Planning

Happy New Year everyone!

Its been a bit quiet around here recently hasn’t it.

Well, in my infinite wisdom I declared months ago that I wasn’t making Christmas presents. And then I had an idea for my nephew….

These took ages to make. Not because they’re time consuming, but because I didn’t like sewing them up, lol. There was a cry of “knit it in the round” but that envoked murderous looks that soon shut them up.

 

The oldies weren’t left out you’ll be pleased to know

Not content to make an army, I also last minute decided to knit socks for a few people but they got one solitary sock on Christmas Day.

And my sisters boyfriend also received knitwear to match last years scarf.

I’m currently working on a blanket for my niece and thinking about my plans for 2020.  Do I knit my queue? Do I knit 4 jumpers? Do I try something new?

What plans have you made?

 

A Lesson Learned

Earlier this week I decided to plan ahead. I knew I was going to be taking a trip over the next weekend, and I wanted a project that was light, quick, and easy to transport. I also wanted it to be a one-skein project that required little mind power. So of course I figured it was time to knit that hat I’d promised my husband six months ago.

But where did I put that skein of fabulous charcoal grey Dublin Dye Company merino? I’m sure I put it in this box….

But no. Maybe this one? No. Ok. Downstairs, in that bag, surely….

Again, no. Don’t panic. It has to be around here somewhere. I just saw it, didn’t I? How can it just vanish?

I’ll go through the stash again. Hmm. There’s that skein of silk and alpaca I bought last year. Oh! And those two would be perfecto together! Maybe I should cast on a shawl?

NO! You have to find this skein of grey. That red Rowan won’t do at all. Too bright. And don’t even consider the Sirdar turquoise, or that green. The grey would go so well with his eyes. Back to the drawing board.

Hang on. What’s this box? Let’s ask the husband. Yeah, that one shoved in the corner, way up there. What is that? It’s what?! Let me get the ladder.

It’s MORE STASH!! Oh happy days!! There’s that bag of Rowan tweed, and the Donegal Aran I was saving! I’d forgotten completely about this ball of DK. And what’s this? Oh! It’s my Dublin Dye grey!!

I guess the husband is gonna get his hat. As long as he keeps his filthy mitts always from my stash. What was he thinking, boxing it up like that? Hrmph.

Frozen Fever

… has had a tight grip on me, too, for quite some time now. It appears, though, that this especially shows when prompted by others.

But let’s start at the beginning…

About a year ago, as talks and planning of our annual pilgrimage to the Dublin Knitting & Stitching Show slowly began to take shape, the lovely Terri of A Fine Fish Yarns was looking for willing sample knitters. It was, I believe, her first time at the show (she’ll be back this year, one hears…) and she wanted a variety of garments and accessories to display her beautiful colorways.

I jumped at the chance. Duh. I was Hermione Granger when Snape asks those random questions. My hand was so far up in the air it touched the ceiling.

To get rid of me (I am convinced that’s why), Terri gave me a lovely skein in her Frozen-inspired colorway “Anna’s Frozen Heart”, and asked me to knit a pair of finger-less mitts.

Off I went to Ravelry, but, alas, I could not find a pattern that suited. They were all either so plain they would have been absolutely boring, or way too intricate. I was looking for something simple, yet with an interesting touch, that still managed to show off the yarn.

What do we do when we can’t find what we’re looking for? That’s right, we make something up. Thus, “Twisted Heart” was born.

 

Now, this is the first pattern I designed myself. That I wrote down, anyway.

The name was Nikki’s idea.I just agreed.

I have since made a second pair, in order to retrace my steps and weed out mistakes. Tweaked the thumb gusset a bit. Put it into a readable set of instructions. It has been test knit and deemed appropriate for publication, but I have yet to find the heart to do so. I guess I should probably do so before the Dublin Show this year, right?

Right?

Thank you for joining us today…

… for a very special episode of…

If you are intrigued by our cast go ahead and have a look at the Top Floor Art Gallery in Saintfield, Co. Down, where our lovely Jaele will be offering a Build A Boyfriend Workshop on the 20th of August.

You could build your own Cas, Sam, Dean, Crowley, or even Idris Elba. (There has been talk of Chris Evans as well…

So don’t be shy, head on over and check it out!

Planning and Knitting

We all do it,  it is one of the reasons Ravelry exists. We have a list of things we wish to make; be it for ourselves or our loved ones and that list is long.

If you are like me it is also quite complex because I NEVER knit to gauge, for anything. This means I need to adjust almost every single pattern I use.

So I am going to show you the tools I use while knitting that isn’t needles and string.

Firstly I start with what is usually considered a big profanity in our little group a gauge swatch   little square of TEST knitting.

I cast on 10 more stitches than the gauge pattern suggests should take up 10 cm or 4 inches. I then knit in garter stitch for 5 rows, then switch to a stocking stitch with a 5 stitch garter stitch border.

I will knit as many rows as I cast on stitches, then I will switch back to garter stitch for a further 5 rows, (give or take, depends on where I’m knitting and what’s on the telly.)

Now I take me gauge swatch test knitting and count using the handy little gadget pictured above, it highlights the stitches and rows so I get a fairly accurate count.

Next comes the fun part, the math. Using what I get from the little square I take the pattern and convert it to what I need.

My chicken scratch for all to see.

I read the pattern, channelling my inner Dumbledore, and figure out where measurements are needed. (It is usually very easy because a typical pattern will give multiple numbers for all the sizes the pattern accommodates.) I then substitute my own numbers in and transcribe them in to my knitting journal.

My knitting journal is a simple moleskine with a grid inside, and in it I put any changes to patterns that I make, charts I need, what row I am on, and all the information a busy knitter needs to know when they pick up a pattern again after putting it down three months ago.

Grab one at Amazon*

Now, I don’t transcribe the ENTIRE pattern into my book, just my adjustments. So I usually have a printed copy of the pattern washi taped into the book. The pages get a bit beaten up and usually get thrown out when the pattern is complete. but I keep all my important stuff in the book itself.

Now all of this can be done on Ravelry, but I make changes on the go and I like the feel of paper and pencil so this works best for me.

But this isn’t all I do.
I also use my trusty Filofax* and the inserts from the Make Your Shining Year Planner, *(or for those of you not interested in product placement, my daily diary).

Inside this fantastic little book is where my life gets sorted, and in it I log when I start a project. I use the sweetest little planner stickers from SymposiPress, an Etsy store that does sweet watercolour stickers for your planner.

The stickers are so fully of whimsy and so gentle I can’t help but love them. They also come with a CAST ON sticker, then an image of the object and a blank space so you can track how far you are on your project. Then an adorable little FINISHED! sticker.

I don’t know if it something for those of us who got stickers at school to signify a job well done but the level of satisfaction when placing a FINISHED sticker in my planner is close to the satisfaction of finding that perfect rainbow. (Which I am still hunting for.)

So how do you track your knitting progress? What about changes you make to the patterns?

Do you know a great planner sticker store? Let me know.

*these links are affiliate links.

What to do…

… on the first weekend you have to yourself after a two-week vacation with your parents?

Why, Dye-Workshop, of course!

Throw a few friends into the mix, a couple of strangers, A Fine Fish Yarns‘ gloriously gorgeous (just like her yarns) Terri, and the lovely ladies of Framewerk Belfast, and you’ll end up with a lovely morning/early afternoon.

And some pretty yarn.

BEHOLD:

Not much Mystery here…

… but still, I am doing a CAL of my own, just this one (Sharon, what were you thinking, starting three???), and it’s going pretty well so far.

The Project? Frida’s Flowers by Jane Crowfoot.

Go, take a look, don’t be shy…

Gorgeous, isn’t it?

Granted, I had not attempted anything even remotely similar in a while before I started this. A fact that, obviously, had to lead to complications. And by complications I mean that I just couldn’t seem to get the gauge right, which resulted in my angrily throwing the colour pack and hooks into a corner to think about what they did, not looking at them for a few weeks.

But at some point, I womanned up, gave it another go, and would you look at it, hit the gauge perfectly. Three weeks later, I’m all caught up and now working on the most recently release block, number 4.

Not too bad, I think.

(The pattern for Frida’s Flowers is released in fortnightly installments on Tuesdays. You can find it on the Stylecraft homepage.)

How Not to Sew an Elsa Dress

Back in August, my mother visited us for a few weeks. One of her friends is an avid sewist and kindly passed on some left over material and a pattern for an Elsa dress, so my mother brought it along with her. It sat in my sewing stash, teasing me, for almost 8 months. And then I said enough already….I was ready to take it on.

Now, my daughter enjoys Frozen. I enjoy Frozen. But we’re not uber fans. My daughter likes being her own princess, and frankly, I could do without princesses altogether. But the perfect fabric and the pattern was just sitting there, waiting to be used, and I thought, well, why not?

I should have known better.

Anyone who sews surely knows the pain of sewing with satin, the tedious nature of chiffon and tulle and the machine-gumming, swear-inducing headache of sewing through that synthetic stretchy stuff with glued-in sequins. Ugh. Then combine a garment that has all three, and don’t forget the tulle has glued-on glittery snowflakes.

 

My house looks like a fairy barfed all over it. 

Anyway, I got to sewing. I gummed up the machine with that sticky gluey sequin stuff twice, and broke two needles, and it’s the sloppiest thing I have ever sewn together in my life. That’ll teach me to sew something that my heart isn’t completely in. Also, I modified the pattern a bit for our colder weather and used the satin for the yoke and sleeves instead of tulle.

Because on its own, the pattern was simple enough. On their own, the fabrics would have been fine. But combining the two, a multi-step, detailed pattern with fiddly fabric when I have limited time and space and trying to wrangle three young monsters kids?

What was I thinking again?

 

But look at that sweet face. She loves it.

 

She better love it. She better be planning to get married in it.

I jest. Kind of.

A Day in the Life

I like to sew. That’s pretty obvious if you know me. I like to sew a lot. If there’s something that I need or want and it can somehow be made with fabric, I’ll give it a go. One might use the word obsessed, but since we’re in polite company, I’ll just stick with enthusiastic.

So anyway, most of my friends know that I love to sew, and they occasionally oblige my obsession enthusiasm with requests for various items. Most of them are pretty typical: bags, clothes, toys, dolls, cushion covers, etc. But of course some of them have been a little eccentric. I mean, considering who I hang out with, of course there are gonna be some interesting projects. (Wouldn’t have it any other way, by the way. Where else would I find such a motley crew of nutters to hang out with who would have me??)

Anyway, so Sharon asked me to make her 15 blindfolds. And no, it’s not what you’re thinking!

A selection of pinks and reds.

Sharon has recently qualified as a chakra dance instructor, and she’s very good at what she does. (Wondering what that is? See her website here.) I’ll let her tell you more about it, but the blindfolds are part of the course. To help you feel less self-conscious about dancing yourself to discovery! So I made these blindfolds out of lightweight cotton, and they’re opaque just enough to cut off your view but not dim the light.

And obviously they’re in shades of all the colours of the rainbow.

Some of these prints are sparkly!

I hope they make her – and more importantly – her clients happy. They made me happy to make them, and seeing them altogether just gives me the warm fuzzies. Sharon has an event coming up soon, too, on the 21st of February. If anyone is interested, please feel free to get in touch!

A Merry Handmade Christmas

Reblogged from A Million Paper Stars

Like almost all crafters, I can’t resist throwing in a few handmade items into the gift stash. Making things especially for people I love out of fabrics, yarn, and materials I know they’ll treasure, in colours I know they like, just gives me that warm fuzzy feeling. And like most crafters, I’m not just a one trick pony. I like experimenting with different designs, styles, and media. So I thought I’d create a post that showcased a few examples to demonstrate that handmade crafts don’t have to be hokey (unless you want them to be), and they don’t have to be huge, expensive, or elaborate to make an impact.

Ornaments and Decorations

We’ve all seen that tree on Pinterest. The green felt Christmas tree with the felt ornaments that the kids can decorate. Well, one year we decided to forego a real tree and go with this instead. While it turned out ok, I think it’s definitely better when used in conjunction with a proper Christmas tree with lights and all the trimmings! Or maybe I’m just a traditionalist.

Then there were the handmade decorations. These were fun, quick and cheap to make, and I think they look extra sweet on a (proper!) Christmas tree!

 

Clothes

Of course I couldn’t resist trying my hand at some Christmas clothes. I hadn’t been sewing long when I realised that I couldn’t find the kind of Christmas clothes what I wanted for my toddler son. So I decided to make some! I wanted something festive, but easy and comfortable for him to wear. I decided to draft a design for a waistcoat, and the Christmas waistcoats were born!

The original is on the right, and on the left are all the variations! They’re fun and relatively easy to make and I think they make wonderful little additions to a festive outfit, for both boys and girls!

And there were matching shoes for the babes….

But then there came a time when my daughter wanted a frilly dress. So I made her a dress. (This is a slightly modified version of the fabulous Olivia dress!)

And let’s not forget the knitting!

I promise she was more excited about this hat than she seems here. No, really.

At least my son appreciated his.

And then there were the failures, like the homemade Christmas paper:

The stamps were cut from potatoes, and while it was messy and fun, I had reams of brown paper roll drying all over the living room and kitchen for half a day. That was not so fun.

But all in all, I think a little bit of handmade at Christmas goes a long way. Top tip: Leave yourself some time to finish. Don’t do what I do and frantically try to finish things on Christmas eve, or worse – Christmas Day!

(What I’m doing now:)

I certainly am very appreciative of the handmade gifts I receive, because I know how much effort, time and love went into them! Whatever your traditions this year, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Crafty 2016!!