A New Yarn Thief

Hello all,

I am very surprised to see that it is now February. The 2 remaining projects that I thought I would complete before now are .......still not completed :s. I have began to hand quilt my Christmas decoration but I feel it may be a couple of months before it is fully completed. My patchwork blanket is still one patch short but I have found a sewing club (that welcomes knitter too) where I can go to finish it. The group runs Wednesdays at the Quilter's Den in Warwick. This shop sell items to quilt with and the workshops are great full. It's well worth checking out the website  http://www.thequiltersden.co.uk/ The sewing group was lovely as I felt really welcomed and it was nice to see a mixture if crafts under one roof. 

I have not been able to post current projects as I have had interest from a magazine. I will post what I have been up to when I can. Not too long though :) 

The Dinosaur blanket 

I travelled down to Reading to visit my sister. I was able to pass on the dinosaur blanket and she was please with the outcome. This will hopefully be something she will use more when the new addition to the family arrives. Whilst in Reading I though it would be a great opportunity to sample the local yarn shops. To my horror I could not find any independent ones (Oh No).On a plus side it did mean that my yarn stash is not going  to take over the house. I have managed to force the current room shut and no one must every enter or they will drown in a sea of yarn. John Lewis had their yarn section which was lovely and I particularly liked their display. 

Badger the Yarn Bandit

Whilst in Reading, I felt that my project was safe from the yarn bunny bandit....however I was wrong. There I was just quietly working on a new design when out of the blue something jumped into my knitting bag!!!!!!! I looked and to my horror, there was a new yarn bandit.....a little black and white cat also known as Badger. He ran away with a ball of yarn and he also stole some of my work. I was in such a state of shock I let him keep it :s

To help recover from this sadness, I have booked to attend two events. The first is tomorrow and is at Guthrie and Ghani http://www.guthrie-ghani.co.uk/. This is a cute shop located in Birmingham in an area called Moseley. Lauren (from the Great Sewing Bee) runs this shop and it welcomes not only sewer but knitter and crocheters too. This is a fair Isle workshop where the end product is a pair of lovely mittens. I wanted to go as this work shops covers knitting with 2 hands...which I am not great at. I am also intrigued to see how to change colours in rib stitches. I am really looking forward to this :) Check out the website as there is a monthly Knit and Natter group too. 

I have also booked to attend The Sewing/Hobbycraft/Stitch show at the NEC between 20th-23rd March. I enjoyed the show around Christmas and thought that if the opportunity was there again, I would go. I will be on the hunt for knitting and crochet bargains. 

With that, I have a project downstairs that I am dying to get on with :)

Happy Crafting

Sarah Coad

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Catching Up.......again

Hello all,

I am currently undertaking my spring cleaning in the form of finishing off my left over projects. 

I stepped away from knitting and put my quilting hat back on. I started a Christmas decoration about 2 years ago and I have only just had the courage to finish this. I had to make a lot of strips of material and sew it all together. I am at the point where I cannot go any further without any assistance. This means I will be making a lovely trip over the the Quilters Den in Warwick. If you ever want to take up quilting I would stringky recommend that you go there. Anita (the owner) has the patience of a saint. She is a great teacher and I do know how she manages to split her time equally between all of her students. She runs a sewing group on Wednesday evenings and this is where I will be taking my project. I also would like to complete the quilt I started. This was a monthly course that I attended but I missed one session. This will be another project that I would like to complete this year. 

I have also had a clear out of some items that I am not using. Please look on my Ebay shop 'Knit's Not Perfect' for my things I need to sell such as books and magazines. I am at the point where I think I have too much yarn......I did not think that I would ever reach this point. I feel I will be spending a few months on ebay just trying to clear, so I can save up more money for more yarn :p

I have finally typed up all of my written projects, which means I cannot loose them. Happy days :). With my new tablet I will ensure that I write projects as I go to avoid this mess again :s. I have been working on some designs which have been in my head for a while. Hopefully some of them will be printed in Inside Crochet :) Watch this space! 

I am learning new stuitches too. I am enjoying working with raised Treble stitches and tonight I will hopefully be looking at a double crochet rib. 

I will be heading to Reading at the weekend so I will be visiting some of their local yarn shops :)

I have to get back to the day job now!

Happy crafting

Sarah x

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Catching up

Hello all,

I am going through a period of catching up on my UFO (unfinished objects). First of all I have completed the dinosaur blanket. I will post a picture soon but as it is a Christmas/ birthday present I need to keep it a secret for now. I am fairly happy with the outcome, some of the blocks have a tighter tension than others but it was made with love :) The blanket has however, inspired me with another project idea............. 

Completed Peter Rabbit

Last year I was given a project by my dad's colleague. They had found the work in their mother's loft and passed it on to me. It was all the knitted parts a Peter Rabbit to sew together. I finally had the opportunity to finish the work and it is a cute piece. The knitter was obviously very talented and I imagine they would have loved to have seen the finished product. I am glad I had the chance to work on this. 





I have ordered more yarn (eeekkk) as I had a lot of left over blue yarn. This is from my first order of yarn for my Christmas Jumper. I have had to order extra colours to compliment it so I can make something out of it. Just need to dream up what I will do.......

Sunflower appeal

As part of my craft group we have all been asked to decorate a canvas piece with the theme 'happy'. This is for a charity called Mary Anne Hospices. The emblem is a sunflower so I thought I would use this and crochet a flower onto it. The piece will be put together and presented to the charity. I think this is a great idea and lovely when to see the efforts of the whole group combined. 





I have began to plot my holiday. I am going to head to Scarborough for a few days. Within this trip I will be heading to York which of course means a visit to the shambles. I have been there before and loved the fact that there were five different craft shops to explore. This will be in February so if you have any other recommendations, please pass it on. 

Now you have caught up with my antics I hope you are all well.

Happy crafting

Sarah

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Welcome to 2014 :-)

I have had a great Christmas and start to the year. I am now able to talk about my Knits prezzies :-) to start with I am glad that Ravelry exists. I alway find it difficult to think of what to make for my dad. Luckily I found a pattern for a Star Trek Enterprise ship. The pattern is from http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/starship-enterprise-amigurumi. The project was fairly straight forward and quick to do and was appreciated in the end. =

My sister has been taliking about Ragdoll cats for a while so I thought I would make her one. I have owned the book Best in Show Cats, by Joanna Osbourne and Sally Muir and though I would utilise it. I used larger needles and yarn for my project. The pattern can be at times challenging as I had to learn how to make loops when knitting and the wrap around technique. I was happy with the result and my sister is now a proud Ragdoll cat owner..........well sort of.

My brother requested an elephant teapot cosy for his girlfriend and I found a pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/elephants-on-the-tea-cozy. I used drops yarn and decided to sew on the eyes as opposed to add buttons. I made a tension square to make sure that it fitted the teapot which I'm glad I did.

My husband was in desperate need of a new hat and I had chunky wool left over so used the following pattern- http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/that-favorite-winter-hat. I adapted it by adding a few 2 x 2 rib rows. This pattern was great as it knitted up quickly and looked good.

The final 2 makes were original designs. On holiday my brother won me some prizes by playing a game called Doodle Jump. To thank him I thought I would make him the character. As I could not find a pattern I created my own. I think it's OK as he knew what it was. For my sister's boyfriend I made a lion as I heard he liked them. I used the chain loop method to make the mane and this was effective. Pictures of all of my Knitmas makes can be seen on my Facebook page.

I'm currently working on my other sister's baby blanket. She liked the following design - http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dinosaurs-blanket. I did begin to knit it but found the design a bit tricky as many colours were used in each line. For my sanity I have decided to adapt the pattern into a crochet design. I will post when completed :-)

I am proud to announce that I have a pattern printed in the latest  edition of Inside Crochet. It is a comforter which is enjoyable to make. I wanted to use a wavy chevron design for a long time and this seemed to be the perfect project. Claire selected some beautiful yarn (Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino) in colours that complemented the concept. I love how the magazine have photographed my project and the pattern layout is lovely too.I would like to thank Inside Crochet and Claire for giving me the opportunity and I hope we can work together again soon.

My new years resolution is to try out Tunisian crochet and use my loom

I hope you all have a great 2014

Happy crafting

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Final Part of The Christmas Jumper

Hello Everyone, 

What a busy time it has been! I did my last two craft fairs of the year, which was great fun. I need to seriously replenish my stock in preparation for next year. However, before I do that I need to knit up my jumper and a baby blanket.



It took a lot of time but I am proud to announce that my jumper is completed and ready for Christmas. For my first ever jumper, I think it doesn't look too bad. The pattern was from Sue Stratford's Christmas jumper book and the pattern was easy to follow and really tested my skills. This is the first project where I did a tension square. I practiced my intarsia, which was fine until I managed to knot the wool repeatedly :s. I also practiced weaving the wool into my work so it was tidier on the back. I also finally learnt how to ptbl. I avoided it for years but I finally watched you tube and now get it :). I like the technique suggested for M1 which involves wrapping the yarn round. I found this much easier to work with and will use this method in the future. I also learnt the importance of reading instructions before jumping ahead. I had to do the bottom of my jumper twice as the first time I did a 1 x 1 rib instead of a 2 x 2 gggrrrr. I had to adapt the pattern as I found the arm lengths too short. I decided that each time I increased I would add an extra row to ensure it is long enough. I am happy with the project and I am sure it will bring much festive joy.

I attended the Knit Night held at TOFT. It was a good evening as we all gathered to try and completed Christmas Projects. At the time I was working on my jumper but I did learn two new stitches. As I had learnt how to ptbl, I was able to learn how to do a twisted rib stitch. This looks lovely and I can't wait to incorporate it into a project. I also learnt about crocheting into the front and back of the post to create a stitch equivalent to the knitted basket weave. It was a great evening and I would recommend attending a knit night if you get the chance. You also have to check out their huge mugs. They are great as they come with a knitting pattern on it :) 

My Christmas knits are completed and wrapped and I hope everyone enjoys them. I will be able to post what I made after the big day. One project that I can post is the one I made for my mum.....as she has already opened her present. This was the first time that I had used the yarn specifically for scarves. It looks complicated but once you get your head around it, it's quite easy to use. I liked the project as progress could be seen quickly. I hope my mum enjoys it as I was happy with the end product.

I also began the mission of tidying my yarn stash. I had been avoiding it so long as I had needles, mixed with wool and mixed with crochet hooks :s. After two hours, I was able to untangle it all. One of my New Years resolution is to keep the draw tidy. 

I have had 3 great knitting gifts. The first was a knitting mug from my school friend Becky (many thanks). I use this every morning for breakfast :). I also have a new knitting mug for work. This was given to me by Secret Santa, thank you by the way Frankie :) The final gift was a Knitting Loom. I have read a lot about these and wanted to get hold of one. A colleague at work gave it to me and I was really chuffed. Amy (my colleague) said that she had seen someone create a rug. This sounds great and If I can get large enough yarn, I like to give this a try. 

You have been updated with my adventures. I will shortly begin work on the blanket for my sister. I wish you all a Merry Christmas.....and if I  do not post between Christmas and New Year, have a safe and Happy New Year :)

Thanks all and happy holidays :)

Knit's Not Perfect 

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The Knitting Collection and Rabbit Thief Strikes Again

Hello all,

I am finding Christmas to be an extremely busy time for knitters. Over the last week, I have completed my Christmas knits for the family......well almost all of them apart from my sister's, which is a blanket. I have already said that this will not be completed by Christmas. 

I attended another great workshop at TOFT where I made a snowflake decoration. The teaching was good and the pattern was easy to follow. I successfully made a beautiful snowflake......and a second one for TOFT to keep. I also met a new knitting friend known as Yiknits on Raverly. He has a website (http://www.inopportunetimes.com/) which is  full of his lovely creations. Yi told me about Romanian Crochet (which I have never heard of) but I would like to look into more. 

I did my craft fair at Coleshill which was great. People seemed to like my designs and I sold a few items. There was a great range of crafts and also a choir which really got you into the festive mood. Due to selling well, I was left with no Christmas decorations for my next Christmas fair on Saturday. I have frantically been making some more so I have some stock once again.

On the 29th November The Knitting Collection was released with some of my patterns inside. It was a coaster, mug cosy and tea cosy set. The yarn was selected by the skillful eye of Claire Montgomerie and from there the designs was made. If you every have the opportunity to work with Claire I would recommend it as she is extremely supportive and always there if you need guidance. I think she has done a great job with the bookazine and I hope it does well. 

I went to the Harry Potter experience and I was pleased to see that there were some knitted items on display :) I have since decided that Mrs Weasley is my favorite character and has a talent for designing.

If you have the time to go to Warwick, Please do! they currently have a knitted/messy sheep trail where you look for sheep in the shop windows and record their names. It is great fun and there are over 95 sheep to find :) I only have 4 more to do when I return again. 

As I was preparing items for the craft fair on Saturday, the rabbit thief struck again! There I was innocently knitting, when I noticed that I had ran out of yarn. As I looked to the floor I saw the face of Caramel the rabbit aka rabbit thief. In her mouth I saw my beautiful yarn being chewed. As I tried to get her, she ran away with my yarn. I managed to get it back.....once I wrestled her down. Just to add insult to injury, I began to knit again and my cat (Kitty) came over and began to attack my knitting needles. So I urge you be aware of these menaces to the knitting society. 

 I have my final two craft fairs of the year over the weekend. On Saturday 11am-3pm I will be at the Coventry Frost Fair which is held in the Coventry Cathedral. Many local talents have gathered to sell our goods. The event on Sunday is at Ansley. This is 10am -3pm at ANSLEY VILLAGE CHURCH HALL Birmingham Road, Ansley, CV10 9PS. I am also looking forward to this event.. I will be at these events, finally continuing to work on my Christmas Jumper :) So hopefully my next blog will provide you with a progress update. Come on down of you're free. 

Just a reminder that there is no Knit's Not prefect knit night this month as it is the festive season....and I don't have a venue :s

Back to the day job

Happy Crafting

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Christmas Jumper Part 4 and Craft Fairs

Hello All,

Sorry for the delay between this and my last post. I have been plotting out my families Christmas knit projects (which I need to find time to do), working on new items for my craft stall (which I need to find time to do) and my Christmas jumper (which I need to find to do)

I am so happy to know that Raverly exists as a reference site. I have been able to locate all of the patterns I required for Christmas. I will take time out at the weekend to work on each project :)

I have three craft fairs coming up. I will be alone on the stall so I need to create new items for more of a range and to take up more space :s. At present, I have created a tablet cover which seems to work well. However, I may make up some minions. I think after these craft fairs, I will be able to focus more energy into my Christmas jumper. 

As present I have a completed sleeve and have begun work on the front of the jumper. I had a mini panic as I thought I would not have enough wool. So in order to ease my anxiety, I ordered more wool from the woolwarehouse website. On this occasion I thought I would pick it up from in store. However, I did not realise that you had to wait for them to email you to collect the items before you turned up :s. I have learnt my lesson and will not make this error again.

I had a good day at the Ashby St Ledgers craft fair. The organiser, Lucinda, managed to get a great range of crafts on the day. She also was able get many people through the door. This is an event that I would like to attend again if there is the opportunity as it was such a great atmosphere. 

I attended TOFT's knit night and this was great. There were some new people learning how to crochet and more experienced people doing a twisted rib stitch........I have no idea what this is. It was a nice relaxed evening and of course tea and cakes was provided. I would recommend anyone to go there, the next evening will be 19th December and we will hopefully be crocheting reindeer decorations. 

I have had a couple of orders for animals, which I cannot post yet as they are Christmas presents. I can say that they are completed and I will post pictures soon. 

I have found out that my mum would like a scarf with frills. I have just brought the special yarn and now looking at it.....I am quite confused :s.  Hopefully there is a good You Tube video to help me out. eeekkkk.  I am also plotting out a baby blanket for my sister :) That's right I will be an Auntie in April. How exciting, I will have a little baby to cover with my knitted goods :)

Next Sunday I will be at another craft fair. This is on Sunday 1st December at Whitacre Christmas Fair, Nether Whitacre Social Club, 64 station road, Whitacre Heath, near Coleshill, Birmingham, B46 2EH. The event runs from 1pm - 6.30pm and sounds like it will be a beautiful event as there will be Christmas singers and a Santa's Grotto. If you are free please pop down.

That is everything that I have been up to at present. I will keep you posted with anything new :)

Happy crafting