Portholes Log Cabin Blanket - a new pattern

Ta Daa!! I have designed a new blanket pattern!
This has been soooo long in the designing stage and quite a while in the making stage too! Although once I actually knuckled down and worked on it properly, it only took about a week to make - and that includes all the fastidious note taking, note checking, weighing of yarn, doing the maths and checking the maths........all the little things that if you forget to do whilst making the sample, you end up making another sample!!

This really is a very simple blanket to knit. It is worked entirely in garter stitch and the blocks or squares are modular, which means you join sections as you go. This does mean you have to pick up stitches, which I know some people don't like doing, but its pretty straightforward and by the end of a few squares you'll be an expert!

I thought about calling this post "When Knitting Met Quilting" as the quilters amongst you will know that this is a variation on a traditional log cabin block.

I have given instructions and yarn amounts for 3 sizes in the pattern:
Baby size: 32" x 32" (81 x 81 cm)
Throw size: 60" x 46" (152 x 117 cm)
Bed size: 74" x 60" (188 x 152 cm)

Its really easy to make it any size you want though!

I originally hadn't intended to give it a border, but I'm so pleased I did! It really frames the design so nicely.

I picked 12 colours of Stylecraft Special DK for my version (11 colours and a white for the background) - a deliberately chosen colour palette.

The shade numbers are all listed in the pattern if you want to replicate it.

When knitting the squares though, I just randomly picked colours from those 11, being mindful to try and not overload on my favourites!

If you were knitting this entirely scrappy, I think a mixture of neutral low volume shades for the background would look awesome!

If you start the plan the colours though, a whole new design appears!

If every square is knit to the same colour plan then you get a pinwheel effect.

Or maybe try knitting 2 adjacent sections the same colour:

Or having a dark background:

Maybe knit all the sections in one square the same colour. I love pastels!

If you're feeling like starting a longer project the throw size might be for you.

Or maybe, just maybe you're so adventurous you want to start a bed size version!

You know, in my head I want to knit ALL these versions! And my family would say I have enough of a yarn stash to do so!! But maybe I'll start with a pastel colour blocked version.....its kinda my favourite right now.

You can find the pattern for sale on: Ravelry    Etsy  or  Craftsy

Make sure you post a photo of you blanket progress on Instagram or Facebook and use the hashtag #lovefibrespattern I love to see what you're making !

Quick and Easy Bobble Hat - A Free Pattern

As often happens, this week didn't turn out the way I planned!

I arrived back from a month in Toronto just a week ago. What a wonderful month that was! I was there to visit my new grandson and his very proud mum and dad. Oh dear! I am missing all those baby cuddles right now!

On arriving home I dived into my yarn stash with the idea of knitting something for the baby. I pulled it all out and decided that it definitely needed to be culled and organised.

My son  and his wife follow my beliefs in using natural, organic yarns where possible and in order to buy more yarn, I needed to use up some of the old stuff first.

I decided to use a bag of super chunky weight yarn to make some charity hats.

These are just a few of the ones I've made so far.

I'm going to send them to Knit For Peace. Although it's almost Spring I'm sure they will be welcomed  for refugees.

As usual I made up the pattern to suit my needs. 

I've written up the pattern to share with you. It gives instructions for three sizes:

3 - 6 yrs

6 yrs - teen

Adult

I've given instructions for both knitting in the round and knitting flat. Choose whichever is your preferred method. 

You can get the Dropbox link HERE

I was working on the pattern yesterday over a cup of tea when an interesting conversation with my adult son ensued.

He asked what I was making and I said "A hat with a pompom". He said "Oh, you mean a bobble hat" 

"Yes, I suppose I do" I replied.

So I started to wonder which name I should give to the pattern. Hat with Pompom or Bobble Hat?

In the end I decided that he was probably right, but I would love to know which term you would use. Pleased let me know. I might end up changing it!

So, a week ago I thought I was knitting baby clothes. About 7 charity hats and plenty of pattern writing later, I now have a smaller stash, and yes, I think I can justify a little baby yarn purchase, don't you!

All Snuggled Up

Here is my new grandson, Oscar at 3 1/2 weeks old, all snuggled up in the entrelac baby blanket that I knitted.

Entrelac is a really easy technique that creates a textured diamond pattern. The basketweave effect is actually created by knitting squares facing in opposite directions. Once you've got the base row of triangles sorted, you only work on a few stitches at any one time (in this case, just 10 stitches) and it is nicely repetitive, in a good sort of way, so you don't have to keep referring back to the pattern. It makes an ideal project to knit whilst watching TV.

The pattern is available from Love Knitting as well as my Etsy and Craftsy shops. (links in the sidebar)

Oscar's blanket was knit in an organic double knit cotton, which sadly is no longer available, but if you want to make it using similar colours try Sublime Baby Cashmerino in Pebble, Cuddle, Gooseberry and Vanilla.

You could also go completely scrappy of course, and use up some stash!

Halloween Pumpkin Knitting Pattern

There is no denying it, Autumn is most definitely here and we are very fast approaching Halloween, so I thought I'd re-share a post from last year about these cure little pumpkin ornaments that I created.

I love Halloween! Even though my own kids are grown up, I still get in a good store of treats, put out a lit pumpkin to encourage Trick or Treaters and always give the best goodies to those who have gone the extra mile when putting together their costume.
My kids and I used to have great fun making Halloween related art and crafts projects, and I look forward to when (maybe!) I can do the same with grandkids.
All these Halloween thoughts reminded me that this time last year I designed a little knitted pumpkin pattern and posted it on the blog. I then realised that no-one is going to find it way back in the archives, so I posted it as a free pattern on Ravelry and Craftsy.
This little pumpkin is just 3" diameter if knitted in double knit yarn (a bit bigger if knit in aran or worsted) and would be great addition to a costume. You could attach one to the brim of a witches hat, temporarily sew them to the back of some mittens or dress up a Trick or Treat bag with them.
I think mine will be used as table decorations this year

They only take an evening to make and the free pattern is now also in the Knitting Patterns section on this blog or you can download it HERE

Happy Halloween everyone!

Halloween Pumpkin Ornament (free) Knitting Pattern

There's an autumnal feel in the air, early morning mists, hazy sunshine, pumpkins ripening in the veg plot, all of which have set me thinking about Halloween. I love Halloween! Even though my own kids are grown up, I still get in a good store of treats, put out a lit pumpkin to encourage Trick or Treaters and always give the best goodies to those who have gone the extra mile when putting together their costume.

My kids and I used to have great fun making Halloween related art and crafts projects, and I look forward to when (maybe!) I can do the same with grandkids.

All these Halloween thoughts reminded me that this time last year I designed a little knitted pumpkin pattern and posted it on the blog. I then realised that no-one is going to find it way back in the archives, so I posted it as a free pattern on Ravelry and Craftsy.

This little pumpkin is just 3" diameter if knitted in double knit yarn (a bit bigger if knit in aran or worsted) and would be great addition to a costume. You could attach one to the brim of a witches hat, temporarily sew them to the back of some mittens or dress up a Trick or Treat bag with them.

The pattern had only been on Ravelry a matter of hours when a lady contacted me to show me what she had knitted. PRINCESSSANDY had already knit about 8 pumpkins!! and she is going to knit a total of 21 as Halloween gifts for her son's Junior Kindergarten class. How wonderful is that!!

Unfortunately her photo was very low res, so I can't make it any larger for you, but you can see how great they are all going to look together, and her son's class are going to be thrilled!

These pumpkins are very quick to make, use only tiny amounts of yarn and are beginner knitter friendly  so if you want to make some too, the free pattern is here

                                       

If you do knit some, please share a photo on my Facebook page (the link is in the sidebar) and let us know what you are using them for.

The Great British Sewing Bee



Image source: radiotimes.com



Last night a new sewing show hit the airwaves in the UK - The Great British Sewing Bee.
This is a copy of the Great British Bake Off format, and is a 4 part series showing on BBC 2.
If you live in the UK and are able to watch on i-player  I can thoroughly recommend it. Whilst it may not get the sensational viewing numbers that the Bake Off did it is certainly of interest to more than just us "crafty types". I had been eagerly awaiting this show for weeks and was hooked from the outset, but my son was equally interested once the show started.
Eight amateur sewers take on three challenges each week to try to stay in the competition. They range from 82 year old Ann, who sews all her own clothes,  Mark an HGV mechanic who sews steampunk costumes to somone many blog following sewers will already know: Tilly who blogs at Tilly and the Buttons

Image source: guardian.co.uk

The judges are May Martin from the WI academy and Patrick Grant, a Saville Row award winning designer - one stern and intimidating, the other charming and generous (I'm not saying which is which - no spoilers here!). The host is Claudia Winkelman

The challenges so far are all of the dress making variety, but whilst the judges are deliberating and the contestants are amiably sipping coffee in the nearby cafe, Claudia shows us how to make a simple sewn item. This week is was a laundry bag

Image source: radiotimes.com



There are full details each week's projects on the BBC 2 website and of course there is a book to go with the series, available from Amazon

I thoroughly enjoyed the show. It made me want to get my machine out right there and then and make something. (It was probably fortunate that my machine is away having a service or I would have been up all night sewing!!)

It's Wednesday so I need to show you my Wishful Wednesday projects - the items I would love to make this week if only I had all the hours in the world.

First up is this gorgeously warm looking jacket. (I could have done with this when I was walkng along the beach at Brean Sands in the bitterly cold wind a few days ago!)

The pattern is a free download available here. It is knitted in chunky weight yarn and the pattern gives five sizes ranging from 28" - 46" bust (71 - 117cm)

My sewing project for this week was really difficult to choose (my head is still buzzing from Great British Sewing Bee!!), but in the end I settled on this top.

I'm thinking forward to summer and I'm thinking economy now. It's made by adapting a ready made man's T shirt, which could be purchased really cheaply in a supermarket. It would be a quickly made wardrobe staple. The tutorial is available here

Finally, for my crochet project this week, I've chosen this quick and easy tissue holder:

The free pattern is here
I really need to make one of these, as the tissues in my bag get torn to shreds really quickly and it is so embarassing when you offer one to someone, only to produce a shabby, grubby plastic wrapper. No wonder they hesitate!! I'm thinking I might get to sew it quicker than I'll crochet it, though!

Till next time.................. Julie







Knitted Daffodils

I've been having fun.... playing.... designing a little pattern for daffodils. I started it over a week ago. Spring was, well, not exactly "in the air", but maybe round the corner, and so I felt in the mood to make these. Now we are back in the throws of winter and the real daffodils in my garden, which were just about to burst into bud are now buried beneath drifts of snow.

I have added these to the Etsy and Craftsy shops and hopefully I'll feel inspired to design some more flowers soon.

I've also been busy with my Stahbuster Challenge and have made a couple of hats.

 

 

 

I'm still on target with my 52 items in the 52 weeks of 2013 for Greenfields Africa . I'm sure I will get behind at some point, but I'm nearly a 1/4 of the way there now, so I'm pretty pleased with myself.

On Thursday I went to The Sewing For Pleasure show at the NEC Birmingham. I'm so pleased I chose Thursday - before all the snow came down! It was a lovely day out. So much colourful fabric and scrummy yarn, all under one roof!

I was fairly restrained in my purchases though.

 

 

I bought a dress pattern and some dotty fabric (I hope we get some warm enough weather for me to wear it!) I didn't intend to buy a dress pattern, but they were "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" and as I'd gone with my son's girlfriend, who wants me to teach her to dressmake, we split the pattern deal between us.

I bought both charm squares aand a jelly roll in Sweetwater's Noteworthy line. Although we had made a pact that we "just looked" first time round the hall, and did our buying on the second lap, I'm so glad I broke the rule and bought these first time round. A lot of stallholders were on their second show in two weeks and stock of the really popular pre-cuts was thin on the ground. These would almost certainly have been out of stock by the afternoon. I also bought some of the Clover Soft Touch crochet hooks. Again stock was low and I couldn't get all the sizes I wanted, but these will do me for now. They really are very gentle on your hands. I hat having to go back to a standard hook now.

Overall, it was a good show. I came back with my head spinning with ideas. I was tired, but happy, and now it can snow as much as it wants to. I'm more than happy staying cosy inside, having a battle with my conscience - do I finish the Bee in my Bonnet Row Along quilt that I started late last summer?

 

 Or maybe the charity quilt I've so nearly finished?

Or do I break open that jelly roll and do some more playing!! Decisions.... decision... life is hard!..

 

 

 

Sssshhhh! Don't tell!

 

Oh dear! It's been way too quiet on Mack and Mabel over the last couple of weeks or so. It's not that I haven't got anything to show you, it's just that I can't show you yet!

Every year I get some lovely ideas of things to make friends and family for Christmas, but I get those ideas way, way to late!!! Here we are just two weeks away from the big day and I'm sitting surrounded by bits of fabric, just starting out on some crafting adventures that have to be started and finished in a matter of days. To say I'm being over ambitious is grossly underestimating the situation.

I wish I could share them with you, and I will, I'm taking photos, I just can't share them yet incase any of the people they are meant for decide to come for a peek on this blog before Christmas.

I daren't even show you the fabric - it would spoil their surprise.

The other thing I can't show you yet is the new knitting pattern designs I'm working on.

My daughter in law kindly offered to photograph the new designs for me and then we'll edit them together when she visits over Christmas. She lives in Canada so if I was going to send a parcel over to her, I wanted it to be a big parcel!

Mission accomplished! Fed Ex did their bit, and hopefully the weather will be kind in Toronto this weekend so she can get some good photos for me. So, hopefully what this blog has been lacking over the last few weeks, will be more than made up for in the next few!

I am hoping to get a bit of time to make something just for me though - and that's where the top photo of the Rudolph decoration comes in.

I designed a pattern for range of Christmas decorations last year.

There are a total of 7 decorations and they are a great way to use up oddments of yarn.

The pattern can be purchased on Craftsy,  Ravelry or Etsy

The angel's wings and the Rudolph's antlers are made with i-cords.

 

There is  a photo tutorial in the pattern, if you have never made these before. I can assure you they are incredibly easy!

I am intending to make (Wait for it! Don't laugh at this - I'm being over ambitious again!) a few of these stockings from the pattern

and string them together as bunting to go over the fireplace. They are knit flat on two needles and work up in no time at all!

I guess if I'm going to have any chance of finishing all this lot, I better get off here and get on with it!

I hope your Christmas crafting projects are coming along nicely.

Till next time .........................Julie

 

 

 

 

Vintage Style Baby Hat

I already know what my New Year's Resolution for 2013 is going to be!!!! It is to finish one thing before I start the next. There is absolutely no chance that I'll keep it up, but if I can improve just a little it will be a good thing.
I started designing this pixie hat way back in the summer. There are pixie hats out there already, but I've never been able to find one in a double knit yarn in a range of sizes, so I decided to create my own. It was all designed - many hats knitted to test out all the sizes and yardage, but I just never got round to writing it up!!!! Well a few wet days, and the need to stay in whilst some house maintenance was being done, meant I actually got round to finishing it off.

I love the way it frames the face, and I think the pixie point is just about right - not so pointy that it's only used as a photo prop, but pointy enough to be cute.
Some of the photos in the pattern are darker than I would have liked...... but as I said..... they were wet, winter days.
I've given instructions for 4 sizes of hat from birth to toddler, and you can choose to have a chin strap if you've got a little wriggler,

or ties if its for an older baby or toddler.

I've also written the instructions in both "knit in the round" and "knit flat" format, so I've aimed to please everyone.
It's a good hat to knit because you don't get bored - you are either increasing or decreasing, and it knits up quite quickly. You can finish it in a couple of evenings.
I hope you like it!

Knitted Pumpkins for Halloween

The shops are full of Halloween paraphernalia. It's bright , it's cute, it's scary, but it's plastic and tacky!

So in order to rectify that just one eentsy, teentsy, tiny bit, I spent yesterday evening designing a little knitted pumpkin. This is so quick to knit (look, I made two already!) and has a multitude of uses. They can decorate a table, hang in doorways or be tied to trick or treat bags. I think they would look really great sewn or pinned to the back of a pair of gloves. I know I would be especially generous to anyone who knocked at my door Trick or Treating if they were wearing gloves with pumpkins attached! Or why not pin one on a witches hat or a headband. The possibilities are endless.

The pattern uses 10 grams (20 yards) of double knit yarn, and the finished pumpkin measures 3" (7.5cm) across the diameter. If you wanted to make it just that little bit bigger, just use aran/worsted weight yarn instead.

If you want to get the kids involved, let them cut out eyes and mouth from black felt and glue them on rather than embroidering the facial details. These are so simple to make that any new knitter - young, or not-so-young could make them.

I've created a pdf document of the pattern which you can download for free, here so go grab some bright orange yarn and have some spooky fun!



New Knitting Pattern - the Marlow Boots

Finally!! I've forced myself to sit at the laptop, checking and re-checking numbers, words and photos for long enough to be able to get this pattern listed on Etsy. Its been a work in progress for a looooong time :(
I love designing something, but I don't love writing it up, so these sat in my knitting bag for so long that I had a hard time deciphering all my initial scribbles, so basically I just had to start over, re-knit and make myself type at the same rate as I knit. Thankfully its all done now, checked, tested and up for sale.
They are so cute and easy to make.
I knew I wanted to design a pair of boots that looked a bit like the Jaden Boots

but that were a lot easier to make. Although Jaden are knit flat, they use a circluar needle to get round the cuff, and that initmidates some people, so these new boots needed to be worked on straight needles only.

The new Marlow Boots are based on skulduggery and deception!! They look as though they have a side opening, but when you look real close...... it's false !! They just pull on.

This makes them a whole lot easier to knit, and as they are worked entirely in garter stitch, they are great for intrepid beginners, as well as more experienced knitters who just want something relatively simple, but modern to knit whilst watching TV.

If you want to have a go, the pattern is for sale on Etsy.

Let me know what you think of them.................Julie