Winter Weekend

On Friday we had lots of snow, covering everything in a thick blanket of white in a few hours. Like many people in England this weekend, we are enjoying the perfect excuse to stay at home and relax. I've been spending time snuggled on the sofa under a fleecy blanket, with my hot water bottle, a cup of tea and a slice of carrot cake.

I've been enjoying having the time to read a few magazines...

With the cold weather outside I had a real desire to pick up my knitting needles and knit. My knitted cushion cover project has made a bit of progress...I'm loving seeing the cables grow...

I started a new project this week and made a little progress this weekend.

During the week the temperatures dropped rapidly and our little flat got a bit chilly. I decided my next project would be a knitted blanket for Mr C and I to snuggle under on cold nights. I'm planning to knit lots of squares and join them together, I made one so far and have many more to knit. I'm using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino dk wool in dark navy and teal, it's so soft and a real pleasure to knit with. I thought it would be nice to knit these squares whenever I need something simple to do.

I hope that you are having a lovely weekend and you are keeping warm.

Crafty work in progress

The weekend before last I had a burst of creative energy. I've been wanting to share with you what I've been up to but I've had a nasty bug and didn't feel like writing. I'm much better now and I can't wait to tell you what I've been doing and making!

With the sunny weather arriving my desire to create bloomed! I had chance to have a blitz on my knitting project. At the start of the year I wanted to make a cushion cover…well here it is so far! My cosy cable cushion is coming on rather nicely!

I’m so pleased that the cables are now finally taking shape. It took a while to see what was going on...as I knitted, moving stitches onto my cable needle and off again, in different combinations for each row. I can finally start to see what it will look like...I’m feeling more confident reading the pattern and using a cable needle, I can't wait to finish it. I’m loving the way that you can really see the cables forming. It feels such an achievement to know that I’ve understood a pattern and managed to knit something that looks quite complicated! The kitting of the cushion cover takes lots of concentration, in comparison to the scarves I made, so I think I’ll just pootle on with it when I want to knit and do a couple of rows at a time.

I was lucky to have quite a few spare hours over that weekend so I made a real start on my top secret project! I'm hoping to share with you my finished project in June/July but for now I'll tell you how I'm getting on...

I took the plunge and started cutting up fabric for a special project. With the pieces cut I started playing with the layout of the project and after a few hours I had a breakthrough on how it should look. I’m not using a pattern and I’m just having a play with things so it's a bit experimental! With the pieces finally arranged I set about piling them on top of each other so I could start to put the project together. After three hours or so I had stitched most of my project together. Oh it looks so lovely!! I want to share it with you now in its partially finished form, but I can’t. I’ve still got work to do to finish it off before I do a big reveal plus I need to make sure that the project, a little gift, is safely in hands of the person receiving it before sharing. I'll keep you posted!

New Year, New Projects!

Happy New Year to you! I hope that you are looking forward to the year ahead as much as I am. I wonder what the year ahead may hold?

For the past few weeks we have had really cloudy and rainy weather but at last blue sky and fresh cold weather has made an appearance…

...and with the bright weather has come some clarity for the year ahead…I always try and write a few resolutions every January and I’m reasonably good at keeping them! However this year I’m going to set goals for what I want to achieve. I’m hoping to learn new things, share my inspirations and projects with you and spend quality time with good friends and family.

My wish list of projects to complete this year includes...

1) Complete my adventurous knitting project, a gorgeous Rowan cosy cable cushion

2) Pick up a crochet hook, refresh myself on the basics and make a start on a project

3) Learn the basics in quilt making and make something by the end of the year that I’m proud of

4) Try some new recipes, perfect my cake baking and biscuit making skills

5) Pick up some basic sewing skills using my lovely new sewing books I had as Christmas gifts, and make a few projects for the home

6) Get gardening again and find some new things for the home

There are quite a few things on the list, I just hope I can decide what to start first! What are you hoping to make and create this year?

Christmas has almost arrived...

Christmas has almost arrived! The tree is up, the fairy lights are casting a twinkly glow over the lounge and my collection of red and white decorations are arranged on the tree...
 

...gingham bows...nordic style wooden decorations...ah just lovely!

...a new addition to the tree this year was this gorgeous metal christmas tree...

...Also I was very lucky to be given some corkscrew hazel a few weeks ago! I've been lusting after some branches for some time now. Last weekend I got round to arranging a few of the branches in a big glass vase and added some lovely clear stars that I found stashed away in my decorations box.

I love it so much I want to keep it up all year round!

I think that it really adds something to the room. I had better get my thinking cap on...I wonder how I will decorate these gorgeous branches during the year?!
 

...It's not long now until Christmas day...I've taken some time over the past few days to leisurely wrap gifts, make a Christmas card, finish knitting a scarf and chill out. I've been snuggled up on the sofa with a yummy mug of hot chocolate topped with mini marshmallows while watching some Christmas films...one of my favourites is 'The Holiday'...well mainly because I'd love to have a little place like Iris's cottage...

I've almost finished my Christmas cross stitch but probably wont get it framed in time, I think I'll just leave it in the embroidery hoop for the time being...

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! I'm looking forward to the new year and plenty of new projects to get stuck into throughout 2012!

My first knitting project...and some scones!

With the knitting basics grasped during August, I felt confident to start enough to a knitting project and thought it would be best to get a pattern and wool that I could take with me on my holiday to Cornwall in early September. I popped into a little shop in Bath called Wool, it really is a gorgeous wool emporium, as it’s described on their website. It was my first time in a wool shop and I realised when I got in there that it may not be as easy as buying any wool and needles! I knew that I wanted to make a big chunky scarf for winter so I took the plunge and asked for help. I was slightly nervous as I didn't know the 'lingo' but I felt immediately at put at ease as Laura, the owner of Wool, helped me through the decision making process. Laura was so kind and welcoming, and with her enthusiasm and knowledge of knitting I was able to give a brief description of what I wanted to achieve and she immediately recommended a pattern I could try. Laura showed me a pattern called ‘Vanilla’ on the Rowan website that I could download for free. We selected the wool based on the pattern, Rowan Big Wool, it was lovely and chunky and selected it in one of my favourite colours! Laura delivered the best service I have received in a shop for a very long time and her enthusiasm made me really excited about getting started. So together with two balls of Big Wool, in gorgeous teal, and a new pair of 10mm bamboo knitting needles, I hopped on the train home the very proud owner of 'proper' wool, knitting needles the size of drumsticks, the pattern printed out, all in a beautiful white paper bag. I was all set to start my first project!

A few days later I was off to Cornwall for a holiday with my boyfriend and our friends. I could hardly contain myself on the drive there as I was desperate to start my scarf! Knowing that the weather was going to be rainy that week I was prepared and willing the rain to start! I didn’t have to wait long, on day one of the holiday it started off a lovely sunny morning and after about an hour of relaxing in the garden the weather turned! I settled down on the comfy sofa, with a big cup of tea and cast on the required number of stitches. I’m not going to lie, I made quite a few mistakes throughout the first few hours but persevered with it. I struggled to grasp the right tension, wasn’t sure how to follow a pattern and had to work out why I suddenly had more stitches that I should do. I made a mistake of not moving the wool to the front when I was moving between knit stitch and purl stitch! Luckily the pattern was a simple with two rows repeating over and over and due to the size of the wool, it multiplied so quickly.

I almost completed the scarf while in Cornwall but had a sad feeling that it was almost over, my first project was almost completed so much quicker than I thought it would be. I stopped and 'saved' myself some rows to do when I got home…with some time to spare on holiday while it was raining I got on with my yearly tradition of making scones whilst on holiday in Cornwall…

...ooh and loved looking at the flying mallards on the wall…

...Back to the scarf! I left the scarf for a few weeks, just looking at what I had achieved and took the plunge to cast off. At the same time we were learning to cast off in the knitting class I was taking so I felt confident that I wouldn’t go wrong! After tucking in the ends with a big needle I am pleased to show you my first project completed!!!

I loved the way that by alternating between knit and purl stitches creates this great ribbed look...

I loved the pattern and when I got the hang of it, it was became really easily to knit. I tried out the same pattern using different wool to see how I would get on, the scarf below is made of Debbie Bliss ‘Paloma’, again in teal but a bit darker this time. The wool is more soft to touch and produces more of a ‘skinny’ but chunky wool scarf.

I wonder how many I may make going forward?! So what to make next?...I fancy trying something with cables, so watch this space!

Crafty beginnings...

I have my Mum to thank for kick starting my interest in crafts. We spent lots of time when I was younger trying out a mixture of small projects, including making felt finger puppets, French knitting, calligraphy, pressing flowers, quilling, tapestry, creating Fimo models, and making Fingermouse puppets! I did think about trying others too, but never did...lace making springs to mind! My interest in making things went through cycles, however when I as a teenager I chose to study textiles at school rather than cooking or woodwork, so I got stuck in to creating projects regularly for a few years. I loved the textile lessons and the hours spent trying lots of techniques and creating projects using fabric and thread. I have fond memories of the final projects I made, a cushion and an embroidery panel. I earned the title of ‘the French knot queen’ by a friend at school, as one of my final projects involved an over ambitious desire to fill a large space of the embroidery panel with French knots…it took weeks to finish! I hold a real affection towards French knots and I’m sure that they will feature as a key stitch in future embroidery projects. When I finished school I did still have an interest in crafts which has stayed with me, but it was something that I have never acted on. Over the years I have collected magazines, lots of patterned paper and card, beads and ribbon samples but never dedicated time to making things with my supplies!

In August, with my desire to get started with something crafty, I mulled over the possibilities and I decided to start my craft journey with knitting. My mum taught me to knit when I was very young. Having completely forgotten the basic knit stitch, added to the fact that I had never cast on before, I had to work out what to do to get started. I turned to the internet to see what I could uncover to get me started…and wow there is a world of tutorial videos out there! After watching the videos and reading information about how to cast on, doing the knit and purl stitches, couldn’t wait to get started. I knitted a square (with added holes!) reasonably quickly and I had a good feeling about it, I definitely knew I’d made the right choice for the first skills to learn (again). I was so into it I signed up for a 6 week knitting course this Autumn and learnt so much more…I’ll tell you about that soon.

If you are looking to start knitting I recommend YouTube for great videos as a starting point…hopefully I will be able to find some good books that I can tell you about over the next few months as I continue to learn. So that’s where it all began…