Yes, you guessed from the title -I’m sure.

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I’m taking a break from pattern designing this weekend, I need to take a short breather while I garner inspiration for my next project. But loathe as I am to have no crochet in my life for a full 48 hours I have decided to cross another thing off my everlasting ‘to do’ list and get a head start on pattern testing a cute little duckling by Sarah from Sarselgurumi for the up-coming Zoomigurumi 3 book. (You can keep up to date with the Zoomigurumi series at amigurumipatterns.net).

Ok, got a head start on the head start: Pattern, yarn, hook, stuffing, scissors, stitch counter, stitch markers, needles and pins, all present and correct. Oh and my own little duckling from the Minimals in the Garden pattern. I think he must be a tiny bit jealous, so he’s come to keep an eye on things. I’d better humor the wee creature as he’s a bit sensitive, and like the ‘ugly duckling’ in the song, if I tell him to get out of here he’ll go with a quack and a waddle and a quack and a very unhappy tear. The comparison stops there though. There’s certainly nothing ugly about either of these two fellas!

So the next step was to organize the necessaries into one of my baskets, like a little crochet hamper full of everything  I’ll need to see me through. Hmm, could maybe do with some chocolate in their too, I’ll have to nip out and get my sugar high supplies before I start!

I’ve bought lots of these round, raffia carriers from Ikea on my last visit. If I really like something I always buy more things than my husband thinks is truly sensible. The fact that I have to travel an hour to get there set’s off my bulk buying urge, a panic response in case I can’t get back for a while! They’re so useful though, and I love the handles for portability, and the fact they stack so they can take up a small amount of space when not in use, and best of all they’re smooth and snag free, ideal for yarn. Now I’ve said all that I think I might need to get some more! These are some of the other projects I’ve been working on this week, all snug and neat in their respective raffia and wicker receptacles.

I reckon that was a pretty productive week, all in all. Going clockwise starting from the top we’ve got Huggy bears – finished, pattern testing – scheduled for attention sometime this weekend, a new mouse pattern – awaiting assembly for a photo shoot, and Easter baskets – just picked out the yarn so far, but mulling ideas over in my head…all organized and ready for any eventuality. This will be especially useful if I need to quickly pick up a project and stow it in the car should hubby and I decide to have a little weekend adventure with the boys. It was pretty rainy all day yesterday, and looks like it could go either way today, so a day trip out is in the meteorological balance.

If I was a weather forecaster I would have to say that it’s going to be cloudy with a 100% chance of crochet this weekend…Suits me very well! I hope you all have a good weekend with just as high a chance of doing something you really love. x

The rose is red, the violet’s blue,

Honey’s sweet and so are you.

Thou art my love and I am thine;

I drew thee to my Valentine:

So says the nursery rhyme in Gammer Gurton’s Garland of 1784.

Doubly inspired by the upcoming celebration of love on February 14th and the fact that today is National Hug Day, I’ve designed a classic bear who not only wears his metaphorical heart on his sleeve but wears a literal one on his tummy too! So here he is; Frederick the Huggy Bear.

Frederick has a twin brother called Edward. Don’t they just look so cute together!

It seems the whole thing that we would recognize as our modern day celebration really began in England in the 18th century when young men would write and present poetry to the objects of their affection. In 1797 the practice was popular enough to warrant a booklet called ‘The Young Man’s Valentine Writer’, containing all the necessary verses with which the more poetically challenged young men could impress the loves of their life. This was closely followed by ready made cards, most unromantically named ‘Mechanical Valentines’, complete with printed verses for those who weren’t even inclined to do an 18th century cut and paste from the aforementioned book. With vast improvements being made to the postal system and a considerable reduction of postal rates in the 19th century, mass produced cards were the height of fashion. This new found accessibility to the postal system also meant that Valentines cards could be sent anonymously too. In the late 1800’s it was now considered unlucky to sign a Valentine’s card. Made in large factories these early paper confectioneries were a riot of ribbon, lace and colorful cutouts. The tradition of the factory made greetings card is stronger than ever today.

The rose is red, the violet’s blue,

If a Mechanical Valentine’s not for you

There’s really no need to play by the book,

Just grab some yarn and your favorite hook.

Let them know how much you care

With their very own handmade Huggy Bear!

(I would like to proudly announce that the somewhat mediocre but nonetheless completely rhyming poem above was written entirely by myself, without the help of ‘The Young Man’s Valentine Writer’).

It’s a lovely sunny Saturday morning here and I have a whole glorious weekend ahead of me which I have dedicated to generally catching up with all the odds and ends of left over projects that have been put on hold. All this has been inspired by my huge studio clear-out that has been an on-going concern all this week. I have tidy shelves, look!!

And I have tidy yarn!!! This is actually only the very tidy tip of a rather large and not quite so tidy woolly iceberg, lets just say that the whole yarn issue is still a work in progress. This yarn thing, as the famous quote says, is bigger than the both of us, (or possibly bigger than all of us put together). Yarn not pictured is currently waiting to be sorted out and is well hidden from view in various wicker baskets until I have a spare year or two!

All this tidying naturally led to a big sort out of the dreaded ‘Unfinished Projects’

The excitement when I’m making up a brand new pattern knows no equal but the dark side is the fall-out of all the left over heads, limbs and bodies from the pattern testing phase. Once I’ve put together the necessary finished pieces for the pattern photo shoot I find it really difficult to make myself finish the rest. By this stage I’m  itching to get on with the next new design that’s burning a hole in my brain!

So this is about a third of what I found poked away in all sorts of nooks, crannies, baskets, boxes and dark corners of the room. These are closer to being completed than the rest and so seem to be a good place to start. There are approximately eighteen dolls and animals here, so to get those finished will be an inspiring start to the end of Operation Clear Up.

Once they’re done they’ll be tucked away in storage ready for the next craft fair, or the day I finally get around to opening up an Etsy shop selling actual toys and not just patterns. It’s going to be lovely having more space on my shelves – into which I plan to  install more yarn – and clear room corners where, lo and behold, a tiny bit of skirting board may be allowed to have it’s moment, uncluttered and basking in daylight for a short while! I contained them all in a basket, where I think they look much less intimidating and much more approachable.

Yes, yes, I know I have all these odds and ends to finish, but I just couldn’t resist having a little play around with my new Christmas present from my hubby, a graphics tablet with a cool pen that lets you enliven your photos with terrible scrawls and spidery handwriting virtual enhancements. This photo just seemed to be crying out to me to fill in the gaps! So now we can play a little game of spot the difference!

Hmm, I got a bit distracted there with my new toy and ended up spending a larger chunk of time doodling than I had originally planned! It was fun though, and I think I got a bit better at using it towards the end of this little exercise. Now I’ve finished all my projects via the medium of the pixel I really think I should  go and finish them via the medium of needle and thread. No more  putting off the inevitable…

I’ll leave you with my belated New Years Resolution, which is not to move on the the next batch of designs until every last piece of the various incarnations of the current designs are finished off, stuffed and sewn together. And I’m going to aim for a maximum of three designs on the go at any one time! There, I’ve written it down for all to see, it’ll be embarrassing if I don’t do it now! (I’ll update you in a years time on the outcome of this rather tenuous promise to myself!)

So has anybody else out there made New Year’s resolutions they know they’re highly unlikely to stick to?!!