Daily May # 14

Day 14 :: Wednesday

Today has been a day for some gentle creativity and colour therapy, aaaallllll the colours. At the time I reached for my bag of cotton yarns I had no idea what I was going to make, only that I had the urge to play and wanted to tap into the joy of making something just for the pure pleasure of it.

I made a Flowerpress flower....

....then circled it and loved the way it looked.

I added a few more neat rounds of double crochet and loved it even more.

I've had a few questions about the blue mandala mat that currently sits on my table. This is a smaller version of my Yuletide Mandala pattern which is free ((here)) on my blog, and there is more information about the blue version ((here, scroll down to find it)). Doesn't the little Flowerpress mandala look cute alongside it??

I thought it would look very pretty underneath my little ink bottle flowers, and yes, I think I was right. I enjoyed my happy making very much, and now want to make a slightly bigger one with some different stitchy rounds....not right now though because after a bit of a scattered, ditsy day I finally feel relaxed and ready for zzzzzzzz. I'm adding Mandala Making to tomorrow's to-do list.

In other news, I found a really lovely simple glass vase in the supermarket today for the princely sum of two pounds (I'll take a better photo of it to show you tomorrow). The irises are obviously overjoyed with their new watery setting because they've started to open their petals, oh I do love them so. I'm invested pretty heavily in their welfare it seems, and can't wait to check in on them first thing in the morning. Sweet things.

After the little Flowerpress mandala was made, I couldn't stand the jumble of balls any longer and set about creating some order. Ahhh, that's better! What better way to feel good than to play around with colour, it's definitely my kind of therapy. The yarn is all Ricorumi DK which I really love for decorative projects, and as you can see, the variety of colours is wonderful (there are 80 to choose from).

The balls are dinky 25g minis which is appealing for all sorts of reasons, mostly because it means I can gather in a decent design palette without spending a small fortune. I wish we had access to this size of ball (in these great colours) in alternative fibres - small 25g balls of acrylic (or merino) would be fantastic, don't you think? Just imagine the design potential if I could put together a kit containing 48 colours! The mind boggles (in the best possible way).

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

Comments

[Jane]

King Cole do 25g balls of acrylic with about 24 colours called Dollymix. But maybe that's not enough choice for you. Amazing how you can have maybe 60 colours and still not find the right one.

[Suzanne Larson]

So far I've made four Yuletide mandalas, they are so easy and quick. This winter I made one for my Yuletide blanket then two for Sweet Pea and one for Canal Boat. The new color Leaf makes a perfect edge for one of the Sweet Pea mandalas. Thank you for the all your beautiful designs.

[Isobel]

Scheepjes Cotton Catona also comes in 10g balls and there are 115 colours, so it's also great for little decorative projects. I like it better than the ricorumi, personally - less splitty.

Agree that it's a shame there's no teeny wool option. You can get Scheepjes stone and river washed (cotton/acrylic mix) in mini balls, but only if you buy the whole pack, you can't pick and choose sadly.

[Angela]

Such a pretty flower press mandala! 🌼❤️

[Sarah]

Years ago, well 25 years...I worked in a haby & yarn department, we sold small 25g balls of acrylic yarn - called Toy size. They were either Sirdar or Thomas Ramsden (Wendy) I can't remember which. It was at the time that Jean Greenhowe knitted toys were popular and they were for that.
Maybe you could suggest it to Stylecraft and come up with some smaller designs to promote and sell the balls!!!

[Linda Hedley]

Lovely colours.
Then a lovely new mat.
And to top it all off a new vase for your irises.
What a great day to read about.
We had a busy day, taking a friend to a hospital appointment, then picking them up after as the had been sedated. Back to theirs for lunch.
So getting home mid afternoon I had to sort my patio out, hiding plants that had finished flowering and bring forward those in full bloom, mainly the potted rhododendrons.
Regards Linda x

[Sheila]

Scheepjes Scrumptious is available in a colour pack of 80 x 30g balls. The colour range isn't quite as good as SSDK (there are more than 80 as I think they've added some new ones that aren't in the pack) but it is recycled yarn. Obviously more expensive per metre than 100g balls, but for a sample of the range it's quite good. I keep looking at it and wondering what the yarn feels like.

[Jude D]

I can just see a gorgeous bouquet of irises blossoming from some of the shades in the pretty Ricorumi DK x

[Jill]

I have been admiring the blue mandala on your table and will take great pleasure trying to copy it for myself. I've made a few mandalas before but not as eye catching as the beautiful blue. Thankyou for sharing a glimpse into your world. I look forward to it daily. X