Completed Projects

It's been ages since I showed you my finished projects mostly because many were gifts for Christmas as of course if I had shown you it would have spoilt the surprise for my nearest and dearest family and friends.  Anyway without further ado here goes:

A chunky cardigan greatly appreciated by my son's partner Steph.

A super chunky jumper given to my mother in law for Christmas.  I love how this turned out and will give this another try.

A sample for the shop knitted in James C Brett marble chunky.  A pattern I have done many times and love it's simplicity.

A birthday present for my Mum who loves getting cosy underneath it.  This pattern can be found as a tutorial on line.

A little embroidery and applique picture which I am still to complete even though it was meant to be a quick job.

A holiday project made for my Mum instead of bringing her something back that she wouldn't really want.  This is a pattern taken from Attic 24 and is her jolly chunky bag.

A cardigan made for an order using the Sirdar pattern in the picture.  This was great to do and  I would gladly make this again in the future.

A Christmas present for my Mum using a pattern for the weekend bag from Attic 24.  It was so easy to make.  I have one too!

The easiest shawl ever and a absolute dream to make.  I will post the pattern soon.  This was given to my friend for her birthday earlier this month and she loved it.  She is very much in to lets say, the murkier colour choices.

Well I hope you liked my round up of the latter quarter of 2016's makes.  I always work better under pressure and seem to get everything done despite my self doubts.

Clumber Park Yarn Bomb

There are draw backs to owning your own company one being the long hours.  This ultimately plays havoc with your social life and days out seem to be a thing of the distant past.
We did however manage a short run to Clumber Park, Nr Retford a couple of weeks ago.

A lovely lady at Clumber contacted me and many others with a view to contributing to a yarn bomb they were organising to celebrate the wassailing season.  This is when the apple trees are blessed in order to guarantee a good harvest in the months to come.

I put it to my knit and natter group and being a very enthusiastic crowd, they took up the challenge to knit rectangles to wrap around the trees and knitted apples to hang off them.
In total we produced and large carrier bag full of beautifully knitted bits and pieces which I then delivered the week before the festival.

Steve and I then went along to see the finished result.

There was lots for the kids to get involved in and also freshly squeezed apple juice for the adults to sample.  There was singing and dancing and much merriment.

We had a lovely time and it was great to pick out our knitting on the trees.  It certainly put us in the mood for further excursions should we have the time.

Playing shops and making pretty things

Well hello to you all.  I thought it was a long time since last I wrote but it isn't as bad as I thought.  The days just blur in to each other at the moment and I am feeling slightly jaded.
The shop however is feeling like a proper shop at last. It looks quite trendy and my landlord says he has seen one on the television quite similar but that one was in London.

As you can see I couldn't resist playing around.  There are still things laid around like the great sheet of slat board on the floor but it is definitely looking very nice.  The walls are a very pale shade of grey and not beige and blue as in the picture.  That must have been a trick of the light.

I can't wait until all the wool is in and the heads are swathed in warm snoods and headbands.  I think it will look really smart and just like I hoped it would when I started dreaming about it many moons ago.  There is still lots to do and plenty of things to think about.  I keep waking up in the night and then can't get back to sleep.  I'm hoping that this is a temporary thing but I'm not counting on it.

I did manage to make a pretty little brooch amidst all the madness. This was an idea I came across whilst out at the weekend.  I saw something similar in a shop in Edwinstowe which I intended buying but unfortunately the shop didn't take debit cards and I didn't have any cash on me.  When I got home I had a look in my button stash and came up with this. It needs quite a substantial brooch pin on the back as it is surprisingly heavy.

This is a plant pot cover I have just finished knitting from a lovely book called Vintage Knit Knacks.  I have made several things from it as the projects are just so different.  I couldn't find any leaf buttons so I had a brain wave and made some using a cake decorating leaf shaped cutter and some coloured clay similar to Fimo. I think they did the job just right. All I need now is a plant pot to fit it which is proving more difficult than you would think.
I should have a few more makes to show you soon as I am frantically trying to do things to make the shop look a bit more crafty.
As ever thank you for taking the time to join me and please feel free to drop me a line or two.
Regards Paula x

Knitting Update

Before I started writing today I had to check to make sure I hadn't already posted about my recently completed knitting.  I seem to be playing catch up at the moment so please forgive me.
Christmas and the New Year flew by without much effort by me as my mind is firmly fixed on the future.  We did have a lovely long break and didn't do too much which was good.  We both realised that once the shop opens holidays will be a thing of the past for a while so we endeavoured to make the most of our time together.

I did manage to finish a few bits though.  The above, knitted in James Brett Flutterby Chunky is for my son's friend whose wife has recently had a baby girl.  This wool is lovely to knit with and is so soft it makes you must want to snuggle up to it.

These cardigans are bigger versions of the ones I knitted last year with extra buttons.  This was an order for the same little twins who have grown quite a lot since 12 months ago.  I had to add a few stitches on to make them big enough.  The wool is James Brett Marble Chunky.
In the pipeline is a knitted clock, (I am waiting for the working parts to arrive from Amazon) a plant pot cover and a jumper for myself. In between I am about to start to sew a sign for the door at the shop and would like to crochet a net for the front door so I'm going to be kept very busy.
The sign and window decoration are to be fitted in the next week or so so that will be exciting.  Watch this space for the photos.

Weekend Crafting

What a great weekend.  Plenty of sunshine and plenty of knitting and sewing.  Who could ask for more?
This should actually be last weeks blog however due to yet another technical hitch I wasn't able to publish anything.
Panic over I am now the proud owner of a brand new mouse for my laptop which now means that the right hand button which has stuck is no longer a problem to me. I can carry on until I can get the laptop fixed, which will probably be a long time as I don't like to be without it.

OK, well first up is my mitred square knitting which I will be making in to a cushion in the near future.  I won't be publishing the pattern as it is a nightmare to explain and I found just what I was looking for here
by typing in the words Mitred Square Blanket. 

I used 4 ply sock wool and because it is space dyed it made these fantastic log cabin effect squares. Very effective, I'm sure you'll agree.
Next up is the bag I have been working on which replaces my old favourite. This one is a little bigger than the original which might prove to be a mistake as I could never find anything in the other as it was.

The front is hand sewn on to wadding and a backing fabric using the Victorian technique of crazy patchwork.
You start with one small piece of fabric and place the second on top, right sides facing. Stitch a small seam and then fold out and press. Continue adding pieces until you have something like mine and then embroider the seams using a stitch of your choice.

I used a feather stitch, which is traditional, as is the black thread.  I also did a little machine embroidery on the plain sections just to give a bit more texture and interest. This is obviously where tradition got thrown out of the window.

I stitched this to a buzzy bee backing and lined it with a caramel coloured fabric.
This bag has already proved really useful and I'm sure I'll be using it for a few years to come.
Well that's about all for now.  I am working on a few other things so they will have their own reveal very shortly.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and speak soon.

Pin Stripe Phone Sock

I recently visited Heath's Country Store at Ollerton and whilst there noticed a scarf which was hung up.  The pattern for the scarf was pinned to it and although I tried to memorise it I failed miserably.
Since then I have been thinking of how to duplicate the pattern having the idea but not the means stuck in my head.
I mentioned this to my lovely friend Nicky who is one of my most regular stall customers and loyal member of my knit and natter, and bless her, she brought me two wonderful books full of knitting stitch instructions.  I couldn't believe how many patterns you can create with two stitches, Knit and Purl.

Anyway after a little bit of trawling I came across exactly what I was looking for.
As a practice I made this phone sock which Steve very much appreciated.

The pattern will follow shortly.

Knitted Heart and Baby Blanket

Yesterday I promised to show you a finished project that I have been working on for some time, however firstly here is a little knitted heart that I completed last night and which I absolutely adore.

The pattern comes from a little book I picked up at the Works called Vintage Hearts & Flowers by Kate Haxell. There are so many projects in the book that I just have to make and I'm sure you'll feel the same way.

I knitted this in a beautiful wool by James C Brett called Aria, and as you can see it has the tiniest gold sequins threaded into the strand.  This is the first time I have used it and I think it's just perfect for this. I have been stocking JCB for about a year now and find all the yarns to be lovely and the colours are always up to the minute.

I added a tiny mother of pearl star button from my stash and a taupe ribbon which was actually what I cut out of a cardigan. You know, the ribbons they stitch in to the shoulders to help the garment stay on the hanger. I always cut them out and recycle them.
Next up is the baby blanket I was commissioned to make last year.  It has taken a lot of patience to complete, I can tell you!

I have never tackled anything like this before and probably won't again, although in the end I was thrilled with the result.

Each picture was created by using separate strands of wool. No weaving allowed. This meant that when the blanket was finished I then had about a hundred ends to weave it on the wrong side.










I only agreed to do the blanket because I thought, looking at the instructions that I would be embroidering the detail on afterwards.
There was some embroidery involved such as the black bits and on the bottle and safety pin. 

The pattern came from a Debbie Bliss baby book which has a picture of this on the front. Unfortunately I can't tell you anymore as I gave the book back when I handed over the blanket.

How cute is this little face?
There will never be another blanket like this in the whole world. Not made by me anyway!

Bathroom Bunting

Gosh is it that long since I said hello.  Doesn't time fly.
I thought I'd make some bunting this weekend.  I have made lots for my stall and the surrounding ones but I decided that I would match the colours in the bathroom and create a vintage effect.

The lace is tiny little triangles which I think works really well.

Not a bad weekends work.  It's a pity the pictures weren't a little better.  Trying to take photographs against a window in daylight is tricky and using electric light at night is just as bad.

Sunday Morning Bliss

I have just hopped over to Jane Brocket's blog where she is waxing lyrical about an old fashioned newsagent and how wonderful it is to experience having your papers delivered and of paying bills over the counter instead of on line etc.

It makes me cross that we all seem to love and long for the old and traditional way of life but have been happy over the years to allow it to disappear.  Surely if we loved it so much, why is it not still a part of our every day lives?
I think it is such a shame that we only appreciate things when they are gone and that when things come back in to favour they are expensive because they are deemed fashionable and quirky.

You must be thinking that I am getting very grumpy in my old age but I'm not.
I have been spending a lovely morning sat in bed watching Create and Craft whilst knitting yet another project which I am making up as I go along.  All will be revealed in due course (if it works out).
Also I have just worked out how to use our DeLonghi coffee maker which was a Christmas gift from Mummy Sheila a couple of years ago.  Steve has used it in the past but I thought it might be a bit complicated for my delicate brain so have avoided embarrassing myself.  However I had a go (unfortunately the instructions have gone walkabout) and I am really impressed.  This morning I made a beautiful cup of frothy coffee.
With the cold weather upon us already I now have the scarf making bug.
I made this in for my holidays.

I took my inspiration from all the snoods in the shops at the moment using 3 balls of Cygnet Seriously Chunky and 15mm needles.  I finished it in an evening and it is so cosy.  Ideal for narrow boat holidays and long days stood outside on my market stall.

Steve liked mine so much that he asked for a masculine version.  This one was knitted again in one evening using just 2 balls of chunky wool.  I just ran a ball of black and one of grey together to get the variegated look.  Just 48 stitches and THICK needles.  Knit 2, purl 2 and that's it. Easy!
Lastly I obtained this pattern from the Internet free.

Using 100grams of double knit this is a one row lace pattern. I will give you the instructions for this shortly.  I have tried to find this again on line but as luck would have it I just can't seem to locate it right now.
I wore this scarf yesterday and it was just great, a lot warmer than you would think and long enough to wrap round a couple of times.  Having the loop there holds it all in place too.  Sheer genius.

OK well it is noon already and I am expecting my brother to call.  We have a major leak in our tank and I'm hoping he's going to come and rescue us, yet again.  Our house is about forty years old and everything is coming to the end of it's natural life so we will be throwing yet more money at it.  Why we can't just move I don't know.

Wildlife in Norfolk

I thought I'd give you something different this morning, mainly because I have already posted about Norfolk last year when we visited for the first time.
This year we had a slightly different agenda mainly because we felt that we wanted to do things that we hadn't managed to get around to doing on our last trip.
That said we visited one or two nature and bird reserves and rekindled our twitching interest.

My little Canon Ixus did me proud this holiday producing some very nice photographs using the zoom.
This one was taken at Titchwell Marsh Reserve.  The facilities at all of the RSPB places we visited were outstanding.

For some reason I love this photo.  Can you spot bird number 3?

I absolutely hate beetles.  They give me the shudders but I couldn't resist showing this as I was impressed by the sheer detail.  Look at the legs and feelers.  How amazing is that?

Tiny Frog

If you get chance to visit a nature reserve please do so.  You can always hire binoculars if you don't have your own and you can sit in the cosy hides and easily loose yourself in the marvellous nature.  We find it a great way to wide down.