Hissy Fit

OK, so I didn't come back the next day....

Anyhoo, here is the finished snake - Hissy Fit. You might remember (or not!) that this is an entry for the annual Knitting and Crochet Guild competition. Each year we raise money for a different part of the bulding at Lee Mills, which houses our antique textiles collection. The theme this year is 'Weatherproofing the Roof'. We're being asked to make an item of headgear - the more impractical, the better!

The winners are announced at the AGM in May. All the entries will then be exhibited and (we hope) sold on the Guild stands at shows like Harrogate and Alexandra Palace.

The colours are a little brighter on the real item - it's a variegated pastel cotton held together with a metallic thread.

It's actually held onto the head with pins, but only because the polystyrene is slippery - real people can use hairgrips! There's a pipecleaner in the head, so that it can be posed.

The other oddity I've designed and made recently is my house:

My local branch of the Knitting and Crochet Guild is putting up a display in the library where we meet, and then transferring it to the Textile Gallery of Sunderland Art Gallery, where we Knit In Public once a month. We decided to create a row of houses and gardens, with a wood next to it, and some 3D figures standing in front of it.

The house is A4 sized, with cobweb lace curtains and fanlight, flower buttons in the windowboxes, and a DMC button of two cats on the doorstep! It's all knitted except for the crocheted drainpipe. It was such good fun to design and make :)

I may be absent for another few days now - I'm going to the cinema tomorrow, for the first time in about four years. I love the cinema, and I've really missed it. Richard, Paul and I are going to see 'Constantine', the new Keanu Reeves thing. I'll post a review soon!