Fancy a Quickie?

Hey there! Just a quick pic of the cowl I made a few evenings ago. Clever Janet at kitchentablesewing has got the right idea when it comes to chunky wool and big needles - makes up very fast, great! Although you experts out there will see this is no stocking or garter stitch, it is of course treble crochet stitch.



I'd seen this very large ball of yarn at local haberdashery department and was drawn by the colour mainly. I was thinking I wanted to crochet myself a cowl but this had a knitting pattern on the label, so I thought I would give it a go. Size 10 needles (won on Ebay) and away I go! Er no... well sort of, I just felt like a clown knitting with those big needles, you know - joke knitting!
I tried the label pattern but it wasn't feeling right, I wondered maybe my hands are more attuned to crochet? So I decided to up-pick and start again with a fat, stumpy hook, long chain made into a circle and then treble crochet round and round! This is the result, and only took a few hours, fitted in around school run, dinner, bath and bed.

 

I used the whole ball of yarn and ran out after 4 rounds of treble and one of dc. Was it too narrow? Tried it on and it looks fine, it twists round 3 times. I think if it was any wider it would look like I had broken my neck and am wearing a neck brace, hee hee x

 

 

 

All in all a successful, easy, quickie project and something new for me to wear, happy days xx



Keep or Go

In our house, with four children, we often play the game Keep or Go. This is when I decide that we need a sort out of clothes, toys etc as we have so much stuff and not enough storage so it's time for a cull.
Of course we are lucky to have plenty of lovely clothes, and loads of toys given as gifts or bought for being 'good' (or even Santa brings round) so when the clothes and toys have been 'grown out of' I hold up each item and the child it belongs to says keep or go. It is then put in the appropriate pile to either be put back tidily or taken to the charity shop. With children growing as they do this is a game played often (probably not often enough) with the extra jeopardy at the end of the process where Daddy looks through the bag and sneaks out the odd item to hide away as he's a sentimental hoarder and would keep EVERYTHING if he had his own way.
Now our little baby girl is already growing out of some of her clothes even though she hasn't been with us for half a year yet and today I cleared her draws of all the baby-gros and little vesties and small things that don't fit her anymore and even me, the ruthless de-clutterer, felt a twinge of sadness at having to put the newborn outfits away.
While pregnant with our smallest member of the family I knitted a few cardigans and booties and hats in anticipation of her arrival. We didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl so I chose neutral colours and lovely soft, natural fibre yarns. I have long loved making things but while pregnant I was particularly creative and a lot of things featured on earlier blogs were made during this time. I often wonder if our baby will grow up to be a creative soul due to my almost obsessional crafty pregnancy! And of course these hand-made items were folded and put away with the other small clothes.
But you know, maybe my Husband has a point. Some things are worth keeping.

The good thing that comes from having a clear out though is that space is made for all the new creations of the future!

I'm not the only creative bod in this house by the way. My husband wrote a lovely song for his daughter, hear it on his sound cloud, entitled 'Lady Leyna Jayne'

Have a lovely weekend xx



Mosh Pit Mitts

Now I have never considered myself a master knitter.  I don't knit that often to get that good, but it is another of the skills I learnt as a child and so I understand the knit / purl concept enough to attempt a pattern requested by my teenager that had "beginner" as its difficulty level, featured in issue 10 of Knit Now magazine.



The girls spent a while choosing what colour mitts they wanted.

I ordered the suggested yarn from Magpielly and had to wait a while for it to arrive as it was a special order (I'm guessing it was shipped from America). But it was worth the wait as the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece is lovely both in feel and to work with.

After blocking the mitts sat lovely and flat.

 

I had several false starts - from learning how to cable cast on (thanks you tube) to getting my tension right (had to use smaller needles than stated) but the main problem was getting my head around the unusual thumb opening.  As seen in the above photo the first stage is to knit some stitches with waste yarn and then carry on to knit the rest of the glove.  My head could not get this at first as I expected there to be an actual hole. Getting a bit frustrated (very frustrated really) I turned to Google and found a photo posted on Ravelry that made me realise I was in fact on the right track and so I was able to continue with a bit more confidence. After blocking the mitts I sat down to concentrate on the seemingly complicated instructions for the thumb opening.


I had to have my brow mopped while attempting this tricky procedure as I was worried I'd drop a stitch.

I had a practise first on this test one so i could get to grips with the idea (it's like open heart surgery) and slowly following the instructions it started to come together and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So then the fun bit came when I could sew on all the lovely sweet-like buttons.

 

And I am very pleased with the finished result.  I'm chuffed I persevered with this, as for me anyway it was a challenge.

My girls are really pleased with their new gloves too and have worn them to school today.

 

Hexagon Patchwork Cushion

Hexagon Patchwork Cushion and Knitted bébé Door-sign

Here's a photo of the rocking chair in LJ's room.  It was a bargain at £30 from Ebay and I love the shabby chic feel of it.  I re-covered the seat pad in Laura Ashley fabric and made the hand-stitched hexagon patchwork cushion cover in neutral colours as I didn't know if I was having a boy or girl.  The knitted bébé door-sign was one of the first baby things I made when I found out I was with-child again. It is from a beautiful book called Simple Knits for Cherished Babies by Erika Knight

The Sewing Mistress Blog

Hello, welcome to my blog - an online diary and photo album about my hobby - making things! I love to sew, crochet, knit, patchwork and quilt, and to buy lots of pretty fabrics and trimmings just for the sake of it and add to my stash! I have a backlog of things I've made I'd like to share with you and I will add new things as I make them.
I hope you enjoy looking through all my makes - and you're inspired by them too!

Sam x