fabric & felt collage brooches...

 I've been playing around a little with some of my fabric scraps, felt and my sewing machine...

and these little collage brooches are the end results. 

 made using layers of felt and fabric,

working the layers and stitching until I'm happy with the design.

 The smallest is approx 5cm in diam

and the largest 6cm

 I hand sewed some brooch backs on

and they are ready to wear :)

 the best things are that they are light to wear

and I get to wear a little bit of 'art' when I go out!

Have a happy day

~ Gillian ♥

I've been sewing.....

 I was a little frustrated when I went out to buy some modest cotton tops for springtime/summer.  It shouldn't be so hard to find what I was after, should it!

I live in a humid climate and find synthetic fabrics uncomfortable to wear

in my frustration I decided to find myself a pattern and grab some fabric :) 

 This is what I have made since that day a couple of weeks ago.

 They are comfortable, cool and so easy to wear.

 and easy enough to play around with the pattern a little if you want too,

for this one I sewed the facing on the outside - just cause I could!

The pattern is by Simplicity no. 7236

 

so, I'm happy now ;)

and pleased I haven't forgotten how to sew,

I used to make lots of clothes for myself years ago...

I did have a chuckle when my mum said to me,  

'Sewing is a great Summer Sport' lol!

 

hope you are having a happy day

~ Gillian ♥



mini springtime wreath...

 What a fun little project this was!

I joined in on another CAL (crochet along)

at the start of the month...

and then our month got a little busy!

never mind...I still managed a bit of crochet & knitting.

The original pattern is for an Autumn Wreath made from yarn.

But I decided I would make mine from 3ply cotton and because it is springtime in Australia at the moment I went with springtime colours, it will decorate my daughters room of course ;)

By using the 3ply cotton (Milford Soft) & a 2.5mm hook

this little wreath measures approx 10cm (4") in diam.

approx 1/2 the size of the original.

 

It was so much fun to make and you can find the original pattern

Autumn Wreath by Thomasina Cummings 

on Ravelry HERE

and the CAL is running for October at the dc2tog group on Ravelry Here

 

have a sweet day!

~ Gillian ♥



Corrugated washcloths...

 This was a lovely relaxing pattern to knit, and
the washcloths are very functional and practical.

1 x 70gm ball of Sugar' n Cream cotton made a pair of cloths.

I used a pair 4.5mm (US 7) needles.

 

such a great pattern by Kate Schoren

You can find the pattern on her blog HERE 

and on Ravelry HERE

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The dish the washcloths are in is a sweet vintage treasure a friend found for me at a local market, I love the handles on the side.  It is Stamped on the reverse, Royal Staffordshire Pottery 'Honeyglaze' Made in England and numbered.

This is the design in the base of the dish. 

Hope you are having a lovely weekend,

~ Gillian ♥

Strawberry Danish Pincushion....

 I joined in on another CAL this week

The original pattern is for a lovely puffy double sided hexagon, the pattern gives you the option of joining them together to make a chair cushion or many other items.

 I worked as per the pattern, which is very well written and easy to follow.
I stuffed firmly as I closed the hexagon.

You can see in the photos the centre is a single layer, this is such a clever pattern!
Using the same thread as the centre

I stitched through the centre of the sides several times, and pulled tight.
making a little ‘star flower’ shaped Strawberry Danish Pincushion.

Next time I will use a smaller hook, as the stitches opened a little when stuffed.

(hook size was my choice not the designers so this was user error ;) lol!)
the yarn is DK weight and the hook was 4.5mm - 3.5 would have been much better for me to choose for this yarn, but I sill love the results :)

 

You can find the pattern by Ravliki (Elena Fedotova)

on Ravelry Here

and there is a CAL on the Ravliki group on Ravelry Here 

It is such a clever pattern and heaps of fun to make :)

 

I hope you are having a great week,

our little home is enjoying school holidays,

birthdays, little day trips and visitors

oh and some birthdays - life is lovely!

~ Gillian ♥

crochet owl basket...

 I joined in on this

cute little owl basket CAL (crochet along) this week

 the pattern is by Briana from Bowtykes

and is heaps of fun to make

 the body of the basket is made using two strands of yarn held together

so it is quite firm and stands up on its own.

the perfect size for my little miss to hold her tech gadgets in :)

You can find the pattern

on Etsy Here

on Ravelry Here

and for the Month of September there is a CAL 

you can find the details about it Here

 

Hope you are having a lovely weekend,

we are starting school holidays this week - yay!

~ Gillian ♥

crochet bath mat & loopy neck wrap....

 I made this little bath mat this week

using my Calico Crochet Rug Pattern

This time I made it with some pre made

t'shirt yarn (also known as tarn)

This one measures 61cm in diam

and weighs approx 1420gms.

I used All Purpose Household Tie (see picture below)

almost 8 balls and a size 12mm hook.

You can find my pattern HERE on my blog

and the Ravelry Project page HERE

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After I made the bath mat I had a little of the yarn left

so I looped it to the size I wanted and wrapped the end around and stitched it in place to create this loopy neck wrap....an easy and fun piece to make and wear!

 just make sure that you hand stitch

through all of the layers when you sew the wrapped section.

and you can make them any length and number of wraps you like!

Below is a picture of the yarn I used

of course you could make your own tarn, there are many youtube video's on making t'shirt yarn or tarn...but I was quite chuffed when I found this at my local Spotlight store...they did have a very limited colour range and hopefully they will get some more colours in.

I'm quite confident it would take on a dye if you wanted to experiment!

 There is no mention of what the fibre content is, but I ironed the rug when finished (best way to block a crocheted floor rug/mat) I found that it handled a med temp iron quite well, so I think there is a large proportion of cotton in the fibre.

The yarn was very good to work with and soft on the hands.
It should be a strong durable bath mat and I will be washing it regularly in my washing machine.

I hope you are having a creative day

~ Gillian ♥

little owl bookmark....

 I hooked this sweet little owl for my little miss this week,

to keep her company while she reads :)

The pattern comes from the Panda Vintage Crochet book #228

as you can see below the original pattern is for a beautiful necklace,

but I thought it would make an equally cute bookmark.

 I've been enjoying this book by Panda

it is the same one I made the

Square motif crochet button scarf from.

and the yarn is the same also, 

I only needed a tiny bit of the left over to make this little owl. 

I used Panda Cotton blend 8ply & 3mm hook.

 

Have a lovely day

~ Gillian ♥

square motif crochet buttoned scarf...

 I finished off this buttoned scarf last week,

I was just waiting for a moment to photograph it.

I'm quite happy with how it came out :)

 I love how versatile it is,

simply by adding some lovely vintage buttons

and hooking a row of button holes.

 It is lovely and long

measuring approx 15cm x 180cm

As you can see below the original pattern was slightly different with a sweet bobble fringe, but being a practical person I was sure I would get frustrated wearing a scarf with a fringe like that so decided to make a few slight changes.

 Below is a picture of the Panda book

Crochet modern vintage

that the pattern was found in.

It is full of GORGEOUS crochet designs,

and well grabbing a copy if you can!

I used Panda Cotton Blend 8ply (as per pattern) & 4mm hook.

 

If you cant find this lovely Panda book

the square motif is almost identical

 to the block

Circle in a Square #13

in Jan Eaton's book

200 crochet blocks

 

I hope you are having a delightful day

~ Gillian ♥



would you like a jelly baby?......

 yay, it is finished!!!

Jacob's Dr Who Season 16 Scarf

The original scarf was knitted in garter stitch,

but when I started this scarf back in May I was nervous about making such a long scarf on two needles...silly really, but that was before all of my recent knitting practice.

So I decided to make it in Tunisian Crochet in Purl stitch.

The Tunisian purl is a good stitch and easy to work, but it does curl and needs to be blocked and pressed to get it to sit flat and even then I think it will still curl when my son wears it. I am pleased I have learnt Tunisian Purl Stitch but I wouldn’t use it for another scarf.

 

 It is long....really long

I haven't measured it yet, I will add the measurement soon.

I can tell you it weighs approx 665gms, and is 100% acrylic

 Here is a picture of the scarf folding down our internal staircase and our inquisitive cat which gives you an idea of the length.

Here are some useful links if you feel brave enough to create your own Dr Who scarf

Witty Little Knitter    Dr Who Scarf   Scarf-o-matic

oh and I just have to share this clever youtube

it makes me smile :)

have a happy day

~ Gillian ♥

sets of three....

Three more waffle knit washcloths for the bathroom.

I made these lovelies over the past week while I have been working hard on my son's Dr Who scarf, it is such a big and repetitive project that I need little breaks from it to keep me motivated.

I find I burn out quickly from large projects sometimes but working small projects at the same time as larger ones seems to keep my spirits up and things tend to get finished that way!

That is where these little treasures have come in ;)

 The Dr Who scarf is now over 80% done

but these little sweeties are 100% ;)

and this equals a motivated me!

Of course this means the Dr Who scarf takes a little longer to finish,

but it also means the Dr Who scarf does get finished!

so a many rows of Dr Who scarf each night is rewarded with a few rows or rounds of fun & quick little project. 

This time for these little washcloths I used 4oz ball of Lily Sugar'n Cream & a pair of 4.5mm (US 7) needles for the washcloths, This made 3 washcloths and with the small amount of left over yarn I made some more little garter makeup remover pads using 4mm (US 6) needles.

using the same pattern as I did HERE

You can find the pattern for the waffle knit washcloths

by Debbie Andriulli

on Ravelry Here

or on her blog Homespun Living Blog Here

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my little bottles...

I love little vintage bottles, particularly green glass ones

I always wonder what was in them ;)

The little ink bottle is special as it was a little one I gave my Dad  with some vintage calligraphy pens once as a present (he always had beautiful handwriting and enjoyed calligraphy) - very special x

The Tall one is rather nice as it has measurements down the side, the photo doesn't pick that up too well....maybe it was a medicine bottle?

and the little one, also medicine bottle I think....I dug this one out of my garden as a child and have had it ever since :)

have a happy day

~ Gillian ♥

Wribbed Wristers.....

 Love this pattern!

It is a simple 'worked-flat' pattern,

easy to adapt to make your wristers the right size for you...

Seamed along the thumb side with mattress stitch they come together beautifully and are totally wearable and quick to make.

You can find the pattern by Joan Janes

on Ravelry Here

I used 1 x 50gm ball of Cleckheaton Perfect Day 8 ply

- 70% Wool, 30% Alpaca

(matching wool to my Calm Cowl)

4mm needles (US 6)

and worked 50 rows for each wrister.

Hope you are having a creative weekend,

Gillian ♥



simple project & new skills.....

 Moving along with my knitting...

This simple little project has taught me two new skills

- knitting in the round with dpns (double pointed needle set)

& grafting using Kitchener stitch.

 as you can see it is a little iPod sock :)

knitting socks is high on my to do list

so learning these two skills is a must!

This was a great project to tackle both,

and get some practice in,
without the fear of messing up a bigger project, while learning.

I used Jillian Neary's pattern

iPod Sock which can be found on Ravlery Here
and when it came to learning the Kitchener stitch
I used this great YouTube by
Very Pink Knits which can be found Here 

I used Cleckheaton Merino Bambino 4 ply (about 1/4 of a ball)
and a set of 4 - 2.75 mm (US size 2) dpns

Have a great day

~ Gillian ♥