The happiest girl in the world March 23, 2010

Last week I acquired some old fabric from Katy, the author of Creating Misericordia, which has made me the happiest girl in the world.

If you’re unfamiliar with Creating Misericordia, you should definitely check it out.  Katy takes excellent photos, takes on some epic projects and as previously stated, has made me a very happy girl.

The arrival of these fabrics, and spring, have motivated me to get out my sewing machine.  I decided to make another New Look skirt, which for some reason, was much more difficult the second time.  The waistband on the first skirt I made is kind of awkward, so I tried to fix it this time, but was unsuccessful.  This is either due to me missing out on something with the pattern construction, which is probably the case, or it’s just a cheap pattern.

Coincidentally, I picked up some Rowan Bamboo in Antique Rose that goes really well with the pink in the fabric, so by the end of the summer, I should have a lovely outfit.  Although, I am not waiting to wear the skirt until I knit a top; I will be wearing the skirt often.

Bobbins Magazine March 2, 2010

Bobbins Magazine is an awesome knitting/crafting magazine recently published by Rubbish Knitter (don’t let the name fool you, she is far from a rubbish knitter).

There are knitting patterns, book reviews, including one by me, a recipe, a tatting pattern, and other useful articles.  No need to feel embarrassed by your ridiculous crafting mishaps because Bobbins even includes stories of massive craft fails.  If you need help reading a yarn ball band, working out how much yarn you need for a pattern, and/or like ginger cupcakes, buy Bobbins!

A few of the contributors include, audreym, Creating Misericordia and of course, Rubbish Knitter.

You can buy Bobbins online and get it shipped anywhere in the world, or buy it from the Cornerhouse shop in Manchester or Skeins in Glossop.

If you’re on Ravelry, join the Bobbins Group, follow Bobbins on Twitter, and become a Bobbins fan on Facebook.

Has it been a month? February 18, 2010

I’ve just realised it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything, though it doesn’t mean I haven’t been a busy beaver.  In the last month I’ve knitted Mary Weaver’s Mrs Darcy Cardigan and a little iphone sock.

From the moment I saw the Mrs Darcy Cardigan, I envisioned it in a bright red, but my LYS didn’t have a suitable colour.  Then, I found Cascade 220′s Christmas Red (colorway 8895) online and decided it was perfect!  Although the pattern calls for 900 yards of yarn, a little over four hanks of Cascade 220, I only used three, so now I have enough to knit a little shrug as well.

I added some length to the cardigan and made a few modifications; it’s still a bit shorter than I like, but perfectly wearable.  If I were to make another one, I would either add a few more rows of garter stitch, or maybe seed stitch at the bottom as it rolls up a lot.  While the crochet border looks nice and stabilizes the bottom, it puts the button holes off a bit.

The modifications are as follows:

16 rows stocking stitch and 19 rows twisted rib.

4 buttons/buttonholes

twisted rib:
Row 1 (RS): k1tbl, p1 to end of row
Row 2 (WS): k1, p1tbl to end of row

Right Front (knit last 3 sts for button hole band)
1-3: Knit
4-7: st st
8: p to last 3 sts, k2tog, yo, k1
9-15: st st
16: p to last 3 sts, k2tog, yo, k1
17-19: st st
20: (WS) begin twisted rib
21-23: twisted rib
24: twisted rib to last 3 sts, k2tog, yo, k1
25-31: twisted rib
32: twisted rib to last 3 sts, k2tog, yo, k1
33-38: twisted rib
39: begin scoop neck decrease

Left Front (knit first 3 sts for button hole band)

1-3: knit
4-19: st st
20-38: twisted rib
39: scoop neck decrease

Back

1-3: knit
4-19: st st
20-38: twisted rib

I haven’t got buttons for it yet, but it looks nice kept open and the sleeves and armholes are quite tight, so I’m not in a massive rush.  It also knit up really quickly, I just lost steam on the last sleeve and got distracted by the iphone (it was my husband’s Valentine’s present).

For the iphone case, I used Jennifer Small’s robot chart, knit back and forth and stitched up the side and bottom.

It stretches awkwardly because I used intarsia and there’s quite a bit of a difference in the yarns I used (King Cole Zig Zag and a random Secret Santa black).  It’s still better than a rip-off, store bought iphone sock.

A Handmade Christmas – Some Free Patterns December 13, 2009

As Christmas is quickly approaching, I thought I would pass along some good free pattern/project sources to make handmade gifts.  I’m a big fan of  handmade gifts because they make for a nice personal touch and can be much cheaper than store bought.  So, these are the websites I use the most when I’m looking for free patterns and gifts ideas.

Amy Butler Design has some great free sewing patterns, a lot of them are quilts, but there are also some cute cushion and wall hanging patterns.  She also has some free paper craft patterns for cards and gift tags.

Jo-Ann has a whole project section with a large variety of craft projects.  They are generally pretty simple and the quality ranges from ‘that s**t looks homesewn’ to pretty cute.

I think the point of About.com is to get money from advertising, but whenever I type in ‘free’ it’s the site that usually comes up on the first Google page.  A lot of the projects are pretty common sense and the quality is generally ‘that s**t looks homesewn’; it’s really more of a ‘How To’ than a pattern, but it’s good if you are afraid, or don’t like to create your own pattern and want something simple like a basic bag, pot holder or apron.  I’ve also gotten free cross stitch patterns and knitting patterns from About.com, so there are a lot of other free things you can find on the site.

I also use Burda Style, but last year they stopped offering free patterns and changed the format, so I don’t really like it any more.  Nevertheless, it is a good source for patterns, there are very good tutorials and you can get a lot of great ideas from other user’s projects.  There are still free patterns, but as they are submitted by the users, they aren’t always good.

If you knit but aren’t on Ravelry, Knitting Pattern Central is an excellent source for free knitting patterns.

Hopefully this helps with your gifting this holiday, especially if you’re uber cheap like me.

Screen Printing Fail & Other Stuff September 1, 2009

Last weekend I attended an all day screen printing workshop at the Urbis, Manchester.  I had what I thought were some really good ideas for t-shirts, but they turned out to be a massive FAIL.

My whale print was better in my head, but didn’t really translate into a good print because 1) the picture in my head involved better/more technical placement of colours, 2) once I put the board into my shirt to stretch it out for printing, the paper I did the stencil on wasn’t big enough and 3) the picture just didn’t translate.

I was really pleased with the robot print until I was trying to fill in the little gaps with paint, which also turned out terribly bad, and smudged a glob of paint I didn’t know was on my arm onto the side of the shirt, hence, the weird space invaders.

On a more successful note, I finished the Amy Butler Gum Drop pillow.  One of the best things about Amy Butler’s patterns is how extremely easy everything is to make.  I have her book, In Stitches and have also made a few of the free patterns from her website and have enjoyed making her designs.  She uses simple shapes that usually require very few pattern pieces, if it uses pattern pieces at all and the construction and directions are really simple and easy to follow as well.  Yet, the finished product looks incredibly professional and much more difficult and time consuming to make than it actually is.

After a week of testing it out on the sofa, it’s a really great project and more comfortable than I originally thought it would be.  It’s best as an extra form of back support, as shown in the pattern picture; it’s proved to be an extremely comfortable knitting position as well.  There is also enough give with the bean bag filling that you can use it in the same way as a normal pillow for laying on the sofa to watch TV.  I will be making an ottoman sometime in the near future.

My super awesome husband also got me Let’s Make Cute Stuff by Aranzi Aronzo! Cute Dolls.  The title is not misleading at all; all the dolls/stuffed animals in this book are super cute!

Why Spike Jonze is awesome: reason 58 July 28, 2009

I am SO excited about the Where the Wild Things Are movie!  When I first heard of the movie, I was a bit skeptical because too often book-based movies disgrace the book, even though I love Spike Jonze.  But I have come around to the idea and am very excited, and you should be too, for these reasons:

1. Who doesn’t love Where the Wild Things Are the book, although I do realise that could also be a reason for disapproval?!
2. The animation/graphics or whatever they are look amazing
3. All things in life, at least my life, come back to Weezer and Joss Weadon, and I am happy to say that this one comes back to Weezer thanks to Spike Jonze.  Please see: Undone, Buddy Holly, and Island in the Sun (the one with the SUPER cute animals; no offense Marco Siega, but nothing can compete with those animals that make me squeal with delight every time) music videos.  In a nut shell, reason 3 is that Spike Jonze is awesome.
4. Finally, I feel really comforted and excited with the adaptation after seeing this featurette where Maurice Sendak was heavily involved with the movie and praises Spike Jonze for his interpretation.

On a craft note, I’ve really been craving a project that will give me some instant gratification and will also expand my wardrobe.  Knitting takes entirely too long, so, I bought a really cheap sewing pattern the other day for a skirt because it is kind of cute, and the pattern says ‘easy’, which means an instant gratification project and I need some new clothes.

New Look 6872

I still have to buy some fabric for it, but I cut the pattern pieces out this evening and was excited to find that it only involves two pieces!  Yay for very instant gratification clothing, short from buying pre-made!

Home accessories and cushion pattern July 5, 2009

I’ve recently moved and have been thinking of new accessories to make, one project I’m very excited to start is Amy Butler’s Gum Drop Cushion & Ottoman.  I got the pattern for Christmas, but didn’t have enough room for an ottoman.  Amy Butler also has some amazing free pattern.  I’ve made the kitty pillow and the business card holder for my DH and they both turned out well.

In the spirit of moving and making new accessories, here is a really simple pattern for creating an envelope pillow cushion and is also a great pattern for getting rid of bigger chunks of extra fabric.  I think it would also look really cute to add some buttons to the back where there is an overlap, or add an applique to the front (make all markings first so you know where the best place on the front).

1)  Measuring the fabric:  Take the measurements of the pillow and for the width, keep the same measurement as the pillow (there aren’t any seam allowances measured in because it helps to keep the cushions plumped up a bit more).  For the length, times the measurement by 2 and add 4.

So, if I have a 12″ x 12″ pillow:
width = 12
length = 12 x 2 + 4 = 28

2)  Across the short ends mark 1/2″, which will be the hemmed edges.

Fold the short edges down so that they overlap each other 4.5″.  I know there must be a mathmatical equation to figure out how many inches that is for custom pillows, but I’m not that good with numbers so here are the measurements to fit standard square cushions:
12″: fold over 8″ from edge
14″: fold over 9″ from edge
16″: fold over 10″ from edge
18″: fold over 11″ from edge

3)  Fold over the hem 1/4″ and press down.  Fold, press and pin down another 1/4″, which will encase the raw edges and create a neat hem.  Sew hem.

4)  Right sides facing, fold over where you’ve made the marks on the long edges; there should be a 3.5″ overlap of the edges.

5)  Sew the long sides together with a 1/2″ seam allowance.  Zig-zag stitch your raw edges to prevent fraying and turn inside out!

I hope I’ve made that clear and easy enough.