The knitty thing.

I finally finished off the cabled knitty thing.

A peek:

 I got round to using some of the 26 x 50g of Sirdar Click chunky I rashly bought in a sale many, many months ago, and now have a lovely cosy cardigan for Spring evenings, or daily use if the weather continues as it is just now!

The cardigan kniited up quite quickly on 7mm needles even with all the cables, but I think it needs blocking a bit more than the hurried attempt I gave. In total I used 13 balls of the yarn so I have another 13 left in the stash, although Cain has asked if I will make him a "lovely, cuddly" jumper with some of it. I have a sock waiting for a partner so might cast that on next though. Funny feeling, having no real works on the go, apart from the sock that is. I have quite a few ideas whirling around in my mind but not sure which to start on next. I do have a couple of baby gifts to whip up though so maybe I should get cracking with them........

Having said that John has been working on a gift for me which I am hoping to put into use soon so might have a new craft to share with you all.

Happy making everyone.

-x-

And Sunday sewing too!

Heather had a bag, so Cain wanted a bag!

That spotty stuff he said, pointing at one of the fabric crates. That fabric's a bit thin I thought, knowing what things he might like to carry around with him. So I suggested we add a different fabric for inside. And so he chose orange. This boy has a good eye for colour I'll tell you. 

This is what we ended up with:

He has had it slung over his shoulder all day, and it is now hanging at the side of his bed. 

 Mama is quite taken with it too, as is a big person. There may be another two or three of these appearing here very soon ;-)

-x-

Saturday sewing.

Today I sewed trousers and a bag.

The trousers are ok for under a dress I guess, I like way this hides the fact that they are a little bit over-fitted across the bum ;-) I'm still not reminding myself that you can never go too big when guessing at the excess needed for seam allowances!

The bag was far more of a success. But then I did imagine it might be a little bigger...............

 Oh well, keep on trying.

I do have something else to share that I'm far happier with but first I need a button and to do some blocking.

Maybe later.

Happy saturday.

-x-

Smartphone case.

So I mentined the kit for the smartphone cover in the Mollie Makes magazine didn't I?

This morning I thought I would open it up and see what was there. The pattern was inside the magazine and the little envelope contained the felt and a little button. All I needed to make the case shown in the pictures was a needle and thread apparently.

I copied the pattern pieces, not wanting to cut into my magazine and cut out the felt shapes. And hit a snag. There wasn't enough cream felt to cut out both the bird and the little top edge trim as shown in the instructions. And as I had cut the rectangle trim out first it meant I had to find another piece to cut out the bird from. So I used the yellow felt that was supposed to be for the petal pattern instead. I decided to forego the petals and instead added a wing cut out from the cream felt that was supposed to be for the bird. The actual pattern shows a cut away wing but I thought an added one would add a bit more colour as I was losing it from the petals. Ok I could have just nipped upstairs and found a scrap of felt but I wanted to see what could be done with a freebie kit. I oversewed all the pieces on rather than using a running stitch as I thought the running stitch would leave a lip around the pieces which would catch when pulling the phone out of a pocket. I added a little eye too from the brown felt.

I gave it to John for his phone and he thought it was lovely although he would have preferred something a little more masculine I think. I now have to make another for one of the girls and also one for Cain who has been happily walking around listening to his very own MP3 player lately. Well actually it's Daddy's but if you put something down in this house.............

So thanks "Mollie Makes" for a cute little kit, a happy hour spent sewing, and a grateful husband too. The shortage in felt wasn't really a big deal and I'm very pleased with the free gift. Next issue has a felt flower kit if anyone is interested.......

-x-

New crafty magazine.

I picked up a copy of the new crafty magazine "Mollie Makes" last week. It is oh so pretty! 

Beautiful feel in the hands, lot's of pretty vintage designs and room stylings, links to some beautiful blogs, and a couple of cute makes too. Not so much a "what can I make" magazine but a "oooh I'm inspired" read instead. 

 

 

It includes a kit for making a smartphone cover, instructions for pretty Peter Pan collars, patterns for fabric eggs, how to make a cute fabric on card garland and a crochet pattern for apple jackets! Ok so I first thought "what the ......!" apple jackets?? But Cain was snuggling up whilst I was flicking through and declared "oh wow, NAPPIES for an apple, cool!" and then asked me to make him one. So maybe they are a good idea after all.

Well later on the boy slept and mama took out her bag of scraps. Pink was his declared choice, with yellow as a back up in case I didn't have enough pink. As if!! So I crocheted away and within a short time I had this:

Just a scrap of pink merino with a trim of yellow boucle. Cain was hugely impressed the following morning which means I was happy too. Owen was less pleased as he wanted one, right now, but in yellow all over please, or maybe red.......

So apple nappies, eh? Who'd have thought of that as the next big thing in our home!

-x-

A lull.

Well it's been a while hasn't it?

Whilst some crafting has definitely been happening, it's not enough to blog about. There's a few more crochet dishcloths using scraps of leftover sock yarn but all put to use before photo's were taken. I find that they work best if I work them in alternating rows of dc and tc and then a dc,tc,dc edging right round to tidy them up. I love washing the dishes with them, they just make me smile to know that I made them myself from scraps, and of course they remind me of the socks they almost were, if we all had bigger feet of course!

My big make at the moment is a cardi for myself as a cover up for cool evening walks:

So far I have the back, fronts and one sleeve, but have hit the wall. Have to get over it and carry on or else this project will end up thrown in the cupboard for months or even years...............

To give myself a short break from knitting chunky cables I have been doing a little crochet:

Not sure what I'm going to do with them or how many I will end up with but they are simple, mindless and cute so I'll carry on at least until I use the yarn here...............maybe. The yarn itself is acrylic stuff given as free gifts in Let's Knit magazine collected over the past year or two. There were suggested patterns for it in the magazine but none that took my fancy. Cute little crochet flowers though, how could they not appeal?

One last thing, five months into the year and still no yarn bought! Yes I'm shocked too, though not as much as my dearest John. But it's not long until Woolfest now and it coincides with the week of my fortieth birthday so I think the self imposed ban may be lifted in style........

Happy crafting everyone.

-x-