A Sweater is Born.

I finished making this sweater a couple of weeks ago and since then have actually worn it twice yay! 

If you can remember it was this one here which I started making a few months ago.  This is the second sweater I have made for myself that I actually like enough to wear, the first was this one.  

I'm never happy with the end result and always say this is the last time, all that work and it doesn't look that good on me.  However friends and family always compliment me when I'm wearing them so I'm thinking perhaps they don't look that bad after all. (unless they are just saying it to be nice 😉)

I hated it when it was finished and had to make a few tweaks to make it acceptable for me to wear, the rolled design at the neck and at the start of the sweater which looked great on the model didn't suit me at all, it looked like a fat sausage wrapped around my hips 😂 and I just hated the neckline.

To make it wearable I did a running stitch around the bottom of the sweater to catch the stitches and then with bated breath I cut the roll off, I then picked up the stitches and ribbed the bottom.  For the neck I frogged the rolled neck and picked up stitches around the neck edge and ribbed there too. It was quite fiddly and to be honest I wasn't sure if I was spoiling it altogether but I was pleased with the result at least I have something I can wear.

This sweater was made with Stylecraft Special Aran in shade Raspberry and it took 500 grams. 

It's very sloppy, soft, cosy and warm to be worn on extra cold days.

If you can remember I told you I was crocheting a sweater too, that too is finished but I don't think I'll be wearing it, more about that one later.

Have a great weekend.😊

See all the great parties I will be linking to in my right side-bar.

Blanket Roundup Three

My passion for making blankets continues and over the past year or so I have made quite a few that I haven't had time to share with you, most of them have been sent on to various charities but every now and then you make a blanket that you just can't seem to part with and this is one...

I love the mixture of crochet stitches but most of all I love the colours which blend in nicely with my decor. I had so much fun making this blanket in fact I enjoyed every minute.

It's the Spicier life blanket I started making way back here , gosh doesn't the time fly! I followed the CAL and finished it quite quickly and have been using it ever since, it's soft and lovely to cuddle under in these cold evenings.

Stats...
Made with  special DK Stylecraft yarn with odd balls I had in my stash.
It took just 640 grams of yarn.  I had so much left over I was able to make another blanket which I will show you another time.
The Spicier Life Blanket pattern is still available and can be found here

See all the great parties I will be linking to in my right side-bar.

Puppets and Monsters

Last year Knit for Nowt sent out an appeal for therapy puppets and monsters which are desperately needed for children who have suffered physical and  psychological trauma.  These puppets are used by Social workers throughout the UK  to help a traumatised child to communicate through a puppet or monster.

I think it's heartbreaking to think that there is always a desperate need for these and supply can't meet demand, you can read all about Knit for Nowt here

I have never really enjoyed making fiddly things but this cause really tugged at my heart and I knew that I had to try to help in anyway that I could. 

Out came the sewing machine I had to dust off a few cobwebs I can tell you but I was determined to give this a go and this was the result....

I know they aren't great but I was quite proud that I had actually managed to produce something that could be used, the worst part for me was sewing the faces. 

I then approached my U3A Patchwork and embroidery group and asked them if they would like to make some too, I even made a couple more and do you know what, apart from the faces I really enjoyed making them, this is what we made between us....

As you know crochet is my forte and although I did enjoy sewing some I was itching to make some crocheted ones too, apparently although all types of puppets are needed and used a MOJO  monster is the most useful as several facial flaps are used one for each facial expression. I found a knitted and sewn pattern on the website but none for crochet so I fiddled about a bit and came up with a very simple pattern of my own, made a few puppets then sent photo's to Clare from Knit for nowt to see if they were acceptable......

Here they are all sat on the windowsill in my conservatory which I had just had built, my next door neighbour was having an extension built at the same time which meant that her workmen spent a great deal of time working from my garden. When I took a photo of these little guys I was actually in my pyjamas and kept moving them around darting back and forth and yes talking to myself too as I do😳 I then turned and looked out of the windows at the side only to find next doors workmen sat on the new extension roof watching me and looking very amused indeed.  To say I felt embarrassed is an understatement.😆 

Anyway I'm very pleased to say that Clare was delighted with the puppets and asked me if I would share the pattern with diagrams so that it could be added to the website.

I do hope that this will inspire some of you to make some puppets, I know that I will continue to make them whenever I can. There is loads of information on the website and patterns of all types for you to try. I have added some links below for easy access.

CROCHET MOJO WORRY MONSTER 

CROCHET TEDDY HAND PUPPET PATTERN

WORRY PUPPET AND MONSTER PATTERNS (WEBSITE)

HAND AND FINGER PUPPETS ( WEBSITE)

SEWN PUPPETS AND MONSTERS (WEBSITE)

Inspiration.

Thank you for all of your lovely comments it really is great to connect with you all again.  

January can be a bit of a depressing month I think, it's cold and dull I'm really fed up of the dreary dark days we are experiencing I feel as if I'm living my life in the twilight zone but to keep afloat we always have to think of the positives so here are some of mine..

The nights are getting lighter we may not feel it yet but every day makes a little difference.

Although Spring seems a long way away I can see life stirring in my garden with the first spring bulbs sending up their shoots.

There are some really great new KALs, SALs and CALs  to inspire us, as I have journeyed around blogland this past week I have noticed that some of you are wondering what to make for your next project. I always feel happy when I have some great project on the go there's nothing better than a 'make along' for putting  a spring in my step and crochet hook 😄 these are what I've found and have started already..

Lucy From Attic 24 has started her Sweet Pea CAL you can find part one here

Maria from Underground Crafter has started a SAL part one can be found here and her Finishing Touches KAL information here

Are you following any of these ? if so I would love to see your work and if you have news of any other follow along's I would love to hear about them too.

Unfortunately because of my tennis elbow or  lateral epicondylitis (which sounds much more serious and more worthy of sympathy😂)  I'm still finding it hard to do much, I am doing stretches (thank you for your kind and expert advice Meredith) but I fear it's going to take some time. 

I am plodding on with the sweater the front is done and I've started to work on the second sleeve as I told you in my last post I have started making a crochet one too. This is a very simple design which I'm just really making up as I go, I took the size from a sweater which I have already and I'm hoping it will be wearable once I'm finished.

I went to my favourite yarn store to spend some birthday money which my brother had given me.  There was so much sale yarn I nearly swooned! but I was so good I only bought enough to make the sweater this is what's left out of 10 balls so I'm making good progress.

 It crochets up beautifully and has a lovely soft texture, I'm hoping that the lovely variegated colours of the yarn will make up for the simplicity of the design.

I have also some great news for those who used to follow Love Made My Home Amy is back! it was so lovely to see her blog post earlier this week. I'm looking forward to reading more of her posts in the future. 

Something for me.

Hello all you lovely people I can't tell you just how much I have missed my blog but finding the time to actually write a blog post totally eluded me for the best part of last year there seemed to be so much going on.  
I have noticed with sadness that many of our blogging friends have stopped blogging altogether but that is a sign of the times I fear as our lives get busier with the ever increasing demands on our time. 
I am going to try to write more on here this year I have so much to share with you but please forgive me if the posts come in fits and starts.  I would like to thank those of you who have asked after me and have said that you have missed my posts it means a lot. xx

So lets start with what I'm making right now, as you know most of the things I make are made for charity but recently I have been making some things for myself too.  I started knitting a sweater a few months ago but discovered that knitting was hurting my elbow😒 I have had problems in the past with aching joints all related to overindulging in my passion for crafting.  Can you imagine a life without knitting or crochet I'm afraid I can't and will battle on until I can't manage to crochet or knit another stitch. Anyway back to the sweater I decided that moderation is key and so restrict myself to short knitting sessions I'm sure that it will get finished one day.

November 2015 issue 139

I don't know if you guys are like me but I love a craft book or magazine and have collected quite a number of them over the years and I can't bring myself to throw them away, every now and then I look through them and promise myself that I will make something out of them and that's how the making of the jumper came about...

I have been wanting to make this for quite a while as you can tell by the issue date but have always managed to talk myself out of it like, I'll never get it finished or I'll probably hate it when it's finished or I should really be making things for charity, but this time I just jumped in and ordered the yarn motivated by the fact that I can never find anything I like in the shops, either I hate the colours or the style, nothing seems to look right of course that could be because I have an ever expanding stomach and I swear I'm not eating anymore than I used to do, I'm putting it down to age and a slower metabolism. 😂

I love the colour of this soft squishy yarn and now I have it I can't let it go to waste and must finish the sweater, luckily this is a basic style that never goes out of date. I have managed to finish a sleeve, the back and am halfway up the front, it's such an easy pattern that I can knit quite easily while watching TV in the evenings I allow myself an hour a day.

Luckily crochet doesn't seem to affect my joints as much as knitting does and I have made all sorts over the past year which I hope to show you, but would you believe I'm now making a crochet sweater for myself talk about overindulgence two sweaters for me! I'll tell you all about that one later.

What are you starting or carrying over into 2019?