Category Archives: projects

all wrapped up

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I have been quite busy lately, my first knitting class has finished this week and I am fairly pleased with how all went. After a bit of a slow start my students are now all busy knitting and want to continue. They all have already projects in mind.

I did underestimate though the attendance issue and will have to change my program for the next classes which will only happen in the new year to make sure I can make the most of a relatively short time.

On the other hand I have been trying to find the perfect neck warmer. So at the moment it is all about cowls and infinity scarfs in super chunky yarn.
I personally don’t like having a huge scarf around my neck if it isn’t actually that cold but many people seem to like it. So I have started with this set of super bulky cowl in green and longer version in reddish tones (using Rowan Big Wool).

cowl with buttons
infinity scarf

I couldn’t quite decide if I should make them just in the round or as a moebius version so I decided to actually use buttons and keep both options. IMG_0987

For the longer version this is maybe a bit pointless but it was initially meant to be a simple cowl and then I found it not wide enough for the super bulky look and just continued knitting and as I find those buttons really great I just kept them.

individual buttons

I also really like the pattern which is *k2, p2* on an uneven number of stitches. I found it when I was looking up fisherman rib as I had never tried the proper one. And then I found this cheat version and I realised that I had used that in the past (a loooong time ago) but as double rib not understanding (but irritated and disappointed) that it should be on an uneven number for that fisherman effect. So now I am slightly obsessed with it, I guess to come to terms with my simplified fisherman….. I am also using it at the moment for another infinity scarf for my sister except that I have knitted that one in the round so the stripes are vertically and not horizontally when worn. And I will knit another cowl even wider than the green one.
And as I am currently also working on a simple garter stitch scarf for myself too I should probably stop talking and go back to my needles.

So hopefully I will soon be able to not only blog about all my currently unfinished projects but maybe also post some pictures with those neck warmers around a neck rather than just lying on my table.

 

 

a long, long time ago….

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…. I knitted a cushion cover, wrote down the pattern, lost the pattern, knitted an other one, wrote down the pattern, knitted two more, lost the pattern again, bought matching fabric and zips and got the sewing machine out of its bag.

But then there was never really time to actually sew them together or more urgent things to sew. I can easily knit with children around but the sewing machine with its sharp and fast moving needle is a different matter.

But last weekend I could finally finish them and here they are…..

I have used mercerized cotton, so the knitted part has very clear lines, strong colours and is a bit shiny. Which goes extremely well with a contrasting background. I am really pleased with them. I chose burgundy as a less contrasting colour for the back this time (In the past I usually used the background fabric for the back as well – nice look too)

front and back

front and back

I have done another one as well, with Sirdar Smiley Stripes. It’s a bamboo-wool-blend and is actually very soft. As the yarn is multicoloured in itself, I chose a light blue background as a bold background is rather disturbing in my opinion.

IMG_0912It is knitted in garter stitch diagonally from corner to corner with an eyelet square to break those diagonal lines.

I really like diagonal knitting. It is perfect when you want to avoid the gauge swatching and calculating at the beginning. And I do like the look of it too.

So now that those cushion covers are knitted, I will only have to put them in my etsy-shop and also get those patterns finally typed up and on to ravelry. I guess, it won’t take me longer than a couple of weeks to get that done.

 

 

 

just a little something

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just a little something

just a little something

Last Wednesday was the last day of the summer term in nursery and therefore my first last day as a mum and I had no idea how to thank the teachers.

Chocolate? The key worker has allergies and can’t have chocolate, a few of the others were fasting.

Flowers? It had over 30C so they would have been withered before even getting there.

So, I needed to knit something…  just a little something as I didn’t want to overdo it.

The pressure was on, just a few days to go and all of a sudden I had plenty of ideas. So I made

IMG_0587

a bookmark

a book mark for the teacher who is in charge of the library. She was really touched as it was so “thoughtful”. I found it a bit too bulky to be actually useful to be honest and would have already better ideas… I guess for next year.

a phone case

a phone case

a phone case for the one who is really strict about the no-phones-in-the-classroom-rule. She was really pleased as apparently she keeps dropping her own phone.

IMG_0595

hairband with little arrows

a hairband for the key worker who has just really nice long hair and has often some kind of elaborate hair styling. And she was actually wearing a dress in a matching colour on that last day. And maybe I can make a matching scarf next year as it will be the final one for my daughter.

a small bag with i-cord and buttons

a small bag with i-cord and buttons

and a small bag for the head teacher as she doing her rounds with a small shoulder bag and I had already thought in the past that I should knit one for her. It is about the same size as her usual one, so it should really suit her needs.

In fact, I am really pleased how all these little somethings turned out. They are the perfect size for these kind of occasions and can be really personalized.

In fact I made a few other hairbands, both for girls and women.

trio of lace hairbands
narrow lace hairband
cotton lace
ear covering

I will definitely continue to experiment with hairbands, so far I did a few narrow cotton ones with a bit of lace to make them more interesting, a very simple red one with a knot and a similar but more girly one with a proper bow (I will try a flower version too), a few wide cotton ones with lace and a woolen one that should cover the ears as well. I guess that one could actually be even wider.

The other thing that keeps me busy knitwise these days is the fact that I will be giving knitting lessons for beginners starting from September. I am currently preparing samples and hand-outs. My students will be people who use the services of the Children Centers in the Borough, so I guess mainly mothers of young children like me.

Hairbands and little bags for their children will actually be the perfect projects for them. But I am still thinking of something a bit more suitable for little boys…. they all like bags but it would be nice to have something more boyish too. So any ideas of very simple and quick knits for little  boys are welcome.

 

 

bags, bags, bags

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As it has mainly been about my children knits so far, I would like to finally talk a bit about my bags.

But before I do so, I want to show you my last “custom order”. After finishing a hooded vest for the shop I asked my daughter if I should make one for her as well or rather a dress and she said: Both. I then made the second mistake of letting her choose the colours out of my stash…. and she chose all of them. Some of them really don’t go together so I first wanted to ignore it but then  I shouldn’t have asked her if I am not prepared to follow her wishes. And actually it turned out to be really great. It was only a matter of how to order the stripes.

I want them all

I want them all

I also love her strawberry skirt… I made it because she is just so thin that the ones that fit around her waist are too short.

And here the two vests together, they are both the same size except that the models wearing them aren’t

big and small…
left of 2 sleeveless cotton Little Rascal

But now back to the actual subject: bags

I have been knitting a few bags in the past, they are easy and quick and ideal presents for more normal occasions where you do not want to overdo it.

But I haven’t knitted a bag for myself yet, I have to admit. I always have to think practical, I have a huge bag (in fact, apparently not huge enough and therefore completely broken) in which I have to carry half of the household. And as I live in the UK, I also have to have a waterproof one. I have a few really nice bags but in the end, I always use the same for my everyday life. I have always been like that and I guess I will never really change… So no cute knitted bags for me but it doesn’t stop me from producing them.

So here are a few examples of what I have done in the past.

I made these sets of bags for children a long time ago. The shoulder bags were just an excuse to use up some left over yarn and both my children loved them.  They are tiny so only really to play with.

The bedside bags (with the intarsia) have open end strings so you can tie them to your bed and keep important little things in there.  You could also tie the strings together and use them as a shoulder bag. I think if I made them again, I might make them with a cotton lining.

shoulder bags for children
bedside bags

For the following water bottle bag I have used the  Bishi – pattern by Georgie Hallam. It is really nice and I like the whole combination with the dress (also made by me)

I have also made a few really small gifts for grown ups like a smart phone or a passport holder. Apparently the smart phone holder is also ideal to keep a dummy safe over day time.

smart phone holder
pass port holder

Bags are also a great way of personalising the present. I made the following one for my mum who uses quite often cotton bags. I have actually made a mistake in the pattern repeats which I only discovered once I had all ends woven in and cut. So it became “the design”.

cotton bag

cotton bag

I have sewn the whole bag using greenish- turquoise heavy cotton and added one knitted side with a bit of a lace pattern so the green could shine through.

I have used this design of one knitted lace side also in the following folder-holder for my sister. The back of the holder is a heavy burgundy cotton and the front has actually three layers: burgundy fabric, yellow fabric and knitted red-orange-yellow with a few eyelets to let the yellow fabric come through. I have decided on a middle layer as the yellow background looks much nicer than the burgundy.

folder holder

folder holder