Lilysunshine

This week has been pretty busy here, with the launch of the Little Fabric Store’s website, Lucas deciding that naps are for weaklings and all, but I’ve managed to sneak in some crafty. Just enough to make the 2 latest blocks of the Sampler QAL.

I decided to re-use the same fabrics as the ones I had used for the first 4 blocks, just adding a couple of prints from the same lime. I’m pretty happy with my choices.
Mummy’s little helper agrees with Mummy’s choices

The first block’s explanations used strip piecing: great thing to be able to do, but not practical without a sewing machine. So instead, I cut my fabrics in 2.5 x 4.5 inches little strips. It worked out well. Yay! I added to the ‘difficulty’ (really, it wasn’t that difficult, just lots of little bits to sew together), by choosing directional prints. So I had to be careful about not sewing the wrong way.
The second block was more straightfoward. It was my first time using half-square triangles and I was please by how simple they are. I can see myself using that a lot in the near future (nothing to do with the loads of charm packs I have ordered this week……. Ha!). I love the big dots print, it worked fantastically well for this block, I think.
My blocks for week 3

All my blocks so far

Can’t wait to see what’s up for week 4!

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Just a quickie post to announce that the Little Fabric Store website is now up and running and that it is full of goodies!

I have been very busy the last couple of days, getting everything ready and it is finally done! Oh, I’m pretty sure I missed some things, but it seems to be working so far!

Today, I’ve also received almost all of the Pindots by American Jane (just missing a couple of colours) and it is really cute! The names of some of the fabrics is so funny-cute: cherries, blueberries, school bus, mail box, etc… They are all in the shop. I intend to offer some bundles, so if there are some you’d like to be bundled up, do let me know! I only have a couple of metres of each colour, so be quick!

Oh, and to celebrate the launch of the website, I’m offering a 5% discount on all orders. To get it, just type launch10 in the coupon field during the checkout.

Now, I’m off to add some more stuff!

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It seems that I have become obsessed with making blankets. Knitted, crocheted or quilted blankets. Blankets galore. I have a few on the go, all at different stages of their making. Today, I am going to talk about a knitted blanket – the latest one I have finished.

A few months ago, I had ordered a few balls from New Lanark.I had heard relatively good things about their yarns and it was very good value for money (£2.95 for 100g of Aran weight). I was very pleased with the colours I had ordered, but a little bit deflated about the yarn itself. It was feeling quite rough. I have a really extremely sensitive skin and rough yarns are not to be worn within 2 inches of bare skin: that meant I couldn’t make anything for myself to be worn. So what to do with it?

As I was browsing Ravelry, I stumbled upon the Hemlock Ring pattern and knew that it would be perfect for my cherry coloured aran weight from New Lanark.

This pattern does require a little bit of faith, as it is very curly and the thick yarn doesn’t make it super attractive to work on. But the big needles mean that it goes fast, even when the rows are starting to have a lot of stitches.
Little duckling-blanket

It used 3 balls of New Lanark’s aran (in cherry), minus 5-10g. I stopped 2 repeats before the golden line on the pattern, because I was getting bored (and sore – my poor fingers didn’t like the yarn). And it was a VERY good call, as I wouldn’t have had enough yarn to do just one more repeat. The cast-off row is really greedy, yarn wise (basically, it’s like knitting 3 rows). Unblocked, it was just shy of a meter in diameter.

I soaked it for 1 hour in cold water with a bit of shampoo, then rinsed it, then gently rubbed some conditioner and rinsed again. I didn’t have enough floor space to block it! So I focused on making the center round and on stretching the petals quite well. When it got dry, I steamed pressed the border. I guess it could have been bigger, but I’m quite happy with how it is now, at about 1.20m. Maybe more.
Hemlock Ring Blanket

How pretty! The drape is very nice and the yarn has smoothed loads. It is quite pleasant to handle now. But I am especially pleased with how it looks. I can see myself making some more of those, maybe with a slightly smaller yarn (and smoother). I’m going to send it to my mother tomorrow, for it to live in our family home (nothing fancy, just an old house built in 1860, with only 2 bedrooms – and outdoors toilets). It will be perfect to snuggle under in winter next to the fireplace or in summer when enjoying a long starry evening outside, with a glass of wine and a silly conversation with my relatives. (Yes, there is a bit of nostalgia going on here, as it has been a long time since I have been able to spend this kind of quality time with my family)

I know that I generally don’t post personal pictures, but I love this photo so much, I feel compelled to share it.
Stop rambling, Mummy

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I know, I know. I said I was going to post yesterday, but yesterday, when I went to take pictures for this blog post, the batteries of my camera were empty and I kind of forgot to put them to charge until this morning. I also said I was going to post about some knitting, but I decided not too. I’ll keep it for tomorrow. Or the day after.

Instead, I’m going to talk about my little stash enhancements that all happen in the last couple of weeks.

First, after seeing Mooncalf’s Peace jacket, I had a look at the Misty collection by Kim Hargreaves and fell in love with a couple of patterns. Unfortunately, they were using some Rowan Milk Cotton Fine which is rather expensive and much more than what I am willing to pay. I was quite sad about it. But then I thought about checking the Phildar website and I found some Phil’ Crochet, which is more or less the same gauge as the Rowan Milk Cotton Fine. And it was only €0.99 a skein. Even including shipping, it was half the price of RMCF. Score. And it’s a lovely red – dark coral shade.
Lovely Phil’ Crochet

Some of it is already being knitted up and will become an Arielle pretty soon. I’m halfway through the back. It is knitted on tiny needles (2.25 and 2.75mm), but it grows quite fast. And it is very light. I like it A LOT.

But I still really wanted some RMCF… The John Lewis sale was just about to start and I was hoping to go and find some nice yarn bargains. I left my 2 boys together for the first time (for longer than 20min) and I headed into town on a very bright and very hot Saturday morning. I didn’t find any RMCF, but I found a very good replacement in a fantastic hot pink shade. I LOVE the colour.
Rowan Siena

It is slightly brighter in reality. This is one of my favourite colours, so I was chuffed that this was on sale! 10 skeins for £23.50! It is going to be a Petal, when I’m finished with Arielle. There should be some left overs, and I’m thinking about getting some more in a contrasting colour to make a funky Tee or something. They had some bright green that was really tempting me…

I rummaged through the bins. Well, not really, I’m not the kind of person to go all crazy when the sales are on. Some people there were really into it and it was quite interesting to see. I found some lovely RMC of the DK sort in a dark sage green. Once again, this is one of my favourite colours. How lucky was I?! So I got some!
Rowan Milk Cotton DK

Don’t let the picture fool you, there are 2 packs here. £49 for 20 skeins. You’ve got to love the sales!! This usually sells for £4.90 a skein!! Yup, half price! I think I’m going to make a Peace jacket, with it. The gauge of the yarn is different so this might not work out well. I will also make an Anais with the leftovers.
(I did say at the beginning I fell in love with some of Kim’s patterns!)

That’s not all. My mother-in-law and her partner were visiting us from New Zealand and knowing how much I love knitting, she brought me 2 skeins of gorgeous kiwi yarn, from Touch yarns.
Touch 2-ply

It’s a lovely variegated fine laceweight. The colours are black, dark teal, lilac and dark purple. It is pretty yummy. And with 900m per skein, I should be able to whip up a couple of projects. I have some ideas. The yarn is a blend of kid mohair and merino. It’s not something I would usually go for (I tend to find mohair quite itchy), but it feels incredibly smooth to the touch. And I LOVE the colours. I can’t wait to see those skeins all knitted up!

Bear with me, we are almost done with this stash enhancement post. Now, this wouldn’t be complete without adding a little bit of fabrics in the lot. So here it is, fabric!
Castle Peeps by Lizzy House

3 yards in total. My husband loves castles and he’s a bit silly (nice silly – I love him), so when I saw this collection, I knew he would like it. I was right, so I ordered some! I’m going to add 2 more prints from the same collection and colourway and this will be a twin size quilt for him for this winter.

That’s all!! Pretty good, heh? (And I did do some stash busting, too. But that will be another post).

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I know it’s only been a couple of days since I blogged about my blocks for week 1, but this week, I didn’t want to be in a rush like for week 1. I know there isn’t any obligation for me to complete these blocks on time, but a few years in a business where deadlines are what you live for make an impression on you. I didn’t want to think about the blocks for week 2 the whole week, so I made them early. Ha! Enough rambling about my psychoses.

This week, I decided to cut into my Nicey Jane fat quarters. I fell in love with this range the first time I saw it, but now, I’m not that passionate about it. I still love the big flowers, the dots and the stripes. The rest, I’m not so in love about them. I still like them. So it was easier to cut into them! Hehe!
Nicey Jane bits!

It looks so fresh and Spring like. Nice!

Piecing was easy. I laid the blocks before sewing up which prevented directionality mishaps. And it all came along very easily. Hand-sewing this size of blocks is not too bad and I guess that setting up a sewing machine, etc would take as much time (since I’m a noob with sewing machines – I still want one, though).
Blocks for week 2, all sewn up

I LOVE the block on the left. Probably because it’s got my favourite fabrics in it (I need to buy some more, just in case it runs out or something). I quite like the contrast on the “plus” block, it looks quite funky.

My blocks so far

I like the different styles of fabrics and the fact that they are brought together by their colour schemes. It will be interesting to see how it will look once it’s been all put together with the sashing.

I’m feeling quite “bloggy” this week, so I’ll come back tomorrow with some knitting adventures. Toodles!

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