Starting my Ashton Shawlette

Jan 06, 15 Starting my Ashton Shawlette

Posted by in All Posts, Knitting

A year ago I had planned to knit the Ashton Shawlette but never found the time to start it.  This month I finally found the time to start it and I am having so much fun learning how to knit a shawl.  The pattern have extra information on how to read the lace charts which is ideal for beginners or someone knitting a shawl for the first time.  Below is a picture of my shawl at the end of Chart 1.   Shawl Details: Yarn I am using is Shalimar Yarns Breathless: Sapote colourway. Pattern I am using is Ashton Shawlette....

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Minecraft 100 Squares Done

Nov 30, 14 Minecraft 100 Squares Done

Posted by in All Posts, Quilting

In January I decided to make a Minecraft quilt for my son’s 12th birthday.  Fast forward 11 crazy busy months later, I am finally getting around to making it.  Luckily my son understood why I couldn’t make it for him earlier this year.  I hope to get it done for his 13th birthday in January! Last week I spent a couple of mornings cutting up the 100 squares of fabric for Creeper’s face :).  Then I had some fun trying to duplicate the layout I previously planned here.  I couldn’t get it quite the same but it was good enough for me to start sewing. Today I spent the day sewing up all 100 squares.  Being a newbie, I’ve always had trouble lining up all my joins.  A friend suggested I use a walking foot to sew up the rows for this quilt.  So glad I listened as my joins are roughly lined up!  They are not perfect but it is the best I have ever done!  LOL I was congratulating myself on lining up the joins when I realised I accidentally sewed 2 same coloured squares next to each other!  Luckily my son doesn’t mind so I kept on going :). Next I am going to add a grey border at the top and bottom of the quilt to make it more rectangular in shape.  I am also going to add a thin grey border down the sides to keep Creeper more square in the centre/middle of the quilt.  Hope that makes sense! Linking up with Stitch by Stitch’s Anything Goes Mondays (1st December), Blossom Heart Quilts’ Sew Cute Tuesday (2nd December) and Freshly Pieced’s WIP Wednesday (3rd December)....

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Pretty In Oink Darling Little Peasant Top

Jul 11, 14 Pretty In Oink Darling Little Peasant Top

Posted by in All Posts, Completed Knitting, Featured, Knitting

I have been so busy that I have not knitted anything since my last post: Downton Cowl.  When Ashley asked for testers for her Darling Little Peasant Top pattern, I jumped at the chance to do some dolly knitting.  The pattern is easy to understand and quick to knit up.  I tested the 14″ size for our two 14″ Waldorf Inspired dolls.  Here are pics of our dolls modelling the peasant top. The peasant top is adorable on them both but fitted the 14″ Moonchild Dolls better.  It is a perfect fit on her and a looser fit for the Dragonfly’s Hollow.  I will have to knit some more for our other dolls :). The peasant top pattern is by Ashley Darling and can be purchased on Ravelry here.  The yarn is “Pretty In Oink” by Oint Pigment on 100% Superwash Merino Wool.   Linking up with Anything Goes Mondays at Stitch by Stitch (21st July...

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Super Melanie

Apr 05, 14 Super Melanie

Posted by in All Posts, Sewing

My youngest daughter, Melanie, has a Superhero 5th birthday party to go to tomorrow.  Being a girly girl, we have no superhero capes in the house.  Thank goodness for google!  I found this FREE Superhero pattern on Nancy Notions website.  The pattern is a PDF file and can be accessed by clicking on the “project instructions” link. For her Super Melanie cape, I decided to do my own thing with the superhero logo.  I drew the butterfly outline and M letter by hand.  I appliquéd the M onto the butterfly outline then appliquéd the butterfly outline to the cape.  Not perfect but my 4 years old is a super happy girl :). She wanted to try it on to see if it will fit and it does!  She did not want to take it off. Off she goes :). The pattern is a super easy pattern and super quick to sew up :).  The neckline was a bit big for her so I added velcro in two areas.  Wished I had reinforced the neckline as then I would have used two snaps instead.  Another option is to add button holes and sew in buttons.  Will try that if I have to make another superhero cape :). Linking up with Stitch by Stitch’s Anything Goes Monday (7th April hosted at Karen’s Quilts Crows and Cardinals) and Blossom Heart Quilts’ Sew Cute Tuesday (8th April). Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog...

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My Downton Cowl

Feb 02, 14 My Downton Cowl

Posted by in All Posts, Completed Knitting, Featured, Knitting

I have recently joined a small group of ladies on Facebook to do a Downton Abbey KAL (knit-along).  The aim is to knit something inspired by the TV Show Downton Abbey while watching the TV show. I have decided to knit this Downton Cowl by Shannon Cook with Madelinetosh Tosh DK Baroque Violet.  The yarn is so soft and the colourway is gorgeous!  Need to buy more Madelinetosh Tosh DK for my stash :).     This is my first serious attempt at lace knitting.  I dislike frogging/unpicking so to minimise that, I had placed a stitch marker at the end of each pattern repeat.  This has saved me a lot of time and heartache as all my mistakes were discovered really early.     My finished Downton Cowl!  Now to get some wool wash andblock it.  Not going to try it on yet as it’s Summer here at the moment but I can not wait until winter to use it.     I found the pattern very easy to follow and a joy to knit.  The cowl took me roughly 10 days to knit as I was only knitting it during long car rides.  Obviously I was not knitting and driving at the same time!  Now to find something else to keep my fingers busy :)....

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My Minecraft Quilt plan

Jan 03, 14 My Minecraft Quilt plan

Posted by in All Posts, Quilting

Happy New Year! My first born baby will be turning 12 years old in a few days and he has asked for a Minecraft quilt.  I have put everything on hold and hope to get it done in time! I could not find any pattern online so I googled for a picture of Creeper that was made up of 100 pixels/squares. From the picture, twenty of the squares were black for the eyes and mouth.  That left 80 squares for the shades of green.  Luckily Spotlight had a sale on and also had 8 different shades of green available i.e. 10 squares of each shade of green. I took pics of each of the fabric and moved them around until I was happy with their placement.  Here’s my Minecraft quilt layout plan.   Spotlight only had charcoal fabric which I do not think is black enough.  What do you think?  I might have to buy another black fabric and compare. I plan to add a thick sashing in dark grey fabric across the top and bottom to make it longer.  My son has asked for Minecraft to be spelt out.  Not sure yet whether I would spell “Mine” at the top and “craft” at the bottom or just “Minecraft” at the top or “Minecraft” at the bottom. Now to cut out the squares :)....

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