Last minute Leah - part two!

I was still finishing this ballet wrap cardigan mere minutes before meeting my friend Maggie to exchange Christmas presents but I managed it! 

My knitting skills are still pretty basic but on this occasion I'm going to blame the pattern.  I made the extra small version but it still swamped my size 10 friend and looked lumpy and mis-shapen in places when she is anything but!

And the award goes to...

...my team head but I can assure you I was not being a sycophant, it was the prize in a baking competition I organised at work.  Previous prizes included a wooden spoon model of the winner and a customised chef's hat - well it keeps me out of trouble!  I got this fab pattern from Mittens and Makings - do check out the brilliant blog and other great patterns!

Last minute Leah!

Every year I plan to make things for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and every year I lose track of time... 

I refuse to think about Christmas until December but I forget that if the people are going to put the shoeboxes together and ship them off around the world they need to do this much earlier.  So, as per usual, I was crocheting scarves late into the night, throughout my lunch break and any other opportunity I could find and I managed to complete four scarves.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them

Pattern from The Sunroom

Crochet creatures!

My first commission - I'm so proud!

A colleague asked me to make a giraffe for his wife as he had bought her a day as a giraffe keeper as a birthday present.

Several hours later and I had found a lovely little pattern on Cult of Crochet, a brilliant blog with lots of free patterns.  All I needed now was the right yarn, cue a trip to wool, a fab little shop in Bath.  They weren't at all phased by my request for giraffe type yarn and after fondling nearly all of their stock I settled on Rowan colourspun and set off home to make my giraffes.  I also picked up a lovely green yarn so decided to amend the giraffe pattern and make a brachiosaurus, as you do! 

And here is the result:

Makery Magic!

Today was the most fun I've had in ages and I went home with all of my fingers!  

I was at a beginners' sewing course run by the lovely people at The Makery, specifically Kate, who was very patient and brilliant at explaining the basics of using a sewing machine.  

I last tried sewing on a machine over 20 years ago and spent most of the lesson yelping in fear as my fingers inched perilously close to the needle and then I managed to ruck all the fabric up in a huge knot.  

Fast forward to a rainy day in Bath and my second attempt was exponentially more successful and Kate helped me to make the most beautiful bag in the world.  If you don't believe me just look:

Kate started by giving us a basic understanding of fabric and grain including how to cut or rip a straight edge.  We chose our fabric from a huge selection and then cut our patterns out and pinned them.  We moved onto setting up the sewing machine, threading the needle and practising stitches before sewing up our bags and even adding a button hole.  

Three hours flew by in the cosy workshop, with an eclectic soundtrack, lovely cup of tea and the company of Rufus the dog.  I don't mind admitting that I could have happily stayed all day and night if they'd let me and I can't wait to book my next course.

The Makery runs courses on sewing, embroidery, knitting, jewellery making, furniture revamping - you name a craft they'll have the workshop for you!

I'd advise anyone, whatever their skill level, to check out their offerings - maybe I'll see you there! 

You have to kiss a lot of frogs...

...before you find your Prince!  My first attempt at an amigurumi animal using double knit yarn and 5mm hook.  I overstuffed his body a bit and there are a few mistakes which I tried to fix unsuccessfully but as first attempts go I'm very pleased!

Sunshine in a hat

Months ago I bought 50g of some gorgeous mohair for no reason other than it was beautiful. I had no pattern and no idea what to make with it but I loved it.

After a horrible day at work I came home and decided to try to make a hat/beret to cheer myself up. I didn't have a clue so the result is a one-of-a-kind, never to be repeated design as I made it up as I went along!

And it's fab - sunshine in a hat - perfect for a grey rainy day!

Elements mohair from Texere Yarns 50g Fire - crocheted doubles and trebles with 5.5mm hook

Did you think I'd abandoned you?!

I haven't blogged in a while as I've been busy being creative if not successful! 

Over the past couple of weeks I've made two baby blankets (one knitted, one crocheted, only one successful); three attempts at illusion knitting (none successful); one mobile phone case (crocheted); one felt flower (courtesy of Mollie Makes) and a few knitted and crocheted flowers.

I don't know why I've been skitting about so much, I just haven't been able to settle on a project and have found myself getting easily distracted.  But I've just ordered Charmed Knits and I plan to make lots of Harry Potter related projects next!

I've also been working on my website which is a lot more difficult than it first looks - I just can't get the thingymajig on the whatsit and the doodah didn't work when you clicked on it.  In my frustration I had to eat a whole chocolate orange which I had bought for my Dad - it's a hard life!

Anyway, hopefully I'll have lots of lovely new projects to share soon but in the meantime here is the product of many, many hours!

Baby blanket for my colleague Jo - double and treble crochet with a double crochet border - self striping acrylic yarn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four pairs of arms...

...it must be a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Or in plain English: an octopus!  

Going one better than a Time Lord an octopus has three hearts but they cannot regenerate and, as many species have a very short life expectancy of only 6 months, I think the Doctor probably wins in this game of top trumps.  I'm rambling...

Anyway, my octopus still does not have a finished body (I got distracted by all the brightly coloured images in my laptop) but it does have all it's arms and I consider that an achievement. 

Next question is what to call him/her, I did briefly flirt with Octavius as I was looking for an alliterative name but I'm not so sure now.  Any ideas folks?  And don't all rush to suggest your own name!

 

Can you tell what it is yet?

Clean answers only, I know it looks a bit dodgy...!

I'm currently in the middle of yet another randomly made up pattern with the intention of using the end result for another odd but completely different project.

More photos to follow when I finish!

Love is in the air...

But every attempt I made to express my feelings ended up wonky and odd!  And yes I am talking about my knitting rather than today's big event!  

I did watch the Royal Wedding and I'm not ashamed to admit I shed a tear as they looked so beautiful and in love.  You've got to have a hard heart not to get warm and fuzzy feelings watching William's bashful little smiles at his stunning new bride.

Anyway, back to knitting, I was asked by someone on ravelry to make a 5 inch square to add to a blanket for a recently bereaved family.  The directions were simple, 5 inches, any pattern/design you want but there was a note that they would like to include hearts where possible and to use pinks, mauves, violets etc.  Never one to shy away from a challenge I decided to make up my own pattern including a heart. 

Four attempts later and I am no closer to achieving my goal.

Square number one - too big and when I tried to sew a heart onto it it looked like a 5 year old had been let loose with a blunt needle.

Square number two - too small and my first attempt at changing colour made the yarn all pinched and tight.

Square number three - somehow became a rectangle and the inset heart became long and squashed.

Square four - is slightly better but still no cigar!

Oh well, I'll keep trying...

The sun is shining so I made...

...another scarf!  Not entirely sure why I started this - I think I just wanted to do some crochet having made so many knitted projects which take me much longer.  I didn't have much of this yarn either so a scarf seemed the easy option - I must try to be more creative in future!

I'm calling this my portcullis scarf - because it looks like a portcullis (can you see what I did there?!  Isn't it clever?!).  It's basically a mesh with a twisted chain border, it was going to be scallops but I got confused and then decided to make the rest up.  It looks quite short but the yarn is really stretchy so it pulls a lot longer.

I saw my crafting guru Mai yesterday and she showed me the baby blankets she was making which looked great so that's my next project.  I'll be making that pattern up as I go along too so imagine there will be a fair amount of unpicking which is much easier with crochet!

I've not been crafting or blogging much recently, it must be the lovely weather as I've spent quite a bit of time pottering in the garden.  I've just planted some dwarf sunflowers and those big daisy type flowers I've forgotten the name of - hopefully they'll be bright and cheery. 

I also spent today trying to teach myself the harmonica - even though I've never played an instrument before and I can't read music!

As distraction techniques go, today was a triumph in ignoring the awkward situation I have got myself into with some unreciprocated flirting, oh well maybe I can woo the next guy with my rendition of 'Mary had a little lamb'  :)

Extra wide babies...

So I tried to make up my own pattern for a baby jumper using a 0-3 month old cardigan for a size guide.  It didn't go quite as well as I'd hoped - unless all babies are much much wider than they are tall...

Busy bee

Yesterday I spent all day re-potting and tidying in the garden.  My small garden is in the shade for most of the day and is very uneven, nasty gravel but having lived in a flat for almost 5 years I'm enjoying the little space by cramming it full of pots and planters!  I've already seen some bees enjoying the tulips and lots of ladybirds on the ivy on the fence.  I also have birds visiting my feeders and I now wake up to their singing rather than the traffic on a main road.  I'm not great at identifying birds but I know I have definitely seen robins, blue tits, sparrows, starlings and pigeons.  And bizarrely for somewhere so far inland I heard seagulls overhead! 

Having spent the whole of Saturday on my knees I decided that I would spend today lounging on the sofa finishing my last crochet project.  This was a pattern from a Stitch and Bitch book which I amended slightly.  I felt it wasn't long enough so extended the trebles section and then added more shells.  I also didn't like the ties on it, which were long chains with pompoms on the end.  I decided to fasten the neck with a sparkly brooch instead.

First plea for help!

Well I did warn you!  I'd really appreciate it if any knitters or crocheters (or any wannabes) would fill in my very quick survey to help me with some market research!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KNWQQ2P

Thank you muchly!  :)

Going it alone

Never one to listen to idioms such as ‘don’t try to run before you can walk’ I have decided to launch my own craft-based business this autumn! 

My plans are very much in their infancy at the moment and I am sure that I will be asking for advice, help and generally panicking on this blog in future.  In the meantime I just wanted to point anyone else who was considering similar lunacy during a difficult economic climate to this website:  www.startacraftbusiness.co.uk

They have loads of really helpful information which is specifically targeted towards craft businesses.  Another really helpful website is Business Link, but the craft website is much more relevant to me.

I will be trying to juggle my online business with a full-time job in a Non-Departmental Government Body so can see my whole life will soon be dominated by yarn, needles and patterns!  I have discovered a real passion for crafts despite my own lack of ability and want to share this with everyone.

As the noted philosophers S Club 7 wisely said: ‘reach for the stars, climb every mountain higher, reach for the stars, follow your heart’s desire, reach for the stars, and when that rainbow's shining over you, that's when your dreams will all come true!

Phone a friend!

I've decided I want to learn how to spin my own yarn so on a day trip to Bath I called in at The Makery to see if they do workshops.  

Unfortunately they don't but the girl behind the counter gave me the contact details for a lady called Ricia who I called to see if she could help.  She was fab!  She gave me loads of information and tips and pointed me in the right direction.  She was so generous with her time it got me really enthused and now I want to really immerse myself in textiles work!

I can't make this year's Wonderwool Wales because I left it too late to plan and there are no available rooms in Builth Wells but I'll definitely be heading there next year.

I'm not sure how much yarn related crafts are included in Art in Action in Oxford but might pop along to this in July.


And I am now looking for somewhere to buy a drop spindle and some fleece/wool (not sure what the correct terminology is yet) and see if I can learn off t'internet.  Wish me luck!

Debuting the cardigan!

So I took the finished cardigan in to show my Craft and Chatter group at work and they were very complimentary!  :-)   

I know they were mostly being encouraging but I am inordinately proud of my achievement.  I first picked up knitting needles on 12th January so have managed to progress quite far in a short space of time.

Now I just need to pick my next pattern to tackle - Caroline suggested this but I'm not so sure...

A hat for a cat - ravelry

Ravelry to the rescue!

So the lovely community at Ravelry helped me out with the confusing pattern and I was able to continue knitting my (too small for me to wear) cardigan!

And it's finished!  Sort of...

Just need to sew the ends in and then add buttons.

Plea for help!

I am lost mid-way through a pattern and it was all going so well!  

I am trying to make a Lion Brand extra easy extra fabulous sweater (pattern number 70517AD) and have got hopelessly confused.

The Right Front and Shape Neck instructions were fine, I ended on row 9 which was knitting and then it all went wrong when it said:

"Before continuing on the Right Front, read the section below that begins with ***

***AND AT THE SAME TIME, when sleeve measures 18ins end with a wrong side row.
Shape Body
Next Row (Right side): Bind off 18 stitches, knit 35
Continue to work in stockinette, keeping 5 stitches at front edge in garter stitch until piece measures 11ins from sleeve bind off row.  Knit 8 rows for garter edging.  Bind off."

I don't understand how to knit AT THE SAME TIME instructions when following on from what I was previously doing is so different:

"Row 10: Knit 5, purl 48
Rows 11-18: repeat rows 9 and 10
Row 19: Knit to last 4 stitches, k1, purl to end of row
Row 20: Knit 2, cast on 2 stitches, bind off 2 stitches, knit 2
Rows 21-30: repeat rows 9 and 10
Rows 31 and 32: repeat rows 19 and 20"

I'm a woman so multi-tasking should be second nature but I don't understand how I am supposed to be doing two things at the same time! 

Itchy needles

So I got half way through my baby cardigan and got bored and wanted to make something that I might be able to wear.

Unfortunately my lack of patience with checking my tension and my inability to follow patterns and count means that the lovely purple cardigan I am making probably won't fit an adult, let alone an adult of my size.  Oh well, it's practice...

 

Free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn (pattern 70517AD), 9mm needles, self striping yarn from http://www.milloutlets.co.uk/

Baby cardigan take two

Stitch holders: check

Row counter: check

Right size needles: check

Patience: hmmmm

I decided to have another stab at the baby cardigan, this time paying more attention to what I'm doing (no Tudors) and taking my time instead of racing ahead to the next project.  This is the progress so far:

Back to crochet

Oh crochet, how I missed you.  I find knitting such a palaver that crochet seems easy in comparison.  I'm still trying to finish the capelet I started, I made a practise version using doubleknit just so I could clearly see the stitches and then I started the real one in mohair.  It's almost finished, I just need to sew in the ends and make the ties with pom poms. 

Practise version made in doubleknit so I could see the stitches.  I had to make changes to the pattern for the real version as the neck was too wide and the drop on the shoulders wasn't long enough.

Almost finished version in mohair, I'm really happy with it, I just need to finish it now.

Close up detail of shell stitches

Poor child...

I decided to have a go at a really simple baby cardigan from Lion Brand yarns - worked in garter stitch it looked like a basic first attempt pattern.  How wrong I was...

Knitting the first part of the body was easy enough (except for the few dropped stitches caused by the terribly rude things going on in this week's episode of The Tudors). 

I managed to pick them up and carry on but when it got to the dividing section I got in a terrible pickle.  In trying to transfer stitches to my cobbled together holder (a crochet hook with pipe cleaners tied around the ends to stop it sliding off) I dropped most of them.  I then put them back on the wrong way (purl-wise not knit-wise).  Then I lost track of the number of stitches, then I got in a tangle, then I got in a strop.

I did eventually finish the blasted thing but I pity any child that might attempt to wear it!

Knitting is not just for Nannas!

My friend Mary bought me a knitting book for my birthday but this was a knitting book with a difference.  No cute little sweaters or baby booties in this one.  Just lingerie, corsets, whips, gags and strait jackets!

This may well back-fire on her when she sees her 30th birthday present in May.  Now I wonder if nipple tassels are one size fits all...

Naughty Needles website

It's my birthday and I'll knit if I want to!

Just a small selection of the knitting related goodies I got for my birthday!  This could become an obsession!

If at first you don't succeed...

..try

...try

...try

...and try again!  I finally managed a fairly even rectangle of garter stitch without increasing/decreasing or dropping a stitch!

Then I moved onto stocking stitch.

Knitting!

So, this week I decided to give knitting a go!  My Mum tried to teach me when I was a kid but all I managed then was to transfer a row of stitches from one needle to the other (which took hours!) but I really didn't understand the concept!

This time around I tried to learn from the internet and youtube - bad idea.  Youtube is good for explaining a lot of craft stuff but knitting is just too difficult to see when they start clacking away and winding yarn around.  I just couldn't follow it at all.  I learnt one way to cast on which was creating really loose stitches and then I tried just plain old knit stitch and got myself in a right pickle.

So Thursday evening and I'm back at home and my Mum is once again trying to explain it to me - this time around I got it though.  Partly because I understand crochet so it was a bit of a head start and partly because I was not going to let this beat me!