Toy Challenge Week 11-18th June 2011

 Are you up for a challenge?  If I am ever to complete a project then I need a challenge and a deadline.  So far I've joined in with a kids clothes week challenge and made a dress for each of my girls and a summer knit along which will produce 2 shawlettes.  Time for some toys I think!!  Lots of ideas but my main aim is to make some gnomes and fairies with Josie and make a basic doll with changeable clothes for Erin.  There will be sewing, glueing, felting, knitting and crochet and if I make it to the gnome house stage then a bit of weaving too.

Will you join me for the challenge?  I plan to put aside at least an hour a day towards the challenge - Josie and I will work together after dinner and once they are both in bed I'll enjoy some peaceful crafting.  I will post my final ideas / patterns / pics of materials on Saturday 11th - link up too, lets have a Toy WIP on Wednesday and a Toy reveal on Sat 18th

Are you in?

Not enough hours in the day!

The beautiful weather has returned :-) so its out in the garden until the sun goes in!  My craft work seems to have ground to a halt but the garden is looking pretty.  Love having a garden for the kids to enjoy and potter around in weeding and admiring my veg.

What a beauty.  Have loved waiting to see what is going to appear in the garden. When we moved in most of the flowers had gone over so really enjoying this spring.

The veggie patch is coming on.  Broad beans are getting pods now, the peas are shooting up and the potatoes have finally appeared this week.  Planted a couple of courgette plants this week and Carl put all his tomatoes in growbags.  There doesnt seem to be many perinneals in the garden so this year I've cleared the weeds and put in bedding plants.  In the autumn I'll put the perinneals in ready for next year.  Bit gutted we left our gorgeous cornflower and poppy plants behind at the last house but it was the wrong time of year to move them.

I'm still working on my Summer Mystery KAL. Wishing in some ways I hadn't started a second one as I'm getting behind with the clues.  I'm a 3rd of the way through clue 3 with the Zauberball but have only completed clue 2 using the Fyberspace.  Its tempting to just work on the one so that I can catch up and finish along with everyone else but I know that I'll never finish the 2nd as once the mystery is revealed the momentum to get both complete will have gone.  Down to 140+ stitches on the zauberball one now from 240+ so each row is much quicker.  Haven't needed to frog back yet so been getting a bit slack with lifelines - hope this isn't famous last words!!!  I didn't bother with a tension swatch and I'm quite surprised how much bigger the fyberspace one is knitting up.

Completed another dress for a little birthday girl.  Got this pattern cracked now and I managed to cut and sew it during a couple of days whilst the kids were playing outside.

Its amazing how long a bowl of washing up water will keep a 2 year old happy for!!!

Erin's new room :-)

Spent bank holiday weekend de-cluttering and moving rooms around.  Erin finally has her own bedroom :-)  I chopped a pair of charity shop curtains down to fit her window.  Think I might have felt over confident as I've now brought the fabric for our bedroom and Josie's bedroom curtains - eeeek!  Never made curtains from scratch so will be spending several hours watching instructions on youtube!!!  Wish me luck

WIP Wednesday 25th May 2011

Wednesdays come around so quick!!  We've not been a healthy household this week (kids and their sick bugs!) so my progress has been hampered a bit.  My main project is still the Summer Mystery KAL.  After finishing the first chart using the Zauberball I was disappointed by the amount of fluffiness - with lace you want to be able to see all the hard concentration that goes into the pattern.  The new chart was due until Sunday and I'd finished on Fri so decided to cast on another one using Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply cherry.  Its got a gorgeous sheen to it and is showing up the stitch definition really well.  Only 2 more rows left to complete the 2nd released chart in the cherry and then I will go back to the Zauberball to try and complete the 2nd chart before the 3rd is released tomorrow evening!  Really enjoying the mystery and knitting to a deadline - I know without it these would be eternal WIP's!!!  Knitting bottom up is the way to go too - so better to work down from 241 stitches than take forever to get there!

Dont forget to pop over the Tami's Amis for this weeks other WIP's

1st chart completed in the Zauberball.  Looks like chart 2 will be in the teal colour.

My first project with a life line!!!  Dont want to frog this one!

 

Much better stitch definition than the Zauberball.

Crafting with Jo and maximum twirlage!!

Had a lovely afternoon crafting with Josie and making my 3rd swirly dress :-)  Josie made a felt purse and used the sewing machine and iron for the first time.  Ironing was the highlight of her day and she has asked if she can do the ironing tomorrow lol.

Fabrics and design all by Josie :-)

And whilst Josie was busy making her purse I made my 3rd swirly summer dress for my nieces birthday present.  Had one of those days with the sewing machine - thread kept snapping or running out at the last minute plus 2 broken needles.  Think it's time the machine had its first service!!  Josie had great fun twirling :-)

Spin spin spin

WIP Wednesday 18th May 2011

Late again!!!  Was hoping to post early but the sick bug is in the house so I have been deep in disinfectant all evening.  Poorly girl now in bed.

I've been sewing more than playing with yarn the last few days but I have got another Elise shawl on the go.  Absolutely love the speed of this project and I have the pattern memorized now so can watch TV and crochet.  Its another ball of Artists Palette sock yarn.  I'm left with 37 grams or 161 yards on the skein - any ideas for a project??

Also started the Summer Mystery Shawlette by Wendy Johnson.  This is my first Ravelry knit along and I am loving it - nearly completed the second clue.  Thankfully only had to frog a few stitches on the first row and everything has been fine since.  Its such a good feeling to get to the end of the 200+ stitch row and realise that you havent messed up!  I will be using lifelines on this one.

Dont forget to check out all the other WIP Wednesday posts on Tami's Amis and Everyday Crochet

Kids Clothes Week Challenge 9th - 15th May

Woohoo!!!  I managed to make a dress for each of the girls during the Kids Clothes Week Challenge :-)  Got off to a slow start with small people not wanting to go to bed and the new series of The Apprentice but I put in my hours over the weekend.  Didnt make either of the dresses I had intended to but thanks to a great link from Crafts from the Cwtch I went with a gorgeous shirred twirly dress pattern instead.  I now know how to do shirring and from now on I think everything will be shirred!!! and I also learnt how to make a gathering stitch.  Feeling very proud with myself and the girls love their dresses :-)

Everyone should give shirring a go - try this tute from youtube

FO Fridays 14th May 2011

Its past the midnight hour but its the first opportunity I've had to post my FO Friday!!!  Cant believe I finally have a couple of finished projects - its been a long time but I am determined to post FO more often :-)

Elise Shawl

I've loved this project for its speed and simplicity.  Already purchased another skein of Artists Palette Smootherino to make another one.  Need to get some accurate scales as there was a lot of yarn left over and it would be great to get 2 from one skein.  This was my first project where I have used a chart and I am a convert. 

From this

to this

I've been sewing too - just a quick pic as these are in my last blog post.

A home for my knitpros :-)