Me made May part 2

My me made may outfits have been anything but me made. I have only been able to wear hand knit socks. I have enough hand knitted socks to wear a different pair everyday in spare and still have unworn pairs. More sewing required.

I have been working my way through Gertie sews vintage casual (Buy it here) making garments from old duvet covers to make sure I was making the right size. I was just about ready to cut into my good fabric when my health deteriorated and I lost 7lbs changing my measurements so none of my practice garments fit. Before i can remeasure and remake my practice clothes my health and weight needs to stabilize. In the meantime I am churning out hand knit socks, berets and starting to knit cardigans and jumpers with no ease (garments measurements are the same as body measurements) or less then 2 inches of positive ease (garment measurements are less then 2 inches bigger then my body measurements) so the garments I knit should fit even if I gain weight.

My favorite garment knitting patterns at the moment are

•  Driftwood by Isabell Kraemer (Driftwood pattern page)  Driftwood is a free jumper pattern designed to be slightly oversized. I am knitting it in Cygnet Aran colour 991 Claret. I got the yarn from Deramores in the sale and paid £10 for 6 100g skeins. The yarn is 100% Acrylic and amazingly soft.
•  Harvest by Tin Can Knits (Harvest pattern page) Harvest is a cardigan from Tin Can Knits Simple Collection. The simple collection are free patterns designed with beginners in mind and contains links to tutorials. The Cardigan is designed to be open So it doesn't matter if I cant close it. I have Knitted this cardigan from Cygnet Aran Colour 6684 Grape.
• Silver Dream by Drops Design (Silver Dream pattern page) Another free Pattern This time with colour work and kitted out of Drops Karisma which is 100% wool. I have picked colour 11 Orange for the main colour and 56 Dark Brown for the contrast.
• I also want to knit almost every pattern in the Tin Can Knits book Strange Brew (Strange Brew pattern page) I haven't picked which pattern I will start with yet. Which ever Pattern I pick I will use Drops yarn as it matches my yarn budget.

I am having so much fun picking patterns, yarn, and fabric for my me made wardrobe I can't wait to see all the items come to life.

I hope you craft time brings you as much joy as my crafting brings me.

Find a project that makes your heart sing and enjoy every second.

Craft Book Bargains

This week I got an amazing bargain on a haul of craft books. While i was binge watching back episodes of Stranded Podcast (find the podcast here) Amy showed a knitting book a friend had brought her from The Works (Shop online here). I remembered some bargains I had found there in the past and decided to see what they have available this week.

When I found the knitting books I was thrilled to see dozens of knitting books with huge reductions in price. There was so many books I wanted to buy, Unfortunately my budget won't stretch to all the books so I decided to start with the cheapest. The website has free delivery on orders over £20 and I can't believe how many books I had to order to get the free delivery. I got 9 knitting books, 1 sewing book and an owl cross stitch for a budget friendly £23.50.

I am so happy with my purchases. Every book contains multiple project I want to start, but I will have to wait till I have saved up and ordered the recommended yarn. The books I brought are

1. Knitting vintage by Claire Montgomerie. Cover price £12.99 I paid £3.00
2. Mollie Makes Knitting. Cover price £15.47 I paid £3.00
3. Closely knit by Hannah Fettig. Cover price £17.82 I paid £2.00
4. French girl knits accessories by Kirsteen Griffin-Grimes. Cover price £17.06 I paid £2.00
5. Step it up knits by Vickie Howell. Cover price £14.99 I paid £2.00
6. The knitted alphabet. How to knit letters from A to Z. By Kate Haxell and Sarah Hazell. Cover price £16.99 I paid £1.50
7. How to use, adapt, and design knitting patterns. How to knit exactly what you want, everytime - with confidence! by Sam Elliot and Sidney Bryan. Cover price £17.06 I paid £2.00
8. First frost. Cozy folk knitting by Lucinda Guy. Cover price £19.35 I paid £2.00
9. Metropolitan knits. Chic designs for urban style by Melissa Wehrle. Cover price £17.80 I paid £2
10. Sock it to me. Creepy, crazy and strangely appealing by Brenna Maloney. Cover price £13.92 I paid £2.00

A saving of £141.95 on books. Without the price reductions I would only of been able to buy 1 or 2 books. I hope the price reductions encourage people who don't have any crafty hobbies to try a craft.

Hope you find some bargains on your next outing.

Happy crafting.

Socks Away

I am an Addict. Over the last few weeks I have reached for sock knitting every time I sit down. I love the speed, simplicity, endless possibilities and speed of socks. They are a fantastic way to test stitch patterns to use in other items. 

As I follow the patterns I get in my mystery sock box I always find myself imagining new designs to try. 

I have a notepad full of scribbles waiting to be turned into socks, scarves, shawls and cardigans with yarn and needles all over the house waiting to be knitted into something amazing. so where do I store all the projects I am desperate to cast on. I need project bags so its time to dust off my sewing machine and start the search for a size, shape, and style that works for me.

It would be so much quicker and easier to buy project bags from one of the amazing makers who sell project bags they have spent years perfecting the design of, however I don't know what to look for. I have spent 30 years storing my craft projects in plastic bags  which makes writing a list of what to look for in a project bag impossible.

As spring adds colour to the garden the house is full of crafty chaos.

Let the crafting commence. Enjoy your craft time don't waste it on a project that dosn't make your heart sing.

Totally Hooked

As a child I was obsessed with my grandmas granny square blanket. I wanted one of my own but had no idea how to make one, who to ask for help making one, or even what questions to ask. 

After several years of converting my grandmas blanket I discovered it was a crochet blanket and the auntie who was visiting could teach me how to crochet a granny square. We didn't have the right crochet hook, and yarn combination but it was close enough for me to learn. The next challenge was finding the right colour palette.

Fast forward a decade or two and I saw a part work called the art of crochet, I had already collected the art of crochet part work and knew the weekly magazines would be designed to to guide the reader from absolute beginner to expert by introducing new skills each issue paired with projects to practice the skills. Unfortunately I missed the release of both series when I started collecting magazine I had no idea what the patterns were asking me to do. I was just about to give up learning to crochet when I spotted a new part work in the supermarket Called big & Little crochet Find it here. The series is made by the same company who made the art of crochet so I was cofident I would be able to make the throw that comes with the magazine.

The series is everything I hoped it would be so I subscribed and started work on the crochet throw. I learn new skills with each issue and enjoy making the hexagons. I havent had the confidence to attempt any of the other projects yet and yes I do have an ever growing list of projects I want to make.

I can't wait for my throw to be finished and I'm already planning different colour schems I can make the throw in.

Sew many crafts so little time.

Happy crafting.

Me Made May.

This year I am Planning to join me made may with more than hand knit socks. I have spent winter collecting patterns, sewing books, a dressmakers mannequin and of course massive amounts of yarn and fabric. 

During my research I learnt a very important lesson. Always read the instructions. Gertie sews vintage casual Buy it here recommended making a muslin ( prototype made from cheap fabric) to test the fit. I made my muslin from an old duvet cover and its a good job I did. When I tried my skirt on it fell off. I had cut the pieces on the fold instead of separate making the skirt 2 and a quarter inches to bigger then the pattern sizes. 

After I had corrected my mistake I tried the skirt on again and found it was still to big. When I measured myself I was between sizes and decided to make the bigger size as I could take in the seams but I cannot add extra fabric if the skirt is to small. For my 3rd attempt at the flared skirt pattern fits. I am so glad I used the free 70's duvet cover from my mum's linen cupboard instead of the £36 worth of fabric I brought for the skirt.

Now the hunt is on for old bedding. I don't think I would ever wear the skirt in public but it will not go to waste. Now I have finished practising I will turn the skirt into project bags for my knitting.

On to the next pattern. This time remembering to read all instructions before starting to sew. 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Enjoy

Happy Crafting  

Creativty overload.

As a late Christmas gift, I  treated myself to a dressmakers mannequin, some patterns and a stitch dictionary.  I can not stop going through the patterns and stitch dictionary. The inspiration that  I have found has astounded me, as a result, I have been hit with a server case of startitus. I spent January finishing long forgotten PHD's and have now started 10 design projects within 3 days. I love switching from project to project watching as the ideas become reality, unfortunately, I am not as good at finishing the project or keeping track of what I am doing.

I have been designing patterns that will become Christmas gifts for friends and family. As soon as I have washed and blocked them I am planning to wrap them with a written handmade Christmas card and store them organised into groups by delivery location. This year I will not spend Christmas morning wrapping presents. 

Between the knitting designs, I am also working my way through Gertie Sews Vintage Casual: A Modern Guide to Sportswear Styles of the 1940s and 1950s (Gertie's Sewing). I love every pattern in this book and have spent many happy hours looking for the perfect fabric and imagining the outfits I will crate. I can't wait to take part in me made may. 

Watch this space for a stream of new knitting and possibly a few sewing patterns, assuming I ever get them finished and written up. Right now I will settle for finishing more projects thenI start. 

Mark 9:23 King James Version (KJV)

²³ Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

New Year New Challenges.

As the spring cleaning begins I am once again shocked by the size of my craft stash. I have more then enough supplies to last several lifetimes and love all of it, But how can I make space for all the new supplies I want to add to my collection? Solution, use it or lose it. As I wade into the mountains of craft supplies I am trying to look at each item and ask myself

• Do I like it?
• Will I use it?
• How will I use it?
• When will I use it?

If I don't like the item, and I don't think I'll use it then it is time to find a new home for my beloved craft supplies. The biggest problem I have encountered is I still love all my craft supplies and don't want to get rid of any of them. So know the race is on to find uses for and begin using my supplies before I find enough new supplies to bury myself under.

The next issue is combatting PHD mountain. As I go through my supplies I find to many new projects to start, so I am trying to finish 2 projects before I start a new one.

Happy Crafting