Love is in the air : Part 1

We've gone all romantic here, well a bit heart obsessed if I'm honest!  These little hearts were such fun to make.  Flopsy Bunny and I had a very sticky time making them last week.  I found the idea on Ravelry (where else!!) if you are signed up to the site you can find the receipe/pattern here.  But they are just so easy to do, all you need is some wool, heart shaped biscuit cutters and some corn starch glue or I think PVA glue would work just as well!  Flopsy Bunny decided it was a bit too messy, which surprised me as she came home from school with glue in her hair and on her sweatshirt - maybe there can be too much messy play at times!!  She enjoyed cutting the wool and choosing the colours though and left the messy stuff to me.  Which from mine and the kitchen's sake was a result!!!

 

Anyway hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day!!

Sweetheart knitting

Ah February, love must be in the air as I've been knitting hearts!  This is version #2 of this cushion.  The first version involved a patchwork of knitted squares which I sewed together but somehow the sewing together bit didn't really give the finish I was after.  So a bit of frogging later (luckily this is quite a small cushion so I didn't feel too bad about pulling it apart and starting again!), here I am with version #2.  Slightly bigger than the first attempt as I realised that the smallest cushion pad I could get was 10"x10".  It would be lovely if you could let me know what you think - obviously it hasn't been blocked yet and I haven't done the back! - but I was thinking this might be the pattern I use for my knitting workshop!  Do you think it would be the sort of thing a beginner knitter might like to do?  Please be honest . . .!

I think the glorious sunny weather is having an effect on my creativity.  I really did feel I was hibernating in January and not much was done at all.  But now the sun is out, there is blue sky, birds are singing and I have lots and lots of projects in my head.  Next on the knitting front I am planning to knit myself a hat, I need to get on with this before it warms up too much, otherwise I won't get any wear out of it!  Then there's the wizard outfit . . . well fabric has now been bought and a pattern too.   I was thinking I might design something myself but realised I didn't really have time and there was an absolutely gorgeous one in the pattern books which was just what I had in mind!  So there we go.  Flopsy Bunny has requested some knitted clothes for her various animals so I have a very full to do list.

Hopefully I will have a finished cushion to show you shortly and who knows what else!

Car knitting

OK, it's not some new form of knitting, or even knitting a car - it's just knitting in the car!!  I had a wonderful moment this week when Little Roo decided to have a snooze on the way back from shopping for food and so I thought I would take the opportunity to sit and have a knit!  Must remember to keep some knitting in the car for other moments like these!!  The knitting is coming along and hopefully I will have something to show you very soon.  Just as well really as I am planning on knitting a hat next and as it is soooo very chilly today I wished I had started on that first! O well.

Getting organised

It's been a bit quiet on this blog recently hasn't it?  I've been trying to get myself organised - and boy does that take a lot of work!!  So I've been sorting and tidying and finding homes for things, a New Year de-clutter so to speak.  I think it will be an ongoing process as I have so much clutter and not much space!  

Anyway there have also been some exciting developments in my little world and I have been asked to run a knitting workshop for beginners.  My head has been rushing and my needles whirring, all very exciting.  

I've also been a bit ruthless and previously knitted garments are being ripped so the wool can be knitted into something else!  This little baby jacket has been one of the victims.  Although I'm hoping to re-knit the wool into some little booties for a soon to be born baby and maybe a little kimono too - we will see.  DH couldn't really understand why I was doing this and now, looking at this photo I'm wondering the same thing too!  I guess it is part of my make do and mend mentality that I have going on for all things crafty.  I have started unpicking a cardigan that I made years ago which I don't think I will ever wear again and thought the yarn is really lovely I could knit another cardigan with it.  But then I happened to be looking in the Rowan's Greatest Knits book and there was my cardigan (top row, second in from the right) - a rowan classic!  I should have kept it, but I've half unpicked it . . . !  Eeek - it's the Russian stacking dolls all over again!

2010: A Review

I thought I would have a quick review of all the things I have made this year - a bit of an eclectic mix don't you think?  It's certainly been a fun making year and although I didn't quite manage to make as much as I would like - so many projects, so little time - I'm pleased with what I have managed to do and the things I have learnt along the way.

Next year - oops this year, I have a great book to wade through, a birthday present from my lovely brother, Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts: 150 Inspired Sewing Projects from A-Z, which I'm sure will inspire me to make lots of things.  I am looking forward to a quiet evening by the fire to dive in and have a good old read.  I'm also going to buy this lovely book, which I am coveting from my sister's present pile, Home Sweet Sewn: Over 20 Beautiful Sewing Projects to Make Your House a Home.  I've already decided to make the lovely angel for the top of our Christmas tree this year.  Actually both of us have decided to go for that one - trying to recreate the angel that was made by our grandmother and which sits at the top of our parents tree every year.

So I had better update my projects list!  Of course there is one project which is right at the top of the list and quite urgent as it is a belated Christmas present for Little Roo from his sister.  She announced just before Christmas that Little Roo needs some dressing up clothes and that was what she would like to give him - so I need to rustle up a wizard outfit as quickly as possible - watch this space...!

A house of her own

Ta - da!  After a long time in the thinking and planning stage and then a long time making - I've finally finished Flopsy Bunny's table tent!!  Just in time for Christmas too and she loves it!  I'm pretty pleased with it too!

The gorgeous fabric on the panels is from Tanya Whelan's French HatBox Collection - I used the offcuts to make the butterfly bunting.  I also borrowed Don't look now!'s flower design for the back panel as I would love to make one of her cushions and thought this would be a good taster for me.
 

Apologies for the slightly crumpled look - it has been used ALOT before I could get a photograph of it.

The long awaited Xmas present

I was hoping to make this for my sister last Christmas, there was a bit of a theme going on with her presents as I had also bought her this jewellery stand!  But then life got in the way of knitting and it didn't really go as planned and then the wool that I had originally bought didn't really work with the pattern*.  So fast forward a year, I went for the wool recommended in the pattern, Beaded Lace Yarn in American Beauty - which is divine, although a little pricey!  I found the pattern for the Knitted Lace Jewelry Frame on Ravelry - what a great site - and here it is.  It was so easy to make after the initial trial and error of trying to get the sizing right for the frame - but I did and I am sooo very happy with the result.

*But it was wonderful for my knitted Lace Ball!