Article
3 comments

Yay For Knitting

I finally cast on for a new knitting project, yay! It’s nothing flash or fancy, just a basic ribbed scarf. I was faffing around on Ravelry, through my knitting books and magazines trying to decide on a pattern. I had my usual thought pattern of “I can’t knit that! Too complex for me!”. In the end I just picked some yarn and decided to do a basic scarf to get myself back in the habit of knitting. I’m using some Moda Vera Harmony yarn (pink & green) and some of my vintage knitting needles. Pink, of course.

Still have the flu and am now up to the coughing stage. Felt terrible this morning but feel a bit brighter after taking some nurofen. Hence the casting on and blogging about it. I found some photos of my older finished knitted projects and thought I’d post a few here.


‘Sister Socks’ a pattern from Yarn Magazine, Issue 3, June 2006.

Knitted cakes from Jean Greenhowe’s ‘Jiffy Knits‘.


Another Jean Greenhowe pattern, this from her ‘Toy Collection‘ booklet.

Article
5 comments

Vintage Crafting

I’ve been flicking through some of my craft books to find something easy to make while recovering from the flu. I have a complete set of ‘Stitch by Stitch – The illustrated Encyclopedia of Sewing, Knitting and Crochet.’ which was published in 1984. There are 20 volumes and lucky for me, the ones I have are all in excellent condition.

You can sometimes pick these sets up at book sales and on eBay – keep your eyes out for them as they are wonderful. Lots of basic and advanced instructions with detailed illustrations. The projects range from clothes (kids & adults), household items and toys. There are a few different editions, so the covers may look a little different than mine. The three projects below are ones that caught my eye today as they are quite fun and cheery.

I really want to make the pompom bathmat, that would feel so good and sqooshy under your feet! If you’d like to make one of the projects above and just cannot wait until you get your hot little hands on the books, I found some links with similar projects.

  • Pom Pom Rug from Super Minx. It’s from a vintage craft card set, neat!
  • Anjie from Pom Pom Emporium (super cool name) mentions a book that has a pattern for a pom pom rug plus she links to a free pattern from Lion Brand yarn.
  • My Google Fu failed me and I couldn’t find any patterns for licorice allsort cushions or similar projects. But I did find a recipe for Licorice Allsort slice. You need something yummy and sweet to fuel creativeness! The recipe is from Taste.com.au, a site that is awesome for finding delicious recipes. Really worth checking and bookmarking. The photo of the slice is from Taste.
  • Lucy from Attic24 has a gorgeous tutorial on crocheting hexagons which you could use to make a rug
  • And of course, the lovely Pip from Meet Me at Mikes has a wonderful set of video tutorials so you can learn how to crochet.