🧶 June Update 🧶

June has definitely flown by for me, I was sort of wishing the first three weeks would go rather quickly as I went on holiday in the last week of June, and I couldn’t wait! At the start of this month, I was mainly focusing on my sewing projects, as I had a couple of things that I wanted to finish so that I could take them away with me! All in all, in May and June, I made: a white striped jersey top, a pink longline cardigan, a pair of black linen trousers, a cross body sling style bag, a floral patterned grey dress and a white slip dress. Our holiday was very relaxed which meant that I took photos of me wearing some things, but not others! Here's me in my pink cardigan and my sling style bag, I love the fabric of this so much!

I've also started the Scheepjes Hygge CAL from 2017 in the Rainbow colourway. I must have missed it somehow when it was first released, and then found it on the Scheepjes website and knew that I had to make one too! Embroidering onto a crochet background is another thing on my long list of techniques that I want to try, and I thought that this would be perfect! I've only done about 15 rows so far, so I've not even started embroidering yet!

Before we went away, I bought a hank of the new West Yorkshire Spinners Exquisite Lace Yarn in the colour Savoy, it’s a beautiful teal green shade. I’ve never bought a hank of yarn before, so it was my first time hand winding into a ball! I’ve thought about buying a ball winder in the past, but always put it off as I’m not sure how much use I would get out of it. I’ve watched so many YouTube videos, and saw an interesting comment on one, in the video a nostepinne was used, and someone had commented that they used a turkey baster to wind their yarn around. It sounded great to me, and it only cost me £1 to buy one! I was a little bit nervous in case I got in a big tangly mess, but it worked so well! It took me two nights in total to wind it, and I ended up with this big egg shape of yarn!

Slowly getting bigger!

I decided to use the WYS wool to try a bit of lace knitting. It’s something I’ve tried once before but in a pattern that only had lace parts in a couple of sections across rather than the whole length. I found a free pattern via a google search, which didn’t look too difficult and I leapt straight in! We did one big walk on holiday, up Easedale Tarn, and I had my knitting with me, so I had to do a couple of rows while we were up there! Quite possibly one of the first people to knit up there, but we’ll never know for sure!

🧶 May Update 🧶

This last month, I’ve been busy continuing with my WIP - the Designer Knitting Fall 18 Fair Isle scarf, I’ve made some nice progress with this, and I’m really pleased with how easy this technique has been. This is the first time that I’ve attempted a fair isle knit with more than two colours, and while I’m still extremely nervous for when the time comes that I have to steek it (eeeeek!) it’s all turning out rather well so far. Apart from a few severe tangles leading to some knots and a couple of breakages, luckily only on my extra section for steeking, I’ve found knitting with the Rowan Felted Tweed DK to be really easy. I love the colours of this scarf, they’re bright and beautiful, but the Felted Tweed isn’t in your face, it’s muted and has some tone to it, making it perfect for a project like this.

I’ve also had a go at something a little bit different this month, we bought a bookcase for the lounge, and I knew that it needed something a little bit special to go on top, there’s got to be something handmade and yarny everywhere right?! I found a small weaving loom that I had bought a couple of years ago in Edinburgh, I think it’s really aimed at children, but it’s the perfect size to practice on. I didn’t really have a colour theme in mind, just bright and bold! I used some Cygnet Utopia DK and some Robin Paintbox DK, along with a mix of single colour DK acrylic yarn that I had, unfortunately all the labels have been long lost from these. I also made some tassels to tie onto each end of the weaving, mainly to cover up the warp yarn, as it’s been many years
since I have woven anything, I couldn’t remember what to do when I had finished!

I’ve also completed a couple of sewing projects this month as well, I didn’t think that I had finished much but looking back I guess I’ve been pretty busy! I’ve made a boho/ sling style bag for my holiday, I saw Kimmy wearing one in an episode of ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ and since then I have been desperate to make one similar. I’ve tried to find a picture to go from but I can’t seem to find one, so it’s a bit like I dreamed the bag but I know that I definitely didn’t! I went into Abakhan in Manchester, straight to the craft cotton section, and this fabric was right on top, perfect for a bag! I bought a 16” dress zip, and I used this to draw the line to base my pattern from. I used my everyday handbag to get an idea for the dimensions that I was looking for, and just went for it! I’ve made quite a few bags in the past, and in terms of sewing, they’re definitely an easy project to make up as you go along! The bag has a zip fastening, two inner pockets, and a wooden ring so that the straps length can be easily adjusted. I love this bag so much, it’s not heavy at all, and it will be perfect for summer.

I also made a dress this month too, I wasn’t lying about being busy! It’s from a Burda Plus magazine, which is a German edition, I can’t seem to find it in English, so that was fun translating the pattern! I used dress fabric from Abakhan in Liverpool for this one, The fabric is a lightweight dark grey with a vintage style floral pattern, and I love it. The dress shape is very loose fitting, with a belt to cinch in the waist and add some shape. Unfortunately, I haven’t got a photo of the finished item yet, I want to make a slip dress to go underneath, which I haven’t started yet!

Overall, May has been a varied month for me, using different crafts to create all my projects and I’ve loved it! I love knitting so much, but there’s definitely something about sewing that really speaks to me, when you can make an entire outfit in a couple of days!

Grasmere Socks 🧦

I bought some sock yarn back in June last year on our holiday to Grasmere, I actually bought it in Keswick, but I’ve decided that these will be my Grasmere socks! I made two pairs of socks at the end of last year for Christmas presents, the second pair were rather rushed and had to be knitted on my breaks at work as they were a pair of secret socks! After that, I wanted to make a pair for myself again, as hand knitted socks feel so lovely to wear. I also wanted a bit of a challenge on this pair, so I decided to add some cables down the front. I used Winwick Mums Easy Cable Socks pattern, and I don’t know why I thought these would be harder, as I found them to be a breeze! I definitely think having the two cables down the front made things easier, as it broke the knitting up a bit, rather than just using a knit stitch all the time. I used King Cole Zig Zag sock yarn in the colour way Autumn Glory. It knits up so lovely, the colours are so vivid, and I got lots of comments whilst I was knitting! 

This is the first sock finished! I love it so much! Now I’m off to knit the second sock as I will look rather odd with just one sock on!

Sophie’s Stool!

I definitely arrived at the party quite late for this one, I only found out about the Sophie’s Universe blanket when I saw the stool kit being released, and I couldn’t believe what I had been missing out on! As I had just moved into a new flat, I thought that a colourful stool would be perfect to brighten up the corner of the living room. It was only when the parcel arrived at work, that I realised that I somehow had to get the huge box home! Before this, this wasn’t at all what I was thinking about, more like oooooh, I can’t wait to get started! I had to carry this huge box on two buses home, and I got more than a few funny looks! I didn’t start making the stool cover for another couple of months, as I had a few WIPs that I wanted to start first. As the Eastern Jewels blanket had taken me a few months to complete, I thought that this may take quite a while as well, as although it was a lot smaller than the blanket, the stitches looked more complicated! It only took me just over a month to finish, although in the last week, I just had to sew in all my ends! 

I LOVED making this stool cover! The bright colours work so well together, and definitely helped to brighten my mood. I enjoyed trying the different stitches that this design uses, and the texture that they create. 

I’m now going to be on the look out for more overlay crochet projects, as I just love this technique! It looks like it’s hard to achieve, but once you get the hang of it, it’s so simple! 

Giant Octopus Rug!

Chunky crochet - it's something that I've only tried a couple of times, the main reason being that whenever I used a chunky crochet hook and some super chunky yarn, it always hurts my hand after a short while. Meaning that it can take ages to finish a project, and it makes it a lot less enjoyable than it should be. As it's my nieces first birthday in September, I wanted to make something special for her room. She loves a little toy octopus that I made for her a few months ago, and I'd just discovered the amazing patterns of IraRott. Huge animal rugs, cushions, and much more! I knew that an octopus rug would be perfect!

I was a little nervous that crocheting it would hurt my hand, but I bought a new crochet hook - a KnitPro hook with a soft grip handle. It turned out to work perfectly! 

To get these rugs super chunky, you use an Aran weight yarn and hold 3 strands together. This technique takes a bit of practise to get used to, but there is a great video on IraRott's website, where she shows you how to do this using only one ball of yarn. 

This was the end result! I am just so pleased with how this turned out, I had to wait to deliver it before I was able to take a picture as it is so big! It's so lovely and squishy too, using 3 strands of yarn held together works so well. 

June Update - Holiday, Vanajas Rucksack (Crochet Now) & Finishing Persian Tiles Eastern jewels Blanket - Finally!!!

The start of June passed by without much excitement, the days were turning warmer and sunnier, and I was itching to finish my Persian Tiles Eastern Jewels blanket. (I will now just refer to this as PTEJs as the full name is rather a lot to type every time!) I finished off all of the tiles at the end of May, and I decided to save them to put together on my holiday to Grasmere in the Lake District at the end of June. Two weeks before I was due to go, I got rather nervous and worried that I wouldn’t have enough time on holiday to sew all the tiles together, weave in all the pesky ends, and crochet 6 rounds of border. I decided to sew all of the tiles together and weave in the ends, leaving the border for my holiday project. I wanted to finish the blanket on holiday, as Grasmere and its surrounding areas is so unbelievably beautiful, I really wanted to get some photos of my blanket out there! 

Everything was all put together and ready 6 days before I went on holiday (phew!) then I realised that I still hadn’t quite decided which colours to use for the border. In the end I went for Fuchsia, Duck Egg and Sage as the standout colours, as these were my favourites out of all the colours. 

I packed it all ready in a rucksack that I had crocheted using a pattern from Crochet Now Issue 26 called Vanaja’s Rucksack. I used Aldi So Crafty cotton blend yarn, 7 balls in total bringing the cost of making the bag to £5.98 (what a bargain!) I had to adjust the pattern slightly, and make it larger as the yarn that I was using was thinner than the one stated in the pattern, all it meant was that I had to do a couple more pattern repeats to make the bag longer, so it wasn’t too bad. I also added a button to the front, and a button loop to the rucksack flap so that I could close the rucksack securely, and feel like my belongings were safe when out and about. I was so happy with the final product, it’s very cute and perfect for summer outings going to the shops. 

Our holiday in Grasmere was just perfect, the cottage we stayed in is in a fantastic location, and we did a few walks, the weather was so hot that it was hard to do any big walks. Walking around all day, and breathing the fresh air and seeing all of the little creatures doing their thing, was so calming. Usually, when I knit or crochet, it really helps me to de-stress and relax, but on holiday it was almost an effort crocheting, as there’s so much to see! 

I did finish my PTEJs blanket on holiday with 1 day to spare! I was so happy that it was finally finished. The Eastern Jewels colourway was released last Autumn, and I’ve had it since then just waiting to get started. It was until the end of February that I actually started it, but I was juggling other WIPs so it took longer than I anticipated. I’m so happy that it’s finally finished!

Mermaid Notebook Cover - Free Knitting Pattern!

Back in December, I was picked to be one of five designers to create a brand new knitted or crocheted item using Cygnet Yarns. This was a competition via their Facebook group, and I had less than a month to design and make something - anything! I was sent two balls of their Cygnet Utopia DK in the Fairy Glen colourway, one was to check tension and the other to make the actual item. The challenge was to only use 1 ball of the 100g yarn. It sounds like it’d be rather easy, but it was so hard!!! Firstly, I have never had to specifically design something. I usually use patterns and maybe alter them slightly, but there have only been a few times when I have created something entirely from scratch! Designing my own patterns is something I am actively pursuing but I need to practice more to get so much better to be able to feel like I can do this!

Secondly, the time limit was something that I haven’t had to really deal with in any of my knitting/crochet projects yet. In fact, I am so slow at completing things, I often get bored and start something else! My pile of WIP’s is slightly horrendous to say the least! 

I thought that I would design something quite simple, that wouldn’t really need the size altering, making it perfect for a beginner to learn a new stitch or two. I chose to make a knitted item, as I have more experience with knitting, although I am a lot quicker at crocheting! 

The colours of the yarn were so fabulous, and I tried out a few different stitch types to try and conjure up some inspiration! I found a scale like pattern that I loved, and it reminded me very much of the scales on a mermaids tail! Although I know that mermaids aren’t real (or are they?!) the mix of colours together made me think of a mermaid, different to the usual blue/green vibe. I found an old diary, and decided to make a notebook cover. Very basic idea i know, but I loved the idea of making something simple that could be knitted up quickly, and would make a perfect gift for someone. I love the page keepers that come with notebooks, but I wanted something a bit more bold and out there, so I decided to create a tassel shaped like a mermaids tail! Big, bold and with a lot of flare!

Once I had decided what to make, and the stitch that I was going to use, it was time to knit up some tension squares! I will admit that I am a terrible knitter, as I don’t think that I have ever knitted a tension square! Shock horror, I know! I never really got taught how to do them properly and what I was measuring for, and I have always just started a project using the needle size recommended. I’ve never made anything that was super fitted, so I guess that it’s never really been that much of a problem if a garment was too big or small. Publishing a pattern to be judged, and then released for other knitters to knit at home, meant that I needed to get this right! I did a lot of research online, checked and double checked my final  pattern until I finally got it right! 

As my pattern was quite simple, it was easy keeping track of what I was doing to write it down for the final draft. I sent the message pattern off to be judged and a couple of days later, all five entries went live to be voted for on the Facebook group. 

I entered this competition as a chance to be able to design something and be judged by complete strangers, the strict time frame meant that I focused a lot more than on something I’d make for myself. It was exciting and I couldn’t wait to see what everyone else had come up with. What I didn’t expect was the underhanded voting that went on. The Facebook group was meant for knitters and crocheters to be able to vote for something that they’d like to get the pattern for to make themselves, but one of the entrants decided to add lots of their family and friends to vote for them, which made it very unfair for the rest of us, and when they eventually won and were called out by the company for doing this, they accused the company of cheating. The comments that then came through were some of the worst that I have seen, and I have never experienced anything like it in the knitting and crochet community before. It put me off for a little while, which is probably why it’s taken me so long to write this! 

Overall, I really enjoyed this experience, it showed me that I can design something, that I can work to a strict time frame (!) and that it doesn’t matter whether anyone else likes it or not, because I was happy with what I created and it taught me a lot about how to design and write down a knitting pattern.

This is my design - the Mermaid Notebook Cover - it’s free to download on Ravelry! 
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mermaid-notebook-cover