Christmas Shrugs

One reason, I was stressed up till Christmas was a late request for two shrugs to wear to the school disco and other Xmas events.  Naively, I agreed.  These shrugs ended up too big and riddled with errors, but the clients were happy, so all ends well.

Nobody wants to stand still and model.

At least they are having fun.

How it looks, when not worn.

It was a free pattern from a US blog Lilliputianstitches.  It's pretty simple, and a quick make.  Well, it's a quick make, if you have any clue, unlike yours truly, lol!  I think my shrugs ended up too big because I couldn't find the same yarn here in the UK, and I wasn't able to find anything with the exact same gauge either.  I was too inexperienced to compensate for the yarn differences, though I am sure there are a lot of knitters who could.

Whew!  That's all my Christmas themed posts, now we just need to finish off all the Turkey.  Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Grandma and Granddad's stockings were finished on Friday.

They have now joined the rest of the family's.  (After a heated debate about how to spell Granddad. Either Granddad or Grandad is right, apparently.  Isn't it nice when we can all be "right?")

All is in order at my house.  I am off to bake.

Merry Christmas to all my lovely readers!

Now we are Getting Somewhere!

One birthday present down.  

It's probably been said a thousand times by sewing bloggers, but it is so true that I will join the chorus:  it is only worth giving hand made presents, when you are making something that simply cannot be bought.  My niece who is turning 4 wanted, "Princess Bean Bags."  Well now, that is something that can only be made not bought.  So, £10 in materials and 7 hours of work later, and we have bean bags!  It was hectic, but worth it.  If China had been knocking these out, it would not have been worth it.

Front

Back

The whole caboodle

It would have been a quicker job, if I was more knowledgeable about my computer and the embroidery module on my sewing machine, but hey ho, I am learning as I go.  I bought the appliqué down loads from PlanetApplique.

Now it is onto the handmade Christmas stocking for Grandma and Granddad.  

Five Days till Xmas and this is how Things Look at my House...

I am old enough to know better.

The in-laws are coming to stay with us.

Tomorrow is a half day at school, last one before the two week break.

Some of this last minute stuff is not really my fault.  Favours and tasks for other people are having a knock on effect.

I haven't sewn clothes for myself in months.  After Christmas it is all about ME!  Unless I sew my husband a balmacaan coat from a Japanese pattern book....

  

It looks like a sideboard.  Really it's a craft stash.

This should be all waxed and ready for bleached white damask tablecloths.  I might still pull it off.

Machine is running flat out.

Merry Christmas everybody!  Hope you have it under better control than I do!

Amy Butler Quilt and Pillows

I finished Amy Butler's Cameo Quilt some time ago.  It's a quick and easy quilt to make, though expensive.  I ordered my fabric from Fabric.com, when they had a good sale on.  Of course, some of my savings was clawed back by the duty and VAT that I had to pay upon delivery.  Those charges weren't so high, but the postal service or UPS, or whomever always adds about a £10 charge for handling this customs charge.  Even so, I saved a lot of money over buying all this designer quilting cotton locally.

Amy Butler Cameo Ornament Quilt

The pattern is free, and it quilts up quickly.  Especially if you speed piece the background squares.  The ornaments take up a lot of fabric and create a lot of waste fabric.  Mine went to the local pre-school.  They can now stick and glue pretty fabric to their little hearts' content!

It tried to quilt down the centre of the ornaments.  Technically, it worked fine, not so sure it looks good though.

 The instructions call for cutting out the ornaments with a pinking sheers and just stitching them down a quarter inch from the edge.  This leaves the pinked edge exposed.  It's OK.  I don't love it.  I found it impossible to quilt a quarter inch from the pinked edge.  As I came around the curves the large fabric ornaments began to pull and distort on the bias.  In the end, I sewed more like half an inch in, and then cut the excess off while watching TV one evening.

I didn't like the way that sewing around the edge left a big pocket between the ornament and the body of the quilt.  I cannot do free motion quilting on my machine because I am too cheap to buy the specialist bobbin that is required.  There is also the issue of a lack of skill on my part, lol!  So, I used my machine's big hoop and one of the pre-programmed designs on the embroidery module to put a wreath motif in the centre of each ornament, thereby holding it close to the quilt.  This wasn't a disaster, but it doesn't really improve the quilt either.

Of course, you need a few pillows to go with the quilt.

I recovered the living room pillows to use up some of the left overs and because Christmas is coming and, of course, the house has to be *perfect!*  (It never is any other time of the year, but somehow, Christmas comes and I think with one last push I can do it all!)  The pillows look nice, but they won't last long.  Quilting cotton is really not thick enough for throw pillows in the living room.  I've bought myself some time to think about what we should have, but I haven't solved the cushion dilemma.

Children's Cardigan - Sirdar 9239

Thank you for all your kind words about my cowl and my new hair cut.  Going for an extreme chop is a little scary.  It's nice to be buoyed up by all your compliments!

My root canal re-do seemed to go well.  If you live in London, and need a root canal specialist, I can highly recommend Mr Bhavin Bhuva.  He has a special microscope which allows him to find stuff a normal family dentist won't be able to find.  It turned out, I had an extra root on the pained molar that my family dentist had missed the first time.  It's now just a few hours later,  and I feel well enough to share another adventure in home-produced clothing!

Sirdar Girl's Cardigan 9239, in Denim Ultra Chunky

This one was meant to be for my 8 year old daughter, but it was so small that it was a perfect fit for my 5 year old daughter!  At least some-one can wear it.  Though it's not the spec my 5 year old would have chosen, so she wants something in addition.  Meanwhile, the oldest is still waiting for a cardigan like this one that actually fits.  I was soooo much better off, when I insisted on knitting only for myself!

My attempt at the pattern.  My husband thinks it looks fantastic despite the errors.  

My little one in the cardigan.  I am so very cautious about posting their photos online, but this picture is a little fuzzy, so probably OK then?  

Sirdar's Ultra Denim Chunky knits up quickly - 10mm needles!  It has a  little wool and cotton in it, but it is mostly acrylic.  This means I can machine wash it in a warm wash.  Eminently sensible for kids clothes, but not as luscious as the luxury yarns put out by Rowan or Debbie Bliss, etc.

This was my first Sirdar pattern.  It was well written with no mistakes and easy even for a beginner like myself to follow.  I'd definitely try them again, especially for casual stuff.

One Lovely Blog Award

Merche from Aventuras de Costuras (Adventures in Sewing) awarded me this lovely blog award.  Thank you Merche!  I am tickled to bits because I love, love, love Merche's blog.  She sews beautiful, stylish clothes and looks like a fashion model, when she wears them.  The fact that she projects such a warm and friendly personality means that I can't even hate her for it, lol!

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I am supposed to reveal seven things about myself.

1.  I am having a root-canal redone tomorrow.  Ouch.

2.  I love to buy makeup, but not to wear it.  Looks pretty, especially in the packaging, but feels icky.

3.  Caramel/toffee is my favourite sweet treat, see point 1.

4.  I could eat green, seedless grapes all day.  Sugarone variety is my favourite.

5.  I also love peaches, but haven't had a good one since I left FL 20 years ago.  They used to come down from GA.  Oh the smell!  Peach pie!

6. I hardly drink at all.  I am sort of like your maiden aunt who has a glass of champaign at weddings, lol!  I am not against it, I just don't have the time for it.  

7.  I became a British Citizen this year.  I am still a US citizen.  

Like Lynn from Wonderfully Made, who received this award from Carolyn, I just don't have the heart to whittle the blogs that I admire down to 15.  Just check out my blog roll, I read all these blogs and enjoy them.   I add new ones all the time.