By lilysunshine, on 1 December 2011, at 10:00 am 
It’s time for some QAL action! How excited are you? I’m quite excited myself!
This week, it’s another simple patch from me. But it makes you practice cutting, lining-up seams and sewing together little bits of fabrics. This week we are making a very simple bordered 9-patch. This block will also be the base for my next block in 2 weeks, so it’s good practice!
So here it is, a simple 9-patch, with a border.
The instructions for putting it together are very similar to our first block, so if in doubt, refer to this post as well.
For this week’s block, I refer you to this very cool pdf file that I’ve put together. It’s handy, because you can print it and take it with you to your sewing place. It’s got all the necessary information. 9-patch tutorial.
Here are a few pics to inspire / help you. Hopefully!
So, for this week, I decided to go for the last colour remaining in my quilt: grey!
If you have scraps from your previous blocks, do use them, that will make your FQs go further! I’ve also added 3 white squares, because I like the mix of plain and prints, but it could be all prints, too!
Here is the layout I went for. I randomly placed the white squares and organised the prints in a way that I liked. I can be a bit OCD about block placement (no identical prints in the same row or touching, kind of OCD), but I’m trying to learn to let go.
And here it is, all sewn-up, before the borders are attached. Isn’t it lovely?
Now, you might wonder how you are going to trim this one down to 12.5″? Well, here’s my way of doing it.
I fold my block in half and press well at the midway point. Then I line up my 6.25″ line from my ruler along the fold (with the block open) and cut. It is not super precise, so I generally give myself a few millimetres extra and trim more if necessary. I do that on all sides and that gives me a perfectly centred block!
So here are all my blocks so far! Yes, they all have a white border, but no, you don’t have to! We are hoping to alternate print and plain border in the final layout, so if you are going to make only 9 blocks (which is totally fine), you need to keep that in mind! You would need to have 4 plain borders and 5 print borders (or the reverse!).
I think that’s all for today! Don’t forget to check Jen’s blog, too!
Oh, and there’s still 15% off all orders in the Little Fabric Store with the code ‘curiouser’ (and there’s plenty of fabrics on sale too!)
By lilysunshine, on 30 November 2011, at 9:51 am Just in time! It’s been in the works for about a month, but for some reason it took me forever to finish it. It wasn’t even that much work and I never doubted of the result. Ah, procrastination…
But anyway, my advent calendar is done done done! And I am SO pleased!
I used a charm pack of white Bella Solids and a charm pack of Flurry by Kate Spain (only 2 left in stocks and at this price, it’s a total bargain!). I have plenty leftovers of both, for Christmassy cushions, place mats or table tops. The binding is this absolutely amazing print from the new Ruby line, a white pindots on a perfectly matching red. I love it so much, I almost regret not getting anymore. Perfect staple for the stash, looks amazing as binding and would work in place of plain fabric, too.
I imagined this design and it turned out just as I envisioned it. What did slow me down is that I decided to embroider all the numbers. If you are short of time, a solution would be to use a fabric permanent marker in red and draw / write the numbers instead. Also, you could applique the number or machine embroider them. That could be quicker, depending on your skills.
But I don’t regret my choice of embroidering the numbers at all! It was slow, but it looks perfect (to me). This is the look I was going for! The font I used for the number was found on Dafont. It’s a free font, too!
With this advent calendar, I wanted to try a technique new to me, I wanted to try finishing attaching the binding with the sewing machine. It went… okay. Not perfect by any means and I can see it being useful when short of time, but I don’t like the look of it on the back of the quilt. So it’s something I would only use on a wall hanger.
I put together a very quick tutorial for the calendar. I’m afraid it’s possibly not very beginner friendly as it assumes you have some basic knowledge of cutting / sewing / quilting.
Advent calendar.
And I’m also going to add to this post the pdf I printed for my numbers.
Christmas numbers.
Now, I just need to put some sweets and chocolates in the little pouches of the calendar to be ready for tomorrow!
By lilysunshine, on 29 November 2011, at 5:13 pm For some reason, I never came around to blog about those 2 finished objects. They’ve been for a while and worn a few times already.
First up, my cockleshells gloves.
I fell in love with those when I edited the pattern for The Knitter. I resisted very hard before casting on, as I was super busy at the time I edited the pattern / it was published. But I knew exactly which yarn I was going to use: some Madeline Tosh Sock in Thyme which had been in my stash forever.
The stitch pattern works wonderfully with semi-solid yarns and really shows off the slight variegation of the Tosh Sock. It was a bit fiddly and when I was about midway through the second gloves, I felt like I was done with the cockleshells stitches, but it grows fast and soon I had 2 gloves.
The colours are a bit washed out in the pics (I blame the fugly weather we’ve had today), it’s a lovely light-ish green.
I knitted the first glove almost as written, I just decreased (a bit too many) stitches on the thumb, because it was way too wide for my little fingers. Also, I, obviously, knitted a knuckle version by stopping at knuckle height and ribbing for 3 or 4 rows before casting off. I need my fingers to always be free.
For the second glove, I changed the numbers of stitches used for the 3 middle fingers (2 more sts than as written) and decreased less stitches on the thumb. All in all, I am pleased with them.
I had plenty of leftovers, so I cast on some mittens for the toddler.
I improvised this pattern, and I am very very pleased with how well they turned out. I’m thinking about writing a multi-size pattern. Any takers?
It’s good to have some FOs to show off! Oh and also, 1 less skein in my stash! Yay for stash busting! Though, I’ve got about 20g left (maybe less)… I think I will make a couple of tiny socks for the Christmas tree and the rest (if there’s any left) will go in my scrapghan!
By lilysunshine, on 24 November 2011, at 10:22 am
Jen has just posted her block design for this week. Go check it out there!
I was a bit taken aback when I saw her design yesterday – It has a set-in seam! I’ve never done set-in seam before! But I’m not one to refuse a challenge, so this morning at about 9am, I grabbed a few fabrics for this week’s block. And tada, 45 min later of very casual sewing while entertaining the toddler, I had a block! Set-in seam, you say? A piece of cake. Seriously. No need to be worried about it, it’s dead easy (and Jen’s pdf and pictures explain it very well, which helps!).
I chose aqua for this week’s block, with a white border (again!). I love how it turned out, even though my central square is not quite squared. But who cares? Certainly not me!
(Psst, the lovely print with the red apples can be found there, and there’s still 15% off all your orders with the code ‘curiouser’.)
So here are my 2 blocks so far. Yes, I will add coloured borders soon! I’ve got plenty of time though, still 33 blocks to go! HA!
I’m going to link up this blog post to Jen’s one, please do the same thing and share your blocks with us (either through the widget in Jen’s post or on Flickr!)
By lilysunshine, on 18 November 2011, at 4:22 pm Back in February 2010, I bought a few £5 bags from Kemps. I had no idea what I was getting and to be fair, I wasn’t overwhelmed by what I received. I put the 3 bags away in the back of my wardrobe and they had lived there and in my Ravelry stash ever since.
Fast forward almost 2 years (!!), and I thought about retrieving the bag of Gedifra Fashion Trend Color. I was cold and the idea of a cardigan in quick to knit Aran was suddenly appealing. I told myself, it will be perfect for a stay-at-home throw-it-own cardi.
You see, I just didn’t like the look of it in a ball.
This one is actually not too bad, but in the bag, they looked very black and white, a bit too contrasted for my liking and I thought I wouldn’t like the way it would knit up. But desperate times call desperate measures (remember, I’m still on a yarn diet / stash busting operation!).
So, I grabbed a ball out of the bag. And, oooooh! It is SOFT! When I looked at the balls, I thought it would be rough. Too rough. A bit like the DK I got from New Lanark around the same time. The colours were similar, so my brain thought they would feel the same. But oh no. This Gedifra is very very soft. It’s a slightly slubby spun single ply, and it is very soft. And superwash.
Still, I wasn’t too sure how it would come out once knitted up. I shouldn’t have feared. Because it is absolutely lovely.
There’s a slight light grey / dark grey striping happening, but it’s not too much. It’s quite subtle in changes. I really really like it!
And it knits up so fast! I think it’s the first time I’m knitting Aran weight yarn. I come from a knitters’ family who think that anything bigger than 4ply is BIG and inelegant. So all my adult knitter life, I’ve been shunning those yarns. I’m just getting over it. I’m now confident to think that elegance is an attitude and not just what you wear. And honestly, I don’t give a monkey about elegance when I’m cold. I’d rather be frumpy BUT warm, thank you very much.
And knitting aran cardis is SO fast. I only cast on Wednesday night!
I’m already almost done with the waist shaping! This is almost instant gratification. And isn’t it lovely?
It’s a Leaftlet (Rav link to my project page) from Knitty First Fall 2011. Very easy, undemanding pattern. I considered making up my own pattern, but that would have involved loads of swatching and maths and I wasn’t feeling it. There, I just grabbed my needles and yarn and cast on. Yes, no swatch. It’s top-down, I’ve been trying it on as I go, and it should be fine, even if it grows after being washed / blocked.
Now, it’s supposed to have short sleeves, but I’m considering making long sleeves (or at least 3/4 length). I should have enough yarn for it. What do you think?
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Knitting patterns for sale Beynac Sock pattern
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