Monday, December 28, 2015

And more Bulky Socks

I needed lots of socks for Christmas presents so I just kept at it.



The red for my DIL and the cream/grey for my son



These were pretty straight forward but done on the 5 needle system.  They even seem to fit.  Yeah!

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

The China Dolls

Sometime back in the 1980s these small china dolls were very popular.  My sister and I got our hands on a few.  We made one up for her with a beautifully embroidered pinafore.  She was blond.  Somehow I have a blond one and a dark one in my cupboard....



 Kind of fun to work on.  Easy too.  The legs and arms are just glued to the china parts.  The last step is putting on the heads.


I thought they looked pretty crazy without their heads.  More prosaic with them on...

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

More Pillow Covers

It seems my DD has a couple of pillows that are in need of covers, and the ones I made for myself seem to appeal to her.  Hmmm, 18" pillow forms you say.



But this time around I thought I would make the angle of the wedges a bit bigger so I could get the centre smaller and have a smaller pillow too.  This time I did 15 degree wedges instead of the 11 degree ones I did on my version.



Lots of tape on my ruler and more figuring but it was a good challenge.  I sewed together two strips 3 1/2" wide and then cut them at 15 degree angles.



I was a bit worried about my ad hoc template but it worked great.



Some diagonal quilting and then I found some suede fabric for the backing as she has a leather couch and I hate cushions that slide... oh, yes and invisible zippers...

Saturday, December 12, 2015

More Socks

Ok, those two needle socks were pretty cute but I still have this favourite pattern made from the book of Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders.



These little footlets are adorable and really quick so I just had to use up some Kroy sock yarn.  It was cool but a bit frustrating as the yarn had no repeat of some of the colours so I couldn't make them match.  I still like the result and I am sure they will keep feet warm.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Knitting projects - Socks

Just in time for the chilly weather (OK, its super cold, I live in Canada after all...did I mention the prairies...?) I got a couple of books and began another sock journey.  First I made these crazy two needle socks...

cable socks

They turned out amazing and they had the advantage of less row counting.  You see, when you are knitting a row and purling a row, you only do the decreases on the knit side.  Super slick.  Then she recommends you do a crocheted seam to complete them.  And it cleverly landed just at the edge of the cable.

straight needles, two needle socks

Toasty in my new socks.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Small Clicky Purses

We were driving around Inglewood, recently, and my DH stopped in front of the yarn store called Stash, heehee.  (He remembered it being a coffee shop - wow when was that??)  He patiently waited while I perused the place.  I don't actually need any yarn but they had a lovely set of bamboo needles that I had to take home and these small purse clasps.  Sooo, cute.


I hand sewed the fabric bag to the metal through the holes provided.  Then I decided that my stitching didn't look very neat so I inserted a piece of coordinating ribbon to cover the messy bit. (with Aleene's glue) it worked like a charm.


hand sewn lined change purse

Ridiculous!! All I'm going to say.