Simply Knitting Issue 94
Nothing in a knitting magazine attracts me more than a patterned labelled "Quick and Easy". In some cases, of course, this turns out to be an outrageous lie but happily not so with Louise Butt's study gifts set from June's Simply Knitting.
There were 6 patterns in total, but I narrowed it down to the knitted notebook cover and the felted crochet bowl.
First up, the A6 notebook cover, which I knitted using Paton's Fairytale Dreamtime DK in a vibrant shade of orange. The yarn is 100% wool, but quite smooth to knit with. The notebook cover is knitted in a single piece with 3.75mm needles. There is a simple garter stitch / stocking stitch section for the inner cover and then a 6 row pattern for the main section.
The making up entailed sewing the sections at each end of the cover to form pockets to wrap around the covers of the notebook. This is where the trouble started. It turns out that 2cm is not really enough to make the cover fit snugly around the notebook of its own accord. I think you'd need nearer 6cm to make it work. Also, the main body of the cover was curling up a bit and not reaching the edge of the notebook.
So, blocking time. I can count the number of times I've blocked anything on one hand, so I wasn't terribly confident. Nonetheless, I ironed the reverse side of the knitted fabric to fold over the edges and flatten the piece. Then I used 10 paperclips to fasten the cover in place on an old A6 notebook. I then sprayed the lot with water (hence the old notebook) and left for 24 hours.
Next day, the cover was behaving itself quite a bit more, so I transferred it to my new A6 notebook. For security, I glued the cover with Bostik All Purpose Glue to the inside covers of the notebook.
Finally, I sewed on a Miffy fabric covered button from my stash my way of embellishment.
The crochet bowl proved quite a bit easier. It is made using Rico Creative Filz, which is a 100% merino yarn, especially designed for felting. I happened to have a ball in stash, so set off with my 6mm hook.
The bowl is mainly constructed from treble crochet. As my crochet skills mostly stop at double, I had a quick read up to remind myself of how to treble.
The bowl crocheted up superfast and I finished it in one session. I sent it for a 50 degree rapid wash in the machine and it looked sufficiently felted whilst retaining some muted stitch definition. To dry, I stuffed the bowl with plastic bags to hold the shape.
Now, I don't often save magazine patterns once I've completed them, as I don't usually make anything twice, but I'm going to hang on to these two as they will make pretty gifts. Might add a few centimetres to each side of the notebook cover though...
Melx
Ode to Alpacas
I love alpacas. They are so cute. I saw some up close at last year's Woolfest and I now fantasise regularly about owning my own flock. In the meantime, I have to make do with knitting with alpaca yarn and where better to go than the fantastic Toft Alpaca Shop.
The Beginner's Blanket kit was advertised in an email. Not cheap at £80, but you get 800g of their lovely chunky alpaca / wool blend yarn and the printed pattern.I went for cream yarn on this occasion, as I knit far too much grey already.
The blanket is knitted using the yarn double on 20mm needles. The pattern suggested using circular needles due to the number of stitches and the weight of the yarn. However, I had a go with my 16" long 20mm straight needles, which were fine, albeit a little bit heavy as the blanket grew.
The pattern is simply 30 stitches in moss stitch until you run out of yarn and then you cast off. I finally learned that moss stitch with an even number of stitches is knit one, purl one on the first row and then purl one, knit one on the second row. Up until now, I've avoided even numbered moss stitch because I wasn't sure what to do. Durr!
The blanket knitted up really quickly. My husband said that I looked like a pixie knitting with my giant needles. After I cast off, I tried to take care with weaving in the ends as I've found they can work loose pretty easily in blankets, especially when you have two pet cats trying to pick the ends out with their claws :)
The finished product is a nice lap blanket; heavy and robust. I'm looking forward to my next alpaca-spotting session at Woolfest 2012 next month.
Melx
Who Needs Glue?
I love framed purses and bags and I would really like to be able to make them competently. I've tried both sewn and knitted purses where you glue the fabric into the purse frame. Glue everywhere. Really. Hence, I was very excited when I spotted a pattern advertised in one of my knitting magazines for a crochet sew-in frame purse from Cotton and Cloud.
On closer inspection of Cotton and Cloud's website, I discovered they had a kit for sale. Even better and I ordered it before you could say checkoutwithpaypal.
The £16.50 kit comes with two purse frames, two 25g balls of Jamiesons 100% Pure Shetland Wool in purple and pink and a 4mm crochet hook. I also paid the extra 75p for a printed instruction booklet, although you can get the PDF sent to you by email at no extra charge.
At first I was a bit flummoxed by the pattern. It is crocheted in the round, but rather crocheting in spirals, you go backwards and forwards as if crocheting flat. It made sense when I realised that this is to make the crochet fabric match when you get to the top and crochet the two sides separately to shape the purse.
So, I set off in faith with the pink yarn and produced something of approximately the right size and shape. The bit where I slip stitched to close each round looked a bit dodgy, but I pronounced it broadly okay.
Now for the sewing into the frame. The instructions helpfully directed me to a video tutorial that made it really clear what I needed to so. I then used a thinnish embroidery needle to sew the edge of the crochet fabric into the frame through the pre-drilled holes. The instructions also suggested you could crush the edges of the purse frames with pliers for further security, but I skipped that step as the fabric seemed tucked very firmly into the frame.
The final step was the embellishment. A pattern was provided for a two-colour flower, which I'm afraid I chickened out of. Instead, I made a rosette in the contrasting purple yarn using a flat circle made up of 4 rounds of 6 stitches, then 12, then 18 and then 24. I sewed a pretty ceramic button from my stash to the centre of the circle and then sewed the whole embellishment to my purse.
The purse isn't lined, but, as the instructions point out, the yarn provided makes a very firm fabric that I found gave the purse sufficient structural integrity by itself.
So, no more splotches of glue for me - it's sew-in frames all the way, starting with the second purse in this kit.
Melx
Knit Now Issue 7
I've purchased a few issues of Knit Now since it started publication last year. I like the idea that the magazine focuses on accessories rather than garments and it also has nice free gifts. However, I haven't made much from it as I think many of the patterns are actually quite complex for a relative newbie like me.
In Issue 7, though, I was extremely taken by Loraine Birchall's Eagle Hat and Scarf project. The hat was my favourite piece (and looked the easiest) so I duly sent off to Woolly Madly Deeply for the required Lion Brand Alpine Wool. It's great that there's a stockist here in the UK as the Lion Brand website has a great selection of free patterns.
I thought at first that you would knit the eagle design using stranding, but in fact the project recommends using Swiss darning (duplicate stitch), which I hadn't tried before.
To make the basic hat, I began on 6mm circular needles in 1 x 1 rib. I used to be afraid of rib, worrying that I'd lose concentration half way through, but I got to the end of 12 rounds without any problems. For the rest of hat, I switched to 7mm needles and went happily round and round in stocking stitch until I reached the required length. I then turned the hat inside out and finished with three needle bind off, which I think is so clever.
So, now for the Swiss darning. After a little reading up and and a YouTube video or two, I made a start with the two rounds of alternate red and blue stitches. This was way more difficult than I expected in terms of following the row of stitches without accidentally moving up a row. It took several attempts and I still think there's a bit of a jog up and down in one place.
The eagle motif was actually much easier, being spread over an 8 x 8 grid of stitches. My husband took a while to see that it was in fact an eagle's head but under pressure said it looked very accurate :)
To block, I sprayed the hat lightly with water and dried flat.
The last part of the design was to make two large tassells using all four colours and secure them to the hat. I used the photo in the magazine to guestimate that the tassells were about 3.5 inches long. I got a piece of cardboard of that length and then wrapped each colour round eight times and then repeated once more. I secured the tassel at the top with the main colour and then cut through the wraps at the bottom of the cardboard. I then wrapped the main colour around a few times for extra security and then trimmed the tassel ends to the same length.
Now for tassel number two. I am hopeless at making two of anything the same and, even though I thought I repeated the same steps, I spent ages trimming the second tassel to match the first. Fluff everywhere...
Finally, I sewed the tassells as securely as I could manage to the corners of the hat.
The finished hat is so cute (if I do say so myself, although that might be more down to Loraine than me) that I'm almost sorry that summer is coming and I'll have to wait to show it off...
Melx
You're the one for me, fattie
More sewing this week. This literal ball of fluff is a kit from Cupcakes for Clara's Etsy Shop.
Now, as the possessor of a substantial stash, I don't tend to be concerned by how complete a kit is in terms of having absolutely everything you need to make the finished product. However, I was massively impressed by this kit, which contained absolutely everything you needed, down to the needle and thread. It was also beautifully packaged in a sweet cardboard box and the thread came on dear little spools. Most cute.
To get started, I glued the pattern pieces to thick cardboard and cut them out to make sturdy templates. I then used a trick marker to cut out all the pieces from the high quality felt. There was even enough felt left over to cut additional pieces if you made a mistake, which came in handy when I pricked my finger and bled onto one of the ears.
The body of the kitten is made up of four segments. I used the sewing machine to stitch them together as it was quicker and more sturdy. I was particularly careful to make sure the segments were joined correctly at the top and bottom. I left a small gap in the last join and then turned and stuffed the ball. I then top stitched the body seams by hand as per the pattern, which I think is a really nice design feature.
The next step was to embroider the facial features. I still don't think I'm great at this but I guess practise makes perfect. I then blanket stitched the tail onto the back of the kitten.
The appendages (front paws, back paws and ears) are all made by hand stitching the pieces wrong sides together, lightly padding and then sewing onto the body. At this point, I realised I wasn't sure how to replicate the stitch style in the photograph. One quick convo to Laura Clempson, the designer, and I discovered you needed a neat running stitch in both directions and then a whip stitch over the sides. Mine isn't as good, but it's something I'll definitely be trying on other projects.
Anyway, there's my fattie kitten. I happen to also have a pattern by Laura for a bluebird in the same round design from the book Little Birds, so I'll be tackling that soon..
Melx
Happbee Easter
These are my makes from the Easter weekend. Nothing like a theme is there?
First up was the crochet bee from a PDF pattern I purchased at Yarnabee's Etsy shop. The bee is made with aran yarn and a size F (3.75mm) hook. The pattern suggested using a size G, but I've found F is about my right size for amigurumi crochet. I went for mostly non-traditional bee colours, using up some leftover Rooster Almerino Aran from a teapot kit I finished recently. The pattern called for a colour change and to carry the second yarn along. I'd never done that before, so I watched a few YouTube videos and gave it a shot.
The bee is crocheted from a magic circle of 6 double crochet (single crochet for you US folks) and then in a spiral. As usual with amigurumi crochet, you add the safety eyes and stuffing before you close the whole thing off by decreasing. The wings are cleverly made by replicating just the first two rounds of the body pattern and then stitching on. The finished size is a cute but not minuscule 2.5 x 2.5 inches, including the wings.
Next was this knitted busy bee pin cushion from a supplement that came with the May 2012 edition of Knit Today magazine. The pattern book is entitled 50 Quick Knits. Now that's the sort of pattern book I can get excited about, rather than 5 lace patterns that will take you a lifetime to finish (I know, I have no patience).
I used leftover DK from my stash in slightly more traditional bee colours and 3.25mm straight needles to knit the body in stripes. To make up the bee, I backstitched most of the body together and then turned for stuffing, before closing off the cast on edge. I glued some googly eyes onto my bee's face and made a little mouth from red DK.
Now, the pattern didn't include any wings for the bee, which hubby and I both thought made it look a bit odd. So, I used the crochet pattern to make some slightly bigger wings for my pincushion by adding an extra round. Much better don't you think? This bee is a chubby 3.5 x 3.5 inches around without his wings. Seems a bit mean to stick pins in him but I probably will :)
So that's it for my bee crochet/knitting bee. Let's see what creature I get obsessed with
next..
Melx
I'm sure the chicken is perfectly safe....
I thought I would give the knitting a rest this week and give my sewing machine a workout instead. I've recently become obsessed with foxes, which as just as well as the house is full to the brim of owls, so time for a change. Hence, I jumped at the chance to purchase this new Baby Fox pattern from Bit of Whimsy Dolls.
Handily, I already had a lovely fat quarter of orange fabric from Fabric Rehab. I had actually bought it for another fox-related project but inspiration had struck so I nicked it for this pattern.
As usual with toy projects, I printed out the pattern, glued the pieces onto thick card and cut them out to make sturdy cardboard templates. I drew round the templates onto the back of the fabric with a disappearing pen.
I cut out most of the pieces from the orange fabric and used white felt for the face and inner ears. The fox also has a cute toy chicken (that made me chuckle), that I cut from spotted lemon fabric from Hobbycraft.
I sewed the face to the head by hand - you are supposed to attach it with the sewing machine but I don't have that sort of confidence. I then attached the safety eyes and embroidered the nose.
The sewing machine part mainly consisted of sewing the matching bits right sides together and turning. This was tricky on the arms, legs and ears as you are supposed to use a 1/8th of an inch seam allowance. I had a few issues with seams splitting, which I bodged by hand stitching afterwards.
Once you have the body, arms and ear pieces ready, you make a sandwich with the ears and arms pointing inwards and sew the whole thing together.I had to go back over a couple of areas twice, but it mostly went okay. I then stuffed the fox firmly with toy filler. To finish the fox, you turn up a hem on the bottom of the body and sandwich the top of the legs inside to sew with a visible seam, which actually came out quite neatly.
The little chick is made by sewing two halves of the wings together for each side and then sandwiching them in the body. My chicken's wings are actually on upside down, but hopefully that's not very obvious. The chicken is attached to the fox with a hook and loop circles sewn to the fox's paw and the back of the chicken's head. My hook and loop pads are self-adhesive, but don't work on fabric so I ruined two needles sewing through the adhesive.
The finished size of the fox is 12 inches. His head is a bit lopsided, but he's mostly quite sweet. As ever, I couldn't resist the embellishments box and glued a little orange sparkly heart to the fox's body and tied a rust coloured ribbon around his neck.
Now for a name....
Melx
