My Pal's Hat

I love knitting hats and my BF loves wearing them : great combination!
This one is the Vanilla Hat by Deborah Lynch. It's knitted with the provisional cast-on technique which gives a lovely folded brim.
I used Peak District Yarns DK, in the colourway "Charcoal Kate 1". I love how the subtle change of colour in the yarn  turned out in the knitted fabric.
Peak District Yarns is a studio and workshop in Tideswell in the Peak District, UK. The unbelievably beautiful landscape there is the inspiration for their unique hand-dyed yarns.
Last year we went on a trip to this amazing corner of the world and we fell in love with the raw expanse of the Peaks. And of course the Peak District Yarns shop had to be on my to-do list! I was not disappointed and this skein is only one of the many I bought… Perhaps I should learn to control myself a bit better in these gorgeous yarn shops! 😁

                                                                  The lovely yarn:

work in progress and knitting on the train:

A patchwork curtain

One of the windows in our house needed some new roller blinds. I didn't want to buy new ones so I decided to make some. I looked through my stash but didn't have a piece of fabric that was both big enough and suitable for the purpose. So I resorted to patchwork. I puzzled with different fabrics, styles and colours, using among others a piece of the old curtain and even a kitchen towel. Once satisfied, I stitched the pieces together and got this nice and sweet roller blind, that admittedly doesn't roll. Now every time I walk into this room, the day seems a bit brighter!

on a sunny day !

But even on a darker day it feels sunny!

Sleepy piglet

I crocheted this sleepy little pig some time ago and used a very colourful yarn. He looks like he has been playing in unicorn poo. and now he is tired and needs to go to sleep. So I made him some bedsocks and a nightcap. I used some old T-shirt fabric for his wardrobe.
I have been looking for information about the pattern to share, but I have no idea anymore where to find it, sorry... hope you like me sharing the pictures anyway…

Is it a shawl or a scarf, a sharf or a scawl

This is a project I solely made for the fun of experimenting with shaping and matching colours. I looked through my stash and brought together these different yarns, all DK weight :

- Alpaca Super Fine by Borgo de Pazzi (the red yarn)

- Adriafil WoCa ecoyarn (the dark grey yarn)

- Adriafil Sierra Andina Alpaca (the light purple yarn)

- The Fibre Co Acadia (the green, the blue and the dark purple yarns, some of it was leftover yarn) - one of my favourites so far!

The technique of short rows intrigued me and although it looked fairly complicated, I wanted to try it. So I looked for some intructions online and started knitting away. There were so many stitches on the needles, that I couldn't visualise exactly how the shawl (scarf?) would look like : a true mystery knit this was! In the end, it turned out quite all right, certainly not perfect, but I love the colour combination and the rainbow-shaped section. And it's a really warm scarf (or shawl?) as well!

the shortrow section:

Work In Progress:

Sideways slouch slippers

Another great and fun way of stash busting : the Sideways slouch slippers. I found the pattern in my much-used book "Knitted and crocheted slippers" by Alison Howard. This is an easy project from my early days as a knitter, but I still love the design and I'm sure I will make more of these!
As I mainly started this project in order to practise garter stitch, I used some random balls of yarn, without labels or specifications, that had been lying round the house for ages. Holding the yarn double, while guessing the yarn weight, I knitted myself a pair of fun-looking, warm slippers. I recommend this pattern for some easy-going, quick and stash-busting garter stitch knitting!

                                                                                                                                                                 

                    

The Moon with Janneke for Dad

My Mum asked to take my Dad's favourite shirt and turn it into something he would like. This way it wouldn't have to be thrown away, but it also wouldn't be worn anymore, because, honestly, that ship had definitely sailed...
So I made this moon, with its single resident, Janneke. Janneke has a pocket watch, so he always knows the right time to make the moon shine. He also has a rope ladder, for when he is a bit bored on the moon and wants to visit friends.
I used parts of the shirt, some cord and twigs for the rope ladder, some felting wool and yarn for Janneke. And all the mismatched buttons my Dad himself had sewn to his shirt every time he lost one, I just had to give them a place too. So I sewed them onto the top.
Happily, Dad likes his moon. And so does Mum.

Susan B. Andersons lovely Butterfly

I'm a fan of the lovely, wonderful knitting patterns of Susan B. Anderson. This particular pattern can be found in the magazine "Making" No.2 and also here, on Ravelry.
Knitting a Susan B Anderson pattern is on my "20 for 20 list". So despite all the other unfinished projects demanding my attention, I decided to give priority to this one. Just because it is so cute!
The butterfly and cocoon are both worked seamlessly from the bottom up, picking up stitches for the wings and antennae after the body is knitted.
I used small amounts of Baa Ram Ewe Titus yarn (a wool and alpaca blend).
This wasn't a very easy make, but the pattern is clear enough and I loved the process of creating this sweet butterfly in its cosy cocoon.

Shall I fly this way...

...or that way?

 Cosy and warm!

Upcycling T-shirts into a loop scarf

On Pinterest you can find lots of images of loop scarfs made from T-shirt fabric. I love these projects and wanted to try my hand at this. For a long time I have kept my old discarded clothes so I have more than enough fabric to get me started.
I used mostly dark grey, with smaller pieces of coloured, flowered fabric.
It was a bit more work than I thought, but I am in love with the outcome, so totally me! I love the colours and the scarf is so soft.

You can wear this loop scarf in many different ways :

Work In Progress:

Beehive tea cosy

This very cute tea cosy is gloriously old fashioned, fun to make, and continues the bee theme!
You can find the pattern in "Cute and easy knitting" on page 103. I used Duetto Stampe from Veritas, a cotton wool blend yarn. It's nice to work with and I think the colour and structure of the yarn suggest a hive really well. The flowers are crocheted and the bees knit with some yarn leftovers. The bee wings are made of net curtain fabric.
Nice hot cuppa anyone?

Upcycled not thrown out

Imagine, you spill some very yummy, very oily tomatoes on the cover of your very cheap ottoman. Yes, a big stain and a wash doesn't get it out. And I can't throw this thing away. So I sewed a new cover from some soft stretchy fabric I got from my mum, and I decorated it with a knitted and crocheted house, some flowers and a tree. It is actually this project that brought me back to knitting and crocheting all these years ago. Just trying out what I still remembered from school, and making my own design as I went along. Not a masterpiece, but very dear to me, this thing!