The crafts of a twenty-something knitter and crocheter deciding what to do with her life. I also like tea and adventures, but that's neither here nor there.
Hello one and all, my lovely followers. Today’s post is more of an announcement than anything else. Today I’m off on my holidays to New Zealand, so I’m afraid there are likely to be no new posts for the next three weeks.
Never fear, though! I have some exciting things planned for when I get back, which I can’t wait to share with you all. If you’re interested in my trip to New Zealand I’ll hopefully still be updating my twitter and instagram, so feel free to head over and take a look! I’ll try to post about all the things I’m doing, as well as sharing some of the stunning views I see, as long as internet access allows!
Happy Monday everyone! I hope it’s treating you well, despite meaning that the weekend is no more!
As it was Mother’s Day here yesterday I thought I’d use today’s post to show you the gift that I made for my mum this year. Since I’m what one might call ‘monetarily-challenged’ at the moment, I definitely find that making gifts is the way to go; it helps that as well as being cheaper, people really appreciate handmade stuff! Despite this, now I’m back living at home for a while it is difficult for me to make anything for mum or dad without them noticing. So, after some careful thought I decided that I’d have to make something fairly quick, as I can’t be trying to make it in front of the telly in the evening - when most of my knitting and crochet gets done!
We’re a crafty bunch in my family, and mum is really into card making, so this led me to the idea of making something that she could use in her cards. Eventually I remembered that she had shared a pin of some cute crocheted stars with me on pinterest, and thus I had my gift idea! Something small, quick, use-able in cardmaking, and that I knew she would like - jackpot!
The pin linked me to this online pattern, so away I went, making lots of colourful little stars. The pattern actually called for worsted weight yarn, but I wanted mine to be smaller, so I used crochet thread and a 2mm hook. I have to say, I’m really pleased with the way that they turned out, and I’m definitely planning on making some more. Perhaps when it gets a bit closer to Christmas I’ll start incorporating them into things - what do you think?!
So, happy Monday and happy Mother’s day one and all! Did any of you get crafty for your mums this year?
Well, it's later in the week, so by my reckoning it's time for some posting! Aside from the fact that I've been pretty busy recently, the other reason I've been a bit behind on my updates is that I've been working on some bigger things - namely my first couple of knit jumpers!
The first of the jumpers that I've been working on involved a minor disaster - there'll be more on that in a future post, I'm sure - so I decided to take a break from it and moved on to the next on the queue instead!
It's admittedly not quite right for the season just yet, but once spring well and truly arrives I'll be ready! The bottom half is knitted in Stylecraft Breeze (in the sage colourway), which I fell in love with the colour of when I saw it on sale in my local yarn shop! I picked up all four remaining skeins, and this pattern was perfect for it! The top half is knit in James C Brett Cotton On, and I think the neutral tone really helps bring out that beautiful green!
The pattern is the Cap Sleeve Lattice Top, which is a relatively simple free pattern that I really enjoyed making! I actually knitted it in twisted stockinette stitch, which (although done entirely by accident, and on all of my projects due to wrapping the yarn around the needle the wrong way; I despair at myself) I really like the look of!
Sadly the twisted stockinette means that the jumper has a tendency to twist a bit, but I'm hoping a wash will help it to lie straight! Even if not, I'm looking forward to wearing it when the weather warms up a bit - hopefully that'll happen soon!
Now to go and practice knitting stockinette stitch correctly! Has anybody else made a mistake in knitting that you've learned to love and call a design feature?
Hi everyone, sorry it's been a couple of weeks since my last post, things have been hectic. I'm so glad that lots of you liked my Chevron Cable Headband pattern, I really can't wait to see what you've made using it!
I'm also really excited to see so many new followers! Welcome to all of you, and I hope you enjoy my blog. I always love hearing from you, so feel free to drop me a message on here or any of my other social networking pages (see the sidebar)! If you want to know a bit more about me, I was recently featured on Juststitched's page for Follower Friday, so feel free to head over and have a look!
As I said before I've been pretty busy recently, finishing some old projects and working on some new stuff which I'm looking forward to sharing with you. As well as that I've been taking driving lessons and can happily announce that I passed my test yesterday, so watch out roads of Warwickshire!
One of the things I've been working on is the recipe for the perfect macaron - crochet style! I've not perfected it just yet, but hopefully I will have done by my next post. Here's a sneak peek for you!
At the beginning of the week I promised you a little treat, so here it is! I must admit I intended to post this yesterday, but sadly the weather didn't want to be compliant and I had to wait to take some photos today.
Anyway, as I'm sure I've said before I've been doing a bit more work on some original designs recently, and this is one of them. I've been really wanting to do something with staghorn cables, and so I thought I'd start with something that would really showcase it, which led me to the idea of doing a headband! As well as showcasing the cable, this pattern has the added bonus of being pretty simple as it's basically just a 6 row repeat for the whole thing!
Here it is in action, keeping my ears nice and warm! I think it would look equally nice with hair up, but since I was having a good hair day I chose to keep it down and go for a more boho look (as my dad decided to call it!)
I actually made mine from the yarn I had left over from the Welly Socks that I made for my friend, so it's a really good make if you've got some leftover yarn to use up! I would estimate that I had around half a 100g ball of stylecraft special aran left, and I didn't quite use all of it.
Of course, since it was such a simple knit, and since I have such lovely followers, I've decided to offer it as a free pattern, for anyone who might want to make their own. So, without further ado let's get started!
Materials:
Aran(/worsted) weight yarn - I used Stylecraft Special Aran in Teal
4.5mm (US 7) Needles
Cable needle
Abbreviations:
k = knit
p = purl
c4b = cable 4 back
c4f = cable 4 front
To c4b: slip the next 2 stitches onto your cable needle, hold the cable needle to the back of the work, knit the next 2 stitches, then knit the stitches from the cable needle. This creates a right leaning cable.
To c4f: slip the next 2 stitches onto your cable needle, hold the cable needle to the front of the work, knit the next 2 stitches, then knit the stitches from the cable needle. This creates a left leaning cable.
Directions:
Cast on 24
1. k24
2. k4, p16, K4
3. k8, c4b, c4f, k8
4. k4, p16, k4
5. k6, c4b, k4, c4f, k6
6. k4, p16, k4
7. k4, c4b, k8, c4f, k4
8. k4, p16, k4
Repeat rows 3-8 until the headband is long enough to go around your head (I did 22 repeats). Cast off and sew the two short ends together, creating a loop.
So there you have it, a chevron cabled headband, using the staghorn cable! I'd love to know what you think, so let me know! I can't wait to see some of your finished headbands, so I'd love to see them on my twitter or instagram, or even here on tumblr! The ravelry page for this pattern is right here.
Note: All my patterns are intended for personal use only, so I request that you don't sell anything made from them without prior permission. Feel free to share and link to this post, but please do give proper credit, and do not reproduce this pattern or claim it as your own. Thank you!
Edit 6/3/2015: Fixed typo on row 5 (cf4 instead of k4f).
This week it's an original design! I really love this type of cable, so I wanted to use it in something nice and quick. Check back later in the week for a bit more; there might even be a little treat in store ;)!
As I said in my last post, today I'm blogging about one of my well loved projects from the earlier days of my time crocheting. I actually finished this blanket near the end of 2013, before I started this blog and before I'd even started knitting!
I was looking to make something bigger than the amigurumi and headbands that I'd been previously making, so I trawled through ravelry and pinterest and found the pattern for the 'Square upon Square Throw', which I fell a bit in love with! The combination of the lacy look of the squares and the minimalist colour arrangement really appealed to me, and it had the added bonus that the squares were crocheted together, so there was minimal sewing!
As you've probably seen in my previous posts, I've had a bit of a love affair with Stylecraft Special yarns, mostly due to the fact that it has such a great range of colourways whilst being cheap and having a really nice feel to it. That love affair actually started with this blanket, the main reason I chose it being the turquoise colourway, Aspen, which I absolutely loved (and still do, for that matter!)
So, pattern and yarn chosen I got to work on my first ever blanket. I started it in September 2013 and crocheted at a fairly leisurely pace, finishing it near the end of the next month. After the first couple of squares it was really easy to do by memory, since each square was exactly the same, so it made a really good project to do in front of the telly without having to pay too much attention! I definitely got a lot of them done whilst watching Pointless, which my flat had a bit of an obsession with!
As it turned out, the finished blanket was the perfect size for my semi-double bed at uni, so that's where it lived for the rest of the school year. I was glad to have finished it in the October, since I definitely needed the extra warmth it gave me in the winter! Since graduation it has, of course, moved home with me and is looking lovely on my bed here, when not artfully lying over chairs downstairs for the purpose of photo shoots!
What are your most well loved and well used projects? Let me know in the comments!
Not a new make, but definitely a well used and loved one! It's a while since I posted about one of my crochet projects so I'll be blogging about my first crochet blanket later this week!
What are your favourite projects that you've made?
Earlier this week I posted a photo of my first stranded knitting project. I've long held a love of Nordic style patterns, whether they be knit, printed, or stamped on my nails (perhaps pictures of that one another day!), so it was a bit of a no-brainer that I was going to give some Nordic-inspired stranded knitting a go pretty quickly once I'd learned!
So, I duly headed to Ravelry and started looking for the perfect pattern to begin with! Obviously I didn't want anything too big or complicated for my first bit of colour work, so I eventually decided on Ragna, a pattern for some cosy looking slipper socks, worked flat and with no heel turning to worry about!
Having decided on my pattern I needed to decide what yarn to use, eventually coming to the conclusion that I would stick with the pattern and use Barisienne from Bergère de France, albeit in slightly different colours. So, all this decided I got to work.
As you can see, my attempts were fairly successful! It didn't take me too long to get my head around the colour work, though I will admit getting a bit tangled up, particularly at the points where I had three colours on the go. Another confession that I should make is that I most definitely succumbed to single sock syndrome, making one of them last May and then leaving it lonely until August! Eventually, though, they were complete - and they've had a lot of wear ever since, particularly since the chilly weather decided to set in.
One problem I did come up against with the pattern was in the sizing. I found that although the pattern said it was for the average ladies foot size it was much too small, and I couldn't get my heel past the colour work section, despite having made an effort not to knit it too tightly and despite having a very average foot size.
So, I unpicked the seam down to the heel section and decided to crochet an insert from there upwards, joining the two sides as I went. Thankfully this worked perfectly, and I've decided to view it as a design feature rather than a hasty fix! Nevertheless, I think if I made them again I would adapt the pattern to add another repeat of the colour work rather than getting the crochet hook out, and to knit in the round, which I generally prefer!
What are your thoughts on stranded knitting? I'd definitely love to do some more, so if you have any pattern recommendations please let me know!
I love the look of nordic style patterns! I'll be posting about my first attempt at stranded knitting later in the week, here's a sneak preview!
How do you guys feel about stranded knitting? Worth the effort or too much of a tangle?!
A couple of months ago one of my close friends was telling me about how she always gets really cold feet when she's wearing wellies. Aside from the fact that we often like to go on muddy walks together, she also does a lot of work outside, so the cold feet problem was really becoming a bit of an issue!
As you can imagine, being a knitter I noticed a prime Christmas present opportunity emerging! My resolve was solidified when she told me that she'd mentioned it to her mum as a Christmas present idea, but her mum had told her to just buy some and get something a bit more exciting for Christmas instead. This was the perfect gift, and thus it was decided! I would be making some welly socks!
I actually spent quite a long time searching patterns for one I liked, particularly since a lot of the patterns that came up were just boot cuffs, which didn't really address the warmth issue. Eventually, however, I decided to make them simple and durable, going for 'Jean's Welly Boot Socks' from Blacker designs.
As you can see, they're a nice simple sock with a turnover cuff, so as well as being warm they have the added bonus of jazzing up your wellies! For my socks I decided to use Stylecraft Special Aran in Teal, as I know that it's one of my friend's favourite colours (and, incidentally, one of mine!)
I didn't come across too many issues whilst knitting these, though I did have to adapt the pattern slightly to knit using the magic loop technique rather than double pointed needles. The other issue I had was not counting my rows properly, so they were ever so slightly different sizes - thankfully an issue that was unnoticeable once on the feet!
I'm glad to say that my friend was really happy with them and later reported that they were a perfect fit! Sadly I don't have any photos of them with wellies on, as mine were in far too muddy a state to be putting the socks anywhere near them!
That said, I can definitely see myself making another pair for my own use in the future, so I'm sure I can model them properly when such a time arises!
On a final note, I've noticed a few new followers recently. Welcome one and all! I hope you're enjoying my posts and I hope to hear more from you all soon!
Sometimes the basics are the best! Here's a sneak preview of what I'll be blogging about later in the week. What are your go to patterns? The ones you know you'll make time and again? Let me know in the comments!
In my last update I posted this picture of some cable work, with the promise of a further explanation 'in a few days time'. My apologies, for that most clearly did not happen, unless you count 50-odd days as 'a few'... I can't say I'm sure that I do, though I suppose some might!
Anyway, no matter! The post is here now and I can introduce to you the new staple of my winter wardrobe - the Twist and Plait Hat (a working title, though I've come to find it quite catchy!)
This rather fine specimen (if I do say so myself) features a series of twisted cables and plaited cables (hence the name!), and sports an extra large pom pom for the days you're feeling a bit bold, hat-wise. I've been reliably informed that it also serves the useful function of making me easy to find in a crowd, which can only be a bonus!
For this particular hat I chose to use Stylecraft Special Chunky in Gold (1709). The second picture captures the colour better than the first, and it's a shade that I both really love, and find tones in well with my favourite coat (see picture below!). It's nice and easy to work with, which is always a good thing, and though not as exciting as more luxury yarns Stylecraft's 'Special' range tends to be my go to as it's relatively cheap and has an impressive range of colourways!
Although I've been designing my own crochet projects for a while, until a few months ago I'd stayed in my comfort zone of pattern-following with knitting. Eventually, however, I decided to be brave and throw the pattern book (well, pinterest board...) out the window for a bit whilst I set out on the adventure of designing some things of my own. The initial result of that is this hat - may it be the first of many!
I'm pretty excited about this brave new world that I've entered, designing my own patterns, so please let me know what you think!
Do any of you design your own stuff? I'm curious to know how you go about it! Do you draw out a conceptual design first? Make a mood board? Just cast something on and hope for the best?! Let me know in the comments!
It's been a while since my last post, mostly due to university deadlines and the like. I'm pleased to announce that I successfully graduated and have been busy knitting and crocheting all the while, so I should have some posts coming up soon! Pictured here is a sneak peek of my most recent make, which I'll be writing about for you in the next few days.
