Denim Pencil Case and Covered Book

A friend of mine from overseas had her farewell party a few weeks ago. I decided to make her a pencil case and on advice from my mother, also covered a notebook to give to her. The pencil case is made from denim, with a cotton print lining. I copied a pencil case that I already owned and I think it turned out quite well.

As you may have noticed, the lining features Australian gum tree leaves, and the pencil case is personalised.

I bought a plain notebook and covered it in denim, overlocking the edges and gluing it on with wood glue. To make it sit better I cut out triangles at the spine, and cut the corners off on a diagonal. The front of the cover features a rainbow lorikeet perched on a J in cross stitch, the design of which is from Allura's Australia in Cross Stitch.

Painted Silk Bag

I've been cleaning out my cupboard today - long needed. I started doing it because I managed to lose one of my slippers and one of my special ultra-thermal wool socks. As it's very cold at the moment I need them desperately. Although I haven't found them yet I did manage to get side tracked...

This is a project I did last year. I made it from a silk handkerchief and some delicious gold silk dupioni, as well as some silk painting materials.

The silk handkerchief was originally white, but by using silk paints I was able to create a fan design on it, in red, black and gold, which looks (if I do say so myself) stunning but simple.

To make the bag stronger I lined the bag with interfacing, than covered the interfacing with the silk dupioni. The handle and clasp are made from different coloured DMC threads, tied in the Chinese Staircase pattern. The button is one that I got from Stitch Bliss a while ago, because I just couldn't resist it...

Unfortunately I haven't really had an opportunity to use the bag yet as it is more for show than actual use - I'd only be able to put in a few small things - and obviously you always need more room. :)

Knitted Medieval Bag

I knitted this bag as a Christmas present for my sister, and now that Christmas is over, I can post about it :)

The pattern for the bag was written by Wendi Dunlap, and posted on www.ravelry.com - a wonderful site for free knitting patterns, if you sign up as a member.The chart is based on designs from History of Hand Knitting, and looks very good, once knitted up.

I made the bag from some odd balls and scraps of yarn I had left over from other projects - Jo Sharp Soho Summer Cotton DK Currant 234 and Fog 250. I knitted these yarns on 6.5mm bamboo needles and they look nice together.

I knitted the bag in the round, to avoid adding more ends to weave-in (I hate sewing up). Unfortunately for me, I found out (after I had knitted the bag) that I could have avoided all the loose ends that require weaving-in by twisting the two yarns around each other, to carry them on. :( However I finally finished the bag, ends and all, and my sister was very pleased with it.

My only concern with the pattern was that it was a bit big - but as I used wools of different ply to what the pattern required, I think it turned out fairly well.

Origami

It was a cold and rainy Christmas. The wind was howling outside and the roof was rattling in the rain... Yes, I know it's 6 months since Christmas, but I've been lazy and just haven't got round to it.

Because Christmas was so miserable, I was stuck inside all day, every day for about three weeks on end. Bored and cold, I resorted to cleaning out my bedroom - finally :)

Of course, whilst cleaning the room I found some very interesting things - old lolly wrappers, clothes I thought I'd lost etc. Then I came across some old origami kits that someone had given me, however many years ago.

Gladly turning my back on the half-cleaned (and probably messier) room, I started to revise my (pitiful) origami skills. Amazing how much you can forget in less than 2 years...

A while later and I had gone through the childish instruction books and was ready for something more.

Searching for some interesting things to make I came across Modulo Origami, a style where you make one small piece many times and join the small pieces up to make a big shape.

Unfortunately after only a few tries I ran out of paper, and patience. I'll probably try again in a few years.

The Amazing Egg-bot

One of my Christmas presents, the Egg-bot, is a very clever machine that can be used to draw on light-bulbs, golf-balls, anything round - but especially eggs. As a result of this gift, since Christmas, there hasn't been an egg in the house that does not have a beautiful design drawn on it.

 The machine uses a ultra fine tip Sharpie to draw on the eggs. At the moment I've only got a black one, but I'll be getting some coloured ones soon, to make even more designs.

Knit 8 Cabled Scarf Version 2

A few months ago, I was desperate for a quick knitting project that had something in it that would challenge me. Fortunately, Knit 8 had just come into the shop where I work, so I was able to look through it and pick something to knit.

I was able to find the perfect project, a stylish narrow scarf in two colours with an interesting cable design.

Materials
For version 2 of the cabled scarf the pattern calls for 3 balls of Soho Summer DK cotton Fog 250 and 2 balls of Alpaca Silk Georgette 255 Musk, however I managed to complete the scarf with only 2 balls of Soho Summer DK cotton and 1 ball of Alpaca Silk Georgette. As I didn't have any Musk, I used Peony 757, which is a slightly lighter shade of pink. The scarf is knitted on 10.0mm single pointed knitting needles, making it very quick to knit, which is what I was looking for.

Knitting Process
 The scarf was very quick to knit, as I had hoped and was quite easy once I got the hang of doing the cables. For my first try at doing (the dreaded) cables, I was pleased with how I went, cables are definitely not as hard as they're said to be. 
 The scarf took about one and a half weeks to knit, which was pretty much the time frame I wanted to knit it, so I was very happy with how quickly it knitted up.
Apart from not using as much yarn as the pattern said it would, I didn't find any errors in the pattern and as the scarf is very stylish, the Fog and Peony looking slightly sophisticated together, I am exceedingly happy with how it turned out.   

Side to Side Cardigan from Knit 8

I started this blog to record all the knitting I do, plus anything else that I make. This is a post I wrote for the blog of the shop where I work.

Pattern description

The pattern I used is the side to side cardigan, from Knit 8. I made Version 2.
This pattern is for a short, sideways knitted cardigan with three cables. The cardigan ties with an eye cord that runs through one of the cables.



Why did you chose this pattern? Did the finished garment turn out as you expected?

I chose the cardigan pattern because it looked fun and quick to knit and had quite a few techniques that I hadn't used before. When I finished the cardigan it looked exactly like the picture in Knit 8, but with different colours and a longer i-cord, which were my changes.



Did you find any errors or tricky places in the pattern?

Right at the end of the pattern there was one minor error, the knits were called purls and the purls were called knits, but I found it before I knitted that section, thank goodness. :)



What yarns and needles did you use? Did you like the yarn texture and colour? Did the yarns work well for the pattern?


For the cardigan I used Alpaca Silk Georgette 751 Pebble and Soho Summer DK Cotton 234 Currant. I used Currant instead of Soho Summer DK Cotton 216 Sapote, which is the yarn used in the pattern instructions, because I preferred the colour combination of purple and steel grey  to the suggested brown and steel grey, which seemed a bit dull to me. The needles I used were 5.5mm and 10.0mm single pointed needles, a cable needle, a stitch holder and 5.5mm double pointed needles.

The two yarns together feel soft and make the pattern look slightly lacy, because they're knitted together on large needles. The two yarns worked really well for the cardigan, I love the combined colours and the yarns feel very soft. The cardigan is also a perfect weight for Queensland, it gives some warmth but isn't too hot, because of its lacy texture.



How long did it take you to knit the garment?

I knitted the cardigan on and off for about 2 months, not doing much knitting each time. The actual knitting was very quick though, and sewing up barely took any time at all. Probably the most time consuming part of the cardigan was knitting the i-cord.


Was it a difficult knit for you? Did you use any new techniques?

This wasn't a very difficult cardigan to make, the instructions were quite easy to read and follow, even though there were a few techniques I hadn't really used much before, like the moss stitch and the whole experience of knitting "sideways." The instructions for the i-cord weren't as clear but I found very user-friendly instructions for it in Knitter's Handbook by Montse Stanley

Are you happy with the garment? Where and when are you planning to wear it?

I am very happy with the cardigan, it turned out almost exactly like I thought it would, and I think it is very flattering to wear. I plan to wear the cardigan in spring, autumn and maybe on warmer winter days. So far I've worn it with a dress during a breezy day at the beach and at work over a blouse, with a skirt. I am really satisfied with the cardigan, hopefully I'll be able to wear it a lot. I think it will dress up a jeans outfit, or look smart and casual over a more formal outfit.