Queen Knit Of Knit Mountain

Silk Paper Tea Light Holders

2011-07-01T12:05:00.002+01:00

On a recent rummaging spree in a charity shop I found these ramekins. They were crying out to be covered in silk paper and transformed into tea light holders!

The silk comes in various guises. These are Mawata silk squares which can also be dyed.....

..... and these are Mawata silk caps

Here they are - bedecked and bedazzled!

I trapped Angelina fibres between two layers of silk on this one

I stuck loads of bits from snippy box all over this one. What is a snippy box I hear you cry! Well, it's snips of yarn, fabric any bits that would normally be chucked away - excactly what it says on the label ;o)

Double Trouble

2011-06-15T20:10:00.010+01:00

I made these two cardis for Loula's twin boys who arrived last Thursday. This is another pattern from Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders and I used Regia Sock yarn for both. They should have had mitred squares on the fronts and moss stitch on the back with stocking stitch sleeves, which is far too much pattern, so I made them with mitred squares all the way round the body - much better me thinks!

Green Man Unveiled

2011-06-14T18:15:00.011+01:00

Here he is at last in all his glory!

Dress Rehearsal

2011-05-14T10:20:00.011+01:00

Over the past few months all of us at Shoreham Stitch & Bitch have been busily making leaves, flowers and twiddly bits for a Green Man that we're making for the Adur Festival in June. He consists of a paper mache head sitting on top of a plinth - both made from scratch. They have been assembled and today we are going to start adorning him with said leaves etc. Here is a sneaky peaky of some of the bits I've made

I found the pattern for the nest on Natural Suburbia's blog and couldn't resist it! I tried to needle felt the eggs too, but they looked more like fur balls! Luckily I found an egg pattern on Purl Bee. A blue tit has been knitted (not by me) and will take pride of place on top

Needle felted flowers

Knitted and crocheted leaves various

Baby Cardi

2011-03-26T16:38:00.002Z

There seems to be lots of babies on the way at the moment! The first of the batch is one of my Monday knitting chums, Lisa whose little boy is due any day now. I got this pattern from Sock Yarn - One Skein Wonders. I've had the yarn for a while, but unfortunately it had lost it's ball band, so I'm not sure what kind of sock yarn it is! I didn't want to make socks with it, but it's knitted up beautifully as this little cardigan

The Canny Crafter

2011-03-24T19:56:00.008Z

The Canny Crafter is a fab new website full of crafty things to do and make on a budget. Their knitting guru is worth checking out - can you guess who she is yet ;o) ........

Felting

2011-03-20T12:32:00.013Z

I recently did some felting in the washing machine. It's a lot easier than doing it by hand, unless you've got strong wrists, arms and shoulders, which I most certainly haven't! This little lot is going to be used for the Green Man that I'm involved in making with my Monday Stitch & Bitch knitting group. More of which to follow over the coming weeks.....

Start by layering the fibres, first one way

and then the opposite way

Continue until there is a nice, dense pile

Lay the piles on an old sheet or old piece of fabric

Fold the fabric carefully over the fibre piles and loosely tack them together

The end result after being washed with some towels at 40 degrees

More Sock Blankie Yarn

2011-02-20T15:27:00.007Z

I needed to inject a few different colourways into my Sock Blankie, so I rummaged through my stash and found a huge heap of undyed BFL sock yarn. I wound 200 grams of it into small balls, and dyed it using up odds and sods of colours that Wibbo had lurking in her kitchen.

All wound up and raring to go!

Heart of Wales Shawl

2011-01-30T15:54:00.004Z

My Heart of Wales Shawl is finished - hurrah! It was a lovely pattern to knit and I'm very pleased with the way it's turned out. Even the blocking was easy peasy this time. I usually find blocking shawls a complete nightmare, but this time I did it the Yarn Harlot way and found it to be a doddle - double hurrah!!

Exciting Knitting

2010-12-19T15:13:00.009Z

Most of the knitting I'm doing at the moment is quite mundane. Apart from the obligatory socks, I making a couple of plain and simple jumpers. However, these two projects are lovely, lacy affairs and far from mundane!

This is the Spelunking Cardigan which I'm making in Malabrigo Lace Weight. Colourway 118 Tortuga..........

........... and this is the Heart of Wales Shawl which I'm making in Malabrigo Sock Yarn. Colour way 851 Turner

Oooh that's enough typing! It's time to make a cuppa and knit something - the question is which one!?!

Plakkie Bag Bag

2010-12-05T18:00:00.003Z

Yes Dear Reader, I've been at it again; more carrier bag crocheting! This project pretty much used up my carrier bag stash so I've now turned by attention to unwanted charity bags - the type that get shoved through the letter box and then never collected again! I've also discovered brightly coloured bin liners in the Pound Shop, which does slightly defeat the object of the exercise I know, but I'm totally addicted to this particular craft now ;o) Oh in case your wondering, this bag is for my knitterly chum, Faye.

Sock Blankie Update

2010-12-03T15:37:00.005Z

My Sock Blankie is coming along a treat. I've now sewn all of the strips together and knitted quite a few more squares. It's a lovely project to do at this time of the year as its now big enough to snuggle under while knitting - as long as Tabatha Pusscat deosn't want to sit on my lap at the same time!

Blueberry Blues

2010-10-30T17:01:00.007+01:00

The befores and afters of another fun dyeing day at Wibbo Towers!

Before going into the microwave for nuking.......

After nuking........ 500g of BLF sock weight all ready for knitting. Although it's sock weight I want to use it to make a top - just got to choose the right pattern for the job!

Tiramisu

2010-10-22T15:35:00.004+01:00

The Triinu scarf from Knitted Lace of Estonia. I made it in JaggerSpun Zephyr Lace Weight which is a merino silk blend that's gorgeous to work with and beautiful to wear. I have been calling it Tiramisu as I couldn't remember it's actual name (typical me!). I now know it's called Triinu, but Tiramisu has stuck and that's what it will always be called in my world!

Brighton TAG

2010-10-06T19:35:00.009+01:00

This month at Brighton TAG (Textile Artists Group) we were dyeing hand spun yarn with natural dyes. The yarn has to be soaked in a mordant first to make the colour fast

This yarn was soaked in a copper mordant which turned it green

This yarn was soaked in alum, which didn't change the colour

Yarn bubbling away in a pan of madder root

More yarn in a pan of logwood

The end result. The top skein was soaked in the copper mordant and dyed with logwood, the middle one is the madder root and the bottom one is the alum soaked logwood. The difference between the two logwoods is quite amazing

October Frost

2010-09-25T16:15:00.004+01:00

A touch of Stash Busting here. I used some Jamieson's of Shetland yarn that I bought a couple of years back at the Ally Pally to make my snuggly warm October Frost cardigan. This is a pattern from A Fine Fleece by Lisa Lloyd. I'm pleased to report that it is now finished and ready to be worn and just in time too as the summer now seems to be finally over!

KnitFest

2010-09-19T18:47:00.006+01:00

A grand time was had by all at the KnitFest held at Cocoon in Hove. The more hardy amongst us braved the elements and spun and knitted out in the street. I was not among them I hasten to add, preferring the cosy warmth of the shop and the steady supply of coffee that was on offer!

SockFest at KnitFest

2010-09-16T19:56:00.004+01:00

This week is KnitFest at Cocoon. I shall be appearing there demonstrating how to turn a heel, so I've been knitting away and have 6 socks ready for heels. I shall also be on hand to help with finishing techniques and showing off my reclycling skills!

Doesn't Time Fly!

2010-09-03T15:07:00.003+01:00

I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I posted anything on this blog! I don't know where that time has gone. I've certainly not been idle and projects have been flying off my needles. There will be a round up on here soon ;oD

The Ultimate In Recycling

2010-07-09T20:11:00.008+01:00

Take a carrier bag and cut the handles and the bottom off

Roll up whats left and cut into strips about half an inch to an inch in width

Join the strips together and grab a crochet hook (or knitting needles)

and make stuff!! Stuff like a Knitting Basket

Wellie Boot Bag

Peg Bag

Or just about anything you want! Simples!

Dyeing Day

2010-06-26T18:38:00.010+01:00

A couple of days ago I had a lovely time dyeing yarn with Wibbo in her kitchen, which I managed to trash in spectacular style when I knocked over a pot of bright green dye! I think I've been forgiven.....

After being hand painted and just before being 'nuked' in the microwave

The finished result. I've now got 500g of King Cole Merino 4 ply to make something with, all hand painted by Little Old Me!

This is a hank of cobweb weight cashmere and silk which was a disgusting pale pink. I had painted it, but wasn't happy with the result, so I dunked the whole thing in another colour and this was the result. Much better

In The Hall Of The Mountain Stash

2010-06-06T17:06:00.014+01:00

I sorted out my stash earlier today and here it is in all it's glory! Now this doesn't include the mountain that's hidden under the bed which mainly consists of sock yarn. As stashes go I know peeps who have more - no names no pack drill, but I think they know who they are ;o) This is still no excuse for such a mound. Well what can I tell you - once a stashaholic always a stashaholic LOL! I once read a fab comment somewhere (I think on Ravelry) which went something along the lines of "I intend to knit all my stash before I die, so I shall have to live forever"! I know EXACTLY what she means - and I suspect we're not alone!

Ah that's better. All stuffed back in the cupboard where it belongs waiting to be used ...... one day ......

Dry Needle Felting

2010-05-29T13:13:00.010+01:00

Ages ago I bought a needle felting kit and stashed it away in my "To Do" pile, never to see light of day again - until now! I recently unearthed it and here is the result. The needles are lethal, barbed things, so keeping fingers out of the way is Lesson Number 1!

Anything can be trapped in with the fibres. Here I've used some Angelina for a bit of sparkle

Simon's Cat

2010-05-27T16:13:00.004+01:00

Here's a non-knitterly, non-crafty moment. If you love cats - you'll love this :o)

Sock Blankie

2010-05-23T09:35:00.001+01:00

This is one of those projects that seemed like a good idea at the time! It's good way to use up all those bits of left over sock yarn that languish in Stash Mountain, but a labour of love too. It all started when the Heathen Housewife wrote about the one she was doing on her blog. I had one of those 'Ooooh-I-could-do-that' moments and I was off! That was a couple of years ago, and as you can see, I've not done very much - tee hee!

These are the bits that I've done so far.......

And these bits were donated to me by Kate who knew in her heart of hearts that she was never going to finish it! I know how she feels, but I'm not giving up - yet......

All I have to do now is join Kate's to mine and then carry on. Oh that's all eh?!?! Watch this space for progess......

They Don't Make Them Like This Any More

2010-05-21T11:31:00.000+01:00

This is a selection of old knitting patterns that came my way recently. Beyond groovy!!!