My first knitted garment - a cardigan of sorts

At the start of the year I set myself several aims. One of which was to knit something to wear; something significantly more substantial than a scarf. And I finished!

I knitted this short sleeved cardigan from a King Cole pattern and a whole lot of chunky wool (I needed two extra balls compared to what the pattern suggested!)

I am linking up to Rosie @ Craftbotics Craft Challenge - next month's challenge is budget home decor - I am so excited about my project - the materials have been bought, and now I just need to get started!

Love Rebecca

Happy Halloween!

I interrupt normal scheduling (new recipe of the week will be posted later in the week) to wish you all a very Happy Halloween! It seems that blog-world has been full of Halloween projects for well over a month now and there are some seriously great projects and recipes out there...the only thing is...I don't usually do anything for Halloween. I never have! I am going to admit it, I have never been trick or treating! Halloween to me is curling up on the sofa with my Mum eating leftover chocolate from the pack bought for trick or treaters!

Am I exceptionally weird in not celebrating Halloween?

 I don't have anything against the holiday and I love seeing the costumes people come up with, it is just something my family never did!

I did however go to the Halloween session of my University's Knitting Society (such fun!) on Monday. We had to wear 'awful/crazy/silly' knitwear. I raided my Mum's closet for my knitwear and found this gem of a jumper that she knitted when she was my age! Isn't it darling! And I am proud that the jumper failed to win a prize for awfulness - they thought it was cute instead!

What do you think about the jumper?

sorry about the poor quality picture! There was no one around to take it for me!

What are you doing for Halloween?

Have a great day!

Love Rebecca

Olympic Countdown - 7 Weeks to go - Union Jack Knitted Purse Pattern and Tutorial

This week's project has been a little bit of a labour of love! Testing my knitting skills to the max, I have been working on the knitting portion of the project for several weeks! But I am so pleased with the result - it was worth it.

For this project you will need to knit multiple colours on the same row. If you are a newish knitter but want to give this a go, don't be daunted, with a little patience this is definitely achievable! The only downside with knitting in this way is that you spend most of your time untangling the wool!

In order to make this project, you need to use a fairisle knitting technique. I muddled through and worked this one out using videos such as this one so I will link you to this rather than explain (badly) how to do this type of knitting. If you already know how to do fairisle knitting...

Here is the pattern for the union jack - I used aran wool and the finished panel was 16 x 12 cm. You will need three colours of wool - red, white and blue. The pattern is 37 stitches along and 32 rows down.

Written version of the pattern...

Cast on
Knit 37B
Purl 37B
Knit 4R 3W 6B 3W 5R 3W 6B 3W 4R
Purl 1W 4R 3W 5B 3W 5R 3W 5B 3W 4R 1W
Knit 2W 4R 3W 4B 3W 5R 3W 4B 3W 4R 2W
Purl 3W 4R 3W 3B 3W 5R 3W 3B 3W 4R 3W
Knit 1B 3W 4R 3W 2B 3W 5R 3W 2B 3W 4R 3W 1B
Purl 2B 3W 4R 3W 1B 3W 5R 3W 1B 3W 4R 3W 2B
Knit 3B 3W 4R 6W 5R 6W 4R 3W 3B
Purl 4B 3W 4R 5W 5R 5W 4R 3W 4B
Knit 5B 3W 4R 4W 5R 4W 4R 3W 5B
Purl 6B 3W 4R 3W 5R 3W 4R 3W 6B
Knit 16W 5R 16W
Purl 16W 5R 16W
Knit 37R
Purl 37R
Knit 37R
Purl 16W 5R 16W
Knit 16W 5R 16W
Purl 6B 3W 4R 3W 5R 3W 4R 3W 6B
Knit 5B 3W 4R 4W 5R 4W 4R 3W 5B
Purl 4B 3W 4R 5W 5R 5W 4R 3W 4B
Knit 3B 3W 4R 6W 5R 6W 4R 3W 3B
Purl 2B 3W 4R 3W 1B 3W 5R 3W 1B 3W 4R 3W 2B
Knit 1B 3W 4R 3W 2B 3W 5R 3W 2B 3W 4R 3W 1B
Purl 3W 4R 3W 3B 3W 5R 3W 3B 3W 4R 3W
Knit 2W 4R 3W 4B 3W 5R 3W 4B 3W 4R 2W
Purl 1W 4R 3W 5B 3W 5R 3W 5B 3W 4R 1W
Knit 4R 3W 6B 3W 5R 3W 6B 3W 4R
Purl 37B
Knit 37B
Purl 37B
Cast Off


 Once you have two knitted union jack panels, you are ready to sew them together into a simple zip pouch.

Materials

1 zip at least 18cm
16x24 cm of lining fabric - I used a calico style fabric

Instructions

1. Measure your finished patches,  Mine were 16cm x 12cm.

2. Cut out two rectangles from your lining fabric 16cm x 12cm

3. Lay a lining piece right side up on your work surface. Line the zip (right side up) along the top of the lining. Finally lay one flag panel on top, pin the three materials together on the lining side. See picture...

4. Using zipper foot, sew along the top edge of the fabric

5. Repeat with second lining piece and flag panel

This is what it should look like when you open it up

 

6. Bring two lining pieces together and pin, repeat with flag pieces (making sure that your zip is halfway open and the seams are pressed down towards the lining

7. Sew a rectangle around the lining and knitted pieces, leaving a 2-3inch gap in the lining for turning out

8. Turn right side out

9. Whip stitch the gap shut.

That's it! You are finished and now have a very patriotic purse!

This is my first knitting pattern so let me know if I have missed anything or you have any questions!

Have a great weekend!

Love Rebecca

Linking up to a selection of these great Link Parties

Eli the Elephant

Sorry but this is another elephant post! Elephant patterns are just so darn cute - I can't resist! So here is Eli the knitted elephant! I got the pattern free with Knit Now magazine in a little extra book called 'Storytime Toys' by Laura Long. The patterns are so cute and I managed to knit up this little fellow in a couple of weeks without too much issue! So here he is...

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

Love Rebecca

Linking to...
A Creative Princess
Naptime Crafters  
Positively Splendid
The Grant Life
Family Ever After  
Making the World Cuter
Rae Gun Ramblings
Sew Much Ado
Fireflies and Jellybeans

Conceptual Knitting - I need your help!

A couple of nights ago I came across this 'conceptual knitting' and I have to say I love the idea! Knitting without a pattern to add a 'sense of adventure' and result in a totally unique end product! This is where you come in! I am undertaking the 'Social Knitwork' project and need you to choose a colour out of the four below and tell me why you chose it - I will then knit it into my scarf! I will knit in the order the colours come in and by the end of it should have a beautiful scarf! So please, choose a colour and leave me a comment to let me know why so I can start my social knitwork scarf!

Love Rebecca

Linking to
Six Sisters Stuff
Family Ever After
Naptime Crafters 
Rae Gun Ramblings 

Knit Wristers

The winter weather is setting in and the heating is on! So why are my hands still so cold? Wearing gloves inside isn't desirable and certainly not practical when trying to make notes from lectures and text books! But after minimal searching I found the answer 'wristers'! A knit project from Honey Nutbrown's that would be the perfect solution for my cold hands!

The only problem I had as a beginner knitter was getting the ribbing right! I tried myself and after 3 rows my 34 stitches had turned into 64 stitches! So I did what anyone would do - I phoned my knitting expert (i.e. Mum). Once she had explained what I was doing wrong I was off and two days later I had a pair of wristers! They are great on their own or under my mittens for those extra cold days. I love the wool I found, a dark blue with pink fleck! These are such a great little project and the pattern is easy to follow, go on have a go!


Love Rebecca

Knitted Finger Puppets

 For my birthday I received a variety of knitting needles, a stitch counter and the November Issue of Knit Today. I bought some wool on my 16th birthday and have recently finished the scarf I set about to make (only 3 1/2 years later!) But now I have the hang of it, I can't get enough of knitting! Its a really relaxing thing to do whilst watching TV or listening to music!

In the last week, I have been following patterns for the first time ever and am so pleased with the results! Before long I will have a whole farmyard of animals but for now here are my efforts so far, a kitten, dog and pig!

Love Rebecca

Linked to Saturday Sevens @ Positively Splendid 
Linked to Financial Friday @ The Grant Life