Say Yes to Knitting!

My mum tried to teach me to knit when I was younger, but as she was left handed and wasn't 100% sure what she was doing herself, it didn't entirely work out! Then, at uni we had 'stitch and bitch' sessions, where members of the community, who were retired, came into uni on Wednesday afternoons and taught us to knit, while we drank tea and ate biscuits.

The challenge was to knit teddy bears which were being sent to a school in Chennai in India, where our uni had a link with a school. Now knitting a teddy bear sounds quite complicated but they really weren't at all. They were basically a series of rectangles in basic knitting stitch, and to be honest, we felt a bit sorry in the end for the children who had to receive them and feel grateful!!

Anyway, I've since knitted many more rectangles, and then managed to progress onto knitting beanie hats, basically by learning to decrease!

However, I love a challenge and so when asked to knit some stool covers for a shoot last year, I said yes immediately, even though I had no idea how to knit shapes!! A few 'how to' videos on you tube and a lot of practising and I succeeded in making some lovely stool covers.

So this year, the challenge was knitting textured cushion covers. By this point I'd mastered knitting and purling to create rib stitches so at least that was a start.

1. Checkerboard Cushion.
    This was fairly easy once I found a pattern http://knittinginmybackyarn.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/checkerboard-dishcloth.html which was a brilliant help and made this very straightforward. So after lots of counting, I created this cushion front:

For the back, I just knitted rib for the whole of both halves, and then sewed on some buttons to fasten the openings and voila, a beautiful cushion. 

2. Linear Textured Pattern

    So this one was more difficult. Basically, it was a case of knitting and purling, and then doing the reverse on the next row to make the correct pattern. The only problem with this one was that I couldn't find a pattern to follow anywhere, so ended up having to write my own!

So my pattern is: 

cast on 34, knit 3 rows. 

1. k12, p1, k3, p2, k3, p1, k12

2. k2, p10, k1, p3, k2, p3, k1, p10, k2

3. Repeat 1

4. Repeat 2

5. k2, p11, k3, p2, k3, p11, k2

6. k13, p3, k2, p3, k13

7. Repeat 5

8. Repeat 6

9.-12. = Repeat rows 1-4

13. k3, p3, k2, p3, k12, p3, k2, p3, k3

14. k2, p1, k3, p2, k3, p12, k3, p2, k3, p1, k2

15. Repeat 13

16. Repeat 14

17. k3, p3, k2, p3, k1, p10, k1, p3, k2, p3, k3

18. k2, p1, k3, p2, k3, p1, k10, p1, k3, p2, k3, p1, k2

19. Repeat 17

20. Repeat 18

21. - 24. = Repeat rows 13-16

Then repeat the whole thing again, knit 3 rows, cast off. 

Finished!! And I am very proud of them. They're for the Baby Boden Autumn 2013 shoot so I'll upload photos in about 6 months time when the catalogue is launched. 

As reference for learning more stitches, this website is also fantastic: http://www.knittingonthenet.com/stitches.htm

A Quest For Pipecleaners

This week, I have been on a quest for pipe cleaners. It was one of those things where I didn't realise that it would be a quest until I started looking for them and realised that there is 1. a massive London shortage of craft shops and 2. a massive lack of knowledge of what pipe cleaners actually are.

I swear that many of my childhood crafting sessions, both at school and at home, involved pipe cleaners. They were essential legs, connectors, edges, amongst other things, but I just can't imagine not knowing what they are!

After wandering around a few shops asking for them and getting totally blank looks, or just weird offers of drain unblockers and sink plungers, I began to wonder if maybe I'd imagined their existence, or at least just called them by some weird name that no one else had hear of?? When I tried to explain to people that they were small pieces of wire, with fluff on that you used for crafting, I usually got a terrified look and was ushered out of the shop!

Luckily wikipedia reassured me:

A pipe cleaner or chenille stem is a type of brush originally intended for removing moisture and residue fromsmoking pipes. Besides cleaning pipes, they can be used for any application that calls for cleaning out small bores or tight places. Special pipe cleaners are manufactured specifically for cleaning out medical apparatus^[1]and for engineering applications.^[2] They are popular for winding around bottle necks to catch drips, bundling things together, colour-coding, and applying paints, oils, solvents, greases, and similar substances.

Contents   [hide]  1 Description 2 Crafts 3 Manufacture 4 References

[edit]

Crafts

Many children enjoy bending pipe cleaners into various shapes.^[3] "Craft" pipe cleaners are usually made with polyester or nylon pile and are often longer and thicker than the "smoking" type, and available in many different colors. Craft pipe cleaners are not very useful for cleaning purposes, because the polyester does not absorb liquids, and the thicker versions may not even fit down the stem of a normal pipe.

Phew!! They do really exist. This brings me on to the lack of craft shops in London. I happen to have moved within walking distance of Goldhawk Road, which is very exciting fabric wise as it means I can just stroll along and look at fabric to my hearts content. But even though they do have a very good selection of fabrics, and a few haberdashery sections, they are in massive need of a general craft store. I think one of the main reasons is that I was spoilt by Creativity (http://creativitycraft.com/), the amazing craft shop I used to work in in Bristol. They stock everything crafty, in all different genres, and what won't fit into the jam packed full shop, is still stored in the basement, in case anyone asks for it. It is an absolutely amazing shop, and I tend to wait until I go home to visit my family and stock up then. 

For the meantime, I will continue my quest for pipe cleaners in London and also good craft stores!!

Downsizing, But Upgrading

Last week I moved house to a very lovely new little house. It was a massive downsize, and I moved from one of London's Royal boroughs, to an area described as somewhere best to avoid, other than to go to the shopping centre, but it is still definitely an upgrade.

I used to live in a 12 bedroom mansion in Kensington, complete with garden, private balcony, drying room and cleaner which makes it sound amazing. Unfortunately, add in about 19 other people, and the fact that the person in the room above got up very early and was very noisy, and it doesn't sound so appealing. It was also a former old peoples home, and so had a lot of very dated furniture, and panic buttons in every room, although I think this only added to the charm. On another, slightly strange note, one of the previous tenants had been a carpenter and so had added lots of shelves and cupboards and things to any room he had stayed in. He had also built a bed in a cupboard in the basement, in what was affectionately called the 'Fritzl chamber'. Charming.

So much as I loved the space and the classy location, I wanted to move somewhere a bit smaller, with many many fewer people. In looking for a 1 bed flat my my boyfriend, we found what I can probably safely describe as the smallest house in London. People think I am exaggerating when I say this, but I think the garden is bigger than the house. One of my friends who has a bedroom in a flat in Clapham has a bigger room, than our whole house.

Our lovely little kitchen

My beautiful 'study' area

Cosy little living room

But I love it! I love the fact that we have a whole house, with 4 whole rooms, and it's all ours, and we don't have anyone to be noisy above us, and equally, we don't have to worry about being too noisy for our neighbours either. It's perfect, and I love it! Definitely worth downsizing for, as it is a massive upgrade.

Boden: Funderpants Shoot

After all my intense sewing efforts a few weeks ago I was very excited to see my pant creations in action on the Boden website:

Check it out now while it's still online at: http://www.boden.co.uk/en-GB/magazine/features/mini-funderwear.html