Tag: wool

Back so soon?

Posted on by Alice Neal

Why yes, I am 🙂

How’s this for a New Year’s Resolution not to fall off the face of the earth for a few months? Twice in one year – hurrah! 😉

So.

What’s happening?

Well, this morning I happened upon this video:

[vimeo 6723357 w=500 h=375]

DROPS Crochet Tutorial: How to do Tunisian crochet, Afghan crochet or Tricot Crochetfrom Garnstudio Drops design on Vimeo.

And I thought to myself ‘Now that doesn’t look too tricky!’

So I gave it a go.

tunisian-crochetIt’s hard to express how gorgeous this is. It’s thick, and springy, and sturdy and yet still incredibly soft.

I wanted it to be something, so I carried on, and here we have my new glasses case:

glasses-case2 glasses-case1

And in case you fancy trying this yourself, here’s how I did it:

Tunisian Crochet Glasses Case

Drops Andes 65% wool, 35% alpaca (about half a ball)
7mm crochet hook

Chain 12 stitches (you end up with 11 on the hook once you have begun)
Follow the directions in the video for simple tunisian crochet

I did 22 rows of grey which I could rest my glasses on and fold about 1/3 back over.
I then changed the colour to chocolate brown and made another 16 rows.

Do not bind off, but fold the two colours together at the colour switch and single crochet back around the edge to create the case. I put a line of single crochet along the bottom as I went around, too, for aesthetic reasons. When you have joined the sides, continue up around the top of the case and when you reach the middle stitch put in one single crochet, chain 3 for the button hole and make another single crochet in the same stitch. Then carry on around.

If you’re clever (or is it lazy?) you’ll then cut the tail long enough to be able to weave it through the inside of the front and use it to secure your button before fastening it off and weaving in the ends.

Does this make sense?

If you try it and get stuck, please let me know where I have confused matters and I’ll try to clarify 🙂

In other news…

I made a bag over the weekend. That is, I found a ‘blanket’ (ahem) I had started and decided to give it a new destiny. So here it is:

bag1 bag2 bag3And that’s my news for now, so toodle-pip till next time! <3

Whoosh! Catch-up!

Posted on by Alice Neal

I have been horribly remiss keeping this blog going of late. I notice with horror that September was my last post. And it isn’t as though I haven’t been busy! I’m buried under works in progress (*hangs head in shame*) and full of new ideas. I seem to have a discipline problem – must finish one of my eleventy-six WIPs before starting the next!

So, in a mad scramble to bring myself up to date here, I am going to post a few pictures of works completed and works in progress and give myself a round telling off, coupled with threats of disciplinary measures if I don’t try to keep up a bit better.

I have, however, been far more efficient at keeping my Instagram and Facebook pages more current, so if you fancy checking either out, I’d be delighted to see you there.

So… first up, a commissioned Snuggle Bunny for my dear friend Clare. He is HUGE and contains a handmade wheat and lavender sack for microwave heating. Actually, come to think of it, he’s a she 🙂

Clare1 Clare3 Clare5

And I finally got around to making one for me, too. A slightly smaller cat, mine, with a flower granny square embellishment:

me1 me2 me4 me5My thanks to Bertie for modelling them <3
These can be commissioned at cuddlecats.co.uk if you felt so inclined.

It’s winter, so bobble hats have been flying off hooks and needles.

bobble1 bobble2

And I have finally got around to starting a long-promised blanket for my beloved:

Square-flowers Valentine's-blanket Valentine's-blanket-3It still has a way to go and I’m hoping to complete it by Valentine’s Day (gulp)…

This little chap was fun to make – he’s a travelling sized version, still with wheat sack, in wool and bamboo:

Travelling-4 Travelling-3 Travelling-2-insta Travelling-2And I’m designing a jumper. It’s a little short for my liking, so I’m going to have to get inventive about lengthening it, and I’m onto the sleeves, but prevaricating… I’ll get there:

stripy-jumper stripy-jumper2

Et voila! A selection of the latest.

I will, I hope, see you again much sooner <3

Jumper Season – WHOOP!

Posted on by Alice Neal

I know, I know, knitting isn’t just for autumn and winter, but I really do struggle to knit big bulky things all year round. I love to wear big bulky things though, and this Autumn has got me really excited because it was only in Spring that I taught myself to knit jumpers. And by then it was kind of too warm to wear them.

I bought myself some wool 🙂

2Andes1It’s the same lovely stuff as my last jumpers, but breaking out of the earthy colour mold – just as a little refresher, you understand 🙂

However, I also had some left over from this little chap:

Owl3which I figured would make a rather nice jumper for my littlest. I’ve come to the end of the ball and have had to order a bit more (I know – shucks – buying wool… what a nightmare! 😉 ) I’ve chosen a top-down, seamless yoke method which, given the small size, started out on DPNs and progressed to circular needles when there were enough stitches.

So, here it is in progress (excuse the dodgy phone pics):

Ted1Starting out on double pointed needles.

Ted2Bringing in some stripes and separating the arms stitches out and onto waste yarn.

Ted3Another little flash of pattern.

Ted4Trying not to stamp my feet that I didn’t have quite enough wool 😉

I’ll be back, though <3

The nights are drawing in… ;)

Posted on by Alice Neal

I know, I know, not quite.

But it’s definitely a bit nippier than it has been.

And that Cuddle Cat thing? Well it’s just got dinkier, and snugglier.

It started with some divine DK in natural, undyed, pure Jacob wool from The Knitting Gift Shop, who are specialising in such wools and in kits and accessories, too. Well worth a look if, like me, your weakness is undyed, natural, knee-wobbling pure wool.

And suddenly, what I have is a pocket-sized pussy cat with a stuffed head, button eyes, wool-embellished features, and a button at the bottom. In the middle? I’ve sewn a little calico pouch and filled it with washed and graded wheat, and aromatic lavender heads. To be microwaved and popped in the Pusscat’s tum.

Perfect for your pockets in autumn, or your boots before you put them on in winter, or your pillow for a gentle drift to sleep.

Anyway, here he is. Take a look 🙂

Pocket-Puss Pocket-Puss2 Pocket-Puss3 Pocket-Puss4 Pocket-Puss5And if you’d prefer me to make him for you, come and ask me over here.

 

New Friends

Posted on by Alice Neal

Last week I had a few hours to kill while some very obliging gentlemen fitted a towbar to my rather tricky car. Two of my boys and I spent those hours pootling around a nearby outlet centre and I picked up a book for a couple of pounds because there was a very straightforward tank top pattern which required not too much brain power from me.

It was this book here.

And it happened to contain a rather adorable pattern for a sort of small stuffed toy in the shape of a cat. Rather too small for my liking. And rather too two-dimensional. So I selected some leftover chunky yarn, 10mm needles and got going.

When it came to assembling it, I knitted an extra panel and put it in the base to help it stand upright, and ignored their minimalist embroidered face, opting instead for button eyes, sewn nose and whiskers.

You can see from the pictures how very simple it really is:

CuddleCat1

Here he is made up:

CuddleCat3And here he is standing on his base:

CuddleCat2Of course, once they’d seen him, everyone wanted one. So… here he is with his next buddy:

CuddleCat4CuddleCat5Just another three to go! 🙂

Note: It took between 100 and 150g of chunky wool on 10mm knitting needles to make one. A great stashbuster 🙂

The Google Tunic

Posted on by Alice Neal

Or maybe the Pinterest Dress.

Call it what you will, it is essentially a sampler. A top-down, in-the-round, seamless yoke fair isle sampler. A project for me to learn about colourwork and fair isle.

As is so often the case in my life knitting, I didn’t really have a set idea about what I was making before I began. Much of what I do is intuitive, experimental and heart-in-mouth-will-it-fit? It is also a smaller gauge and therefore longer knit than I am used to. I like to use Aran or chunky because I get impatient and want to move onto the next thing, as evidenced by the fact that many of my previous posts showcase items I began after this tunic and finished well before it was complete.

This dress began with the optimistic working title “Spring Tunic”. We’re now well on the way through summer. See? 🙂

It began as it usually does: with a clearance section on a wool website. I trawl them too often, looking for the bargains. I have one stipulation: natural fibres. And I usually stick to it 😉

I found Sublime baby cotton kapok dk. I don’t usually knit with cotton. But I was working on the premise that knitting (and crochet) being something I love, I don’t want to only do it in the autumn and winter, and there must be pretty knitwear for the rest of the year.

Rather than babbling on about it any more, here is the sampler tunic, finished with crochet around the hem and sleeves: a progression in pictures:

pinterest-tunic7
An example of one of the charts I googled

pinterest-tunic3pinterest-tunic5pinterest-tunic9pinterest-tunic10pinterest-tunic-11pinterest-tunic12pinterest-tunic-2-squarepinterest-tunic4Pinterest-Tunic

Now… Back to the million-and-one other UFOs on my list..!

 

The Split Poncho

Posted on by Alice Neal

Hello strangers 🙂

OK, so we know about the Ponchette, right? And that you can now make it for yourselves? If you visit here, I wrote the pattern up at Black Sheep Wools’ request and it is available as a free download on their website.

But the thing is, I have a nipper I struggle to keep up with. And ponchos always leave me a little restricted in the arm department, so this needed some thought.

Here it is in pictures and I just might, at some stage, write it up so you can have a go too 🙂

splitponcho7splitponcho6splitponcho5splitponcho4splitponcho3splitponcho2splitponcho1I have a couple of crochet blankets on the go, too – so more anon!

Hope all is well in your woolly worlds <3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Spring Scarf in Natural Wool

Posted on by Alice Neal

OK, so the spring scarf I mentioned last time? It’s finally finished. Here it is, being modelled by… well, me.

The finished article in its rightful place
The finished article in its rightful place

First things first. The materials used were:

1) a 2.5mm crochet hook, and
2) three different colours of natural, undyed wool.

The palest I bought on eBay many moons ago and no longer remember from whom. But the two darker ones are from The Knitting Gift Shop, which is owned and run by the gentleman who also owns the printing company that does all the printing for our own beard oil company, and his wife. Yes, that’s a bit convoluted. But I’m glad to know them – apart from the wonderful job they do with our printing, their wools are all locally sourced, fabulous quality and reasonably priced. And I loved working with them (and no – I’m not on commission!) 🙂

So, onto the construction.

It started with the Japanese flower.

This is a free pattern and there are many blogs (mine too, now) that tell you how to make it. I saw it, made it, loved it. And then worked out how to join the motifs, and then decided on a scarf.

So this is how it works (UK terms):

Chain 6 and join into a circle with a slip stitch in the first chain.

round1: Chain 3 (counts as one double crochet) and make 11 double crochets into the ring, for 12 in total. Slip stitch into the first ‘chain 3’.

round 2: Chain 5, then into each gap in the circle, make one double crochet followed by a chain 2. You will have 12 loops all the way around. Join with a slip stitch into the first ‘chain 5’.

round 3: chain 3 (counts as one double crochet) and make three more double crochets into the first 2-chain gap. Into all the remaining 2-chain gaps, make four double crochets.

round 4: *chain 5, miss 2 double crochets and make a slip stitch into the third. Slip stitch into the next** repeat from * to ** all the way around. Slip stitch into the previous round. These loops are the beginnings of the petals.

Making the petals
Making the petals – you can see all the loops around the circle, and the first three petals of round 5 complete.

round 5: make 8 double crochets into each of the loops, with a slip stitch into the last round between each petal.

Done!

So, the next task (other than the ever-taxing weaving in of the ends) is to join them. For this, I made the next flower up to the end of the 4th round. Then I made 10 petals. For the 11th and 12th petals, I made the first four double crochets, put my hook behind the fourth or fifth double crochet of a petal on the back of the first flower, drew the yarn through it, and continued on with the next four. I repeated the process on the next petal and we have a join.

Joined at two petals.
Joined at two petals.
Joining in rows
Joining in rows

You can see the construction of the scarf very clearly in the above picture. They are all joined to at least one flower by two petals, and if you join as you go along (you can use this picture for reference) it makes the whole thing much easier than trying to figure a way to do it all afterwards.

Coming along nicely
Coming along nicely – don’t be fooled! It’s still a scarf, just folded in this picture.
I took it everywhere
I took it everywhere

It’s an incredibly portable project, too, so you can bundle it into a small bag for the car, bus, queue, waiting room… or in this case beach 🙂

neutrals3
Almost finished.
Finished and blocking
Finished and blocking

Finally, the blocking. I’m not sure how useful this was really since the flowers are intrinsically quite flat and the petals designed to curl up a little. But I’ve just got these blocking mats and pins and, frankly, I still get a bit excited about using them. So I did 🙂

And ta-dah! That’s it!

If you fancy giving it a go, and my explanations are a little too woolly, or assume too much knowledge, or… whatever difficulty you might stumble across, I’m more than happy to attempt a better explanation or answer any questions – just holler 🙂

In other news, I have a bit of a plan for a lot more of these,

But what will it be?!
But what will it be?!

but you’ll have to watch this space 😉

Upcycling the Godets

Posted on by Alice Neal

It started with a tunic, crocheted in chunky brown wool, which was never quite right.

I frogged it. Reused the yarn in other projects. Was relieved it hadn’t been wasted.

But I was left with these:

20140424-130944.jpg

My mother-in-law tells me they’re called godets: triangular-shaped pieces used for ‘letting out’ or shaping garments. I made two for a long denim skirt to enable me to take longer steps, for example. These two, which didn’t look right in a tunic that no longer existed… What to do?

And then it hit me.

I had reached this stage last evening, modelled by Ted (3):

20140424-131219.jpg

And by bedtime, it looked like this:

20140424-131311.jpg

Here, it is modelled by Bert (7):

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I crocheted two sides together in an unobtrusive colour to provide the less visible bottom seam, then used the beige chunky wool to crochet the other side, around the brim, and to make a huge pompom.

I’m glad not to have frogged the godets.

In other news, this scarf is almost finished, and when it is, I’ll share its construction:

20140424-131639.jpg

And we had a beautifully creative Easter Sunday afternoon – our first egg-dyeing eggsperiment 😉

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Toodle-pip for now ❤️