Happy Halloween

I wish all of you out there a Happy Halloween!

To help you celebrate Modcloth is offering you all a 20% discount on all Cute and Quirky animal inspired styles.

(affiliate Link)

Be sure to enter the code - TREAT at the checkout.

Offer ends on Saturday at 10:00 PT.

Tutorial Thursdays Month Long Linky Party

Welcome back to this months' round-up and feature edition of October's Month-long Linky Party.

Thank you to all of you who shared your amazing craft tutorials.

As this month is a feature edition, all of you who linked craft tutorials that were photo rich and in a tutorial format in the theme of "Halloween" have earned their place on the "Feature" Post and Pinboard :)

Please note that if I can't "Grab" your image you will not be featured!

Not only are your posts featured here, but they also have been pinned for all to see!

We also have a couple of "Featured" Bloggers who have earned themselves a blog-post all for themselves - More about that over the next couple of weeks :)

So without further ado....here is this month's Craft tutorial Round-up!

These amazing decor crafts ideas were linked:

Boo Wreath Tutorial by Amanda @ TexMex Crafting

Welcome Porch Sign by Bonnie @ Our Second hand House

Duck Tape Witch Pumpkin by Katie @ The Crafty Blogstalker

Striped Halloween Wreath by Katie @ The Crafty Blogstalker

2 x 4 Wooden Pumpkins by Lindy @ Itsy Bitsy Paper Blog

A Whimsical Pumpkin Figure by Gail @ Purple Hues and Me

Free Printable Halloween Sign with tutorial by Maria @ Krafty Kards etc.

Decoupage Pumpkins by Gail @ Purple Hues and Me

DIY Embellished Pumpkins by Marie @ Blooming Homestead

Halloween Spooky Frame by Amanda @ TexMex Crafting

DIY Fall Wood Pumpkins by Maria @ Krafty Kards etc.

Corrugated Cardboard Pumpkin Cutout by Gail @ Purple Hues and Me

Here are the great linked kiddies crafts:

Preschool Pumpkin Craft by Phyllis @ Grandparents Plus

Pumpkin Rice Krispie treats by Marie @ Blooming Homestead

Pumpkin Coin Purse by Mellisa @ The Life of a Craft Crazed Mom

Halloween Sparkle Spider Tutorial by Crystal @ Make it Easy Crafts

Leaf Art for Kids by Phyllis @ Grandparents Plus

Gravestone Rice Krispie Treats by Mellisa @ The Life of a Craft Crazed Mom

And some other awesome Fall/Halloween goodies that were shared with us all:

So cute I had to share - Handmade Teddy Bear Costume by Marie @ Blooming Homestead

Beautify a Dollar Store Candle Holder by Roopini @ Let's Make it Lovely

Haunted House by Linda @ Paper Seedlings

Thank you so much for sharing your amazing crafts and tutorials with us all :)

If you would like a featured button, feel free to grab one below:

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.marigoldsloft.com" title="Marigolds' Loft"><img src="http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i51/marigoldsloft/feature-3.jpg" alt="Marigolds' Loft" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

And now it is back to you!

In November there is no theme, and no feature. 

Feel free to link up all your crafts below.

I look forward to visiting all of the links I find below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Weaving Fun :)

Meet my new toy - my Ashford Inkle Loom:

I absolutely love it!

We use them at work too in the weaving workshop to make lanyards and tags for the woven cloths, but I had to have one for myself as I am convinced there are wonders to be created on this little device :)

I decided to go with an Ashford Inkle loom as I have a couple of their goodies and they serve me very well! (my list of haves and want to own is growing by the minute!). 

This loom is incredibly light which makes it so easy to transport, the perfect holiday weaving accessory ;)

As soon as I had unpacked this baby, hubby was kind enough to assemble it for me. Once done, I decided to get going. I made the heddles and warped with some fingering yarn I have waiting for a project of it's own.

I think it looks quite nice (see the top image) and it is working up well for the first attempt. I probably won't be using fingering yarn for the future planned projects, and do plan on working with some sturdier yarn, maybe a 10/4 cotton or something similar.

Hubby's socks are growing nicely. I am at the point of beginning the heel and am considering making them white.

In the leg of these socks I added an extra pattern repeat to give my a bit more length in the calf.

Kay's Surprise Socks are growing - rather slowly right now because I am irritated by the entanglement that ensues as soon as I start knitting the colour work (but then I only have about 10 rows left so I should just get on with it!). Secondly every time I want to pick up this project she walks through the door!

Anyway, I still have a bit of time yet and I look forward to getting onto the "boring" bit of the sock once the colour work is complete!

This ball of yarn will be cast on later this week for Hubby's 5-in-1 Adventure gloves.

The last project that I am sharing with you this week is a frog-in-process :)

Do you remember this stash-busting blanket from last year?

Do you remember this sweater from last year?

Well, they will soon be one :)

I actually am liking the colour combi right now.

Lucky for me hubby no longer likes his colour choice for his pullover so I firstly don't have to knit it anymore ;) and secondly get to help my blanket grow somewhat!

The Secret Santa Bookmark Exchange is now officially started :)

All the participants have their partners and are busy creating.

I can't wait to see the beautiful creations.

I wish you all a very creative rest of your week.

x

P.S. I am sharing this post with all my wonderful Wednesday friends.

FO Friday

I am feeling much better again, thank you for all the well wishes :)

Here are Kay's finished gloves.

I like this variegated yarn, and I think it works really well in these gloves.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Don't forget - today is your last day to sign up for the Secret Santa Bookmark Exchange.

x

P.S. I will be sharing this post with my Friday Friends.

Tutorial Thursdays Month Long Linky Party

Welcome to a month-long Linky party that is all about crafts and tutorials :)

You have just under a week to grab yourself a feature!

This month there will be a feature post - YEAH!!

At the end of October I will feature all craft tutorials I find linked below that have to do with Halloween.

For a Tutorial to be featured it needs to be photo-rich and in a step-by-step format. The craft that you share is totally open to you :)

Don't forget - If I feature 3 or more of your tutorials you will get yourself a "Featured" Blogger Post (This only applies if you haven't been featured on Marigolds' Loft over the last 4 months)

Of course you can share all of your creative links below regardless of the theme (if you are looking for a feature your posts will have to be in the theme category though) and I look forward to visiting the links I find below and it would be wonderful if you also shared some visiting "LURV", so don't stop linking your stuff and visiting your neighbour! :) 

Please note that due to time constraints it may not be possible for me to leave comments on each blog I visit, but I will try my best to do so.

If you want a button for your side bar, here it is:

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.marigoldsloft.com" title="Marigolds' Loft"><img src="http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i51/marigoldsloft/button-6.jpg" alt="Marigolds' Loft" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Next week you will be able to view all the cool features :)
Link your stuff below!

If you are interested in taking part in this year's Secret Santa Handmade Bookmark Exchange you have until tomorrow to sign yourself up :)

You can find out more HERE

An InLinkz Link-up

Winter Wednesdays

Wow, winter seems to be here. Last night we had gale force winds and have woken up to a sleety, cold morning. 

I feel like I am coming down with a cold which doesn't help things much either!

Before I crawl into my bed I want to update you with my wips for this week.

Above is my newest WIP on my loom - it is the Ravenclaw Scarf for Jas.

It is going well and I guess I am just over halfway on this project.

These are the next pair of 5-in-1 adventure socks. I realize that the one fingers looks a bit odd in the photo but I can assure you it looks fine, I just do not have the energy to go and unpack my wip to redo the photo, sorry.

I hope that I will be finishing these off before Friday and then will share them with you again, looking normal :)

Hubby's Tardis socks are growing a little slowly this week as I have had to concentrate on the other projects but they are still growing which is great :)

These are Kays socks.

They now have some colour in them and are growing, also rather slowly, as I am getting so entangled in the colour-work that it is a little frustrating for me.

Here is a bit more of the colour-work for you to see.

Can you guess what kind of socks these are yet?

Well, I have the chills so I am off.

Don't forget that you only have a couple of days (until Friday to be exact) to join in the handmade Bookmark fun in this year's Secret Santa Handmade Bookmark Exchange.

I hope to see you there :)

I will be sharing this post with all my Wednesday Friends.

Have a good rest of your week.

x

Finally an Empty Loom.

After having this project on my loom for well over half a year I am genuinely happy to see it off and finished.

As I had the opportunity to work in the weaving workshop at work in the first half of the year, I thought it would be fun to experiment with some 8/2 cotton on the rigid heddle to see how it holds up.

It was an absolute nightmare to warp and I ended up re-warping it no less than 3 times.

I also could not budge some of the horrible twisted mess that started to happen in the second half of the 6m warp and so, once my patience ran out, I promptly cut off the other 3m and they are to be found somewhere in a corner :(

I guess this is why it took me so long to finish.

I couldn't motivate myself to sit and weave, but everytime I walked past my loom I felt bad for seeing it just standing there.

Then I had the bright idea to weave some of this year's Christmas gifts and that finally motivated me to get to the end of the warp.

The original idea for this warp was to make some hand-towels in our bathroom colours.

I did just that and have managed to cut and sew 3 towels for the bathroom.

As we have a towel rod, I sewed a channel in the tops of the towels so that they can be threaded on to this rod and sit quite snuggly.

So, will I be using this cotton on my rigid heddle again?

Not unless I use the direct warping method. 

I had used the warping mill to work out this warp:

I don't think I could manage a 6m project on the rigid heddle either.

The cotton is so fine and I only had half the warp on it, the work took forever to move forward. Once I have my floor loom, then yes, I would definitely make more 8/2 cotton projects but not on the rigid heddle.

Another issue I found was that the warp warped!

I have never had this experience before but try as I might I couldn't get it to correct itself.

I am not sure why this happened, and my only conclusion is that I didn't loosen the tension after working on the project at some point, and this created the problem. (It is maybe not as apparent in the photo as it is when you have the cloth in front of you, but there is a definite difference between the one side of the band of colour and the other side)

Have you experienced this before?

Besides that, the 8/2 cotton feels luxuriously soft and silky, I really love the feel of it. It would have made an awesome shawl or cowl, and I do plan something along those lines as future floor loom projects.

Since I was so happy to finally have the loom free and ready for a new project, I merrily warped it for a new scarf for Jas on Wednesday and I am thoroughly enjoying the simplicity of the new WIP. But that is news for next week, so stay tuned :)

Did you complete a WIP this week?

I will be sharing this post with all my lovely Friday Friends

I wish you all a super weekend.

x