Friday, July 27, 2012

Finally....some FOs!!!

There were times over the last couple of months when I really felt that none of my WIPs would ever be finished! Do you get those feelings too? When you've got a ton of ideas flying around inside your head, various projects on hooks and needles strategically placed around your house and yet nothing ever seems to 'come together' ???? Am I alone in this or is it a common crafters lament?

I have good news tho. At last, things have 'come together' and I seem to have had a finished object to love and cherish every day this week. Let me elaborate.....

Remember these?


I think I called it the Circus Hexagon Blanket. Well, it's finally become this.


What do you think? I wasn't sure how it was going to work whilst I was doing it but I just kept adding more hexies until I got to the size I wanted. Then the question of squaring it off with half hexies cropped up but I decided I really liked the quirkiness of the edge so I just did a quick edging in yellow and there it was!!! I know many of you will hate the lopsided look but I think it's gorgeous! I'm giving it to a very good friend of mine who has just had her second baby and I know she'll love it as she adores all things retro! FO 1 - done.

Seeing as it's Winter here I decided to have a go at making some fingerless gloves. These are really good for me as when I'm on playground duty at school I can still do up buttons and zips on little coats and jackets but my hands stay nice and snug! 


It's a pattern that I've had for ages and I really can't remember where I got it from but I'll post it if anyone is interested in making them.  I made them slightly longer than normal gloves but on the pattern the girl is wearing a pair almost up to her elbows!!!! FO 2 - done.

A few weeks ago my Mum came to stay with us and she bought down one of her spare hot water bottles. I'm not sure why because I have an electric blanket but there must have been a reason which made sense at the time. Anyway, the cover on the bottle was years old - one my Mum had knitted way back when - so I decided to make her a new one. I LOVED this project and it was such fun to do. It used up all my bits and pieces that I simply cannot throw away so if you have lots of scraps then this is the project for you! 

The front


The back


Close up of the stitches (doubles, trebles, treble clusters and bobbles)


Don't you love it??? It's given that old bottle a completely new lease of life and now I really want to use it despite the fact that I have an electric blanket..... FO 3 - done!

Those are my FOs so I hope you like them. I've also got this on my needles at the moment.


No, it's not a giant tutu for a remake of the Black Swan! In fact, it's a shawl that I've made up from scratch and although the colours don't really show up, it's a deep purple base (the colour of a good bruise!) which is self-patterning so it changes shade as you knit. It goes from really dark to two paler shades and then to white with a hint of lilac. It's very pretty, believe me. It's an Elle Escapade yarn called Mulberry Burst (isn't that a great name for a yarn?) and you can see it here.

I took this next pic to show you how sometimes the shading changes are very subtle and other times sudden and dramatic.



The scalloped edge is Fan Fair from Nicky Epstein's book Knitting On The Edge and here's a close up.



If you like knitting and making up your own patterns then this book is a MUST. It's full of inspiration and Nicky does things with yarn that I didn't think was possible!!!

So that's what I've been up to. My favourite is the hot water bottle cover but the shawl is growing on me..... literally!

Til soon.
xxx




Saturday, July 21, 2012

A Few Days At The Beach....

Hello!!!! I'm sorry it's been a while but it's winter school hols here at the moment so things have been quite hectic. Last week I completely redecorated our bookshop and last Tuesday we decided to go down to the beach for a few days. We rented a beachside apartment......


It's a stunning apartment block, right on the beach and our apartment had a view that I could look at forever.....


It was too cold to swim but we paddled (how can you go to the beach and NOT paddle???). There was lots of dune sliding (I know it looks like DH is getting the worst of it but he was having fun I can assure you!) Mr 7 makes it look so easy!


There was some kite flying.....



but mostly we just got out on the beach and walked every day. The weather was glorious and both DH and I felt alive for the first time in months......


It was so good to get away, to be with my family and spend some time with each other, and it was particularly good to be near the ocean again........


I hope your week was as good as mine.
Til soon.
xxx








Friday, July 6, 2012

Back In the Land of the Living!

Last week was good. Schools broke up on Thursday and I envisioned three weeks of catching up on all the things I don't get time to do during term time. I wanted to start redecorating D's bedroom (army style), there are cupboards in my house that haven't seen a good sort out for at least .... (ahem) years and I had a plethera of craft ideas bumbling around in my brain just waiting to see the light of day. I was soooooo excited   that the holidays had come........

Then on Thursday afternoon I went down with Bronchitis and I've only just resurfaced!!! I don't remember ever feeling so rough for so long but with help from my Mum (who dropped everything to come and help me) and my fabulous boys and DH, I am (at last) back in the land of the living!

I did venture out very briefly on one of my sick days to get some fresh air with D. We took a stroll down the farm road outside our gate .....

The sun shone......


D went ahead to rekkie out the road for me in case of bandits (I jest of course)......


and even our littlest dog was glad to see me up and about if only for a short while .....


I only lasted about 15 mins before having to head home and back to my bed but it was good to get out and feel the sun on my skin.

So now I'm fully on the mend and I've started some new hooky......yay! I've decided to have a bash at a simple granny style shawl and this is where I am so far.....


What do you think? It's a self-patterning yarn so it should get quite interesting as I progress! I love the simplicity of the clusters and it's so melodic to work on. I'm really enjoying it and am seeing a very 70s style fringe all around it when I'm finished! 

On a final note, I thought I'd leave you with this cartoon that I stumbled across somewhere. It's very apt and if you knit or sew, I think you'll relate.
Til soon.
x