Quilt love

It’s been ages since I last blogged which is mainly down to having a new job, which is nice a busy on the 3 days I work, but sadly not allowing for lunch time blogging. Then in the evenings I’ve been getting that change of the season hibernation feeling where I just want to snuggle up and fall asleep on the sofa in front of Masterchef with the Mr.

However, despite this I managed to finish the quilt I’ve been working on for the past couple of months and yesterday I handed it over to its intended owners, my oldest and dearest friend Shanthini at her wedding to the lovely Marc.

Shan and I were born on the same day and our parents met in the beds next to each other while waiting to give birth. Ever since we’ve had a very special relationship, I’d say one of unconditional sisterly comfort with each other. So it was really important for me to give her something meaningful for one of the most important days of her life. My hope is that the quilt will become a family heirloom and keep her, Marc and their family warm for years to come.

Front of the quilt

Back of the quilt

Embroiders date of the wedding

 

She likes it!

 I loved making the quilt and it has spurred me on to get out my half-finished Christmas quilt and get working on it. Want to take bets on if it will be ready for Christmas 2011?

Wool Steak and TV fame

The last few weeks have been a real whirl wind. I spent most of it organising a surprise 30th birthday party for the Mr and then we got burgled a few days before the party. The intruders stole the usual electrical goods, TV, computer, camera etc along with some jewellery and Flo's piggy bank :-( There's nothing that we could have done about it, but it just feels like a sad thing to happen.

The surprise party went really well. Everyone seemed to have a good time, including Flo who was allowed to stay up late and party till the late hour of 9pm! She enjoyed dancing, pointing at all the old pictures of Daddy and dragging my handbag around with her. The Mr. had a great time too and got some suitably manly presents for a 30 year old. One particularly apt present was a couple of fine steaks! When we opened up their special cold bag I found this inside:

It's basically just a bag stuffed with natural wool which keeps your meat cold. Brilliant.

I'm really missing my camera already. I keep seeing things I want to snap and the realise that my camera's probably on Ebay right now! So not many pictures to share with you I'm afraid. The above was taken on the Mr's phone and emailed to me.

On a more positive note Purl Alpaca's have asked if they can use my photos of the Cleo skirt I made on their TV slot on the Create and Craft channel. It will be on Thursday at 5pm Sky channel 671, Freeview 36 and Freesat 813 if you fancy watching. I'll let you know if I can get a link to the show once it's aired.

Top Tip

My Mum was helping me iron and cut out my new quilt project and she came up with the genius idea to hang the ironed fabric from a skirt hanger so that it stays relatively flat while you cut. With Flo running about like a crazy nut it's meant that I don't need to get the iron out every time I need to cut more fabric. Top tip!

However unless you hang it somewhere they can't reach it doesn't stop toddlers from trying to steal it, presumably for their own secret quilting projects?

Now you see them... now you don't!

Here are the finished baby trousers which I'm calling Isla's camo pants as they're for baby Isla and are a little bit camouflage.

I made a couple of mods to the design, making the legs a few rows longer (46 rows) and adding elastic into the waistband rather than doing an i-cord tie fastening. I'm pleased with them despite them being a little mental in colour! I enjoyed the project so much I'm going to make some more but in a solid colour and with the seed stitch patterning. I wonder if I can make them adult sized?

Crafting not Rioting please!

With all the riots going on in London it’s been a rather unsettling time, but crafting has been keeping my spirits up. Knitting on the tube into work genuinely seemed to bring some kind of calm to people who smiled and watched as I worked away. But when Flo’s nursery called to say they were locking all of the parameter gates and I was sent home from work I got a bit twitchy again. But once the family was safely home and I got stuck into some quilting I was a much calmer person. Crafting not rioting people!

It’s so sad to see the destruction of people’s communities. The saddest parts are where independent shops and people’s homes/ cars have been destroyed. I can’t imagine what they are going thorough having to rebuild from scratch. Let’s hope the violence, looting and destruction is put an end to soon.

I promised I’d share a picture of my finished Lacy Blue top. And here it is:

My good friend James Diggle came over to do a little photo shoot for the magazine the other day and took this photo among others, which were all a bit too ‘catalogue model’. You can just about see the gold coffee bean buttons on the bust, which I think really set off the shimmering blue of the yarn. I’m really glad it’s finished and I’ve worn it a few times already. There’s nothing like a successful project to make you smile.

My new quilting project is making me smile too. Look at those prints!

We're in... Let knitting commence!

Yay! We moved! We’re now in our new flat and I have my hands back on my precious stash! Flo has been running about like a crazy nut, enjoying all of her old toys (although she’d forgotten all about them so she thinks they’re all new anyway) and generally really loving her new home, which is a relief.  I managed to bake my first cake using the new oven and it was lovely. I even handed some round to the neighbours, who seemed to really appreciate the gesture.

Amongst it all I’ve managed to do a bit of knitting. I finished the Lacey Blue top – woooo!!! But have yet to take a picture of it in all its glory. As soon as I do I’ll post it up for you.

I’ve been working on a couple of secret projects but one of them I feel like I must blog about. Knit With Attitude have this great offer every few weeks called Yarn of the Week. Owner MayaB gives you 15% off of a different selected yarn every two weeks, simply to encourage you to try her lovely environmentally friendly and ethically produced yarns. As she puts it:

“It can seem risky and scary moving out of one’s own comfort zone, trying out new fibres and brands you haven’t used before, and that’s why I came up with Yarn of the week, to encourage you to try something new!”

I really liked the idea, and you know I love a bargain! So I gave it a bash and a few weeks ago tried the yarn of the week which was Mirasol Hacho. I don’t tend to go for variegated yarns as I usually make clothes rather than accessories and don’t really like the idea of colour pooling on my garments. However after looking on Ravelry at a few patterns and project knitted in the yarn, I found one that liked and decided to give it a go.

I’m making a pattern called Kanko Pants which is basically little knitted trousers for my friend Startitis’s baby. I’m doing them without the stitch pattern as I don’t think it would show up nicely on the variegated yarn. My theory on this is that people will tend to knit babies cardigans, jumpers and blankets, but what kind of crazy fool knits babies trousers? Me, that’s who!

I’m calling them camo pants as they colours make them look a bit like camouflage. The colour pooling is an acquired taste but as the project is going on I like them more and more. Let’s just hope Startitis likes them when they’re finished!

Knit Nation 2011, Purl Princess reports.

Knit Nation delivered once more this year with its mix of amazing British independents and gorgeous international yarn, needles, books and notions.  The rain didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits and as we entered the market place there was a lovely friendly atmosphere and lots of yummy things to pore over.

We did the initial sweep round the stalls stopping to chat to lots of friendly faces. The lovely ladies at the Purl Alpaca stall told me that they are about to launch their new range which is going to include a dress, which is apparently right up my street. Looking forward to that!

I finally met my Knitting Magazine neighbour Jeanette Sloane, who was selling her beautiful yarns and pattern book. Our columns have been next to each other in the magazine for at least a year, so it was really nice to have a chat and properly meet each other. I also caught up with Knitting Magazine editor Emma, who was selling subscriptions like there was no tomorrow.

Asking round there seemed to have been a repeat of last year’s mad dash for the Wollmeise yarn on the opening night. A shell shocked Meghan on the Loop stall, where the yarn was selling, told me they had bought 1,000 skeins of the yarn with them. By the look of the stock remaining there was maybe only a quarter left and still with a day and a half of trading to go! Looks like there will be slim pickings for the Sunday crowd.  Someone else told me that they’d heard that there was an hour long queue to pay for the sought after yarn after less than an hour of trading. Man, people love that Wollmeise!

It was lovely to see some old faces from my S&B London past like Erqsome who was working alongside Sweet Clement & WickedWoolyWitch who looks amazing having lost over 60lb. You go girl!

This year there was a Knit Nation specific Knit Tea Salon which I had expected to be fancier than it was. We paid £12 each which included 4 finger sandwiches, 4 mini cakes, which you had to pile up on a small side plate and a cup of tea which you had to serve yourself and in a paper cup. There was no dedicated Knit Tea Salon seating area either, so we sat on a long canteen table. The sandwiches and cakes were nice, but the only thing I think was worth the £12 price tag was the fact that we didn’t have to queue up like everyone else did. ‘Knit Tea Salon’ conjured up an idea of a quaint tea room, with table service, china cups and relaxed atmosphere. Instead it was more like a school canteen, which was a disappointment.

Thankfully it was the only disappointment of the day. After our tea we went to Ysolda’s stall where we bought 2 raffle tickets and picked out a couple of lucky dip pouches. Mum and I both won free Ysolda pattern downloads from Ravelry as well as some yummy chocolate. The two ladies that went after us one copies of Whimsical Little Knits which I already have copies of, so I didn’t feel too jealous! I bought my copy of Little Red in the City, which is much bigger than I thought it would be as it’s packed with Ysolda’s helpful guidance on construction and fit. This book will be one to sit down and read properly. Once again I got a photo of me and Ysolda in her photo booth and once again I probably made myself look like a bit of a stalker.

Back in the market place I made my purchases and spent all my money on Excelana yarn at Susan Crawford's stall in a lovely colour called Powdered Egg! And a really cool print from Tilly Flop for our new home which looks like some knitting on a needle but the picture is made up of helpful knitting rhymes like “In the bunnyhole, round the big tree, out through the bunnyhole, off hops she”.

Overall it was another successful Knit Nation with lovely products, a welcoming atmosphere and an ability to empty your pockets with no problem at all.