Let's Knit Issue 45
I never had any Sylvanian family animals as a child. I was deeply aggrieved by this so, as an adult, I bought my own. I particularly love the babies, although my husband insists that, in real life, they would eat each other rather than play happily together whilst wearing cute little outfits.
Anyway, I was thrilled when I saw Val Pierce's Carry on Camping project in August's issue of Let's Knit magazine. I felt my assorted critters would really like a summer camping holiday.
You could use any double knit yarn for the project and my Sylvanian family were very lucky as they ended up with Bowland Wool Blue Faced Leicester in four delightful natural shades.
First up was the tent.
This was knitted in one large strip for the main part of the tent, done with two strands of different shades together using 5mm needles. I used to be nervous about knitting two strands together, but with one ball in each of my two yarn bowls, it was easy. The back is knitted as a triangle and then the two tent flaps were knitted on smaller needles in just one shade. I'm not confident I sewed the tent flaps on the right way round, but they look okay to me.
The hardest part of the tent was in fact making the frame from cardboard. I found some thick cardboard left over from bedding packaging and cut three triangles with a tab on each, glued them to together and then used some gaffer tape for extra strength. The knitted tent fit over the frame really well and is still standing so must be sufficiently robust.
The ground sheet is also knitted two strands together, with one colour combo for the edges and another for the middle and it lies nice and flat. The sleeping bags are made on 4mm needles in two colours - one for the pillow section and one for the bottom. I made two in different colour ways. You pad the pillow section slightly with toy filler when making up. I decorated my sleeping bags as the project suggested, using Papermania bows on the front of each.
The picnic blanket is made up of three garter stitch strips sewn together. I used slightly fewer colours than the magazine, but I think it looks nice:
You get no fewer than three patterns to use for the little cushions. One in moss stitch, one in garter stitch and one in stocking stitch stripes. These were a little fiddly to sew up but look sweet piled up on the picnic blanket.
The bunnies and their pals seem to approve of their new holiday lodgings, I had fun making all the bits and pieces, so a fab project all round...
Melx
My elephant has no ears....
This is Rosie, a project from Knitwit: 20 Fun Projects for Beginners and Seasoned Knitters by Katie Boyette. There are some extremely cool patterns in here, but I would dispute the beginners part of the title as most of the knitting is in the round. I know some knitters will insist it's just as easy as knitting on straight needles, but I respectfully disagree.
As it is, Rosie is marked as an intermediate project rather than a beginner one and I chose to attempt her first, so difficulty probably is in the eye of the beholder.
The instructions in the book are for knitting with double pointed needles. I knitted Rosie using magic loop with circular needles with a long cable as DPNs remain beyond my grasp.
In many ways, Rosie is like lots of the toys I've knitted flat in terms of separate pieces for the body, head, arms and legs (there really aren't any ears). I have to admit that it's nice not to have to do quite so much sewing at the end though.
I used some beautiful pure wool aran in a variegated purple that I found in my stash, which I think looks rather nice. I used some plastic pellets in Rosie's body to help her sit up properly. The rest of her is stuffed with toy filler.
I cut Rosie's eyes free hand from felt as I hadn't photocopied the templates from the book by the time she needed to see. I glued the eyes together as they were a bit fiddly to sew. Rosie also has a a circle of purple felt on the end of her trunk.
Rosie's crown was cut freehand from felt by my husband as his attempt was better than mine.
My husband thinks Rosie looks oidd due to her lack of ears but I find her rather sweet. She doesn't come when called though...
Melx
4 Ply Frenzy
On my recent and extremely enjoyable day out to Woolfest in Cumbria, I bought several knitting kits. I've just got two of them finished - both by Suzie Johnson of The Wool Sanctuary (it sounds a lovely idea doesn't it - a wool sanctuary?).
First up was the Lois Pincushion kit, which comprised the the pattern, a ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK and some small strands of yarn for the scarf.
Lois is knitted on 3.75mm needles in two pieces for the body and then the two ears. She's done in reverse stocking stitch, which I think essentially means you do stocking stitch and then sew it together wrong sides out. I added a button from my stash for one of her eyes and then embroidered the other one in yarn. I sewed the two body pieces together using back stitch and stuffed with a little toy filler.
Lois's scarf is knitted in garter stitch from a few oddments of yarn and then tied around her neck. I think she may be too cute to stick pins in though...
The second kit is a lavender bag, for which you get 18 colours of what I strongly suspect is 4-ply, a bag of sequins and beads, and a piece of organza to house the lavender.
The bag itself is knitted in one piece using intarsia to make the squares.This was actually quite fiddly with spindly 3mm needles and the finer yarn. I'm not sure I'm going to be a 4-ply fan in the longer term. Anyway, I put my Clover knitting bobbins to good use to keep the colours under control. I had to do a little sewing when weaving in the ends to cover the holes where the colours were first joined in.
I wasn't sure I followed the instructions for the top edges of the bag properly but decided to reverse the stocking stitch and then fold it back down so it faces right side out.
After knitting the squares, I sewed on the beads and sequins provided at the points where the squares meet with ordinary sewing thread. I sewed the bag up the sides with yarn using back stitch, right sides together.
To fill the bag, I put some lavender from my stash into the centre of the organza piece and then fastened into a bulb shape with an elastic band. I tied the organza further up for decoration with some pretty ribbon from Ribbon Circus in Hebden Bridge.
Finally, I popped the organza parcel in the bag. At that stage, I noticed that the organza was fraying quite a bit and, after considering a couple of options (my husband suggested trying to melt the edge with a flame - visions of an organza fireball), I trimmed round the organza with pinking shears.
Despite me not being keen on the 4-ply, I did really like Suzie's patterns and I've since bought a few more as PDFs to try later.
Melx
Bobbins...
I showed this bag as a work in progress a few weeks ago and now it's finally done. The bag is a kit from one of my fave places The Little Knit Kit Company. Most of the kits are aimed at children and newbie knitters - indeed I have myself already made the Black Cat Knitting Kit and the Seaside Cottage. However, their new Surf Van bag kit is for the more experienced knitter, which I suppose now includes me.
The most difficult part of the kit is obviously the front of the bag with the surf van design on it and you need to do this part first as the back of the back is knitted to match the size of the front. The instructions say you can make the bag by stranding the yarn across the back or using intarsia. I opted for the latter.
This was where I discovered that knitting bobbins were my new best friends. I managed to have nine of them dangling off the work at once without too much of a hiccup. There are a couple of errors where I didn't change colour at quite the right time but I don't think it's very noticeable? I find you really have to focus when knitting from a chart as it's easy to get one bit right and then completely overlook another change.
I did end up with a few holes in the knitting where I had first joined in a colour but these were easily fixed when I weaved in all the ends.
After the excitement of the front (except the weaving in part, which went on a long, long time), the back of the bag is very straightforward - all garter stitch on 4mm needles until the back matches the length of the front (the front is stocking stitch so you can't just count the rows). I inexplicably ended up with a few pearl stitches in the back, which I hid on the inside.
The bag strap is just 11 stitches of garter stitch continuing as long as you want the strap (or until you get bored - I kept trying it on every 10 minutes towards the end to see if I'd got there yet). I reinforced my strap by slip stitching some blue grosgrain ribbon to the inside to prevent stretching.
I back stitched the two sides of the bag right sides together with yarn, turned and then sewed the strap a couple of centimeters inside.
As the project suggested, I made a lining for the bag from a beautiful floral fat quarter I found in my stash. I machine sewed the two halves of the lining along three sides and then turned over the top to the right length for the bag. I sometimes find that bags can gape a bit so I inserted a magnetic closure into the lining. This can be a bit scary as you have to poke through the fabric with sharp scissors to make the holes for the legs of the fastener to go through, but it looks okay.
Finally, I slip stitched the lining into the bag by hand, just under the top edge of the knitting.
I thought the kit was great value at £17, including all the yarn and some 4mm needles. You just need to supply the lining fabric. There was plenty of yarn left over, so no concerns about running out midway. I think the bag is really practical and usable and I'm looking forward to wearing it over the summer.
Melx
Sew Hip Issue 31
Sew Hip time again already. Having mangled Helen Smithson's Mr Zigzag Dinosaur last month, Helen drew the short straw again this time as I settled on her Stitched Elephant Picture for my make from the August issue.
The observant amongst you will note that the photo to the right isn't of a picture but rather of a bag. I decided the elephant design would make a cure little shoulder bag so made a few alterations.
The first order of business was to cut the rectangular pieces, adding 1 cm all around for seam allowances for the bag. I actually hate cutting out despite the fact I have all the gear (large cutting mat, two rotary cutters and two types of quilter's rulers). I cut out the grass and sky pieces from a dotty fat quarter pack I got from HobbyCraft. For the back of the bag, I selected a pink dotty fabric from the same range. The project suggested using felt as a backing fabric, but I went for heavyweight sew-in interfacing for both the front and back of the bag. I also cut two lining pieces from some adorable fawn fabric I bought from Fabric Rehab. I did think the material was a bit too cute to use just for a lining, but a quick survey of my stash suggested I could afford it....
I managed to cut my grass piece 1cm too short, which is why the trim is positioned exactly on the line between the grass the and sky rather than a little lower.
I used the pattern template to cut out the elephant and her ear. I chose a pink jumper-type 100% felt from Blooming Felt for my elephant with a yellow ear from the same fabric. I used a tiny Papermania button for the elephant's eye and then hand appliqued the ear in place.
The project in the magazine uses Bondaweb to attach all the pieces to the picture. I've never had much success with Bondaweb myself so I made the bag entirely by stitching the pieces together.
To start with, due to my cutting mishap, I machine sewed the trim down both edges between the grass and sky pieces, attaching the sew-in interface and the bottom of the ribbon for the flower stalk at the same time.
I then hand appliqued the elephant all the way round onto the grass. This was tricky as the cat was sat on my knee and I couldn't access any pins.
Next, I machine sewed down the ribbon for the flower stalk on each edge. I see now this is at a bit of an angle but I didn't notice at the time. I used a pre-cut felt flower for the bloom and then made a cover button for the centre from the same fabric as the back of the bag.
To construct the bag, I machine sewed right sides together the decorated front of the bag, the pink fabric for the back and the other piece of interfacing around three sides. I then did the same with the two lining pieces. I turned the outer part of the bag the right way round and then ironed over a couple of centimeters at the top. I turned down the same amount around the top of the lining and popped it the bag.
For the strap, I used some pink cotton webbing I had in stash. I find webbing very useful for fat quarter projects where you don't have enough fabric to make a matching strap.
I sandwiched the webbing between the outer bag and the lining and pinned. Now, at this point I should tell you that this project was the first outing for my new sewing machine, a Singer Heavy Duty 4423. I'd found my previous lightweight Brother sewing machine struggled at time like this when you need to sew no less than seven thicknesses of fabric together. The Singer sailed through top stitching the bag brilliantly. I was very pleased.
There is a slight tuck in the lining as I think it was a smidgen too big, but the construction is really good compared with some of the bags I've made before.
So, thanks v much to Helen for her lovely design and one day I promise to follow a project properly...
Melx
In Praise of Kits
There is something so satisfying about kits, whether for knitting or sewing. Everything comes in one neat little package and you know you have all the material to do the job.
I was at Woolfest in Cumbria on Saturday, which was an amazing day out featuring some cute alpacas and a very grumpy sheep (I never knew what a hacked off sheep sounded like - now I do). I was pleased to snare three new knitting kits and a felt brooch kit during my shopping spree, although you'll have to wait for a bit to see the finished results.
What I have for you today is the Three Bunnies Knit Kit from Gift Horse Knit Kits who sell via Not On The High Street.com. The kit cost £20 including free postage. For your kit, you choose two colours of wool from which you make three bunnies; one in each colour and then one striped.
I went for the humbug variegated yarn and plain tan. The kit is very comprehensive in terms of its contents: yarn, knitting needles, felt for the facial features, buttons, thread, stuffing, needle and of course the pattern. I liked it that the kit included some extra yarn in case you ran out.
The yarn is a chunky weight but knitted on 3mm needles. I didn't use the bamboo needles provided but turned to my trusty Signature needles. I did find that I had to watch my tension as you can make the knitting too tight with the yarn being so thick.
Each bunny is knitted as two pieces, with a separation for the ears. The ears are pretty easy though, even, for a beginner as you leave the one you're not working on on the needle.
I decided to use safety eyes rather than embroidered ones so I put the eyes in before making up. I also glued on the felt nose and, for the plain bunny, added the cute little heart button provided.
To make up the bunnies, you sewed wrong sides together apart from the base and then stuffed with toy filling before sewing up the gap. The instructions suggested tying a length of yarn around each ear for additional definition but liked the ears just as they were.
As a finishing touch, the kit provided beautiful wooden buttons to use as the bunny's tail. If you position these correctly, they enable the bunny to stand up without support, which is pretty cool.
My personal addition was to glue on a cute fabric bow on each bunny's ear.
I really loved this kit and, for once, was quite happy to knit three of the same thing. You may at this stage be wondering what happened to bunny number three? I actually gave that one to my mum as a gift so she's not available for photographs this week :)
Melx
Happy Anniversary
It's just over a year since I learned to knit. I've knitted dozens of items of assorted quality during that time, building up from simple garter stitch to this week where I find myself in the middle an intarsia bag with nine yarn bobbins dangling from it (you might have to wait a week ot two to see the final results of this one).
However, to celebrate my first year as a knitter, I decided to go back to basics with this super simple glasses case.
I saw the project in July 2011's edition of Knit Today magazine in an article by Nicki Trench about teaching children to knit. I am never put off by designs intended for children to make - it tends to make me think I have a better chance of getting it right! I also thought the button design was sweet.
The pattern is a simple garter stitch rectangle of 10 stitches on 8mm needles. I used some Bergere de France Galaxie I had bought a little while ago after seeing it in a magazine. At only 30% wool, it doesn't really pass my yarn snob test but I was attracted to the sparkles.
Having completed the knitting but before making up, I sewed on an assortment of buttons in purples and pinks using a matching embroidery thread. As ever, the project suggested adding the buttons after making up, but that's so much more fiddly!
I sewed the sides of the glasses case up using mattress stitch rather than the recommended oversewing. One thing I wish I'd known as a beginner was how much difference it makes if you know how to sew up your project properly. I finished my glasses case with a purple ribbon bow.
Although I could have made this glasses case a year ago, it would have involved much more time, effort and stress, so it does make me realise how far I've come.
Now, back to that intarsia...
Melx
