachovec, free patterns, tutorial and shop. I featured her knitted amigurumi heart pattern in the first kit I created for the East London Craft Guerrilla craft night Hearts for the Heartless, in September 2008.

ravelry.com: a knitting community on the web, you have to wait to sign up but it's worth it. You get forums with all the help, advice and procrastination you could need, free patterns as well as ones you can buy, an online notebook for storing all details of your projects, a place to record your yarn stash and much more.

knitty.com: Free patterns and how-to's. A gem of a site featuring loads of cool, new designers.

*****************

Don't worry if you can't make the learn to knit session on Saturday, I'll be running another one at the East London Craft Guerrilla Craft Night on Wednesday 26th November between 8.30-9.30pm at The Castle pub in Walthamstow. More details to follow shortly.

TALES FROM THE SHED

2008-10-26T06:46:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Mathew and I started the process of clearing our new allotment plot and getting it ready to be put to bed for the winter. Well, I say putting it to bed but we're going to over-winter some cabbages, chard and also some onions and garlic - if we manage to get the onions and garlic planted in the next couple of weeks.

Of course, we don't really know what we're doing, so everything is a mix of guess work, instinct, research and asking people. It's just so nice to have a bit of outdoors space all of our own. So far we've harvested some squash, lots of apples, some cauliflower, broccoli, tiny carrots, one chilli, two tiny beetroot, a couple of tomatoes and some chard. The previous tenant had until the middle of the month to clear all the crops he wanted so anything left there is now ours.

Last week we cleared the sweetcorn off the main beds and this week I started to clear off the cabbage patch. I took out all the finished cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower, and left in a few cabbages to see if they'll come on over the next few months. I also left the chard in as I've been told that you can continue to harvest it through out the winter.

We also tidied up inside the shed and took down a radio and our camping stove. Now we can have proper tea breaks while listening to Radio 4.

All we need now are a couple of chairs to go in there so we can sit and read, and I can write and knit. I can't wait for my first story I write from the shed.

CROCHET FLOWER HAT (FOR ONE YEAR OLD)

2008-10-26T06:34:00.001-07:00

CROCHET FLOWER HAT (FOR ONE YEAR OLD), originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

My friend's daughter, Isis, is going to be one year old tomorrow so I've made her this hat.

I increased the size of the newborn hat pattern by Sandyfroglegs Designs, available for free from here: tiny.cc/hKW4l to make the hat with a circumference of 15 inches.

To make the flower I used this free pattern here: tinyurl.com/6qtvuj.

How cute! :)

KNOCKOUT KNICKERS

2008-10-24T04:09:00.001-07:00

Knockout knickers, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

Yes here I am, showing off my pants again. I seem to be a bit pants obsessed of late. Well, these polka dot cuties are the result of the Knockout knickers workshop that I did last night at the Make Lounge . Not bad for a first attempt, eh? Look out for the new range of knickers soon to be launched by 'Handmade by Lisa Margreet' just in time for Christmas!

GHOSTIE

2008-10-20T02:05:00.001-07:00

GHOSTIE, originally uploaded by lisamargreet.

Here is ghostie a cute and somewhat sinister knitted ghost. If you would like to make your own ghostie then come along to "Put the needle on the record" the next DIY Craft Night from the East London Craft Guerrilla on Wednesday 22 October where you can buy a kit from me for the mere sum of five pounds with all you need to make your own ghost.

Ghostie is a really simple pattern (no offence ghostie, please don't haunt me!) so is great for beginners or if you want to indulge in a few alcoholic beverages at the same time. All you need to know how to do is cast on, knit and purl. You don't even need to cast off! If you need any help then let me know as I'll be on hand all night. Ask me to show you how to do the fantastic "thumbs" or "long-tail" cast-on method - not only is it really quick but it looks really impressive as well!

If you're not able to make it to the Craft Night then I'll be putting any leftover kits not sold on the night onto my Etsy shop lisamargreet.etsy.com and adding the pattern to the Ravelry pattern database as a free PDF download (ravelry.com) as well as putting it up here on my blog.

There are also a few knitted heart kits left over from the "Hearts for the Heartless" Craft Night in September. So if you fancy something a little more challenging than ghostie (but not much) then you could knit yourself a new heart. Kits are £5 each or £8.00 for two.

SOME DAYS ARE JUST A BIG PILE OF PANTS

2008-10-17T10:37:00.001-07:00

PROMO PANTS, originally uploaded by lisa margreet.

Finally, the promo pants for the We Make Christmas market are finished. Don't they look lovely?! :)

PUT THE NEEDLE ON THE RECORD

2008-10-07T16:05:00.001-07:00

PUT THE NEEDLE ON THE RECORD, originally uploaded by uber trick.

The next DIY Craft Night brought to you by those crafty women from the East London Craft Guerrilla will be on Wednesday 22 October at The Castle pub in Walthamstow.

DJs: Crimes Against Pop, Anna Fielding, Laura Guy, the Handsome Twins bringing you your Guilty Pleasures, and VAO (aka my good self Lisa Margreet).

Come get your craft on.

x

HEARTS FOR THE HEARTLESS DIY CRAFT EVENT: DRINK / DANCE / KNIT / SEW / LOVE

2008-09-08T14:33:00.000-07:00

Don't be a tin man or woman, you too can have your very own heart and what's more you can make it yourself by knitting or sewing. If that's not quite your thing then you can also learn how to turn old paper and magazines into beads to make jewellery. You can also just come along for a drink and a dance: crafting is not compulsory but is addictive.

The DIY craft event that you have been waiting for, whether you knew it or not, has finally arrived. The East London Craft Guerrilla (www.craftguerrilla.com) bring you the Hearts for the Heartless D.I.Y. craft night. The event is part of the E17 Art Trail and is happening this week (www.e17arttrail.co.uk)!

The date: Wednesday 10th September

The venue: The Castle - corner of Grosvenor Rise/Eden Rd. Walthamstow Village

Time: From 8pm to 11pm

FREE ENTRY!

* D.I.Y. craft projects specially commissioned for the art trail. Please note that a small fee is charged per craft pack

* in house tutors to help you should you need a hand

* DJs to provide the soundtrack to this fun and creative evening!Featuring DJ Jake Holloway, VAO (aka Lisa Margreet) and the Handsome Twins

*"GUILTY PLEASURES" bring your own vinyl/CD of your favourite "love to hate" tracks. We'll play it for you while secretly you know it's your favourite song...we won't tell, although dancing to it might give the game away

* selection of board games should you wish to play

Join us for this creative evening of make your own art and craft, music, dancing, an ale or two and crafty mischief

Hope to see you there!

Lisa Margreet
x

SEW LONG, GOOD BUY

2008-08-09T03:48:00.001-07:00

SEW LONG, GOOD BUY, originally uploaded by uber trick.

The last of the summer markets from the East London Craft Guerrilla is fast approaching. Your last chance to enjoy the shade of the beautiful 20 y/o honey fig tree in the garden of Beautiful Interiors while stroking Jassie Mo the shop cat (just hide your cheese salad sandwich or she'll steal it from your bag!). But to help you get over your sadness at the last of these markets I can give you a voucher for 10% off of participating stall holders. Because I'm nice like that.

The summer markets might be over but we're scouring the streets of London for a venue to keep us warm and toasty for autumn and winter markets so if you know of anywhere suitable then let us know.

We're also holding a DIY craft and music night as part of the E17 Arts Trail. It's called "Hearts for the Heartless" and will be on 11th September. More details to follow shortly.

CRAFT GUERRILLA: 26 JULY 08 (VIDEO)

2008-07-27T03:19:00.001-07:00

Next month is our final summer Craft Guerrilla market, "Sew-long, goodbye" on Saturday 30th August. To celebrate the end of a fantastic season of the East London Craft Guerrilla summer markets I've got some 10% off vouchers that you can use with participating stall holders. Send me a message and I'll send you a voucher!

We are hoping to move to a new indoor venue from September onwards so I'll keep you informed of where that is going to be. We're currently looking at Stoke Newington but if you have any other suggestions then please let me know.

x

CRAFTING A SOLUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING

2008-07-17T03:20:00.000-07:00

Don't you love it when two things you love come together to make a whole new thing (apart from possibly when those two things are your best friend and your ex)? Today when doing my important rounds of checking my RSS feeds in Netvibes (keeps all my blogs that I regularly read nice and tidy in tabbed categories that I have created), I came across a competition run by craftster.org in conjunction with 350.org that hit both my creativity and green buttons at the same time.

Seeing as I'm a lazy sew-and-sew I'm going to cut 'n paste their press release to save me from all that hard work paraphrasing:

Five craft- and DIY-themed online communities -- Craftster.org, Etsy.com, CraftZine.com, BurdaStyle.com and ThriftyFun.com -- have launched the Creativity 350 partnership and contest to draw creative energy and attention to 350.org’s goal of reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million to stave off drastic climatic and planetary repercussions.

The Creativity 350 contest is actually two contests in one: A 350-themed craft contest and a 350-themed T-shirt design contest. For the craft contest, participants are invited to craft any project that creatively expresses the importance of the number 350, using any crafting technique. For the T-shirt contest, entrants may create an original T-shirt design that creatively expresses the importance of the number 350.

Entries will be accepted from July 15 to August 15, 2008. Then the public will vote for their favorites from August 16 - August 31, 2008. Valuable craft- and green-themed prizes will be awarded to the two winners. A complete list of the prizes can be found at the contest Web site: http://www.craftster.org/350. The winning T-shirt design will also be utilized by 350.org on t-shirts that will help the organization raise money and create awareness of its mission.

Co-founded by environmentalist and educator Bill McKibben, 350.org centers itself around the number 350 to provide focus on a clear, concise goal for reducing global warming factors: "350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet. The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth."

This unique partnership between the environmental community and the crafting community will bring out the creative energy of people around the world to help spread this important number, 350, in inspiring new ways.

A crafting competition that will help the environment, what could be more up my street? Now then, if only I can get off my apathetic ass and actually enter this competition, we might have some progress. Still, if I don't actually get to do it then at least I have written about it - which is probably why I write fiction, the only solution for the need to live multiple lives full of imagined experiences.

Anyway, I digress, if you've read this far then you deserve a reward and here it is, a cute little animation from 350.org.

Enjoy! x

WOMAN WITH CROCHET HOOK KILLED BY POLICE OFFICERS

2008-07-15T02:47:00.001-07:00

BEAR HAT BEGINS AGAIN, originally uploaded by uber trick.

You gotta love the internet! I got a request from NowPublic, a participatory news network where people like us from around the world are the journalists. I got a request this morning to use this photo for one of their stories about how a woman holding a crochet hook was killed by police officers.

Last year another of my photos got picked up to be used on a website called LastRounds.co.uk:

Lastrounds.co.uk is a London pub review site with a difference. The aim of the Last Rounds Project is to promote safe and sensible drinking by encouraging forward planning of your time out.

So every pub and bar I list has…
• Opening & closing times of the venue
• Addresses, maps, websites & phone numbers to check before you visit
• First & last departure times for all known local bus, tube and DLR services
• Local borough taxi numbers
• And the location & opening hours of local borough public toilets

The photo was of the clock at Bethnal Green tube station illustrating the last tube times from Bethanl Green after last rounds.

CRAFT CORPS - STAND TO ATTENTION!

2008-07-14T09:49:00.000-07:00

Calling all crafty boys and girls, do you want to be in a book? Vickie Howell is looking to profile some crafters in her new book on the crafting community. Full details are on her blog but here is a brief snapshot:

Calling all crafters! I’m gearing up to write my next book, Craft Corps (pronounced Craft Core) which will focus on the community perpetuated by craft and the designers & hobbyists who feed it. As part of the content, I’m hoping to include 50-60 short profiles of crafters of all types. If you knit, crochet, embroider, decoupage, paint, sew, bead, tat, work with ceramics, collage, etc.---I want to hear from you! Whether you’ve found success selling your handmade sock monkeys on Etsy or you crochet chemo caps for charity, I want to know who you are, what you craft and why you do it. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE PROFESSIONAL CRAFTERS (in fact, it's preferable as the book's other content will focus on that)!

There is a profile form for you to cut and paste into an email before 15th August. Do it. I've already sent my profile off, giving a big up for our own Craft Guerrilla of course!

JULY 08 CRAFT GUERRILLA

2008-07-06T05:40:00.001-07:00

JULY 08 CRAFT GUERRILLA, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Your next opportunity to play dress-up and try on the fascinators and speak to me about custom designs for your next special occasion such as a wedding, party, or trip down the pub, is at the next craft market organised by the East London Craft Guerrilla: www.craftguerrilla.com.

I'll also be bringing along some edible goodies for you to buy such as cup cakes and grapefruit marmalade.

FREE ENTRY / TEA / COFFEE / CUP CAKES / COCKTAILS

Date: Saturday 26 July
Venue: On the terrace and in the garden at Beautiful Interiors / 34 Orford Road / Walthamstow Village / E17
Time: 10am - 5.30pm

FASCINATORS ARE NOT JUST FOR WEDDINGS - THEY'RE FOR LIFE!

CRAFT GUERRILLA: 28 JUNE 2008

2008-06-29T11:18:00.001-07:00

CRAFT GUERRILLA: 28 JUNE 2008 (VIDEO)
Originally uploaded by uber trick

Yesterday was hot, hot, hot! and I have some spectacular sunburn to show for it. I met some fantastic fellow craftists and chats on collaborations were initiated... watch this space.

They liked my stuff so much I've been invited back next week for a stall at their vintage clothes market. I'll post more details when they have them but the venue will be the same: Beautiful Interiors, 34 Orford Road, Walthamstow. I'll be there from about 10am onwards.

For those of you who weren't able to make it along to the market I've put together this short video to show you what you missed. My new collection of fascinators (along with my rag-rolling kits, crochet snoods and rose and frankincense facial oil) are now listed in my etsy shop: www.lisamargreet.etsy.com and you can even use the 'bespoke' service on etsy to request me to make a fascinator especially for you!

EAST LONDON CRAFT GUERRILLA: 3RD EDITION

2008-06-22T05:26:00.001-07:00

EAST LONDON CRAFT GUERRILLA: 3RD EDITION, originally uploaded by uber trick.

I've got a stall selling my fascinators, crocheted snoods, rag rolling kits and rose & frankincense facial oil. Come along and say hi, it'll be fun! :)

d: Saturday 28 June 2008
t: 10am - 5pm
v: beautiful interiors / 34 Orford Road / Walthamstow Village / E17 9NJ
FREE ENTRY

CRAFTY LADY

2008-06-05T03:46:00.001-07:00

THE 'NO MORE PLASTIC BAGS' BAG #2, originally uploaded by uber trick.

As Jimmy doesn't seem to be hurrying into this world I'm afraid that you'll have to put up with more of my knitting. It's interesting to see what I do when left with unlimited time and no need to work. The answer, it would seem, is craft! Knitting, crocheting, sewing or writing. The weather is stunning at the moment and the open air swimming pools have opened for the season.

Yesterday we spent all afternoon sitting in the sun alternating swimming with baking in the sun and knitting and reading. We were at the outdoor swimming pool at Eriksdalsbadet which is just by the Skanstul Marina. There is a Thai Restaurant and bar nearby which we had a great and not so horrendously expensive meal at the weekend. It is on a moored boat and even has a tiny 'beach' on it. The outside bar meant that we were treated to smokers reveling in their favourite habitat: beer, bar, cigarette in the sun. Ah, those were the days!

Anyway, my latest projects are the string bag in the photo, The 'No More Plastic Bags' Bag and a shawl I am making for my Mum. My Mum seems oddly to keep rejecting the shawl, the conversations going as such: Look Mum, I'm making you a shawl! Mum: Well, I hardly need it in this weather! Lovely colour though.

My Mum seems to think that as its sunny now it won't ever be cold again. Well, here in Stockholm they wear scarves all year round anyway! It does this weird hot/cold weather, one minute its boiling, the next freezing. Anyway, *I* like the shawl so if she doesn't want it then it will make a welcome addition to my wardrobe. I'm sure she'll change her mind come September. She's probably quite touched and a little embarrased at me randomly making her a present for no legitimate reason such as birthday, Mother's day or Christmas.

And as for The 'No More Plastic Bags' Bag, it's great! It knits up really fast and will be great for sticking in your handbag so that if you stop at the shops on the way home you've got a shopping bag on you. In Stockholm you have to pay for plastic bags so it makes good sense to always have a spare shopping bag on you, both financial and environmental sense. Of course, with my known love and addiction to bags, this rejection to plastic bags just means that I collect canvas bags instead. Must learn to curb that particular strand of consumerism!

BEAR HAT WITH EARS

2008-05-25T08:34:00.001-07:00

BEAR HAT WITH EARS, originally uploaded by uber trick.

I started making this hat yesterday but it didn't quite go to plan at first. I got to the end of the project and it was looking a little large. I know the saying "If the hat fits, wear it" but this hat was for Jimmy not me! It was the complete reverse of the hat I tried to make for Mathew Lee which was so small it could have fitted Jimmy. Then I checked again and the confusion came from the packet of my new crochet hooks; I'd picked up the wrong size as the sizes printed were over the wrong hooks in the packaging. Damn!

So I pulled it all out, made a centre pull ball and will start again in the morning. Great pattern, simple to do, looks good and very quick to make. Would make the perfect baby shower gift. I'll just view the extra large size I made as a trial run!

I started again today and the hat is finished! It is so, so adorable and the tiny ears are so perfect they almost made me cry! Does anyone else think that flowers with ears photo is super cute? It really makes me smile.

I can't wait to see Jimmy in his hat. Come on out Jimmy, your Auntie has made you loads of lovely outfits to wear!

TWO SWALLOWS

2008-05-19T02:20:00.001-07:00

TWO SWALLOWS, originally uploaded by uber trick.

does not a summer make. Despite the sun it is still chilly in Stockholm. Still, at least I've finished Jimmy's cardigan before he is born! The cardigan is now complete and is gorgeous! I actually finished the knitting a few weeks back, but didn’t have a chance to embroider the swallow tats until this weekend. Part of which were done on the most beautiful island on the archipelago in a wood cabin listening to the crackle of the fire and birdsong. Perfect!

SNAKE #1

2008-05-13T09:03:00.001-07:00

SNAKE #1, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Johnny: What's that?

**points to bit of tyre on the ground in the nature reserve**

AMP: It's a SNAKE!

**All crowd round and bend over, disbelieving**

Johnny: It's not...

**All look closer**

AMP and Lee: OMG, it really is a snake!

AMP: It's been chopped in half and it's head is all bloody!

Johnny: Stand back, it may not be dead.

AMP and Lee: Sh'yeah right!

**All crowd round again**

Snake: **moves bloody head and stumpy body**

AMP, Lee and Johnny: ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!

SNAKE #2

2008-05-13T09:02:00.001-07:00

SNAKE #2, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Snake: **flops bloody head over stumpy body**

AMP, Lee and Johnny: ARRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

***AMP and Lee start singing the snake charmer music***

SNAKE #3

2008-05-13T09:01:00.001-07:00

SNAKE #3, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Snake: ***writhes its bloody head around on its stumpy body in time to the hypnotic voices of the humans singing the snake charmer music***

AMP, Lee and Johnny: ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!

EAST LONDON CRAFT GUERRILLA: MAY EDITION

2008-05-11T15:36:00.001-07:00

EAST LONDON CRAFT GUERRILLA, originally uploaded by uber trick.

I'm not back in London until the end of June when I'm flying back from STHLM for the weekend to have a stall at this awesome monthly craft market.

Those of you who are enjoying the London Spring weather should totally get your asses down there though and check this out on 31st May. As an official member of the East London Craft Guerrilla I order you to attend. You would do well to obey.

On that date I shall either be staring besottedly into my new nephews eyes who will be three days old if by some miracle he is born on time, or I'll be making AMP really strong curries! :)

And yes, if you're wondering, I did make my savings target which is what started off this whole new blog! I have been in Sweden since 6 May and it totally rocks. More on that another time.

SOMETIMES IT SNOWS IN APRIL

2008-04-06T02:21:00.001-07:00

SOMETIMES IT SNOWS IN APRIL, originally uploaded by uber trick.

as Prince Rogers Nelson once said. My Grandma says it as well though, which is why we never take the lemon tree out of the greenhouse until after my birthday on 13th May and before AMP's birthday on 28th May.

East London, 10am Sunday 6th April 2008

NIPPLE TASSLES

2008-04-01T12:23:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered how to make a nipple tassle? Do you spend hours filing your nails and painting them postbox red while leaving the half moons at the bottom unpainted, whilst thinking about the best design to ensure maximum twirling? Then you should get yourself along to What Katie Did this Sunday for a workshop with Ruby May.

She has 2 spaces left for this coming Sunday (6th of April) at 'The art of nipple tassel crafting' at What Katie Did from 1-4pm. The cost is £35 and as always includes all materials, teas and coffees and home made cake!

What better way could there be to spend a Sunday afternoon? For a preview of the kind of thing you can expect, check out her video above.

x

FAIT A LA MAIN

2008-03-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

Some good things have been happening today. Following on from my fascinator workshop a couple of weeks back, I've been dreaming in feathers and frou-frou. I've also been slowly building up my etsy shop stock. Ok sorry, I mean, I have added one item: my original black fascinator. I should add my green feather one as well, but I'm really fond of it. Perhaps when I've made some more I'll be able to let it go, or at least have more to sell so I won't need to!

I need to stop dreaming and start creating them though, especially since I was contacted today by munano aka Deborah Daniel who creates the most amazing:

quirky,twisted,cute, kawaii hand made objects and accessories designed with a sense of humor and most of all FUN and a little bit of darkness too!

They are like the cutest mix of twisted bears and bunnies, rather like the amigurumi patterns I'm storing up to make for Jimmy.

Check out the blurb on the creature Poop de Loup:

Known as the messenger of the forests,Poop de Loup can be found all over the lush green woods of the world.Originating in France (Loup...Wolf in French and poop is poop!) he traveled by hitching rides on ramblers shoes (yuck...that's so economy class!),by sticking close to car tyres or ridding piggy back on his forest friends.
His message is simple... "Respect nature and your fellow animals!"

Yep, cute poo.

Or how about this, Murou-Murou:

Murou-Murou is the giver of dreams...and nightmares too!
A lovely felt creature,soft to the touch, he walks around the forests slowly and quietly sprinkling mini murou and their "magic spores" onto sleeping creatures and humans to aid restful and pleasant sleep. Watch out though sometimes the mushrooms turn black and give the sleeper some unpleasant nightmares. Nothing scary... but sometimes dreams can tell you a lot about yourself!

This doll has two sides...a good side and a bad side!Double sided felt creature.

But I couldn't resist buying this for Jimmy:

Gnarrly bear, how awesome is he?! I've asked Deborah if she'd be able to make him baby-proof though by replacing the buttons with cotton or felt. What a wonderful Auntie I am!

So, where is this meandering taking us? Ah, yes. Deborah asked if I would like to sell my fascinators at a monthly craft market being organised by Craft Guerrilla a group of Crafts People, Artists, Designers and Makers of quality hand made goods, with the East London Craft Guerrilla running the craft market in Walthamstow. Sign me up! I duly replied and smiled at the synchronicity that saw me place an order for 100 sew-on ribbon tags which say "Handmade by Lisa Margreet" this morning. If you build it, they will come. I'm hoping this is true of my Etsy shop. Stay tuned for more details as to if I'm in time to snag a stall at the market at the end of April.

BLANKETS & BOOKS

2008-03-27T13:05:00.001-07:00

PINK SQUARES #1, originally uploaded by uber trick.

My leftovers blanket is coming along; There are ten colours in it in total and I've finished all the pink squares so I guess I'm a tenth of the way to completion! I got 13 and a half squares out of my leftover ball of pink wool and to do the last half I was literally snipping off the long tails of the other squares, tieing them on and crocheting them into the final square! This meant that I had to stitch them together using cotton rather than their long woolen tails, but that's ok, it doesn't show.

Now I've moved onto the red colour but my leftover ball of yarn is looking decidedly thin and I've only done six squares. If it runs out before the fourteen I need to make that will put me in a quandary as I have no idea what make or shade of wool it is as it is just something that has been knocking around my stash for a long time that I probably picked up in a charity shop ten years ago without a label. I guess if it does run out and I can't match it I'll just have to bite the bullet, try and buy a ball of red as there is no more of the right ply in there and start my red squares all over again!

Yesterday I was crocheting my red squares while I was at the hospital visiting my Grandmother who sadly was admitted on Tuesday. My Great-Aunt was there who I rarely see but who I have a bit of a soft-spot for. That's probably because my Grandma is always telling me that I'm just like Marjorie with my love of big jewelled rings and high heels. Great-Auntie Marjorie sounds like she was "Quite A Girl" as Grandma would put it.

Great-Auntie Marjorie was watching me crocheting and was very impressed by this, I said that Grandma also likes to see me knitting and crocheting and that she had told me that she used to do a lot of it as well; she calls anyone she sees knitting a "natty knitter", lovely alliteration. Great-Auntie Marjorie said that she also used to knit, crochet and sew and that during war-time when they couldn't get hold of anything she once crocheted a pair of gloves out of black cotton thread. Can you image? That would have taken forever. I bet the gloves were rad! She also told me another great story about how she once lost a parcel of hand sewn clothes and undergarments that she had made for an exhibition thanks to a boyfriend of hers. I'm going to write it up for a piece of my university work on biography that we're doing at the moment. I'll put it on my myspace blog if it comes out well.

And as for books, well, after activating my account but doing nothing with it, I have finally started to use BookMooch and Oh, how I love it! BookMooch is a community for exchanging used books with the simple but perfectly descriptive tag line of: Give books away. Get books you want.

It works on a very simple basis, you give a book to someone and then you earn a point which you can use to get a book, or you can give your points to charity. Joining the site is free and the only costs are your postage costs in sending the book to them. Instead of using the points you earn to get books back for yourself you can also give your points to charities e.g. children's hospitals (so a sick kid can get a free book delivered to their bed), Library fund, or African literacy. You can also create a wishlist just like you can on Amazon and when a book you want from your wishlist comes onto BookMooch you get an email notifying you about it. This could be a great resource for cash-strapped students as well, books for the price of postage.

I had a big pile of books beside my bed that I literally couldn't stuff onto our overflowing bookcases and I realised that chances are I wasn't going to read them. As part of the great clearout (which isn't so great or clearout-like at the moment) I listed six on BookMooch last night and this morning I had a request to send one to Miami. It was 'The Assault on Culture: Utopian Currents from Lettrisme to Class War' by Stewart Home. The guy who mooched it from me was so grateful, he said: A bookshop in Miami would never dare stock this kind of thing!

There is this excellent / morally confusing facility that I discovered thanks to BookMooch that involves printing your postage online. There is a link from BookMooch when you accept a 'Mooch' where you can calculate the postage. It links through to the Royal Mail website where I was able to enter the weight of the book and see how much it would cost to send to America. I was then given the option to buy and print my postage which I duly did. It also gave me the customs certificate to complete, print and stick on my package and I was able to pop the whole package in the letterbox by the flat with the rest of the letters I was sending. Genius.

The reason I say it is morally confusing is that although I was able to avoid the huge queues that snake around and out the door of the post office on Chrisp Street Market, the more people who use this facility the more likely it is that they will keep on closing post offices down. I love the post office and sending and receiving letters and parcels through the post. I mean, an email is good, but how much more pleasure is there in receiving a handwritten letter that you can hold in your hands and read again and again? You can fold it into the book that you're reading (that you got from BookMooch) and carry it around with you. Even if you have a Blackberry to carry your email around on, re-reading an email doesn't have quite the same romance about it, does it?

Ok, so with buying postage online you can continue to send and receive letters, and perhaps it would even encourage someone to send a letter which they might not otherwise have done as they couldn't be bothered to go to the post office to buy stamps. But it's a different situation in a town or city from a rural area where the post office might be a central hub of the community. An elderly person living on their own might have some of their only weekly contact through going into a post office to collect their pension and to send a two pound postal order to their grandson. But then printing your postage online directly onto your envelope or a piece of paper that you then stick on the front of your envelope is helping to save paper and recycle, rather than needlessly printing out pages of stamps. Especially if you re-use bubble wrap envelopes and print on the blank side of paper that has previously been printed on, like I do.

So that was my moral confusion; On the one hand there was immense pleasure and satisfaction in using the postage online facility to buy and print my postage, plus being impressed with the way it made my package look: black and white, neatly designed, professional. This was tempered by feeling sad about possibly contributing to the decline of post offices and loss of jobs. Post Offices and Libraries, we need to keep them, they're important, they're community building. Use them or lose them.

FASCINATION

2008-03-16T14:49:00.001-07:00

TOP VIEW, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Today I went to the What Katie Did shop in Notting Hill for a workshop on how to make fascinators, held by Ruby Rouge a 'Neo-Burlesque Fashion Designer'. Above is a picture of my latest fascinator that I made this afternoon; I'll get my act together soon enough to sort out my Etsy shop but in the mean time if you would like to order a bespoke fascinator or you like one of my existing designs then please contact me and we can discuss the design and prices. See my Flickr for some more examples of my work. There is a new collection called 'Handmade' and Set under there for 'Fascinators'.

As you may have gathered, I have decided that listing my spending habits is a) boring to read b) easily forgotten to do. Therefore I think I'll just give you a round up at each payday to let you know how I'm getting on with my big save-a-thon, £2,400 by May *gulp*. This month I was unexpectedly scuppered when I realised I needed to pay Mathew Lee back the rest of the money for my Pashley. That sees me already £250 down more than I thought, hence why there is only £500 in my savings account and not the £800 I was hoping for. Oh well, will have to aim for saving £925 for the next two months *double gulp*

LETTUCE CORAL

2008-03-09T15:44:00.001-07:00

LETTUCE CORAL, originally uploaded by uber trick.

Real Coral as seen at the Horniman Museum. Really awesome crocheted coral.

"The Institute For Figuring is crocheting a coral reef: a woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft, and a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world. "

KNITTING WILL SAVE ME

2008-03-03T09:02:00.000-08:00

Well, my weekend in Stockholm didn't see me steer too wildly from my savings plan. I took out £75 worth of Swedish Crowns and that was exactly what I needed. Half of that went on my return coach ticket to and from the airport and my 'Remsa' a ticket that works a bit like a travel card to get me around STHLM on buses and the tubes. The rest went on food and buying my Mum a skein of wool for a jumper she's knitting for Jimmy*.

I was able to knit on the flight, I was very happy not to have my needles confiscated and I've done loads of Jimmy's cardigan now. I've also done about 10 rows more on my "Miss Marple" cardigan and have completed 5 squares of my crocheted "Leftovers" blanket. AMP and I decided to stay in on Saturday night; The idea of going to Indie Rave was appealing, but mostly I wanted to stay in and catch up with my sister.

Turbulance on the outbound flight saw me going from very calmly and absent-mindedly repeating the mantra "knit one purl one" to mentally shouting "KNIT ONE PURL ONE DON'T THINK ABOUT THE PLANE BOUNCING AROUND KNIT ONE PURL ONE OOOH SHIT I FEEL SICK!" etc but having my knitting definitely calmed me down as it gave me another focus. That and avoiding smelling the two smelly Swedes sitting either side of me. To the left I had the very pretty Swedish girl with very bad halitosis and to my right I had the Swedish man who'd obviously been drinking earlier and smelt of stale alcohol and sweat. I worked around this by opening the air vent above me and positioning it just in front of my nose to keep all foreign odours away from it. The skin on my nose is all cracked now though!

So, aside from the £75 on my STHLM trip other money spent since then is as follows:

£10.95 on Alan Dart knitting pattern book to knit farm for Jimmy
£50 that I owed AMP
£10 Oystercard PAYG
£15.98 Duty-free wine for weekend
£8.20 world's most expensive salad and bottle of water at the airport
£16.50 Food from Somerfield

Hmmm, well, that's sort of OK. Food is fine and allowed, the only really naughty thing on that list is the pattern book - but it's for Jimmy! This baby isn't even born yet and already I can't resist buying things for him. :)

Total Spent = £111.63

Oh!

*Jimmy is my nephew, estimated date of arrival 28-May-2008

MY NEEDS ARE ALL MET

2008-02-28T14:01:00.000-08:00

"I am satisfied, my needs are all met." Yes, that's all well and good, it's just the wants that are the tricky bastards to control. I need to save up a lot of money very quickly, like £2.5K in two months. I need to squirrel away the majority of my salary in order for me to take the Summer off to help my sister bring a new life into the world and to care for my ill Grandmother. And because I can't do much more office work without going completely insane and making my RSI irreparable.

So I have said to myself that I will save £800 per month from my next three paychecks. Yes, I know that's only £2.4K but I'll work on the the other hundred. It was my payday today and already I've ordered flowers for my Mum for Mothers Day at a cost of £26 (Don't read this, Mum!) and a book on how to knit two socks at once on one circular needle for £8.01 including delivery.

I bought ethical flowers for Mum - a potted orchid, so it will last longer than a week unless the dog eats it - from www.valueflowers.net:

"EcoBouquet was founded by Claire Dhanjal to cater for a growing demand for organic and ethically sourced flowers.
Our aim is to improve the quality of flower farm working conditions, minimize damage to ecosystems, conserve biodiversity and enhance environmental quality for future generations."

And my reasoning (justification?) behind the two socks at once book is that I will be able to get the socks that I'm making for my sister knitted in half the time. I've actually just realised though that it won't work quite like that as it will still take the same amount of time to make them but that both socks will be finished at the same time. Oh well, too late now, it's on its way! Anyway, the more time I spend at home on my knitting obsession the less time I am out spending my money. Now whenever I feel the urge to splurge I repeat to myself "I am Satisfied. All my needs are met." Well, I say that as if I've been doing it for a while, in fact, I only started this today and I'm already £34.01 down!

I haven't quite worked out my new rules for myself, but they're something along the lines of:

I mustn't buy anything new that I can make / get second hand / upcycle. I can buy food but we now need to have a "random recipe night" once a week when we use up one of the random tins or packets from the cupboard. This sounds like an advanced version of "if-it's" which is a night when "If it's in the freezer you can eat it." I like to try and make sure I've got Ben and Jerry's in the freezer for if-it's night.
I've got to use up my knitting yarn stash instead of buying more... as far as possible.
I've got to finish off the giant plastic box of toiletries under the bathroom sink before buying any new ones.
BUT what about clothes. Surely that should be easy to apply the make/upcycle/charity shop/ebay rule? And indeed that part is easy to fulfill. But I get £70 per month in Top Shop vouchers as a benefit from work. Am I allowed to spend those? Or perhaps I should save them up for one big shop, or to eek out when I'm an impoverished non-earner?

Oh, and today I forgot that I bought sandwiches to work so I spent £2.95 on a chicken and mushroom pie with roasted new potatoes. It was a very nice pie though.

Total spent = £36.96