Crafty Catch Up

Just a quick post to share what I've been up to craft wise. 

I have mentioned that I wanted to make something patchwork but while I was looking through my fabric I found something that I'd started but had forgotten about. Last May I purchased some pre cut squares of vintage fabric and had sewn some plain natural colour fabric on to the back of the pieces with the intention of making a fusion blanket. That was as far as I got with it so this week I've been busy sewing blanket stitch around the edges of the squares. There are 60 squares in total and I'm about half way through with the blanket stitching.

These are some of my favourite prints.
               The fabric was purchased from Ebay seller, coneygarth.

I've also started to knit a multi stripe cardigan using a pattern from an old Let's Knit magazine. This was to use wool from my stash but I needed to buy a couple of balls so that I had enough. I bought the extra wool from Deramores. I've now remembered why I don't knit so much these days, I'm in agony with my hands after just a couple of days knitting so this cardy is going to take a while.

Little L asked if she could try knitting again so we got her little needles out and had another go. The thing with Little L is that she gets distracted so easily by anything ... the dog, the telly, other peoples conversations. I cast on 20 stitches and counted them after every row she knitted (at one point she ended up with 34). She's get there in the end.

Crafty Catch Up

Today I'm sharing a few things that I have recently finished making. 

I began to crochet this blanket quite a while ago and after a quick look through my old posts I saw it was July 2013 (I didn't realise it was that long ago). I did start with the intention of it being a large blanket but it seems I got bored.

The blanket is made from 95 hexagons and measures approximately 31in x 42in.

I sewed some black fleece on to the back to tidy it up abit and for extra warmth.

The wool arrived to make the zig zag Hilda mitts from the Pretty Knitted Hands book.

The pattern was very easy to read and I'd finished them in a couple of days. I've been wearing them out ever since as it is still quite chilly here.

At the moment Little L loves to play on the tsum tsum game app so I made these Chip N Dale coasters inspired by the game.

For the pattern I used some free Disney colouring pages which I resized in Photoshop.

At the moment I'm in the process of dismantling some jute gift bags but I'm not sure what to use the fabric for yet.

Multi Stripe Scarf

Last week I started this knitted scarf to try and use up my odds and ends of wool.

It is made with mainly DK wool with an odd stripe here and there using chunky. I used 4mm needles, cast on 40 stitches and just knitted to a length I was happy with. The stripes were knitted randomly in rows of two or four. I added a crocheted flower to each end when I'd finished.

Everything Back To Normal

After all the time I spent trying to fix the blog posts I was told how to sort it out very quickly. If the photos had been deleted in the last 60 days (mine were), go in to the account where the photos are stored, retrieve them from the trash and they all go back on to the relevant posts. Sounds really obvious now. 

This week I finished knitting a new outfit for Little L's doll. The pattern I used for this was a Daisy May pattern (No.287) which I purchased from Ebay. The outfit below, also a Daisy May design (No.279) is one that I completed just before Christmas and didn't get around to posting.

These are a few small speedy items that I have made using some free patterns which I found.

This crocheted fox key ring for Little L's school bag,

a felt guinea pig ornament for my Mum

and a little monster ready to give to Little L on Valentines Day.

Woolly Christmas Ornaments

At this time of year I start searching the internet for Christmas ornament patterns. Usually I look for something using felt but this year decided to make some knitted and crocheted ones instead. Once I began looking I founds loads of free patterns. These are the ones that I made. I've put the links for the patterns that I used underneath each photo.

Crocheted Star Ornament

Crocheted Christmas Tree

Small Knitted Trees

Toy soldier Christmas ornament

Knitted mini Christmas stockings

These are what Little L has made for both of her Grans. They just need some magnets gluing on to the backs now. As long as the charts aren't too complicated she makes these on her own but I tend to get the job of being the bead sorter. 

A New Winter Hat

This week I've been working on a new Winter hat for Little L. She had asked if I could make her a scarf this year but I wasn't too keen on the idea as I've seen many trailing through slush and dropped on the school path. Also I thought that one less thing to take to school is one less thing for her to lose there. I thought this pattern was a good compromise as she would still get a new hat plus it will keep her neck nice and toasty.

The pattern is from The Velvet Acorn which I purchased from Etsy. It was very easy to follow and knitted up quickly as it used chunky wool. There is also crochet version of the pattern available. The pattern covers sizes from 6/9 months to adult which is handy as my niece wants one of these too. Little L has her eye on the wolf hat pattern now. She really does love hats so sometimes it can be a bit of a mistake to even let her look at a knitting patterns.

Crafty Catch Up

Over the Summer holidays I managed to fit in some time for crafty stuff though I have only just got around to taking the photos.

The envelope cushion cases were made for Little L's school, 8 of them. Later on in the holidays my neighbour gave me some Spiderman fabric because she knows that Little L is Spiderman mad so I used it to make another cushion for her bed.

These bangles were made using this tutorial. The bangles which I used were so flimsy that I actually snapped one while I was pushing the crocheting around it.

A cardigan for Little L was knitted. The pattern is Sirdar 2291 and also includes a long sleeve version.

A whale was crocheted for a friend's little boy using a free pattern found on Ravelry.

A Quick Catch Up

I didn't realise it has been so long since I last posted anything but we haven't been up to a great deal here due to cold and sickness bugs doing the rounds.

At the beginning of the month we had another day out at the beach where Little L saw her first jellyfish 

and caught her first crab.

We went swimming while we were there this time (in a pool though not the sea). This is the first time I've worn a swimming cossie for over 20 years. I don't much like the idea of wearing them because I'm not very covered up and to me its not much different than walking about in my underwear which is something I wouldn't be caught doing in front of complete strangers. Anyway I braved it and donned a cossie. My swimming cossie has a skirt attached so it was more like wearing an extremely short dress so it wasn't so bad after all. I must say that I certainly didn't take to the water like a duck more like a stone. Trying to swim after 20 odd years made me feel like a new swimmer but I liked to linger in the shallow end with Little L. Another thing water wise which I thought a bit odd was the water seemed to me slightly murky. After conferring with the boys,  I have found that because I need to wear specs now a days that maybe that is the problem.

On the way back home we went to take a look at The Duke of Lancaster ship again. This is the latest art work which has been added.

I've not been doing much craftwise as I'm finding it far to warm here at the moment. I made a start on another crocheted hexie blanket

and finished off this top for Little L which I made with wool passed on to me by my sister's friend. It is a very pale blue colour which I can't seem to pick up in the photos.

At the end of last week one of Little L's teachers asked me if I could alter some of the curtains in the classroom. They just needed taking up ... taking up by quite a lot. They were enormous. Almost four and a half metres wide and very heavy. I ended up cutting off 47 inches to make them the required length which was a 31 inches. I was asked if I could make some cushion covers with the off cuts so I'll be doing that some time during the Summer holidays. This is an off cut from one curtain folded in half. When Anders saw it on the washing line, he asked if I'd bought a marquee home.

Destash Projects

I've made a bit of a start using the craft supplies given to me by my sister's friend. Firstly I made this simple summer dress for Little L. She's not really a skirt or dress wearer so I had to follow the strict terms and conditions of no pink, no frills, no flowers and no ribbon which she laid down regarding the making of the dress. 

The dress cost me nothing to make as everything I used was in the house and there is still enough fabric left to make Little L something else.

Little L chose the pattern for this jumper which has a slash neck and fastens with three buttons on one shoulder. It was a good choice for her I think as she sometimes gets a bit panicky putting clothing over her head. The pattern is for a boys jumper and I didn't think about the side it fastened on until I finished it. The jumper fastens on the left shoulder so should I have put them on the right for a girl ?. I don't suppose it matters to Little L anyway.

This slouchy hat ( very reluctantly modelled by Caleb ) was made using a pattern which I had purchased from Ravelry. The pattern is called Castiel by Woolly Wormhead.

A Quick Catch Up

I thought that I'd pop on for a quick catch up. I didn't realise that the last post was so long ago. 

Little L joined in with her first Easter bonnet parade this morning at school. She is a bit poorly at the moment with a cold and nasty cough which is doing the rounds in our house. She had a terrible night last night and I would have normally kept her home but she'd been looking forward to joining in so I let her go but I'm keeping my ear open for a call to go and collect her.

I just bought a plain 99p hat and used a bit of cardboard and felt and lots of glue to decorate it. There were some great hats there, you could see some of the parents had been busy. One had a large partly opened Easter egg on the top and I still can't make my mind up whether it was a real one or not. I'll have to sit closer next time with my failing eyesight.

Craftwise things have been moving slowly as I've been reading more books through my tablet and I've been watching more telly. I'm not much of a TV watcher but I've been glued to some of the dramas which have been shown lately. We've been watching Mayday, Light Fields, Broad Church and In The Flesh. Anyway they have almost all finished so I'll be back to my usual fidgety self and will have to find something to do.

These are a couple of things which I have finished since my last post. Three pairs of fingerless mitts made using this pattern from Hand Knitted Things. Two pairs of these have already found a home.

The gingerbread man is completed and has gone to live with my mum.

The Growing Wool Stash

My sister's mother in law, Christine gave me some more wool that she no longer wanted. The three largest balls were this loopy type which is usually used to make ruffle scarfs.

As I haven't used it before I had to do a quick search of how to knit with it on the internet and found loads of tutorials on You Tube ( I'm not too keen on using this site though as it tends to make my pc freeze up )

I found the wool knits up really fast and is easy to use. The first scarf is finished and been sent back to Christine.

Also this week the sewing machine has been in use to make a half apron for Little L

and a peg bag made with a tea towel.

This morning Little L went to a Jubilee party at her play group. While we were there a teacher from the High School ( the play group is joined to the High School )nipped over with a surprise for the children. Someone had fetched in an Olympic torch to show the high school students so he came to show it to the little ones. The play group children didn't bat an eyelid and carried on munching on the sausage rolls and crisps. The parents had the torch passed along and it wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be.

It would have be great to have some photos of the party but we generally aren't allowed to take snaps in case somebody else's child is in them.

All Dolled Up

Little L recently acquired a new doll which needed kitting out with a wardrobe. It is an 18in girl type doll and while I have lots of patterns for baby and fashion dolls, most of which were ones that my mum used for mine and my sisters dolls, I had nothing to fit this kind. After nipping in to my local wool shop and finding none there I popped on to my favourite on line site for sourcing patterns, Ravelry. There are absolutely loads plus a lot of them were free and Little L had fun choosing which designs she liked.

The coat and hat pictured below are both free patterns.

The following two designs are from patterns which I bought off Ravelry and both are designed by member Jacknitss.

While searching the internet for this type of doll I came across this site, A Doll For All Seasons , full of clothes and accessories ideas to make for a little girls friend.