Christmas Gifting

Well its that time of the year again....
Have you worked out all that you would like to make for your loved ones in preparation for Christmas? Over the next few weeks I will be sharing a few ideas just in case you haven't quite made the decision yet.

First up is a beautiful Drops Shawl worked in their new yarn Melody, it takes just 2 balls of yarn to create this and as it is knitted on 10mm needles it works up really fast.
But it gets better -  as the Melody is part of the Drops Alpaca Party Sale there is 25% off at the moment, which means that you can make this for under £5! Bargain!
Although Melody looks like a Mohair yarn, it is a fluffy blend of Alpaca, Wool and Polyamide, so soft and lightweight Check out the website to see which colour you could like to use or pop into the shop and pick up a couple of balls today.
Below is a picture of my finished version, if you do go into the shop you will see a ball of yarn on top of the mannequin, that is the remains of the second ball, so it could easily be made larger.

I would love to see what you are working for Christmas presents, leave me a message or post a picture.
Until next time, happy crafting
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Hello and welcome to Yarnsmith Studio, 

If this is your first visit let me introduce myself -  my name is Tracy and I am based near to Brighstone on the beautiful Isle of Wight, where I have lived since 2007. It truly is a magical place with inspiration and colour everywhere, provided you keep  your eyes open to all that nature provides. We all get caught up in the mundane, everyday things and sometimes forget to look around us, I am lucky in that my drive home from my day job provides some beautiful scenery and views.

Why Yarnsmith - it seems to capture all that I do perfectly. I take yarns and threads in the Old English definition of the word Smith I 'forge, fabricate and design' with yarns. 

Seagull study

I love nature and find great inspiration from all its shapes and forms, I am currently working on a series of nature pieces which have evolved from the Seagull Study, more on these to follow later in the year.

I also love to take the everyday objects and give them a little quirk - such as my cactus pincushions.

My day job is as owner of TAJ Crafts, which is a yarn and embroidery shop based at Holliers Farm, Branstone, near Sandown, it is on the same site as the House of Chilli. I am surrounded by beautiful colour all day, and get to meet some amazing and talented people every day. 

I teach crochet and knitting, covering a range of topics, more details to be found on the classes and workshops page above. 

Whatever you do, happy crafting I look forward to welcoming you into the studio again soon.

Tracy

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Crafting in Public

A good friend of mine, Su Douglas just blogged about crafting whilst commuting and it got me thinking about my crafting habits. I cannot craft on my daily commute from Brighstone to Shalfleet, mostly because it is me driving.
Those of you who know me personally know that I always carry at least one project with me - everywhere...
I have mindless knitting for hospital waiting rooms, complicated stuff to work on at the shop and projects for Jo and I at home, as not everyone appreciates the extra love that out 5 cats weave into whatever I make.
As Su mentions, it can give you an extra space next to you as no-one wants to sit next to the mad woman who is crafting in public. Although I have found it is almost as good as having an animal with you for starting conversations, mostly starting with a wistful 'I used to do that all the time, but no one wants it any more'. Or the perennial - 'you don't see people doing that anymore', I'm not sure we ever did see much of it public, but as a youngster growing up our house was always full of crafting. My mum taught me to knit when I was 9 and I taught myself to crochet around the same time, I cannot remember a time when I did not craft, what age did you start?
Where does the idea that all we create has to be for anyone else come from? Modern throw away fashions mass produced for pennies in some far flung places mean that it is never going to be economically viable to produce your own knitted/crocheted garments. But those items that you create with your own hands with time and love have so much more value than the cheap clothes available on the High Street.
I must confess to not making very much for myself or Jo recently, but that is due to making samples for the shop and also items for Open Studios.
Open Studios went very well, thank you to all who came along and supported us in the Church and hall at Shalfleet. It taught me a valuable lesson - don't make things that you think people will like to buy, make what is in your heart. I failed to do that at Shalfleet, so it is back to the ideas pad and sketch book for me, I have lots of ideas running around in my head, I just need to work out the practicalities of converting my visions into reality. More about this process to follow in future posts.
What are you working on at the moment?
Do you craft in public? If you do how do you find the reactions of the people around you?
Until next time, happy crafting
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What a year its been

Hello everyone,
Well what a year it has been, I have gone from being a crafts person creating lovely things for Open Studios and Quay Arts in Newport, also teaching in various locations to a shop owner.
Along the way I have battled against breast cancer, and this post is not going to dwell - this is the time to look forward.
My shop is TAJ Crafts, based at Holliers Barns, Branstone, nr Sandown, PO36 0LT. It opened last August, just after my diagnosis, more information can be found on our website and now 10 months later I am back full time in the shop. It has been quite a ride so far.
I am teaching again and trying to get my mojo back for open studios, which is fast approaching...
Below are images of a few things I have been creating over the last little while, along with a couple of works in progress

                      This shawl was crocheted using Drops Delight a lovely variegated 4ply yarn

Ripple blanket which will be single bed size when completed, along with my sample swatches to try and keep the ripple colours as random as possible. The ripple pattern is the Neat Ripple from Lucy at Attic24. The pattern can be found on her blog

lots and lots of granny squares which are now being crocheted together to make another single bed size blanket










This is the start of the Lily Pond blanket along with my version of Attic24 Jolly Chunky Bag






The above selection are all using various combinations of the colours used in the Stylecraft yarns CAL Lily Pond blanket, information on the Crochet ALong can be found here.

Its good to be back, happy crafting whatever you are doing.

Best wishes

Tracy
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