Christmas Gifts 2 -Lace Scarf in Kidsilk Haze

Lace 'Gathering' scarf in Rowan Kidsilk Haze with little black glass beads.

The pattern is in 'Little luxury Knits' by Rowan and only takes 1 ball of Kidsilk Haze, a perfect gift.

Apart from putting the beads on this was a fairly easy knit. It is on 5mm needles so grows quickly but does require some concentration pattern wise - not one to take to knit club!

Christmas Gifts 1 - Reversable Knitting Bags

I have been waiting till after Christmas to post gifts I made up on the blog just in case the recipient had a look on here (however unlikely).

So here are some little reversible knitting bags for two new knitters. They will just fit an A4 pattern in them along with a ball of wool and a set of needles.

I gave the gifts as little starter kits with great success.

Fabrics are a mix of Amy Butler and some random cotton I got from Abakans in Manchester.

Christmas Knitting - Festive Stocking

Christmas is coming! Festive stocking of my own design in Rowan Creative Focus Worsted, an American style worsted weight yarn (in the UK its between an aran and a dk). Lined with some nice thick cotton I found in my local Haberdashery shop. Just need to fill it with presents now...

Knitted Patchwork Blanket

Patchwork blanket in Rowan All Seasons Cotton. The squares are adapted from an old Martin Storey pattern, you cast on for the 4 outer edges of the square then decrease at the 4 diagonals into the centre then seam the last diagonal back to the outer edge. Now in All Seasons, an aran weight yarn done on 4.5mm needles. I have backed this blanket with a slightly quilted cotton fabric and used buttons to tie the two sides together. Its like a little duvet! Should be an awesome pram blanket for the new baby it is going to.

Adventures in Quilting

Having done patchwork before I thought it was about time I leaped into the world of quilting. Armed with my 'Dare to be Square' book I set to. I have made an end of bed/knee quilt for my niece as a Christmas gift. I hope it will become the blanket she takes with her though life as I give it to her now at 18 months. Finished photo to follow!

Cushion for Annabelle

Annabelle is 1!

Very keen to provide lovely things for my niece I made an appliqué cushion with her name and things beginning with 'A' on it. Apple, anchor, aardvark!

Main cushion cover made from felt with a zip closure on the back, appliquéd felt and Amy Butler fabric letters with embroidered apple and anchor and appliquéd aardvark.

Appliquéd Aardvark - if thats not a craft blog waiting to be published I don't know what is.

I digress!

As you can see, the cushion got a round of applause.

Charity Corsages

Me and my knitting group made a tree for Knit in Public day last month, full of leaves and flowers (and 3 slugs).

The plan was to sew these flowers and leaves together into corsages and then sell them for Mustard Tree; a charity for homeless and vulnerable people in Manchester.

So here are the finished articles! Some knitted, some sewn, some crocheted.

We have sold a few already and got over £40! If we continue to sell at similar prices we should get over £130, which I think is pretty good.