Wow. I haven’t posted in a while - mainly because all the craft stuff i’m working on i can’t show! It’s all christmas stuff, and there are too many people who will be spoiled because i know they read my blog. 

However i’m going to try and post more often, regardless - and since Clementine’s Shoes asked, i’m going to post the bag she inspired, because that will probably go to someone who doesn’t even know this blog exists. :)  but not today… *adds to ‘to do list’*

Here is my Tie One On apron for Christmas. I really wanted to make one this time around, having missed a couple of months, but i was stuck for what to do, and what fabric to use. My stash isn’t small, but there was very little that was christmas themed. However last week i bought the christmas martha stewart living and was really inspired by the ribbon embroidered poinsettias.  So that, along with *finally* clicking with crochet gave me the idea to make the poinsettia patches for the front. 

Unfortunately it was starting to get dark when i finished up today, so the photos are the greatest. but since i’m not sure if the deadline is this month or next, i’m at least done on time, and happy with the results. :)

I have some plans for another apron or two before christmas comes too.

ps. thank you to the people who have commented over the last couple of weeks. I’ve got a little behind myself but i’m intending to email you all back in the next few days. i really appreciate the words of encouragement - and intend to be more prompt in replying from now on, so that the appreciation is obvious. :)  (i’m still getting used to how typepad works with regard to commenting, having used livejournal’s conversation-style commenting for so long.)

Dear Self,

Please don’t knit a felted bag when you have travelled for ten hours in fog and the freezing cold, and have only had 5 hours sleep.  You will misalign the corners of the base and the handles so that the bag is mis-shapen and not fit to be given as a christmas present.

However it will probably be ok just to store a knitting project by your bed or something.

Please don’t regret too much that you’ve just felted 3 skeins of yarn that you actually liked, and can’t get back.

bet felted flowers look good to you right about now.

sympathetic love,
me

I’m trying, and failing to remember who’s link I followed to small hands’ tutorial of how to make zipped box bags, though it was probably something to do with Backtack.

Anyways Clementine’s Shoes’ latest flickr pictures lit a fire under me and i just spent the last 3 hours making my first bag, which is destined for the Christmas box, (hence the lack of picture.)

However I can post pictures of the skirt i made on friday.

If you can ignore the slight blurriness, and the weird expression on my face - how cute and scarily matching is my outfit today?  the scarf is the ‘Backyard Leaves’ from Scarf Style knitted in red debbie bliss cashmerino aran, while the hat is actually W’s and bought at the Gap last year.

the skirt is black corduroy, with small machine stitched designs on the front:

(little houses - i’ve been wanting to do this for AGES.)

(Trees - obviously inspired by all the great folliage around at the moment.)

the bottom hem is lime green grass, which is a bit of a shout out to my sister since lime has become her colour of choice - like me and turqoise. :)

obviously the machine embroidery isn’t the finest in the world, but it’s my first attempt and my Brother PX-200 isn’t really an embroidery sewing machine. but i love it none the less. :)

to be honest there are still a couple of things left to do on it - i need to take in the central seams about half an inch each side since it’s a bit big for me. Plus i’m going to add a small card pocket to the waistband seam because i’m sick of having no-where to put a tube ticket or debit card. 

but on the whole i’m really happy with it. :) i can see this being a stape of winter this year.

and now i must go steam potatoes.

So the Stitch n Bitch…

by 5pm i was well on my way to chickening out, because again with the shy, but W shooed me out the door and it was an excuse for a bike ride so off i went with the raspberry socks i’m currently constructing.

And… it was great! i can’t wait for next week. Everyone was lovely, and approximately around my age enough for me not to feel like the baby or old lady of the group, and people were knitting interesting things, and had brough old pattern magazines for us to coo over and mock, and there was enough cross over in our lives for us to understand and make ‘oh well if you like that, you’ll definately like…’ suggestions.

and i knitted half a sock, (my first toe-up) and now have to work out how to turn a heel from this way around.

so yay! i’m out in the land of the living again. And with this success under my belt i may even sort out to go along to the quilter’s meeting next week. assuming i can find it this time! ;)

Baby-Theo has arrived into the world, and that gave me the umph needed to finish the jumper I was knitting him, in time for when we go see him and his folks, F and J.  To be honest I ballsed this one up a bit. The smallest size is 6-12 months, but at the time i couldn’t help myself since his father, F, is swedish and a keen sailor given half the chance.  So it’s far too big for a new born, but i guess they’re probably inundated with tiny-tiny clothing so maybe that’s not such a bad thing?

Also i’m a much better lace-knitter than intarsia-knitter. *shrugs*

The pattern came from Adorable Knits for Tiny Tots by Zoe Mellor, and while it’s a lovely book, by the end of this pattern i was wishing i’d taken the bare bones of the information and re-written it in the round. (Yes, another knitter who hates to seam…)  But that’s something to remember for next time…

On a related note I struck gold at one of our local charity shops: A stack of 80’s baby knit booklets for 50p each. I ended up snagging 7 of them! Of course everything is made up with horrible 100% acrylic, but the some of the actual patterns are ripe for re-working.

Obviously this is a great basic jumper. i even love the stripes, though i’m not sure about this obsession with pastals.  but in, say nut brown, beige and a bright contrasting colour - orange, or torquoise, or pink even…

I think this is lovely and intend to knit it up at some point using a great variated yarn from here.

I am NOT broody!  But these are very cute. (Hood up!)

I really love this pattern but in bri-nylon (which is what the pattern calls for) it seems more like a boil-in-a-bag baby suit, rather than the lovely soft thing it would be if knit up in washable merino or something.

Of course there were also some scary patterns:

Chubby-babys are cute. But this is going too far.

Ah yes, all over colour - all over pattern. it worked with the baby-sac but this… maybe for a ’sing-along-a-sound-of-music’?

Baby’s first golfing weekend with the board…

I have been in the house too long. This time off is great but i’m going a little stir crazy and not seeing my friends enough. So this afternoon i’m off to one of the local stitch ‘n’ bitch meeting. I was meant to go a couple of months ago but then the wedding planning got a bit crazy. Now things have quietened down and my need to be alone and nest has swung the other way.  :) Wish me luck, since i’m shy and not very good at this stuff in the beginning.