Chunky love...
I started to covet Artesano superchunky when I saw it advertised in several of the knitting mags. 50% superfine alpaca and 50% Peruvian highland wool knitted on huge 12mm needles. What's not to love?
I duly sent for the pattern book promising "a collection of 20 fun projects and accessories" from Laughing Hens. Many of the projects required three 100g hanks, so I duly acquired three lots of Cerise, Damson and Cranberry.
I decided to start with the easiest project in the book, Sue Hanmore's heart cushion, for which I settled on the Cerise yarn.
The cushion was knitted flat on 12mm needles in two halves beginning at the bottom with one stitch and then working both sides separately for the top of the heart.
I particularly liked that you could see it was turning into the right thing before your eyes (I had just binned a three-quarter finished toy knit that took me a considerable amount of time to realise was turning into something that was likely to frighten children).
If at this point you're admiring my fab Babushka doll knitting needles, they came from Sail on Baby's Etsy shop and I also have a matching 8mm crochet hook.
Once I had my two sides knitted, I sewed them right sides together with one ply of yarn and a small overstitch as per the finishing instructions. I was a little skeptical about this joining technique but it does give a proper shape and finish. I left a small gap and then turned and stuffed the cushion, taking care to avoid lumps (stuffing can be surprisingly time consuming). I then sewed the gap closed.
The pattern had a fiddly embellishment made of i-cord with a bobble that I decided I couldn't be bothered with. Instead, I made Lisa Jane Bevan's poppy flower from the same pattern booklet with an 8mm crochet hook. The pattern said a size 8 crochet hook, but that's only 4mm and seemed much too small for superchunky yarn. Anyway, my 8mm version looked fine, so I popped a large pearlised button from my stash in the centre and sewed it onto the cushion.
I really love the cushion and the pattern looks pretty versatile for making heart cushions with other yarn and needle combinations (I'm just making my mum a smaller, felted version with Icelandic Lopi and 5.5mm needles).
I've also got two more superchunky projects to look forward to - I'm thinking I fancy the cabled bag and the bramble stitch hat, but watch this space...
Melx
Things I could stick pins in...
I came across Heather Bailey's supercute Henrietta Turtle pincushion in Mollie Makes magazine a while ago, but couldn't quite be bothered to send to the US for it. Then, when I was in holiday in York at the end of October I came across the pattern in Grace and Jacob and snapped it up.
Perusing the pattern, it seemed harder than I was ideally looking for (i.e. more than could be accomplished by a squirrel in a coma), but after two weeks of procrastination, I got down to it.
As usual for sewing makes, I glued the pattern pieces onto thick cardboard and cut them out to make templates.Sometimes, I photocopy the pattern so I have the original if I decide to make another, but I sensed I would never make two of these...
All the pieces other than the shell had to be reinforced with iron-on interfacing. The instructions suggested cutting each piece from fabric, then from interfacing and then ironing together. I thought it was less work to iron on the interfacing then cut the pieces out once (also less chance of mismatching).
The spotty fabric for the body and the patterned fabric from the shell both came from Seamstar and in fact are leftovers from a cushion I haven't quite finished making. Tut tut.
To make the body, you had to sew a panel using the two inner leg pieces and the belly piece. This was a bit of a head wobbler for me as they didn't seem to fit together terribly well, despite my husband trying to explain how they did. I was so unconfident, I tacked everything in place first. I then used the sewing machine with a quarter inch foot to do the stitching.
Next, it was a question of sewing the inner legs and belly to the main body pieces to make a 3D turtle shape. Again, I had reservations about the quality of the fit. I used pinking shears to clip and notch the curves, but it still doesn't look quite right at some of the joins (but happily only if you turn it upside down).
I stuffed the body really firmly, which took ages as I tried to get the turtle to stand up well. My back was a bit bumpy when I sewed up the gap, but fortunately the shell hides the worst of it.
Happily, the shell was much easier to make, although it did involve darts, which I always find confusing. After creating a dart in each half shell, it was a question of sewing the outer and lining pieces together and turning right side out through a small gap in the lining.
I decided to use a ready made flower embellishment from Paper and String rather than make one from the pattern. My version is at the back not the front due to poor planning about how the fabric pattern on the shell would be positioned.
Finally, I sewed the shell to the body with a few stitches at the head and tail and added two small black beads for eyes.
To top off my turtle, I made some handmade pins by gluing 5mm swarovski crystals onto dressmaking pins with Araldite.
I do think Henrietta looks fairly plausible, as long as you don't peak too closely. This is what she should have looked like if you're curious. I quite enjoyed throwing out the pattern templates and instructions when she was done though. Definitely, a once in a lifetime experience...
Melx
