Knitting Doll 2024 Part 5

 Knitting Doll 2024 Part 5

Have to confess I am not looking forward to writing this Blog. It is trying to split down a task that I do automatically and then stop at try and photograph whilst holding it. If all else fails google Slip Knots.

Pinch Loop

Taking one Tail End I am going to make a Slip Knot. However in order to show you I am having to make it Higher up. Therefore afterwards I will redo it at the correct point.

First form a Loop with the Tail End and Pinch it between Finger and Thumb. After that I Wrapped the Yarn around the Back of the Loop and brought the Tail around. See Photograph.

Double Wrap

I am Creating a Double Loop though it is not strictly necessary. It is helping me keep it in place whilst photographing.

Lift Bottom Loop

Lift the Bottom Loop using either your Finger of a needle. I recommend the Latter. Don’t Catch part of the Yarn like I have done.

Push Through Top

Push the Loop you Have through the Top one.

Pull and Slide

Then pull this Loop firmly then Slide up. This one was made deliberately High up for photographing purposes.

Loop at End

I have redone the Slip Knot. I started it nearer the End of the Cord so I could Slip it into its Correct Position at the End of the Cord.

The Major Problem I found doing this is that normally I do it at speed and often using a knitting Needle. Since doing this I found a Youtube video with a great description.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj21JDDSrgM

Here are some more methods of making a Slip Knot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4yMvLONsY0

These describe various methods. Not one of which was the one I was taught lol.

Refurbished Footstool 2021

Refurbished Footstool 2021

I am going to continue to try and blend my furniture together so I am having a go at this IKEA Footstool. If it goes wrong it doesn’t really matter because I have had it for years and it only cost me 50p in the first place.

Footstool

 

Apart from wanting to blend in this Navy Footstool I have another reason for wanting to Cover it. The Zip is broken so I can no longer wash it.

Flip Side

 

I am not strictly measuring this material it is the one that I that I rejected for the Chaise Longue Curve. I Flip the Cushion and place on the material.

Fold Over

 

If you look in the above photograph you can see that I haven’t placed the Cushion directly in the Centre. This is because I want to avoid the Mark. 

Sew Bottom

 

Once Folded over I Sew across the Bottom. As you can probably tell from the above photograph this isn’t going to be fully enclosed. I am having this as a Slip Cover.

Sew Fold Over

 

Next I Fold Over the Bottom and Sew along the Edge. I repeat this at the Opposite End.

Chaise and Stool

Chaise and Stool together. I think they look rather natty.

A Comfy Candy Christmas 2019 Part 6

A Comfy Candy Christmas 2019 Part 6

The next part of making the Cover is adding the Press Studs

Add Press Studs

I started at where the Top of the Cover will be. I Sewed the Right Hand Press Stud part on first (Photograph Facing). I then added the Left Hand part on the other side. There is a reason for this which I will explain later.

Press Stud Mistake

 

Another mistake due to not paying attention. When Sewing the Press Stud in place I went through both parts of the material. I had to unpick and redo.

Triple Press Studs

I have now Sewn three of the Right Hand Side Press Stud Parts onto the material. The reason I am doing it this way is if you look at the above photograph you can clearly see the slope.

This meant that the other side could not be in a straight line. The further down the other side of the material I went the more to the Left I had to place the rest of the Press Studs.

End of Slip Cover

I have now all the Press Stud Parts Sewn on to the material. Next I have to deal with the End of the Slip Cover.

Fold Canvas Bottom

I have quite a bit of material left at the Bottom. I either could cut off and Re-hem or try to Fold the material to make it smaller. I decided on the latter approach.

I pushed the Sides in towards the Centre. This is a bit like wrapping a present.

Sew Fold Together

 

I then Sewed the Fold together.

Sew Bottom Edge

 

After I Sewed the two pieces together I Folded the remaining Edges together and Sewed those making a nice Flat Edge Bottom.

Lollipop Finished

The Lollipop is now finished and it needs to be wrapped in time for giving for Yule.

A Comfy Candy Christmas 2019 Part 5

A Comfy Candy Christmas 2019 Part 5

I managed to keep the Covers in place whilst Pinning the Hem

Two Hemmed Lolly Covers

I now have Two finished Hemmed Lolly Covers.

Lolly Covers Pinned

I Blanket Stitched the Two Covers together. I went nearly all the way to the Bottom. However I stopped about an inch or so before the End.

This was for 2 reasons. One was to make sure that there was enough room to Slip off the Cover. The other reason was I was unsure of the length of the material I was putting on the Bottom.

Black Lolly Bottom

The above photograph shows the length of Lolly Stick that I need to Cover with the Top Slip at full length.

Canvas Wrap Over

I Wrap the Canvas material over the Bottom of the Stick. I find I have enough to give good coverage.

Canvas Slip Cover

The first thing that I needed to do was Hem the material all the way around.

Slip Double Hemmed

After Hemming all the way around I double checked the material. I decided that on the Two Sides I would make a Double Hem. This is because this is where I would be adding the Press Studs.

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 15

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 15

I am continuing with making the Paws.

Paw Slip Original

After turning the Slip the correct way around. I place it on to the Leg.

Paw Slip Curved

Using a Blanket Stitch I Curve the Top Edges of the Paw Slip.

Slip on Paw

The above photograph shows the Curved Paw Slip on the Leg. As you can see there is still a bit of loose material. The Curved Edges look very pinched from this angle.

Small Stuffing

Since there is not much room for filling between the Slip and the Leg I have had to cut the Stuffing into very small pieces. Otherwise when filling there will be unsightly bulges.

Blanket Stitch Paw

I have Stuffed the Paw Slip and need to do more manipulation of the End. Since I do not want the Slip to move around whilst I am working on it I have to secure it.

Important

I Sew the Slip to the Leg using a Blanket Stitch. However prior to this I had to make sure that the Slip was in the right position on the leg. This was done by placing the Leg how it would be attached to the body. That would show the correct angle of the Paw. DO Not use the Seam of the Leg as a guide as I found it can twist quite badly whilst being stuffed.

Double Curve

 

Once the Slip is secured I could go back to the Curved End. Using the same Technique I Sewed the Curve again. I pulled the material tight and some of the Stitching was far nearer to the Centre of the Slip.

This was actually easier than I thought it would be. Now the Paw was Stuffed I had more to get hold of and the needle went through quite easily.

Egg Cosy Part 3 Extras - Dragon Pattern

This is a continuation for the Extras for the Twisted Shape Egg Cosy made in Part 1.

Extras

If you want to continue to add the extras to make a more advanced Egg Cosy here are the instructions. First of all I found it easier to check placement if I had a model to place the Egg Cosy upon. It isn’t strictly necessary but useful. Here is a picture of what I used but normal Hard Boiled Eggs are fine.

Eggs in Cups

Dragon Egg Cosy

I am using 2.75mm Double Ended Needles

I suggest that you may want to read through and practise some of the stitches beforehand if you are not familiar with increasing stitches and making and I cord.

Cast on 2 stitches

Green and Purple cast on

Knit one row

Purl one row

This will give you a firm base to continue. From now on there will be a great deal of making and decreasing stitches.

Knit one stitch

Now we are going to make a stitch. First we put the needle through the remaining stitch and wind around the yarn as we would for a normal knit stitch.

Making a stitch

Next continue moving the needle through as you would do normally but DO NOT PULL OFF NEEDLE. Instead pull the loop you have on your needle and slip over back onto the original needle. Then knit the stitch you have just made.

Made a Stitch

Knit the remaining stitch.

Purl three stitches.

Made 3 stitches

Knit one stitch, make a stitch Knit 3 stitches.

Purl four stitches

Made 4 stitches

Knit one stitch, make a stitch Knit 4 stitches.

Purl five stitches.

Made 5 stitches

Now we will start to begin the decrease stitches, you already know how to do this from the other patterns.

Knit the first two stitches together.

Knit the remaining stitches

Purl 4 stitches.

Decreased to 4 stitches

Knit 2 together, knit last stitch

Purl 3 stitches

Knit 2 together, knit last stitch

Purl 2 stitches.

You will have now made one spine for the dragon. Continue the process if you want to make another. See below in picture. However make sure that your final decrease leaves 3 NOT 2 STITCHES ON THE NEEDLE if you are going to include the I Cord. You may prefer to cast off now and omit the I Cord. Alternatively you could cast off and sew on spines and then cast on 3 stitches and do the I Cord separately.

1 & 2 Spines

When you have the length you want and have purled the last 3 stitches we can begin the I Cord which will be the Dragon’s tail.

Read this part carefully before beginning.

The process is the more or less the same whether you have just cast on 3 stitches or are continuing on from the spines. However if you have just cast on you may find it easier to PURL 3 stitches first. This is the part why you see I have chosen to use Double Ended Needles.

Make start of I Cord

If you look at the above picture carefully you will see the Green spines are on the Right or Knit Row and the Purple are on the Wrong or Purl Row. Normally after a Purl row we would turn the work around. In this instance we will NOT do this.

Purl side movement

In the above picture you will see that the Purple is placed on the needle as it would be on a normal finished Purl Row before turning. I want you to slide the spines or cast on to where the Green position is situated.

You should now see that the first stitch and the yarn are at opposite ends of the work.

Take a needle and slip it through the first stitch

First Stitch

Take the yarn and wrap around and proceed to do a knit stitch. Knit the other two stitches. DO NOT TURN but slide the work to the top of the needle and repeat the process. You will find that after a few rows you can clearly see a round cord forming.

The question of how long to make the cord is up to you. What I did was after I had knitted at least an inch of cord I sewed the spines into place on the egg cosy. This way I could judge how long the cord was in comparison to the pattern I had in mind.

Sewn on Spines

I then was able to continue to knit the I Cord and work out the length of what I needed. When I thought it was long enough I simply slipped the needle through the 3 stitches and pulled through and off the needle to cast off.

Slip needle through

Next sew the I Cord or Dragon’s tail to the cosy in the way you want. I sewed the tail part way along the bottom for easy before curling upwards. I also spread the cotton a little at the end to make a bit of flair.

Sewn Tail

Then I sewed on the shape of the Dragon’s head and added teeth and eyes to it.

Dragon Head

For the Dragon’s wings Cast on 2 stitches

Knit 1 Row

Purl 1 Row

Continue with this (Stocking Stitch) process and you will begin to see a thin strip developing.

Long Strip

When you have knitted about 4 inches sew the tail end to the roughly the top of the spine. Make sure this is on the same side of the spine as the head.

Top of Spine

This will give you a firm point from which to measure. If you are not confident about sewing at this point you can pin the wing into place.

The length of the strip depends entirely on your wing design. I have tried to make mine sharp and pointy and a bit bat like.

Front View of Wing

Back View of Wing 

Completing the Dragon

This part is all sewn. Sew the Jaw and Neck of the Dragon on the front.

Jaw and Neck

The wing design depends on how you want it. I have sewn sections but you may prefer to sew scales.

Back View of Wing

This completes the Dragon Pattern and it is now ready to be washed and dried.

Embellishments

You can be as intricate as you like in adding to your Dragon Cosy. Suggestions for more detail include Beads for the Dragon’s eyes or adding another wing or the addition of a horn. If you really want to go to town try adding overlapping sequins on the wings for scales.

Finished Owl and Dragon 4 Piece Set