knittingfairy

Woven dining chair ‘cushion’

knittingfairy — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:47:32 +0000

Mum recently attended a peg-loom weaving course in Shropshire. She has since persuaded Bob that he wanted to help make a peg-loom – this is a rather splendid device with about 20 holes in which can rest a little peg, ready to be threaded with the weft. Whilst up there over the Easter weekend I had a go and this is the result.

We wound several strands of wool together for the warp – which I guess made it work up quicker, and gave it a chunkier look. Mum has made a couple of others, and intends that all the dining chairs will be so attired. After years and years, we expect that they’ll felt rather nicely from all the sitting.

Felt poppy purse with clasp

knittingfairy — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:38:08 +0000

A few years ago I bought two purse clasps at the splendid shop La Droguerie (a French chain of haberdashery shops – with branches in Lille, Toulouse and Paris and a few others I think). I hadn’t been able to work out how to actually make them into purses so haven’t done anything with them since. Yesterday I did some googling to find instructions, found some, and made this purse. I couldn’t quite believe that the idea was to glue the fabric into the frame, but so it seems, and it works well. I’ll add a link to the pattern – the website also has some other bag patterns.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the purse yet, but somebody will be the lucky/unfortunate birthday/Christmas recipient I imagine…

The poppy pattern on the purse was copied from a 1950s set of transfers by a company called Weldons – I think think this is called the ‘gay garden’ sheet. Ironing on the transfer onto brown felt wasn’t all that successful though, and some of my satin stitching would not admit to the Royal College of Embroiderers or such like. It’s lined with a lovely Liberty cotton – with a cherry pattern on a blue background.

Yellow Ted imitator

knittingfairy — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:24:36 +0000

Yet another new baby present… This time a little bear, who is modelled on my very own Yellow Ted (who I think I’ve had since I was born). I drew round Yellow Ted, and cut a front and a back (identical) from a piece of nice woolly tweed. For his nose I cut a small circle from the fabric (probably about 1.5cm diameter) and then took out a tiny notch (like a Trivial Pursuit cheese-counter) and sewed up the gap so it was like a small rounded cone. Then I cut out a slightly smaller circle from one of the sides of the bear and inserted the nose in. Then sewed both sides of the bear together, leaving a little gap for stuffing and turning inside out. And voila a baby bear!

Beary-baby-bib

knittingfairy — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:17:03 +0000

A friend has just had a very lovely baby boy whose name begins with a K so I had lots of fun making him a bib approximately following the pattern below (thank you!) It was so easy and enjoyable I think I might do some more, as there are an abundance of babies about at the moment.

http://chickpeastudio.typepad.com/chickpea_sewing_studio/2008/01/chickpea-infant.html

New house card

knittingfairy — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:10:45 +0000

R&A have a lovely new house. I had lots of fun making them this house warming card. Looking forward to going and visiting the house too. I’d like a nice new house too.

floppy beret-like hat

knittingfairy — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:27:43 +0000

Whilst in Austria I knitted this hat – it’s okay, but the initial rim bit of it went a bit wrong.Recommend doing a few more rows of a wider rib (knit 2 purl 2?) as a start, rather than the 3 rows of the knit 2 purl 1 rib. Not helped by the fact that somehow I got out of sync so it isn’t really ribbed at all. The rest of it was easy to knit, and is about the right size. I knitted it as the suggested ‘floppier’ version, so more rows than in the pattern (knitting 11 on the increases I think). The pattern was called ‘bulky tam’ and I found it on Ravelry. I knitted it with a wool called James C Brett Marble Chunky. Not particularly chunky, nor all that marbled. Nice and soft if rather synthetic.

Modelled by Pockets, the most debonair of bears. Partial to a glass of red.

knitting markers

knittingfairy — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:16:39 +0000

these are two beaded knitting markers I made using some fine necklace wire, some jewellery crimps and some beads. They’ve proved especially handy when using circular needles. See next post for an example…

little felt coasters

knittingfairy — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:09:49 +0000

i made these for mum’s birthday. they are three layers of felt stuck together with double-sided interfacing, then the little picture sewn on.

In hindsight, I should have sewed the picture on before sticking the layers of felt together, and then the back of the sewing would have been hidden by the extra layers. More difference between the felt colour layers would also have been nice, but this was all I had in my cupboard.

Fabric necklace

knittingfairy — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:49:12 +0000

For mum’s birthday, inspired by a necklace that Haz-bags got for Christmas, I made this necklace.

Valentino modelling fabric beaded necklace

It was super easy to do. Just make a long tube of fabric (imagine sausage casing) about the same width as some decent size beads (about marble-sized). Have one fewer beads to go in the fabric-sausage as for having the fabric threaded through them. For the beads which have the fabric threaded through them you need ones with quite big holes (which I didn’t find easy to buy). Then one marble-bead in the sausage, then thread the sausage through the next bead. And so on.

I’ve since seen a similar idea with putting the beads in the fabric sausage, and tying knots between them (in the latest Rowan subscription pamphlet).

painted glasses (no, not spectacles but Drink! glasses)

knittingfairy — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:13:21 +0000

r&a very lovelily bought me some glass paints for Christmas, and some glasses to experiment on. I duly have done so, which was lots and lots of fun. I’ve now subjected mum to be glasses-owner (she was very good at sounding grateful considering she’s doing very well so far at having a Stylish Bungalow rather than Bungalow Filled with Homemade Tat). The photo doesn’t quite reflect their full glorious-ness. Or maybe that’s just because they really do have very wobbly lines on them.

Mum&bob have just returned home after spending the weekend down here – they were delightful house guests, and it seems strange without them. Come back soon mum&bob!