Handspun Henslowe

My goodness this yarn and pattern are a beautiful combination!  The handspun Henslowe is now complete:



I'm really loving the slight changes of shade in the yarn, that add a subtle but interesting touch to the finished shawl.  Thanks Nicole - you spin lovely yarn in wonderfully rich colours.  Ooh yes, and let me also add that this yarn is as light as a feather.





The Henslowe shawl pattern is a really interesting knit that is worked in 3 distinct stages.  I made no mods to the pattern, and was thrilled that I got to use up the majority of the wonderful handspun yarn.  If I were to make again, however, I'd probably make the shawl a touch bigger.  The other thing to watch for is on the garter section of the shawl - be sure that your yarn overs at each edge are not too tight - my shawl would have benefitted from a double yarn over at each edge so that I would have had a little more elasticity between the garter stitch section and the roman lace pattern.



Otherwise I am really pleased with how this turned out.  A perfect knit for when those Autumn days start to roll around.



Wishing you a great week,
Sam

This Week's WIP: Handspun Henslowe (And the beginning of my weight loss journey)

I stumbled across Purl Verde Textiles online some weeks ago.  My goodness her handspun yarn is pretty.  Needless to say, I 'had' to have some:



This is 100% Falkland Wool in a fingering weight and the colourway is October Mums.  Doesn't it just make you dream of Autumn?  I love the subtle variations in the depth of the colour.  And the yarn is beautifully sproingy :)

I searched online for something to make with the 446 yards of loveliness.  The ravelry pattern search is perfect for this task: I knew I wanted to make a shawl and simply plugged in the weight of the yarn and the yardage into the pattern search tool.  Amongst the many beautiful results was Henslowe.  Yes, that was the one for me.



I've made pretty good progress this week on the garter section of the scarf, and have now started the lace pattern.  Thoroughly enjoying this knit.

I've been loving working with this yarn so much that I did a little repeat purchase this week:  Hidcote Lavender.  What a great colour for a winter shawl.  (The colour was very difficult to photograph and is far prettier in person than I could capture with my camera).

The other important thing that happened in the last couple of weeks is that I started to diet.  I hit a weight/size where I just wasn't happy with myself anymore - how I felt, or how I looked.  So it was time to take charge and make a change.  So far so good:  3lbs lost, and another 17 to go.  Slow and steady wins the race right.  One of the hardest parts is finding tasty ways to prepare fish, chicken, vegetables and keep it interesting.  If I discover any gems, I'll also be sharing them here.  This week's fave was a simple tilapia fillet with thinly sliced lemons that I broiled.  Very yummy indeed.  This week I added some fresh parsley and last week was dill.  Pick a herb you like and serve with steamed green veggies.  Yum! 

Now it's off to the farmer's market to get some more healthy goodies for the week.

Hope you have had a lovely week,
Sam xxx

Citron

I've been knitting like a maniac during the Olympics, and making good use of all that TV viewing and sofa time!  Here's what I have to show for it:  a Citron shawl.



Citron is a free pattern on the Knitty.com web site.  It was perfect TV knitting - lots of mindless stocking stitch.  The instructions are written for 5 repeats of the main pattern, with some extra guidelines for making it bigger, if so desired. 



I checked ravelry, and saw a bunch of folks had recommended 7 repeats.  I really like the size that the recommended 7 repeats produced.  The only other change I made was to go down a needle size to a US 5, which worked well for this lovely fine yarn.



And what is this lovely yarn you may ask.  It is a merino wool/silk mix lace yarn from Phydeaux Designs.  Isn't it beautiful.  Colorway is Alpha Centauri.  I think I may become a frequent shopper at this online store!



Hope you are having a good week and enjoying the Olympic Games,
Sam
xxx

Toddler Slouchy Hat

In addition to thoroughly enjoying last night's opening ceremony, the hours of tv time enabled me to whip out another project:  a hat and fingerless gloves for Naomi.



I'd picked up this handspun yarn at a Renaissance festival last year.  When I went hunting through my stash for it I was originally thinking that I'd use it to make a pair of socks for me.  But once I'd unearthed it, I saw that it was worsted weight and only had 142 yards - not enough for a pair of socks.  So I figured that I'd make a hat instead.  I used Ravelry's pattern finder to find a good free pattern that uses this weight of yarn - I stumbled upon Purl Bee's Simple Pleasures Hat.  I used this pattern as a guideline, rather than following it exactly.  Although the original pattern is super cute - I could see making one exactly like this.



I wanted  a simple pattern that would showcase the handspun yarn.  However when I was finished I felt like it was just 'meh'.  Nice enough, but nothing to get excited about.  I felt like it needed a little something something.  Many moons ago I'd made this little felt flower from a Martha Stewart kit and decided that it would be a cute addition.



Once the hat was complete, I still had some yarn leftover, which is why I decided to make some matching fingerless mittens.  These are extremely simple to make.  I cast on 24 stitches and knit in the round until the palm piece reached where the thumb hole should start.  Then work back and forth for the a couple of rows to allow a gap for the thumb hole.  And finally knit back in the round again for the length that you'd like the mitten.  Very simple and very fast.  I wasn't convinced that Naomi would even wear these - I haven't been able to keep any gloves on her before now.  But she really liked them.  Another success.

OK, back to the games, and my most recent project - a Citron shawl using this lovely yarn.

Bye for now,
Sam xxx

Man socks, toddler socks

Did you watch the Olympic opening ceremony?  I was glued to the tv and really enjoyed the event.  Made me long for home :)

But onto knitting:  I finished Joe's socks.  They were a nice simple knit, and I really enjoyed working with this yarn - Claudia hand painted in colourway John B.  Check out that model foot pose!  :o)))  Oooh my husband is a good man for humoring me! 



No particular pattern... just my standard approach.  This time with 75 stitches to account for the slightly smaller needles - US 2. 

Since these knit up really quickly and I get a kick out of completing projects, I decided I'd make a pair for Naomi.  These are a little different because they use a short row heel.  I had leftovers of koigu sock yarn and thought it was would be fun to make her a mismatched pair of socks.  US 2 needles.  Cast on 45 stitches.



Look how happy the little Miss is with them.  Can see more mini socks on the horizon. :)





Have a fabulous weekend,
Sam
xxx

Minnie Mouse dress

Last night I made this cute little dress for Naomi.



You are impressed, right? 
Don't be...

...You can buy fabric that is already hemmed at the bottom, and smocked at the top.  The majority of the work is done for you!  I picked this fabric up at Joann Fabrics.  Well, I should say that Naomi picked out this fabric :)  She's been Disney crazy ever since we returned from our hols there.



Not only was the dress super easy, it was also inexpensive.  The fabric was $5, after applying one of the 50% Joann Fabric coupons.  As for the ribbon and rose, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that they came off a box of chocs that Joe had bought for me ages ago.  They were simply too nice to throw away.  I was happy to put them to good use on this dress. :)



So, all I needed to do was seam up the back of the fabric, using a french seam for a nice neat finish.  And then stitch the ribbon straps to the inside front of the dress so that they could be tied halter-style around the back of her neck.  And as Naomi would say 'Ta-daaaa!'.

Hope you are having a good weekend,
Sam xxx

Camp Wanna Knit Knit 2012

I just spent a fabulous weekend with good friends.  Each year a group of us head up to the mountains and lock ourselves away to spend quality time together and craft!  A great time, and fun to catch up with folks I hadn't seen in a while.

This year I took up the princess palace cross stitch to work on.  Granted it is not knitting, but I'm a little hooked on working on this.  I am now on page 2 of 9.  Maybe Naomi will get this in her teens, and not her twenties!



I'd also picked up some claudia hand painted fingering yarn and made good progress on a man sock for Joe.  No particular pattern - just a basic stocking stitch sock using size US2 needles.  It's going pretty quickly.



Each year at camp we get goodie bags and this year was no exception.  Stacey had found a great pattern for project bags, and picked out this cute sheep fabric.  A couple of us helped out to make these in advance of the weekend.  Such fun bags.

Hope you had a fantastic weekend too,
Sam xxx

Mermaid needlepoint sandals

A couple of years ago I picked up this needlepoint kit for a pair of hand stitched mermaid sandals.  This week I finally got around to finishing them.  I am tickled pink with the end result - seriously, could this design be any cuter!



The kit is from Birds of a Feather.  I picked it up at the The Yarn Studio in Minturn, Colorado.  They have a floor devoted to knitting goodies, and another floor that is brimming with some of the most beautiful needlepoint designs, many of which were handpainted.



I'd finished the needlepoint some time ago.  Such a sweet little design that stitched up quite quickly.  My favourite part was adding the sparkles to the tail. It was the finishing that had me stumped - I'd never done anything like that before.  I always send my needlepoint pillows to a professional finisher.  And I couldn't seem to find any useful links on T'Internet. 



This week I took the plunge (now that my sewing machine is back from the shop - yay!).  It turned out to be a lot simpler than I was expecting:

• Mark a 3/8 inch border around each sandal strap and then cut on that 3/8 inch line to remove the strap from the canvas
• Use the sandal straps as a template to cut out 2 pieces of fabric that would become the backing for each strap
• Place pretty side of fabric to pretty side of needle point and pin in place
• Stitch around 3 of the 4 sides of the strap:  stitch as closely to the edge of the needlepoint design as possible
• Trim some of the excess fabric away from these 3 stiched sides and then turn the entire piece right side out
• Hand stitch the final side of the strap, tucking the raw edge of the needlepoint, and raw edge of fabric inside the strap as you work along
• Finally I added a top stitch along the top and bottom edge of the straps - about 1 row of stitches in from the edge.  I'm not sure that this was absolutely necessary, but thought best to be safe and add this extra row of stitches to secure the fabric backing in place and hopefully prevent the likelihood of it coming apart and fraying.

Truth be told, the trickiest part was hammering the tacks to secure the sandal strap to the wooden sole.  I'm sure it would have been easier with a vice grip, or other woodworking device for holding something in place while you hammer tacks into it.  Instead I was sat at the dining room table with the wooden sandal firmly 'clamped' between my knees as I tried to finish this last step :o)  The tacks aren't perfectly spaced and even, but I didn't kneecap myself in the process, so I consider it a success!

And that my friends is it!  I'm off up to the mountains this weekend with some of my knitty friends for this year's Camp Wanna Knit Knit.  The Yarn Studio is en route...  who knows what goodies I may be sharing with you next week :)

Have a great week, and an even better weekend,
Sam xxx

This week's WIP: Princess Palace

This week I've been in the mood to do a little cross stitching.

A good friend gifted me this Princess Palace kit, from Bothy Threads, before Naomi was born. It's a fun design, with bright happy colours. But I need to step up the pace - this is page 1 of 9 for the background colours. And then of course there are 9 pages of top stitching to outline the key elements of the design. At the current pace Naomi will be in her 20's by the time I complete it!

What have you been up to this week?
Sam
xxx

Linen stitch man scarf

Thank you for the kind comments on the linen stitch man scarf.  I've really enjoyed working on this and using up leftovers of sock yarn from other projects.



The pattern is Scrappy Lengthwise Scarf.  It is super easy, and yet interesting because you see the fabric develop as you add in each new colourful strand of yarn. 



I used a US 6 needle and lots of leftover sock yarn from socks I'd made for Joe and also squares from my barn raising blanket.  I could also see that this would be fun in a chunkier weight yarn and larger needles.



Savannahchik asked how many different yarns I used.  Hmm let's see:

• Colinette jitterbig in elephant colourway.  Malabrigo sock yarn in eggplant colours. And at least 4 different colours of pagewood farms sock yarn all leftover from my barn raising blanket
• There's some zauberball - I had a little orange leftover from some crazy bright stripey socks.
• There's some Noro Kureyon sock.  Note that this adds a nubby texture to the scarf that might not be everyones cup of tea. 
• There's koigu in an olive colour, and a camouflage colour.
• Sundara sock yarn in a navy colour.
• The knittery merino cashmere sock yarn in blues, greens and greys.
• Austermann step sock yarn in greens.
• Socks that rock in a brown and pink colourway
• And even some Quiviut in a maroon colour from a shawl I'd made my Grandma.

Yes, for sure a great way to use up leftover scraps of yarn from other projects.  I picked out leftovers that looked like they would work together, popped them in my project bag, and for the most part selected the colours at random.



The only thing I was concerned about was whether it would be long enough, since you knit it lengthwise and can't really tell when it is on the circular needle all scrunched up.  I cast on 600 stitches and hoped for the best.  When it came to casting off, I was relieved to see that it was plenty long.  The pattern does advise that you do a swatch and calculate the math to make it the length you'd like.  Erm, yes, lets just say I skipped that important step ;o)

I "need" to make one for myself now in pretty girly colours.  I certainly have the leftovers for it. 
Hope you are having a good week,
Sam xxx

This week's WIPs: linen stitch scarf and a lace shawl

My sewing machine is in the shop, and I am feeling a little lost without it!  But it is the perfect opportunity to pull out some knitty WIPs and make a little progress.  No finished objects this week... but here's a quick glimpse at what has been on the needles:









What have you been working on this week?

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Sam
xxx

Another Itty Bitty Dress

Joe's niece had a baby girl: Leila Rose!  Loving that name, and good grief that baby girl is a cutie pie!  Naturally I needed to make something for her.  I really enjoyed making the Itty Bitty Dress for Naomi and thought  a baby version would be fun too.  I think this one is even cuter... seriously, check out how cute these fabrics are:



One of the sides is made from Just Hanging Monkey Bizness fabric, and the other side in the coral dot to  dot from Children at Play range.  I wanted to add a little something to the polka dot side to jazz it up, and simply cut out one of the flowers from the Just Hanging fabric and stitched it to the front. 



The baby pattern came in newborn and 1-3 month size.  I increased the sizing a little more to hopefully make it a 3-6 month size.  One gotcha - I should have lengthened the straps too.  Thinking I may add press-studs so that they can be clipped together instead of the ties.  The ties just seem a little short to me.

Ooh and look how perfectly they go with the Dolly wrap cardigan.



If you still aren't convinced how cute this pattern is, then go feast your eyes at the Itty Bitty Dress flickr pool.
On an entirely unrelated note - the hydrangeas I planted this spring are starting to bloom.  So pretty.



Have a  great weekend,
Sam

Instant Gratification Projects

One of the things I love about sewing is the relative speed with which you can finish a project.  Of course it all depends on the project, but here are two that I was able to start and finish over the weekend. 

First up is a summer dress for Naomi. We recently went through her clothes to swap out the warmer weather gear for her summer clothes. There were a few things from last year that still fit well, but her wardrobe was drastically depleted. This gave me the nudge to pull something together for her. I found this free pattern for a reversible Itty Bitty dress.



As you can see below, it is a not-so-itty bitty dress on my tiny little girl! I used the 2-3T size, which clearly stated that it runs closer to 3T. This works for me - I'm hoping to get 2 summer's wear out of the dress!  The pattern is fantastic - so very easy to follow.  And quick!  This beauty only took 3 hours to put together.



The fabric is The Monsterz, which I picked up at Fabricate last month. Such a fun print for a wee one.  And what a great feeling to be able to put it to great use. 





The other project is a scarf that I'd made for my good friend Anita.  She was kind enough to check in on our home while we were off gallivanting on our hols!  Anita always looks so sophisticated and I wanted to create something that suited her style.  And so I created this glam scarf. 



There's a story behind the fabric:  Joe and I were browsing around some local boutique stores recently.  I was a little sad to see that one of the stores that I liked was closing it's doors and selling off everything - fixtures, fittings, the lot.  One of the things that caught my eye was a pile of interior decorating fabric.  I was able to purchase a couple of their swatch booklets - one of which was for the Bella Notte line of luxury fabrics.  The swatches included velvets, silks, lace... and was such an interesting find.  I knew I'd be able to put it to good use.



Wishing you a great week,
Sam xxx

Vintage Inspiration

Today was a really good day.  I started the morning with a quick and easy craft project: Putting together a gift bag using scrapbooking supplies and a paper shopping bag.  This is a great way to make good use of those good quality paper bags that some stores are using.  I think they are too nice to throw away, especially those that I pick up at Anthropologie: a simple off-white paper bag, with fun red handles.


All you need is the paper bag, double sided sticky tape, and scrapbook supplies.  I found this nice vintage-looking floral design paper with coordinating polka dot paper, letters, frames, ribbon and some fun old-fashioned dictionary page paper.  I use double sided tape because it sticks really well, is quick, easy and doesn't make a mess.

Next it was off to breakfast at one of my local haunts, and then to my favourite local quilt store - Snappy quilts - where they happened to have a sale on fat quarters.  So naturally I left with a handful :)  Some pretty Kaffe Fassett prints that I'm collecting to make a quilt for my Mum.  Speaking of this quilt store, I recently took a class there for the 'perfect skirt'.  We used McCall's pattern M5431 as the basis, and the very talented teacher showed us how to adapt for our shape and size.  I've fumbled through creating a couple of skirts now, and was thrilled that I learned so many new, and professional, techniques in this class - customizing the shape and the fit, grading seams to remove bulk, different hem options...  The fabric is from Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market fancy which she descibes as being inspired the vintage charm of some of her flea market finds.  Really happy with how this turned out - it is very wearable.  I especially love the big deep pockets.



And finally I spent the afternoon at Old Glory Antiques Fair.  Old Glory Antiques is a fabulous local store (I'll have to post the fun vintage swim locker I previously picked up - it now houses my yarn stash).  They'd pulled together a bunch of similarly wonderful vendors and put on a fair.  If funds were unlimited I could have gone crazy.  Soo many wonderful things to buy.  I oohed and aahed over many of the items displayed there, but was able to show restraint and only came away with some vintage threads, which I think will be a nice addition to my yet-to-be-created craft room. 

Hope you had a good day too,
Sam xxx

Vesper Scrappy Socks

Ooh I do love finishing a project.  There's a sense of achievement that just makes me really happy.  The added bonus is that I'm pleased with the outcome.  And what's not to be pleased with... gotta love a cosy pair of handknit socks that have such a jolly vibe to them.



The yarn was some Vesper odds and ends that I purchased from a Ravelry member.  I really enjoyed chopping and changing between the different colour schemes that I'd been able to get hold of.  (Although weaving in the ends was a pain!)  The pattern was an adapted version of my basic sock pattern.  This time with a size 2 needle to suit this skinny sock yarn.  I cast on a more stitches than my basic pattern to accommodate the smaller needle size - 75 stitches.  The rib is a simple K4, P1 repetition.



Not a lot else to tell you about these.  Except little miss has taken a shining to them and keeps telling me they are her socks.  I have enough odds and ends that I could probably whip out a toddler sized pair.  (I need more hours in a day!)

Hope you are having a good week,
Sam xxx