Miaou

At last! My rainbow fish blanket is complete. I started it at the beginning of January and finished it a few days ago, so not bad going really. Here it is in all its glory:

I knitted an equal number of fish in each colour, half in a dark shade and half in lighter colours. I knew how I wanted to lay them out and spent quite a bit of time laying them out on the floor until I was happy with the arrangement. I then labelled them all (and didn’t have any sticky labels so this entailed 196 little bits of paper and 196 little bits of sellotape!!) with a column and row number, then bundled them in rows. It took me about an hour to sew a row of fish together and attach it to the row below, and there are 25 rows, so that’s quite a bit of time! However I was so excited about the finished project that I was very motivated to finish.

I then set to with a 6mm crochet hook (yes, I know what I said about crochet in my last post, but this kind of crochet I can handle!) and created a wavy edging with some turquoise yarn to suggest the sea. Four rounds of crochet later I was satisfied and handed over the finished blanket to my delighted daughter Eilish. (I have hopes that her bed might look as neat as this a little more more often, but they are not high )!

I think I am done with fish for now (there was a LOT of sewing up to do!) but it was a really enjoyable project and I can see myself making another one in the future.

In answer to the perennial question, “what do you give the teachers at Christmas?” I decided on these. Having spent time in a few staffrooms in the past, I know that they are almost always short of mugs. However to give them the personal touch I made mug cosies for them. These were really quick to knit and I like the cable pattern:

The pattern I used was originally intended for a Starbucks takeaway coffee (to stop you burning your fingers!), so I modified it slightly so it would button up through the handle:

I haven’t made many handmade gifts this year but I couldn’t resist this little hat for my friend’s little girl:

I really wanted a picture of it being worn, so stuck it on Euan. However he is not a willing model …

Tuh.

As a thank you for collating and finishing off the lovely blanket I posted about earlier this week, I received a lovely surprise package through the post from my knitter friends (you know who you are!). I was very touched and more than  little thrilled, I can tell you! In it was a box of Thorntons chocolates (mmmmmmm…), a thank you card, and this:

Isn’t it gorgeous?! What this picture can’t show you is just how soft and delightful this yarn is. I started making it into a pair of socks last night and it is a dream to knit with. I can’t wait to wear them!

I would put in a pic of the chocolates too, but … well, you know how it is …

This has been a labour of love - it has taken me such a long time, but I am pleased with the results. The minister had asked for “oak leaves and some kind of background in silk”, which is a great brief, as it gave me lots of scope!

I wanted to give the impression of the wind swirling the leaves around, which was how I came up with this “swooping” background. I also wanted to show the life-cycle of a leaf, which is why they start off a lush dark green, fade, turn brown at the edges, then become a rich reddy-orange. Bit of artistic licence there.

The backgrounds were put together in the manner of patchwork (she says, not having really done much patchwork!). What I mean is, I used templates, snipped into each curve and ironed flat, then tacked and sewed carefully with the hope that my stitches wouldn’t show too much!

The shapes of the leaves were too intricate to be able to turn them under at the edges, so I ironed Vilene onto the fabric before cutting out the shapes, then attached them to the background with tiny blanket stitches. I then went round each leaf with whipped stitch in a complementary embroidery thread to help prevent the silk from fraying. Hopefully the stole will have a long life and last well!

A rather prolonged absence from blogging with the odd sporadic post, but I’m determined to get back to it now! I’ve had several rather long-term projects on the go and I’m often a little shy about sharing WIPs. So to start with I will share an almost finished one:

(no, not the boy. He’s nowhere near finished )

Euan needed a new hat. I had two thirds of a ball of yarn that my mum gave me, left over from a cardigan she had knitted. I thought it was probably just enough for a hat. So I knitted him a hat. The gauge was wrong, and it was too small. So I frogged it and started again (let me tell you, it’s pretty yarn, but it didn’t frog well - however I think that’s down to my odd knitting technique rather than the yarn!). So I tried again, with a different style hat, using a “toddler” pattern. Euan is 16 months old and is small, so I thought this would be ok. But no - still too small! So I ripped back to the increases, put another couple of increase rows in, and knitted until I ran out of yarn (amazingly I managed to keep back exactly the right amount to cast off - I had about 8 inches left!). Perfect. Except when I put it on his head, it doesn’t cover his ears. Sigh. I will add a brim later I think.

And just because I’m sure you are dying to know what else I’ve been up to, here’s a couple of glimpses into two big projects which are nearing completion:

This one is a green stole, the second of a series of three I am embellishing for a newly-ordained minister. I have used several different colours of green silk here and am adding appliqued oak leaves. It’s almost done so you should see the finished product in a few days.

Now this one is (literally) a labour of love:

Ninety one squares altogether! Please note, I did not knit all these squares! I think I did about a dozen in the end. This is a collaborative effort of a group of knitters which I organised and co-ordinated. As a punishment reward for doing this I get to do the sewing up and add a border. Actually, I love sewing up, though it’s a bit of a challenge with this one as the squares are all knitted by different people, so there are a few size discrepancies! Anyhoo, this is all you get to see until the blanket is finished and presented to the recipient, so you will have to wait patiently to find out what it’s all about!

Another wedding-related project - this is the bag I have made to go with my outfit (which I have finished, but am a bit shy about sharing atm as it means taking a photo of me in it!). So you get to see the bag first.

My local craft shop also makes soft furnishings, and they give away the offcuts once they have finished making curtains and cushions. So, for a small donation to charity, I got several useable pieces of this lovely cream self-patterned fabric, and also some green with spots on for the inside! (I did try to take a pic but it came out so blurry I gave up. Sorry. You’ll just have to take my word for it.) The sash tie is made from the same material my suit is made from; a nice touch I think.

My suit, incidentally, is also made from curtains, hence the title of this post. However unlike Julie Andrews I am not intending to make lederhosen from the rest of it.

 Green apples …

Green cushions …

Green appliances …

Green jewellery …

So of course I had to buy these!