Knitting By The Sea

2008-10-10T23:22:28+01:00

I seem to have abandoned both the crochet and knitted string bags that I started. I did have fond ideas of being able to pop one into the bottom of my handbag and thus never be without a re-usable shopping bag but, whether I chose the wrong crochet cotton or was just deluded, I have come to realise that it would take up too much room in even my most capacious handbag. Pulling it out would probably result in the shop being peppered with the general handbag detritus that is bound to cling to it and become enmeshed in it.

Talking of handbags, I 've become aware of the Fake-a-Gamo, a bag based on a designer bag by Salvatore Ferragamo, which retails at over one and a half thousand dollars. You can request the pattern at Knitlit's blog and admire it on Flickr. I have resisted asking for the pattern as I have far too many half finished projects on the go, but it looks fabulous. What a good job she's made of it.

Shopping Bag Knitted from carrier Bags

2008-08-19T11:59:20+01:00

I've been having a go at knitting a string bag, using this pattern, and I've made a bit of a mess of it. It won't matter, hec, once it's got shopping in it you won't be able to tell that I went wrong here and there. I realise now that I should have crocheted the bag, goodness knows crochet is all about fashioning holes together. Note that the instructions are U.S. not U.K. I made a right mess of the start of the bag by not remembering the difference between uk and US versions. It is stated on the pattern that it is U.S. but in my hurry to start I did not notice.

I fancy having a go at knitting a bag using old carrier bags but, ironically, find that I don't have any carrier bags. How quickly we have adapted to taking re-usable bags shopping. There's a good "how to" article at Crafty Crafty for a crotchet version.

Knitted cakes and other novelties

2008-07-22T09:59:53+01:00

There are many novelty patterns on Craftbits , including an iced chcocolate cake, liquorice allsorts and a slice if cherry pie. Bittersweet has a free pattern for a slice of chocolate birthday cake. Just one slice won't hurt!

More de-cluttering the attic

2008-07-20T13:35:00+01:00

Still sifting through all the boxes in the attic. I have come across a lot of stuff which I realise is related to a type of fantasy. An imagined "maybe one day" world where I will have time to read all those books, paint all those pictures, sew all those quilts, stitch all that cross stitch and knit all those jumpers. Some of the hobby related items I have managed to pass along, dispose of or recycle, like the box of 1000 leaflets saved to use as patchwork papers. Of course I will hang on to the knitting patterns featuring Roger Moore before he was The Saint and the back of an aran jumper inexplicably knitted with the brightest red yarn I have ever seen in a size so small I doubt it would even fit my teenage Daughter. The first because it's interesting and possibly a collectors item (isn't that how we kid ourselves about a lot of our clutter) and the latter - hmmm, maybe I will need some scorching red yarn, in my fantasy world when I get time to read all those books, paint all those pictures.......

De-cluttering Yarn

2008-06-29T14:36:22+01:00

I’ve unearthed an old yarn stash. Before the advent of the internet, yarn, in the UK at least, was known as wool even if it was made from neon nylon. I’ve been busy de-cluttering the attic again, a task I take on once a year or so, bask for a few weeks in a tidy room and then suddenly realise that the clutter has built up again and you need safety gear to venture up there. After the recent experience of going through my Father’s things after his death I decided to try and save my Daughter a job in the, hopefully distant, future. This urge to de-clutter is not because my dad had a lot of clutter, he was of a generation that “made do and mend” and only kept practical things, as his drawer full of electrical plugs will testify. The fact that all appliances now come with a moulded plug fitted didn’t matter. Should anyone need a plug, he could have provided one. No, the urge to de-clutter the attic was born of the realisation that one day my poor Daughter would have to go through my mountains of “stuff” and struggle with it because she is very sentimental. I know that if I pre-decease my partner it will be our Daughter who wants to go through my things as left to his own devices he would just hire several skips and a chute out of the window or leave it all for her to go through along with his own stuff when he died. Anyway, the point of this morbid entry is that I found a wool stash.

When we moved into the house, twenty years or so ago, we built some false walls in the attic to create storage space – AKA clutter hiding. Most of the stuff that was put behind those walls has remained pretty much untouched for all those years until now, as I had previously confined my de-cluttering efforts to the visible areas of the attic and not ventured into the secret world behind the walls. There were some ridiculous things behind those walls, and I haven’t finished yet, I’ve probably only investigated and purged about a third of the space. Examples include old brake shoes from a car scrapped long ago, a curtain rail that was so long I can’t imagine where it came from, the entire house could have hidden behind any curtains intended for that rail; clothes with such tiny waists I must have once been quite emaciated, letters written but never posted, bubble bath – for goodness sake, imagine the terrible skin condition that could result from using twenty year old bubble bath by accident. Of course there were some treasures found too, an old perfume atomiser that still smelled of my Mother who died when I was in my teens, bits and bobs of old journals and paintings, the list goes on but back to the wool. This was a box of actual wool, straight off a sheep, spun but not treated or dyed. It looked perfectly fine, though a little rough but I could not shake off the idea that in the heart of it there might be a little ball of dead moths and grubs. As I write this I am tempted to go out to the skip and have a dive about for it but I reason that if I never made anything with it in however many decades I owned it I am unlikely to do so now, and I can’t really pass it along to anyone – in case of the ball of moths and grubs you know. Perversely I have kept some yarn that must have been from a time when “bright!” was in fashion. Startling yellows and greens, zinging pinks, goodness knows what I imagine I will do with it. The only reason it has not shared the same fate as the wool is the fact that it is mothproof and also could easily be examined. There is a picture of the de-cluttering in progress here, it's not for the easily shocked.

Knitted Banana

2008-06-21T02:27:36+01:00

I haven't blogged for a while due to reasons beyond my control but now I finally come back to my blog and find that typepad have made "improvements" and so I have to get used to the new way of posting. Hopefully it won't take me too long.

My banana tree spends most of its life at the back of the cupboard. Occasionally it is unearthed, some bananas hung on it until they go black and then back into the cupboard. I have stopped buying bananas until I have the inclination to start making smoothies again and stop the terrible waste of bananas.These patterns from ki mberly and Peach Cake might make me break out the banana tree.

Knitted Cupcakes

2008-04-01T11:08:47+01:00

Every now and again I come across a blog that somehow I haven't stumbled across before and it blows me away. Little Cotton Rabbits is a wonderful read and filled with fantastic photo's and projects. These cupcakes are occasionally for sale in her little shop. Check out the mouthwatering knitted cake album. There is also a page of free knitting patterns to peruse.

Over at Morecambe Sands I am making it my blog of the day and featuring some wonderful DIY heart shaped crayons. Who knew that you could bake your own crayon shapes?

From Little Cotton Rabbits I was led to Blah Blah Blahhhg which has a seamless cupcake pattern and a list of people who have knitted it in various ways. Apparently there is a whole cupcake gallery on Ravelry but as there are still 2838 people ahead of me in the invite queue I can't see them yet, boo hoo.At least I am getting neareer to an invite. When I first joined there were over eleven thousand ahead of me.

Sweater Girls

2008-03-27T13:42:35+00:00

I watched Diets that Time Forgot the other day and they mentioned that womens waists have increased by ten inches since about 100 years ago. This video about sweaters made me remember that little factoid, and this isn't even as long ago as a hundred years.

Knitted eggs and knitted tea time treats

2008-03-23T01:58:12+00:00

Jean greenhowe has some free patterns for some jolly knitted eggs, just the right size to pop a little chocolate egg into. There are also two lots of "Tea Time Treats patterns" on the same page, knitted sandwiches, cakes, biscuits and finger food.

There are a few more lovely patterns on the page as well. The Rainbow babies make ideal fund raisers.

Crochet Bacon and Eggs Handbag

2008-03-22T02:39:31+00:00

More Bacon and Egg fryup goodies. Mkcarroll has a pattern to crochet one.