Knitting along

While reading Crazy Mom Quilt's post on her avocado socks I was reminded of two woollen items that I could share.  These had both been completed over a month ago, but I have neglected to complete my Ravelry pages or post about them here.

First up, a jersey for my daughter.

K is five now, and wears a uniform for school.  I am sad that she can no longer wear handknits daily and the motherly desire to keep your child warm and comfortable is certainly not solaced by polyester.  Luckily this 'Olinda' by Georgie Hallam (Tikki) has been a popular garment at weekends.

The beauty of 'Olinda' is in the lace pattern  being completely reversible.  This is a great feature for children's clothing - for many reasons!  The only tricky part is sewing on two buttons for each button hole, and I am really happy with the buttons I found at my local drapery.

The pants K is wearing are my favourite Oliver + S 'After School Pants' in a light weight denim.  A great sew!  I have made these pants before (here and here) and I have also been counting our O+S garments - this is number 86!

This jersey can be also seen at my Ravelry page here.

I also (finally) made a Queen Anne's Lace crochet scarf, using some multi-coloured wool.

 

I made this using the tutorial I found on Mrs Micawber's blog, where the starting scallop was improved upon.  Great tutorial - thank you for the pictures and awesome instructions - I highly recommend them!

My scarf, and information on the yarn used, can be seen on my Ravelry page here.

See you at Finish it up Friday!

Granny Stripe Cushion

I rarely do any crochet - but when I do I really enjoy it.  The rhythm of the hook has an appeal when I've been busy knitting or sewing.  Recently I saw this pattern and wanted to have a go - but I didn't want to commit to a large project like a blanket. 
So I decided to make a cushion/pillow.  I had six 50g balls of (wool) yarn and have only got a little left over.  The cushion finished at about 18" x 19" (45 x 48cm).  I used a 3.5mm hook and started with about 90 chain.  There are five repeats of each colour which makes 30 double rows.

I backed the crochet in a plain white woven cotton, and used a mid pink fine wale cord for the back.  I used my favourite zipped cushion back tutorial again (see links).

The only flaw in my project is that I sewed the front to the back with one being upside down.  Ooops!

I made this cushion for K and she absolutely loves it.  She has been using it as her sleeping pillow and it has been involved a doll/toy games already.  A very snuggly/cuddly pillow!

A little bit of magic...

Plastic is a pretty amazing thing...  we use it for so many things.  Plastic things are everywhere in our lives, and if you have children, plastic is used to make many toys.

Unfortunately K has a clumsy mother who has been known to stand on toys without meaning to.  Snap!  And that was the end of that... the plastic crown... the plastic wand... all of those things our princess K cannot do without.

So what does a crafting mother do?  She crochets them of course.  In the stash I had some golden coloured synthetic yarn from Spotlight and with a search I found this pattern for a crown on Ravelry.  I changed the pattern significantly and was surprised with how easily it worked.  It is slightly stretchy so it stays on K's head really well.

The wand was made from a simple crocheted star using the same yarn.  I painted some 8mm doweling with gold paint then drilled two small holes near the top that lined up with the start and finish yarn tails so I could tie it together.  Voila!  A very happy girl.

 

Spring is getting closer - here are the first snowbells poking through the ground.

 

Cute pic of K with an orphaned lamb:

The skirt she is wearing is a simplified kilt-style made from an old woollen skirt of my grandmother's.  The lamb was briefly at the house but still managed to be named: 'Screwdriver' because he was a boy.  I think a 'she' would have been called 'Raspberry'.