Phew... Back to Posting and some Sewing

So last time I posted I had terrible trouble in not being able to upload photos.  I couldn't use Google Chrome as it wasn't working, I couldn't upload photos or read pdf files.  So I looked at other search engines and now I'm using Firefox and I reloaded Adobe Reader and all is well!  Thank goodness.  I know very little about what how these systems work and what they do so it's amazing I've managed to work it out!

I have made a start on some sewing projects with my Silvercrest (a cheap sewing machine and even cheaper for me as I was given it!).

With a soluble pen, my daughter designed a free form sewing project.  We learned how to set it up and she made a start... I then had to finish it giggle.

I found some free courses on Craftsy and made a drawstring bag

and a couple of zipper pouches too!  The first of which had some wonky stitching ... but it works :)  I'm using it to store some sewing and knitting supplies.

This one was much better...

 I found some free instructions on how to make a peg bag (the link escapes me at the mo) and I used the same zip technique as the pouches which worked a treat...

I suspect there's going to be lots more sewing projects in the future inbetween family life and looking after my garden...

Happy photos from spring time.  I shall make a collage of photos from the summer images I take another time.  I love astilbes (center top photo in collage), my roses are going crazy at the mo (bottom right) and my 2 buddleas (center photo) don't look much at the moment but I'm sure they will thrive.  Bets are on as to whether they will be blue, purple or white - I'm wanting white but when I asked them they told me they were blue and purple giggle.  We'll see.

May the sunshine be shining wherever you are till next time.

On the Road to Sewing - Beginner Links

Since my last blog, I have been given, yes, given a sewing machine!  Out of the blue, a crafty friend has updated her sewing machine to a super duper brilliant machine so she had a spare.  Yes, it's one of the most basic models but it was FREEEEEEEEE. 

Wow, I was gobsmacked and then I got excited with the prospect of learning about it and how to sew.  Unfortunately, I wish I could show you images but at the moment, I can't upload images and I can't figure out why.  I downloaded the recent explorer 10 and because I couldn't upload photos for blogger, craftsy or flickr (I suspect people are having difficulties with alsorts of other sites) I tried to install Google Chrome as suggested by Craftsy.  Google Chrome does not work at all.  Screaming silently inside.

I disabled the explorer after downloading google chrome - that didn't work so after searching on-line for other solutions a few hours later, and with google chrome uninstalled, I am still stuck several hours later.

Although I can't upload photos, I can pass on some excellent freebie courses with Craftsy.  Enrol for free and you'll get access to some free courses to start you on the road to sewing.  I found these following courses really helpful:

Sewing Machine 911  Works through how to load a sewing machine, how it works and troubleshooting.  My machine made so much more sense after watching this course.

Sewing Machine Feet  A really handy guide and a better understanding as to what feet do on your machine

Bag Making Basics: Drawstring Bag & Bucket Bag by Kristin Link who has a homely charm and her other course...

Bag Making Basics: Reversible Tote & Zipper

And if you have ever thought that zippers were too difficult or wondered how to go about it then Mastering Zipper Techniques will be for you.

I am so buzzing with projects that I want to do!  I made my very first drawstring bag which included my first attempts at applique.  I'm also planning to make a zipper pouch bag (waiting for an Amazon delivery of fusable interfacing, cutting matt, tailors chalk and a rotary cutter all for about £15) ref the above course.  I love the creativity, problem solving and end product of making your own.  There are many more free projects that can be found here and here and here so get searching on the web and see what you can find!
 

Domino Baby Blanket

18" x 24"

 

Skills required - Knit, Pearl, knit 3 together (K3 tog), pick up and knit, 2 needle cast on.  All are easy enough to do and if you are not sure, lots of examples are shown on youtube.

 

Materials
3mm knitting needles
1 100g double knit yarn (acrylic is fine) in white (75g will do it)

1 100g double knit yarn (acrylic is fine) in cream (75g or a little less will do it)
pair scissors
yarn needle

With domino knitting, so long as you have an odd number, it will work.  For this baby blanket, I started with casting on 41 stitches in the white.  Using the shortened code (the letters in bold above) create your first square.

Main Pattern
1st row 41 stitches - k19, k3 tog, k19

2nd row - k all the way across

3rd row 39 stitches - k18, k3 tog, k18

4th row - k all the way across

5th row 37 stitches - k17, k3 tog, k17

6th row k all the way across

7th row 35 stitches - k16, k3 tog, k16

8th row k all the way across

 

continue with this pattern (k one less either side of the k3 tog on each odd row) until you are left with 1 stitch, snip the yarn about 10cm or where you are comfortable, and thread through last stitch, pull.

 

Now that you have 1 square, to create the second square, change colour to the cream, pick up and knit (i.e place the needle into a space, wrap yarn over needle and pull it through the space, therefore creating a stitch on your needle) along the left side of the square you have just created until you have 20 picked up stitches, cast on 21 stitches (41 in total).  Knit one row.  Follow the main pattern.

 

For the third square, continue with the cream, cast on 21 stitches, pick up and knit 20 along the top edge of your first square, knit one row and follow main pattern.

 

For the fourth square, pick up and knit 21 along the left side of the third square in white and 20 stitches along the top of the second square.  K one row, follow the main pattern.

 

You will soon discover a ridge running from the bottom right hand corner to the top left corner and that the direction i.e the weft and warp of the stitches run in different directions making this a strong blanket.  I have numbered each square in the order you may want to follow.

 

 

Squares 3,5,7,9,11 and 13 running along the right hand side of the blanket will need 21 stitches cast on before picking up the other 20 on the square underneath.

 

Squares 2,15,17 and 29 require you to pick up and knit 20 before casting on 21.  All of the other squares require pick up and knits along the corresponding squares.

This blanket is great to do in between other projects as it's a bit of a gym work out for your fingers and quite repetitive which suits whilst watching telly or having a good natter at your craft group.

When you've made all 35 squares, using the white, pick up and knit along the long side of the blanket (it means squishing the stitches/blanket closely on the needle).  Knit 1, pearl 1 all the way along.  If you end the row on a knit, start the next row with a knit - if you end the row on a pearl, start the next row on a pearl.  This is the moss stitch.

Make several rows measuring as you go along (18" across with the other side included).  Cast off.  Repeat for the other long edge of the blanket to measure an equal amount of the moss stitch rows to the other side and so that the blanket measures 18 inches across.  Pick up and knit along the top of the blanket, make several rows with the moss stitch. Repeat for the bottom edge making sure to make equal rows as the top and for the length to measure 24".

An alternative would be to cast on several stitches, do the moss stitch for required length and sew onto the relevent edge.

With a yarn needle, sew in all ends into the ridges created on the wrong side.

 Donate to a family member or to a charity!

 

 

 

 



Pom Poms and other Projects

When was the last time you made a pom pom?  Have you ever made one?  Homemade with Love magazine has an article which tickled my twirly girlyness and so I thought... why not?!  The more I thought about it the more I loved the idea and so did one of my daughters.  We gathered some scraps of wool and together we created this...

 

Word:  Happy or

       Tuttifruity?

 

It's mainly her work but when her fingers got tired, I took over and at the end when it was time to snipping around the edge and tieing it... the cardboard ripped and it nearly exploded on me.  So by shear determination, inner swearing and a sweat on my brow I fudged it and managed to hold it together. I breathed a sigh of relief as it had taken allot of hard work to make.  Tip: use strong card when making large pom poms.  Word: Happy or Tuttifruity?  I'm going to make some more... why?  For a pom pom blossom festival of course!  Yes, but why?... I hear you cry again.  At the end of the project, all pom poms will be sold to raise money for charity.  Read the blog on the previous link and you'll see why.  On a more personal note, for me, it's about connecting with other pom pom people (smile), creating something larger than it's smaller parts and yet each small part is an important part of the whole.  It's about sparking an idea with a 'word', what does the word mean to you?  It's contemplation, creation for creation sakes (and not for vanity or to line our own pockets) with strangers and with loved ones if you so wish.  Pom poms rock!

 

I must say, once I got thinking about the projects in the Homemade with Love mag, I wanted to make alsorts!  Inspirational.  I've just finished decorating my living room and am seriously thinking of using the 50's scientific stencil for my kitchen (maybe with blue walls).  It would work perfectly.  I'm also wanting to use felt for some sewing projects too as that would be a great start for a beginner hand sewer.  I haven't got a sewing machine so the Flower Girl Hoop project is another possibility (though I may choose an illustration to suit my mood).  I love the washi tape article... some other designs can be found here and here oh and here.  Oh the possibilities!  But I best get some of my other projects finished first.

 

I'm presently making a baby blanket to measure 18" x 24" for charity.  I didn't know where to start.  I searched and searched for alsorts of patterns and nothing really clicked with me (or was the right size) so whilst flicking through The Knitting Answer Book by Rita Taylor, I came across instructions on how to do Domino knitting.  With this in mind and 2 donated balls of wool... one cream, one white I decided to alternate the colours for each square made.  With a set of 3mm needles and the double knit yarn, I made a start...

 

I've calculated 5 squares across, 7 squares up will work and with a moss stitch edge to make it up to the correct size will complete the blanket nicely.  It's definitely one for doing whilst telly watching or having a good natter to (craft groups are ideal).  I will include full instructions in my next blog.

Another project under way is a pair of socks.  I picked up some double knit yarn (£2.59 for 100g) which is self striping, found an excellent free beginners pattern at Canadian Living and I made my very first sock...

Instead of 4mm double pointed needles (dpn's) I used 3mm as this was at hand plus my knitting is slightly loose, followed the 2nd size and ended up with a really nice size 5 (uk) sock.  I've just got to knit the other one now! giggle.  I am so chuffed!  The instructions were easy to follow and you can see the detail in the heel...

and the decreases in the toe

If knitting with dpn's are new, just make sure you divide the stitches as instructed, pull taught/close between each needle (comfortably not like you're strangling a cat... not that I would strangle anything but you know what I mean), and for the toe the following youtube clip will help you in the kitchener/grafting stitch (I was mighty impressed with how mine turned out).  There is a little mistake in the instructions which states....

 

 

TO SHAPE TOE:
Rnd 1: First needle: Knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1. 2nd needle: K1, sl1, k1, psso, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1. 3rd needle: K1, sl1, k1, psso, knit to end of needle. Knit.
Rnd 2: Rep last 2 rnds 4(4,5,5) times more. 5 sts now on first needle, 10 sts now on 2nd needle, 5 sts now on 3rd needle. Knit sts from first needle onto 3rd needle. Break yarn approx 30 cm/11-3/4 ins from last st.

MY CORRECTION

TO SHAPE TOE:

Rnd 1: First needle: Knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1. 2nd needle: K1, sl1, k1, psso, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1. 3rd needle: K1, sl1, k1, psso, knit to end of needle.

Round 2: Knit.

Rep last 2 rnds 4(4,5,5) times more. 5 sts now on first needle, 10 sts now on 2nd needle, 5 sts now on 3rd needle. Knit sts from first needle onto 3rd needle. Break yarn approx 30 cm/11-3/4 ins from last st.

As you can see it's just a simple mis-type of where the 'knit' goes.

 

Just pick up a cheap ball of wool, some dpn's and give it a go!

 

My 3rd project is another pullover, slightly more complicated than my last and this is definitely for me!  Another pattern from Simply Knitting which can be found on The Making Spot by Amanda Jones.  I got a little bit scared about button holes but after placing a query on the Ravelry Simply Knitting group, Amanda Jones helped me out and from that I was able to figure out that I could make the jacket with 6 buttonholes instead of the 5.  I've also chosen a much cheaper yarn... it cost me £10 for 800g... is that wrong?  I don't know but it seems to be working out...

 

Bright and cheery for spring!  Once completed I'll strike a pose.

Oh my such allot to do.  I've also enrolled in a Craftsy course on how to design jumpers.  Looks fab.  So when I can make the time, I will be creating my ideas onto paper and taking it from there.  It was a birthday treat in February.  My daughter made me an on-line voucher for me to spend how I pleased.  Sweet!

I will now end with a story about a badge... or rather the story behind a badge.  It has been made my Dean Bradshaw, who, with enthusiasm and a bundle of care about a boat called 'Framar London' hopes to raise some funds to maintain and make repairs to a 1930's boat.

Even if it's not your thing, I was moved by how much this means to Dean and how much he wants to share the skill, workmanship and care with others.  Such allot is meant by a little badge which he has crafted himself.  You can check out his blog on http://ourlittleship.blogspot.co.uk/ and if you need to check out the youtube clips, you can mute the music on the right side widget (though it suits the style of the boat).

 

I hope not to leave it so long until my next blog and maybe make more bitesize pieces rather than a large chunk like this.  Catch ya later alligators. 

 

From Winter to Spring

I can't believe that the first few months of 2013 have past!  So, as I munch away at an egg sarnie, I  shall type up my first blog since Christmas.  I am shockingly bad at keeping everything up-to-date. Tut tut.

 

I've discovered since Christmas that I can't stop knitting.  It's an addiction I'm sure!  The love of knitting is due to it's technical and design variations that spark the creative side of my brain.  It's about small achievements which roll over into other small achievements which in turn, lifts confidence and happiness levels then become a heady high.  When the harsh realities of life keep head butting you in the face, it's sometimes nice to sneak away into la la land. 

 

I have my local craft group to thank for the encouragement and friendship they've given as I've pearled where I should have knitted and nattered when I should have slip one pearled one, giggle.  Mostly I have to unravel what I've created so the moral of that story is is don't take anything too complicated to a craft group! 

 

One such project I've completed over the first few months of the year was another simple, first pullover project.  It's the same pattern as a previous pullover (which was too big so went to a sister) but with smaller needle size and I used a cream 100% acrylic, brand Stylecraft (Baby) which was super smooth as opposed to a superwash merino (my favourite).  It's worked out a treat....

The Twist

 



 

In the blue superwash merino

 

 

 

See my Ravelry projects for more.

 

 

Another project which I've completed in the first few months of the year is a set of dog coats.  Previous dog coats have gone to the charity shop due to not fitting my sister's Jack Russell.  So I tried again but this time I've followed a pattern that fits over the head of the dog (called Maggie).  It's from Complete Guide to Knitting & Crochet by Nicki Trench which doesn't have a great review on Amazon but because it had a pattern (the book was a gift so pattern was free for me) on dog coats I thought I would give it another go.  I'm sure if Maggie had skinnier legs it would have fitted wonderfully but unfortunately, Maggie is a little rotund and therefore I could have done with extra space for the legs.  Hurrrumph.  I made a small and a medium size and converted a snowflake pattern from a bag.  Here's the result...

 

So someone, somewhere may have a dog who may have worn these little dog coats.  The idea makes me chuckle for at least someone's dog/s will be warm and benefit from such a striking pair of dog coats!

 

And finally, I am still making the springtime blanket but it may be finished in Autumn at this rate.  It's such a long project with a few mistakes in the pattern from the Simply Knitting magazine.  I will get it finished.... eventually.



 





 

Finished Projects

I love a finished project - it makes room for some more possibilities! The snowflakes have worked well.  I managed to do 16.  It took quite alot of patience but I think they were worth it...

A closer look...

 

and I've made smaller versions for my front door with 2 colours of ribbon twisted into a bow inbetween each snowflake...

I've also finished a dog jumper...

pattern to follow at some point.

 

 

 and finally I've created some Christmassy mittens for one of my daughters...

with very long sleeves...

The original pattern can be found at  http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L20103.html?noImages=which is a free pattern.  I've alternated 'twinkle' in white and a pink, added a picot row and chained 50 to make the arms longer.  I'm in the process of making some more in a fuzzy black and knitted for my other daughter.  Will upload when I've finished.

Finally, if I don't get another chance to blog before Christmas, wherever you are, whoever you're with and whatever may be, I send lots of well wishes for all.

 

 

Simply Knitting Patchwork Blanket - Patch 18

I'm making this entry simply because when following the blanket pattern in Simply Knitting mag issue 100 for Butterflies and Crocuses pattern for patch 18, I couldn't make sense of the pattern.  There may be en error as I tried several times and it still didn't make sense.   

Based on the previous patches in the pattern which allowed the position of Butterfly stitch B to latch onto the previous line of Butterfly stitch A, I drew rows 1-4 and 7-10 on graph paper as per the pattern and then arranged the stitches A and B (the directions of how to make these are in the magazine) in the positions that made most sense.  What follows are written directions of how I made patch 18.  You will need to have the subscribers edition of Simply Knitting Issue 100 or at some point the magazine may reprint the blanket in its entirety at www.themakingspot.com and the list of abbreviations found on p92 of the magazine.  The designer is Louise Butt and it's an interesting and varied pattern to do.

Cast on 60 and pearl a row as per directions in magazine.

Row 1 *k10, k2tog - yon - k1 - yon - sl1pwise - psso, k5* repeat from * till end of row.
Row2 P7, sl1pwise, p19, sl1pwise, p19, sl1pwise, p12
Row3 As row 1. Row4 As row 2
Row 5 *K15, Butterfly A* repeat till end of row.
Row6 *Butterfly B, p15* repeat till end of row.
Row7 *k5, k2tog - yon - k1 - yon - sl1pwise - psso - k10* repeat till end of row.
Row8 p12, sl1pwise, p19, sl1pwise, p19, sl1pwise, p7.
Row 9 As row 7 Row 10 As row 8
Row11 *Butterfly A, k15* repeat till end of row.
Row12 *p15, Butterfly B* repeat till end of row.

Repeat rows 1-12 till patch measures 20cm.

I've accidentally placed one of the holes made in the wrong position because I counted incorrectly - oooops.  I'm a beginner in knitting so it was a challenge to work out where each stitch would be but I am really happy with the outcome.  I only hope that it helps anyone who has come across the same issue.