I think you can see how swapping becomes addictive!
Monday, 30 April 2012
Swaps!
I think I might have a swap bug. As I have signed up to another Craftster swap... First I must share the amazing crafty goodness that I received from Oodelally as part of the Scandinavian inspired swap. Look at all these goodies...
Some fantastic coasters, such a cool fabric.
A cute crochet heart ornament.
My very first hoopla, I love how the stitches accentuate the print.
And a very pretty garland.
I think you can see how swapping becomes addictive!
I think you can see how swapping becomes addictive!
Monday, 23 April 2012
Things I have learnt this week...
1) That I should wear my glasses when cutting my toe nails.
2) That I should not ignore the pain in my foot for over a week.
3) That knitting a shawl doesn't have to be a huge complicated knitting project.
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Extreme knitting!
I have been having a play with my 24mm knitting needles, which I brought from Rachel John at the Knitting and Stitching Show.
I used 8 strands of DK acrylic, using up lots of yarn stash that I have hidden in boxes (does this mean I can buy more yarn now?). It knits very quickly, and is quite a good upper body workout! I cast on 20 stitches, and knitted until it was big enough to cover a 50cm cushion pad. Note, try not to sit near anyone when knitting with 70cm needles, as that poor person tends to get poked - a lot!
Also this week I have been to see Tian Tian (Sweetie) and Yang Guang (Sunshine) at Edinburgh Zoo.
They are adorable!
I used 8 strands of DK acrylic, using up lots of yarn stash that I have hidden in boxes (does this mean I can buy more yarn now?). It knits very quickly, and is quite a good upper body workout! I cast on 20 stitches, and knitted until it was big enough to cover a 50cm cushion pad. Note, try not to sit near anyone when knitting with 70cm needles, as that poor person tends to get poked - a lot! 
Also this week I have been to see Tian Tian (Sweetie) and Yang Guang (Sunshine) at Edinburgh Zoo. 
They are adorable!
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Scandinavian inspired Craftster swap
Some time ago I signed up to this swap, as I have a bit of a crush on Scandinavia. For my big item I knitted a Fair Isle cushion. I realise that Fair Isle is actually a Scottish island, though it has a rich Norse history. And the Fair Isle style of knitting is similar to that seen in Scandinavia.
This is actually a cheat's Fair Isle, as the hearts were made with a variegated yarn.
The pattern was by Jane Burns for Simply Knitting. Full details can be found on my Ravelry project page. My next project was some felted coasters, inspired by these by adknits. I made circle shapes from crochet using some 100% wool yarn. I then put these in the washing machine and crossed my fingers. When the spin had finished, I pull the coasters out and reshaped them. You need to tug really hard to get them back to a circle shape!
Once dry, I used some merino roving and a felting needle to add spiral shapes (watch your fingers at this point, as felting needles are really rather sharp!).
I then found my old Danish textbook (Dansk for hele verden - Danish for the whole world) and scanned in some pretty line drawings. Using paint.net I cleaned up the images, added colour, and then printed on photo paper to make some unusual cards.
For a final treat, I made some cross stitch badges. Using this pixel Viking image as a starting point, I made a Viking, heart, snowflake and a star.
It was good fun creating all these items, and I am certainly braver at trying more complex Fair Isle knitting now. I'll share what fantastic goodies my swap partner sent me soon!
This is actually a cheat's Fair Isle, as the hearts were made with a variegated yarn.
The pattern was by Jane Burns for Simply Knitting. Full details can be found on my Ravelry project page. My next project was some felted coasters, inspired by these by adknits. I made circle shapes from crochet using some 100% wool yarn. I then put these in the washing machine and crossed my fingers. When the spin had finished, I pull the coasters out and reshaped them. You need to tug really hard to get them back to a circle shape!
Once dry, I used some merino roving and a felting needle to add spiral shapes (watch your fingers at this point, as felting needles are really rather sharp!).
I then found my old Danish textbook (Dansk for hele verden - Danish for the whole world) and scanned in some pretty line drawings. Using paint.net I cleaned up the images, added colour, and then printed on photo paper to make some unusual cards.
For a final treat, I made some cross stitch badges. Using this pixel Viking image as a starting point, I made a Viking, heart, snowflake and a star.
It was good fun creating all these items, and I am certainly braver at trying more complex Fair Isle knitting now. I'll share what fantastic goodies my swap partner sent me soon!
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Bamboo Cane Weaving
One of the projects I did last week was this bamboo cane weaving. Rug yarns woven in and out of the canes to create a flexible shape.
Simple and pretty. Initially I used masking tape to hold the sticks together, but once I had woven a number of passes, I removed this. Would be a great project for an introduction to weaving.
Simple and pretty. Initially I used masking tape to hold the sticks together, but once I had woven a number of passes, I removed this. Would be a great project for an introduction to weaving.
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