Finished snuggly cardigan

I mentioned last time that I had finished my ‘Free’ cardigan – here are the pictures…

I’m not sure these pictures really give the most accurate idea of the colour, as the knitted fabric looks quite grey, especially in the third picture above. In reality it is much more of a bluey-grey green. I love grey, so would be quite happy with that as the colour but I really love the subtle colour of this. It’s partly due to holding two yarns together throughout, but I think the bulkier yarn, which is Rowan Softyak DK is also slightly marled or flecked. Anyway, I love it, and forsee getting a lot of wear out of it as the weather turns cooler again.

It’s strange, isn’t it? Here in the UK we’ve passed through 2 complete seasons since lock-down began. I’ve been working from home since March, like many other people. It feels odd to be going into autumn, still working from home. I still believe it is the right thing to do to take all these precautions to protect ourselves and others. I flatter myself that my partner and I have coped with lock-down fairly well. We’ve been lucky that we have not had to worry about our jobs, and we haven’t any children to look after either. It’s been worrying in some ways – I haven’t been able to physically see my family since Christmas (we do weekly Skype calls though). I would love to be able to go and see my parents, who are actually only a 1 hour drive away, but I hesitate to put them at risk.

Apart from my usualy knitty adventures, I’ve been doing some more patchwork sewing. No pictures at the moment, as I haven’t had time to take them, and in any case things are all unfinished at the moment. I think I may be a little addicted to patchwork though! I love the neatness and accuracy of cutting all the pieces out, lining up the seams and stitching together. There is something so satisfying about it! I bought some more fabric fat quarters in coordinating reds and creams with butterfly and floral designs, again from Moda (I love their patterns!). In my last post I said that I wanted to have a go at quilting (didn’t I? If I didn’t mention it, I should have done).

I’m still thinking that I would like to have a go at quilting one of the cushion cover fronts that I’ve made, but it will require purchase of more supplies (batting/wadding and quilting foot), so that’s on hold for the moment. I then started making more patchwork squares using the red and cream fabric, and I had intended to quilt that too. However the idea of doing some applique on to the patchwork is growing on me, as an alternative to quilting… We’ll see! I think it’s fairly safe to say that I have definitely been bitten by the sewing bug though! I’d also like to try and make a drawstring project bag, and have already downloaded a pattern from Etsy. I just need to pluck up the courage to cut out my fabric pieces and interfacing (ugh – interfacing – the one thing I do not like about sewing is iron on interfacing! I don’t know why, I just find it such a faff!) and have a go. Wish me luck!

I’ve also been doing a little bit more stash busting. The mood just took me, to make a few small, quick crochet projects to use up some of my older stash yarns.

The pictures above are a crochet mat or doily. Well, I’m not sure it is a doily as it is rectangular. Can you have a doily that isn’t round? Anyway, the crochet mat took a few evenings to make, using up about 1.5 balls of Rowan Summerlite 4 -ply that I’ve had kicking around for a couple of years now. I’m quite happy with it, though the edges are a bit ruffly. I think possible I should have had a slightly smaller stictch count in the border, but hey-ho. I think it might smooth out with time and use anyway.

I’ve also made a little pink crochet storage basket, and plan to make some more. No pics of those yet either, as again I haven’t had time yet. Hopefully next time though!

My final crafty endeavor of late has been a little bit of jewellery making. I used to do quite a lot of beading and simple jewellery making about 10 years ago, but I hadn’t done any for years and years. It’s been nice to get back to this. I don’t plan for this to become a major hobby (I think sewing, knitting and crochet are probably enough!) but it’s fun to dip my toes in occassionally.

So far I’ve only made a few little bracelets using semi-precious gem stone beads. The ones in the picture here are aquamarine beads. I simply threaded them onto some find beading cord, and knotted the cord between each bead. I used a crimp bead to close the ends of the thread, with a calotte over the top and a simple clasp. I couldn’t resist adding the little silver star charm as a finishing touch! I’ve made another, similar bracelet that is a double wrap with rose quartz beads.

That’s all for now, stay safe and I hope you enjoy some crafting and relaxation time this weekend.

Seaside patchwork

I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to try my new sewing machine out by doing some patchwork and quilting, and yesterday I was able to sit down and have a go at this.

I decided to start slowly. Another blogger, Joanne from Three Stories High, suggested starting with a simple 9 squares patchwork, and that’s exactly what I did (good advice!).

My partner and I had a weekend away with his parents last weekend. As they live near Bath, we spent one morning wondering around the shops there. A slightly surreal experience given the need to wear a face mask in every shop now – we didn’t stay long. However, there’s a fabric shop there called Country Threads, and so I bought some fabric to start me off. I saw a charm pack in the Ebb and Flow pattern set by Janet Clare for Moda. I’d been admiring some of the patterns in this set online but the patterns I liked the most were sold out. So I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw a charm pack for this pattern set! I snapped it up. A charm pack seemed like a good way to start off as it meant that I wouldn’t have to worry about cutting squares out before I could start sewing.

With the help of a couple of YouTube tutorials on sewing squares and rows together, I was on my way!

I stitched together two sets of 9 square patchworks. It was definitely worthwhile paying attention to elements such as pressing the fabric and seams. My first side isn’t quite as neat as the second, as I didn’t manage to get all of the seams exactly lined up. It wasn’t until I got to stitching the second row of squares together that the meaning of the phrase ‘nesting the seams’ suddenly clicked! As a result the second patchwork panel that I created is a bit more accurate and I was thrilled to see that I’d managed to line up all of the seams almost exaclty! Not bad for a beginner!

I was chuffed to bits with this. My plan is to turn these patchworks into a pair of cushion covers. It’s on hold for the moment as I want to add a cream border around each square. I have some fabric already, but I realised that I really will need a cutting mat and rotary cutter to make an accurate border. I’ve ordered both and hopefully they will arrive by next weekend. I’m planning to make simple envelope closures with a plain back. I’m very tempted to also try some very basic quilting, but I’m going to wait and see how the borders go first. I’d have to get a walking foot and some batting and more backing fabric, none of which I have at the moment. In the meantime I think I will carry on practicising sewing squares accurately together, and perhaps make some larger panels which I could then turn into quilted pillow covers rather than cushion covers. Hopefully if these come out well enough I will be able to give some of them as gifts to friends and family.

As the weather cooled down slightly once we reached the weekend, I was finally able to finish my ‘Free’ cardigan. I just have a few loose ends left to weave in and then I’llve give it a soak in some Eucalan. I’m quite please with how that has turned out, but it’s not in a fit state to photograph yet, so I’ll save that for next time!

I’ve also started knitting a shawl, using the Sundry pattern by Jennifer Dassau. Again, it’s a very simple textured shawl pattern – lovely relaxing knitting. I’m using some hand dyed yarn from Mr B Yarns.

The colours used are called Beachcomber (on the right in the picture above) and Sea Glass

This is progressing quite slowly as I’ve been finishing off other things and getting distracted by patchwork, but I don’t mind that. We have another weekend away coming up fairly soon, so if I don’t finish it before then it will be a good holiday project to take with me.

We finally had some rain here yesterday, though not the promised thunderstorms. I feel slightly cheated! The weather forecast has been promising thunder and lightening here all week, but it just seems to have passed us by. We heard some distant rumbles on Friday, but we haven’t had a good storm over our little patch of SE London. We had a lovely day out in the misty damp yesterday though, to visit Nymans Gardens. There were so many beautiful flowers and plants, all sparkling with raindrops.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

That’s all for now. Have a relaxing Sunday and I hope you stay safe and well and happy.

A soft, snuggly sea-side vibes cardigan

I thought I would try to squeeze in another blog post this week. Mainly because I’ve been enjoying my knitting so much in the last week that I wanted to share that with you.

I’m making another Kim Hargreaves pattern. I really do love her designs of the last few years. They have the simplicity and elegance that I’m after, which makes them really wearable. Her pattern books are also always beautifully presented. I think its partly because she tends to use the kind of subtle soothing colours that I really like myself. So I don’t need to expend any effort in re-imaging how her designs would look in the kind of colour scheme that I like because most of the time she has already used the same colours as I would choose!

So, the ‘Free’ cardigan is from one of the more recent pattern books, the Calm Capsule Collection no. 3. You can find the Ravelry info page for the pattern here. I’m using exactly the same yarn colours and needles etc. as specified.

I’ve loved knitting this so much. It’s worked up very quickly, which is nice in a way as I can soon have the pleasure of wearing it, but also a bit sad as then I won’t be working on it anymore! The fabric has an interesting construction which gives a textured effect that is very lovely but also easy to achieve – you simply alternate different needle sizes, with a larger size needle used for purl rows and a smaller size for the knit rows. I love the effect, which is of a loose, airy but also warm and snuggly knit. The large needle size also means that the fabric works up speedily. The pattern calls for two yarns held together, a single strand of Sotfyak DK and a single strand of Kidsilk Haze. Again, this makes for an ideal combination in my book – you get the glamour and luxury of the Kidsilk Haze without having quite the level of fear about washing and wearing it!

I love the soft greeny-grey colour of the fabric. I hope that I will love wearing it as much as I have loved knitting it, but actually I feel pretty confident about that. Kim Hargreaves’ designs have never led me far astray in terms of fit, sizing and overall wearability, which I guess must be the mark of a really good designer! The whole garment has a lovely sea-sidey vibe. I don’t mean a bucket and spade, brightly coloured plastic, sun-burn, wind break, people wearing socks-with-sandles kind of sea side vibe. I mean a coastal path, slightly bohemian, sleep on the beach, sea-pinks, mermaids, sea-shells, sun and sea-salt in your hair kind of vibe.

Its extremely hot here in the UK at the moment. I don’t do well with this kind of heat, it makes me wilt! It’s supposed to cool down a fraction tomorrow and more the day after. It’s so hot I’ve hardly been able to bear picking up any of my craft projects at the moment. In a way its frustrating as I have several things that are within a whisker of completion. But it’s just too hot to move at the moment!

The flower pictures are from a recent trip to Ightham Mote gardens. Hope you can stay cool wherever you are. I’m off to find some ice….

Completed Bryum

I hope you’ve all been doing okay. I’ve been feeling a little brighter this week. I think it might have something to do with the two upcoming long weekends away, plus a week holiday in September that we have booked. I really hope the country doesn’t go back to a stricter lock-down before we manage to squeeze these in!

I know things are a bit worrying in some parts of the country at the moment, and indeed still in many other countries around the world – but I sincerely hope that the situation there will soon improve. We’re comparatively lucky here, but I honestly do try to spare a thought for those elsewhere during my weekly round. Kindness seems more important than ever this year, especially kindness to strangers.

This week, I’ve managed to finish my Bryym shawl. I’m reasonably happy with this. The pattern was a straightfoward and relaxing knit, and I finished it without any real problems. I think I was hoping for something slightly bigger than the finished size of shawl though. I do love a nice, big, snuggly shawl. That’s not to say it isn’t a perfectly reasonable size though, especially after I soaked it in some Eucalan. I’m rubbish at blocking – I don’t even own any blocking pins. I usually don’t bother much with it, although sometimes I will give things a gentle press with the iron. However, shawls often do seem to require quite aggressive blocking, which I don’t love. It’s probably one reason why I don’t make that many shawls!

I did sort of stretch this one out on the carpet after soaking it. Actually the soak alone was enough to open up the garter stitch and texture rows somewhat, and I expect it will drop down a little with further washing and wearing. All in all I’m pretty happy with it. I guess actually the main thing is the colour. As nice as they are, these colours aren’t my usual palette. I think this shawl will be nice for autumn, when I’m in the mood for golden colour tones. But at the moment, as summer draws to close, I find I am craving sea shore colours…. soft blue-green shades, pale pinks, cream and biscuit… that sort of thing. Luckily, I’ve been building up my stash of 4 ply a little again… and so I have a few things that meet the requirements!

There are quite a few pinky shades in my stash, but I have a pale green from Eden Cottage (I think it is Misty Woods), and also 3 from Mr B Yarn – Beachcomber, Sea Glass and Longmeadow. I just need to decide what to make! I think I would like a shawl of some kind, but I’m not sure whether to go assymetric triangle again, or perhaps rectangular this time. I also have issues in that I am not sure that I can bear to use up these lovely colours. Crazy isn’t it? If I use them to make something I love, it’s not like I’ll be using them. And yet, I still struggle to let go… what’s the point of having lovely yarn just to sit unused on the shelf, not filling it’s full potential?

I’ve also been spoilt this last week…. for some reason my other half took it into his head that he needed to buy me a present. For no reason at all (my birthday isn’t until the end of November!). I told him I was thinking about buying myself a crafty treat and that I couldn’t decide between an embroidery kit and another skein of yarn, and he decided he would buy whichever I chose for me. Actually he offered to buy me both, but I didn’t let him – I don’t want to get too spoilt! Anyway, I had my eye on the skein in the pictures above, from Hedgerow Yarns again – it’s another one of a kind dye. I just love the mix of blue, pink purple and greens. I’m sure they are the colours of my soul!

I also had a bit of a splurge last month…. I bought a sewing machine! I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while. A few weekends, we were in Whitstable, where there is a independent gabric and haberdashery shop. They had some beautiful fabric, which I just couldn’t resist. I bought some pink ticking striped fabric and another fabric with a bee print. Both were printed here in the UK. Since then I’ve been trying to get a little sewing machine practice in whenever I can. I think it’s safe to say I have caught the bug. I don’t have much experience of sewing though, so it’s been a little frustrating trying to get results which reflect what I’ve imagined making! I think I’m improving though.

One of the first things that I set out to make was a lined, zip up pouch. I just wanted something fairly simply for general use, maybe as a small project bag or something. I got there in the end, and you can see the results above. However, it took me three attempts to get something that I was reasonably happy with! Even then, there were still some details that I didn’t get right. Getting the zip in neatly seems to be a bit tricky. I’ve been doing coverend ends to the zippers, stitching fabric tabs across each end. However, this seems to create quite a lot of bulk at the ends of the zip, making the corners pull in when the pouch is turned right side out. To some extent I overcame this by cutting away some of the excess fabric, but still. I’ll keep trying though. Quilting is next on my list of things to try (never say I’m not ambitious!). I’m worried about how this will go as my cutting skills don’t seem to be that accurate (I know, I need a rotary cutter, a template and a cutting board!), and I’m not completely convinced that I can sew in a straight line, but I’ve been oogling quilts on Pinterest for the last couple of weeks, and I just have to give it a go!

I stumbled across some lovely examples of quilts… have a look here (Beech Tree Lane) and here (Willow Cottage Quilt Co.) if you like that sort of thing! And wish me luck and straight stitching!

That’s all for now. I’m off to spend some quality time with my latest knitting project (more on that next time). I’ll leave you with some photos from the lovely Ightham Mote, in Kent.