Last Christmas present opened today so I can finally blog!!!!

Yay back to blogging again :-).  Been away for so long because I was making Christmas presents from October of last year and didnt want to spoil any surprises!  The last christmas present was finally finished this week after suffering from some serious craft exhaustion.  Enjoyed my 1st Feb second Christmas though as I received a gorgeous handmade bag from my lovely and very patient friend Janet.

So here is a round up of all my Christmas crafting projects.

I took part in 3 Secret Santas through online parenting forums.  I have to say that in many ways these were my favourite projects as whilst Christmas is about giving it is nice to recieve too ;-) and these swaps were with groups of crafty mums.  There is nothing a crafter likes more than receiving a handmade gift.  I was lucky enough to receive a gorgeous bag, necklace, christmas tree decs and spinning set in return :-).  These are the handmade part of the gifts sent.

Heart Doily

Button Charm Bracelet made using vintage buttons

Crochet wristwarmers - made up pattern

I have to thank pinterest for the inspiration for my crochet clocks.  These were fiddly to make but I love them and will be making one for our house one day.

I was brought a gorgeous handmade photo album last year and wanted to make something similar.  I brought some scraps of leather for the applique / patchwork - its lovely to sew with.  The photo leaves are made from handmade mulberry paper.

Whilst I was crafting Carl and Erin helped out making some fab Cookie Jars - the kitchen was a mess but they looked great.

Cowls were a quick easy project and I made 3 of them as presents

Mum and my youngest sister each had a shawlette and I had gorgeous brooch commisioned for Mum to match her scarf - thank you Annie (Heavenly Anarchist)

My pic doesnt show off the brooch well enough - click on Annies link for a better picture

Elise Shawl

Apart from a couple of presents for children it was a handmade Christmas - here is the rest

crochet bookmark

Calorimetry hair band

more wristwarmers

charm bracelet in need of a few more charms!

Washcloth - using up the last of my lovely Peaches and Creme cotton.

Next year its 3 for 2 from Boots ;-) xx

WIP Wednesday 5th October 2011 and a Thank you

Welcome October - and what a few days of contrasts.  On the 1st of the month we had a BBQ and the kids were out in the paddling pool, 5 days later and I am contemplating lighting the fire this evening!

I am still working on my Lore Hoodie progress was a bit slow during the hot evenings.  I've no reached the points where I need to join the sleeves before I can progress any further with the bodice.  I will start on the sleeves tonight using the magic loop technique.  Still debating whether to go for three quarter length sleeves as per the pattern or make full length sleeves.

"No we mustn't forget

No we mustn't forget

To say a great big Thank you

We mustn't forget"

I'd also like to make this a 'THANK YOU' post.  Do you ever wonder what happens to those gifted knitted items?  Are they stuck in a cupboard forgotten about or well used and loved.  I'd like to say thank you for the knitted gifts that are loved in our house (being a knitter there are obviously no gifts languishing in a cupboard).

Our most loved knitted gift is a blanket that my friend Amy knitted for each of my girls when they were born.  They are backed with fleece so are lovely and cosy.  The girls like snuggling under them in the day and Carl and I often use them in the evening if its chilly.  They are frequently used on their beds too.  They are well travelled too coming on all long car journeys and holidays.

Josie as a newborn sleeping on her blanket

Another favourite is an unwanted blanket that I have loved.  A colleague gave me a bag of baby bits when Josie was born and when I returned them to her she said to put them in a charity shop.  I pointed out that there was a lovely hand knitted blanket in the bag but she laughed and said 'no thanks that can definitely go to the charity shop'.  It seems very sad that it wasnt appreciated by its original owner but I would like to say a big thank you to whoever the knitter was.  I have enjoyed wrapping my two up in the blanket as babies whilst trying to settle them back to sleep.  There is nothing more lovely than a baby sleeping in a pure white knitted blanket somehow it makes those long wakeful nights easier to bare.

 

On top of the blanket is a gorgeous cardi that was knitted by my lovely friend Janets, nan.  Unfortunately her nan is no longer here and I think it makes it extra special to wear and love the cardi and carry on her memory.  Thank you Nan.  My nutty 2 year old is wearing it today

funny face pics only today!

And my final knitted gift thank you is for the knitter of my favourite knitted top of all time.  This was one was knitted by my friend Amy's mum.  It came in a bag of hand me downs to my two and has had a huge amount of wear and compliments.  Sadly it is now too small but I am on the hunt to find the pattern on ravelry

Its the cardi that Erin on the left is wearing

xxxx THANK YOU knitters you are very much appreciated xxxx

I am off to Tamis Amis blog to see what everyone else is up to this week

FO Friday 30th Sept 2011

Good morning.  What a beautiful day.  Just been to the kids harvest festival, it was lovely.  Got a nice big sunny smile on my face :-)

Well its been a loooong time since I was able to join in a friday!  Very pleased to have 3 show offs today

The first is my crochet cardi.  I finished this during our holiday so was able to wear it on the wet and windy beach.  It is a king cole pattern, crochetted using King cole alpaca on a 4mm needle.  The pattern has sleeves but I prefer it without.

I think this one will get a lot of wear.  Really pleased with the yarn - its beautifully soft.

My next FO is a balaclava for my father in law.  He suffers with emphysema and the cold air can set off an attack.  Hopefully this will keep his airways warm.  I used a skein of malabrigo worsted and knitted on 4.5mm needles.

And the 3rd and final FO is a headband knitted for a christmas gift.  I love the colours of this one and am pleased to find I can make 2 from one ball of Noro Silk Garden.

I have a harvest festival tune going around in my head

I mustn't forget

No I mustn't forget

To say a great big thank you

I mustn't forget

It has given me an idea for my next blog post - a big thank you for all the crafted gifts that we love in our house :-)

I'm off to see what everyone else has finished this week over at  Plums Life  Natural suburbia  and  Tamis Amis blog,

WIP Wednesday 28th September 2011

It is a glorious autumnal day :-)

We were away last week and unfortunately it was miserable weather all week but that did however allow me plenty of time for knitting!  I've got a couple of FO for friday at last (seems ages since I was able to join in on a Friday).  My WiP is a Lore Hoodie from the Vampire knits book for me.  I decided I wanted a cheap knit which was washable so I'm using James Brett Marble Chunky.  Having serious yarn regret though as I am a yarn snob at heart and I'm really not enjoying working with acrylic.  Keep having to remind myself though that I will have a finished hoodie for 12 rather than 60pound+.  I'm using some of the modifications on ravelry and will be knitting longer sleeves and I've knitted the frontband along with the skirt to make it seamless.  I love ravelry for all the hints and tips.  This pattern is written in pieces but it can easily be a seamless knit - without ravelry I wouldnt have spotted the seamless potential.

The lace skirt is almost finished now.  Can you block acrylic?  The lace really needs blocking to open it out.  Marble chunky goes a very long way - I'm still on the 1st skein!!!

Knitting with chunky and 8mm needles has also made me realise how much I love 4ply and finer needles!!

I'll be back on friday :-)  but popping over to Tamis Amis blog now to see what everyone else is up to xx

Its that time again - Kids clothes week challenge :-)

Pre-warning for all you seamstresses out there.  Its Kids Clothes Week Challenge again.  Set yourself a challenge to put aside an hour a day during the week to make your kids some clothes.  I took part in the May challenge and made a dress each for my two.

I've created a pinterest board for any inspirations - looking empty at the moment but I will start filling it!

Please sign up it was great fun x

WIP Wednesday 14th September 2011

 A blustery but warm Autumn wednesday :-)

I've made good progress on my cardi this week only the sleeves and edging left to go.  I'm hoping the edging will tighten and finish it off nicely as the motif border seems a bit floppy on the bottom at the moment.  We go on holiday this friday and I was desperately hoping it would be finished in time so I could start my next project and also wear the cardi on holiday.  As it is only short sleeves there may still be time to get it finished.  Has anyone tried the no chain foundation start in crochet?  I was chatting on a crafty forum and found that I am not the only one who hates that first row in crochet.  Any pattern that requires a long foundation chain tends to get ditched as I find it so twisty and fiddly!  The cardi sleeves require a 84 stitch foundation chain so I'm going to try this method out.

The colour in this pic is closer to the actual colour.  My camera seems to pick it up as a bright blue rather than the teal that it is.

I am so excited about my next project - the Lore Hoodie from Vampire Knits.  It has been very hard to stick to just the one WIP but I know that if I start many then they never reach the end.  I havent used acrylic in ages but I'm hoping to get lots of wear out of this hoodie so a machine washable yarn appealed.  Looking forward to a week in the caravan knitting :-)

 

For more crafty delights head over to Tamis Amis blog

WIP Wednesday 7th September 2011

Welcome to a very wet and windy September!!! 

Thank you for your comments and tips last week on how to join my motifs.  I tried whipstitch and joinng with slip stitch and a single crochet.  In the end I decided that single crochet but not into every chain looked best.  With motifs joined I am going back and forth with a 2 row pattern repeat which is nice and easy to memorise.  Lesson learnt though about crochetting whilst watching a late night film as I realised in the morning I had only joined 6 of the 7 motifs!!!!  Couldnt bring myself to rip back 4 sets of repeats so sneakily worked the repeats above the 7th motif and joined with a slip stitch!!!  Thankfully it doesnt look noticeable.

I'm a bit worried by the lack of shaping until the armpits but I suppose that is what you get with crochet patterns.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been up to at Tamis Amis crafting blog