So it’s been a few more weeks in lockdown. There isn’t really much else to say about that. I can’t remember if I said in my last post that I got told I was in the extremely vulnerable group, the 12 week group.

I got told in a letter from the GP and I’ve even been spammed by text messages from the government. So I haven’t been anywhere to tell you about. I’ve just been doing crafts. So still plodding along with my cardigan. Only have the two front borders to do. I was well into and nearly finished with the first border but I became concerned with the amount of wool I had left.

At some point I made a mistake when I was buying the wool and got a ball that must have been from a different dye lot or something and it’s a little bit darker than the rest so it doesn’t match. So from the rest of the wool that’s the same as everything else I wasn’t sure if I had enough to do both borders. So rather than having two different shade borders I pulled back the one I’d done and I’m going to do both in the same wool that’s just a bit darker. I thought that would be better than having a slight colour change halfway through one of the borders. So now they should match up even if they aren’t quite the same colour and the rest of the cardigan. I know I’ve said it already but I promise that when it’s all finished I’ll put up some pictures.

So what else have I been up to? Well I haven’t done any crochet recently, been focused on knitting the cardigan. But over the last week I’ve been doing something new. I’ve been doll making. A couple of weeks ago I won a book called Making Soft Dolls while watching a live stream on YouTube. I found out about it when I was flicking through some emails and came across one from The Makerss that talked about the launch of their new book. I watched the stream and found it interesting and the fact I won something from the experience was even better. I was the first one to comment with the answer to the question Steffi asked. “What was the name of her first doll”? The answer was Peter and his second name I have no idea how to spell so I’m not going to try. Steffi is from Germany and the doll was handed down through the family and had been well loved. Peters last name is something to do with the fact it’s a doll or something. The book is called Making Soft Dolls by Steffi Stern and if you’re interested you can get a signed copy of the book here:

https://www.themakerss.co.uk/collections/doll-making/products/making-soft-dolls-book-by-steffi-stern

I found out about The Makerss last year at a craft show I went to with mum. She suggested getting into needle felting as the kits and things they had on their stall looked really good. so that where my journey with the Makerss started. They sell everything you need to do needle felting from kits to just the wool and the needles. Go have a look:

https://www.themakerss.co.uk

Just warning though, it is quite addictive and if you stab yourself with a needle it really really hurts. But now moving on from needle felting they sell everything that you’d need if you wanted to make dolls.

So with the doll making. Over the last week Steffi has been running a sew along live stream on YouTube. I got the pack when I won the book and was determined to follow along. The videos are still on YouTube if you want to take a look so you can follow along if you decide to make a doll. I found the videos/streams really good, you could see what you were supposed to be doing and chat with Steffi and everyone else that was watching along. So now the time has come for me to show you the fruits of my labour:

To say I was chuffed when I’d finished him was an understatement. I was practically buzzing. I was so happy with myself that I had made and sew something so good. Normally my sewing is pretty rubbish. I could just about do a passable job sewing together the crocheted and knitted toys so this, I feel, has taken things to the next level. I’m happy and think it looks really good.

So that’s about it craft wise but I’ve been doing some work again on lotions and potions. I made some hand cream and some lip balm. I think I put the recipes I used for the hand cream in my last post, but here are the ingredients for the lip balm:

• 2 tbs Beeswax
• 1 tbs Shea Butter
• 1 tbs sweet almond oil
• 1 tbs jojoba oil
• 1 tbs avocado oil
• 1 tbs vegetable glycerin

All you have to do is melt everything together and put it in pots. One in pots I added some essential oils and mixed them before they set. I used

• Lemon and lime
• Peppermint
• Spearmint
• Orange

They didn’t do much for the taste but it made them smell really nice. So a bit of aromatherapy and some good moisturisation for the lips. I have some new ingredients to play with now so new concoctions will be on their way. I now have coconut oil (had that before but have more now), cocoa butter, macadamia nut oil, evening primrose oil, rose hip oil and some vitamin e oil. So let’s see where all these things take us.

I’m now trying to decide if I want to buy any more ingredients for other bits but that’s a decision for down the line.

Right time to get back to my knitting, doll making or cosmetics or something completely different. As the song goes “who knows what tomorrow brings“? Only way to find that out is by going to sleep. Let’s just hope that’s a lot earlier than it has been for the last couple of nights. I’ve seen 5am from the wrong side it’s not fun being awake for most of the night and then feeling shitty and tired all day. But sod that.

So stay safe everyone, love and light.