My First Patchwork

I may have finished a fair few quilts and other patchwork projects since but this is the quilt that started it all off way back in 2011!

Lisa (who else!) talked me into a Jelly Roll workshop in early February 2011 and this is what i made. I can't for the life of me remember what the pattern is called or where it came from*** but i do know that the fabric is "Fandango" by Kate Spain. I've also managed to glean from a forum post that after the top was finished it was put away until the Stitching Show at Sandown in early 2012 where i bought the yellow fabric "for the borders".

So, I had a day trip to Plush Addict on Saturday where i bought several Kona Solids to co-ordinate with some of the Stash - including the pink/purple range of "Eastern Miniatures" by Fabric Freedom, yes, i am finally going to do something with it!! I have admired it for long enough and it is now time to take the plunge and cut it up before i fall out of love with it because i can't decide what it wants to be LOL

But i digress... As usual! I decided that as i was buying MORE fabric i should finish some longstanding projects and  really, shouldn't the most longstanding be the first finished?

As soon as i got home i got the sewing machine, iron and irong board out and got to work. I decided to forego borders so that i could use the yellow fabric as the backing and actually it makes a lovely sized cover for my legs and feet :)

I used the backing as the binding, even remembering how to turn the corners properly and then i hand stitched the binding. I have always machine stitched the binding but i think i am a convert! Yes, machine stitched is a LOT quicker but hand stitched looks beautiful and actually it is very relaxing. This one took probably about 3 hours, maybe a little more but that's just an evening in front of the telly!

Here are the Kona solids that i bought on Saturday, along with the fabrics they were bought to go with!

On the left we have Pool, Peridot and School Bus (top to bottom)
At the top we have Crimson and Sweet Pea
At the bottom we have Cayenne.

Picking out these colours was a lot of fun, the reject pile was MASSIVE due to the fact that Plush Addict carry over 200 colours of Kona Solids.
I can't wait to get these made up so i can go and choose the next lot! :D

Now, shall i finish my "Mountain Majesties"* quilt or my "Twisting the Night Away"** quilt next?

Decisions, Decisions!

*Mountain Majesties was another workshop quilt. This time it was on June 7th 2012 and the top was finished on 18th June 2012
**Twisting the Night Away top was finished on 22nd June 2012 but i can't remember or find any other details than that!
***The pattern is called "Strip the Willow" and it is from Two From One Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott :)

It's an addiction

Cowls. There ought to be a law against 'em! Heheheeee

Tuesday night cowl

This cowl was a bit of an experiment. I've had Rowan Romance in my stash since i bought "a few balls" in one of Kemps big sales and i've always wanted to make something with it but have been a bit wary of it's bulky size. It is however quite lightweight which is nice! I love the look of the cable crossovers on a stocking stitch background and the way it makes the fabric ruched and i am really happy with how this came out. I had to fiddle with the pattern a bit cos of the different weight yarns but it's just the right size and makes a great face warmer when there's a cold wind. The Romance is impenetrable! Best of all? It took two evenings to make it :D

I heart Ally Pally

I had my annual pilgrimage to Alexandra Palace last Friday for the Knitting and Stitching Show, it's one of the highlights of my year, i just love it :D
This year i saved my birthday money so i could spend guilt free and i have to say i thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Having a budget meant i didn't overspend or buy anything i wasn't really sure about and i will make sure i do the same thing again next year. Due to Lisa starting a college course we weren't able to go on our usual Thursday so i missed meeting up with Noo and Jessica which was a shame, i do enjoy their company but they had a great day out too by all accounts ;o)

So, on to my spoils!!
Firstly the birthday pressies...
Bottom right is a small quilt kit, the fabric is all hand-dyed by Starr Design Fabrics and the quilt is made bargello style, i absolutely fell in love with both her fabrics and her quilt designs and it took me a while to settle on just one kit to bring home!
The two middle pictures on the grid are the same skein of Nimu Sella, i bought this to contrast with the turquoise skein that i bought at Unravel and i will use them together for a Crow Waltz shawl (Rav link)
In the middle are some supplies for making Kumihimo cords. There's a Kongo Kumi disc for making round braids, 2 little packets of various threads to make into bracelets and a couple of packs of bobbins for when i make long braids. The patchwork bags that i made need drawstrings for the handles and i have had no luck in finding anything suitable so i am going to attempt to make my own! Fortunately i have had a couple of goes at making Kumihimo and i really enjoy it so that'll help when i have to make a couple of metres!!
Hmmm, what else? Oh yes, see the little "samosa" of colour up there in the corner? Well they are small pieces of Starr Fabric, i am going to make a mug rug or something similar with them, i had intended to go back and get some more but unfortunately we ran out of time :(
I'm really hoping she will be there again next year, i am going to save up especially for one of her bigger kits :D
There's a ball of James Brett marble DK lurking int here, it's become a traditional purchase now! No matter which show we go to i seem to always end up bringing one home. This one will go with the three pastel squares i have already to make a lap blanket - i'm not entirely sure who the blanket is for but i have loved making it so far! I also have a lime green square currently on the go plus a purpley-blue ball so i expect i will end up buying another couple to go with them for another blanket :D
I also bought the rest of the fabric for the Kaleidoscope Quilt, i will edge it with the black and back it with the red and gold and the pale pinky fabric is for a quilt for my mother-in-law. The floral will be made into hexagon kaleidcopes and then backed with the swirly pink.

All i have to do now is find the time to play with it all!!

Sugar Sugar

So once the mitts were cast off i wanted to start something immediately seeing as i was "in the zone" as it were ;o)
I saw the "one row lace scarf" on Ravelry not very long ago and it got bumped straight to the top of the queue, i've been wanting to play with my Araucania Ruca for a while now and this pattern is perfect for it and it's such easy knitting too.

I'm making mine slightly wider than the recommended 24 stitches because i think the weight of the scarf will make it skinnier than it actually is and i want it to have some substance so i've cast on 28 stitches instead to make it one extra pattern repeat wide.

Fabric Stash Enhancement

What with a trip to the sale at The Quilt Room at the beginning of January, a trip to the sale at Thread Bear shortly after and our trip to Sandown on Friday my fabric stash has grown somewhat ::blushing::

This is just a little teaser for you (and hopefully some kind of reminder for me!)
They are all sorted into pairs for bags or groups for quilts and i cannot WAIT to get making!

Monday is now my designated sewing day, unfortunately Lisa wasn't able to join me today but i was a good girl and got on with it regardless and got a couple of bags finished. I have a few others already cut out and ready to go so hopefully i will get at least one made every day this week!

Then all i have to do is decide which fabrics to cut out next :oD

Sandown Stitch and Craft

Lisa and i went for a little day out to the Stitch and Craft show at Sandown Racecourse again this year. Well, it's a yearly ritual now ;o)

I was nearly ever-so-good and didn't buy any wool but i did buy this yarn ;o)

It's made from the selvedge of t-shirt material that used to be destroyed but someone realised it's potential and turned it into yarn!
The black/peachy mix is to make a shopping bag for Lisa, the lilac is to make something for my bedroom, i'm not sure what yet, either storage box/basket things or maybe a little shower mat.

This lovely pink is to make hot pads for the kitchen and possibly a tea cosy :oD

When it's stretched open it's about an inch wide but it has a natural "curl" that make it thinner but bulkier.
I'm really looking forward to playing with it :oD

I finally finished something!

After what seems an incredibly long time i have actually knit something to completion!!

They were to be for me but owing to something not being right with my gauge or the numbers i put into the pattern "generator" they fit Bloke instead!! It's not too big a deal, he now has his first pair of handknitted socks and i have actually finished soemthing!

The pattern is from Cat Bordhi's book "New Pathways for Sock Knitters" and although i have enjoyed learning a new technique for "shaping" a sock - it doesn't have gusset increases in the usual places ;o) i do find her literature rather hard going to say the least!

The socks are knit from bargain Kemps stash: Regia Galaxy in the Jupiter colourway.

New Year in Newquay...

Regular blog readers may be aware that we go to Newquay and stay in caravans with our friends at New Year, well, this year we have had to change our plans due to our campervan breaking which is going to eat our money :o(

So... in order to help out with the van fund (and possibly enable us to visit Newquay) i am going to try and raise some money by selling some of my rather large and unlikely to be used stash!

It will be listed on my trade page over at Ravelry, there are a few there to start off but i need to have a proper sort out and be a bit ruthless. I'll be sad to part with some of it but in all reality i am never going to make my way through it all so this is my most sensible option ;o)

Besides, if it means i get to go to Cornwall and visit my niece who moved down there earlier this year then it's got to be worth it!!

Enough

of the van and camping and wotnot - let's get back to the yarn!!

This parcel arrived for me this morning after i saw the top right skein in an eBay banner ad!!
Aren't the colours just scrumtious? They remind me of Southend seafront on an autumn day, all sand, mud and seaweed and the other three skeins fell into my basket because of course i just had to see what else they had for sale :oD

I have plans for all four skeins...
Top right is "Hilltop" and that is the only DK weight and i'll use it for a WW hat of some description, i just think it wants to be a hat ;o)
Bottom right is a Rio de la Plata sockweight yarn, all tweedy and zingy! This is going to be a pair of toe-up vanilla socks as there is only 60g and i think a pattern will detract from the colours, and i lurve the colours!
Bottom left is Seascape sock yarn in shade Loch Claidh which i think will make a great chevron scarf, i just have to decide which colour to pair it up with ;o)
Finally top left is another Ri de la Plata sock yarn in reds and greens which i think will be a hat... maybe?
I really do need to spend money when i'm feeling down, i bought these last week when i was feeling really stressed out with the sewing of the cushions, still it could be worse, it could be clothes like it used to be ::lol::

lucky dip sock yarns from terri

lucky dip sock yarns from terri
Originally uploaded by franneyk

This little lot was a bargain from Terri at CTnY and they arrived today. She's having a destash of her sockyarns and offered them up for ten pound for a lucky dip of 4 balls! How could i resist!!

I really love the two on the right hand side, Opal Rainforest in Veronica die Wilde and an unidentified grey/blue/red mix and the Online feels lovely too, it'll make a very bright and funky pair of socks i think :o)

This marks the end of sockyarn stash enhancement for me for at least the next year. I have plenty to use up and if i keep buying it i'll never knit it all and that would be very sad!
I'm going to try and knit at least a pair of socks a month and i also have some of the earmarked for shawls and stoles - especially some of my lovely Yarn Yard club skeins.

Annual visit to GK!

I tried so hard to resist the sock wool, i really did, but alas, i failed miserably! ::lol::
Actually i failed quite cheerfully, i love all three balls and have already chosen projects for all three :o)


First up is a ball of Trekking in shade 166, it's a really heathered mix of blues and teals, not as bright as the photo would suggest.

Then this citrussy ball fell in my basket, i dithered for ages over it - as i do!
I walked round the shop at least twice before i went back and liberated it from it's holding cell ;o)
It's shade 136 in case you're interested ;o)

The final skein was a bit of an impulse! I saw a couple of other ladies with it in their baskets and thought it was beauuuuutiful! It's very parakeet-y, mainly bright green, but that pales to a yellow-green and darkens to a teal-green. It will definitely be a shawl or lacy scarf, i just haven't narrowed it down enough yet to decide on which one!!

Lurking int he background there you can see my Harmony Options and Harmony sock needles. I can't rate them highly enough, the options are wonderful to use, nice and slippery but not too much so, the yarn glides off them without the stickiness of bamboo and the cables are nice and strong. I put my BPT and camping shawl on the Options as soon as i could!
I bought the "starter set" - it cost a couple of quid more than if i had bought the items separately but it does come with a handy dandy wallet to keep all the bits together, although how long it lasts remains to be seen, the popper has already come off twice! No matter though, i am happy enough to make a fabric holder - the sewing machine hasn't been out for MONTHS!

The day out was wonderful. Jo picked me up from a layby on the A23 at 6.45 and we headed off to Guildford to meet up with Carol. We chatted for the whole journey, it was so lovely and the journey just flew by! We got to Bristol in good time and met up with Lane, Kelly and Linda who all came up together from Wales, Joy who had come along to take part in the dying course with her friend Kathryn and a surprise visit from Jacky! We all wandered round the shop ooooohing and ahhhhing, like you do ;o)
I dithered over needles, options or harmonies, which sizes, how many... and took my basket over the sofas for some deliberations. The knit and knatter group were meeting up that day and what a lovely group of ladies they are!Very welcoming, very chatty and all with a wicked sense of humour. Soon it was lunchtime and we headed over to the pub to grab somehting, only to discover that the Dutchpot was actually open! Such a shame they weren't really ready for a group of ten people :o( After a bit of a wait though the food arrived and boy was it worth the wait! It was delicious, and to be honest, the only reason that it mattered about the wait was that Joy, Jacky and Kathryn had to get back for their course! We were all busy chatting away, cooing over the very handsome baby Daniel and for me the time just flew by!
I do wish that we all lived closer together as the days we have had together so far have been such a laugh that i want them more often! :oD
Soon our day was over and it was time to head home, this of course involved another two hour session of giggling and chatting and the journey just flew by again! Jo dropped me off, Bloke picked me up and we headed over to our friend's for an evening of barbequeing, laughing and post-holiday catching up. Perfect!
;oD

Look away now!

If you haven't yet received the latest installment of your Yarn Yard sock club yarn then don't look any further!!

It came last week but along with lots of other things i completely forgot to blog about it so here it is now!

It's SCRUMMY! I didn't guess the colours from the clue AT ALL! ::lol::

watch out

here it comes

are you ready?

jolly good!

:oD



yarn yard sock - club yarn march 08
Originally uploaded by franneyk

Hmmmm... i can't remember

I know i said that there would be lots of lovely stash additions back on the 11th but i can't for the life of me remember what they are exactly!!
I can only think it's what i bought at the Craft show in Brighton...
Hmmmm, will have to try and remember what that was!!

I can't resist a bargain!

Sooooo, the stashalong has been going very well so far. But you know what's coming next don't you ;o)
Yep, i fell off the wagon and bought a huge bagfull of yarn from Lisa today :o?
It's OK though cos it was all 50p a ball and it's all earmarked for projects!


There's nine balls of Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo for a blankie (or two if it stretches that far) for Lisa and her babies - BOTH of them!! :oD
The blue Sirdar Bonus is for "THE Blue Blankie" which i have been marinading in the loft fot god knows how many years and the two balls of Sirdar Juniper are for Calorimetrys or Pantas or some such thing - i doubt they will stretch to full hats.
Oh, and there's a ball of Sirdar Click dk in there too just in case i need it for the Hexagon Blankie ;o)
I know it's probably greedy of me to buy it all up but i have been dying to try the Baby Bamboo for ages now and i really can't resist a bargain. They were reduced because they are ex window display and so have faded slightly or a bit dirty but i don't care, once they're worked up and washed you won't notice and as for when they've been puked on by babies... ;o)

i shopped!

i didn't go with the intention of actually buying anything really, but i came away with a small haul of goodies ;o)



There are a total of 12 fat quarters, some for specific people, others just because ;o)
Some peel-offs for card making and glace pens and acetate, lots of cats eye beads and silver charms for stitchmarkers and a booklet on how to lucet. I also picked up a couple of boobkmarks and a card from the encaustic wax art stand as i just love it and really miss my kit :o(

I managed to resist the siren song of the Marble even though it was looking particularly gorgeous but i'm not sure i'll do so well next time ;o)
When we go to Brighton i shall be looking for some nice papers for my card making as i am running low on them but there weren't actually that many card making stalls there last week.

I also bought Mum her early birthday present - a set of stamps and inks from Card-io, we both love them and i have been promising myself a set since i saw them last year but the price scares me!!

We had a really good day out, the drive was fine, hardly any slow moving traffic, we got parked quite close the to entrance so Mum didn't have to walk too far and we stopped often for lots of rests. I spent some time talking to stall holders and asking questions and i very nearly bought an overlocker from the Janome stand! Luckily i resisted because when i got home and looked at my machine i have discovered that it can do two thread overlocking already and that ought to be good enough for my needs :)

Stitch n Bitch

It was definitely a last minute thing! I got up and had a bath, thinking i might go and besides, my hair needed washing anyway :oD
Then i dithered about for a while, thinking i wanted to go but wasn't sure about going "up town" on my own - i don't know what's happened to my confidence, apart from the fact that it's non-existant!! In my younger days i would have bunked the train and blagged my way into the show, nowadays it's all i can do to look at someone and ask for "one adult" please!
So, anyway, Bloke was still sleeping cos he had a late night and i went in to say bubye, which woke him up, then i decided i didn't want to go so went for some cuddles, then i decided i did want to go so got up again, then i decided i didn't want to go.... by about 10am i decided i was going, so i grabbed all my bits together, made sure i had my knitting (most important) and dashed out the door. It's an easy journey to Euston - tram to Croydon, train to London Bridge, tube to Euston - from there you just walk 5 minutes down the road to the hotel and then find out where the show is being held. I would have liked to have seen signs in the street, even if it was just little yellow "iknit" arrows or something, and a big arrow outside the venue would have been goo too, there were several of us that went into the wrong side to ask for directions to the show, and one lady got lost walking round Bloomsbury Square cos she forgot to write down directions!!
Still, we all got there in the end :o)
I got in to the hall and was about to phone Joy when i spied her and Noo in the corner, i tried to hide but they spotted me ;o)
The show itself was FAB! It was big enough that it wasn't too squished in when trying to view stalls but small enough that it felt more like an indoor craft market than a "show" and there were a few faces i recognised, and some names that could finally have faces put to them :o)
I saw Sue and Diane that i met at Stash earlier in the year, it was nice to catch up and see what they are up to now. Sue had a pile of lovely box bags and shawl pins for sale, her fabrics are so cute and quirky, i loved 'em! While we were loitering there someone i have followed ont he internet came and said hello to Joy, and it was Ruth from Woolly Wormhead and her preggie belly :o) It was lovely to meet her after reading her posts for so long, i love her designs too! Diane was helping Alice out on the Socktopus stall, where two skeins of Dream in Colour's Smooshy managed to fall into my shopping bag *OOPS!* ;o)
I finally succumbed to the lure of Wisterious and Dusky Aurora :oD They'll be shawls or stoles, i have been attacking Ravelry today and adding patterns to my queue like crazy!
I also bought a glove kit from Hemp for Knitting in "Espresso" - the ladies there were lovely and so friendly and the cashmere/hemp blend is luvverly too :oD
The other thing that made it into my shopping bag (i took one of my new bags from The Knitting Parlour :o) ) was the triangle scarf kit from the Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop in a rather shockingly bright fuchsia pink colour with curly fleece in shades of pink through coral and orange for the accents - i started it last night and am two thirds of the way through it. Oh yes, i am definitely off the NO-vember wagon! *LOL*
Joy, Noo and i then met up with Glynis (who is unfortunately blogless) for a coffee, she had her two daughters with her - one of whom has two rattygirls and they were going to the Pet Heaven workshop in the afternoon. We saw the results later in the day, they had made a knitted hamster! It was very cute, i had a flick through the book but all i would be tempted to make are the ferret and the hamster, although the tortoise hibernation tent is rather splendid!
I also had the extremely good fortune to meet up with Jane and her knitting group friends, one of whom is Lixie who was wearing her gorgeous sock yarn cardigan. It was a lovely way to wind down after the excitement of the shopping! We just sat and knitted and chatted and had a good old giggle, and the "ante-room" we were in was so much cooler than the hall as well, it was fabulous! If my hot flushes are this bad already i am SO not looking forward to "the change" i'm going to be even more miserable than i am now :o(
I ventrued back out into the hall with every intention of hanging around to see Debbie Stoller but i noticed it was getting dark outside and i started getting anxious so i bade farewell to Jane, reminded her about the coming weekend and made a dash for Euston.
As i ran down the stairs a tube train had pulled into platform two - southbound so i jumped on it, then i jumped off again as i was paranoid that i might have got on the wrong one and sure enough the big vertical station guide thingy on the wall said it was going to Charing Cross and there was no mention of London Bridge which really confused me. It was going South, why wasn't it going to London Bridge? Then i realised that the the Nother Line splits into two and one side goes to Charing Cross and the other to London Bridge! DOH! I am SO glad i jumped off though, i would have had a major panic attack otherwise! I trundled down to platform six and was relieved to see London Bridge ont he map thingy - i wonder what they're called? They must have a name musn't they? Everything has a name...
But i digress, which has led me on a futile 15 minute Google for the name of the map in a tube station... The rest of the journey was uneventful, with just a small panic at London Bridge when i couldn't find the platform i wanted *sigh* Luckily i found it and managed to get a seat too which is always a bonus! I know i shouldn't panic, i know that if i miss the train it doesn't matter, there'll be another one along in a while, i don't even know why i get so panicky but i do and that's all there is to it. I just feel under pressure for some reason, but i am sure the only person putting me under pressure is me, anything else is imagined, and anyway, how do you ask someone to stop doing something that they don't realise they are doing? *sigh*

All in all a fantastic day, that's another definite date for the calender next year!
I'm off to catch up on some telly - the hard drive is getting fullded up again and i also want to finish my yummy scarf so i can wash it and wear it :o)
I watched Strictly last night, i am beginning to loathe "the general public"! why do they insist on keeping Kate Garaway in the competition? She is AWFUL and does not deserve to be there in my opinion. Well, she's not awful , she's rather nice and quite endearing but her dancing is awful
and i don't think she's even improving which is surely what the idea of the competition is?? It is a dance competition after all, not a popularity contest *insert much rolling of eyes, tutting and sighing here*
Poor Penny, i really liked watching her and Ian dance, i thought they were doing really well too.
Still, it's only telly and it is all for charity. which reminds me... they've CHANGED Pudsey!!


It's sacrilege!!

stash

stashmonotone
Originally uploaded by franneyk

This is what i have been doing for the last hour or so, photographing more stash for Ravelry!
You can't tell what the actual colours are fromt his picture but the majority of this particular box seem to share the mid-range of the scale with just one or two lights and darks.

stashneg
Originally uploaded by franneyk

So, if you "negative" the same picture, it would appear that the majority of the box are also from the same colour family - one little cluster of orange/yellow in the corner but the rest is blue/green.

stash
Originally uploaded by franneyk

Would you have been able to guess the "proper" colours?
Lots of pink and orange, the orange cluster in the corner are actually the blues with the green Koigu joining in the blue party!

This was a lot of fun to do, i guess i need to try colours outside of my comfort zone!

i went to Ally Pally...... (pic heavy!!)

and a few things came home with me *grinning*

You want to see inside the bags? Oh, go on then!! *lol*

James C. Brett - Marble
200g of chunky weight cheapy acrylic, but aren't those colours gorgeous!

Then there's some fleecy goodness:
Alpaca (if i were an alpaca, this would be me!!) For spinning!! :D

from uk alpaca

Not alpaca but couldn't resist the colours, she said it could be spun or used for felting :)

Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and bluuuuuuuuuue,
I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow tooooooo!

Next up is the sock yarn - i was very restrained *wink*
2 balls each of 901, 902 and 903 from Bruce at Scandinavian Knitting Design -

The Cherry Tree Hill stand is a den of iniquity i tell you!!
I was very well-behaved and managed to pick out just one skein of Potluck that wanted to come home, after narrowing it down from three *blushing*

Aren't the colours luvverly!

I found some gorgeous patterns too, one for a clamshell modular scarf by Maggie Whiting at 21st Century Yarns and a scarf by Jean Moss for Artesano Alpaca that has a plaited section running through the middle of it - very hard to describe but i think you can just about see it in this picture:
I think i am going to make it in two colours, with the two sides in one colour and the plait in another, failing that i will do each "half" in different colours, but i definitely want to have a play with it!

So, on the table underneath the books at Cherry Tree Hill was a gorgeous table cloth which turned out to be a shawl from Cheryl's new book...
I had a flick through it, like you do, thinking oh yeah, that'll be the only pattern i like and it won't be worth it... but i was wrong!! That's right, me... wrong! ;o)
There at least three other patterns in there that i intend to tackle :o)

Look at this work of art! Three firgure of eight shapes make up the centre and then the two side edgings are joined on too. Ingeeeeeeenious!
So, after i'd decided i was going to make it, i then had to choose a colourway - enter the fantastic Gill (from the Woolly Workshop) and Joy and after much umming and ahhing Martha's Vineyard was chosen -



Isn't she beautiful?
There are 2,400 yards there, i have no idea how i am going to ball it up!!

My hugest thanks go to Joy for spending the day with me, she is great company and has damn good taste in wool/cross stitch/everything we looked at in fact!! *lol*
Also a huge thanks to Auntie Noo for organising us - i wouldn't have done it without you!

*HUGS*