Day Two: It’s All About You - KCBWDAY2

Well, today I'm writing about myself - which for some reason always feels a bit strange. I can't tell you how long it took me to compose and publish the "Bio" page on my blog, for example!

When I'm not crafting, I can often be found doing other creative things. I have been working as a Web and Graphic Designer for a few years now - you can even take a look at my online portfolio at www.catcodes.co.uk if you like. I also love drawing and painting in one of my sketchbooks or writing letters when I have time - yep, good old snail mail. I suppose you could say I like being creative in the kitchen too, as I do like to cook and bake if I have the energy and ingredients handy!

Some of my readers may already be familiar with WildCat Designs, the knitwear accessories label I started after finishing my degree in Textile Design - I run an Etsy shop under that name and a "sister" label, WildKittens, too.

When I'm out and about (I like to walk or cycle around Edinburgh, the city I live in - it's good excercise, especially as it's not at all flat!), I enjoy taking my camera or my cameraphone and recording things which catch my eye. I confess to being somewhat addicted to Instagram!

I'm a big fan of traditional old-school "analogue" film-based photography too, and have been known to mess about in darkrooms, not to mention experiment with my vintage Cosina or Diana F+ toy camera (hello, double exposures!).

When I was younger I spent some time living in Europe so I got to see lots of wonderful places as a child, something which has fuelled my love of travel and learning about different cultures. I even learned to speak fluent German, pretty good French and even a wee bit of Flemish!

To see more posts on today's theme, just search for #6KCBWDAY2 on twitter or google 6KCBWDAY2.

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week 2015 is here!

Welcome to this year's Knitting & Crocket Blog Week!
Year 6, can you believe it?! If you haven't come across the event before, and want to find out more (or even take part!), read this blog post.

Day One (Monday 11th May): If You Were Yarn.

I've been musing over this topic for a few days now and it's quite difficult to choose! If I had to choose a yarn to represent my personality, there would definitely have to be some wool in there though.

 

I love being cosy and it's one of my absolute favourite fibres to work with because of its versatility, the fact it's natural and takes colour incredibly well if you dye it. My boyfriend sometimes jokingly refers to my head as being "full of wool" so it seems fitting that I'd go for a woolly yarn!

I think the texture of it would have to be a good balance of having enough twist that it didn't split easily or look like roving but not so much that the handle of the yarn was compromised. It's go to be nice and soft! ...I'm a big softie at heart ♥

Finally, I reckon if I was a yarn, it'd have to be a colourful one - maybe a nice variegated style with rich jewel tones of deep purple, teal, blue and turquoise blending into each other. Oh and as for weight... probably a useful DK!

Search for #6KCBWDAY1 on twitter or google 6KCBWDAY1 to find more blogs taking part in Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2015.

Merry Christmas!

I hope all my readers, WildCat Designs fans and customers have a lovely Christmas, and that Santa is good to you! I'll be back soon with more ideas and inspriation, but for now I am enjoying the festivities, and hope you are too :)

Thank you for reading my blog, commenting on my posts and 

supporting my little independent business in 2013!

In the Summertime...

...bloggers get lazy! Ah, at least so it would seem for this blogger. My goodness, has it really been over a month since I posted?!

I do have a good "excuse" though... things have been a bit mad outside of the virtual world!

I've moved from the fair city I call home (Edinburgh) to the Scottish Borders for work and since I've been in my new flat, I've been decorating and setting up home, whilst being sans *proper* internet for a good while (iffy 3G signal doesn't quite cut it...). I'm pleased to say I'm now firmly back in the 21st Century - with a lovely light duckegg blue bedroom to boot - hip hip hurray!

I'll confess too that I have been enjoying the sunshine - it's been such amazing weather, and it even stuck around long enough for me to celebrate a big milestone birthday. No complaints here!

I am very fair-skinned so I've been working on my summery freckles. I don't tan, I just burn (or wilt!) in the heat... but I quite like being pale and interesting - I sincerely doubt I would suit a tan anyway!

I'm quite happy with my Celtic colouring. Plus, I do feel there are rather too many girls (and even a few guys) who seem to think that orange is a "natural" look... I'll never understand it.

P.S. Since Google Reader is now as dead as the proverbial dodo:

Follow my blog with Bloglovin!

And the winner is...

Thanks to all who entered the WildKittens prize draw on my blog this month!

I have collated all the entries for each prize and used a random number generator to help me pick the winners.

Prize A was this cute cotton patchwork baby blanket in pretty pastels, which I designed and knitted. The winner is Annamarie Magee, with comment number 4 (of the entries for prize A)!

...and prize B was this lovely WildKittens pattern for knitting some baby shoes. The winner is "TopHat" whose comment for prize B was selected by the random number generator.

I'll be getting in touch with the winners shortly :)

Graphically Minded - 4KCBWDAY3

 Day 3 - Infographic

Today's task was to create an infographic or some kind of visual way of representing information relating to your beloved craft :)

As a Graphic Designer, this topic really appealed to me, rather unsurprisingly. I have been toying with the idea of creating an infographic of some sort for a while now and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to give it a whirl.

I'm a big fan of using an infographic to visualise statistics, facts and numbers... partly because I think it's so much more engaging than looking at some random digits, but also because (confession alert) I'm a bit of a geek. I'll happily pore over stats for my etsy shop or the Google Analytics for this here blog!

I was also curious about the readership of my crafty blog so I had a little look and made a nice bar chart with my findings:

It's funny how pleasing it can be to see some dull old figures rendered as a colourful little diagram!

April Giveaway!

I thought it would be fun to have a little giveaway frenzy on my blog this month. So to get the ball rolling, I've decided to do a WildKittens inspired giveaway!

Prize A

I'm giving away this cute Iced Gem Blanket which I designed after being approached by the charity Bliss to create an exclusive pattern for their Bliss Loves Crafts (craft club) members.

It's made from lovely soft cotton yarn in a patchwork of pretty pastel colours.
(Finished size is approx. 50 x 50 cm)

Prize B

I'm offering one of my PDF knitting patterns for Mary Jane baby shoes in your choice of the following sizes: 0-3 mths, 3-6 mths, 6-12 mths or 12-18 mths.

To find out more about the pattern I'm offering, check out the details in my WildKittens etsy shop.

How to Enter

Simply leave a comment on this blog post, letting me know which prize you'd prefer - don't forget to include an email address I can contact you on if you win!

[EDIT: Competition is now closed. Winners will be announced shortly.]

Closing date for entries is midnight GMT on Sunday 21st April 2013. One winner for each prize will be chosen at random.

(Please note that comments will not be published instantly, as they are moderated, so it may take a little time for them to appear.)

Curating Loveliness

I've been thinking about ways to present interesting, engaging content lately. Not just for my blog, but in general...including things I might share via various social media platforms and so on.

Source: epherielldesigns.com via Cat on Pinterest

The conclusion I have reached is to curate carefully - so in other words, looking out for lovely things, that which inspires, informs and pleases; to mindfully choose the best possible sources, references and artefacts.

I think William Morris put it best when he said,

"If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: 

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful 

or believe to be beautiful."

Source: etsy.com via Cat on Pinterest

One way I love keeping track of inspiration and ideas, particularly in a visual way, is through Pinterest - if you're not familiar with it, I would describe it as a kind of interactive moodboard where you can keep track of interesting content from the web, with a direct link, or bookmark, back to it.

As someone who is excited about colours and pattern, I find it incredibly stimulating when looking for ideas, and a great way to keep track of the loveliness I come across whilst traversing the web. (You can find my Pinterest boards here)

Source: whatpossessedme.com via Cat on Pinterest

So...do you use Pinterest? Or do you have another favourite way of "curating" content?

Valentine's Giveaway!

It's been quite a while since I last did a blog giveaway so I thought it was about time I did another! Since Valentine's day is approaching, I figured it would be fun to do a prize draw themed around that.

So, I am giving away a custom-made sequin heart brooch! One lucky winner will get one of these lovely brooches made in the colours of their choosing.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post stating your colour preference for the brooch design (see colour choices below) and also tell me: what's the most romantic thing someone has done for you? Don't forget to leave an email address I can contact you with, in case yours is the winning entry!

Colour choices for the felt (in order shown):
red, white, sky blue, magenta, black, turquoise or purple.
♥ ♥ ♥
Colour choices for the sequins: black, silver, red or blue.

Closing date for entries is 5pm GMT on Thursday 14th February 2013. The competition is open to all, as I am happy to post worldwide. One winner will be chosen at random.

(Note that your comments will not be published instantly, as they are moderated, so please be patient.)

[EDIT: This competition is now closed. Winner will be announced here.]

A Fresh Start

The beginning of a new year is always a time for reflection, as well as a time filled with promise. Perfect for the planning of adventures ahead in the coming months.

I'm trying not to make too many resolutions this year (less to break!), to keep things a bit more focussed. One I have made, which definitely relates to craft-based activities, amongst other things, is to try and finish more things that I start (or have previously started).

It's very easy to start a project, when you're filled with enthusiasm, but soon enough (if you're like me) then along comes another thing which diverts your attention from it, and it gets left in a knitting bag or buried under a pile of other things and often ends up somewhat forgotten!

Anyway, I do like the feeling of accomplishment of finishing pieces, especially ones which took a while to complete - for whatever reason (hmmm... lack of enthusiasm about sewing up seams/darning final ends seems a likely culprit, more often than not!) - and being able to allow that piece to fulfill its intended purpose. So here's to completing more this year!

On a side note, you might remember that back in June last year, I mentioned the photo a day project - I took part in almost every other month last year and enjoyed the daily challenge. So I am at it again this January (see some of my previous photo a day pics sprinkled around this post)! If you feel like having a go too, check out this blog post about how to get involved.

Also, stay tuned for a little DIY tutorial and a giveaway later this month!

A Confession...

Truth to tell, I've been going through a lot lately. I don't often talk about details of my personal life, as the blog is intended to be more creativity and inspiration focussed but I think it's worth mentioning in this case because I've been evaluating many aspects of my life recently. This has meant I have been dealing with a greater quantity of "stuff," both emotionally and physically, so I have had much less energy to devote to my blog. In all honesty I've also felt quite overwhelmed with some of the amazing, inspiring blogs out there and it's been really rather counter-productive...

Anyway, dear reader, I hope you'll understand if my posts are perhaps less forthcoming at the moment than they usually would be. I am definitely planning to continue with my blog though, as I do enjoy hearing from you all (I love reading your comments on my posts, just for the record!) and I like to be able to look back on posts and reminisce about what was whirling around in my brain at that moment in time.

One thing I seem to return to time & time again when I need some inspiration is photography, be it digital or old school {I adore both!} - so this month I've been taking part in the Photo a Day project created by Chantelle of FatMumSlim. The list of daily inspiration for June is here, in case you're interested. I've been doing roughly every other month so far this year and it's fun, I recommend having a go :) Some of my daily pics are sprinkled around this blog post!

I've been taking part via Instagram - if you want to follow me there my username is Catameringue & just search the tags for #photoadayjune to see all the different contributions!

3KCBWDAY3 - My crafty heroes

Day Three: Your Knitting or Crochet Hero

In the first year of Knitting & Crochet Blog Week, I talked about knitters whose work I enjoy. Of course, this is a somewhat similar idea but today I'm going to talk about people whose work I am inspired by and admire. It's far too difficult to whittle it down to just the one, so I've chosen my top 5 (in no particular order)!

· Kate Davies

I really love the beautiful designs of Kate Davies and one day hope to make her "owls." If you're a fibre enthusiast, I highly recommend her blog, needled.

· Anna Hrachovec

You may well have heard of knitter extraordinaire, Anna Hrachovec, of Mochimochi Land. I'm a huge fan of her creative and whimsical world of knitted critters and characters, not to mention her wicked sense of humor! Below you can see a tiny pigeon I knitted from one of her patterns :)

· Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

I've long been a fan of the witty fibre-infused banter which can be found on Stephanie's Yarn Harlot blog (and books, for that matter.) - read and enjoy - 'nuff said.

· Carol Meldrum

I was lucky enough to work with the lovely Carol during my time at Rowan. As well as being a published author and workshop tutor, you can find her Beatknit designs here. I also think her book of Knitted Icons is a lot of fun.



· Stephanie Dosen

I have adored the creations of Tiny Owl Knits for a while now. You may be familliar with the incredibly popular Beekeeper's Quilt Stephanie designed and created - I do love seeing all the different colours of "hexapuffs" people have been knitting.

I look forward to reading about everyone else's crafty heroes!

Eastery Wishes

I do hope you all had a happy easter weekend! I had fun making these delectable little lovelies...

...and nibbling on other assorted chocolate treats :)

It has been a wee bit quiet around here for a little longer than I'd like, I won't go into all the details but one major reason is that I've been busy beavering away on several websites - one of these will be a brand new portfolio website for my web/graphic design work. I can't wait to show it off, it's not quite ready yet but it will be here soon!

In other news, was excited to see that the topics for Knitting & Crochet Blog Week 2012 have been announced - check this post on Eskimimi's blog for more info.

I'm also thrilled to be heading off to Geneva later this week to visit my sister and get a wee change of scenery - I will be taking my camera (and Ray-Bans, here's hoping for some sun!!) with me for sure! Hopefully I'll have some fun stuff to tell you about when I get back.

I've been taking part in this month's Photo a Day challenge, organised by the lovely Chantelle of Fat Mum Slim. You can find my submissions on my Instagram feed (look here to see my pics). I seem to be doing every other month so far! Are any of you lovely readers out there joining in this month too?

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week 2012!

The observant among you may have noticed this pop up on my blog sidebar recently:

It's back! This year Knitting & Crochet Blog Week is even bigger and better than before - with prizes and everything! All the more reason to participate, if you ask me. See the image below for details of the dates and tags - more info, including details of the prizes also available here.

I've participated since the first one in 2010 and I'm happy to say I'll be blogging along again this year. Looking forward to checking out what other fibre fanatics write too :)

If you want to find out more, and/or get involved yourself, check out this post on Eskimimi's blog.

Make Some Noise...

...for the Beastie Boys! :D


I'm excited to say that a piece of Textile Art I created some time ago has recently been featured on the Indie Fixx blog - a guest post by the lovely Michelle of Craftsville (and several other crafty ventures!) on UK stitchery! Read the article here.


The work was inspired by the Beastie Boys album artwork for "To the 5 Boroughs" - if you're not familliar with it, it features a line drawing of the New York city skyline - an illustration by Matteo Pericoli.



Have a lovely weekend, dear readers! I'm going to enjoy the sunshine while it lasts!