Moss stitch cowl

Hello everyone. Whoa, this is my second post in just over a week! It's a long time since I've managed two posts in such quick succession - lets hope I don't strain myself (yup, being sarcastic there!).

Seriously though, it's nice to be able to be back here again so quickly - to have thought about it, and actually feel like it. To be honest I haven't done much of either of those two things for a while.

I've just felt tired, tired, tired. Not physically, or even mentally really... maybe more uninspired than tired. It's been a tough few months for various reasons. I think things are settling down for me again now, finally. Hopefully I will start to have more time, and to feel a little more inspired to get creative again.

I have some projects that I started in spring and early summer which have been sitting, waiting for something to happen to them. I'm still not sure what that will be - will they survive to be completed or be unraveled to turn into something else?

At least I have managed to finish the hat I mentioned in my last post, and also a moss stitch cowl. The cowl has another hat to match already actually, but I haven't had time to photograph it yet. Maybe I'll get S to take a snap of me wearing hat and cowl at the weekend!

The cowl was knitted in the round on a circular needles, using double moss stitch. It was very easy, and fantastic sofa-knitting in the evenings after work. Hmmm, maybe that it the secret to finding my crafty inspiration again - it's got to be something easy that won't require too much concentration!

Relaxing

I thought this would be a good photo to start a post with! Hello everyone, hope you are all having a fab weekend. I am having a very relaxing one, in an attempt to recover from the tiredness I was complaining of last week.

S and I have a really nice day yesterday, walking around Bulter's Wharf and Wapping. I thought I would share these pictures with you, as this area is one of my favourite places in London. This is part of the London Docklands, not far form Tower Bridge. The whole area was re-developed in the 1980s, after it had fallen into decline. These pictures are of former warehouses on the south side of the river there. They've all now been converted into trendy (and eye-wateringly expensive) apartments. I love walking around there. There is something atmospheric about these buildings. I love that they have retained their original names, some related to the kind of goods that were brought to land there - there is a Java Wharf - and some which sound like they are related to owners or shipping companies - New Concordia Wharf, St Saviours Wharf. It's a great place to explore anyway.

I also managed to finish something this weekend! Here it is, my completed scarf. I think someone asked for the pattern after my last post. It's called Netherton, and can be bought as a Ravelry download from Mrs Moon here.

I'm quite happy with how this came out, and it was good fun to make. The pattern wasn't nearly as complicated as I thought it was going to be looking at the picture on the front before I started. It was really fund making the bobbles at each end too!

I think I can feel another version of this scarf coming on, perhaps all in one colour...

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

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Tired....

I am so, so tired at the moment. I feel so bad  about it. I just feel bad that I seem to be unable to do all the things I am supposed to do in life, and want to do. I am just not able to fill all the roles that I have to, and want to, to my own satisfaction at the moment. I really wish I had more energy, more time, that there was another me that I could send out to do everything for a couple of weeks while the first me has a rest!

My PhD is the thing I feel worst about at the moment. You know it's bad when you struggle to concentrate so much that even the fact that your coaster matches your mug is a distraction! Yup, that's the reason for the picture above - taken last Sunday when I was supposed to be studying, trying to bludgeon my brain into concentrating for several hours. Sigh.....

Well, I have just completed another 8000 word section of work. Who knows whether it will make it into the final PhD, but at least I feel I have achieved something, however flawed. As a reward, I've decided to stop being so hard on myself and give myself a break - literally and figuratively. So for Easter, I am going to let the PhD student role slide by for a couple of weeks and concentrate on the other roles - girlfriend, daughter, sister ... perhaps I can even squeeze in a little extra time just to be me too!

As you can see, I may not have had time or energy to blog over the last couple of weeks, but it hasn't stopped me from crafting! I have very much been enjoying working on this beauty in my down time. The yarn is an absolute dream to work with too. It is Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk, bought from Mrs Moon last month.

Isn't it luscious? Part of the fuzzy light in these pictures is, I think, just because the light is shining on the silk fibres and reflecting a sort of hazy glow. I wasn't using any kind of Instagram filter when I took these shots, I promise!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend, I'll be back again soon I hope!

Sunshine motif and cushion - a tutorial

It's been a while since I have had time to make a new tutorial, but as I've had, I think, a few requests for a tutorial for the sunshine cushion which I made at the end of last summer, I thought I'd better try and get on with it! So here's the finished article, as a little reminder. The tutorial follows below for the motif, with some brief instructions for making the cushion cover, because once you know how to make the motif, the rest is really pretty simple.

So, here we go with the motif instructions!

I'm using Rowan Siena cotton 4 ply and a 3mm hook, but any suitable hook and yarn combination will suffice

Step 1: Foundations

Chain 4 and join into a ring by slip stitching into the first chain.

Round 1: Work 12 trebles into the ring.

Step 2: Pretty fillet round

In this round you will be working into the tops of the trebles from the previous round. 

Start by chaining 5. This counts as your first treble, plus another 2 chain. Work *1 treble into the next stitch, followed by another 2 chain. Repeat from * another 10 times, so that every stitch from the previous round has been worked into. Finish the round by slip stitching into the 3rd of the 5 chain you worked at the start of the round.

 You should now have something looking like this:

Step 3: sunshine clusters

In this round you will be working into the 2 chain spaces between trebles created in the last round. You need to work a cluster stitch into each space. Start by slip stitching into the first space next to your hook to move your hook and yarn into position. 

Work a 4 treble cluster as follows:

*Yarn round hook, put hook through chain space, yarn round hook, pull yarn through chain space, yarn round hook, pull through first two loops on hook** (one loop remaining on hook). Repeat from * to ** noting that with each repeat you will have gained an extra loop on your hook at the end. Work 5 repeats in total for a 5 treble cluster. You should now have 5 loops on your hook. To finish the cluster, wrap yarn around hook, and pull through all 5 loops on hook. Chain 3 and create another treble cluster in the next chain space. Continue in this way until a 5 treble cluster has been worked into each 2 chain space from last round, noting that you will chain 3 between each cluster.

Finish the round with a 3 chain, and slip stitch into top of the first treble cluster in the round.

 Step 4: Squaring off

Phew, the scary treble cluster stuff is done!

To position your yarn and hook correctly, start by slip stitching into the first of the 3 chain spaces created in the last round. Now, work 4 chain (counts as first double treble), followed by 2 double trebles, 2 chain and 3 double trebles into the same 3 chain space. This forms the first corner of your square. *Work 3 trebles into the next 3 chain space. Repeat from * once more. Into the next 3 chain space work 3 double trebles, 2 chain, 3 double trebles**. Repeat from * to ** 2 times more. Work 3 trebles into each of the next 2 3 chain spaces. Complete round by slip stitching into 4th of 4 chain made at start of round.

That's it! Hopefully you now have something like this:

To make a cushion cover to fit a 16 inch square cushion pad, made 50 motifs (25 for each side). Stitch motifs together into rows of 5 by oversewing the edges of the squares together. Stitch 5 rows of 5 together to form a square for each side. Work 1 round of double crochet around the entire edge of each side. Fasten off loose ends. Holding the two sides with wrong sides facing together and right facing out, double crochet around 3 sides of square, ensuring that your stitches are joining the two sides of the cover. Insert cushion pad. If liked, seal cushion by continuing to double crochet across the fourth side of the cover. Alternatively, for a removable cover, work a series of short 3 chain loops, evenly space along either side of your cover. Use these loops as button holes. and stitch buttons to the other side of the cover to form a closure.

That's all! Hope it works out - please let me know if you have any problems!

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Mammoth crafty update part III

Hello everyone, I hope 2014 is going well for you so far!

This post just about completes my update of crafty goings on in December. I managed to finish two other projects at the end of 2013.

Firstly this Kim Hargreaves sweater, called Longing, from the book Enchanted.

Sorry about the slightly rubbish quality of the photo - this was a really difficult garment to photograph. Perhaps it's because its cream, or perhaps it just the really awful lack of daylight here at this time of year!

Anyway, I hope you can see the picture well enough to be able to make out the stitch work and overall idea. I'm quite pleased with how this came out. I tried to make this sweater last winter, but had trouble because the sleeves on the finished garment were waaay waaaay too long! This time around, I decided to shorten the sleeves from the length specified in the pattern by about 5cm. It was a little nerve wracking as this was a bit of a guess based on other things I have made where the sleeve length has been ok, but I seem to have guessed well because the sleeve length is perfect this time around!

The other make I completed, on the very last day of the year was this little scarf.

Again, I'm sorry for the awful light in these pictures - it was really overcast when I took these, so the colours are all wrong.

The yarn I used for this was Madeline Tosh sock yarn, in shade Olivia. I used a basic leaf lace pattern that you can find in most stitch dictionaries of knitted lace. This post, from when I started this scarf waaay back in June last year will give you a better idea of the actual colour of the yarn! Now that I've looked back through this blog to find when I started this project, I can't believe that it was so long ago and that six months has gone so fast!

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Well, I'll be back to normal posting with my next post, we're pretty well caught up now! I have to share one very exciting thing though, which I'll go into more detail on in my next post. I think I have mentioned before, one of my very favourite independent yarn and haberdashery shops is called Mrs Moon, in St Margarets, near Richmond upon Thames. Well, Mrs Moon have an annual Christmas prize draw, and guess who won this year! Yes, it was me! I am such a lucky, lucky girl, and prize is an absolutely amazing haul of yarn-y goodies! I will share full details in my next post!

Sunshine cushion

I can't believe it has been over a week since my last post. This week has gone so fast, and to be honest I have just been plain lazy about posting! In my last post I said that I might have a completed cushion cover to share with you - well, I do!

Here is the cushion made with my latest motif design. I'm calling this motif the sunshine motif. I'm quite pleased with the way this cushion turned out, and I loved working with all these colours!

I think this cushion has a South American feel to it. Something about all the colours together and the sunburst element of the motif. Can anyone else see that?

I also made a button closure for this cushion - I do love that on a crochet cushion, I think it gives such a nice finishing touch! 

I would love to share this pattern with you - I'm actually mulling over the purchase of crochet chart software. I think this would be much better than writing out patterns long-hand, which, let's face it, is a bit of a chore!

Well, I think you have probably had enough of the cushion for now! As Autumn is approaching here with the start of September I've been turning my thoughts to knitwear. More soon!

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Monochrome and colour crochet

Just a quick post tonight- I wanted to show you my latest crochet works in progress!

I've been having fun with 1 colour crochet. Not something I've done much of for a long time, but I do love the effect. It feels more early 20th century vintage style somehow than bright colours mixed together, which I think gives a more 1960s-70s vibe - both are great of course!

The pattern used in the above is my vintage flower square pattern, which I posted the other week. 

I have another new motif design too, which I've also been working in single colour. This is another of my own designs and I hope to post a tutorial in the next few weeks:

Just for fun and because I have a lot of colourful cotton at the moment, I thought I'd also try the second motif pattern in brights too. This is my stash of Rowan Cotton Glace:

Well, I hope you all enjoy the long weekend - I'm away at S's until Monday now, but who knows, perhaps by then I may have a finished cushion cover or two to share with you!

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