Sunday 31 August 2014

A Year of Projects - week 9

We returned from our holiday today - we are all feeling very sad!!  All back to school and work this week.
I took loads of stuff to knit with me but did very little.  A little progress on the socks and a few pom poms.

I shall leave you with a few shots of our holiday in Cornwall.
My boys with St Michael s Mount in the background

St Ives - the 4 cousins playing on the sand

My eldest at the owl sanctuary

Some of us at Pendennis Castle for the pirate re-enactment

Have a good week :-)

Wednesday 20 August 2014

WIP Wednesday

Now I have finished the test knit I have CO several little projects.  Much as I love knitting sweaters, they take me so long and when I have finished I love to do lots of little things!!  I will blog about my finished test knit but until the pattern is published I will refrain from posting finished pictures.

So without further ado...
First project is a pumpkin hat!!  I want to do some winter hats for the stall in the run up to Xmas, so Halloween is the first event - so pumpkin hats it is!!  I will go on to do some pumpkin coffee cosies.

I have, after procrastinating for over a year, finally CO a pair of socks!  Using Totally Vanilla from Socktopus as my pattern and some left over Mellifera yarn (twist sock in spruce).


And my new obsession - pom poms!!  Actually I can't really classify these as my WIP - I have got my son into it and he makes me one a day at the moment!!  I will be tidying them up but they are to become something for the stall ;-)

So that is my progress on my little projects - we are off on holiday soon so now I have to pack, but I shall be taking the pom pom  makers, socks and maybe the orange yarn - just in case!!
Linking with KCCO this week.

How to ..... Make a simple knitted hair bow!

Again, this really is very simple!!
You will need:
A little yarn in the colour of your choice
Knitting needles size 6 (4mm) if using dk yarn
Darning needle
Plain hair clip/clips

Method
1) CO 6 stitches
2) K6 - repeat for approx 26 rows
3) Sew in the 2/4 ends

4) Pinch the middle of the bow
 5) Wrap the same colour yarn around the middle until it looks 'right'.  (You could knit a little section to sew on around the middle if you choose - I would CO 4 stitches and do 10 rows)






6) Sew a little stitch to hold the wrap in place then sew the bow onto the hair clip by threading the yarn over and under the prongs.











7)  Repeat for the second if making and hey presto bow hair clips!


Sunday 17 August 2014

Year of Projects - week 7



Just a very short one this week as I have only been working on one project and I am at a craft fair again today.

The test knit is finished - have not taken a pic yet as it needs its ends sorting and blocking - hope to get photos tomorrow morning.

Now that is done I have loads of things I want to CO.  There will be some new items for the stall coming up and I want to start some socks for me - just a simple pattern to start with.  It will be nice to do a few small things rather than the bigger garments for me that I have been knitting of late.
Hope you all have a good week :-)

Sunday 10 August 2014

Year of Projects - week 6


Have had a lovely productive week!!
Took the boys into London to see the dinosaur bones at the natural history museum this week and had a fabulous time - some pics are on the holiday 2014 page.
In terms of the list I have been able to cross off some items - again these are on their own page (YOP 2014/15).  I already blogged about some of these here.  But as a summary ...
I made some pj bottoms for me and some cushion covers from material my mum has been storing for years!!

 Also made some cute little hair bows for the stall.  (Still the same blurry photo!)
The item I have mainly made progress on is the test knit.  I am dying to CO lots of other things, but I really want to do this properly and finish in time, so I have to be monogamous until it is done!!

So there we go, a few things to show for a week off - can't wait to see what you are all up to!!

Monday 4 August 2014

Look What I Made...!

Well, I have been very productive these last couple of days!!  It may not last so I thought I should blog about it while I could!
Firstly, I ran up a pair of pj's for me.  They were improvised and so are not perfect but they will do me!

While I had the sewing machine out I decided to cover our cushions.  Both of those projects were made with fabric my mum brought with her.  So apart from some cotton and electricity to run the sewing machine, they were free :-)

Also on Sunday I made some simple choc chip cookies.

We went to the shop this morning to get some sugar and now I have also made coffee cake, beetroot chutney (with beetroot from our garden) and bramble jelly (again using produce from our garden) and an additional blackberry and apple crumble - so again apart from the sugar - free!

I also found time to think about new items for the stall, including these bow hair clips (sorry about blurry photo!)


Linking up with KCCO today - click the link to see some more!


Sunday 3 August 2014

Year of Projects - week 5


Another week goes by and we have just come back from a mini holiday.
Firstly, progress...
I have made a bit of progress on my test knit and here it is

Photo is a little blurry and wonky but I was just testing for fit - which is great.  I managed to do a fair bit this week and hopefully will keep that up this week now that school is out!
This week I hope to do a few things for the stall.
That is all I have been up to on the knitting front, I will leave you with a few shots from our week away.

One of the dragons in Taunton.


On the gruffulo trail in Devon.
Buttons I picked up at the flower show - I couldn't resist.