A change of scene

No more yellow walls today – the sun was out and so was I!

I love the view from the allotments.

Edinburgh Castle peeking over the trees

A beautiful white cosmos with bright nasturtiums in the background . . .

. . . and a pink one too

Sunshine on a rainy day . . .

With Autumn well upon us I've been waiting for some good light to take photographs of some of my recent work.

The room I use for photography is south facing (I know, not good for even light) but I like the colour so I'll just have to work it out! Today has brought rain and then an overcast but bright day – a fantastic diffused light perfect for photos without strong shadows.

Or so I thought, until the clouds parted and the sun shone through. Cue enforced tea break while I waited for the sun to disappear again. Who would have thought that I would ever look forward to an overcast day!

October challenge - Day 1

I'm aware I'm not very good at updating this blog and even worse at posting new items on Etsy so for this month I'm setting myself the challenge of putting something out there every day.

Some coasters have been put on Etsy tonight, which allows me a nice gentle start to the challenge.

Here goes!

Coasters galore

Now that I'm back crocheting again I find it almost impossible to stop!

Following the whole doily thing I was driven to make some coasters . . . 

. . . then some more . . . 

. . . and then some more . . .

. . . and then even more.

Cute and practical!

Blade sharpener review

I bought my rotary blade sharpener from Amazon (here). It arrived promptly but I had to wait a few days before I was able to use it and try out my newly sharpened blade.

Sharpener unpacked and ready to go!

Cutter dismantled and blade exposed 

Blade slotted onto one half of the holder and ready to be screwed into place

Blade in place for sharpening (the sharpening edge/circle is in the background) 

Once inserted in the sharpening circle, place on light side first and turn 12 times,
turn over the blade and do the same again for that side.
Turn over the sharpener and do the same on the dark side.

The sharpener works very well and I was quickly able to sharpen my blade, reinsert it into my handle and cut plenty more bias.

Positives:
– pretty inexpensive when you take into account the cost of new blades
– small and easy to stow
– easy to use (with lots of care)

Negatives:
– cutter has to be dismantled and blade fully exposed to use
– the blade and holder need to be turned over (which needs to be done with a lot of care)
– the holder and blade just sit in the sharpening circle and are not 'locked' in
– there is no safety guard on the sharpener

Conclusion:
With due care this is a really nifty little addition to my toolbox. However it does need to be used with a great degree of care.

A word of warning: a blade sharp enough to cut fabric is more than sharp enough to cut human.

I don't have full pics of the process, I'm afraid, because I got a little casual with the sharpener and cut myself. Cue bleeding and steri-strips for a week. My accident did spotlight the safety aspects quite nicely!

(For both work and crafting I've used cutters and scalpels for many years but was obviously a bit TOO relaxed when using this. It hasn't put me off. Lesson learned.)

Pretty posy

 

I'm supposed to be working flat out for a craft market/late summer fair next Saturday but couldn't resist the temptation to make a nice flowery crochet necklace.

The stem/chain was made a bit more substantial by running a line of chain and then slip stitching back along it. The flowers are made up of five clusters of chain and double treble crochet and the centres are stitched. Very pretty, I think.

Blunt blades and curses galore

My cutting mat and metal rule mock me

Having blunted my rotary cutter on my metal rule I needed to cut quite a lot of bias binding using scissors – I already have a few blades, all blunted in the same way! Cue much muttering and not inconsiderable carpel tunnel niggles.

I've been putting off investing in a sharpener but no more! Here it is.

Review to follow . . .