Category Archives: Knitting

K’s New Jacket

A couple of months ago, I knitted a jacket for a friend’s baby boy, K; but he grew out of it much faster than I’d allowed for! K’s Mum asked if I could make a larger jacket that would work for the winter. Trouble is, the pattern I used only goes up to 3-6 months, and she was looking for 9-12 months….

I had a rummage through Ravelry, and came across the Simple Hooded Cardigan by Lion Brand Yarn. It looked pretty similar to the Wee Speedy knit I’d made originally, and with chunky yarn I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be a nightmare to knit.

K's Jacket

The main body is knitted in stocking stitch, with a garter stitch edge to the base and front edges. The sleeves were an experience to try picking up the stitches for – I’m sure I didn’t get them quite as balanced as they were meant to be, but hopefully the sleeves are nice and comfortable.

K's Jacket

The buttonhole was pretty easy, just being a yarn over – I was able to use a couple of buttons from my Mum’s button stash, which catch the light really nicely, but also compliment the blue in the yarn.

K's Jacket

I purposefully chose a variegated yarn, as I wanted to have some additional interest in there (and the original one was knitted with one strand of white and one strand of blue, so I was looking for something similar). This was Marriner Mermaid Chunky in blue random – only £1.50 a ball and fully washable, which is essential!

K's Jacket

Hopefully we’ll get some nice chilly weather in autumn and winter, so K can wear his new jacket a lot of times before he grows out of this one too! 😉

Cooey!

I can’t resist a bargain, so when I spotted the Stitch London book in the Works for just £3, I knew it would be an interesting read. Several of the projects use the dreaded double pointed needles, but there’s also a few that are knitted flat, so for about the price of a Starbucks Frappuccino, I decided to get the book.

It comes complete with a kit to make Cooey the Pigeon…. along with some tiny dpns to use. My previous attempts with dpns have always ended in me frogging the knitting, and ramming the needles back into the base of my knitting bag. But I wanted to give this a go, as Cooey just looked too cute to pass up on!

I pulled the first two rounds off the needles when I realised I hadn’t made the stitches tight enough, but on the second attempt, things went much smoother – I think the shorter dpns were more helpful, as the longer ones just seem to wave around too much when I knit.

I couldn’t find the instructions for how to make Cooey’s feet (the website link has changed since the book was printed), so Cooey has slightly quirky feet, which are sewn on with yarn rather than glued. I wasn’t able to get the first wing to look all that neat by the colour changes, so for the second one, I cast on another 5 stitches at the start of the white row, then cast them off in the next row. That was then sewn onto the back of the wing after I’d finished sewing in the blue yarn, neatly hiding the yarn ends.

pigeon-blog

The only disadvantage with the book, is picking what to knit next – should it be the Tube Rat, Red Phonebox (maybe a TARDIS), or the Tube Scarf? They all look so incredible, that I just can’t decide!

A Speedy Knit?

I was browsing through Ravelry and came across what claims to be a one-hour-knit for a baby’s cardigan. I’ve avoided knitting clothing (other than hats) for anyone, as it seems to take forever, and my knitting tension is usually a bit off as I come back to the project the next day.

But a one-hour-knit? That had to be worth trying, even if I wasn’t sure I had the right yarn in my stash.

So, I downloaded the Wee Speedy pattern, picked out two balls of Hayfield Bonus DK yarn (I was right, I didn’t have any chunky yarn that was suitable), and got knitting. It did take me about 3 hours rather than just one, but it’s a lot faster than knitting with just one strand of DK yarn, so I’m happy 😀

The button was from a free gift from a Simply Knitting magazine, and it’s the perfect size, given the size of the buttonhole.

Other than a few stretched stitches under the arms, which I stitched over a few times when I’d finished, I think it came out very well – I just hope it fits, and the little ‘un likes wearing it!

A rush request

I heard from a relative that he was going to be a daddy 😀 ….only trouble is, he told me about 3 weeks from the due date, which didn’t give me much time to make something!

I’ve sewn a couple of messenger bags using the tutorial from Crazy Little Projects before, and knew I could make one in quite a short space of time….  and I’d found the perfect fabric in the sale at just one pound for a metre!

So here we have the Jungle Book Nappy Bag….

Jungle Book Bag (outer flap)

Jungle Book Bag (outer flap)

Jungle Book Bag (back)

Jungle Book Bag (back)

Jungle Book Bag (inner)

Jungle Book Bag (inner)

The panels are (almost) fussy-cut, so the characters lined up nicely. I still can’t get the lining to behave though; it always appears too small when I start, and way too big once I sew the final stitches.

But I couldn’t make something for the parents and not make something for the baby, could I? Using my favourite bear pattern, I knitted Cheshire the Cat-Bear in white and cream yarn which gives him a nice mottled effect. He’s meant to be a bear, but I think his face looks more cat like, so he’s a Cat-Bear 😉

Cheshire the Cat-Bear

Cheshire the Cat-Bear

He should be just the right size for little hands to grab!

 

Cluing for Looks

Finally, Sherlock Mouse is finished!

Knitted Sherlock Mouse

He took a lot longer to complete than I had anticipated, mainly because I really was uncertain what I was going to do with his hair. Adding in the crocheted deerstalker hat worked perfectly, even if the hat is slightly too big for his head!

The basic mouse pattern uses Alan Dart’s May Day mouse pattern, with suitable colour changes for the trousers & shirt. The scarf and coat were freestyled to make sure they looked just right 🙂 And the hat? That came from an ornament pattern by Kristen Howard on Ravelry.

Seeing as I’d finished Sherlock Mouse, I couldn’t resist trying another Sherlock pattern – Crocheted Consulting Detective by Vilma Ilona. I’ve never tried a crochet pattern quite like this one before, so some of the shaping was a challenge, and I will admit the hair instructions left me completely confused, so I made that up as I went along. The hat is loosely based on the same pattern as SherlockMouse’s, but it was freestyled a bit to make sure it fitted his head properly and covered the mess of hair as well!

His head is slightly loose (blame my lack of stuffing skills for such a small space), but the scarf and coat collar help to make sure it doesn’t flop around too much.Sherlock Crocheted Amigurumi Sherlock Amigurumi

 

Some of the crochet increases have left gaps in the stitches where the stuffing is showing through, but I can work on those and just sew a few lines across to cover those up (the yarn was a little thinner than normal). That’s also why the trousers & shoes look like they have white sparkles….

But overall, I’m pleased with how Sherlock came out, and now he’s ready to go cluing for looks!

2015

How did 2014 fly past so quickly that it’s 2015 already?! It doesn’t seem a year ago that I decided I wanted to start learning to sew, and was borrowing Mum’s sewing machine to get to grips with the basics!

Anyhow, with the new year in mind, I’ve decided to take part in Crazy Little Project’s Crazy New You challenge! Looking at the really cluttered way I store my fabric & yarn, I figured that I needed to sort that out, and that’s my challenge for this month 🙂

So far, I’ve bagged all my fabric in freezer bags (surprisingly useful to make sure it’s kept reasonably tidy), and put it all neatly into a cardboard storage box. Of course then I managed to find some really fantastic fabric in the sale, so I still have a couple of things that won’t quite fit into the box…. Maybe that’s a good excuse to start sewing another project?!

This year I’ve a few projects in mind, and hopefully I’ll be able to finish most of them:

  • Knit Sherlock Mouse‘s hat (at last) and add in some hair as well
  • Sew another Notebook Folder
  • Make myself a cover for my notebooks, as that’s got to be better than piles of post-it notes, right?
  • Sew another messenger bag (I’ve got the perfect outer fabric for that, just need to work out what the lining will be made from)
  • Learn how to add a zip into a bag, so I can make the messenger bag close up properly
  • Make a laundry bag (a request from my Mum)
  • Finish at least one of my knitting UFOs
  • Make a mini Sherlock-themed scrapbook – that may or may not happen 😛
  • ….and possibly attempt a curtain, but that is very unlikely!

So just a short list! I’m hopeful I can at least get Sherlock Mouse finished this month, then once I’ve figured out what fabric would work well together, I can work on a notebook folder / cover 😀

 

 

 

There are no affiliate links in this post. I just happened to find WH Smith storage boxes the perfect size!

Wedding Knits

I’ve finally finished the knitting project for a friend’s wedding….

Wedding Mice

….meet the Wedding Mice! The bride and groom have chosen a green colour-scheme for their wedding, so I thought I’d crochet a green granny square bag for the mice to sit in.

And of course then there’s the mice themselves:

Bride-1

Bride Mouse is roughly modelled on the bride-to-be, although I did change the hair colour to something that worked better in wool!

Her bouquet of flowers was an interesting challenge to sew together – I will admit I managed to break my sewing needle on that one. However, I’m really pleased with how the mouse came out in the end 😀

Her traditional style white wedding dress allows her to show off her bouquet of flowers, and once I finally figured out how to create her hair, the green hairband sets it off perfectly.

 

 

Groom-1

The Groom Mouse’s colour scheme is hopefully accurate to what my friend will be wearing on his wedding day – I’m sure I confused him by my questions for what colours everyone would be wearing!

He has a grey suit (the jacket was a “make it up as you go” attempt, as I don’t have a specific pattern for that), black shoes, a crisp white shirt, and of course a nice green tie.

No hair for this mouse (thankfully), but a slightly lopsided pair of ears.

 

So there you have it, the bride and groom, and they should arrive fashionably early for the wedding…. about two months early! But then it’s better to be early with a wedding gift, rather than rushing at the last minute.

Bride-and-Groom

 

 

 

Patterns used:
May Day Mice by Alan Dart
Granny Square Bag by Wool Warehouse

It’s been a while

It’s definitely been a while since I added any posts here, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy with knitting & crochet!

Meet “Rose the Duck” knitted for a friend’s young child. I added the little rose under the wing, just for a unique look 🙂

dfd-duck

Using Alan Dart’s Nursery Rhyme Mice pattern for the basic mouse body, I decided I wanted to try making a Gandalf Mouse…. so, meet MouseDalf!

dfd-mousedalf

I have also knitted Bilbo, but I don’t have a photo of him yet 😉

And just in time for the third series of Sherlock to begin, meet Sherlock Mouse (ok, I know he is still missing his deerstalker hat, but he can still try and solve crimes)

dfd-sherlock

Currently I’m working on a gift for a friend’s wedding, and a couple of birthday presents – I’ll post pictures once the birthdays & wedding have passed, so I don’t spoil their surprises!

 

These mice are fan art, and I am not making any profit from these.
The character of Sherlock was created originally by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Bilbo Baggins & Gandalf are from the Hobbit & Lord of the Rings books, by J. R. R. Tolkien.

A little update

I still need to get the photos sorted, but I’ve just finished working on a pattern for  Neopets.com Faerie – it came out surprisingly well all considering it was the first time I’d tried making anything that kind of shape before!

My Crochet & Knitting resolutions for the New Year are to finish off some of the projects I have stashed away…. and then I don’t have to keep the wool stashed “just in case” 😀 …. so far I’ve started (and finished) something, but I still haven’t picked a half-finished item to work on. I might just have to reach into the bag with my eyes closed and work on whatever thing I pick out!

Simply Crochet – first edition cover

You know that magazine I mentioned a few days ago? Well, Simply Crochet have been utterly awesome, and sent me a picture of the front cover to share with everyone, so we can see what kind of goodies the very first edition will have!

 

simply-crochet1

 

Simply Crochet is a new magazine, from the makers of Simply Knitting and Mollie Makes, and looking at that front cover, it looks like it’ll be packed with patterns  and ideas 😀

Certainly for me, the dragon amuigurumi pattern, and the new ways with Granny squares will be “must reads”…. and maybe the 3 designs for blankets will help me to actually get my Refuge blanket completed! 🙂

If you’re a bit uncertain if you want to try the magazine or not, they do have a fantastic lauch offer:

So, that should help anyone who’s a little undecided still – be prepared to get “hooked” though *laughs*

 

And if you just can’t wait for that first issue to be released in the shops, you can always chat away to Simply Crochet on the web, and share your excitement of the new magazine:

Blog: www.simplycrochetmag.co.uk
Twitter: @SimplyCrochet_
Facebook: /simplycrochetmag
Pinterest: /simpcrochetmag
Ravelry: /groups/simply-crochet