Love is in the Air......an Engagement Card.

 

Hi everyone, did you all have a good weekend? I hope all my International friends had a wonderful Mothers Day and got to spend time with their families.

I've got some news for you all, my eldest daughter, Jodie and her boyfriend, got engaged last week. We are all so very happy for them both and what a beautiful ring he has bought for her.

It's been a while since I've made a card but for this special occasion, I had to make them a handmade card, I think Jodie would of been very disappointed if I hadn't!!!!!

I had a small amount of the beautiful lace left over, that I used for the wedding invitations, it's a very wide lace which I added near the bottom of the card. I took a selection of flowers and sprigs of diamantés and pearls, layering them at the bottom right hand corner. Lastly, I added two scalloped, glitter hearts using the Sizzix Framelits, Hearts a Flutter from Stampin' Up and stamped "Congraulations on your engagement" which is by Inspired by Stamping.

Finally, as promised, I have the winner of the Seafoam Shawl to Shrug pattern winner and the winner is..........

Congratulations Larc Yarn, Sarah will be sending your pattern soon via Ravelry.

Thanks for stopping by, have a good week.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Seafoam Shawl to Shrug.....and pattern giveawy.

Hello my friends, have you all had a good week? Do you remember this test knit I was doing for Sarah from Crafts from the Cwtch, back in April? Well, the pattern, Seafoam Shawl to Shrug, has been released this week, so I'm back to show you my finished shawl and the chance for one lucky person to win this pattern.

It's such a beautiful, versatile shawl which can be worn in a few different ways, I usually wear my shawls like this, wrapped around my neck like a scarf.

Here's another way I like to wear it especially on cooler summer nights, it will be perfect draped across the shoulders to keep off the chill. It can be used as a shrug too, it sits perfectly on your shoulders, the original pattern has a button so you can fasten it but I'm just using a shawl clip, that keeps it nicely in place. Check out Sarah's blog post, here, for her design inspiration and more photos of ways to wear your shawl, her daughter looks super cute, wearing it.

I used A Fine Fish Yarn, high twist merino in 4ply, the shawl only uses a 100g skein of yarn. My skein of yarn was 365 metres and I had a very small amount leftover, if you had a larger skein it would be easy to adapt to a larger shawl/shrug.
It's a quick and easy knit, it's interesting enough to hold an advanced knitters interest but would be a great knit for a beginner or someone who'd like to knit their first shawl.
Sarah has kindly given me a pattern to give away to one lucky person, so if you would like the chance of winning it, leave me a comment, telling me you'd like me to put your name in my teacup and I'll announce the winner on Monday.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!!
xxxxDebxxxx

Yarn Along.......Month of Socks.

Hello, I'm back today to show you what I've been working on this week, I seem to have a lot of WIPs on the needles, more than I usually have and I've cast on another three projects! Can you have too many WIPs?????

This month the Must Stash Girls are having a Month of Socks KAL over on Ravelry, where basically anything goes, as long as you are knitting socks. It could be finishing off WIPs, great if you have second sock syndrome or they are encouraging you to try something new. They are giving lots of advice and help including tutorials on the forum, these girls are great, if you haven't seen their podcast yet, you really should pop over and watch, they are great fun.

I bought the book A Knitted Sock Society by Rachel Coopey, sometime ago, it has ten gorgeous cuff down patterns using one of my favourite sock yarns, Rowan Fine Art. I've never knit cuff down socks before, so I decided to give them a go and chose the Jesse socks which are a colourwork sock using two contrasting colours. The reason I'd never tried cuff down was the heel, I was put off by picking up stitches, it seemed a lot more complicated than toe up. I really don't know why I was worried though, it was very simple and actually seemed a lot quicker! I wish I'd tried them a lot sooner!

I'm also hoping to finish my stripy socks by the end of the month, I've done my first Afterthought Heel which was also easier than I thought it would be. I have made a small mistake, I should have knit the waste yarn in the middle of a stripe. I've now got one random row of brown, which doesn't look right but I'll know for the next time.

Do you remember last week that I was looking through my vintage baby patterns? Well, I decided on this one, a sweet little cardigan that wraps over and buttons at the front. I'm using a new to me yarn called Pro Lana Merino Pur 175, a beautifully soft 4ply yarn, perfect for babies.

My third new project is the Gramps Cardigan by Kate Oates, my sister asked if I'd knit my nephew a cable jacket for his 1st birthday. I love this pattern, it's a perfect cardigan for a little boy, it will look really cute on my little man!

I'm still reading The Butterfly Box by Santa Montefiore, I really enjoy her books and this is no exception, I also wanted to show you these little 10g balls of Lion Brand cotton that I bought from Hobbycraft. I couldn't resist these tiny balls of yarn in all these gorgeous colours, I'm a sucker for anything in miniature, they will be great for making crochet flowers. Check out Ginny's blog, Tami's and Nicole's for lots more Work in Progress, this week.

Thanks for stopping by.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Flower Brooches.......and Lazy Bank Holiday Weekends.

 

Hello, my friends, I hope you've all had a good weekend and for those in the UK, are enjoying the Bank Holiday today. I've had a lazy weekend and haven't done much, we usually drive out somewhere and had planned to go to The Cotswalds on Sunday. We woke up Sunday morning though and nobody really felt like it so we decided not to go, sometimes staying at home is just as nice, I love lazy days, I didn't even cook, we ordered pizza in.

On Saturday morning, I heard the postman arrive and heard a huge thud through the letterbox, I went to the door and saw not one but two magazines, delivered!!! My Saturday was sorted, sitting in the conservatory with the the doors open, the sun shining, a glass of iced cordial and reading two of my favourite magazines.

I particularly liked this month's Mollie Makes, it has lots of fun articles and projects, I loved the flowers on the front cover and also a Fairisle Cowl by Nicki Trench, which I will definitely be knitting, this issue will be in UK shops sometime this week. On Sunday morning, I gathered some fabric, lace, tulle and a assortment of beads and had a go at making some.

They are very easy to make with not much sewing at all, apart from the few beads in the centres, otherwise it's just using a hot glue gun. They say to hand cut lots of circles, I didn't even do that!!! I used my Big Shot die cutting machine and the SU Sizzix Perfect Pennant die, which has two scalloped circles.

I used an assortment of fabric that I had in my stash, including some Tilda, which is the top photo. I used two main contrasting fabrics and probably used half of a fat quarter for each one, the finished flower measures about 3 1/2 inches in diameter. I'm going to make them into brooches, I'm just waiting for some brooch pins to arrive, they would be great to pin onto a plain handbag too or even to put on clips for your hair.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

FO Friday......Crocus Socks.

 

Hello my friends, wow, it's Friday again, they seem to roll round pretty quick and can you believe it's already May!!!!! It's a three day weekend here in the UK as we have May Bank Holiday on Monday, I hope the weather stays fine so we can get out and about.

I'm back today to show you my finished Crocus Socks by Wendy D. Johnson, they are from the book Toe Up Socks for Everybody. I highly recommend this book, it has some fab sock patterns, mostly ladies but some for kids and men.

I used A Fine Fish Yarns 4ply sock yarn, she is an indie dyer that I follow in IG, it's a great yarn to knit with and I love the colours. This is my first time using it but I think it will be quite hard wearing, which is always good for socks.

I love the lace pattern and they fit perfectly, my usual cast on for socks are 64 or 68 stitches on 2.25mm needles. I used DPNs for the second time now and though they are fiddly at first, I really like using them and will probably be my first choice from now on. I've got the Knit Pro Symfonie wood which I like but I've just bought some Knit Pro Karbonz which I really, really like, I will definitely buying more.

Check out Tami's blog for more Finished Objects, this week. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend and see you next week!!!

*breaking news*

I've just seen that I'm Crafter of the Week on the Make It Sewcial, hosted by Allison Sadler from The People Shop, for these socks. Every Monday on Instagram, she asks us to share what we creating, it's full of inspiration, with some amazing, talented people on there, so I feel very honored that I got picked.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Yarn Along......Vintage Knitting Patterns.

 

How are you all doing? I hope you all had a good weekend. I haven't got much to show you today, I've done a few more rows on my Garter Stitch Stripy Baby Blanket. I'm using Rico Essential Cotton DK, which I really like, sometimes cotton yarn can be quite splity but this is fine, you can find the colours I've used on my Ravelry page, just click on the link.

I'm looking through my collection of vintage baby knitting patterns for a unisex matinee jacket. I'm always on the lookout for old patterns in charity shops and vintage stores, most of the patterns I have are from the 50's and 60's. Don't you love the old style matinee jackets, they are so cute on newborn babies and most with matching bootees. Hopefully I will have cast one on by next week to share with you.

I've started a new project, it's the Radiance Shawl by Helen Stewart, it's a beautiful, large lace shawl using a lace weight yarn. It's been a while since I've knit with 2ply, I'm using a Skein Queen Laceweight yarn but unfortunately when I bought it, it didn't have a ballband so I haven't got a clue what base it is or the colourway. The main colour is a gorgeous midnight blue with Stellina, it reminds me of twinkling stars in the night sky. If anybody has recognizes this yarn, please could you let me know.

I saw this great idea on the Pom Pom Quarterly blog, instead of using an highlighter pen to mark off where you are on the pattern, you use Washi Tape instead. I've got the pattern in a plastic Poly Pocket, to protect it and I use the tape directly on the pocket and move it down after every row, it's low tack, removable and each small piece lasts for ages. I've moved it 47 times and it's still as sticky as when I first used it.

This week I'm reading The Butterfly Box by Santa Montefiore, I love her books, I have only just started it but so far it's looking good. I have read another book since last week, it took me three evenings to finish, I couldn't put it down. It was called Tideline by Penny Hancock, it was a very dark and disturbing read and I really didn't expect the ending, a great read if you like this genre.

Check out this weeks Yarn Along and WIP Wednesday, for more Work in Progress, this week.

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your week.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

FO Friday..... Hana Hou Tah-Dah.

 

Hello there, my friends, how are you? I'm back today to show you my finished Hana Hou. I'm thrilled with how it turned out, I think this will be a firm favourite, it's so warm and snugly, perfect to throw on when we have those chilly summer evenings and great for winter.

I started it back in March so was a fairly quick knit for an adult size cardigan as I was knitting on other projects too. My favourite part of this design is the collar, I love the shape of it and I love the look of the Copy Cat stitch.

The pattern is by Mel from MSkiKnits, the pattern called for a Sportweight yarn but I wanted to use what I had in my stash. I had a sweater quantity of Rowan Pure Wool DK, so with a few calculations and a swatch, I worked out that if I knit the Small, I would get the Large size using a DK.

I was trying to look sophisticated, whilst Paige took a photo of me wearing it but she kept making me laugh, so this was the result, not very elegant but at least you can see me with it on. I wore it last night to go to Crafty Sew and So's and everyone said how nice it was.

I'm linking my FO over on Tami's blog for FO Friday so check out what others have completed this week.

There's just one last thing I wanted to mention to all the knitters,who are reading this. Did you listen to A Gripping Yarn on Radio 4, this week? It was presented by Jane Garvey and explores the world of knitting from the American Revolution to modern day and how popular it's become again through Socila Media. It includes some great knitting soundtracks that made me smile, yarn bombing and even prisoners who are knitting to reduce their sentence!

It's was very interesting and worth a listen, I'm hoping my International friends will be able to listen to it as well, if the link doesn't work, it's a BBC production so may be able to find it another way.

Thank you for stopping by, have a great weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Yarn Along.......Striped Garter Stitch Baby Blanket.

 

Hello my friends, I hope you all had a fabulous Easter weekend and the weather was kind to you. We had our usual family get together as we do most high days and holidays!!!!

Jodie came home for the weekend and on Saturday we went to Stourport on Severn, had a lovely walk along the river then had lunch at little pub overlooking the river, watching all the boats, sail by.

My Mom and Dad had us all round on Easter Sunday for tea and had an Easter Egg hunt for Olivia, it started to rain so they had to be hid around the house.

It didn't take her long to find them all, here she is looking very proud of herself!

Instead of an Easter egg, we bought her this cute apron. My friend Lyn makes them and fills the pockets with Crayola's, I think it's a great gift for kids.

As you can see, she was very happy with it!!!!

Now onto the knitting, I've been working on the Striped Garter Stitch Baby Blanket and as I said in the last post, I asked my friends on Instagram to pick the order of colours.

I went down the comments in order and this is how it turned out, I've used all nine colours now, so will carry on picking the colours randomly until I run out of yarn. It matches "baby's" new toy, that my Mom bought. We find out in four weeks, if it's a boy or a girl!!!!!! Eeek, *excited*!!!!!!

The other thing I've been working on this week is the test knit for Sarah from Crafts from the Cwtch, the pattern is due for release very soon and will give you more details with a pattern giveaway.

The only other project that has seen some love this week are my Crocus Socks, I've turned the heel and now on the leg. I've also started a new book called The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I'm having trouble putting this down, I'm really enjoying it and won't take me long to finish this one.

Check out more Work in Progress over at Ginny's Yarn Along and Tami's WIP Wednesday.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope to have a FO for Friday, so see you then.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Happy Easter......No FO's but a new test knit.

 

Hello my friends, I've got no Finished Objects as is usual for my Friday post but I wanted stop by and wish you all a Happy Easter. This sweet little bunny is one of Mary Jane's Tearoom's patterns, her name is Daisy, you have seen her before but thought I'd share her again as she's perfect for Easter.

Over the long weekend, I will be doing a test knit for Sarah of Crafts from the Cwtch's new pattern, due to be released at the beginning of May. It's called Seafoam Shawlette to Shrug, you can see Sarah's finished one here and here. I'm using the same colour yarn, A Fine Fish Yarns "Roller Disco", as my Crocus Socks but in a pure merino base, it's beautiful to knit with and perfect for a shawlette.

It's a one 100g skein project using a 4ply yarn, it's such a clever pattern, you can use it as a scarf, a traditional shawl or a beautiful shrug with buttons, for over dresses and little tops. I cast on last night and have done quite a few rows of the stocking stitch, it grows very quick. I already know this is going to be a favourite and I'm sure you will love it too, one size fits all from 5 years to adult by how you block it.

I hope you are having some of the sunshine we're having in the Midlands, I love relaxing in my conservatory with the sun shining through the windows, no tv just listening to the birds sing, drinking tea, reading magazines and knitting. I think this will be where I'll spend most of the weekend!!!!

The sun was shining on Wednesday so I packed the picnic bag and headed to Bridgnorth with my family, it was glorious, sat by the river watching the kids play.

This is my lovely family, Mom, Dad, my sister and her kids, including my youngest daughter and her boyfriend.

Olivia insisted that the "big kids" played football and play frisbee which she called flying disc, she has us in stitches with what comes out of her mouth.

Adam missed the picnic as he fell asleep but started on the bread sticks once he woke up.

I managed to read my Mollie Makes and knit on my stripy socks.....then it was time for ice cream.

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your long weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx