Scarf

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Knitting is not my favourite hobby, I much prefer sewing or crochet but last Sunday I suddenly decided to take out the knitting needles and start knitting a scarf. A couple of years ago I saw a pattern I really liked in my Norwegian magazine “Hjemmet” which was knit in a really thick yarn.

As I didn’t have the time to go to shop I rooted through my stash and found a lovely silk yarn that I bought about 20 or 25  years ago (it seems I’ve started a trend here) in a shop in Switzerland that has long gone. The silk is much thinner than the wool used in the pattern so I had to adapt the number of times the pattern is repeated. I basically repeated it four times instead of twice. I also made a mistake (I added a row that’s not supposed to be there) but as I repeated that mistake throughout my knitting I simply call it a variation rather than a mistake. Nobody will ever know….

At first I was dubious about the whole project but now that I’ve finished it I really love it. The silk is very soft, warm and light. Oh, yes. I’m really looking forward to wearing this scarf.

Categories: Knitting Projects2 Comments

Ta-dah!

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Do you remember my little doll quilt that I started piecing a while ago? It’s finished! I’m really happy with it. It is, after all, the first quilt I have ever made properly with batting and binding. Ok, so it might not be perfect but it’s definitely the first of many.

My friend Delphine gave me five fat quarters of “Hoopla!” by Moda and asked me to make a doll quilt and pillow for her daughter. Delphine’s husband made a doll’s bed for Charlotte for Christmas and they wanted to make sure the dolls would be comfortable. It was quite daunting at first but once I started it was so much fun. The pillow is just pieced together from leftover bits from the quilt.

There was quite a bit of fabric left after I finished with the quilt so I made a cushion cover for Charlotte. I thought she might enjoy having a cushion for her bed in the same colours as her doll’s quilt and pillow.

I added a bright yellow zip to the back of the cushion as it’s always good to be able to wash a cushion cover.

The best thing about the whole project? Apart from having loads of fun, this is part of a swap. In return for making this quilt for Charlotte, Steve will make Little Miss Bossy-Boots a doll’s bed for Christmas! Definitely a win-win situation for me as I get a fabulous gift for my little girl for Christmas and, on top of that, get to make another quilt.

BTW The doll quilt is 38cm by 44 cm, the pillow is 20cm by 24cm, the cushion cover is 36cm by 36 cm (just in case anyone is curious about dimensions).

Categories: Home Projects, Quilts2 Comments

Bunting

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I have been quiet these last few days because I haven’t been feeling very well. Master got a cold the week before and I was really happy that I hadn’t caught it…that is until Friday. I started feeling poorly on Friday afternoon and by Saturday was so unwell I stayed in bed till 4pm (something which I haven’t done since I was a teenager, I think).

As you can imagine there hasn’t been much crafting around here because of that although I did manage to make some bunting for my stall at the pre-school’s Christmas Fayre. I love making bunting as it’s such a repetitive and mindless activity (I’m not sure what that says about me?!) and I’ve really enjoyed getting the Christmas fabrics out.

So far I’ve got four strings of bunting with seven flags each. I’m trying to keep all prices below £10 as I noticed last year that that was the spending limit for most people for one single item.

I’d like to apologise for the bad quality pictures. It’s a really grey and horrible day here today. Would you believe this wall had the most light in all of the house?

Enough rambling, though, here’s the bunting:

This bunting is traditional with the green wool felt holly leaves and red holly berries which are actually red buttons. I’ve had this fabric for a few years and am really glad it’s finally been used.

I love this bunting and am secretly hoping it won’t sell so I can keep it. The colourful fabric is called Christmas Celebration Twinkle 13 and is by Freedom Fabrics. I love that it isn’t christmassy but still has all the Christmas colours in it.

The rose bunting has, as the name suggests, some red roses on the maroon flags.

I used a smallish scrap of Christmas fabric in this red and white bunting which I’ve had for about 20 years. It has little green holly leaves and gold bows on it and I really like it. I still have a small piece left and I’m not quite sure what I’m going to make with it but I’m sure I’ll think of something in the next 20 years.

Categories: Home Projects1 Comment

And the Winner is…..

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With only three comments on my giveaway post and one of them being Master I didn’t think it would be necessary to bother Mr. Random. Instead I wrote the names on a piece of paper and put them in a little basket.

I’ve already sent you an email, Juliet. Thank you so much to all the participants!

 

 

Categories: Giveaway1 Comment

Please

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Please look at this picture and tell me you don’t like it.

You do?

20 lovely, romantic 5″ square bits of fabric and they are looking for a new home. Could you be the person to give them a warm place in your heart and home?  Then, please, leave a comment on this post. Ok, so they come with this

and this

but you can always give the mug rug to auntie Jane and the frog to the neighbour’s cousin’s friend’s son.

Go on! Click here, please?!

PS I’m happy to send the goodies to you wherever you call home.

Categories: Giveaway1 Comment

Halloween

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I hope you had a lovely Halloween yesterday. Little Miss Bossy-Boots and I went trick or treating with one of her little friends and came home with enough sweets to last us till Christmas. Well, they would have if we hadn’t run out of sweets to hand out. Master went to the shop to buy some more but we still didn’t have enough so some of Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ were recycled. Luckily, she didn’t mind.

Now that Halloween is over I got stuck in with cutting out Christmas bunting. Very therapeutic…

Please, don’t forget my giveaway. It’s open till Sunday morning and I’m happy to send the prize to wherever you may be 🙂

Categories: MusingsLeave a comment

Giveaway!

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Today is the last day of Blogtoberfest and I’ve really enjoyed it. I admit I’ve missed a few posts but it has been fun trying to blog every day. I’ve also enjoyed visiting loads of new blogs and, of course, a few that I already subscribe to.

To celebrate this enjoyable month of blogging I’ve decided to host a giveaway. The prizes are:

First, we have a “Tilda” Charm Pack. To be honest I would love to keep it so I might just buy one and make myself something lovely after Christmas (I wish I had the time to do it right now but alas…).

Second, a mug rug made by yours truly. The nine patch block in the middle is Nell Whatmore’s “Happy Go Lucky”. I’ve machine quilted the polka dot border and hand quilted the nine patch block with some pink perle cotton. This mug rug is 7″ by 7″, perfect for a cup and a biscuit.

Third, is a little Amigurumi frog named Fergal. He loves to look out of the window and watch the flies but is just as happy holding your pins (with his head…).

Interested? Leave a comment on this post telling me about some handy tip, cooking, sewing, knitting, gardening anything that makes your life easier. My best tip? Use a rubber glove to get dog and cat hair out of carpets easily. This is especially handy on stairs as you get into the corners much better than with a dustpan and brush. Just rub your hand over the carpet, the hair will stick to your glove and turn into this dust bunny thingy (I have no idea what it’s called in English, sorry!).

Giveaway is open till Sunday, 6th November 2011 and it’s open to everyone. I will draw a winner at 10am Greenwich time, so make your sure you comment before then. Please make sure I can contact you to ask for your address.

Good Luck!

Categories: Blogtoberfest, Giveaway5 Comments