Crafty Pressies & Wool Shopping

As a dedicated crafter, I particularly love receiving gifts I can use for knitting and sewing. Books are always great, but what I also love are beautiful bits and pieces I can use to make something. This Christmas I was given these gorgeous buttons;

They'll greatly boost my small button collection, and I am so looking forward to using them on some of the clothing I will be making this year. I also received this wool;

Two balls of Louisa Harding Rossetti (a Merino Wool/Silk/Nylon mix) in blue and purple, and a ball of Debbie Bliss Glen (an Acrylic/Merino/Alpaca mix) in grey. So, what to make? Well, in the recent cold weather I have been coveting a double layered hat, like that made by Kristen Makes. I love that Kristen's version allows for creativity on both sides. I have made a couple of double layered hats with turned up brims as presents and now I want one for myself! However I am not sure if the above would be the most appropriate yarn to use, so I might try another project instead which would lend itself well to the softness of the Louisa Harding wool in particular.

My next lot of wool was purchased in the John Lewis sale. Last year I bought a few balls of wool, but have not use them as yet, since I rather foolishly did not purchase enough to make anything significant. This year, I decided what I would like to knit in the next few months, and then went shopping well prepared.

The sale did not disappoint. They had a great range of reduced wool. I was tempted by some Rowan DK, which was available in a wide range of colours. However as this was not on my list, I resisted! What I did buy were these;

Rowan 4 ply in a lovely inky blue to use for this cabled cardigan from Debbie Bliss' Land Girl book;
A red tweed-style yarn (wool and acrylic mix) to make this jumper, which I have knitted previously but wear frequently;

A few balls of a pale blue-white to use as the main colour in the fairisle short sleeved sweater, also from Land Girl;

I hope to use some of the odds and ends of other 4 ply wools for the fairisle pattern. And finally, just because I have been admiring the gorgeous rich colour of this shade of Rowan Cocoon every time I've seen it, 2 balls of this;

I was thinking that I might use this for a project in my new knitting evening class.

In other knitting news, I have finally completed my Rosa short-sleeved ruffled sweater. Photos and write up to follow soon...

K x

Post at CCC Blog & Knitting Course

I've posted on the Crafty Christmas Club blog, about my present wrapping and decoration ideas. I think this will be my last post there. It's been a great way to share what I've been making and get ideas from others, but I've now nearly finished my Christmas making - the final item is blocking!

I'm really excited about the New Year too, as I will be starting a new evening class in Knitwear and Knitted Textile Design! I really want to try designing a knitting pattern but I don't really know where to start. The course covers designing your own garment, and learning how to take measurements and make made to measure designs. Plus I'll get to meet some more knitters too, which is always nice. I can't wait!

K x

New Year Knitting

During the past year I've really embraced knitting and dressmaking, so much so that I am looking forward to the Boxing Day Sales precisely because I am already planning the fabric and wool I can buy on sale. I'm really not bothered about other types of sales at all this year, just the ones which will allow me to continue my creative endeavours!

I thought I would share with you the knitting books I recently purchase in London, when I visited the lovely Loop. It's a beautiful shop with a great range of specialist wools, vintage knitting accessories and buttons, and loads of books. I visited on a Friday afternoon when it was reasonably quiet, but quickly discovered I was one of 4 Scotland-based knitters who had made a pilgrimage there that day!

I was very restrained in my purchases - lovely as the wool was, I've been trying not to purchase wool unless I have a project in mind. So, the two books I bought were

• Debbie Bliss Land Girl
• Itty Bitty Toys by Susan B Anderson
  

I've had my eye on the Debbie Bliss book for a while, as I'm really keen to make the beautiful cabled cardigan;
I love its vintage look and the gorgeous cables.It's in 4 ply too, so will be nice and fine, but one of those projects which takes a while. It's shown in a lavender colour which wouldn't be my choice, but I'm hoping the sales will present me with something suitable. (Incidentally my Rosa sweater in 4 ply has stalled somewhat as I've been knitting for Christmas).

I'm also keen on the short sleeved sweater from the cover;

Isn't it gorgeous? There are no projects on Ravelry with either of these two patterns yet but I'm looking forward to seeing how others get on with them.

I decided on the Itty Bitty Toys book as I was keen to get some nice patterns I could knit for my niece and other wee people I know. I'm particularly keen on this cute hippo;

I also like this lovely woolly sheep too!


In the meantime, I finished one of my Christmas present sewing projects for friends and family - if you want to see it, look on the Crafty Christmas Club blog here!

K x

Wool Beignet - finally some photos!

I finished my Beignet skirt last weekend, and was able to wear it on my trip to London last weekend. I'm really pleased with it and have already worn it several times. I'm planning to make another, probably in a bright colour, but this skirt is ideal as a neutral 'goes with everything' skirt, which was my intention in choosing the fabric.

Things I liked about this project;

• I'm pleased with my fabric choice for the shell and lining
• The pattern was reasonably difficult so pushed my skills and made me learn a few new things
• The pattern was written so well, making it on the whole easy to understand
• Sewing the pockets on to the skirt - even though I did this wrongly at first and had to get out the seam ripper, there was something about this process which I found really exciting.
• I was surprised that I found the button holes easy - I was nervous about sewing them
  

Things I disliked about this project;

• I found sewing the panels of the shell (outer) of the skirt together quite difficult, in order to get the right shape - still not sure I managed it, but this is due to my inexperience as a dressmaker
• I somehow managed to mess up the length so that the lining could just be seen below the shell of the skirt, and then needed to take up the hem of the lining another inch or so...no idea how that happened!
  

Spotty pockets! I LOVE skirts and dresses with pockets, even though I think they make me slouch as I can't resist walking round with my hands stuffed into them.

With this skirt finally finished, I am looking forward to starting on the Crepe dress as part of the sewalong. It all begins tomorrow, which will be a busy week for me, so I'm looking forward to getting started ASAP.

I'm using this fabric from my stash:

I decided to go for black for the sash - I was looking at red or mustard yellow fabric for the sash but couldn't find a yellow and had second thoughts about the red. Due to the time of year I thought green and red was just too Christmassy. I still need to investigate the possibility of underlining the dress too, as I have not yet decided if I will be doing that.

I'm excited to be involved in the sewalong and also look forward to seeing what others are making too.

K x