Marie Curie Tea Party and the 'C' word

Hello all,

I had a lovely knitting Saturday last weekend.I attended the wonderful tea party held by City Knits in Birmingham. The gathering was in aid of Marie Curie. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and there was so much on offer. 

On the day there was a vast array of gorgeous cakes to indulge on and also there was a lucky dip for knitters. I had a go and bagged myself a lot of wonderful prizes. There was also an opportunity to try and knit with epic needles and there was a stall selling many hand knitted items. It was also wonderful to see all the lovely tea cosies that had been created for the event. 

I have taken part in the raffle hoping to win some of the lovely gifts. One of the offerings is 39 balls of Stylecraft yarn !!!!!! Imagine what I could make up with that !!!!!!! The draw is not until 30th June so there is still time to buy a ticket. They can be purchased from the shop or on-line, by donation, on City Knits just giving page www.justgiving.com/Christines2015. It's well worthwhile donating to this lovely cause.

I really enjoyed myself and hope they carry on hosting this event every year. 

I am unsure if it is inappropriate but I am going to use the 'C' word. That's right !!! I am contemplating beginning Christmas knitting. I need to decorate my new home and this year the family are celebrating with me. Is it too soon to begin???? I'm not so sure. I will contemplate on this more.

Until next time

Happy crafting

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The Creation of Lamb Chop and Designing a Lace Shawl workshop

Hello all,

My dad has recently got into antiques which means some of my weekends are spend going around the fairs. I did not realise until this point that this is actually a good place to go and find retro knitting and crochet patterns. I found items such as the lovely knitwear to make an Action Man and super vintage cardigans. However, on one occasion, I found one epic find....... this was none other than the one and only Lamb Chop puppet.

I always remembered Lamb Chop being on the TV and I was a huge fan.....much to my dad's amazement. He assumed I had no idea who this was. This was the purchase of the day and I went to work on this project immediately. In order to begin, I thought I would look at photos of the original puppet online. I didn't really think this through and just typed 'Lamb Chop' into a search engine. Of course over 100 images of a Sunday dinner came up instead. This is not how I 
wanted my end product to look like. 

The pattern was interesting to make as it involved a technique in knitting that I had not come across before.You needed to create loops to give the woolly fleece effect. This involved winding the yarn around the needle 3 times and then knitting. This did make the piece fiddly to make. The pattern also required felt to be used to form the ears and hands. Felt and I do not get on well. I have a tendency to keep hacking at it until there is nothing left. I decided it would be better to create a knitted version of these parts instead. 

After many hours and my husband modelling the puppet on his hands many times, I finally had my very own Lamb Chop. I think it's turned out well and it will be well loved. 

I also attended a great workshop on designing your own knitted lace shawl. This took place at a sweet shop in Sutton Coldfield called 'Sitting Knitting'. This is a shop in the Four Oaks area which has an excellent range of yarn. There was lovely items such as natural fibre yarns, Knit Pro needles and more. Rachel (the shop owner) was really friendly and easy to chat to. The workshop was ran Anniken Allis. She has been featured in numerous magazine with her gorgeous lace designs and also is currently working on a book. she was extremely knowledgeable and I feel happier to try to do lace knitting. I have something sketched out and if this works I will post it up at a later point. This was a great workshop and a lovely shop and I would recommend them both. 

At this moment in time I am working on a lace scarf and I have other ideas in my head which when I have time, I will create :)

Until next time

Happy crafting

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Extreme Knitting

Hello all, 

When the word extreme is used, some of you may think of death defying things such as bungee jumping or tomb stoning. Others may think of more unique challenging such as extreme ironing.  Believe it or not this term can be associated with knitting!!!!

There are different types of extreme knitting such as knitting as fast as you can or running the London Marathon whilst crocheting (this has actually happen). I undertook a different challenging.....

I went to the Knitting and Stitching show in London and found a stall that sold extra large knitting needles. The theory was that you could knit up rugs and duvets in one go. To make these items with 'normal' knitting needles, you would have to make a few strips and join them together but with these needles anything was possible! 

The needles are sized 27mm and massive. The first problem I encountered was finding the space to use the needles. I thought my marriage was safe as I had made my socks but there was an issue again as I had to evict the husband off the sofa for a week :-s  Another issue was that I could only knit a few rows at a time due to the weight of the needles and  the work as it progressed. This is due to knitting 12 strands of yarn at the same time to compensate for the size of the needles. 

I decided to make a rug with a moss stitch on the outside. I like a moss stitch border as it stops the edges curling so hopefully there is less of a risk of falling over. I used a stocking stitch in the middle just to make the piece more exciting to look at. The whole project only took two days to complete and I now have an epic size rug. 

One of the ironic things with knitting is that you do not always want your end product to be used for it's intended purpose. I know I made a rug, but I didn't want it in a place where people would stand on it. I found a lovely spot in the bedroom but when I came back, I found that my cat had found her new bed. I am happy for the rug to serve this purpose. 

The rug and cat have a new home and my husband is welcome back to the sofa. I had to make him a few cups of tea to apologise :s

Until next time

Happy crafting

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Craft stalls and the Knitting Thief

Hello all,

I did my 2 craft stalls and it seemed to go OK. The first was in the town of Nuneaton. Here I found people seemed to like smaller items such as key rings. I was nervous when I first arrived as this was my first actual craft fair.  I managed to forget my table cloth (despair) As I looked sadly at my naked table all was not lost as I lucky had a friend there to help me out. I have learnt that Rule 1 of a craft stall never forget your table cloth or you will have a naked table of shame! Rule number 2, make sure your items clearly show what they are. I had some headbands but people seemed unsure what they were....I even had one person tell me that the necklaces I had made were lovely. I have since decided to order some mannequin heads to display them clearly on :). Rule 3 take your knitting. This was great as people came over to chat to me about my craft and also laugh as I managed to tangle myself in the wool again and again. 

The second craft fair I did was in Rugby. I came more prepared as I had my table cloth! However, to my surprise the tables were already beautifully dressed. Rule 4 do  not assume you will need to use the table cloth you bring. In this area I found that my mobile phone covers did well :) So I have come to realise that location can affect what you sell. I guess this means that rule 5 is that location is key. 

I tried to make my tension square for my Christmas jumper but alas it was an epic fail. I realised that I knit extremely tightly. So tight I have to use needles that are 1/2mm bigger than intended for the wool. This means if I continued with the current yarn...It would be holey and look odd. I have since consoled myself by yarn shopping on www.woolwarehouse.co.uk Of course I did not buy anything extra....that I will need to hide from the husband....:s 

I am up to date with my knitting orders :) I have made 2 minions, 2 cowls, 1 West Brom scarf and a Super Mario. I found a great pattern on http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mario-plushie by Linda Potts. The pattern is free and it is a great pattern. It is easy to follow and the end products look like what they are meant to.  I have since become a massive fan of Linda and follow her blog :) Please respect that the pattern or end product is not to be sold. 

I have realised that my knitting is no longer safe in my house. There is a creature that lives in my home that steals yarn and needles. I thought I was misplacing things until I caught the villain red handed, or pawed rather! To my horror, the criminal was none other than my pet rabbit Caramel. I was there, casually sewing my project together and she jumps on my table, steals my knitting needle, runs away with and and then gnawed it. I am in need of a new place to stash my work.....and a new 3.5mm bamboo needle.

I have brought the latest Inside Crochet magazine and again delighted with the projects. I particularly love the crochet Christmas Stocking and the Festive Wreath. This has been added to my long list of things I would love to make myself.

I have now got the festive spirit so currently working on Christmas decorations for future stall. I have finally got an original pattern that I am happy with for a mini stocking and I hope to made a mini snowman soon too (as red and white are the only colours I have :s)

I will be selling on a crafty stall again on Saturday. It is at Bedworth Methodist Church, Mill Street, CV12 8JZ. The event begins at 10 am and I will be there.......with a dressed table. 

Well I am going to return to my festive makes

Happy crafting :)