My mysterious disappearance explained

No, I haven't been abducted by little green men. Nor have I been eaten by anything nasty. My working life has been so chaotic over the last few years that I have been neglecting this poor wee blog.

Initially, this blog was started as an online diary during my financial crisis of 2010. Being a skint student, I decided to make all my own Christmas presents. After the festive season was over, I continued to update the blog - at that time called Make Do and Mend - for any new crafts I made.

For those of you living elsewhere in the world, Scotland has just gone through a referendum on independence, and I was heavily involved in one of the campaigns. I blogged furiously (not on here), wrote articles, promoted the cause on social networking, and my wee legs carried me all over the country to deliver leaflets.

Unfortunately, amidst all the madness of working full-time in a busy newsroom, combined with active political campaigning, Make Do and Mend got discarded to the Land of Dead Blogs.

Now with the referendum finally behind us, I am happy to bring my wee blog back to life, complete with a cute new name: The Knitted Kitten's Mittens.

And, just to keep with the kitten theme, here is a picture of my own overgrown kitten, Boris the Bengal.

It's good to be back. 

Spring and Summer crafts

Congratulations to my dear friends Julie and Andy on their engagement! I made them this card from various bits and bobs. Can't wait to be a bridesmaid xxx

Felt 'Easter Bunny' for Julia, April 2011.

Faery toadstool (clay and acrylic).

Enchanted tree faery home (clay, acrylic, fake moss, modelling grass).

Rapunzel tower (clay, acrylic, fake moss). My Mum says it looks phallic, noooo!

Boris seconds from knocking over the Rapunzel tower. Never leave anything unnattended when there's a nosy Bengal around . . . .

I made this Egyptian-style cat for Scott for our anniversary in June (clay and acrylic).

Wall plaque for Gran's 88th birthday. Luckily she liked it. She usually tells you if she doesn't.

I thought I'd make Scott a sheep ornamnet for his Easter (April 2011) because he grew-up in a small rural village surrounded by farmland. Unfortunately, my clay had dried up and I left it too late to buy more so I had to improvise. This "aneamic jobby on stilts" (cheers Scott!) was the result. Oh well, at least it caused a lot of laughs.

Swamp monsters and cats!

Here's some of the presents I made for Scott's family in the Highlands. I haven't sent them up yet because of the snow and I'm worried about them getting lost in the post.

Sock creatures: swamp monster for Scott's nephew and cat for his niece.

Seahorse brooch for Scott's sister.

Fish bottle cover for Scott's stepdad.

More prezzies!

Here's some of my other presents that I made (and forgot to photograph at the time). There's more again to put up (for instance the checkbook cover I made my Gran), but unfortunately I didn't take pictures of. I think I was just so worn-out from making everything in time.

Frog tea cosy for my boyfriend Scott. He loves frogs! It's just a hat with a frog's head that I made from green felt sewn on the top. The collar is lace.

 Tea cosy for my Mum and Dad. It's a hat of mine that's too big for my wee heed! I made the cat from a sock and sowed it on the top.

Cat wall-hanging for Scott's Mum. These wee guys are made from felt and decorated with buttons, lace, ribbon etc, then attached with thread. I put beads on the thread for added sparkle.

Close-up of wall-hanging.

Bedroom door plaque for Scott's daughter Julia. It's made from stiff card decorated with patterned tissue. I then added silver stars, ribbons and lace, and cut out letters from felt.

Sock dog for Julia.

Zebra draft excluder for my Aunty Linda

 'Bug Village' for my little cousin Rachael. The 'bugs' are just stones from the garden with googly eyes stuck on them.

 Clay, card, felt and fake moss flamingo ornament for my cousin Emma. The legs are cocktail sticks coloured in with black pen.

Brooch for my Aunty Ailsa made from felt, card, ribbon and material. The rose in the middle is scrunched up ribbon from an old dress, and the material is from a top that's too big.

Bottle cover for my Uncle Alan made from the sleeve of a cardigan I don't wear. I threaded a ribbon along the top as a draw-string and I hand-stitched the felt garlic motif (he loves garlic!). The clay head on the top of the cork is supposed to be him!

Ah, that's more like it

Thankfully, these are a bit of an improvement from my last creation. Just as well -would you want that terrifying bunny as a present?

I've not updated the blog for a wee while because I've been so busy with making these before Christmas. Most of the sock animals are stuffed with cotton wool, scraps of fabric and, er, old Heat magazines!

There's more to follow.

Sock cat. He's getting sent down to the Cotswalds for my cousin's daughter Cameron. I'll be sad to see him go. I've grown quite attached to him.

The very first sock cat I made. I gave him to my little cousin Rachael.

Brooches made from felt, buttons and old clothing.

Sock friends posing with the brooches. The miserable-looking goldfish was for my best friend Julie as a joke. The snake is made from a long sock and his tail rattles!

Brooch for my little cousin Rachael made from felt, lace, ribbon and a feather.

Felt 'Russian doll' coasters for my best friend Julie.

Silk bracelet and ornament. For the ornament, I decorated an empty Jean-Paul Gaultier bottle.

Mittens for my cousin Emma.

Cuff for my cousin Emma. I just cut the wrist part of a shirt I've never worn and stitched lace around it.

A disaster!

Oh dear. Feast your eyes on this hideous gonk.

 It was supposed to be a bunny, but as you can see, it didn't quite go to plan. Suppose it's all trial and error though, isn't it?

A very merry un-birthday to you

Here's a selection of some of my homemade cards:

Alice in Wonderland birthday card for Karen, March 2010 (pen drawing).

Birthday card for Gail, January 2010. The blue 'carousel' sign and butterfly are taken from one of my photos of an old New York carousel (the photo is published in an earlier post).

Birthday card for Gran, April 2010. More use of the New York carousel photographs. I used the image of this horse because it says 'Granny's Folly' on it. The background is tissue paper layered over a damask-patterned postcard. I then added buttons and lace.

Christmas card for Mum and Dad (pen drawing with coloured pencil and embellished with feathers, lace and tissue).

'Happy new house' card for Julie, July 2010 (pen and coloured pencil).

Birthday card for Julia, October 2010 (lace, card, tissue, patterned paper).

Birthday card for Sian, November 2010 (tissue paper layered over a Damask-patterened background, lace, patterned knapkins, paper).