So you know how I blathered on a couple of weeks ago about how much I was in love with Instagram? I wondered if something good would come of it…well it has!!!

Always looking to change things up I fashioned a macro lens for the phone! I got all excited over on instagram about it & now I’ve made a how to so you can do it too. Hooray for that I say…so I have saved the mind blowingly good content for the blog eh?

Anyway … I used more bits of broken lens from the camera lamp affair (lucky I don’t chuck stuff out). The corner was fashioned using a product called Sugru. I found this product via Swiss Miss last year & frankly anything with the slogan “hack things better” is a product I need to have. It’s brilliant brilliant stuff. So thank you Swiss Miss & thank you Sugru.

So off you go & make a macro lens corner for your phone – it was a quick & easy project. Maybe I’ll see you (& your macro shots) over on instagram @kootoyoo. xx

How does your garden grow?

These little activity packs are being given to all the small people on the nice list this year.  Each activity pack contains a circle of artificial turf, 12 squares of colourful felt & a pair of scissors.

It’s a bit fuzzy felt isn’t it?  Just a super cute gift idea that I thought you might like to have a crack at too.

You don’t need a “how to” … it’s really just a shopping list.

You’ll need to buy…
mailing tubes (I used 60mm x 420mm)
scissors (test they fit inside the tube)
A4 single page labels so that you can print the “artwork”
felt (I bought mine from Winterwood & cut the squares to size)
artificial grass (you want the cheapest nastiest stuff they have so that it grabs onto the felt)

You’ll need to print…

how does your garden grow (link to original for print)

&

grass (link to original for print)

Knock yourselves out.

If you’re on Twitter (which I hardly ever am) you’d know all about my frustration with the blog yesterday…it was broken…I couldn’t post…I couldn’t even see the damn blog.

Anyway, in my steam-coming-out-of-ears haste to get the post up yesterday before the whole blog blew up in my face I left off a few(!!) rather significant (& helpful) details…geez Kirst…I think you’ve kind of lost sight of what this space was/is really all about.

Giving each other a hand…having a crack…trying new stuff…& maybe…sometimes…inspiring others to look at things a little differently.

OK…so the vintagey, picnicky bit of deliciousness from yesterday was hooked from a pattern found in 7 day afghans (mine is the 2004 version). The pattern is called perfect plaid. Here’s a link to the book from Delightful Books & Crafts. These guys deserve the sale in my opinion…purely for the name of their store!

I didn’t actually follow the pattern though. It seems that they may have confused the two colours in the writing up of the pattern. I just did what my eyes told me by looking at the finished blanket in the picture.

Yarn Details
I used Ella Rae Classic Superwash. The ladies at The Wool Shop advised it is about a 10ply. I purchased 6 balls of the pale grey, 4 balls of the dark grey & 2 balls of the green.  I’ve got plenty left over BUT I’m cool with that – I’m going to make a few pom poms for pip. My finished blanket measures about 1 metre square.  I’m happy with the width but should have used up a bit more yarn on the length because the stage 2 of the construction pulls everything in quite a lot!

I chose the yarn for a number of reasons…

• colour range
• size of ball – 100gm & 200metres (anything to avoid end weaving)
• price

Hook Details
I used a 6.5mm hook for the mesh & then a 9.00mm hook for the chaining.

Hope this helps you out!  Thanks for appreciating the blanket & for keeping me true to what it’s all about & reminding me this is a space I love & am proud of. x

This afternoon was spent making multi taskers with these lovely girls.

I had a fabulous afternoon & wish I could continue crafting. Sadly, I am now running horribly late for the school disco!

I asked The Date to help me out & test my instructions for the Multi Tasker. It’s going to be included in issue 11 of Mixtapezine & I really wanted to make sure that there were no glitches.

Far out…he did it & he multi tasked too!

…watched the footy, drank beer (2), crafted(!) & swore a bit.

At the end of the whole exercise I asked him how he went & he said “I EXPLETIVE hated it”. Ha…he’s a good sort.

You can see more multi tasker action here & Lara’s wonderful multi tasker post here.

I’ve had a few people express interest in another multi tasker workshop. At this stage it’s looking like being mid October. Are you interested? If so please email me: kootoyooATgmailDOTcom with MULTI TASKER in the subject line.