Week Ninety Two

Twigs and Willows cardigan is finished!

Knitted in Sundara Aran Silky Merino in the colour Green Tea. 

I alternated the skeins, there is a little bit of variation through the cardigan. One of the skeins had some golden green flashes. There are more photographs (including a modelled shot) on my Ravelry project page.

I'm very happy with the fit and lengths and even happier now that I see the buttons on. 

I was a bit worried that they might be a bit distracting with their black and green leaf design. 

Just as a reminder, here are the buttons (I didn't make a separate photo today)

Week Ninety One

I am well on the way to finishing Twigs and Willows. One front is now knitted and seamed to the back and the sleeve set in. 


















I am working on the second front and hope to have it finished this week.

After that its just button bands and buttons.

Floral Cross Stitch

I also finished the floral cross stitch. This will be sent for upholstering into a cushion this week. It is for my daughters bedroom.

Hair Clip projects.

I was prompted by a Ravelry discussion on the Sundara forum of how to use up the very small remnants of yarn. And I was thinking about gifts for small girls.

Flower with multiple yarns.

I used three yarns. Skein Merino Silk Worsted in the colour Geisha for the base flower. Madelinetosh Vintage in Grapefruit and Noro Silk Garden Light. (I wouldn't use this again as it looks a little 'messy' when crocheted next to the smoother yarns)

Th first round is a single crochet, then a combination of single and double (treble?) stitches to make a scalloped round.

The second layer was made with Madelinetosh Vintage in Grapefruit. I used my crochet hook to 'dig in' pick up stitches and 'cast off'. (Rather like the knitting technique.) I kept this round very loose.

The final round is a very small single crochet ring in the Noro.

It's a little overblown with three layers but I was quite happy with it for a first attempt.

Simple and quick little flowers

I made two clips in my second experiment. These flowers were so quick to make. Just a few minutes each.

(1) Make a slip knot. Not too tightly because I have to go back into this stitch for each ‘petal’ 

(2) Chain 6 

(3) Slip stitch back into that first slip knot to make a chain loop.

(4) Make four more petals the same way by chain 6, and slip stitch back into the first stitch. (Total five 'petals'.)

(5) Tie off and use yarn tail to sew to clip and fix bead in centre.

Button flower

This has a pink shell button as a base, then a crocheted flower (with Sundara Aran Silky Merino and using the technique above).

Finished with a button and the whole lot is sewn down to a hair clip.

Leaf hairclip

Botanical Knits has a pattern for little leaves (also a free Ravelry download.)

I made one with my Sundara cardigan yarn. 

I was looking through the button box for an accompaniment. But I settled on a gold button.

Week Ninety

The Green Tea cardigan is progressing. I have finished both sleeves and the back. I am working my way up the first of the two fronts. 

Todays picture isn't much different from the previous.. just more of it.

I hope by next week I will be able to post a picture of the leaf yoke.

My young daughter is serious about training the puppy. We have a trainer to help us and our sessions require lots of treats for good behaviour. My daughter needed a little bag to hold all these food treats when she's out walking.

So I made her one. She chose the fabric from the stash. Its a quilting cotton, all up I used half a fat quarter.

Its just a little square pocket with a gather across the top edge to allow for a little more fullness inside. I added a fabric "cuff' to the top edge to allow a plastic 'ziplock' bag to be put inside and folded over the top edge.
Then just a red ribbon strap and a bow for extra girly decoration.

I will make her a couple more (for different outfits! Her plan, not mine.) My next one might incorporate interfacing inside the top edge.

Finally, I have noticed that jeans for my nine year old boy last about five minutes. The jeans themselves are fine but he goes straight through the knees. Not that I am a reluctant shopper for either of my kids.. but I hate to see waste.

I got crafty on sewing patches. The chino patch is a leftover from a Kokka cotton linen blend fabric I used in his bedroom. The stripe (appliquéd with gold metallic machine thread!) is a quilting cotton. 

My stash was quite limited for boy fabrics.

Week Eighty Nine

The last week of school holidays is over.

I finished Flo and sewed on the buttons. I'm very happy with it.

The buttons are the same type as before, just smaller and I bought more of them.

I cast on two new cardigan projects. Both in Sundara Aran Silky Merino. They are being knitted as part of the Sundara Group knitalong on Ravelry. I have confidence I'll finish the first and hope to be able to get the sencond complete too by the end of November.

This is the first. The colour is Green Tea and the pattern is Twigs and Willows by Alana Dakos. I've knitted this cardigan before in week sixty six but this time I'm making some size modifications.

I've completed two sleeves and about 20% of the way up the back.

The buttons are carved resin from All Buttons Great and Small.

The second cardigan is in the colour Fanciful Flowers. It will be an Annabelle cardigan similar to the Sundara ASM cardigan I knitted in the colour Somewhere Out there in week fifty seven.

The buttons are vintage 1960s also From All Buttons.

I made a little progress on the floral cross stitch. This will be a cushion for my daughters room. I just have the two paler pinks to complete on the petals.