A new use for quilts

As I am right in the middle of making a new quilt with nothing much to show you at present, I thought I would catch up on a couple of little projects I finished around Christmas time (better late than never!).

This first one is a tiny mini quilt for my eldest son Felix, the orange-clad travelling hippy (as we call him).
Felix wasn't meant to be home for Christmas as he is travelling until next summer, but he surprised us by turning up at the door unannounced a few weeks before (one of the loveliest days of my life so far).
Of course I hadn't bought him a Christmas present and when I asked him what he wanted he said, "can you make me a tiny quilt like the one you gave Jacob. I need it for re-charging my crystals".
Well I bet you didn't know you could use quilts to do that!!

This is the tiny quilt I gave his brother. I made a few different versions of these about 5 years ago and mounted them in box frames and sold them in the shop. But I could never bear to part with this little Amish one.
Jacob should have had a full-sized quilt for his 21st birthday last August, but due to my tardiness and to his inability to give up control of even the simplest thing *sigh* I have not even started it yet. So for his birthday I gave him this tiny quilt instead, just until I had made the large one. Though actually he says he is not going to give it back now anyway, as it's 'cool'!!

So for Felix's 'crystal re-charger' I made a tiny rainbow Dresden Plate and sewed it to a piece of Hometown fabric which featured quite a few places he had visited. The eye fabric came from one of my remaining pieces of Alexander Henry, Frida Kahlo fabric I have been hoarding for years. Some hand quilting, blanket stitches and French knots finished it off.
Here is the quilt at work...

...and here is the back - some Essex Yarn-dyed in black.
He is off again now and this is travelling with him. Well, you mustn't forget your re-charger when you are travelling ;)

Last Christmas I had great fun knitting my first pair of socks and I was looking forward to another go this year.

I found this Regia sock yarn amongst my wool stash, I had bought a 100g ball years ago to crochet mini owls (remember them anyone?) and still had plenty left.
It is the most amazing wool, which makes you look like you are a really good knitter who knows how to do fairisle and such like. When actually the wool just does it all for you!
And look at my heel - I totally worked out how to do it properly this time!

I don't think I can really express how much fun it is to knit socks. It is like magical 3D engineering with wool. I just love it!! And I wear the socks all the time (and last year's pair), they just go through the washing machine and the tumble dryer over and over again. They fit me perfectly and are so warm. I would encourage anyone to give it a try, they really aren't that hard, especially with this fantastic book, Getting Started Knitting Socks by Anne Budd, which I thoroughly recommend.

I am desperate to knit more but I have been suffering with tendonitis in my left hand due to knitting that Noro jacket (too heavy apparently), so I have had to give up all knitting and crocheting for a bit.
Hopefully I will be back spending quality time with my 5 DPN's very, very soon! That's double pointed needles for your non-sock knitters, and really why wouldn't you just become a sock knitter after everything I've just said!

How I spent my Christmas Break...

 ... I spent it mainly sock knitting! Yes as predicted by many readers, the sock knitting was very addictive and once I started I wanted to get those socks finished!  And I guess I did need a bit of a rest... so despite all my quilt-making plans, I spent a lot of time on the sofa, in front of the telly, with the wood burning stove on, knitting my socks - bliss!
As you can see, I managed the heel on the first sock. It all worked with the pattern and it fits me and feels lovely, but there's something wrong with the heel. It doesn't quite look like the photos. I must have done something wrong with the knit 1, slip 1, bit. I can't work out what though! I will have to ask a grown-up. Anyway it's still a knitted sock, made by me!

I did manage to start a new embroidery too (first one in many months!). Here is a sneak peek. This is probably the most geeky thing I have ever made. I wonder if anyone reading this knows what this design actually depicts?

And I tidied my sewing room!
This was the state of my fabric storage after a few months of frantic activity and no time to tidy (well that's my excuse, in reality I am just very messy!).

And here is the result of a day's sorting and folding. I wonder how long it will stay like this?

I also played around with a new crochet/patchwork mash-up project I have had in mind for a bit. But the results aren't quite working out the way I imagined at the moment. I will keep trying and you might get to see something of this soon.
So lots of new 'starts' but no new 'finishes'. I think it's time for a Finish-a-Long!

This year I'm getting involved in the FAL. Leanne at She Can Quilt is hosting it and I am sponsoring a prize as well as taking part. It all starts on Jan 7th (tomorrow), so expect another post from me then *pant*. I'm packing the posts in at the moment because I go on holiday for a week on Jan 8th!

Meanwhile I did actually finish a Christmas break project...

 Yes the socks are all done and I LOVE them so much! They fit me perfectly!!

Expect a few more socks here in 2013!!

Progress and Beginnings

I'm very excited to be at home today, the first Christmas Eve I have had off for 13 years! That's the perils of working in retail for you. This is the first day of 7 consecutive days at home and I have so much new crafting planned! But first let's look at how I've been getting on with a few on-going projects.

Do you remember Katy and Laura's Travellin' Pic Stitch Blog Hop? Myself and lots of fellow bloggers produced EPP projects based on their travel or location photos.

For my stop on the bloghop I chose a photo of my local landmark, The Forth Bridge, and designed an EPP pattern inspired by the geometric architecture of the bridge. Well I have been working on it in front of the telly during these cold and damp winter nights and it now measure 34 x 23 inches. So what to do with it?

I'm thinking a wheelchair lap quilt for my dad, but according to one website it still needs to be at least 36 x 36 for this. So not too far to go but I do feel I have neglected my ongoing EPP star quilt recently and am longing to get back to that.

This is the "All Liberty Tana Lawn" project I started about 18 months ago. One of the problems I've had is that, though the fabrics in my collection are beautiful, they are also very mid value and I feel I need some more light and dark for contrast.
So I contacted the lovely Ali from Very Berry Handmade. Ali has a shop on Folksy specialising in Liberty Tana Lawn and she very kindly helped put together a big bundle of fabric pieces in light and dark (with some more mediums too as I just couldn't resist them!).
Here they are above looking delightful. I can't wait to start cutting them up! Thanks very much for your help and wonderful speedy service Ali!

I also returned to knitting a few months back with this chunky Folksong jumper for my travelling son (currently in Mexico for Christmas!). Look how much I have done!!
I am really enjoying knitting again. My mother was an amazing knitter and I think this made me a very lazy knitter as I could always ask mum if I had a problem and she would step in and finish stuff off for me if it got too hard. So I never really progressed beyond simple stocking stitch. Well now my mum's not here any more to help, and I really feel like pushing myself.

So look what I started last night! Sock knitting!!!
We have some gorgeous Regia wool in the shop this winter (most of it designed by Kaffe Fassett!). So I kitted myself out with 2 balls of this gorgeous stripe, a pack of 5 bamboo double pointed needles and a book!

And after a few false starts I managed to get this much done! I am very excited and proud :)
It is a bit like knitting with a porcupine but I am getting faster all the time, and the great thing about doing circular stocking stitch is you never have to purl! You just keep knitting all the way round.

This is all very well but in a while I will have to tackle the heel - yikes!  Anyway this should keep me busy for a few days. (please excuse the state of my cutting mat - this is an old, spare mat that my husband uses for paper and glue - I wouldn't dream of using it for my lovely fabric!)

I do hope you have a similarly crafty and also very happy and peaceful Christmas!!

I think I'm going to need more socks!

I was a very lucky girl and got 3 awesome craft books for Christmas. I love getting a new book full of projects that I just can't wait to try! I hope to share projects from all of the books with you over the next few weeks, but first up, I'm going to play with my socks for a while...

I totally missed the whole sock doll craze, but when I saw this book I just loved the idea of using 'stray socks' (even though most of the projects in the book ask for a pair!). I always have odd socks in my drawer and they are usually my favourite ones. Where do all those socks go?!

The book is written by a man called Daniel Lin, who is obviously totally barking (in a good way!). The book is full of eccentrically captioned photos of sock dolls and is very Japanese in style. My first attempt was this long-eared mini doll.

However my socks must be a bit longer than Daniels as my doll's ears are a bit too long!

Still at least he can tie them up in a knot if they get in the way! I added the buttons and hair for a bit of extra personality. Though something about him reminds me of Mr Blobby! Still he was my first attempt.

My next stab turned out to be much more successful. In fact, I have to say that I am totally in love with this little sock kitty!

Isn't she lovely? And made from just one stray sock! I have been carrying her around with me like a little comforter. Especially during the dreadful storms we had this week, 100 miles an hour gales! We lost half our greenhouse and had no power for a day and a half. So Sock Kitty cuddled up to me on the sofa as I strained my eyes reading Nicholas Nickleby by candlelight (Dickens felt very appropriate in the circumstances!).

Just one my photo of her as she's so gorgeous!

After all the bad weather here I am doing a very sensible (and yet very unusual for me) thing and jetting off to the sun tomorrow for a weeks holiday! I hardly ever take a holiday so this will be a real treat. I am going to Tenerife with my sister, Jane, and my dad to stay in Jane's apartment and soak up the rays. It is a very pleasant 22 degrees there at the moment (as opposed to 2 degrees here!) and I can't wait!

So it may be a couple of weeks before you hear from me again but don't worry about me as I will be just fine!