Winter warmers. By Stephanie.

I still seem to be taking a sabbatical from stitching, but I've been enjoying knitting - and browsing in the wool shop in town. I bought some lovely 4-ply last week for a pair of gloves. It's such a long time since I made anything in this delicate yarn but I have fallen in love with it all over again - I adore the neatness and fineness it produces. I chose a gorgeous teal colour which goes nicely with my favourite boots!

 The knitting pattern is one of many vintage ones I've collected over the years - I really like the picot edging on this pair - it makes them seem quite lady-like and elegant.

I've just made my thumb on the first glove, so here's my progress.

 Previous to these I'd made some Aran mitts with a cute owl motif worked into the cabling. These are nice and thick and slip over gloves for extra warmth.

Posted by Stephanie.

Christmas baubles

So prior to Christmas I made a handful of cards for friends and family.

I was planning to make some matching baubles to give as presents aswell but somehow the time ran away from me and I only managed to finish the cards.

 I started by drawing out a circle.

I cut out lots of little fabric squares.

And I stuck them to the cards creating a patchwork effect.

I made quite a few of them, in different colour schemes.

Then to finish them off I hand stiched around the bauble in matching colours and added a cute little bow.

I love making my own gifts and cards, and I hope people love receiving them!

Harriet

Post - Christmas post. By Stephanie

With Christmas now out of the way and gifts unveiled, I thought that I could now safely share a couple of the things I made without giving away any secrets!
For my friend Rosie I made a cushion cover - a simple envelope opening at the rear and made using lovely ditsy-print cottons. I made up a hexagon pattern and stitched it onto the cover with invisible thread. I've never made a cushion cover before but it is definitely something I will make again.

For my friend Kath I ran with the Leeds Rhinos theme, which never fails with such an ardent fan! I made up a large tote bag and embellished it with a blue and yellow block called the Patchwork of the Crosses, which was new to me. It is an extremely effective block and I would love to make a quilt consisting entirely of the pattern but it was fairly time-consuming, so I doubt that a larger-scale piece will ever materialise.

Just as a daft gift, I also knit this hot water bottle cover. I like the challenge of thinking up gifts I can create in blue and yellow!

Posted by Stephanie.

A quilt is born! By Stephanie

After working on this snowball quilt for half of the year, it is finally finished and I shall be handing it over to my friend this Friday. I'm hoping it will be her favourite Christmas present!
I have previously posted photographs and progress updates, so it's lovely to now show off the finished piece. I love the navy blue sheet which forms the back and border. I didn't trust myself to manage a neat job on the machine, so I hand-stitched the borders and corners and I think it looks ok.

Here goes....

It's always a bit strange to spend so much time on a project and then give it away - but this is being given to the first friend I made when I moved to Leeds and she's very special to me. It was a pleasure to make this for her and love went into every stitch.

Posted by Stephanie.

A new blanket.

With Christmas hurtling towards us and quite a few handmade gifts on the go, the last thing I should be thinking about is farting about with beginning a new project. And yet here I am, doing just that. For most of the year I've had a real yen to knit a blanket and I've gathered a few lovely patterns from library books and Google searches.
I'm very fond of working with hexagons and I seem to return to them often in my patchwork creations....and I started to wonder if I could produce acceptable versions in yarn.
A bit of online research threw up results of varying desirability. And then I found this beauty, for which photographic and knitting pattern credit goes to Knit, Shear Bliss! blogspot. I won't be knitting the child, just the blanket : )

A raid in my yarn collection ( ye gods, how did I acquire so much of the stuff? ) has got me off to a great start. I'm a bit funny, well, very funny actually about lots of different colours together, so my version is more muted. Here is what I've made so far - I may well add another colour or two, I'll see how it looks when I've made more hexagons.
Clearly, these are not sewn together yet, the photographs simply show the shapes in their 'just finished' state.

They will be joined together in a simple over-stitch I think - colour of yarn for this yet to be decided upon - a long way off in the future. Now, I really must get all these Christmas presents finished.....

Posted by Stephanie.

It's a wrap! By Stephanie.

It's a given that come September, I have to get my knitting needles out. I don't know if it's a primeval calling or simply a response to darker nights, colder weather and the downright need to feel cosy. Whatever prompts it, I give in to it.

Two years ago I started knitting what was to be an Aran poncho. It was no small undertaking - both sides were to be approximately a meter square in size. There were over 200 stitches on a needle and each row took about 5 minutes to knit. Unsurprisingly I lost heart. I managed about two-thirds of one side and then it got confined to the deepest depths of my knitting box.

This week it was time to face my demons, cut my losses and other such cliches - and deal with it. I decided to cast off and turn it into a lovely warm wrap. It's actually a great width and length, allowing for an array of folds and tucks. And a perfect excuse for wearing a beautiful brooch or shawl pin. Result!

It's a simple basket-weave stitch with a garter-stitch border.

Posted by Stephanie.

Small diversions.

I have taken a break from large-scale works - which has been lovely and I'll go back to my quilts and wall-hangings feeling refreshed, I'm sure!
I've been working on these cotton, padded phone pouches which are very quick and easy to make and it's fun to match up recipients of these with appropriate fabrics.
This one was for my friend Kath, a huge Leeds Rhinos fan, so blue and yellow was the only acceptable colourway...

This is mine - I love the USA cycling strip and this fabric reminded me of it, so I had to have it...

And this is for someone who just liked it when he spotted it online whilst I was fabric shopping...

 Posted by Stephanie.