The Pigeon Loft

The Show Must Go On...

2011-08-22T11:46:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the lack of Famous Friday posts recently, the camera cable decided to wander off and I was under pressure to find it and update you on Mr.P's latest costume. Fortunately, as if by a kind of magic, it showed up today, so the show must go on.

Mr. Pigeon has already dressed as royalty (I thought he made a killer queen), but today he decided to pay homage to rock royalty. Can you guess who Mr. Pigeon is?

If you guessed Brian May and Freddie Mercury of Queen, then you are correct.

(Though if you thought the first one was Cher or Jimi Hendrix I can forgive you. Pigeon hair-styling is no easy task)

Mr. Pigeon will be on holiday for a little while, feeling the sun on his feathers and pecking paella by a pool*, so ¡hasta luego, amigos!

*more likely he will be getting squashed in my bag between a bottle of water and an iPod.

Greetings!

2011-08-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

This post has been a long time in coming. My sketchbooks are full of ideas for greetings cards, but I finally took the plunge, went from sketch to reality and got the very first batch of Pigeon Loft cards printed.

Look how snazzy they are!

They have a nice silky finish and come with white envelopes and everything!

Yes, yes, you're quite right, graduation season is nearly at an end, so who will you send a "bird brain" card to? Well, GCSE and A-level results are out this week and Masters and PHD students have to wait a while yet. (I should know- a polyester gown and mortarboard are not enough to keep you warm during a snowy November degree congregation!) Maybe you just fancy telling somebody what a huge clever clogs they are.

Mr. Pigeon cards are available in the Etsy shop now, but a lucky comment-leaver or two *may* be randomly selected to receive one in the post :-)

Famous Friday: Here You Come Again

2011-08-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

Have an Oxford Dictionary definition:

dolly bird (dol·ly bird)

noun

British informal

i. an attractive and stylish young woman, considered with reference only to her appearance.

ii. crochet pigeon disguised as country music legend.

Mr. Pigeon's Gleekend Part 3

2011-07-31T12:20:00.001-07:00

Let's kick off part 3 with a mohawk-sporting bad-bird...

...and (this is my personal favourite costume) Zizes...

"How do you make a Single Ladies unitard for a pigeon?" you may ask.

Well, having tried to do just that, I can safely answer "with great difficulty."

Eat your heart out Beyoncé.

I couldn't resist a more colourful version of Kurt though, having already made the perfect red hat.

Now, it would be a shame not to feature the only bird character in the show on a blog starring a pigeon, so here is a warbler and his canary...

Do you reckon every pigeon should have eyebrows from now on? I think Mr.P pulls them off spectacularly.

And now the moment we've all been waiting for. Introducing the real star of Glee...(cue drumroll)...

You think sewing tiny strips of ribbon onto a tiny pigeon tracksuit is hard?

Try making 15 different tiny little pigeon costumes and trying to make fake hair behave. In the words of Sue Sylvester...

Here they are in all their glory:

Click on the picture to see a larger version.

(If you want to, that is. I won't force you.)

Hope you enjoyed Mr. Pigeon's gleekend. Apologies to those who aren't Glee watchers, it must have been a dull three days for you! I'm pretty sure the next big costume project will be to everybody's liking. It should be magical :-)

Mr. Pigeon's Gleekend Part 2

2011-07-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

Introducing the star of the show...

... and the star quarterback....

(I'm still not entirely sure what that means)

The fact that goths dress mainly in black made the next costume very easy to come up with...

And those wondering if I was going to attempt to knit a little pigeon wheelchair will be highly disappointed...

And finally...

So that's 10 out of 15.

P.S. Sorry that this post did not end up being on Saturday. It's a long story involving losing track of time in a nice restaurant after falling into a sugar-induced trance caused by eating more than one dessert.

Mr. Pigeon's Long Gleekend

2011-07-28T04:07:00.000-07:00

It's Mr. Pigeon's "Famous Friday" again!

Making pigeons is a fairly unexciting, repetitive business, so it helps to have something fun on in the background. Since starting in 2007 I have been through a Phantom of the Opera/ Evita phase, crocheted to Almodóvar in Spain, Germany's Next Top Model and Bauer Sucht Frau (a quite excellent farmers' dating show!) in Heidelberg and watched every series of Desperate Housewives, Dexter, Gossip Girl, Mock The Week, QI, The Simpsons, Futurama, Blackadder, Scrubs and Nurse Jackie. Several times over.

To celebrate the Pigeon Loft's 100th blog post, I set myself a 15-costume tribute challenge to a fantastic show that keeps me entertained when making what seems like the 100,000,000th pigeon foot, wing or beak. It's fun, it's colourful, it's musical. It is Glee.

So let's have three cheers (or should that be three cheerleaders?) for Part 1 of Mr. Pigeon's Long Gleekend...

HIP HIP...

...HOORAY!

HIP HIP...

...HOORAY!

HIP HIP...

...HOORAY!

From one Mister to another...

...and, finally, a very clean Guidance Counselor...

Phew! That's 5 down, 10 to go!

See you tomorrow!

Famous Friday: For Your Eyes Only

2011-07-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

Newcomers may not know that every pigeon and hen produced comes with a number. I have just sold Mr. Pigeon 072 and hen number 021.

The pigeon you see featured in this blog is not the first Mr. Pigeon, but the seventh. That's right, he's Mr. Pigeon 007.

The name's Pigeon... Mister Pigeon.

I'm afraid this association has given him a taste for speed, danger, gadgets, martinis and, of course, bikini-clad chicks...

I think the other pigeons are a bit jealous.

It may explain why I found Mr.P 069 dressed like this...

"I shall look forward personally to exterminating you, Mr. Bond"

Putting the cat among the pigeons is never a good thing.

Dear Pigeon Fanciers...

2011-07-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

Hello. Just a note to remind everybody on the mailing list to make sure that their spam filters are set to allow messages from thepigeonloft[at]gmail.com. This is to make sure you receive pigeon release alerts. The next release is on Thursday at 9pm GMT. Good luck!

Famous Friday (sort of): Mr.P and Bea

2011-07-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

After all the hard work I've been doing making pigeons and little costumes for Mr.Pigeon's blog, he kindly offered to give me a break this week. He offered to buy his own new fashion item. Something classy, chic and memorable.

I wasn't quite sure where he was going to get the money from, but my piggy bank now feels strangely light.

I was also intrigued to find this up on my computer screen the other day...

...looks like Mr.P is a fan of online shopping.

Sure enough, a few days later a little parcel arrived and Mr. Pigeon scheduled a photo shoot for his latest accessory.

What do you think?

I guess we now know who the mystery bidder was!

See Twitter for another stunning shot :-)

Famous Friday: Imperial Mr.Pigeon

2011-07-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

After last week's post it could be assumed that Mr. Pigeon is in favour of Monarchism. In actual fact, I don't think he even knows what that means. He's just in it for the fancy hats.

The Pigeon Loft is an unbiased blog and Mr. Pigeon has no political affiliations... at least he doesn't think he does. He doesn't remember buying any and, if he did, he must have left them somewhere.

So, in the interest of balance, Mr. Pigeon has gone to the other extreme this week in time for Bastille Day on 14th July.

Vive la France! Vive la république!

Let's just hope Mr. Pigeon doesn't meet his Waterloo any time soon.

Famous Friday: His Royal Fly-ness?

2011-07-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

When I suggested that Mr. Pigeon dress up as "the one with the curly hair from Queen" I had Brian May in mind.

Not this...

That pigeon's getting ideas above his station. He'll be wanting his face on stamps next.

Mr. Pigeon's Famous Friday: Masquerade

2011-06-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

I've noticed Mr.Pigeon has been swooping about mysteriously lately. He has been quite reclusive, but he has also started listening to organ music and crooning loudly at night.

I presumed it had something to do with his Darth Vader cape.

Mr. Pigeon has always been a bit of a prima donna, but today he made the strangest diva demand yet.

What would a pigeon want with a chandelier?

Oh. I see. The Pigeon of the Opera?

It's no wonder. It is one of my pigeon-making DVDs of choice.

NEWSFLASH

2011-06-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

Good evening (or day...or morning. Take your pick)

Thank you for tuning in to the Pigeon News Network.

This is your host, Mr. Pigeon. (It really is him. Don't let the glasses fool you)

It has been an eventful week for the Pigeon Loft with many announcements to make and exciting plans for the future.

These are today's top stories.

PIGEON PRODUCTION CONTINUES. Don't worry, pigeon fanciers! Although Mr.Pigeon has been getting more than a few new outfits recently, pigeon production still continues in the background. A perfect new wool has been sourced that makes nice, chunky pigeons.

GREETINGS CARDS: Pigeon Loft greetings cards will soon be going into production. I have many ideas for designs and am eager to hear your opinions. What sort of cards do you usually buy? Do you prefer square or rectangular cards? Would you be interested in such a product?

STRIKE A POSE: Mr.Pigeon will continue to delight and entertain (and show off) in his impressive array of costumes.

I have an extra-exciting pigeon fashion challenge lined up for the next month. Mr.Pigeon will sport no fewer than (and probably more than) 10 costumes over the course of a week.

I'll let you know the theme closer to the time :-)

That's all this evening's news. Thanks for watching PNN.

Feel the Force on Father's Day

2011-06-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

HAPPY UK FATHER'S DAY!

Today I heard a strange sound. It was something like an asthmatic vacuum cleaner.

I followed the noise and soon realized it was coming from a mysterious dark figure. He was holding this...

As I approached I heard him mutter something.

"I sense a presence..."

"Luke..."

"I AM YOUR FATHER!"

Now, my name is not Luke and, as far as I remember, my father is not blue-grey, crocheted or 15cm tall.

Must be a case of mistaken identity. How strange...

p.s. you may have noticed from the little button on the right of the blog that you can now follow Mr.Pigeon on Twitter. More on that story later :-) @thepigeonloft

Devil in Disguise

2011-06-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed there's been a little less conversation around here lately. Things have been very busy since the last pigeon release and I'm all shook up, but let me assure you, Pigeon Loft readers, that you were always on my mind.

So wherever you are, whether it be way down in (Viva) Las Vegas* or in the ghetto, I want to tell you that this blog would not survive without the wonder of you. So for that I say...

*OK, I admit that was a bit of a stretch! Don't be cruel :-)

Last hen standing

2011-06-12T01:45:00.001-07:00

Miss. Hennypenny 020 is in the Etsy shop! (UPDATE 13.06.11: not anymore!)

http://thepigeonloft.etsy.com

Yabba Dabba Doo!

2011-06-10T08:42:00.001-07:00

Introducing...

2011-06-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

You may remember (though it was two years ago) that Mr.Pigeon likes to dress up.

I had such fun making little costumes that I plan to make 'The Many Faces of Mr.Pigeon" a regular feature and I hope you enjoy Mr.Pigeon's fancy dress as much as I do.

To kick it off, here's one superhero dressed as another superhero...

Working Bird

2011-05-30T01:17:00.000-07:00

I graduated last year fully convinced that I would soon open the job section of the paper to find the advert "German-speaking pigeon-makers wanted. Must be prepared to relocate to Bahamas. Daily cake allowance. Salary: £500,000 p/a"

This did not happen.

Never mind, Mr.Pigeon found himself a job which is the next best thing.

I'll give you a clue.

This is the name...

...and you can buy these...

Mr. Pigeon arrived for his first day and was soon serving behind the counter.

Except he didn't really like people trying to buy the chocolates.

He also discovered the bell...

... and thought it would be a good idea to test that it was working. Over and over again.

Deciding that he wasn't best at serving customers at the front, the manager asked Mr.P to make up drink and brownie orders, so he ordered himself a little cappuccino and a brownie.

He also worked hard at catching drips from the hot chocolate tap.

Mr.Pigeon then made an exciting discovery. This shop did not just sell chocolate and coffee!

He soon found out where the chocolate boxes, straws and chocolate cases were kept...

...and where he could earn some pocket money...

But woolly pigeons aren't cut out for all this hard work.

Mr. Pigeon tried his best to hide to avoid making drinks...

...to avoid customers...

...to become completely inconspicuous...

But it all got too much for him and, after squeezing himself under the brownie dome, he dozed off...

Mr.Pigeon's new colleague Becky and Manager Emma were not impressed.

At all.

Poor Mr. Pigeon.

Mr. Pigeon moves!

2011-05-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

In the absence of a proper post, enjoy this little stop motion animation. It was my first attempt and stars a familiar face :-)

HAPPY PANCAKE DAY!

2011-03-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

(Yes, I know it was yesterday, but shhhhh...)

Are you feeling peckish? Mr.Pigeon was, so we got out his little pan, little bowls and little utensils to make some pancakes fit for pigeons.

You will need:

Pigeon-sized bowl and utensils...

...and a willing chef.

Mix 135g flour, 1tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tbsp caster sugar in a large bowl. Mr. Pigeon's bowl was a bit small, so he only used a fraction of the amounts.

In a separate bowl or jug, whisk together 130ml milk, 1 large egg and 2 tbsp melted butter.

Pour the liquid into the dry mixture and beat until smooth.

Get your ladle handy...

Heat butter or oil in a little pigeon-sized pan. Add a ladle of batter to the pan and when the pancake begins to bubble, flip it over and cook until both sides are golden brown.

Remove carefully from the pan with a spatula.

You should have enough for a lovely stack of pancakes.

They look a bit dry on their own, so go mad with the maple syrup.

That's better!

HAPPY PANCAKE DAY!

The Big Knit

2010-10-21T04:44:00.000-07:00

Everybody will be familiar with the Innocent Big Knit by now.

Every year thousands of little woolly hats are made and sent in to be placed on smoothie bottles. For each hat-wearing smoothie sold 25p is donated to AgeUK.

These are some of my hats for this year...

They are easy enough to make, but the tricky part is wrestling these perfect pigeon-sized hats away from fashion-conscious birds...

This year Innocent have extended the deadline to allow more folks to send in little woolly hats 'til FRIDAY 29th OCTOBER, so get knitting!

Happy Bird-day, Mr. Pigeon!

2010-10-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since the last update, but I couldn't not acknowledge Mr.P's special day.

Although the original Mr.Pigeon was created one July three years ago, Mr. Pigeon 007, the face of the Pigeon Loft, was born at the end of September, so it was only right to throw him a little party...and what's a party without a cake?

The birthday bird enjoyed his specially made pigeon-sized victoria sponge

...and there were plenty of tiny sparkly cupcakes for the guests.

They sang 'Happy Bird-day' to Mr. P...

...as he blew out the candle on his cake.

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY, MR PIGEON!

For those waiting patiently for pigeons of their own, there are more little birdies in the works. I'm afraid all the related documents are on my old laptop, which takes 2 hours at least to open one file, so their release will be delayed until all the jumper patterns and passports have been recreated on Mac-friendly software :-)

Mr.P on TV

2010-05-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

Finally! An update!

Mr.Pigeon was very excited tonight. Back in November I took him (along with Mr.P 056 in his box, a little hen and a range of Pigeon Loft and Pigeon Press products) to Manchester to present my case to appear on "High Street Dreams", a new BBC show about helping people with products to develop them for the high street. The team loved Mr.P, but he wasn't selected to appear on the programme, which is perhaps lucky because it looks like hard work and the past few months have been jam-packed enough as it is!

Anyway, I was very surprised upon tuning in tonight to find this in the first few minutes of the show...

(if you've ever wondered what my hands and elbows look like you're in for a treat!)

Mr.P 056's passport

...and a carrier pigeon bag!

I just hope that television stardom doesn't go to his head.

If you're in the UK you can watch High Street Dreams on iPlayer. It's very good.

Mr. Pigeon meets his idols

2010-01-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

After an hour and a half standing in the cold outside Waterstones in Nottingham, Mr. Pigeon finally got to meet his food heroes - The Hairy Bikers!

...though it looks like it's a good job I was there to save him from becoming pigeon pie.

Their new book is all about family recipes handed down through the generations, so I thought I'd hand my own recipe (i.e. the only recipe in my folder which I haven't taken from some book or other) down to you to try. It's very easy and very tasty. Just click on the picture to make it bigger...or if that fails, e-mail me for a printable copy:

Finally, I apologise for not updating more frequently. The Pigeon Loft is being (very slowly) re-branded and I'm working (with the help of a very patient and clever friend) on a proper website, which will be Mr.P's online home. Hopefully it will include this blog, more pigeon adventures, colouring sheets, recipes, tutorials etc. If you'd like to request anything to be included in this new site, I'd be very glad to hear your ideas!

HAPPY BOXING DAY!

2009-12-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

...and a belated HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

As you can see, we had a white Christmas (well, it didn't snow on the day, but it was still there from earlier on in the week) and Mr.Pigeon made a handsome snowbird to celebrate.

I also received a lovely early Christmas present from Australia in the form of a rainbow swap parcel from CurlyPops. There was this fab brightly coloured tote bag...

...and inside were these rainbow goodies...

...and the most beautiful apron...

...which is far too nice to use! Maybe I should wear another apron on top of it to stop it getting dirty.

I couldn't believe these were all handmade- they look so professional, so thank you very much, Mrs. CurlyPops :-)

Reminder

2009-12-08T12:07:00.001-08:00

CALLING ALL PIGEON FANCIERS!

Just a reminder that the next bird release is tomorrow- there will be 4 pigeons and 2 hens...the exact time is in the e-mail I sent last week ;-)

And remember- a pigeon is for life...

...not just for Christmas.

Goodies!

2009-11-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

Hello again!

Thank you so much for all your get well messages :-)

Mr.P and I are now free of snouts and curly tails and are fit and well enough to enjoy these goodies that arrived in the post...

This is what I won in the Amy Butler competition. Weren't they generous?! There are four new patterns (two for bags, two for dresses), a pattern CD AND a stack of fabrics. Mmm.

Talking of goodies, this is what I made for a rainbow swap...

Went a bit OTT with the colour scheme! There are 2 types of Pigeon Loft fabric, 6 button note cards designed exclusively for my swap partner, a giant button brooch and assorted coloured ribbons. I did make a rainbow spiral-bound book...but the less said about that the better...it didn't make it into the package...it didn't even open...it is destined to be ripped up and used for shopping lists.

ATTENTION ALL PIGEON FANCIERS! There will be some Christmas pigeons and hens coming out this year. I reckon they'll be ready to fly the nest in early December. I will of course let all of you on the mailing list know exactly when they'll be released.

Poorly Mr. Pigeon

2009-10-23T03:55:00.001-07:00

Mr. Pigeon and I haven't been well this week.

I came back from a weekend away in Oxford to find Mr.P flat on his back with a runny beak, aching wings and a temperature high enough to roast himself.

I thought it might be bird flu.

But then these appeared...

...closely followed by this...

Poor Mr. Pigeon

Looks like it's swine flu :-(

Breaking the silence!

2009-10-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Yet again I have broken my promise to post more frequently, so do forgive me. It's been a very busy summer indeed and a very busy post-summer too.

Let's see if you can guess where Mr.P will be for the next year ...

Have a few clues.

It's home to a famous castle:

Well, it was before the castle was destroyed and replaced with a mansion house instead.

It's also home to the Paul Smith flagship store:

(very very nice inside...but I'd better not post the photos, as I wasn't really allowed to be taking any)

And its most famous (fictional) inhabitant wore a hat very similar to the one which Mr. Pigeon is modeling:

Just imagine the bow, arrows and feather in his hat- I didn't have the time or desire to make any!

While you're pondering the answer, there is other exciting news. Do you remember the last post? The one where we met Amy Butler? Well, on one of the handouts were details about a competition. Entrants had to make something with Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabrics for the chance to win fabric and patterns galore. How could I not take part with a prize like that?

This was the design I came up with after a few failed attempts, many discarded feet and a lot of needle-related injuries:

And last week I received an e-mail to tell me that this little elephant was one of the winners!

This unexpected news was greeted with a celebratory sprint around the room...then a cup of tea and a nice sit down to recover from the excitement.

No doubt some photos of the goodies will follow when they arrive :-)

When two stars meet...

2009-08-21T03:30:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday was Amy Butler day at The Fat Quarters. Being a fan of her designs, I thought it would be nice to go along... accompanied by my feathered friend of course...

It was a very exciting day. We met the wonderful Mrs. Locket and her lovely daughter Dot, not to mention Mr.P's brother Lofty (aka Mr.Pigeon 030), who kept us entertained while we waited for the talk to begin. There were plenty of beautiful fabrics, books and patterns on sale- needless to say, Mr. Pigeon was more interested in the buffet.

But we both really enjoyed Amy's talk (especially as we were all given a free pattern booklet!), which was about her recent 'inspiration' trips to Bali and India with several sneak peeks at her new fabric range and new rugs. Afterwards we got to have our purchases signed and Mr.P couldn't resist a photo opportunity...

This isn't a great photo I know, but I thought I should take it as quickly as possible before the police were called and I was escorted from the premises in a straitjacket. Luckily Ms. Butler was very friendly indeed and refrained from hitting the panic button when Mr. Pigeon emerged from his bag and his mad owner insisted on taking a picture.

Mr. Pigeon is so taken with his new celebrity friend that he's taken to sleeping with this on his pillow...

Oh dear.

On the subject of celebrity, do you want to see what happens when you mix a student with too much time on her hands with a small crocheted pigeon and a piece of polyester stuffing?

Santa Claws...

Kenny Rogers...

Professor Dumbleclaw...

Marie Antoinette...

Yum yum yum!

2009-08-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made some of these...

...chocolate macarons filled with chocolate ganache. Mmmmmm :-)

Why?

Because Mr. Pigeon and I were so inspired to bake following our trip (or rather our pilgrimage) to Bettys in Harrogate for afternoon tea.

We got roast chicken sandwiches and a juicy sultana scone with clotted cream and jam on a lovely three tiered thingy. This is what the top tier held...

...mini layered coffee cake, fruit tart and a delicious lemon macaron...

...and very shortly after there was a pigeon perched on the plate too...

Now you can't go to Bettys without visiting the bakery afterwards, so we felt obliged to waddle into the bakery, weighed down with food, to buy a few things to take home for tea (not that we could eat anything else after three layers of sandwich, scone and cake).

Pikelets to toast and smother with butter...

...a "little rascal", the mini version of the famous Bettys "fat rascal"...

...and a lovely fluffy white loaf...

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Talking of yummy things, thank you so much to everybody who voted for Mr.P in the Dorset Cereals little blog awards- he got 30 votes!!!...before the end of the month came and all the scores were cleared! Didn't know that would happen!

Luckily this means that everybody was back to the start and Mr.P made it to the top on Saturday!!!....

Mr. Pigeon and I really do love cereal and would very much like a purple egg cosy, so any more votes would be hugely appreciated. If Mr.P is at the top at the end of the month I promise to have a REALLY GOOD GIVEAWAY!

Have a great week :-)

BAs and Holid-As!

2009-07-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a busy two-and-a-half weeks! We went down to Bristol for this:

I received my BA in Modern Languages and Mr. Pigeon collected his BA (Bird of Arts) degree in Pidgin English and then we headed off on holiday to this place...

...can you guess where Mr. Pigeon and I went? I'll give you a few clues...

We didn't have to go far...

...we had a few cream teas...

...and a few of these...

Don't be fooled by the photos- it wasn't that sunny. It was raining about 90% of the time :-)

Unfortunately there are no prizes for guessing!

But talking of prizes, the Pigeon Loft has been nominated for the Dorset Cereals little blog awards! Hooray! If you fancy a chance to win some of their cerealy goodies or would just like to show your support for Mr.P, just click on the picture at the top right of the page or go straight to the site to vote for us and enter yourself in the free prize draw! Thank you :-)

NEW

2009-07-13T13:30:00.001-07:00

little red bus thank you note cards

gingerbread man customised note cards

@ pigeon press

Mr. Pigeon's Pet

2009-07-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

You may remember that quite a while back (almost a year in fact) I asked you to tell me what you would like to see happen at The Pigeon Loft this year. The overwhelming majority of you said that you'd like to see Mr. P with one or more little baby pigeons.

Do you want to know what Mr.Pigeon thought about that idea?

He wasn't entirely keen.

In fact, I'm not sure he even knows where baby pigeons come from.

Where do baby pigeons come from, Mr.P?

...

...the pigeon obviously knows more than I gave him credit for.

Anyway, Mr.Pigeon is quite used to his bachelor lifestyle, but did think he would like some company, so I suggested he get a pet to look after.

Obviouly it would have to be a fairly low-maintenance pet for a pigeon to look after and, bearing in mind the various gingerbread man- related incidents, it was crucial that Mr.P's new pet was not edible.

We settled on the idea of a pet rock- it wouldn't need walking, wouldn't make much noise and wouldn't make much mess.

Now, you can get tame pet rocks like these.....

...in specialist rock pet shops like this one.

But if you're really lucky...

...you might stumble across a wild one in your garden...

Aww...

Come back soon to see how Mr.Pigeon and bird's best friend, Spot, are getting on :)

Back for good!

2009-06-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hello there :-) There is plenty to celebrate at the Pigeon Loft at the moment!

Exams are finished...hooray!

The degree is over...hooray!

4 birds found new homes...hooray!

I have interesting things to show you...hooray!

And there is a good chance that the blog will be updated more regularly now...hooray!

It's time for a bit of a catch up and some thank yous. Back in April I received a very exciting parcel indeed from Emma at Silver Pebble. It contained a very special, very shiny pigeon as well as some other lovely goodies. Mr. P kindly agreed to model the birdy bling...

Isn't it beautiful? Thank you so much, Emma :-)

In May Mr.P and I escaped Bristol and revision for a few hours courtesy of Jayne, who organised the Vintage and Handmade Fair at Chipping Sodbury. It was a lovely sunny day, there were lots of brilliant stalls and far too much money was spent!

Favourite purchases include lovely Laura Ashley fabric squares, great envelopes made from pages of old children's books, melon and cucumber lipbalm (mmmmmm...) and some green apple buttons...

I received another lovely surprise in the post from Marilyn, whose work I've admired for ages and ages. She was giving away free postcards from the Art Star Craft Bazaar and mine arrived with a sheet of stickers too :-)

In between receiving lovely things in the post I did some Pigeon Loft-related things too.

A new design, "citrus" has gone into the Pigeon Press Etsy shop and further designs are being perfected...

(as always, any requests or feedback regarding products is very welcome)

...and there is a new limited edition framed gocco print in the Pigeon Loft Etsy shop. There are only 18 Happy Tortoise prints, so act fast if you would like one!

Phew. That was a lot to get through. Off you go and have a nice cup of tea and a sit down...that's what I'll be doing!

Come back later to see what came in the post for Mr.Pigeon!

2009-04-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

Updates will still be made and new products added to the Etsy shop.

As of June 1st, Mr.P and I will be freeeeeeeeeeeeeee and you can expect more regular updates, shiny new things, more pigeons and answers to your e-mails...I'm very sorry to anybody who has not yet received a reply to an e-mail since December- I will make this my priority!

See you in June ! x

Update

2009-04-08T06:03:00.000-07:00

Where is the time going? It's been aaaaaaages since the last post.

Do you remember me telling you about the Pigeon Loft fabric? Yes? Well, it isn't quite going to plan! It's incredibly time-consuming, the vast majority seems to come out fuzzy and I'm useless and lining up the pattern! Despite these problems, I have got two lots of fabric to show you:

Look! Cupcakes!...you see, I do listen to your requests ;-)

I will put the parts which didn't go horribly wrong up for sale (eventually!) and will make aprons and oven gloves out of the bits which aren't quite so perfect.

Something which is going a lot better than the fabric printing and which I am incredibly excited about is the launch of something which I've been wanting to do for a long while. Are you ready?

...

PIGEON PRESS!

An Etsy shop (and DaWanda shop) dedicated to unique customisable stationery from the Pigeon Loft. The great thing about this is that it can be done easily alongside exam revision, whereas pigeon-crocheting can't. The range is small at the moment, but more designs will be added as and when possible.

There are rubber duck note cards which were originally designed for a friend's birthday...

(for those of you who zoomed in to read the tiny writing on the cards- yes, that really is her name!)

Talking of names, you can put whatever you like on the note cards...

...and there are cupcake note cards too!

If you read this blog and decide that you would quite fancy some stationery with cakes on it or with a rubber duck and your name on it, I am offering you 2 extra cards and envelopes free (they usually come in packs of 6) if you put "HELLO, MR PIGEON!" in the 'message to seller.'

Phew! Well, that's all for now, folks, but Mr.Pigeon will be back around Easter to update you on his adventures :-)

What's the time, Mr.Wolf?

2009-02-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

It's dinner time!

For a while now I've been meaning to join in with Illustration Friday. Every Friday a new topic is announced and you have one week to come up with an illustration for it and post it on your blog. This week's topic is 'Time' so I thought of the game 'What's the time, Mr.Wolf?' It just so happens that the university arts magazine theme is 'Red', hence Red Riding Hood and the red sauce! You see, I've killed two birds with one stone!

Thank you all so much for the lovely, encouraging comments on the post below! Mr.Pigeon is glad you enjoyed his magic show (and is considering turning professional) and I am happy that the idea of Pigeon Loft fabric has been well received. All your suggestions and ideas have been noted (ta very much indeed) and have inspired me to start working on a second print. No doubt I will be in need of your opinions in the near future to help choose the next design :-)

Introducing...The Marvellous, Mysterious, Magical Mr.Pigeon

2009-01-29T07:36:00.000-08:00

This is Mr. Pigeon...

This is Mr.Pigeon's top hat...

...and this is Mr.Pigeon's magic wand...

Would you like to see a trick?

This is just an ordinary piece of linen.

BUT...with a wave of his magic wand...

Mr.Pigeon has turned it into...

Pigeon Loft screen-printed fabric!

Ta-dah!

Yes, I am pleased to announce that The Pigeon Loft is branching out into fabrics for all you people who love to sew. This is the first pattern of what I hope will be many and it will be available, printed onto a nice medium weight 100% cotton, next time I am home, which could be in a few weeks' time or could be Easter.

I know hand-printed fabrics can be expensive, but rest assured I will try and keep costs as low as possible.

I am in the process of designing a complementary fabric for 'utensils' which can be used with it. I was thinking of a wonky check or stripe. Let me know what you think. This may also be the time to suggest any other designs/colour combinations you would like to see...*wink wink, nudge nudge*

So, suggest away...

Catching Up...

2009-01-27T14:41:00.001-08:00

I have a lot of catching up to do! January has disappeared in a blur of exam revision, essay-writing and general business. So, first off I should catch up on a long overdue 'thank you'.

A while back I won a fabric giveaway on Bernadette's blog and the other week I returned to Bristol to find a massive package waiting for me. Not only had Bernadette sent LOADS of beautiful, colourful fabrics...

...she also made a folding bag tidy and sent a selection of Australian chocolates (...of which many did not make the photo session)...

I got particularly excited by the polly waffle and the cherry ripe, which are being kept for a special occasion. Thank you, Bernadette :)

You also need updating on the recipe-a-week situation:

Week 2: Caramelised Balsamic and Red Onion Tarts with Goats' Cheese

Week 3: Thai Yellow Vegetable Curry

Week 4: Buttermilk pancakes

Tune in next time for some rather exciting news for sewers...

p.s. NOTE TO PIGEON FANCIERS- AFTER A SHORT BREAK PIGEON PRODUCTION HAS STARTED AGAIN

New Years' Resolutions

2009-01-05T10:29:00.000-08:00

This year I have made several resolutions...

...work hard, exercise more, spend less...

...and my favourite...

...to try out at least one new recipe EVERY week so that by the end of the year I will be able to make 52 new dishes.

Mr. Pigeon's New Years' resolution is to sample all 52 recipes.

If you like the look of this Lemon Surprise Pudding (a sort of spongy souffle on top with a pool of lemon curd at the bottom), you can find the recipe here. It really is worth trying. Mmmmm...

Hennypenny's prize draw

2009-01-03T07:48:00.000-08:00

We haven't seen Miss. Hennypenny for a while. She's been hiding over the festive season, afraid of being put in the oven. She is a ready-stuffed chicken after all.

But she decided that it would be safe to emerge now that it is 2009 and the humans in the house don't even want to look at another turkey sandwich ....

If you think she looks rather uncomfortable in her nest you'd be right. She's sitting on these...

27 names went into the nest (thank you all very much for entering by the way- I enjoyed reading your Christmas in three words entries!) and the winner (drawn at random by me as chickens can't grip very well) is...

...RUTH and MISS.T!

Congratulations to you two. Some ever-so-slightly gone wrong but still perfectly lovely pigeon goodies will be on their way to you if you could just e-mail me your address again.

And finally...I managed to take a decent-ish photo of the cotton bag...

...available now in all good Etsy stores ;)

Brand shiny new Etsy shop...and a chance to win some failed products!

2008-12-23T12:50:00.000-08:00

Finally! After a term filled with essays, translations, lectures, seminars, presentations and very little creative or online activity Mr.Pigeon and I have returned. We also have some fairly exciting things to show you.

Having chosen a rubbish Etsy username when signing up last year, I decided to start a new shop at http://thepigeonloft.etsy.com/ - it makes a lot more sense than 'happyturnip'(...don't ask!) and will be a lot easier to remember and find. Now, a shop needs stock so over the past week I have been busy producing around 20 'carrier pigeon' screen-printed cotton shopping bags, a new pigeon stationery set and some wine bags. Would you like to see them?

Well you can't see any photos of the cotton bags because they were all awful, but here are the peg-leg pigeon gocco-printed note cards...

YARRRRRRR!

Just in case you'd forgotten what 007 looks like...

These are the wine bags...

...and a catalogue-style shot...

But even more exciting (for you lot that is) is that when printing there are often prints which are ever so slightly dodgy. Not horrificly bad, but not really suitable to be sold full-price. So...I thought I'd have a little giveaway for the chance to win a cotton bag and some pigeon stationery seconds. There will be only one winner!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me what you will be or have been doing on Christmas day...in three words. Ready....steady...GO!

Carrier Pigeon

2008-11-16T08:25:00.001-08:00

When Mr.P and I went home to do the Birthday draw, I also got a bit of sewing done. What do you think of this hand screen-printed linen drawstring "Carrier Pigeon" bag?

The idea was to make lots of cotton "carrier" bags with the design on, but they take a long time to sew so will not be appearing in the Etsy shop until Christmas unless you want the 'fuzzy' one where the print hasn't worked. This little linen one, however, IS up for grabs!

And the winner is...

2008-11-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

Wow! Thank you to everybody who left a lovely Birthday comment and entered the giveaway- I will try to reply to as many comments as possible, but apologise if I can't reply to everybody- Gmail likes to group comments together so that I can't reply to them. Grrrrr.

I would also like to apologise in advance for the dreadful photo quality- I can't control the weather!

Anyhoo, Mr.P decided that as it was his giveaway he should be involved in the drawing process...

...so I put 41 names in a little bowl, blind-folded one pigeon...

...and the winner is....

GINA!

Well done, Gina, if you would be kind enough to e-mail me your address, a little pigeon will shortly be on his way to you.

But I couldn't leave it at just one. I also decided to pick two runners up who will receive a little something (not a bird) which I have not decided on yet. The runners up are...

...Cheryl I think I already have your address but AnneMarie you will need to let me know yours. Thanks :)

Don't worry if you didn't manage to bag a birdie- there will be more pigeony goodness in the Etsy shop very shortly!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PIGEON LOFT!

2008-10-27T03:41:00.000-07:00

The Pigeon Loft is exactly one year old today.

Thank you all so much for reading this waffle and for following Mr.Pigeon's adventures so far- what a busy year it's been!

Mr.Pigeon 007 and his glamourous assistant Miss.Hennypenny were made one year ago in Spain and since then they have seen over 50 brothers and sisters fly off to new homes in Scotland, England, Spain, Germany, US, Singapore, Australia and Belgium, they have had their photos taken in various european cities and have eaten many a nice piece of cake with their owner :)

Special thanks go to Ruth and Val- my first 'regulars' (and some of my first customers!) who have been leaving kind comments ever since before The Pigeon Loft came about on the old blog Off The Hook

Now, you can't have a birthday without presents, so I am going to offer you the chance to win a little woolly 'present'- a bird to be more precise. Just leave a comment stating whether you would prefer a pigeon or a chicken (no, you can't say both- I'm not made of money) and tell me what you would like to see Mr.Pigeon getting up to in the Pigeon Loft's 2nd year.

I will pick a winner out of a hat (well, more likely a bowl) and hopefully announce the result on Sunday...GOOD LUCK!

Still alive

2008-10-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

I've got some lovely things to show you :)

A few months ago I got an e-mail from Melanie and, after following the link to her site, I fell in love with her unique glass beads. As I loved her beads and she was a pigeon fancier, we decided to do a swap. Mr. Pigeon 038 made his way over to the states and I received a fab package of goodies. I just wish that these photos could do Melanie's work justice- it's PERFECT. My dying camera on the other hand is less than perfect which is why the photos are so unfocused and why there is no photo of the sheep bead :(

Little monsters...

Little frog...

Guess who?

Isn't that amazing?! A MR. PIGEON BEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are three little pigeon beads so I'll have to think of something special to do with them. Maybe earrings and a necklace?

Yet another exciting parcel arrived a fortnight later. This one was from my Russian Doll Swap partner, Rachel. She sews some really great things in funky retro fabrics and this russian doll softie is no exception...

Mr.P was being very friendly with the new arrivals and seemed rather interested in the larger doll's pouch...

...typical.

Thank you very much, ladies!

Please come back soon- Tuesday is a very important day for the Pigeon Loft...wink wink, nudge nudge...

Back in Brizzle

2008-10-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, hasn't it?

I'm back at university to complete my final year (hooray!) and Mr.Pigeon has of course come too. He intends to become an educated bird and has decided to study Ornithology...from my bedroom window.

Due to this inconvenient having-to-finish-a-degree business and lack of crafty goodness, posts may become quite irregular and maybe a bit dull until Christmas. I also ask you to excuse me if I don't get to comment on your blogs as much as I would like to during term time. I will be lurking though! And updating. But don't worry, I have a lot of photos of exciting things saved to show you before I have to resort to rambling on about 20th century Spanish women's literature or German post-war poetry.

Coming soon are pictures from the Russian Doll Swap and a VERY exciting private swap as well as some good news for The Pigeon Loft.

But before all that there is some catching up to do.

Most of the latest batch of pigeons have arrived in their new homes...

Mr.P 031 touched down in Singapore to meet his new owner Cheryl.

Miss Hennypenny 009 arrived with Jayne and has been enjoying the country cottage chic of her new surroundings.
Mr Ponsonby Sprocket a.k.a Mr.Pigeon 040 enjoyed a welcome party in Lyndsey's workroom.

There is not one but TWO Hennypennies named 'Gloria'. The first arrived in Rutland over the summer to befriend Liz's rescue chickens and the second has found lots of chickeny chums chez Moog.
Mr.Pigeon 041 (the first pigeon in the new yarn) has been named Hector and has made a lot of woolly friends at Jaqui's house. She has kindly allowed me to use her photos of his arrival...

Wish I was as well travelled as these little birds!

A Grand Day In

2008-09-16T04:13:00.000-07:00

I had a very special guest at Pigeon Loft HQ today. The lovely Lucy came for a cup of tea, some gocco machine action and to pick up Lofty (a.k.a. Mr.Pigeon 030).

As well as some (much appreciated!) custard slices, Lucy brought me a very special something.

Can you tell what it is yet?...

It's a crochet hook roll!

Not only is it beautifully made with gorgeous fabrics, it will also help to double pigeon production as I seem to spend an awful lot of time locating crochet hooks before I can start. Now they're all in one place. Thank you, Lucy, I LOVE it!

After our custard slices, we got out the Gocco machine. As my photos are dark and wobbly, you can see the resulting seed packets plus an explanation of the whole exciting process on Lucy's blog here.

Talking of Gocco-ing, these scary monster notelets will be appearing in the Pigeon Loft Etsy Shop very shortly. Hopefully with matching envelopes if I ever track some down...

And finally, Mr.Pigeon would like to give a huge "coo" of thanks to Michelle, Mr.Pigeon 037's owner, for finding us some old-style pigeon yarn. Original Mr.Ps can continue for a while yet. Hooray!

Problems at The Pigeon Loft

2008-09-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid there's some bad news for pigeon fanciers. Lana Grossa, the company who make Mr.Pigeon yarn, have discontinued Mr.Pigeon's colour and I can't buy it ANYWHERE. This means that there will only be a few more old-style Mr.Pigeons up for sale in future.

Don't worry, this is not the end of pigeon production. I have found some yarn of identical weight in a similar colour and this will hopefully prove to be a decent substitute. It will be arriving shortly so I will unveil the new look Mr.P in the near future and you can tell me what you think of the substitution.

Please feel free to send Lana Grossa angry e-mails...I have!

Mr. Pigeon's Grand Day Out

2008-09-06T08:12:00.000-07:00

After a year of living in and traveling around Europe, I suspected that Mr.Pigeon might be getting a bit bored at home so I invited him on our annual "Grannies' Day Out" (a day when my friends and I drive out somewhere in Northumberland and have 'a cup of tea and a nice sit down').

Last year we had a picnic at Cragside and this year we decided on a trip to Holy Island (Lindisfarne).

It was a bit cloudy at first...

...so we headed for the tearoom...

...which, to Mr.Pigeon's dismay, was not very pigeon-friendly.

In the afternoon the sun (and a horse) came out...

...and it seemed like a good opportunity to take a photo of Mr.Pigeon ~~ruining~~ posing in front of the beautiful view...

The Real Pigeon Loft

2008-09-03T09:50:00.001-07:00

Though you might like a picture of where the magic happens! Well, to be honest I make most of the birds on a sofa in front of Desperate Housewives...and the table has only been there for a week (thanks to the ILVA closing down sale)...but it is a real loft!

As so many of you mentioned gingerbread-related disasters and blobby-looking men I thought I'd post my perfect gingerbread recipe. It's never failed me, even when I've used different types of sugar:

350g / 12oz plain flour

1tsp bicarb.

4tsp ground ginger

110g/ 4oz butter

175g/ 6oz soft light brown sugar

1 egg

4 tbsp golden syrup

1) Sift flour, bicarb and ginger into a large bowl. Rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and make a well in the centre.

2) Beat golden syrup and egg together in another bowl.

3) Pour syrup mixture into the well, mix to a dough and then knead until smooth.

4) Divide in half and roll out to 5mm thickness. As I always go a bit mad with the syrup, quite a bit extra flour is needed to stop the dough sticking to the bench. Cut out men and decorate with currants.

5) Bake for 12-15 minutes at 190 oC (although mine never exceed 8 mins.)

6) Make yourself a nice cup of tea and enjoy :)

For those of you who like to ogle pictures of hot men...

2008-08-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

I'd been admiring this young chap in the Lakeland catalogue for quite some time and, after seeing him in the Lakeland shop, just couldn't resist taking him home with me.

So, as promised, here are some freshly baked and very tasty gingerbread men...

...can you spot the odd one out?

You asked for it...

2008-08-22T12:05:00.001-07:00

The "fewer pictures of cake" promise was not a popular one!

These are carrot cupcakes made from this recipe with bodged (but very tasty) cream cheese frosting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. PIGEON!

2008-08-21T04:57:00.001-07:00

My little pigeon is a year old. I can hardly believe it, they grow up so fast! I am of course talking about Mr.Pigeon 001, the original pigeon, who is on the left in the party hat. He is very different from the rounder, softer, plain-winged pigeons I make now (see 007 on the right).

I must apologise for an unplanned month of absence. "Where on earth have you and that bird been" you say?

Well, we've been sunning ourselves in Valencia...

...in bed ill for a week (probably as a result of something eaten in Valencia)...

...in London doing work experience (Mr.P didn't think much of the local laws)...

...and it's taken two days to catch up on e-mails and blog-reading.

You'll be pleased to know (well, you might not be) that I've decided to start doing more frequent but much shorter posts. As there's no longer the excuse of being abroad and away from the sewing machine, there will be much more crafty action and fewer pictures of cake...unless you want pictures of cake, that is...

Off again...

2008-07-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

I really am sorry! Mr. Pigeon and I are in Spain (again!) this week, will be entertaining Belgians the week after and will be in London the week after that but I promise to squeeze in as many posts as possible.

I have lots of lovely pictures and pigeon news to post about but until then here is a picture of Mr.Pigeon...or is it a magpie?

Mr. Pigeon is modelling his present from Clare. I delivered Mr. Pigeon 034 (now Charles Abraham Pigeon) to her in person and Mr.P was absolutely delighted to receive this fantastic Newcastle United Football Club pigeon tank top which she had knitted for him!

Unfortunately Mr. Pigeon seemed to think that this new outfit should be accessorised with loutish behaviour and he soon ended up claws-up on the lawn, coo-ing dirty songs and displaying his beer belly (along with the impressively neat back of Clare's knitting)...

Thank you so much Clare! It was lovely to see you on Tuesday and a shame it couldn't have been for longer :)

I'll be back next week with...wait for it...some actual CRAFTING!

CALLING ALL PIGEON FANCIERS!

2008-07-19T05:17:00.000-07:00

Hello!

This is just a quick message for those of you on the pigeon fanciers' mailing list. I've sent out all the pigeon and hen release details so please check your e-mail/junk mail/spam inboxes.

In other news, I am still alive (as is Mr.P) and finally back in the rainy UK for good after a busy last week in Germany. I promise to answer all e-mails and post something interesting as soon as possible!

Have a great weekend :)

Mini Quilt Swap

2008-07-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

After all the drama of last week I reckon it's time for a nice craft-related, non-violent, gingerbread-friendly post.

First of all (becuase I failed to make it appear at the bottom)... LOBSTER BISCUIT!

...which I couldn't resist and which was delicious in case you were wondering. Much better than real lobster.

Even more exciting was the parcel which arrived earlier this week. It was my "mini quilt swap" quilt from Nicky in Australia.

I love tortoises and requested something to bright to cheer up my boring German walls so Nicky came up with this original design which I absolutely love:

It's a shame you can't see so clearly on the photo, but her stitching is amazingly neat. This quilt has everything- buttons, ric-rac, freehand quilting, embroidery and beautiful fabrics. Even the back is beautifully done:

And if that wasn't enough, she also sent me a pretty handmade card and 3 balls of wool. Thank you so much again, Nicky!

Of course I knew exactly what to do with the red, white and blue yarn...

"Peckish" part II

2008-06-29T04:13:00.000-07:00

Luckily I got there in time to save Fred, pulling Mr.Pigeon out of the box and confiscating his corkscrew. (You didn't seriously think I was going to turn Mr.Pigeon into a murderer did you?)

"Coooooooooooo!"

I only wanted a nibble, I promise, said Mr.P.

But I still made him apologise to Fred...

Fred told Mr.Pigeon not to worry about it.

But what drives a young pigeon to such violence?

It soon became clear that it was all my fault. I've been trying to cut down on all those tasty German sweet things. Without his daily dose of cake, Mr.Pigeon was suffering withdrawl symptoms and even began to hallucinate...

So after taping Mr.P's beak closed (in case of further incidents), I dashed out to the nearest Patisserie and returned with one big bag and one small bag...

...one for me and one for Mr.P...

...although somebody didn't seem to think this was fair...

...and made a beeline for the biggest pastry...for MY pastry.

Oi! Pigeon! No!

I wasn't having any of it...

MWA HA HA HA HAAAAAAA!

...and before I get any e-mails about pigeon cruelty, no pigeons were (badly) harmed in the making of this post.

Anyway, after he had stopped sulking and I had promised not to let him go too long without cake again, Mr.Pigeon decided to make it up to Fred by sharing his pain au chocolat.

What a happy ending :)

"Peckish" part I

2008-06-21T06:46:00.000-07:00

Now, I bet you didn't know that it is every gingerbread man's dearest ambition to become a model in a Christmas catalogue...or even to strut their stuff in a bakery window.

Well, that's Fred's dream. He dreams of posing amongst the baubles and tinsel on a handsome fir tree or between the candles on a festive mantelpiece.

Being a kind gingerbread man owner, I offered to take some shots for his portfolio.

Here you can see "relaxed casual chic"...

..."the sultry look"...

..."the flirty look"...

...work it, Fred ...

...what the...?

Where did that pigeon go?

...

...LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU, FRED!...

Will Fred fall prey to a peckish Mr.Pigeon? Will somebody save him in time? Find out next time on...THE PIGEON LOFT!

A bit of a lazy post...

2008-06-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

WARNING: this is a lazy post.

The dissertation (now more or less finished- yey!) has made sure that I've had no time in the past two weeks to make anything (except the odd pigeon foot, wing or body). I'm planning a nice, long pigeon and cake-filled post for next time so here are a few related links and things to keep you entertained in the meantime:

Nigel the massive crocheted dinosaur arrived safely at the Locket household and emerged from his equally massive yellow box to meet his new owner Fred on his 6th birthday. Lucy even used her impressive crochet skills to make a mini version of Nigel in blue to go with all the other fab dino-related presents she had made.

Emma (who makes some really beautiful jewellery) received Mr.C.Fish from the post below and he is now enjoying life in the UK with an assortment of other creatures.

Mr Pigeon 029 is a very lucky chap indeed. Clare made him FOUR snazzy new pigeon tank tops. You can see him modeling them all here.

Talking of pigeon tank tops, Bubble the pigeon's owner, Miss T (a very promising young knitter!), has knitted him some very fetching jumpers.

EDIT 15.06.08: THIS article from the Telegraph tells us that not only are pigeons a bit more intelligent than human 3-year-olds, they can distinguish between Picasso and Monet too! Maybe I should take Mr.P along to a gallery.

And finally something exciting arrived in the post this week...

A box. What is so exciting about this box? Well, I've been trawling the internet for aaaages looking for the perfect box for pigeon posting and think I have found it at last. The lovely box people kindly agreed to send me a free sample. All I had to do was persuade my feathered assistants to try it out for size...

...it was a perfect fit for both hen...

...and pigeon...

This means that postage costs for future pigeon purchasers will be lower. Hooray!

P.S: I.O.U a more exciting post next time. No box talk, I promise. Just cake and birds.

Mr. Pigeon's European Adventures

2008-06-03T13:24:00.000-07:00

Hello! Apologies for the long absence. You'll be pleased to know I have a very good excuse- the parents were visiting me in Germany this week and it was my duty as their only daughter to exploit their hire car and empty their wallets. They very kindly took Mr. Pigeon and me to some very nice places. There are of course photos...

The first stop was Giengen an der Brenz, a small and pretty town in Bavaria. It is also home of Steiff, the stuffed animal company so we visited the museum. It really is worth a visit, it's amazing what they can make out of fluff and stuffing...

We got a catalogue to flick through over a piece of cake...

...no sign of any stuffed pigeons.

Next stop was Munich. Mr. Pigeon got very excited by this place...

...but it didn't really appeal to the human members of the party so we ended up in the Hofbraeuhaus with one of these...

...and one of these...

After all that beer, Mr. P needed some fresh air to clear his woolly head...

...so we went up to the Heidelberg castle...

...Mr. Pigeon didn't seem impressed...

..."shoddy brickwork" apparently.

He seemed happier in Hanschuhsheim...

...he knocked but nobody was in...

But it was ogling the French birds in Strasbourg that Mr.P was really looking forward to. He soon felt right at home...

...although I expect it's a good thing he can't read French...

...he even tried to blend in with the locals...

...they weren't very talkative.

So that's where we've been. Needless to say not an awful lot of crocheting has been going on.

Except for this chap...

But fear not, pigeon fanciers! Normal service has now been resumed, the dissertation is very slowly being written during the day and new pigeons are appearing in the evening :)

Mini Quilt

2008-05-22T06:01:00.000-07:00

I can finally post pictures of my "Lucy Locket's Mini-Quilt Swap" mini quilt, which my swap partner Nicky in Australia received this week...

The photo was taken at night, standing on a chair at an odd angle so isn't very clear or straight. The word you can't read says "pink".

Now, I can’t avoid it any longer. I have now been tagged to do the “7 random things”, “4 things” and …erm… the “whatever the other one is called” meme by various people. The truth is, in between pigeon production, dissertation-writing and translations I have no time to do them… so I decided to bend the rules and get somebody else to do it for me…somebody with a lot of time on his ~~hands~~ wings...

1) What was I doing 10 years ago? 1998....?

I was probably still part of a sheep.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

I don't really have a to-do list, I’m a pigeon of leisure.

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Cake, seed, crumbs...just not toffee- it wasn't made for beaks (:>

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Buy a pigeon loft, a big bag of seed and give the rest to a pigeon hospital. Oh…and employ 100 pigeon-crocheters so that one day there might be more woolly pigeons in the world than real ones.

5) Places I have lived:

I was made in Salamanca (Spain), go “home” to Tynemouth (England), am currently nesting in Heidelberg (Germany) and next year will live in Bristol…but in all those places I’ve lived on a shelf with Miss Hennypenny and various brothers.

6) A random fact: You never see the original Mr.Pigeon 001. Although we are all made from his pattern, he looks very different from later pigeons (like the original Mickey Mouse or Homer Simpson). He’s much thinner, has light pink feet and has purple and white stripes on his wings.

I'm sure you need no reminding that the greatest musical event of the year is taking place in Belgrade this Saturday. As Mr. Pigeon was made in Spain, he will be waving his little red and yellow flag for THIS MAN.

A pigeon on a mission

2008-05-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

I'd caught Mr.Pigeon staring thoughtfully up at my dictionary on quite a few occasions...

...I'd also caught him trying to read it...but I think it may have been a bit difficult as it is twice the size of our feathered friend...

...so I took pity on Mr. Pigeon and bought him a little present to make things easier for him...

...although I still wasn't sure what a pigeon would want with a German dictionary...

...I did ask, but was told to mind my own business....charming.

He then demanded a lift on my bicycle (with a folded piece of paper under his wing)...

...to one of my favourite places- Cafe Frisch, the best bakery in Heidelberg.

I was told to stay put and in he went still holding the little bit of paper...

( I should point out that I was alone, had been hanging around suspiciously outside the bakery for about 10 minutes holding a woolly pigeon , waiting for an opportune moment (i.e. a moment when nobody would be watching) and just as I though the coast was clear, that woman appeared and must have thought I was a complete lunatic...you can see it in her face)

Anyway, Mr. Pigeon emerged a few minutes later with a package and I gave him and his mystery item a lift home...

...what was written on the folded paper?

I thought so- "one piece of cake for Mr.Pigeon please"

Introducing....THE WONDER CHAIR!

2008-05-09T13:20:00.000-07:00

I had a problem. It was a beautiful sunny day, the sun was shining directly onto my balcony but I had nowhere to sit. The spinny desk chair just wouldn't do so I set off on a mission to find a chair that was up for the job.

I found it in the first place I looked- near the station, sitting outside the shop in all its glory. I paid for it, was presented with a very long bag which I attached to myself and cycled home with at great risk to myself and other cyclists (you've seen the slapstick 'turning around holding a plank and hitting somebody' sketches? well imagine that but with a chair in a bag on my back and a lamp-post.)

What's so great about it? Attractive it is NOT but practical it most certainly IS. Look...it's even got a footrest built in...

"Now wait just one minute" I hear you say. "What's all this got to do with knitting and pigeons and...well, interesting things?"

Funny you should say that.

This chair not only has a yarn holder on one side...

...it has a pigeon holder on the other side!

Those chair designers think of everything.

And don't worry, Mr. Pigeon was well protected from the sun. I didn't want him burning his beak so we got his sun hat out...

And finally I'll leave you with a picture of the apple that cares.

Who needs a man when fruit can say it for 40 cents?

012 takes to the skies

2008-05-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

Do you remember Mr. Pigeon 012? I first mentioned him in this post.

Since then Mr. P 012 has been to the rugby club bar for many a pint with his owner, has caused (too) many other rugby-shirted birds to be ordered and this week he finally got the chance to spread his little crocheted wings and fly.

Can you tell where he is?

Maybe this would help...

Mr.Pigeon's owner is taking flying lessons and after much badgering I persuaded him to take "Percy" along and take some photos to prove that crocheted pigeons really can fly.

Here Mr. P prepares for take-off...

...and sits on the throttle keeping a beady eye on all the instruments...

Mr. Pigeon 007 was understandably jealous as he has only ever flown with easyjet where you have to pay £2 for a cup of tea in a paper cup. So when we went to Cumbria for the day, 007 was taken here for some real afternoon tea with pigeon-sized apple turnovers, fruit cake and the biggest scones his little acrylic eyes had ever seen...

Not a bad life for two woolly pigeons :)

Bag, bloggers and bird

2008-04-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

You'll be pleased to know this isn't another one of those posts where I try to hide the fact that I've been making nothing by distracting you with photos of pigeons.

It's been quite a productive day.

The finishing touches were put to this bag for a friend's 21st. It has cow print lining and a cow on the front. I tried to machine stitch "moo" onto the pocket too but failed miserably. Any tips on writing with a sewing machine?...

I got the metro bright and early (by student standards) to Whitley Bay where I met Clare and Lucy . We sauntered to Ring-a-Rosie, the finest wool shop in Whitley Bay, spent far too much money then went for a chat and a coffee. But I wasn't expecting to be showered with gifts!

Clare gave me a birthday card and this beautiful door-hanging cat. The colours are perfect (bet you're glad I didn't go for the obvious pun there) for my room and I can't get over how professional it looks...

Lucy gave us each a bag containing chocolate (not in a photographable state I'm afraid) and this fabtastic wallet. I love the fabrics and again it's extremely well made (with a zip and a popper and everything!) Now I can have a "home" and "abroad" purse to avoid euro/pound confusion.

Thank you so much, ladies- it really was great to meet you both and we had a lovely morning.

Who's "we" you say?

Mr.Pigeon and me of course!

A very happy birthday :)

2008-04-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

I turned 21 on Saturday (which is over half way to 40 and apparently "all downhill from now on" as people kindly keep pointing out) and have come home from Germany for a few days.

On Friday I arrived home having taken 2 wrong trains, ending up in a Frankfurt ghetto, nearly missing the plane and getting to Newcastle only to find that although I had made the flight my suitcase hadn't! After the not-too-successful journey I was very pleased to arrive home to a big pile of post on my bed...

The parcels contain beautiful fabrics from Nature's Threads and from Japan, bright pink tweezers and a prize for winning Sarah's giveaway.

I knew I would be getting a lovely knitted coffee cup accessory but was delighted to find a beautifully sewn needle case too! This was the only photo where the sun wasn't so bright everything came out totally white. The needle case cover is a very jazzy orange and I am so impressed by how neat her work is.

Thank you so much, Sarah!

I got some great crafty things for my birthday as well including some more Japanese fabrics and a really good book about sewing your own clothes.

Hope everybody had as good a weekend as I've had!

p.s. in case you were wondering, the suitcase made it back home on Saturday morning- good old British Airways :)

Coming soon...

2008-04-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

There's something about Mr.Pigeon 024

2008-04-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

Can you tell what it is yet?

Yes, Mr. Pigeon 024 got in touch with his feminine side to become...PRINCESS PIGEON!

Princess pigeon is part of an order I got aaaaaages ago and have been putting off because of the idea of having to make a pigeon-sized tutu. Luckily it's turned out OK.

The new bird on the block has certainly impressed one young pigeon...

...

So PP and her woollysaurus will shortly be off to live in Belgium, the land of chocolate and waffles...I quite envy them :)

Forget Fred and Ginger- meet Fred THE Ginger(bread man)

2008-04-06T03:08:00.000-07:00

Just before easter a parcel arrived on my doorstep...

In amongst the pigeon stuffing and chocolate from the parents was this little chap...

I entered Diane's blog's birthday giveaway and although I didn't win I mentioned how much I loved gingerbread men and she very kindly sent me my very own felted ginger friend! (for future reference Diane- I also like Citroen C3s and cheques for £1,000,000)

Fred as he is now known soon settled in and made himself a feathered friend...

They sat and admired the spring flowers together...

...and, after assuring me that they were both experts in woolly chicken anatomy, helped to put together a new hen...

In fact pigeon and gingerbread man were getting along fantastically until this happened...

...

Luckily Fred is a very forgiving gingerbread man and after a quick trip to gingerbread A&E I popped a Fred and Mr.Pigeon-sized pizza into the oven to avoid further temptation...

Thanks so much, Diane! I love my gingerbread man :)

PS: NO GINGERBREAD MEN WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS POST

Mr. Pigeon goes to Belgium

2008-04-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since the last post but this time I have a decent excuse. Mr. Pigeon and I were on our own in Germany over Easter and so decided to go and see family in Brussels for a few days.

Here you can see Mr. Pigeon on the train to Frankfurt (both trains to Belgium were so typically German and efficient that we had to keep stopping because they were too early)...

Being in Belgium has obvious benefits...

...Pierre Marcolini - the best chocolates in the world EVER! Once you've had Marcolini it's hard to go back.

Unfortunately the packaging isn't very pigeon-friendly...

And it's absolutely impossible to choose a favourite...

Mmm...white chocolate and raspberry heart, Earl Grey tea and dark chocolate and violet. The good news is that there are also branches in London :D

In woolly news a new friend arrived for Mr.Pigeon in the post...all will be revealed next post!

Extraordinary Eggs and Pigeon Post

2008-03-15T00:40:00.000-07:00

Miss Hennypenny got back to her nest after a long day to find a mysterious shiny egg...

...maybe if she sat on it something would happen...

...to her surprise it hatched!

She clucked at Mr.Pigeon to come and have a look at this strange white egg and they pecked it open to find a pleasant-smelling gloopy substance...what was it?

.........

Oh dear- must have been a champagne truffle.

In other news, Mr.Pigeon 019 who flew off to meet his new owner Monkee Maker in Bristol last month arrived safe and sound and is already being spoilt with coffee, muffins, seed, a trip to Iceland and his very own photo collage! (If you haven't read this brilliant post...which is unlikely...then you must!)

And finally, as I'm far far away (in Germany) and new pigeons will only be available once I get home in summer (yes, I know it's a long way away but postage from Deutschland is VERY expensive) I've decided to start a little mailing list to let pigeon fanciers know when they become available. If you would like to be added then please let me know your e-mail address via the pigeon loft e-mail address (above).

Have a great weekend!

Bargain Yarn and Gummy Pigs

2008-03-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

This is my bargain bamboo/cotton yarn (1.75 euro) and groovy new coloured-handled crochet hook. I tested the hook (successfully) on Mr. Pigeon 024. Unfortunately nothing new has been made yet (although there are plans for that red yarn) but I've discovered a great patchwork and sewing shop with some great patterns for snails and chickens and yet another wool shop even closer to where I live. It was closed yesterday so that's something to explore tomorrow.

Do you recognise "Fred Ferkel"?

They're exactly the same as M&S Percy Pigs and are slightly cheaper so I'm VERY happy :D

I know I promised pictures of cake but by the time I got my apricot custard slice back home there wasn't much left to take a photo of. Sorry. Maybe next time...

Hallo Heidelberg!

2008-03-02T05:33:00.000-08:00

Guten Tag! It's been a while.

I arrived in Germany just over a week ago to embark on the second half of my year abroad and have only just got t'internet set up after filling in a lot of forms and trying to decipher the set-up instructions. At least this connection is lightning fast unlike the one in Spain so there's no excuse for me not to post photos!

Before coming out here I spent 2 1/2 weeks in England going to a 21st in Edinburgh, an 80th round the corner, going to York , Durham and finally Bristol to find somewhere to live next year and whenever I had a spare moment I was doing something pigeon-related.

This was the latest batch (there were 3 more who went to the Rugby Club and New York) and these little chaps (and one chapette) were sent off to various places in the UK.

I've already found the wool shop in Heidelberg and it's very good and very cheap. I've just crocheted a new hat for about 60pence (photos to follow). Most exciting of all however are the bakeries. On the pre-term German course I am taking we get breakfast every morning which consists of a choice of sandwiches, pretzels, jammy or chocolate doughnuts, croissants, pain au chocolat, cheese bread, chocolate muffins...the list goes on. Mmmmmmmmmmm. This makes up for the dreadful weather. As you can see, it's a wee bit grey and I was told today that snow was forecast...

Hopefully the sun will come out later and Mr.Pigeon (or Herr. Taube as he should be called here) and I will go out and take some more photos........probably of cakes.

Home Sweet Home

2008-02-01T05:03:00.000-08:00

Hello! It's been a while but after paying for excess baggage, nearly missing my second flight and a very rough landing into Newcastle I'm back on British soil (which at the moment is covered in snow)

But never mind, I arrived home to this fab fishy fabric from Diane:

It's not a very clear photo but you can just about make out their names: Robert, Bjorn and Malcolm :) I'll have to think of something special to make from it.

Good news for those waiting for pigeons- they're just waiting to have beaks attached then will be ready for purchase. Below is a picture of some of the last batch with the original rugby pigeon. It was a special rugby club order and I've sworn never to make another pigeon rugby shirt ever again!
And finally thank you to Ruth for giving me an "Amazing Blogger" award, I'm very flattered...haven't quite worked out how to get the little picture up though.

Coming soon...

2008-01-15T23:23:00.000-08:00

Once I've found the time to type up the pattern for these happy little toadstools I'll be putting it up in the Etsy shop. They're very easy to make and only take around an hour and a half to complete. They might make a nice beginners' crochet kit.

More Mr. Pigeons and Miss. Hennypennys will be added in early February once they all have eyes, pouches and passports. I'm quickly running out of eyes and haven't been able to find decent replacements yet so if anybody knows where to find 4 or 5mm acrylic round black eyes online then I'd love to know!

That's all for now except to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH for all your lovely comments and e-mails- they're very much appreciated :)

Treeling

2008-01-12T03:44:00.000-08:00

Apologies for the lack of updates recently. I'm back in Spain and rationing the photos I took over Christmas!

One of my Christmas presents was the Softies book and I couldn't resist making the happy treeling for a friend's birthday (don't worry, there is a reason why I'm giving her a cuddly tree for her 21st)

I forgot about the seam allowance on the trunk so when I turned it right side out his eyes looked a bit scary and far apart. Oops.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2008-01-04T04:34:00.000-08:00

My first attempt at Gocco printing didn't go as well as I had planned. I tried to save supplies by using the same screen for the black and white AND colour prints, making positioning the card very difficult as you can see below (L-R: good to bad to worse)...

The black and white only prints were much more successful.

I also tried black and white and red and white sheep note cards. Unfortunately the far left sheep lost part of his nose in the printing process.

In other news...

Mr. Pigeon 015 is now for sale on Etsy.

Mr. Pigeon 016 arrived safely in London, is now called Bubble and aspires to become a tank top model!

Mr. Pigeon's Present

2007-12-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Not even woolly pigeons can escape the dodgy Christmas jumper...

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

2007-12-25T13:43:00.000-08:00

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

That was how Salamanca looked just before I left it. I trained to Madrid (nice place to visit), stayed the night in Alcalá and flew to Edinburgh on Saturday. Can you guess from the photo below who was with me on the plane?

We attracted some strange looks from other passengers!

I came home to a lovely parcel containing the "Linus" pincushion I ordered from (the softie award-winning!) squirrelmomma. I can't believe how perfect the stitching is and it even came in a little pink bag.

That's all for now but check back soon for pictures of Mr.Pigeon's Christmas present :)

2 more sleeps :)

2007-12-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

Two more nights and I'll be back on British soil and will hopefully have lots of exciting things to show you. Tonight after I have done a bit of packing I have the exciting job of attaching wings and feet to 7 pigeons so that when I get home all I have to do is sew on the eyes and make their little bags and passports. 5 of the 7 pigeons already have homes to go to so there will be two appearing on Etsy very shortly.

This also means that for the next two weeks I will have a good internet connection and don't have to post at 8am to be able to include photos :D

Order:

2007-12-13T23:21:00.000-08:00

It's cold and grey outside so instead of more grey pigeons have some colour...

Jake the Woollysaurus

Coco the Clownfish

Tortoise

This was part of an order for somebody at 'work' (I say 'work' as I don't do much besides drink tea and eat cake and don't get paid either) who is going to give them to the children she looks after as presents. The fish and dinosaur are my own patterns but I can't take credit for the tortoise. I bought his pattern from Etsy a while ago. I also made another hen but ufortunately the photos of her are blurry. Never mind, I'm sure you've had enough bird-related posts :D

Pigeons in waiting

2007-12-09T02:28:00.000-08:00

Here they are 007 - 016 sitting on my shelf with their numbers tied around their necks so I know which is which. Most of them are still waiting for eyes, beaks, wings and feet.

I should point out that 009 is a knitted pigeon. I tried to adapt the crochet pattern for knitting and the result is an even more skittle-like bird.

011 is "una paloma blanca" and those of you who have bothered to count may have realised that one is missing. "Where is 012?" I hear you cry.

He's at the rugby club bar...

PS: apologies for the dull photos- I blame winter.

Pigeons of the World...

2007-12-04T00:04:00.000-08:00

As the third little hen flapped her woolly wings and flew the nest yesterday (i.e. was handed over to her new Spanish owner) a strange thought occurred to me as strange thoughts often do. Do all pigeons (or all hens/ flamingos) speak the same pigeon (or hen or flamingo) language? For example would a German town pigeon be able to understand a British one?

Here is my conclusion...
Click here or on the picture itself for a better look :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

2007-12-01T00:22:00.000-08:00

This is his present - his pigeon counterpart. Mr.Pigeon 012 is wearing a blue striped Rugby Shirt (with the number 50 on the back), holding a little rugby ball and comes with a little crocheted pint. As I lost my small hook he came out chunkier than the others but that's quite appropriate for a rugby pidge. The only thing I couldn't do was crochet bruises or a black eye on.

I strongly discourage anybody from attempting to handsew small garments for spherical objects- not easy!

The card follows a very similar theme :) There are 50 birds for 50 years. The one I posted was coloured in but the photos weren't great so here it is in black and white...

A larger image can be found on Flickr here if you want to count them all.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOKE and HAPPY ADVENT too!

Poor Mr.Pigeon

2007-11-30T10:17:00.000-08:00

Poor Mr. Pigeon has been sulking in the corner muttering about migration all afternoon. Apparently he hasn't taken too well to his hen friend's popularity. He emerged from my bag at work this morning to cries of "I prefer the hen" and "No, the hen's much better" and not even his special Christmas hat managed to persuade them otherwise.

The little hens on the other hand have been doing very well for themselves -there's even a small waiting list for them :)

First day of advent (and therefore daily chocolate) tomorrow! YEY!

Hasta la vista, amiga gallina!

2007-11-29T03:59:00.000-08:00

This morning (after taking a few photos) I said goodbye to my second chicken (...or hen- I never know the difference) as she was wrapped up as a birthday present and handed over to start her new life in Spain.

Her tag says "Hola! Me llamo ________. Soy to amiga gallina. Cuídame bien, por favor" or "Hello! My name is ________. I am your hen friend. Please take good care of me"

She's been called "Caponata" after the Big Bird-like hen in Spanish Sesame Street. It's also the name of a greek dish of some sort but don't worry, she should be nice and safe- the meat of choice here is pork (...but with omelette being a national favourite she'll have a lot of work to do...)

Country Christmas Crafts

2007-11-25T23:21:00.001-08:00

Being so far away from your sewing machine, fabrics, fancy wool and kitchen is hard enough without your mother sending these lovely photos of the Busy Bees 'open house' day she went to...

Busy Bees is in Co. Durham and we went there about 3 years ago to do a little pre-Christmas craft workshop (which is what the lady mainly does) in her craft shed. There are american folk art/ country style painting, sewing and ...er...other workshops and of course most importantly tea and cake is included :D

Mmmmmmmm.

This was my attempt at a Christmassy "pail". It's a very easy pattern and I've since adapted it to make a pail with sheep on and a pail in the same fabric as the cushions in my room. Very addictive.

Aquatic heroes and felt-bots

2007-11-23T13:40:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered what to buy your fish for Christmas? No, me neither but I reckon any fish would love ACTION SHRIMP...

...don't ask - the way my brain works even scares me sometimes!

In other news: last week I found "Women's Secret" (a name which is supposed to sound classy and sophisticated as it's in English but makes me giggle every time I see it) in Salamanca and couldn't resist the robots range which all comes with little felt robot badges attached. Can't wait to get home to start making my own version :D

Pidges and Puds

2007-11-19T15:01:00.001-08:00

The lovely Val from DottyCookie very kindly posted the pattern for her fab Christmas Pudding patch and I couldn't wait to try it. Of course, not having an iron my knitting rolled up so I solved the problem by making two patches, sewing them together, stuffing them and making a plump pudding instead. It was very quick to make and it was the perfect size for....yes, you guessed it...

But Mr. Pigeon couldn't eat a whole woolly pudding all by himself...

Hat-tastic

2007-11-18T05:27:00.000-08:00

When I woke up to find the grape juice on my window sill covered with frost I decided it was time to crochet something to keep away the cold. I also just happened to have watched Legally Blonde for the somethingteenth time and wanted to make myself a crocheted hat with a flower similar to the one in the film. This is the result...

The hat (which isn't pointy- it's folded in half) was surpisingly quick and easy to make but the scarf took aaaaaaages. (I watched Sweet Home Alabama whilst making the scarf to keep myself entertained - predictable but a good film to crochet to).

They're both my own pattern so if you would like to make your own just e-mail me and I'll type up the instructions which are currently scribbled on the corner of my German homework.

An early Christmas present from your feathered friend...

2007-11-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

Yes, this little bird is so excited by his new knitted santa hat that he wants to share the pattern with the world.

If you don't own a pigeon then don't worry! These could be made for little dolls, used as tree decorations, as christmas egg-warmers etc. The diameter of the hat is about 3.5-4cm but you can easily make bigger hats by using larger needles or casting on more stitches at the beginning.

Mr. Pigeon's Christmas Hat Pattern

Using 3mm knitting needles cast on 22 stitches with white yarn.

Garter stitch 2 rows (that's normal knitting)

Change to red yarn and from this point work in stocking stitch (SS = knit one row, purl one row) throughout, starting with a knit row.

SS 6 rows
K1, k2tog, k16, k2tog, k1
purl
K1, k2tog, k14, k2tog, k1
purl
K1, k2tog, k12, k2tog, k1
purl...

You may have spotted a pattern! Continue in this way (decreasing at each end of every knit row) until you are left with 4 stitches. Cut the yarn leaving about 15cm. Thread through a needle and draw up the remaining 4 stitches tightly.

I then folded the had in half lengthways and used mattress stitch to join the two edges. My glamourous assisstant is demonstrating the nice neat seam...

To make the pompom wrap white yarn around two of your fingers lots and lots of times then tie in the middle with another piece of white yarn. Cut through the loops and trim until it looks like a real pompom. Then sew it onto the top of your santa hat.

Ta-dah! It's as easy as that.

Gocco gocco gocco gocco....

2007-11-10T10:28:00.000-08:00

Eeeeeeeeeeeee! The excitement is setting in. I've just ordered my own Christmas present online- this print gocco machine thingy and can't wait. I've always wanted to make my own stationery. It's torture to know that it'll be sitting at home and that I can't open it until the 25th.

If you've never heard of a gocco here are some links to some pretty amazing gocco-printed goodness:

I'll be spending the next 45 days coming up with ideas for things to print with it...

Cardtastic

2007-11-05T11:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's a card. Try not to get too excited.

I needed to make a card and couldn't resist the colours on this paper. Then I decided that it looked nice on my bookshelf next to Miss Hennypenny (who coordinates with it) and kept it for decorative purposes instead. That happens with a surprising number of things I make :D

Something fishy...

2007-11-04T02:11:00.000-08:00

It's a crocheted mobile...
I'm going to put some beads on the string in between the fish/jellyfish to make it more interesting but so far haven't had any luck finding any.

Mr. Pigeon's Guide to Spain 2

2007-11-02T06:42:00.000-07:00

Today Mr.Pigeon looks at what Spaniards do in their spare time...

A Woolly Treat

2007-11-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

I've been having fun with a french knitting thingy and some beads... It would make a nice badge. Mmmmm...if only it was real.