A Different Type of Cross-Stitch 2018 Part 1

A Different Type of Cross-Stitch 2018 Part 1

I have in the past blogged about Cross-Stitches I have either bought from a shop or designed myself. This one is a little different.

Different Large Cross-Stitch

This is one of the gifts I received courtesy of Laura of Alyssa Rose Boutique https://www.facebook.com/Alyssa.Rose.Boutique/?ref=br_rs

As you can see it is quite large. This is because it is actually a Table Cloth

Cross-Stitch Close Up

The reason this one is different is because rather than being on Aida or Evenweave it is on Linen. There is no counting involved merely sewing as the pattern is already on the cloth.

Blue Corner Marker

The one problem with this kit I found was although it tells you what colours to use it doesn’t specify how much you need. Therefore I decided to put a small blue marker in one corner so I always knew where I started from.

Which Blue is New?

As I predicted I have run out of the blue. Unfortunately because the thread that came with it is so old I cannot get the shade. After trawling through both mine and Laura’s stash of silks we came up with this. Can you spot the difference?

In the Red Corner

I am about to start infilling the squares in Red. I am using the marker again to check how much I am using.

Red Amount Test

It is a good job I did test the amount I was using as it is woefully inadequate. I have one more interior to finish on the far side then I will have to find another colour.

What Blooming Flower Is It? 2018 Part 3

What Blooming Flower Is It? 2018 Part 3

I am now moving onto Crocus Corner 3. No you haven’t missed a blog I have skipped Crocus Corner 2 for now.

Crocus Corner 3 Stems

I know it seems strange to skip a corner but I do have my reasons. If you consider the shape of the material not as a square but diamond shape it makes more sense.

The first corner I have sewn in shades of Purple. It has made that corner quite dark. Therefore I want to make its direct opposite corner dark as well.

Crocus Corner 3 Leaves

For the leaves I have used various shades of Green as I did for the initial corner.

Crocus Corner 3 Stamen

Once the leaves were finished and I had checked that this time I hadn’t missed any I began in filling the stamens with a similar shade of Yellow.

Crocus Corner 3 Outline

Finally after all the stamens were finished – which is one of my least favourite jobs because they are so fiddly I could then start on the outlines of the blooms.

I was a little short on very dark Blue silks so I had to use some Mid-Blues to do some of the outlines.

Oh What a Busy Sewing Bee I Am – 2018 Part 1

Oh What a Busy Sewing Bee I Am – 2018 Part 1

I have several projects on the go that need finishing so of course naturally I have started a new one. I am not actually procrastinating I do in fact have a good reason to start this one.

Sew Your Own Reversible Shoulder Bag

Last Yule my brother bought me this Shoulder Bag Kit for my birthday. Now my birthday isn’t until summer but he reckoned with brilliant logic by then I should have had plenty of time to finish it.

Reversible Bag Contents

In truth I had put it aside to concentrate on other things so I thought with summer fast approaching I better open the box and see what was inside.

The kit is by The Great British Sewing Bee – hence the Blog’s Title. Inside was one set of instructions which covers both machine and hand sewing. This is lucky as I don’t have a sewing machine. It also has the material to make the kit.

Outer Panel

Wow, how much material? I wasn’t expecting this much. This is just the Outer Panel.

Inner Panel

The Inner Panel is obviously the same length as it is a Reversible Bag. Sorry folks this is going to take some cutting out so I better get on with it!

Time to Knit - Charity Challenge 2018 Part 2

Time to Knit - Charity Challenge 2018 Part 2

As promised in the last blog here is the same Baby Top only in the Green

Green Baby Top

This is the finished item complete with ends woven in and buttons added. I looked for some Green buttons but they didn’t look right so I just added some clear ones.

Green Baby Top Bottom Width

Unlike the one I knitted in the Dollymix this one I knitted using my natural tension. The final Width was 14.5cm. Therefore it is 1 cm wider than the first one.

Green Baby Top Height

The Height of the garment came out at 13.5cm.The Natural coloured one was only 12cms. Therefore it is 1.5cm longer from neck to bottom.

Baby Tops Like for Like

In the photograph above I have placed the Natural one over the top of the Green to show the difference.

Natural Mittens

I had a little yarn left over so I decided to make some mittens. I had great problems trying to get a pattern as they were mostly for new-borns or 0-3 months rather than preemie.

Unfortunately the tape slipped whilst I was trying to photograph the pair. I believe that when the Rib is folded they should be about 6-6.5cm. However I have clearly missed a row here so I thought rather than measure I would count rows for the Green mittens.

The picture below shows what is known as ‘a right pig’s breakfast’. The mitten on the left hand side is the one I knitted first. It looks a bit messy but that is the angle I photographed it at.

Green Mittens

The mitten on the right hand side is what I knitted last. Now I admit it looks tidier but there are two different types of mistakes in it. If you look at the Rib you can clearly see that I have somehow managed to miss a stitch somewhere and the Rib has slid across.

The second mistake was a real blinder. You knit the rib with 3.25 needles. Then on the next part you change to 4.5cm needles. Now I did this but when I came to cast off I found I was back on the 3.25 needles.

How I managed to do this I have no idea. The end result was I ended up with a loose slip pattern and a tight slip pattern. Oh well you live and learn.

Time to Knit - Charity Challenge 2018 Part 1

Time to Knit - Charity Challenge 2018 Part 1

I often take my knitting with me when I go out so I can get some work done without distractions. Whilst I was at a coffee morning having a cup of tea a gentleman spotted me knitting.

He asked if I ever knitted for charity and I responded on occasions. He asked if I he gave me a pattern would I knit some items for premature babies for the local hospital. I said I would and he gave me a pattern.

Natural DK Dollymix

The pattern was for a small premature baby top which was to be knitted from the top down. So I toddled off to my favourite knitting establishment Knit Nottingham for some wool. We decided on Dollymix DK

Cast on 37

Since I do not have a lot of time with my back log of projects I decided that I would time how long it would take me to knit. I therefore started the timing when I cast on.

Incidentally I started this project at 23.25pm. Not the best time to be starting an entirely new project but the temperature was so high I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Row 8

I decided the best way to time would to be to finish one section then write down how long it had taken me. I marked after Row 8 as the next Row was more complicated. This section had taken 23 minutes.

Next Timing

I cannot remember exactly what Row this is because I cannot read my own writing. However at this point I think I should mention although I am timing it may not be 100% accurate.

The pattern states that this garment should take between 22g and 25g of yarn to make. Now the ball of yarn I am using is exactly 25g. In order to make sure I do not run out I am making my tension a little tighter. This means that I am knitting slower than usual.

Cast off 18

I noted another timing here as it was a very distinct section. I had to cast off two lots of 18 stitches to make the arm holes. This was after Row 25 and up to this point I have been knitting for 1 hour and 55 minutes altogether.

I decided that this was more than enough for one night and I would pick it up again on another day.

Small Top Cast Off

As you can see in the photograph above I have now finished the knitting part. This took me approximately 1 hour and 15 mins. This brings the knitting time up to 3 hours and 10 minutes.

Button Addition

I sewed in the loose ends and I found a couple of nice buttons off out local market and sewed them on. So I reckon if I said that the whole thing took 3.5 hrs that would be a good basis.

I am going to make another one only this time in Green. I think Eleanor said it was an Aran but don’t quote me on that.

Baby Top Natural Neck Width

I just wanted to get an idea of how big this top has come out. So I measured the Neck and it was roughly 5cm.

Baby Top Natural Bottom Width

Next I measured the bottom of the item and it came out at 13.5cm

Baby Top Natural Height

The Height from top to bottom was roughly 12cm. I will be able to compare these measurements against the Green Top.