BITS AND PIECES CUSHION

Well I can't believe that another week has gone by already - so many projects so little time.  Time just seems to be flashing by.  When we were young at home,  mum used to say that when time went quickly it was because the earth was spinning faster.  Now I have children of my own I definitely think that she is onto something!

 Knitted patchwork cushion

I have been asked to run some knitting classes at a local craft shop called Society Rocks and was trying to think of something to inspire a beginners knitting class.  I was thinking about how the two main stitches of knit and purl form the basis of so many different patterns and that there are so many variations and possibilities for experimentation.  Then I thought about how different pieces could be knitted and joined to form a patchwork of fabric.  Of course, when many knitters start their first knitted project  they very often knit a long length of fabric, which eventually may become a scarf, but in my experience this can get a little boring  and the project is very often left abandoned.  So I thought about knitting patches in different colours and stitches, thus enabling the beginner a chance to experiment and make a sort of knitted sampler. 

I thought about how these patches could be used on a small project to begin with and came up with the idea of using them on a cushion.  I know that knitting gauge can be a bit technical for a beginner, but if the same size needles were used for the patches, and the same weight of yarn throughout, with a little bit of estimation, the patches could be fitted together to make a cover to fit the cushion.  I decided to try this for one side of my cushion and used a piece of fabric for the other side.  Of course, two sides of patchwork in knitting could have been used.  The fabric was a fat quarter of Amy Butler fabric that I had in my stash and it went very well with the bits and pieces of Rowan yarns that I had left over from other knitted projects.  These were cashsoft and  a cotton glace yarn.  The cotton glace I used doubled to obtain a similar thickness to the cashsoft and they all have some cotton in them and therefore have a similar feel.  This could also be made using some recycled or vintage fabric on one side and any double knitting yarns on the other.


The patches were made by casting on 20 stitches for the small patches and 40 stitches for the large patch and 60 stitches for the bottom patch.  The long patch of 1 x 1 rib stitch had 30 stitches (an extra 10 stitches needed because rib pulls in slightly).  I made a cushion of 12" x 12" or 30.5cm x 30.5cm.  This same patchwork technique could be used to make larger cushions, a patchwork scarf or blanket and is a great way to use up any leftover yarn.

Knitted patches joined together to make a square.

Patches joined together using mattress stitch.  Also good practice for stitching knitted fabric together!

Don't pull up the stitches too tightly or they won't lie flat!

This is how the back of the work looked when I had joined all the patches together.

A piece of fabric cut out the same size as the cushion front, but 1" or 2.5cm added on one side for a hem turning.

These could be joined together using a neat back stitch by hand, but for speed and because I am lazy, I joined them with a sewing machine.

Turn a hem over on one end and sew it down on the wrong side of the fabric.

Now place the right sides of the knitted patchwork fabric and the other fabric together, pin and then sew around the outside, leaving an opening on the side with the turned hem.  First of all,  I went around the edges with a large  zig-zag stitch to hold the layers together.  You may need to gently push and pull the knitted fabric into shape with the other fabric square.  Then I set the machine to a fairly long stitch length (about 3.5) and sewed around the inside of the zig-zag stitch, again making sure to leave the opening with the hem free.

Turn it out to the right side and poke out the corners.

Sew some large poppers onto the hem of the open side.

Close up of the hand-sewn poppers.

Back view of the cushion.

Voila! a pretty patchwork cushion.

I will talk about stuffing and making your own cushion pads in my next post.

Ain't No Fibre Mountain High Enough

 Beautiful Birthday girl modelling mum's creation

Dear Hubby (DH) just doesn't understand me, even after all these years of wedded bliss.  Now please don't misunderstand what I am saying here, he is a very thoughtful and caring man.  I am sure if you were to ask him some simple questions such as what is my favourite perfume, colour, food, film, he could probably come up with a really good answer.  He can rustle up a wonderful meal and is much better at ironing than me.  But what he just doesn't understand at all about me, is my constant fibre obsession.

For example, he doesn't understand that when I go into a craft/yarn/fabric shop that I step into Narnia and  I am transported to another world and I am not seen for at least three hours.  He also doesn't understand why I need a fibre stash the size of a small mountain and even though I have a whole bookcase full of books, I still need to spend endless hours online looking for more.  He doesn't understand that sometimes when I am working,  I am so deep in thought that when he talks to me, I can see his lips move but I haven't understood a word he has just said (commonly referred to as "the lights are on but no one is home" syndrome).  He doesn't understand why we cannot open the door to the spare room (aka my work room) and if anybody wants to use the computer printer in there, they have to send in a search party to find it.  In fact, he doesn't understand my constant search and need for more materials, knowledge and inspiration at all.  

 My Work Room!!!

So I will try to explain this fibre obsession of mine.  I have spent many hours, days even months making things for my wonderful family.  Amongst the many things too numerous to list here:-  the little peach coloured dress with a cute animal print on it that I made for our daughter's first birthday (in photo above).  The jumper with a picture of Gromit the dog on for my son when he was five, which he wore until it got too small and worn out.  The lovely (well I thought it was) ginger coloured cardigan/jacket that I knitted for the same son when he was six, which he absolutely refused to wear.  The fleecy top that I made for you DH, extra long to keep your back warm when you rode your motorbike home from work in the winter.  The bridesmaids dresses that I made for my sister's wedding, worn by two other sisters and myself as bridesmaids.  Each stitch and  strand of these things have been made with extra love woven in by me and although most of these garments have long gone, the memory of the time spent making them and the pleasure felt by me when they have been worn, is etched in my memory for ever.

Therefore, I cannot make any apology for my actions, they are done out of a necessity to wrap the people I love in the things I make  X

Knit You

Well, as promised in my last post, I am writing today about my latest WIP. Nearly all the projects I have made over the last year, be it knitting or sewing, have been for my DD (she wears everything I make, she always looks lovely and wears everything with pride. Thank you so much DD :) xxx). So whilst browsing the news for London Fashion week in February, I noted that there were a lot of 90's inspired fashions on the catwalk this year. This got me thinking about my old pattern stash. I remembered that I had a whole collection of knitting patterns from the 90's. They are from a set which I collected on a weekly basis from the newsagents. The name of the collection is Creative Needles. Now this pattern collection was happening around the same time as my first steps into motherhood. I recollect knitting a few of the baby patterns in the collection, but I never attempted to knit any of the adult garments. I found that with a new baby I didn't have as much time for making things for myself, only the cutest things for my baby when time permitted and I had the energy. Then, as motherhood got a little easier, knitting sort of went out of fashion and I found that I only knitted the odd thing now and again for the children. My skills seemed to be more in use for school productions and sewing things such as Roman and Tudor day costumes!

Anyway, I got the Creative Needle files down from the dusty bookshelf in the loft (the bookshelf that contains other disregarded household items) and I thought about the many times that I had saved the files from the tip by an over eager husband who hates clutter and dust. As I flicked through the patterns I was overwhelmed by the amount of patterns that would be so right for now, and many that would suit me. But then I came across an Aran style sweater, which was loose fitting, young and trendy for today's fashion, how could I resist making it for DD?

This was a perfect pattern for the yarn stash. I found some suitable yarn in the yarn stash (reducing this by any measure should delight DH!) and off I went with the usual crazed excitement of a yarnaholic but ......... When I looked at the pattern it was all written out in full. No problem with this usually, I can knit from written instructions or a chart, or both. The problem here was that the pattern consisted of three different panels of pattern. Bobble, Large Diamond and Wide Cable. Then the sleeves had a similar pattern and the front, which goes into a deep V shape has a smaller pattern band. "what's the problem with that" I hear you say. Well, none of the patterns are the same length. The patterns are written in individual lists. The Bobble Pattern is 8 rows, the Wide Cable is 20 rows and the Large Diamond pattern is 22 rows. The first row reads 1st row (RS): k2, work 12 sts as bobble patt, p1, k1 tbl, p1, work 14 sts as large diamond panel, p1, k1 tbl, p1, work 14sts wide cable panel etc etc (i'm sure you get my drift by now and understand my anxiety). At the end of the 1st row instructions it says "this row sets patt, cont until work measures 54cm. Cast off. What!!!

Now I realise that this pattern had been written in the 90's and perhaps things have moved on a little since then in pattern formatting, but this was enough to test the patience of an absolute saint. But I don't like to give up easily, especially where knitting is concerned. I had a nice cup of tea, and thought long and hard about a solution. Then I remembered reading an article about charting patterns on spreadsheets such as Excel. I set about creating some chart symbols for the stitches, and had a look through books with current charts to get some ideas. Then I looked at the content of the patterns. If I added two extra rows into the wide cable panel, that would make it easier to line up with the diamond patterns. The bobble pattern was a bit more difficult to fit in with it's 8 row repeat, but I felt that wherever I was in this pattern I would be able to work out the bobble rows. I enlisted the help of DH, as he is a whizz on spreadsheets and he printed the chart off in no time for me.

The pattern still needs some concentration, but it is much easier to follow from the chart. I will post some more pictures of the sweater when it is completed.  Unfortunately, because this is not my pattern I am unable to supply any copies of it due to copyright laws, even though the pattern itself is out of print and there is no mention of the original author.

Second hand shops, charity shops and sites that sell second hand books on the Internet are a good place to buy old patterns and books. The designs can be updated using new yarns and colour pallets or making simple changes to the basic design eg garment length, sleeve lengths etc.

Happy crafting until next time!

Once, Twice, Three Times I'm Knitting

As most knitters will know, there are generally two types of knitting. One that is simple and can be carried out sitting on the sofa, watching tv, with only the occasional glance at the knit to see its progress. Then there is the other type of knitting that has a complex pattern and needs a large amount of concentration and can only be successfully carried out if you are only listening to the tv with the occasional glance at the screen. So why did I attempt total concentration on both last Sunday?

We went out for a nice long walk, had dinner and finished all the jobs in hand and then I settled down in front of the tv to watch my latest favourite costume drama and do my knitting. Now the pattern that I am following is not overly complex, but it is an Aran knit with panels of various patterns. This pattern has been a bit of a nightmare from the start and I will share that with you in my next post, but I have completed the back and was working on a sleeve. I love costume dramas, not just for the story line, but also because I devour every detail of the costumes. The outfits in this one have been stunning, and so here I was, transported to the 1930's with my knitting.

Now carefully using my chart and ruler, I knitted whilst totally absorbed in the programme. Knit, knit, knit, until I eventually glanced at the pattern and then my knitting. I realised that I was on row 12 of my pattern, but at row 7 I had forgotten to cable back the central cable twist stitches. It was blatantly obvious! There was no other way around the problem. Rip, rip, rip, down to what I thought was row 7 (whilst trying to follow tv storyline and another stunning outfit). Knit, knit, knit. I got to row 11 and glanced at my work. The cable twist was now correct, but the two diamond patterns on either side looked wrong "oh for goodness sakes!!!" Maybe not my exact words, but something like that). RIP, RIP, RIP. I decided to go back to the beginning of the sleeve band and start again. So by the end of an hour long programme I had only completed 11 rows of pattern correctly. 

So what have I learned from this experience? - if there is a great programme on tv, just watch it and leave the complex knitting until after it has finished, otherwise you will end up missing quite a lot of both!

What a Difference today Makes

Well I've done it! After many weeks, months and years of thinking about it, I've taken the plunge and here I am at last, in the wide world of blogging. I am already a member of ravelry, and have been for quite some time. Just Facebook and Twitter to conquer now......

Like most craftaholics, I enjoy all things fibre to do with knitting or sewing. But knitting is my first love and has been with me since I was 5 years old. As a teenager I would spend hours choosing a pattern to knit. Then eventually I would make my choice and start knitting, only to be seduced by another pattern. This would mean having to frog what I was knitting and start the process all over again. I didn't realise at the time, but it occurs to me now that this was probably due to lack of funds for new yarn and although it would take such a long time before I actually finished a garment, the amount of experience I gained from knitting up one lot of yarn over and over again, was priceless.

Anyway, back to the present. I am hoping that a blog will enable me to share my knitting and sewing experiences with others. I am hoping to design some patterns of my own, run some classes at a local craft shop and start a knitting group. I have been thinking about doing these things for a long long time, but today is the very special day that I am making a start on all these things and I hope to share them with you along the way.