Recent Craft Endeavours

Lately I have been bitten by the knitting bug.  In order to get over it quickly I have been knitting little things.  Things like these.....

and these.....

I have also been doing a bit of dress making.  Not for me or anyone I know, but baby burial items.  I found some moire taffeta and some satin in my stash of fabrics and I made these two dresses.....

The funny looking thing at the top of the above pic is a small bonnet.  The bootees can be seen better in the first pic.

I have about 8 flannelette  burial gowns too and I am knitting bonnets and bootees to go with them.  I also need to make some bloomers - luckily I also found some silk lining fabric that will suffice.

There is an Australian chapter of Angel Baby Gowns and I intend the satin items to go to them - if they ever answer my numerous emails.  If they don't that's their loss as I know a midwife who would take them.

Busy Knitting

Over that past few weeks I have been busy knitting beanies.  10 of them in fact.  They are all destined for the Alice Springs Beanie Festival.  Hopefully they will sell.


First there was a pink multi acrylic knitted in a brick pattern.....

And then a blue multi knitted with some fluffy acrylic....

I used the blue multi again and added in some other blues getting paler each time and ended in white.  It's rather long for a beanie....

And then there was the grey/cream/silver yarn I had.....

All of these were from yarn I already had in my stash.  Most of my stash is single balls, so making a beanie makes good use of them.  I did make another similar to the one above, but I haven't taken it's photo.

Then there was this one.  It's really soft and folds up quite small.  I have since added  a knitted flower to one side tot his one.

What do you think of this one?  I call it Yup Yup....

These next 2 were made with the only ball of yarn I purchased.  It's a wool/nylon mix, quite soft but no the easiest to knit with.  The yarn kept on splitting....

And then there was the one that took me 3 nights to make!!  Again acrylic from the stash - who buys fluoro orange yarn??

Me apparently....

 

 

I finally got around to putting together the Cali Mum's Mystery Quilt too.  Not too sure on the second border though.

 

Oh and I also made up April's Small Quilt Talk challenge quilt.  I have now quilted it and just have to put the binding on.

 

Can I just say I hate prairie points laid like this.  They don't want to sit flat especially in the corners.

 

Craft Rooms Thoughts

I am lucky enough to have a spare bedroom all to myself for all of my crafting stuff - well except for any scrapbooking or card making, that's stored elsewhere.  I appreciate the fact that whenever I like I can disappear into my girl-cave, shut the door and generally not be bothered - sometimes for hours on end.

It's only a small room - 9 foot by 10 foot and it has an inbuilt wardrobe.  There is 1 small window on a short wall.  I have squeezed in a large desk, a bookcase and a LARGE set of industrial shelves (they must be 8 feet long and nearly go tot he ceiling).  This space is also where I iron ad I tend to use the ironing board as an extra bench.  I am sure I have talked about it before.

When we put in the shelves I did do a bit of a clean up.  I labelled tubs with their contents.  I got rid of some bags of fabrics and bits and pieces.  Things looked tidy for a little while.

But now it is back in a mess again!  There is basically only enough space to walk to the desk and back out again - barely enough room to swing a cat as they say.  I can't get into the wardrobe with all the items laying on the floor in front of the doors.

I was sewing a knitting needle roll yesterday - a quick simple project - and a set of drawers on the desk was getting in the way.

So now I think it is time I go thru it all properly and get rid of stuff.  There are a lot of projects and kits I have purchased over the years that are half buried and not being made up.  There are tubs and tubs of fabrics, paints, cross stitch paraphernalia, etc.

So what to do with it all?

I have done a quick count of the things I have listed on the blog - 57.  That's a lot.  To make it worse, I have even bought a few more kits/boms since making that list.  There must be 70 different things!!

I am heading towards getting rid of everything that is not already packaged up - and I mean everything!!  Perhaps try to recoup some of the money I have spent on them by having a garage sale.

Considering I have diverse interests in all things craft that's a large garage sale.

What do you guys think I should do?

6" Block Swap and a finish

The other day I signed up for a 6 inch friendship block swap.  And today I just bought 27 fq's of fabric to make the blocks with.

I quite possibly could have gotten away with not buying the fabric, but the guidelines that came out yesterday for the swap said I had to use reproduction fabrics.  I don't have anything like that, so buying some was really my only option.  I just hope that the other 43 participants don't have the same range of fabric as I do.

So that's 44, I think, blocks to be made.  Luckily the pattern is quite simple.  I had seen the quilt we are trying to emulate on the small quilt talk photo pages and had worked out how to make the block without buying the book it comes from.  I have seen the book sell for around $30 and I don't want to spend that much on a book just to make 1 block from it.  Then 1 of the group members posted about getting an e-version of the book cheap.  So I looked into that and went "what the heck", so I bought it too.  This is turning out to be an expensive quilt.  I still need to get a cream homespun for the centre of the block and a pen I can write on the centre block with.  And I also have to reimburse the coordinator the cost of the postage, which I have no idea how much that is going to be.  So this will probably cost me around $200 just to make and get my blocks.  When you take into account that this is the sort of quilt that, once I get it together, I will send off to be quilted professionally it will have cost me $400-500 in total.  OUCH!

So why do this in the first place?

I enjoy making stuff.  I seem to have this inner urge to be creative on some level.  Housework just does not do it for me.  I can sweep and vacuum and wash till the cows come home and I get no satisfaction what so ever form it.  I know that in a few hours, or tomorrow, the place is going to look exactly the same.  When you have 3 dogs that are allowed inside and 2 of them shed hair constantly (huskies) and you have laminate flooring in the living areas you have constantly dirty floors.  When out on their walk last night the biggest stood in some freshly laid dirt and sunk past his ankle.  The dirt was wet so he came home with a large and filthy paw.  Hubby did not wash it for him.  I would have but this dog is a real sook when it comes to water.  It wasn't worth the trouble he would give me.

Every day I have to make something.  Whether it is a costume for the girls or those they teach, a quilt block or two for me, a laundry bag to send off overseas, I have to make something.  So soon it will be 44 blocks for a swap.  The sign up hasn't closed yet so there could even be some more join now that the guidelines have been posted.  They are mostly from USA, 3 are from Australia (including me), 1 from Canada and 1 from Denmark.  There was 1 lady from England thinking about joining in too.  44 6" blocks make for a nicely sized quilt.  If participant numbers stayed at 44, I could use 42 to make a 6 x 7 layout, thus making a 36" x 42" quilt without any borders.  I would have 2 leftovers that could go on the back.  Or I could make a few more of my own in the colours that I used to make it up to 48 or 49.  But that is way down the track yet.  I have until the start of September to get them made and in the post to where they have to go.  10 weeks - I better get a move on.


Moving on to my finish - the jumper I started a few weeks ago got all sewn up last night.  Here it is.

I bought way too much yarn.  The pattern stated I would need 14 balls.  I did not use the specified yarn.  So I compared the length of each and the yarn I wanted to use had just over double per ball so I bought 7 balls.  Ended up using only 4 and a bit.  I got the whole front and part of the back from the one ball!  The yarn is an acrylic/wool/mohair mix.  Nice and soft and I think it will be warm to boot.  Just what I need these days.  The weather has been really cold lately.  Yes I know it is winter but 1 or 2 degree mornings and not getting over 14 degrees during the day even when sunny is a bit ridiculous, even for Melbourne.  I hope it fits.

I also finally got round to finishing off the flimsy for my Thoughts in Thread quilt (pattern by Val Laird).  I really like it.  I think I will contact Angel Quilts and see if Vera can quilt it for me.

Soul Slipper Tutorial

Ok, so here's my very first ever turotial on how to knit the slippers I made for the youngest's cali team members.  It is not my pattern - but I repeat it here for those interested enough to try and make their own.  I hope it makes sense.

What you need:

8ply yarn - any will do whether it be wool, a blend or acrylic.  Cottons tend to not have much give in them, so if you are going to use cotton yarn I suggest you be prepared for some unravelling.  I have not used bamboo yarn so can't comment on the amount of give it has.
1 pair of 4mm or 4.5mm needles
yarn sewing needle
scissors.

Cast on 7 stitches.  Use any method you like - I prefer the cable method.  I'm not going to explain it here - so go look it up.
Knit every stitch for 7 rows.  (This is called garter stitch.)
Next row: Knit into the front and the back of the 1st stitch without taking the stitch off the needle; knit the rest of the row.  (That first stitch is called 'increase'.  It is different to 'make 1' - with this you pick up the loop that lies between 2 stitches and knit into the back of the loop.  Make 1 leaves a hole - we don't want that here.)
Repeat the last row until you have 22 stitches.

At this point if the receipient has a very long foot you may like to keep increasing until you have more stitches.  Not always necessary as these will stretch quite a bit.

Now you need to increase in every stitch - thus doubling the number of stitches on your needles to 44.
Next row: *Knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches. Repeat from * to the end. (This is a double rib.)
Repeat this row 43 more times.

At this point you may like to work more rows if the recipient has a very wide foot - again not always necessary due to the stretch.

It is within this rib that I did the colour changes to make up the stripes of the ones I made.

So, continuing on.......

Knit 2 together across the row - thus halving the number of stitches back to 22.
Next row:  Knit 1 stitch, Knit 2 together, knit to end of row.
Repeat this row until you have 7 stitches.
Work 7 more rows of garter stitch and then cast off.

Now you will have a very odd shape of knitting - that's ok.

Sew the cast on and cast off edges together - making sure you do this with the right sides together - if you can figure that out.  It is easy on some stripe patterns, not so easy if there are no stripes.

Sew the sides together.  It will now resemble a small knitted handbag - and could be used as such for a doll.  Turn it right side out and there you have 1 soul slipper.

Now make another one - unless you have 1 foot, then in that case you are done.

You slide your foot into it so you have the 7 sts wide strips go across the top of the foot - kind of like a mary jane shoe - and the sewn together side bits up the back of your heel and down the top of your foot to your toes.  Make sense - yeah I didn't think so......

Needy Stitches

are getting the following sent to them by me.  I have done knitting for them in the past and, in going thru my craft room, found some  more items they can have.

First up we have a knitted babies hat - with ears.

Then there's a jacket and matcing hat.  This yarn is really soft.

Then we have a couple of knitted bags.  These are the same pattern and yarn, just done on different sized needles.

Now there's a bunch of beanies.  I used a circle loom for these.  Really easy to do, but hard on the hands.

This is a knitted shrug.  It was supposed t be for me, but it turned out to be too small.  Oh well....

These things are Soul Slippers - a really easy pattern to knit and quite comfy to wear.  One size fits most.

A toddlers jumper, hat and mitts this time.  Nice and bright self strip yarn.

And finally a triangle shawl - another easy peasy pattern.  Great for using up odd bits of yarn.  Just add in the new colour when needed.  I must admit I got a bit sick of making this one.  It probably should be a lot bigger, but I got bored with it.

And it could do with being blocked......

A Finish !!!

I finally finished off knitting 24 pairs of slippers for yougest cali team.

There are aound 3 or 4 of each stripe pattern.

A very easy pattern to knit and remember.

Some have more black in them, some more green, some more yellow - these are the club's colours.

I hope the girls all like them.

Update - they seemed to love them!  The noise in the room when tehy were handed out was incredible.  no-one had much of an idea as to what they were, but 1 worked it out.  Most of the girls tried them on - some even did a bit of practice in them.

February Socks

A tiny bit late, but I have actually managed to get the red thigh high socks (stockings??) finished - well the first one anyway.  The other one of my pair of socks for February is a brown self stripe with a chevron pattern around the leg and down the top of the sock.  That one was a breeze to do.

It's a short ankle sock - they way i like them.

Close up of the pattern on the red stocking.

And in it's entirety....

I have tried it on and it fits well - comes up to nearly the top of my thigh so with a suspender I will be able to keep it up.

I am now onto month 3's socks - the first one is a blue self stripe 8ply using a pattern form the 1940's.  It is a staggered (spiral) rib pattern with no heel.  Should be interesting.

Socks for January Challenge

Half way thru February and I just get around to posting this pic.  Oh well, better late than never.  I did get these done in January - whilst on holidays mind you.  Other campers thought I was a bit crazy knitting socks.

So, anyway, this is my january pair.

Ok, so they are not really a pair - but there's two of them and two makes a pair right??  the sort of stripey one is supposed to have a turn down ruffle, but it did not photograph well like that.  It's a bit short up the ankle too, so I'm not too sure they will actually get worn.

So why did I make 2 clearly individual socks for January.  My theory is that if I make only 1 of each pair, then a) I won't get bored doing the other one, and b) to wear them I have to force myself to sit down and make it's friend.  I know that if I was to make the second one, it would languish on the needles for some time and possbily not get finished in time for the challenge.  Makes sense to me.

I have also made 1 February sock and have started on my thigh high ones.  These are going to take a while to do - lots of stitches and they are supposed to come right up to the top of my thigh.  I will have to knit these over a few months.  You can see them peeking out of the bag in the above photo.  Very red, very sexy.  I think they will get a matching knitted suspender belt or maybe a chemise to attach them to.

Knitting again

Yesterday was youngest daughters 1st comp for the year.  We had to get to the practice hall early to have hair and makeup done.  Since I can't be bothered standing around talking to (or rather being ignored by) the other parents, I sat in the car knitting.

I managed to get 1 and a half Soul Slippers done I was there for that long.  I even did a few rows before the comp started. 

Since I like knitting and these are fairly quick and easy to make (takes approx 3 hours to make 1 pair) I may make each of the girls in the team a pair in team colours - black with a green and yellow stripe.  Sounds like a plan.  Now to work how much yarn I need in the black and find out how many girls in the team......

Knitting over Easter

I found 2 more balls of yarn in the right colour - dye lot is slightly different, but i am not sure I will need them.  If i do I will have to use 2 rows of the original and 2 rows of the new ones to phase in the new dye lot.

My jumper is now in bits and waiting on being remade.

Knitting

We went away over the easter break - had a whole week away in the lovely country town of Bright at the foot of the Victorian Alps.  I was going to take a heap of things to do with me but decided on a cross stitch I have been doing for 2 years now (japanese ladies on a bell pull) and a jumper to knit for myself.  The yarn is think and soft.

The pattern stated I needed 12 balls of yarn, but was short sleeve.  Having already owned 2 short sleeve jumper/tops I decided to make it long sleeve, so I bought 2 more balls of yarn.  I will admit to procrastinating on knitting this as the yarn is $5 per ball - not my usual thing to buy.  Decided to anyway as the yarn is soooo soft.

Imagine my surprise when I got half way thru the back before I had even finished 1 ball of yarn.  Double checked that I read correctly the quantities needed - yep correct.  Then something jumped at me from off the page.  The pattern states that the balls are 50g - guess what, they are actually 100g balls.  So I have bought twice as much as I needed due to incorrect printing!!

Finished my jumper with 5 balls to spare - youngest daughter really liked the colour and is into chunky handknits at the moment.  So she is getting a jumper too.  Luckily she is quite small for an 18yo.

My jumper is a disaster though.  Sleeves are 13cm too long, and there is this horrible puffy sleeve thing happening at the top of them too.  So I have unpicked the sleeves and will frog the yarn to redo them.  The left over can go into daughters jumper.  I may have to try and get 2 more balls just to be on the safe side - I would rather have left overs that be scrounging for yarn to sew it up with.  With left overs you can make a hat.