Rabbits and Hearts

I haven't had much time for making things recently, it's been another crazy term at school and my weekends have been filled with working at the museum and visiting national trust properties.

 I have finished my granny square blanket for now and put it on the end of my bed. I'm not really happy with it as it's much too small, so I plan to add to it using some wool I've been given by a friend at knitting club.

I've also found time to knit two hearts and to fill them with lavender, I kept one and gave one to my auntie for Mother's Day. They were very quick to make and the increasing and decreasing made it interesting.

Most recently I've crocheted a rabbit for Easter from let's get crafting knitting and crochet. I was supposed to make three and give them as Easter present's to the children I tutor, but it took much longer than I thought it would so I'll have to find another recipient.

Another hobby I've been trying is card making, i made a card for a friend at work who has just had a baby and one for a friend who has just bought her own place. 

Lastly in March, my Mum and I visited the cake and bake show at Event city in Manchester. The show itself wasn't that amazing, a lot of the stalls were very expensive, however there were some good show cakes on display. We also got to meet Mary Berry and she signed my Mum's cook book, she was very nice and I felt a bit sorry for her because the que for signing books was massive.

I'm not sure what I'm going to make next. I definitely want to do some machine sewing whilst I'm off over Easter and I have plans to make a bag and to try patchwork. I also have an owl to paint. I'm looking forward to going to an event at Black Sheep Wools on Thursday, so hopefully that will inspire me!

New year, new start!

Since going back to school I've not had much time for crafting, this week is the first time I've tried to make anything since Christmas and I've remembered how relaxing knitting and crochet is! I also went round the International Crafts and Hobby Crafts fair at the Trafford centre today and really enjoyed it. I was inspired by the some of the amazing makes that were on display.

Over Christmas I finished my hot water bottle cover, the scarf for mum and a snood for my friend.

I'm currently working on a granny square blanket, I've made lots of squares but I'm not sure about the purple one's, I might leave them out of the final design. It's not big enough yet but I've started sewing the middle together, then I might add a border.

My next knitted project after this will be a heart cushion and maybe a snood from some sirdar squiggle to wear under my leather jacket. I had a Sewing Machine for Christmas, so I also want to get to grips with that over half term.

I finally got out and had a walk around Biddulph Grange Garden last weekend. It was a lovely crisp day and even though I used to work there, I'd forgotten how beautiful it is.

I'm still hoping to get my own place this year but despite viewing lots of flats I have no news to report yet, hopefully by Easter something will have turned up. After reading homemaker magazine, I have lots of ideas for interior design!

Christmas Makes

As it's the 1st of December, I thought it was time to update this with some of the items I've been making recently.

I've almost finished the scarf in Sirdar Fizz, my mum has decided that she'd like this for christmas. Although the scarf is lovely and soft, I will probably never buy any Sirdar Fizz ever again, it's horrible to knit with! I've also made a scarf with some Grundl Flamenco Twin I got cheap from a craft show, I really enjoyed making this and would buy more in the future. It's lovely and soft!

I finally made Robbie the Robin from Let's Knit, he only took a day to make and I really like how he's turned out! I also made a baby bonnet and a matching pair of scratch mitts from a Let's Knit kit. This means that I've officially used up all my free kits from let's knit! Time to turn to Ravelry for some new inspiration...

Joining Ravelry prompted me to sort out my knitting box. I found some christmas granny squares that I made from Let's Get Crafting Knit and Crochet last year when I was on my way to Italy and also lots of oddments of wool. I decided to use them up to make this christmas cushion. I joined the squares together to make the front and then knitted the back and I'm really happy with the finished project.

I'm determined to use up my oddments of wool in the new year and to finish off old projects. The main two I have to finish are some knitted hearts, I started when I was still living in Salford Quays and the granny square blanket. I'm hoping to get my own place in the new year and I think these would make a nice addition to the new place.

As it's now the first of December I've started thinking about christmas projects. I still have the Santa Socks to make from Let's knit and Crochet Christmas Special 2013 and I'm knitting a red scarf and hand warmers for one of my friends. The patterns come from this blog, which is really lovely and has some great patterns for free. If I get time I'll knit some christmas decorations too. Although I'm finally going back to work next week though and I'm looking forward to being busy!

New Skills

Hello,
            I thought I'd post some of the items i've made whilst I've been off work recently.

The first things that I made since my last post was a needle felted sheep. One of my friends has subscribed to crafty creatives, a subscription service where you get a box of various items each month. Last month they included a kit to make a needle felted sheep and as she knew i'd wanted to have a go at needle felting for ages she gave it to me. It came with two wool tops, one black and one white, a piece of foam and a needle for felting.

The idea behind needle felting is that you manipulate the wool top into the shape you want and then stab it with the needle so that it felts and holds the shape. My first attempt was a bit of a disaster as the needle snapped, so I had to order a new one from Clover, I think this is because I was using too much force. However once I got the needle from Clover I had much more success and quite enjoyed making my sheep, even if getting the small parts on like the feet was quite fiddly. I may try needle felting again in the future.

The second thing that I made this month was a flower corsage from a kit that came with January's let's knit. I found it quite fiddly to make, as to make the petals you had to slip up to 8 stitches over one knitted stitch. The end results is quite nice though. I made two, the first has been claimed by my Mum and I might give the second one to my Nan.

In a moment of boredom I also decided to have a go at doing some decopatch. I have done this before and quite enjoyed it, even it is a little messy. It involves using PVA glue to decorate a wooden or card item with small squares of tissue paper. This time I used a free kit I'd received with Crafts Beautiful magazine for making a decopatch butterfly. The end result was quite effective, but I did have to give it two coats of tissue paper, as I found that every time I touched it a new piece ripped!

Lastly I  finally got round to making Sydney Owl from Let's Knit in May! I really enjoyed making Sydney and conquering the stitch knit one below to make his feathers, which was much easier than I thought it would be. I would definitely make another Sydney Owl in the future. You can get the pattern for him and most of the other makes I've made from Let's Knit for free on their website. 

That's all the crafting I've done so far, plans for this week include making a baby's bonnet and Robbie the Robin from my Let's Knit kits. I've also got this lovely kit for making a Lucy Cromwell Decoupage Christmas Card from Do Crafts. 

I'm enjoying trying out new crafts whilst i'm off work and it's much better than watching endless repeats of 70 and 80's TV shows in the afternoon. Hopefully it will make the time go quick and before I know it I'll be back at work.

To do list.

Here are some of the items that I am currently making or might make in the future.

This week I am going to try and make Sydney the Owl from the Let's Knit Kit and a needle felted sheep from a Crafty Creatives kit my friend gave me. I am looking forward to making the sheep and trying something different. I also have two work's in progress at the moment.

1.  A granny square blanket, which I started at the beginning of the year as a way to use up all my odd balls of double knit wool, I plan to finish this by the end of this year.
2. A scarf using Sirdar Fizz.

The next project after this is to try out some of the makes from Let's Knit and Crochet christmas special 2013, as this includes full instructions for making a pair of socks in the round. I have wanted to learn to knit in the round for ages, so I am very excited about this.

By the end of the year I also want to have made up all the free kits that have come with my subscription to Let's Knit. The one's I have left to make are.

1. Baby Bonnet
2. Flower broaches.
3. Robbie the Robbin
4. Scandinavian Baubles.

Other projects I have to complete include making a snood from the leftover Sirdar Squiggle yarn and making scarves from some Sirdar Filigree yarn that I have. The Filigree is horrible to knit with but I am determined to use it up!

I think that's enough for now!

Sirdar Filigree- this is my first attempt, not good!

Sirdar New Fizz- I quite like this so far, but it takes ages as you have to pull all the bits through after each row.

Item's I've made

I thought I'd post some of the items that i've knitted and crocheted so far to start off with.

 Crochet cushion from let's get crafting in double knit wool that came with the magazine.

 Runner for the end of a bed in Grundl Chicago discontinued wool.

Crocheted Luma from Super Mario. 

Tea-Cosy from Cute and Easy Crochet by Nikki Trench.

Christmas Stocking from Let's Get Crafting Knit and Crochet 2012 Christmas Issue. I really enjoyed this colourwork project.

Poinsettia Broach from Let's Get Crafting Knit and Crochet 2012 Issue. 

Scarf for my mum, made with pink and purple double knit. Made to own design.

Cross Stitch I made for a friend's son's christening 2013.

Easter Bunny from Let's Knit 2013, made for friends son.

Easter Bunny 2 from Let's Knit 2013. Made during a trip to London.

Knitting needle holder, made using crocheted heart bunting from Let's Get Crafting 2012 Jubilee Edition.

My first cardigan. Made in Sirdar Squiggle from a pattern for Sirdar Faroe Chunky wool, which appeared in a copy of Woman's Weekly in 2012. I really like this yarn as it's soft, cheap and knits up quickly.

Crocheted Baby Boots, made with kit from Let's Knit 2013.

Scarf made with red heart aurica. One £2.99 ball makes a small scarf. I would in future buy two balls and make a slightly bigger one.

Tea-Cosy made with kit from Let's Knit Lace special 2013. Really enjoyed making this, a quick and easy knit which looks very effective.

Hand-warmers with kit from Let's Knit Christmas Makes special 2013. These were my first knit after coming out of hospital. I didn't really enjoy making them as the colour work was tedious rather than interesting. I will enjoy wearing them though!