Moogly Block 8.1

I'm a little behind still but I am gradually getting there. My latest finish for the CAL is block #8.1 "Princess" by Melinda Miller

every little helps

Last week at The Craft Club's crochet workshop we made hedgehogs. I'm quite impressed that i followed the pattern and he came out looking like he should!

I had a slight issue with his facial features, hence the name, but i managed to sort his tache nose out eventually ;)




The Craft Club posted an update to Facebook on their total so far...

They are getting there slowly but surely! I should have another little collection of goodies to take with me next time i go to Rayleigh too :)

Dishcloth set

We camped last weekend and i had a washing up sponge and tea-towels but no dishcloth so ended up using a tea-towel to wipe the sides down when i was washing up and tidying up. This is not ideal so when i got home i started checking out the dishcloth/washcloth patterns on Ravelry. Of course, none of the forty or so already in my queue was right so that meant a very pleasant stroll through the pattern browser. I love playing with it! I wanted crochet, i wanted free and i wanted texture on at least one of them.
I had a rummage in the cotton stash box - i try to keep all the cotton together for this very reason, it's so hard to match up colours etc when it's separated into the colour boxes so all the cotton is in one crate - and came up with a dark brown, a beige, a burgundy and a variegated mix of all three! The solid colours were bought as part of the Munks' wedding present experiment which turned into a Click hexagon blanket cos i realised that crocheting that much cotton would kill my hands and the variegated was part of a Peaches and Cream stash enhancement that occurred in late 2008! Apparantly i bought it for "Chrimble knitting - washcloths and tribbles"... Like that was ever going to happen! :D



I wasn't sure how many i would make, i just wanted to use as much stash up as possible and it worked out just right! I had to find something else to use for the back of the potholder as i had run out of all the others by then but i found some mercerised cotton in a pale pink that "fits" with the colour theme just about!
I had to then tweak the pattern slightly to allow for the smaller gauge but it just meant doing doubletrebles on the last round instead of trebles and it all worked out great as far as i'm concerned.

I've seen "Corner to Corner" (also known as C2C) blankets popping up in my newsfeed on Facebook via the Creative Crochet group, it seems to be quite the in-thing at the moment and it had piqued my interest but not enough to want to do a blanket so a dishcloth was the perfect size to have a go at it. I can see why it's so popular! It's fast to work up and it is very rhythmic, i can see more in my future ;)
The "Squaring the Spiral" dishcloth was also another itch that needed scratching. I have tried spirals before but i end up getting really confused as to where i start and finish so i thought i would give it another go. It's not perfect but it will do and i have a better idea of how it works now. I would have liked the spiral to be bigger before it got squared off but i was following the pattern closely because i didn't muck it up again lol
Finally the "Flower Potholder" has been in my queue for about 5 ½ years and the handle on the new kettle gets quite warm so rather than have a tea-towel flapping around or burn my hand i thought i'd scratch another itch and get it made! It will also double up as a trivet to protect the worktop from the hot kettle :)

All in all, a pleasant few days of crochet. Now i just need to decide what will be next!

Ice-Cream Socks - finished!

This is Pair #4 for this year :D

As you can tell, i am really enjoying sock knitting again which is marvelous given that i have 148 entries on Ravelry in the sock yarn category. This doesn't mean 148 pairs of socks though. Oh no! That's 148 pairs of socks plus enough leftovers to make another 148 pairs of socks! If i can knit a pair of socks in a month that means i can knit a pair of socks a month for the next 24 years and 8 months :D

That is of course not going to happen lol
Quite a few "sock yarns" in my stash are far too nice to use for socks. I have made a decision only to use wool and nylon blends for socks as the pairs i have knitted with pure wool have worn through too quickly and i am not the kind of knitter that can throw something away after wearing something for less time than it took to make it!!

So, anyway, all that waffling leads me on to show you Pair #4!



With the rather elderly looking PukeyLukey wanting to get in on the act lol



Here you can see the difference between the inside and outside! :D

I enjoyed knitting them inside out actually, i like the reverse stocking stitch pattern without having to do all that pesky purling but i am still undecided about the afterthought heel. It is a bit too shallow for my foot despite me putting in extra rows on the second sock and the placement of the lifeline was a bit hit and miss and not being able to try the foot on to get the toe in the right place means it is a little short.
It's good that i am able to unpick it and knit a new heel should i need to but i'm not sure that outweighs all the bad points.

Finishes!

This is my second go at this block and i am so much happier with how it has turned out than the first!

The block is "Hugs n Kisses" by Aurora Suominen and i took some inspiration on colour placement from the talented members of the Ravelry MooglyCAL group ;)

The completion of this block leaves me with three more to do to get up to date, and i think i have about a week to do it which should be achievable now that the socks are off the needles. I'm not going to cast on another pair now until my current batch of projects on the go are completed because i find that the sock is taking precedence where really it should be a back seat project!

Speaking of finished socks....

They are so finished i have even sewn the ends in!! :D

Circle Socks by Anne Campbell
I ::heart:: them so much, i cannot believe they have been in my Rav queue since January 2009 and i have only just got round to making them! I'm so glad i matched my stripes up too, i wouldn't normally be that bothered about matching socks but i think these socks deserve it :D

So, things to finish before i cast on new socks are:
Roxanne Shawl -
Hedgerow Mitts
Moogly blocks #4.2, #5.2 and #6.2!

At least that will give me some time to ponder which pair is next on the needles ;)

Socks #2

Socks #2
a photo by franneyk on Flickr.

And we're back! Flickr to Blog is working again, happy days :D

Pattern: Charybdis
Yarn: Opal Rainforest "Veronica de Wilde"
Needles: Sock 2.1 HiyaHiya 2 x 50cm x 2.25mm, Sock 2.2 Chiagoo 2 x 60cm x 2.25mm
Mods: None other than a FLK heel again :D
It's amazing the difference a pair of needles makes, the first sock is noticeably looser knit than the second sock but that's OK cos i have one foot bigger than the other anyway lol
Loved knitting this pair, the colours and pattern go so well together i think and it was a nice mindless knit, perfect for TV knitting :)

Now to decide what sock to cast on next!

Scylla Socks - finished!

Just three weeks ago i cast on my first pair of socks as part of Knitting with Sarah and here i have the finished pair!

Pattern: Scylla Socks

Yarn: £1 a ball from Tiger

Mods: Short row heels.
First one is of my devising

Second one is a Fish Lips Kiss heel :D

Happy with the pair, nice and stretchy despite the slip stitch pattern and i like the way the slip stitches break up the dull-despite-being-orange colourway :D

Pair two has already been decided. It's going to be Charybdis by the same designer using Opal Rainforest yarn in the "Veronica de Wilde" colourway :D

I am also tempted to cast on a "plain vanilla" pair as well for some mindless round and round knitting ;)

Hats for Jack

 

I got a bit carried away and made some hats for a friend's new baby :D

Taming the Monarch

Taming the Monarch
Originally uploaded by franneyk


I've finally got round to blocking the Monarch Shawl! Isn't it beautiful!
A little over two metres long and i managed to get rid of the "point" with some gentle persuasion and lots of pins!

Taming the Monarch
Originally uploaded by franneyk

My beautiful butterfly

My beautiful butterfly
Originally uploaded by franneyk

The Nymphalidea Shawl is finished and ready for a wash and block and isn't it beautiful! What an interesting pattern to make, i've loved it and i have to say that i have really enjoyed knitting from the Regia "scarves". Nice and tidy, no loose dangly bits or balls unravelling :D

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on O2

Phryne's Mitts - finished

Phryne's Mitts - finished
Originally uploaded by franneyk

They're not Phryne's, they're Stacey's! :D
I saw the KAL for these mitts quite by chance and thought the pattern was rather lovely so i decided to make a pair for a friend for her birthday. I took a few days dithering over what yarn to use so i cast on on Monday and finished the first mitt on Thursday evening. That didn't leave me much time to make the second one what with her birthday being on Saturday!! I knit on them whenever i could during the day on Friday and had a mammoth non-stop knitting session in the evening which took me about a third of the way through the cuff ribbing. Like i said, a mammoth session! LOL
I had them finished with all the ends sewn in by 11am on Saturday but couldn't deliver them til Sunday evening but still, i met my deadline and she likes them! :D

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on O2

Patchwork notebook cover

This tutorial popped up on my Facebook page the other day and reminded me that i have wanted to make one for ages so today i had a free afternoon for the first time this week and decided to spend it in the kitchen sewing  my new squared paper notebook it's very own cover :D

i started by choosing my fabrics

and ended up with this!

Inside

Pen holder and elastic closure

Button closure with felt and embroidery!

With hindsight i should have used a plain fabric to line it as it is not visible at all but other than that i am very happy with it and my new notebook will be nice and easy to spot on the bookshelf now too!

The fabric is from Ikea, i bought it years ago but have always loved it too much to use it. Now i get to see it all the time! :oD

Now it's time to crack on with the Great Cowl KAL, i have the last short row section to do and then a couple of rows of edging and i can cast off all 368 stitches which i have a feeling might take a while!!

January Challenge

this year i have decided to challenge myself in a Crafty sort of way so each month i am going to set myself a target and work towards achieving it.

January's challenge was to complete The Porange Quilt and the Badger Blankie and i am happy to say i achieved both goals!

Lukey is only laying on it to show the size of it, he is totally banned from it now, it's MINE and i don't want it smelling of dog lol

I don't have any photos of the quilt yet, i keep forgetting to take them... you can see it before it was finished though, i'll let you ;o)

The finished top before borders were added

Arty shot... borders added, backed, quilted and binding done :)

Happy Birthday Mummy

So, it was Mum's birthday last Sunday which meant i had to get cracking and finish her quilt, luckily for me she went on holiday so i had a few extra days to dither about it! Lisa came over for our sewing day on Monday and helped me layer it up and then i spent the day quilting it. 

I went for a very simple "in the ditch" quilting, just round the kaleidoscope blocks, i did think about doing the same round the red border as well but i decided not to in the end, although depending how much it plays on my mind i might well steal it back and do it at some point!

I used a black bias tape for the binding as i didn't have enough of the border fabric to make my own and the my original plan of using the backing to bind it didn't work out as i hated the red border, i think it looks much better with the dark border and all the red "contained".

I delivered it at Quiz Night on Thursday and she loves it :oD

Mummy and her new quilt

Autumn Cherries

The Shawl-Fest is progressing well and i have finished Cherry Surprise :)

Shawl Soup!

Some of the yellow colour came out in the water while it was soaking but it doesn't seem to have affected it overall

Blocking

I'm really pleased i managed to block the edges straight - it did take a lot of pins though!

Gratuitous close-up

It's just the right size to wear with the point at the front and the ends wrapped round and it's lovely and warm. Hopefully i have enough left to make a pair of mitts to go with it :oD

Kindle Cosy Part Deux

This one is less "patchworky" but i just adore the fabrics and as a second attempt i have managed to iron out the wrinkles in my pattern and think i've got it sorted now. It's not much of a pattern admittedly but i've got the sizings right now and am happier with it than the first one - not that i mind the first one, it's for me anyway so any faults don't matter, i know they are there but i also know it was my first attempt so i appreciate them for what they are - lessons :oD

This is the front of the cosy

This is the interior

As is this, but with the Kindle pulled out a little - it actually goes all the way inside the pocket now whereas the Japanese-y one came up a little short ;o)

Paranoid!

Bloke bought me a Kindle for my birthday earlier this month and i am very paranoid about smashing the screen so i decided that wrapping it in a wolllen hat was no longer a suitable solution and decided to make a patchwork cosy for it :D

There's a particular quilt in the Japanese Quilt Inspirationsbook that i really like so i decided to base my Kindle cosy on it. Unfortunately the quilt block in the book comes out at 10" so i had to downsize using my maffematikal skillz :oD

It was actually a bit easier than i thought it would be and i soon had all the pieces cut out and ready to sew. Still on a part sewn seam kick i used them again for these blocks.

and then i sewed them all together...

And HEY PRESTO! I have a squishy double-fronted Kindle cosy which will hopefully protect it when it's in my handbag and stop the screen from being smashed in!!

That's the front, i really love the fabric with the cream background, it's so pretty <3

And that's the interior - the stripy fabric is from the same range as the Kaleidoscope Quilt that i was going to use as a border but once i saw the quilt top in progress i knew it wouldn't be right!

It's a very snug fit when Kindle is wearing it's silicone skin but i am very happy with it :o)

Patchwork Bag #3

This time i have used a cream fabric as the contrast to the blue and the patchwork block is called Roman Stripe (i think)

Again, i've put the base block inside the bag as opposed to outside so that it's not hidden away, plus i really like how it looks!

So now i just need to make a lot of drawstrings for the bags, if only i could find my lucet! ;o)

Pink and Blue Patchwork Bag

I love this bag!
All the fabric came from my stash, the blue florals came from Lisa at a swap and the pink Flutterbies was a half metre piece that i picked up somewhere, probably Thread Bear actually.
Anyway, the block is a variation of a Roman Square and kinda pinwheely and i set it on point just because it is something i hadn't done before and wanted to try. The pinwheel block came out to 6" and with the on point setting the blocks are 9" square which i think has made a nicer sized bag - but i guess that depends on what it is being used for!!
Fortunately there are some very handy websites that tell you how big to cut the corner triangles so although i had the formula i didn't really need it :D
Again with this bag i put the bottom block inside the bag and used a plain pink curtain weight fabric for the base.

I have lots more 1½" strips in blue to use up so i am planning my next bag :D

Patchwork Bag

So, i saw a pattern in People's Friend magazine (issue dated 9th August 2011) for a patchwork bag that comes from this book and i had a pile of scraps from the swap we had at CT'n'Y so yesterday i spent the day making it!

I've used disappearing nine-patch blocks...

In two styles...

And instead of putting the base panel on the outside i thought i'd put it on the inside so i can see it :oD

All i need now is some cord for the drawstring and it's done!