WIP - Barn Owl

I really have no idea where the months keep going... it feels I was only posting a week ago, but upon checking, it was almost a whole month ago.

Good news - the commission piece is almost finished. All of the writing is done, all I need to do now is add a mug of coffee to the bottom. Once it's done and with the owner I'll post a photo.

Bad news - I found another WIP. I started a barn owl cross stitch kit on the way to London back in October, but I miscounted, got annoyed and had to undo it all. Then apparently I restarted it, although I can't remember doing so! I took this to my new stitching group this week, and got quite a bit done, here's how it's looking so far!

The annoying thing about this project is that the colours are quite light, as is the aida. But I'm happy with the progress I've made this month. I'm not looking forward to backstitching all of the details at the end, but hopefully it won't take too long. I might even have it finished next time I update!

All of the other WIPs are still WIPs... I'm hoping to have a bit of time to sit down over the Easter weekend to sit down and work on some of them. But first I really should finish that commission. Coffee cup, wash, iron and possibly frame. The end is in sight!

How is it nearly the end of February already?!

Yikes, time does seem to be going quickly these days. I can't believe it's nearly the end of February already. I know it's a short month, but this seems crazy! But I do have good news...

It's the second month of the year, and I have a second completed project. For me, that's fantastic. True, both finished object of the year so far have been simple, but the main thing is that I've finished them. I was really tempted to put the blanket to one side and "forget" about weaving in all of the ends, but I plodded on and got it done.

But what about the second finished project of 2016? That nearly got put to one side because I couldn't be bothered to sew on the pom pom. But I forced myself to get it done and am really glad that I did.

Pre-pom pom

Post-pom pom

Finished!

 

The hat was a kit containing wool for the body of the hat and a pom pom for the top, and was given to me by a friend last Christmas. It had been languishing in the wool stash and seemed like an easy make so I thought I'd make it while it's still a bit chilly! I started knitting on straight 5.5mm needles as per the pattern, but soon realised that it was going to be an absolute nightmare to sew up. I then switched to circular needles (which made the stocking stitch section incredibly simple!) and misread the pattern slightly - you're supposed to start on 5.5mm needles, then switch to 6.5mm needles after finishing the ribbing.... I started on the 6.5mm needles straight away, so the ribbing is pretty loose. It's still comfortable and hasn't fallen off yet, so luckily it's not a major problem. Getting it off the circular needles was probably trickier than it needed to be, but I got there in the end, got the 2 ends sewn in and added the pom pom at the knitting group. I love how this has turned out, the colour is awesome and it's very cosy.

So, what next? I've started on a commission piece, and even did a tiny bit of work on the Epic Pokemon cross stitch. Wool has been purchased for the GAL blanket edging, and the Snape edging, and I'm eyeing up a cool cabled wrap (I've not tried cabling before, so that could be fun/awful). I've also got a cool bead kit thing that a friend bought me so I may even try that next. I have a feeling that I won't be able to keep up the one finished project a month for long, but if I pick and choose projects wisely, it might continue a little bit longer!

First finished project of 2016

What's that? A finished project?! But it's only January!!!

Here it is!

Close up of the blanket

Folded blanket

That's right, one project has been finished! I did the last of the crocheting last week, and this week I've spent what seems like forever sewing in all of the ends. I almost put it aside and started working on something else, but managed to resist temptation and completed it properly for once.

If you'd like your own diagonally striped crochet blanket, here's a nice link to the instructions, which are pretty easy to follow, especially if you have some crochet knowledge. If you don't have any crochet knowledge but want to tackle this project anyway, then I say go for it! Have a quick practice making a small square to get the hang of it, then get on and do it. I'm not a great crocheter, but really enjoyed making this blanket as it didn't require too much concentration once you'd got the steps in your head. It's a great winter make as it's lovely and cosy on your knees as it grows. It was also a great stash buster - Although I did end up buying another 3 balls of wool so that I could keep my pattern going (3 bands of four blocks wide, then 1 band of two blocks, then 3 bands of four blocks etc)

So that's one project moved from the "work in progress" pile to the finished pile! YAY!

I was going to move onto one of the other WIPs, but realised I haven't got the materials I need for any of them. Looks like I'll be visiting a yarn shop soon... but this did meant that I ended up starting a new project - a one ball hat, on 2 needles. I regretted it almost as soon as I started, as the wool is slightly awkward to knit with and will be an absolute nightmare to sew up at the end. Ah well, I'm sure that I'll struggle on and get it done, it should be a reasonably quick knit.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year blog readers! I hope your new year started off better than mine - I've been feeling ill since new year's eve which is rubbish! Ah well, hopefully things will improve as the year goes on.

I've set myself some goals this year - most of them to finish off things from previous years. I'm hoping that by writing it down I'll feel more accountable for getting them finished, and hopefully will be able to cross them off my list over the year with my slightly more regular posts.



So, here it is. The list of things to be finished in 2016:

GAL 2014 blanket - 12 squares are done, all that needs doing is the joining. Need to decide what colour I want the joins to be first though. Initially I thought black, but I'm now considering a different colour that isn't in any of the squares, which does limit choice! Perhaps a baby blue, or a purple...

Snape Illusion shawl - This needs a border adding. It should be simple, but I know it will be boring which is why I keep putting it off. I just need to sit down, pick up the stitched and knit, get it over and done with.

Doctor Who Quilt - The top is done, it just needs to be turned into a quilt! Now that I have my fancy new machine I'm hoping that I'll be willing to take the plunge with this one. It's taken a long time to get this far, so I'm really nervous about ruining it, and may have to try some test quilting on something simple first.

Stash Buster Crochet Blanket - This started out as a stash buster, and did it's job pretty well. I've had to go out and buy more wool so that I can complete it! I started it between Christmas and New Year and hit the halfway point a couple of days ago. It's lovely and almost mindless, which has been great while I've been ill.



It may not seem like much, but several of these projects have been lying around for far too long. There is of course the Epic Gen 1 Pokemon cross stitch that's still being (slowly) worked on, but there is absolutely no chance of me finishing that this year so I left it off the list. I also have some wool that's been hanging around for a while with a couple of patterns, so I can see a project starting there soon. Plus I want to do more with the fancy sewing machine! There just aren't enough hours in the day sometimes.

Time flies

Time flies when you're having fun... or have a lot on. Time certainly seems to have gone quickly here over the last few months. I've been busy making things for the Sprite Stitch Swaps (one of which hasn't been received yet by the recipient so I can't post pictures) and life in general.

But what did I make? This year I did both the mega swap and the mini swap. Here's the stuff I made for the mega swap:

There was a Yoshi magnet, a shall with Pokemon charms, a knitting needle case, a towel with a quote from the Dresden Files, some wrist warmers and a beaded Triforce bag. Working with all of those yellow beads was an absolute nightmare! Especially if you spill them everywhere like I somehow managed to do...

As I mentioned earlier, my mini swap gift hasn't arrived with the recipient yet - can't wait to show photos of it though! It was a tough gift to make, but I think it turned out ok in the end.


The good news is that since my last post I've finished the 12 squares for the GAL blanket - now all I need to do is join them together... I've also had a new sewing machine, so expect to see some new sewn items soon! I've also cast on a hot water bottle cover that came in a kit my partner bought me last Christmas. It's starting to get a bit cooler now and it seems to be fairly simple to make. I'm hoping to get it finished over the Christmas break. Speaking of which - I'd better go and finish off all of the little things I need to get done before it's Christmas day!

Hillarys Craft Competition 2015

Remember the blog last year about the Hillarys craft competition? Well, they ran another competition this year and kindly send me some more beautiful fabric to play with!

All the details, including the brief can be found :here

I've had an idea in my mind for a little while now, involving a new cushion cover. I wanted something stripey, but with a variety of stripe sizes rather than just being a plain, consistent stripe if that makes sense. When I saw the Hatti Raspberry fabric in the Hilary's collection I knew that was the fabric I wanted.

Hatti Raspberry - isn't it beautiful?

My plan was to make a new cushion cover, and include an image on it, the the stripes at a 90 degree angle to the stripes on the cushion.But what image to choose? My decision was made when I was driving my sleepy boyfriend to the airport for a business trip. I jokingly asked how upset he'd be if I got a cat to keep me company while he was away, and he said I could go out and get a cat if I wanted. Oh boy, was I tempted! Having refrained from getting a cat and making this while he was away, I decided to go with a cat silhouette. One Google image search later and I was sorted. I used my lovely water dissolving pen to draw out (ahem, trace) my cat silhouette onto my fabric and started cutting into the beautiful fabric.

Playing about with the fabric I realised that the effect wasn't quite what I was after, and decided to back the stripey cat onto an old piece of denim that I had lying about (the denim used to be a pair of jeans that then became a bag). And thus the cat was born!

Meow!

Now all I had to do was make the cushion part. Being a busy person (y'know, exams, beer festival organising, work etc etc) I didn't really want to fight with a zip or buttons. But a cushion without these things should be easy to do, right?

Right!

I took a long rectangle of the fabric (roughly measured using a cushion from the couch to make sure I had enough length a width - just wrap the cushion and ensure there's an overlap) and folded over the two small ends, pinning into place. Stripey fabric makes it easy to fold at the right place as I used the stripes as a guide.

The two ends were then sewn, and laid the rectangle flat, right side up.

I bought in the two ends towards the centre (although if you want the cushion 'hole' to be higher or lower on your cushion then fold the ends as desired) so that the right side of the fabric was on the inside.

Sew together the two open ends.... and you should have something similar to this! (I've opened up the centre a bit to show clearly)

Turn the cushion inside out, so that the right side is on the right side. I used knitting needles to open up the corners - but be careful! I once jabbed the needles so hard into the corners of a different project and ened up going through the fabric. (Yes, I was indeed that silly once upon a time. A time not all that long ago. Ahem).

And voila! The cushion is made. Now, if you wanted to be REALLY clever, you'd have the cushion sizes all planned out, and have already attached your silhouette to your cushion before you sew the ends of it. This would be really sensible, otherwise you have to do what I did - attach the silhouette to the cushion with you hand inside the cushion, taking great care not to sew the middle of the cushion together (which I managed to do).

I played about with the placement of the cat. Front and centre, or in the corner?

Then I got silly, and added an eye to the cat. Doesn't he look a bit like a squirrel holding a nut now?

The eye was too much, and I preferred the cat in the bottom corner. Here's the finished piece, complete with creases, yeah! In my defense, I didn't spend as much time on this as I perhaps should have done - I blame exams and beer festivals. Apparently, they don't organise themselves, and revision must be done. It also doesn't help that I'm in desperate need of a new iron...

The other fabrics Hillarys had are really nice as well - why not check them out on Pinterest, and see the other lovely things people made?

Many thanks to Hillarys for sending me the fabric and letting me play!

Empty promises

Howdy all! I know in my last post I promised lots of pictures... but I'm afraid that's not to be at the moment. I've just changed phones and I'm struggling to get the pictures from the phone memory onto the computer (yes, I'm technically challenged. As soon as that's done, you'll get pictures, I promise!




I'm a bit annoyed I can't get pics onto the blog, as I'd love to share with you my first attempt at lace knitting - a lovely pattern called Take it or leaf it from Ravely. I used my sparkly purple Louisa Harding Orielle yarn, which was incredibly soft and touchable. Mmmm alpaca. I was chuffed with how it came out - and even more impressed when it fit over my head! I had worried that it wouldn't when I started the pattern. And yes, I'm aware that the weather has gotten nicer so I'll probably have to wait a few months before I can start using it. Something that I'm certainly not complaining about!


Since the last post, I've also been shopping for some fabric for the back of my first quilt and have signed up to a dressmaking course which starts soon. Add college work to that, a couple of business trips with work and a beer festival... I think blog posts will be sporadic at best, but will do what I can. I've also completely finished the 2nd page of the Epic Pokémon Gen1 pattern, meaning there's only 28 pages to go, yay!


Plenty to do, and so little time to do it. Hopefully I can get my phone working properly soon and start adding more photos.