My first knitted cushion cover

Dear Husband borrowed a book from the library for me on knitting. In there was a project for a cushion cover using chunky wool. It goes up fast and provided your sample is OK you can easily make a cushion cover.
Here is the result:
and the link to my Ravelry project page

 I think the cushion pad is getting a bit old, it's not very square any more. I can assure you that my knitting and the backing are square.

The zip at the back is hidden and the fabric is from Benartex, Cool Britannia collection.

Enjoy your sewing.

Pascale.

Mittens Pink and blue

 I have forgotten to post about these little mittens that I knitted. The wool was bought in a very nice shop in Devon, UK, in Bovey Tracey. The shop is called Spin A Yarn and the staff is ever so helpful. I wish they were closer and I could visit often, take part in workshops and buy more wool. All the town is worth a visit for tourists with a river, art centre, and restaurants. There used to be a quilt shop, Serendipity, but it closed and was taken by new owners I believe, somewhere else in Devon. Too bad as they were very good.

So I made these mittens and I love them. I had more than enough for one pair, so started another one, and had to reorder just a little bit of wool. Maybe at some point I will make some more.

One pair has gone to my Mum for Christmas, the blue ones.
They are very good when the weather is a bit cold, not for a blizzard, and you are going in and out of shops for example. You don't want to take your gloves off every 2 minutes, so mittens are perfect.

Enjoy your sewing.

Pascale.

Lots of things have happened.
I went to Malvern Autumn Quit show, and bought more fabric! Super.

I'm doing some knitting, especially in the evening in front of the TV, when I'm too tired to sew. I taught myself to knit holding my thread in my left hand, so that I could be faster, and make more things.
So here is my latest production: a pair of socks for DD3.

 The thread was bought over a year ago, but things do happen eventually... It is"Bamboulene" by Cheval Blanc,  DK weight, 50% wool and 50% bamboo, knits with 3.5 mm size needles.
There was very little left at the end.

 I made them size 7/8 UK, with 4 times 12 stitches (48 stitches), short row heels and the leg measures 10.5cm before the heel.
I used this book to work out a pattern and it was very helpful.

You can find it here on Amazon (no affiliation).

Next I'm going to start a snood for DD3, it seems to be all the rage in the shops at the moment. Mine will be done in proper wool at least, blue and white.

Enjoy your sewing, or knitting.

Pascale.

A finished cardigan

I have finally finished this cardigan.

I think I started it at Easter last year. It followed me on different holidays, and the knitting was finished in November.

But then we moved. I lost the liberty fabric bias I had found to finish it.

On Sunday I finally finished it and wore it proudly to church. 

I was even lucky enough to get a bit of sun in the garden to take a photo.

If you are not in England, I must tell you that we have had a record wet April, and May is not nice at all so far. Everybody is lamenting about it. The heating is still on  and we have to take umbrellas everywhere. It's not normal to have so much rain.

Here is a detail of the bias. It gives some shape to the top of the cardigan.

The thread is  by Fonty, Bambou 100%, the grey has a ref 448.
I know it could do with a little blocking for the bottom edge. Not sure it will happen.
The pattern is from an old "Marie Claire Idees " magazine, from the summer 2009, ref here.

Have fun doing some sewing, knitting, crochet, whatever makes you happy.

Pascale

My new green shawl

I'm wearing it at the moment as we switched the heating off. I saw the pattern in a shop in Bovey Tracey, Devon, called "Spin a Yarn" and bought their Kid Mohair Merino from Touch Exclusive in a bright green. It was very easy to knit in Garter Stitch (I had to check and it means all rows in knit stitch. I learned knitting in french so am not always sure when reading patterns in english).

On this project I also taught myself to knit with the thread in my left hand (continental knitting), and not in the right one (english knitting) as I was doing before. After some time to get used to it, I am much faster than with my previous technique.

 I asked DD3 to display it to its advantage in the garden, but the colour is really hard to show. It is deeper, not as pale as on the photo.

I had a plan with another thread to make a complicated shawl. It's not started yet, maybe it's too ambitious. Meanwhile this one was started and finished in a blink.

This green shawl is really good in the evening when I feel colder and don't want to go upstairs find something more consequent. I love it which is the main thing.

Pascale.

My new knitted wrist warmers

First I had to deal with the vocabulary here. In France we call these "Mitaines", but in England they are Wrist warmers.Then English mittens are what is in French "Les moufles". That's a bit of confusion taken away.

Next the wool. I bought it from The Crafty Yarn and it is from Manos del Uruguay, extrafine merino number 9298. The funny story was that I bought it at a show near London, in Alexandra Palace, in October. I came home and discovered on the card that the shop is very local for me. Anyway I went to see them on another occasion and the owner is very nice indeed, I would recommend her.

 The wool came as a big skein, and I made it into a ball with the help of DD4, holding the wool, and a kitchen ustensil, to put some juice on a roast in the oven. Not sure about the actual name. The idea is that it is conic.

Next the pattern: I found it on Ravelry. It is from Coco's knitting and is called "Improvisation pattern".
It is done with one circular needle for both wrist warmers, and that takes some getting used to.
But finally it worked and I am happy with the result.

Here they are finished.

I made the length before and after the thumb the same, so that you can wear them on either hand.

 The inside of the hand is simpler.

 They are really nice, but I wouldn't wear them outside at the moment as it is too cold. We had -3 C yesterday in the afternoon. I was freezing while waiting at the school doors for DD4 to come out.

I wish you a nice week end, preparing for Christmas, no doubt.

This summer I took some knitting with me on holidays. It is easy to carry and do anywhere.

I know you might not all be interested in my knitting, but it seems I have some periods or phases when I play with different textile mediums.

I still love my sewing, but sometimes I need more time and place to do it, where knitting or crochet is smaller and you can do just a bit and put it away.

In fact it is one of the risks : it gets put away, and stays there for longer than planned.

 So these are my socks, always the same pattern as the previous ones.

Now I found some gorgeous wool and am starting some mittens on a round needle, but both at the same time. It is a kind of challenge, we'll see if I can manage.

Knitted socks

I have made some socks before and then I stopped. In fact the first one on that pair was made probably last year. Recently I managed to start the second one, and then stopped again. But now that I am on holidays from work, I managed to finish the second one.This stopping and starting is the reason why they are not completely similar. But I am sure it won't have any consequence when wearing them.

I like the way the toes are finished. It's not like something you see in the shops.

My heels were difficult, but they look all right at the end.

I love my socks.

My first knitted hat

OK I'm a bit behind with writing my blog. I'm trying to keep up with everything : work, children, husband, house, and other commitments.

We have to finish some quilts for the Hospital. I only need to put the labels but it takes me longer than I thought to do that. I'll show them soon.

Now I took some knitting with me on our last holiday. I bought this gorgeous wool in a shop in Burford UK. It's called Colinette, Skye.

The pattern was on Ravelry and is "Pajunkissa". It is done on a circular needle.

Oh and the gorgeous model is DD1. I love her hair coming out.

I had to start 3 times to get the right size but the wool is so nice to use that I didn't mind.

Knitted Baby cardigan

This had to be kept secret as it was a present for my little niece, now aged 7 months.

I started knitting before she was born, then had a break... and hurried to give it to her dad, my little brother when I saw him a week ago.

I began to get worried it would be too small by the time I finished it, luckily it seems to be too big ! I did it in a size 6 months to 1 year.

The colours are pink and brown, difficult to show them on this photo. I started knitting the neck and got down to the belt level. It is all done in one piece, with just 2 seams under the 2 arms.

It was supposed to be a quick project, and it wasn't, all my fault.

I hope the little J. likes it. She seems to be growing by the minute.

Work in progress

I am sorry I have nothing finished to show you today, but I am working on 2 things at the same time. This is all for my niece to be, due at the end of June, but we will see her parents at Easter.

I started some knitting.

And I started a small quilt, agonised yesterday over a choice of colour for the border. I spent an hour looking at all the possibilities. Here is a little preview of a block, it is called kaleidoscope, because of the effect produced when all the blocks are put together.

Obviously I won't show you the end products before the parents receive them officially, especially as the future mum has a peek here from time to time.

The deadline helps me to work fast on these 2.

Evening scarf

Another knitting project which I finished a few days ago. I used to take it to the swimming pool, watching my youngest daughter. Again no need to think, just do row after row.

Although I must precise that you have to keep watching what you are doing because of the thread, which is made with a gap in the center, and the needles can get caught in this, and because of the size of the needles, 10mm. They are big.

So at the end it doesn't go as fast as you would expect, and I am glad I have finished it.

My first pair of socks

Some weeks ago I finished my first pair of socks, TADA..!

I told you about this project earlier here when I bought the wool at Cheltenham Craft Show.

I didn't show the photos as I thought Iwould change the toe part as they are not the same, but now I find that I can't be bothered. They are different anyway because of the changes of colour.

The tread changes colour irregularly, so there is no need to change the wool to get the stripes.

I bought more wool to do another pair, but my needles have been broken, twice, when I took my socks on the plane, or rather they went in my luggage. I had these lovely bamboo knitting needles, very nice to work with, but I can't find the same size.

So I will have to find another 4 in a different size.

I really enjoyed doing them, it is a very portable project, and not too much to think about until the heel and toes. I need to perfect my technique though as there is a small hole near the heel where the work is pulling a bit when it changes direction, if you know what I mean.

I don't think I will wear them as everyday socks, they are too special for me. More in the evening to watch tv sometimes, I don't want to wear them out.

Cheltenham Craft Show

On Friday 15th February I went to the Stitch & Creative Craft Show – at Cheltenham Racecourse .


I had been 2 years ago with my girls, it was then half term holidays, and bought some nice fabric, threads and seen demonstrations of spinning and weaving.


This Friday my 2 eldest had a teacher training day, so no school and I thought it would be a nice girly day out, as there was a lot for cardmaking, which they enjoy. But it's never that simple.


First they had to decide if they'd rather come with me or go ice skating or shopping with their friends. There was a point when they agreed one of them would come with me, it felt like they were going to be sacrificed.


At the end they both came, and we all enjoyed ourselves.


But I realised they got more attention than me when men, and especially young men were working in some of the shops. They are 13 and 12, nearly as tall as me, and I'm not getting younger I suppose.


Anyway back to the show, there was no fabric at all, apart from one shop. there was only one place that sold a bit of silk embroidery thread. There was a few knitting shops, and I did buy some balls to make more fun scarfs. All the rest was for cardmaking, and there was a few odd shops that sold a brush for hairy pets!!, a broom!!.

We shared the car with 2 friends who were interested in specific items for cardmaking, and they didn't find what they were looking for. They were also a bit disappointed.


There was still the weavers guild, patchwork and quilting guilds, knitting guild, and that was nice.


The only discovery was that there was a dried flower guild, and my 2 daughters made some key rings with dried flowers inside. They adore them.


So the only nice shop was Five Valleys Design. The lady had fabric, books and patterns from Amy Butler ( so nice but I resisted so far, but might go back to her website), and she had, between other things, Rowan knitting yarns and patterns. I bought 2 balls and have started my first sock...and I need to do a pair.


I am not sure the top will be very tight around the leg. We will see. I enjoy doing this.
The thread changes colour randomly creating the stripes. No thinking on my part, that's a bonus, I can knit in front of the TV, up to the point when I will have to do my first heel.

I'll keep you posted.

New scarf

I have finished a new knitted scarf for daughter number 3, she loves it. The thread is very soft, and I used 3 balls.

I have worked on it mainly at the swimming pool, waiting during Daughter 4's lesson. No need to think while you do that.

Knitted scarf

I finished daughter number 1's scarf. I had to go back to the shop for my 3rd skein, as I had only bought 2.

Of course she is very pleased with it.

Of course I have started on the next one for daughter number 3, and I had only bought 2 skeins, and the shop is out but have reordered. I'll have to go back.

I visited the haberdashery 3 times this week, my personal record. Nothing finished to show you yet.

I left some thread so you see what it looks like. The effect is very nice but the knitting is difficult. If you lose a stitch, it's gone. You can't see the stitches, but it does hide any errors.

It's great to be able to do something in the car or while waiting at the swimming pool.