Warm and Cosy

So, here they are the photos of the latest cardigan off the needles.

It's lovely and warm, just perfect for this cold and windy weather we're having at the moment.

The pattern is called Tide and it's by Kim Hargreaves from an old book called Tweed Knits.

The cardigan is knitted in aran weight yarn, and because I knit with 4 ply these days, it seemed to knit up very quickly.  [I have to confess that the yarn, a rather nice wool / acrylic mix, was bought cheaply in Aldi - but it's lovely and soft and hopefully will wash successfully]

The cardigan has a textured squares pattern.  It is very tailored, there's not just side shaping but also front and back darts.  This is great for me because it actually makes me look like I've got some shape!

The collar is nice and snug - no fear of a cold chest here.

The original pattern instructions were for separate knitted pieces for the back, fronts and button bands, but I knitted the body and button bands all in one piece.  It took some jiggling with the numbers but once I'd worked it all out, it knitted up a treat.

So, this will keep me nice and snug and warm and cosy, especially now the weather is set to turn even colder.

One Down, Eighty to Go

There's nothing like crocheting up some squares to brighten up your day.

I've started making the squares for my latest cushion cover.  Yes, I've finished my Aran cardigan, pictures to follow, so I'm allowed to start something new.  For the last cushion cover, I used sunburst granny squares but I wanted something different for this one.  So I chose the squares from the Grandma's knickknacks blanket by Laurel Runnels.  It's a free pattern, check it out on Ravelry, here.

I had already chosen the six colours I wanted to use.  Five colours would be used for the central medallions and the sixth for the borders.

Here are the five colour-ways I will be using for the medallions.

I'm using mint for the borders.

And here's the first completed square.

As the cushion is rather a large one, I think I'm going to need eighty one squares for a 9 x 9 cushion cover.  Alternatively I might crochet another round of mint to the existing square to make it larger - I'll see how things progress.

Well, I'd better get on, one down, eighty squares to go!

Pinterest - it's so inspiring

Saw this and thought it very appropriate, so couldn't resist sharing.

We can't be good at everything but at least we can try.

Beyond the Comfort Zone

Dress making - that's one of the areas I want to spend more time on this year.  There's something special about wearing clothes that you have made yourself.  The aim is to improve my skills and develop more confidence.  I need to move beyond my comfort zone.

In my twenties I did do a lot more dress making but never with much joy.  This year I'm determined to get more enjoyment from sewing.  So yesterday I dragged the sewing machine out to finish off something I started months ago but put away "for later".

It's only another skirt.  This is the fourth time I've made this skirt pattern.  I made up my own pattern and I must say I love the style.  It's just how I want skirts to be.

It's six flared panels with a plain waistband.

Not sure I made the best job of attaching the waistband and it looks a bit creased - but I'll get plenty of wear from it.

This fabric is a lovely grey with pink polka dots (although I don't think the pink shows up in the photos).

I have some recycled yarn in a similar colour pink, so a neat little knitted cardigan would look perfect with this skirt.

Next time I'm brave enough to get the sewing machine out I'm going to try a new dress pattern.  But for now I'm going to do some crocheting - the security of the comfort zone beckons!

I've Chosen the Colours

I'm at that exciting point in a project when the end is in sight.  My Black tweedy aran cardigan is almost complete - I'm on the last sleeve.  I should be wearing it in a day or two.

Which means I can legitimately start planning the next project I want to work on.  And it's going to be another cushion cover for the floor cushions.  One has already been made and I need to get the other one done to complete the set.  Has it really taken me since August last year to get round to making this?

I've chosen the colours I want to use.

Now all I have to do, is finish knitting the cardigan and then I can start to crochet.

It's tempting to crochet one square - just to get going - but I'm being disciplined as part of my being organised year, so - put the crochet hook down and continue with the sleeve - you know it makes sense!

Into the Woods and Out Again to Cambridge

Eve is now back in Cambridge and so, as Saturday was her last day at home, we tootled off to the cinema together to see Into the Woods.

I must admit I hadn't realised that this was a musical.  I hadn't given much thought as to what to expect of this film, other than Meryl Streep was playing the witch!

As soon as the first song started I knew this was going to be a good one.  The singing was excellent, the costumes just right.  Quite often funny, sometimes thought provoking but always interesting and enjoyable.  This Disney film is definitely worth a visit.

I can't get the songs out of my head, so I'm skipping along Into the Woods as I do my housework.

The journey down to Cambridge yesterday was uneventful but long, as always.  We only had a few hours in Cambridge before we had to drive back but we fitted in a walk along the river and a meal in our favourite pub.

So it's just the two of us again for the next nine weeks.  It'll take a few days to get used to it, but there's so much to occupy me I'm sure the time will fly.

Some Hamsters of My Own

Now that the hamsters are back in Sheffield with Grace, I have a yearning for hamsters of my own.

To see their cute little faces each day, to feel the feather-like touch of their paws on my hand - I let out a sigh of longing.

But no more!  For I now have my own hamsters.

OK - so they're not real hamsters - they're crocheted, but at least they will be clean around the house and almost (but not quite) as cute as the real ones.

I based my hamsters (which incidentally are Dwarf Russian White hamsters I think, Grace will correct me if I'm wrong), on a pattern by Kati Galusz for Newborn Guinea pigs.  I modified the pattern slightly, changing the style of the back legs and the shape of the ears.

Kati's pattern is available as a free Ravelry download, here.

So, I'm off now to play with my hamsters - what fun we'll have!  See you soon.

Bargains and a Plan of Action

I've been shopping - I don't really shop that much - but when I do I like to come home laden with goodies.  Yesterday was the first time I had popped into Liverpool since completing my Christmas shopping in mid-December, so it was good to just look for stuff to treat myself.  

I work on the basis that if you see wool you should buy it, especially if it's in the sale and even if you already have more wool than you can use.  I pretty much apply this philosophy to any craft item - you just can't have enough!

So I was very pleased to pick up six balls of Rowan Pure Wool Worsted which was half price in John  Lewis. 

What makes it even better is that there was only a choice of two colours in the shop and one of them was my favourite.  This colourway is called crimson, isn't it delicious?

I also picked up some dress fabric [ * New Year resolution to do more dress-making * ].  Again I got this pretty print for half price.  Wonderful. 

What I need to do now is stop accumulating dress fabric and start the actual dress-making! 

As well as stocking up on those "essential" craft bits and bobs, I also bought this book at a reduced price.  

I've only tried one sock pattern before - just a plain ankle sock - but I could be persuaded to try something more fancy and there's plenty of ideas in this book.  

So that's good - lots of goodies and treats - but my New Year resolution is to "do more" rather than to "buy more"!  So now I need a plan of action.  

On the needles at the moment is an aran cardigan.  

The pattern is my Kim Hargreaves from this ancient book (it's from 1998!).  The pattern is called Tide.  

I'm adapting the pattern so that I can knit the body in one piece (late into the evening the maths can be a bit perplexing).  I've nearly finished the body, so only the sleeves to go.  Should have that finished next week.  

Then I've this gorgeous wool that Grace gave me for Christmas.  

This is destined to become a scarf / shawl - I haven't decided which pattern to use yet.  

After that there's the new Rowan wool - another cardigan I think.  

In between these knitting projects I intend to finish the skirt I started sewing back in October- only needs a waistband.  And of course make some dresses.  There's the crochet cushion cover and the patchwork tablecloth and, I mustn't forget the embroidered tablecloth that was supposed to be finished last year but I absolutely, most definitely intend to finish it this year.  

Oh dear!  This isn't a plan of action - this is yet another wish list.  They'll all get done eventually - so why worry.  My plan of action will be to do what is most appealing at the time - I don't think I can really do better than that.  I'd better get off and start "doing".  Bye for now.  

Holidays Over,Time to Get Stuck In

I've had a busy day today, taking down the Christmas tree and all the decorations.  They seem to have expanded over the holiday period and I had to use up another box to put them all away.  Yesterday we took the hamsters back to Sheffield (Grace enjoyed her skiing holiday).  After two weeks of them being with us, I'll miss the little boys, even if they did sleep most of the time.

So Christmas is really over.

And now it's almost back to normal.  Time to get stuck in to some of the old projects that have been put aside over Christmas.  I've now completed the colourful crochet I started in November.  Here's what I made.

It's a footstool cover, I didn't use a pattern, just made it to fit as I went along.

Lots of jolly colours and patterns.

Here's what's underneath - a rather old footstool, looking sorry for itself.

But now it's got a new lease of life and will add another splash of colour to our already colourful living room!

Dream Big

It's that time of year again when we think about what we want to achieve in the coming year.  I always work on the basis that the more goals I set, the chances are I will manage to attain some of them.  This year, in particular, I want to do more dress making.  I'd like to do more embroidery as well (this one is carried over from last year!); I'd like to find more time to do even more knitting and crocheting; the garden deserves more attention; I read a lot of novels so maybe this year I will read more non-fiction books -  basically my New Year resolution is to do more of everything - and obviously, this coming year is the year that I get organised!  You have to dream big is my philosophy!

If you're not interested in making resolutions then, how about this.  Eve came across a great idea for the coming year on Buzzfeed - it's called a Rememberlutions Jar!  We thought it was a wonderful idea.  Basically, you get a jar, personalise it and then throughout the year, you write down all the fun, exciting, interesting things that have happened to you and put them in the jar.  At the end of the year you have a jar full of amazing memories.  You can read more about this idea, here.

So here is my jar -

It's very me - yellow, pink, woolly and sparkly.

I added a blossom flower and some lace and pearls - very pretty and girly.

I've already started putting my notes in - by the end of the year I'm hoping it will be overflowing.

I hope that this coming year will provide lots of lovely memories for everyone and your dreams will come true - especially the big ones.  2015 - it's going to be awesome!

Happy New Year

2015, hello and welcome.  Very best wishes to everyone for the New Year.

As a final goodbye to 2014, I'll show you another (and the last) of my Christmas makes.

This one, for a change doesn't involve yarn of any description.  It starts with a decorated matchbox.

Pretty paper, some lace and a paper flower make a dainty covering.  Inside the boxes are tiny little photo albums.

Each album consists of five pages.

The pages are cunningly folded to be nice and small.

But they open out into bigger pictures.

As it says on the label, you can "take your family with you".

These would make ideal gifts at any time of the year, especially for someone moving away.

Before I go off to mull over my New Year Resolutions, here is a quick update on the pink rat polar bear.

He's had his legs repositioned, his eyes lowered and received a brand new nose - what an improvement!

Now he looks more lovable- but I don't think I'll bother making any more of the toys from that book.

Bye for now, have a relaxing day.