Fibre Friday

Hi Everyone

As this is the first week of working after the Christmas break, I’ve been quite busy getting back into some sort of routine. I don’t feel I’ve organised my life very well this week, as a result my spare time (usually filled with fibre related activities) has been limited. All my knitting time has been spent working on my Garland Sweater. I’ve made great progress and am almost finished one sleeve, as well as the body. I have the other sleeve to finish and then a deep neckband. My photo does not do justice to the beautiful colour of the yarn. It’s a bright Saphire Blue and quite stunning. I’m really looking forward to finishing the sweater and wearing it. I think, I could be there, next week ? I’m not rushing things, so I will take my time enjoying the knit

                           

My other yarn story this week is a Christmas gift, the Lovage Sweater Kit from Uist Wool. I mentioned this Christmas gift earlier in the week but I’m sharing a little more here today. The yarn is something called siaban. It’s a lovely light grey colour with lots of different grey tones going on and a dk weight. I’m excited about the whole kit and will start as soon as my Garland has finished. I love the pattern and the idea of the overall rib patterns. I especially like ribbed arms (just like the Garland) they give a slight impression of being flared at the end of the sleeve. I love this look.

                      

The Lovage uses 5.5mm and 4.5mm needles so the whole thing should knit up quite quickly, not that this is something I strive for. I especially warm to the idea of ‘slow knitting’. For me, knitting is about relaxing and a process of producing something as perfect as I can. I want to understand each part of the pattern and how this translates to the knitted material. I try and fight against the thoughts of fast knitting and techniques for knitting faster. I do, sometimes, get a little impatient with a particular project and feel a ‘need’ to get finished. As I’ve mentioned, I’m hoping to fight against this idea. I want knitting to be a joy, always. My way of dealing with the problem is to have a few live projects at any one time, to counteract any impatience. When I get impatient about a particular project, I can turn to another. 

I think, I’ve mentioned before on Fibre Fridays, always having a pair of socks on my needles. At the moment, there are no socks. I need to put this right today. I have a few ideas but will tell you all about what I decide next week. I also need a new shawl idea, so will look for a project. I think, three projects on the needles is about right for me.

Now for spinning chat. There has been no spinning at all over Christmas. I stored my wheel away because of our Christmas tree taking up lots of space. But, it’s back in its usual space and ready for action, I will definitely make a little time later for some spinning. I’m still spinning for a sweater (read back most Fridays for more on the particular sweater). I also have lots of lovely fibre from my  Hilltopcloud monthly subscription club. I’m going to plan a few projects to use some of this fibre. I’m not sure how to do this but will work on a plan this week. Hopefully, I will have something to share for next time.

That’s about it for my fibre update. It’s also the end of the week ! 

Have a lovely weekend. I’ll be back on Monday. bye for now.

Felt Pocket IV

Hi Everyone

The Felt Pocket has moved on ...... 

                    

We now have the actual Pocket pieces, arranged to show the final shape and colour combination (bottom right image). The blue section is the flap closure part. I’m planning to add a button. I do have a range of buttons available - but will decide when the decoration is complete. I’ve also got an option for a snap fastener, I can’t decide which to use yet.

The image on the bottom left is showing the inside front lining piece, this has been machine stitched and re-cut to match the second front layer. I needed to use this two colour arrangement because I simply ran out of the green felt. I quite like the effect.

I’m reasonably happy with the ‘case to be’ - the shape is good and I like the two colour combination. I have tried my reading specs in the case and they are OK but a snug fit, as a result - I’m going to lengthen the case by about 2cm. for the final pattern template.

I’ve started developing the first decoration option for the case.

                     

The little house decoration is underway. I’ve chosen bright colours in magenta and purple. I’d like to hand embroider each section of the house and add some small sections of padding to give a slight 3d effect. In addition, I’ll use beads to provide a little bling and detail to the house. 

I mentioned earlier in the week, my intention to add Blanket stitch to the entire edge of the Pocket. Hopefully, I will finish the prototype by the end of the afternoon. I’ll share the results over the next week or so. I also want to create another pocket using another decorative style. 

Thanks for calling in today.

The Felt Pocket begins

Hi Everyone

The Felt Pocket Project is finally underway (read back to Monday for the beginning of this story). I’m still adding ideas from my Pinterest Board (check out yesterday’s blog for link) but my first sample of The Pocket will use a little house for decoration. The shape of the house will come from a printing stamp I have. I’ll adapt the image to produce a template for cutting out different coloured felt fabric which will be layered and sewn onto the front of The Pocket, as decoration. I’m also planning to add beads, buttons and possibly ribbon to the design. I’ll make decisions as I go.

So far, I’ve made a paper template and cut out some felt, in Teal and Green. I didn’t have quite enough of the Green Felt so I patched together one of the front sections, producing a two colour piece. I’ll use this piece on the inside. The final Pocket consists of four pieces, two pieces will layer to form the structure of the Pocket, the second layer will form the lining. The double layered construction adds more structure to The Pocket. The decoration will be worked on the front before sewing all four layers around all the edges, using Blanket stitch in a contrasting thread.

Here’s a quick view of my progress so far :

                          

Thanks for calling in today. I’ll be back tomorrow. Bye for now.

More Presents and other things

Hi Everyone

I’ve had trouble getting into my working routine this week. I know it’s only Tuesday but my working routine is suffering before I get going. Other things took over yesterday, family stuff and general shopping etc just got in my way ! However, the minor crisis is over and I’m hoping I can get back on track today. As a result, I did very little towards my new Felt Pocket Project. I had intended to draw up the pattern template and do a little more research re decorative ideas for the pocket. However, I did a little research and added a few inspiration images to a new Pinterest Board see the Board here . This exercise prompted an idea for my sample Pocket. My plan is to develop a layered Felt house. I will use a stamp to develop a template before cutting out and sewing Felt pieces combined with beads and possibly buttons. I will aim to complete my basic Felt Pocket ready for decorating before the end of the day. So fingers crossed, I can make this happen.

I’m also sharing another Christmas gift today. This time is a sewing kit and I’m very excited about this project. This gift came from my youngest son (via my own wish list).

                          

One of my aims for 2018 is to get my sewing back into my life. So, this gift is just right. All the bits are included in the kit and it’s a very simple pattern. I’m not sure when a I will start but I’m looking forward to making my first item for 2018. I want to include sewing as a regular Making activity in my life. I’ve an idea to create a ‘sewing queue’, as per my knitting queue. The knitting queue has definitely allowed me to have a planned approach to knitting projects so hopefully I can replicate this with sewing.

Thanks for calling in today. I’ll be back tomorrow. Bye for now.

New for 2018

Hi Everyone

Happy New Year for 2018

I’ve had a lovely Christmas break over the last few weeks but it’s time to start 2018 with a new plan ! Each year, as usual, I review my approach to Making. This year, I’ve decided to change the way I organise my work. All the elements from last year, the workshops, writing work, Making Kits, Silver work and knitting will stay but I’m hoping to rearrange my approach to accommodate additional elements. I’d like to work with more materials and am hoping a bit of reorganisation can help me to include a wider range.

On a practical level, I will keep my Silver work as my main daily working activity and knitting will feature as my usual evening ‘hobby’ activity. The rest of my Making life will be organised around a carefully planned ‘queue’ of projects, written up as I work.

Having reviewed last years activity, one of the weaknesses of my system was focusing on a different daily material or activity. Unfortunately, I regularly found myself with lots of unfinished projects. Spending one day per week (only)on a specific project, generally, is not enough ; by the time the following week came around, momentum was lost. I found myself wasting time picking up each week on projects which needed more time and attention. The ‘stopping’ and ‘starting’ seemed to stifle creativity. So, my major change will be to concentrate on particular projects and see them through, however, long it takes. I’m hoping I can build in a ‘working review’ approach to check the value of the project and know when to abandon or continue. 

My first project using this new system will be a felt glasses/pencil case. I’m calling this project The Felt Pocket. I’ll start my project today by devising a basic pattern. I’ll also research some decorative options. This project will form the basis of a Workshop in a few weeks time.

I’m hoping that I can identify and share key features of my projects to share here on the blog along with offering occasional downloads of patterns/ instructions etc. For the moment, I will keep my Friday Fibre feature. This is an important part of my Making world and the regular Friday post helps me to organise how I develop and organise my fibre working skills. Hopefully, my plans will keep things fresh and there will be some interesting news to share here on the blog.

One other thing I’d like to share with you are some lovely Christmas gifts. I’ll select a few items over the next few weeks to share, my first item is this :

                  

This is one of my favourite gifts (from my Dad). It’s a kit from Uist Wool. The kit is a sweater called Lovage and I chose Siaban (dk) yarn. I’m not ready to start, just yet, but I’m very excited about this one. I’ll talk more about this project on Friday along with all the knitting and spinning news from the last few weeks.

Thanks for calling in today.