Archive for May, 2009

Found these lovely ceramic, handmade buttons on Etsy

WWKIP Day is June 20 this year and there is an event planned for Brisbane.

It will be held at the Southbank Parklands from 1pm onwards.

Details about where to meet can be found here.  Hope to see you there!

I have just finished my first pair of Ladybugz crocheted longies!  I made the size small.  I hold a cottage license so hope to make many more (in my spare time – LOL!).  For the uninitiated, longies are also known as soakers – lanolise them and use them as cloth nappy covers.  I used longies on my daughter when she was in nappies and they worked a treat!

They were crocheted with Cleckheaton Country 12 ply 100% wool, in a nice kiwi green and pale mauvey/grey.  I use two balls of the green and half a ball of the mauvey/grey.  I got the cleckheaton at a spotlight sale for $2 per ball so they worked out quite cheaply!

These are the front

These are the back – note the gusset which is part of the design to give more room for cloth-nappied bottoms

This is a close-up of the waistband.  The ribbing is created by HDCing around the front of the post of the stitch in the row below, and the HDCing around the back of the post of the next stitch in the row below.  Phew!!  I’m getting confused and I’ve already done it!  But the instructions are very clear.  The drawcord is crocheted as well – too difficult to explain – you’ll just have to buy the pattern!

My daughter is 3 and a half and has been toilet-trained for a year now, so you may be wondering WHY I would want to knit longies (woollen nappy covers) for her?  Well, I know they’re functional, but I really like woollen pants – there’s something very cute and old-fashioned and personal about knitting something for your child  – something not mass-produced.  AND they’re really warm!

So!  Now I have TWO challenges -

1.  Finding the time to make them

2.  Converting the fabulous pattern I have just bought into longie knitting in the round, wait for it…on a loom!  LOL!  A loom you say???  What the???  Can it be done, you ask???  Well, I’m about to find out, aren’t I??

I’ve settled on a loom – The baby afghan regular gauge from Decor Accents (coming soon to my store) – this is an oval-shaped loom with 112 pegs.  Now, my daughter was measured using the formula in my pattern book and I am required to cast on 108 pegs.  So, I’ll use the full 112 so if they’re a little big, that’s okay, they’ll still fit next year.  I also imagine that you can knit larger sizes on the loom by using the next loom up – the Decor Accents Extra Small Gauge with 151 pegs.  There’s also the fine gauge loom which has 196 pegs!! The only problem is, as you go down in gauge, you also have to go down in yarn weight, but as long as you use 100% wool or merino (NOT superwash), they should turn out fine.

I’ll let you know how I go – watch this space!

Oh, and if you’re a needle knitter and want to knit longies for a baby you know (or have!) you MUST get this book – fabulously written, very clear, lots of instructions and diagrams and pics – you can’t go wrong!

It’s written by a lady called Maggie Broderick and she’s in the US.  This fantastic book can be found here.

Be there or be square!  Qld Spinners’ Open Day is on again this year – 31st May at their head office in Auchenflower, 2 minutes from the CBD, heading west.  There’ll be lots of stalls, displays and demos happening and many Brisbane businesses will be there – including me!

Now I know there’s another fibre event on the same weekend, but do make the effort to come along.  You’re sure to meet a lot of fun, friendly people with a real passion for fibre arts – AND it certainly won’t be so hard on your hip pocket!!  LOL!

I can’t remember where I saw this idea, but did remember that I had some lobster clips that I bought for $1 each at Spotlight that needed using and since I have been on a felting kick this week, thought “Oooo, what can I do with my leftover Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride?”  ” I know – I’ll spool-knit and felt a dog lead!”

So, I set to work.

Tools needed – 1 x 6 peg knitting spool (knitting nancy).  I used my Canadian hardwood ones which I have in-store.  Also, scissors, wool needle, embroidery thread (the thick stuff for cross-stitch and other needle-arts).

Yarn – Lamb’s Pride Worsted – 100g skein (I used about half a skein)

The whole process was really very simple – cast on (I used the e-wrap method) and knit your I-cord until you’re happy with the length.  I knitted until my cord was 1.5m long (unstretched).  It took me about 3 hours all up.

Cast off – I used a simple bind-off method of using a yarn needle threaded with the yarn tail which I cut off when I was finished, and going under/over through each stitch, lifting it off the spool and then drawing them together by pulling on the tail until the end closed up.  I cut off this tail and then used the same piece of yarn, still on the needle, to bind off and tighten up the cast-on edge.

This is what it looked like pre-felting:

You can see the lobster clip and the little tails of yarn at each end.

Here’s a close-up of the lead, before felting:

You can see the stitches quite clearly.

I chucked it in the machine in a lingerie bag, with a fleece jumper and a shirt (in dark colours and able to withstand hot temperatures).

Here’s what it looked like after about 1.5 hours at 60 degress C:

Now it measures 1.2 metres (unstretched).

Finally, I sewed one end around the lobster clip, then sewed the other end into a loop and cut off those pesky yarn tails.  I used my DH’s extra-large hands as a guide when making the handle.  I used 4 strands of embroidery thread (DMC) in a largish needle – has to have a sharp point to be able to push through the felt.  I went backwards and forwards across the seam to make sure it wasn’t going to come apart.

And this is the finished product!

If you’d like to make one, but haven’t learnt to loom-knit, get yourself a knitting spool (I have some new, cheaper ones coming in soon) or try your local Spotties.  Read the info on this website – Loom Knitting Help – a fabulous resource for all loom knitters – newbie or not!

You can also use your spool for making I-cord for bag handles.  You can do it on regular ol’ needles, but frankly, who can be bothered??

I am practicing my loom knitting skills and had some Bernat Felting yarn left over from a customer order, so decided to try my hand at loom knitting and felting something.  I used the pattern for the box/business card holder from loom-knitting queen – Isela Phelps.

While I was at it, I also used some of what was left of a skein of Lamb’s Pride Bulky, in chocolate and crocheted a cylindrical box and then felted it.

Next on the agenda will be to use up the rest of the Lamb’s Pride and spool knit a felted dog leash.  I saw something similar on EBay and need to make some quick projects for my stall at Queensland Spinner’s, Weaver’s and Dyer’s Guild on the 31st of May.