Crafty Little Rat

Hey all, I know I still have Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sunday to go, but I’m away from tomorrow (Friday) through to Sunday afternoon so I’m calling a brief hiatus on it for me. Hopefully, time permiting over the next week I’ll post my thoughts on them. Maybe not every day but at least every other. Gotta run now and pack – can’t forget my new knitted jumper and my in progress easy socks for knitting!

    4kcbwday3 (Wednesday April 24th): Infographic There are many ways of conveying information on a blog; text and images being the two most widely used. Many infographics combine both these elements to provide a visual way of presenting text information. Make your own infogaphic (no fancy imaging software needed, you can draw it on paper and photograph it if you want) to convey any element of your craft(s). It can be just for fun or a thoroughly researched presentation of an idea/finding. Here is a very quick example that I made just for fun, which took me under three minutes.   I have no brain today, so please accept a quick infographic on how I’m doing with year of Projects. We’re nearly 1/4 of the way through and I’m on course to finish everything! If only I stop knitting non YOP projects! Hopefully casting on again for my Mary Warmers tomorrow night, they got frogged because I was too busy concentrating on Wreck It Ralph instead of the pattern!

4KCBWDAY2 A Mascot Project. Your task today is to either think of or research a project that embodies that house/animal. It could be a knitting or crochet pattern – either of the animal itself or something that makes you think of the qualities of that house. Alternatively it could be a type or colour of yarn, or a single button. Whatever you choose, decide upon a project and blog about how and why it relates to your house/creature.   Combining my monkey skills with those of my chosen bee, I’ve decided I’m going to design a project for this one. But I was stumped. After thinking about bees and bee connective things all day I was still stumped. Slouching down on the sofa I asked my other half for inspiration, but found non forthcoming and I just yelled out BEES. Which somehow triggered something deep in myself and reminded me of Black Books. Black Books was a  British sitcom a good handful of years back featuring Dylan Moran as a grumpy book shop owner Bernard Black and his frie...

“KCBWDAY1 The House Cup. A bit like Harry Potter, but not quite, this year’s Knitting & Crochet Blog Week is split into 4 houses. Don your favourite knitted or crocheted hat and let it guide you to which house you will be in. The House of Bee: Bees are busy and industrious, but can flit from one interesting project to the next as bright and shiny things capture their interest. The House of Manatee: Manatees are gentle, calm and cuddly. Relaxed and unflashy they represent the comfort and soft side of knitting and crochet. The House of Monkey: Intelligent and with a fun loving side, Monkeys like to be challenged with every project presenting them with something new and interesting. The House of Peacock: Peacocks take something good and make it brilliant. Buttons, embellishments and a bit of sparkle prove that perfection lies in the details – like a Peacock's Tail. So choose your house. You may be a combination of more than one of these noble beasts, but think about which h...

  (Hi Dr Nick! – can you tell I’ve been watching old Simpsons episodes?) I’ve not been blogging for a while because, well my life has been pretty boring! Project monogamy, work and feeling run down isn’t the best blog combination. I’ve got plenty of drafts saved on here where I’ve just not had the brain power to finish them; does anyone else have days like that or is it just me? I’ve now finished the project monogamy and it’s laid out on my spare bedroom floor. There’s a fan going and the curtains open so hopefully it will dry within a few days and I’ll be able to share it with you then. It won’t be an F.O Friday post because on Friday I’m off to a friends house ready for Wonderwool! You may have also noticed a name change, and a blog url change. I felt it really was time for something a bit different, that expresses my love of all things craft related and obviously my rats! I’ve had a hard time letting go of my old username, it was my online presence for nearly 10 years. I thi...

  Truth be told I have not got a lot of knitting news to share with you. I want a new knitted item to go to Wonderwool with at the end of April, and that has taken over from all other things. Combined with life whipping along at an alarming rate, but uninterestingly so if that makes sense. Blogging about the fact I’d worked a full week by WEDNESDAY week before last is really not interesting at all! The long 4 day bank holiday weekend gave me a chance to sit back and take pace of things, and also to spend time with family which is the most important of all. Last Monday I spent the day slaved over the cooker and made Sweet and Sour Chicken, – 3 Portions Ginger Beer Pork, (3 meals worth each) Cream of Spinach Soup – 7 portions Meatballs, – 6 portions. Thai Fish Cakes, – 4 Portions Leek and Ham Rissotto – 5 Portions Cheesy Baked Turkey Macaroni. – 7 Servings. That’s 35 Portions put away; food for 17 nights for both of us; and one for me when I’m on my own. Today I tackle the issue o...