'SNUGGLY SLIPPERS FOR TOASTY TOES...'

...as Debbie Bliss describes in her book 'The knitter's year - 52 Simple seasonal knits'. These pom pom slippers are one other piece I have managed to finish as a gift for Mum with no difficulties. It's a really simple pattern and they've been very popular afterwards with Sarah wanting to knit a few pairs, one for herself (of course) and the others for her friends, lucky people! Who wouldn't want a pair of adult pom pom slippers?!

SKATING THROUGH 2012

Here we are and it's March already, can you believe it? It's been a very long time since my last post and I do apologize for this and on behalf of the other 3 too. Whilst I have been busy in the background I haven't been producing as many hand made bits as I usually do. I have been a bit put off after I didn't manage (and still haven't, might I add) to finish my fair while piece in time for the festive holidays, and what's worse, I don't think
it will fit me when made up, very unhappy about that.

I have learnt a few lessons from the past few knitting and sewing projects because of this. A) Don't rush into making a garment, take your time and... B) Get the measurements right before you start. C) Not to make up 
my knitted garments so tightly (More to come on this from the converted aran jumper which is finished!). I think that's enough lessons for the moment, perhaps I should post all of my pieces that don't make the cut to remember what went wrong for future projects, and to show you what I have done to make the others work too.

On a lighter note, above is a recent knit I've finished for a lovely little lady who has not long had her "6 months birthday", her first pair of wheels, wahoooo!

ONLY ONE WEEK TO GO...

... before I join the wonderful machine knitting Amy Lawrence at the Winter Arts Market at St George's Hall. We were both lucky enough to get a table on Sunday the 4th of December where I will be selling some of my hand printed paper, letter writing sets, bunting and other festive oddments. I'll also have a few limited edition sheets of hand printed christmas paper. Amy has been a busy bee knitting some snoods, wrist warmers and some adorable bow tie necklaces, sweet!

If you're feeling lucky there's also a competition where you can win a £50 voucher or one of two £25 vouchers which you can spend at the event. See here for details and good luck!

A BIG THANKS...

... goes out to all who came to say hello at the market stall on Castle Street last weekend, I met some really lovely people. I still have some stock left over from the stall but unfortunately will not get a chance to set up an online shop for a while yet. If you are interested in purchasing any of the hand printed papers, bunting or letter writing sets please don't hesitate to get in touch here. In the meantime here's a few pics of the stall and you can check out the different types of hand printed papers available here.

FIESTA LATINA!

If you're out and about Liverpool City Centre tomorrow why not pop over to Castle Street right by the town hall and join in the with the celebrations at Fiesta Latinaaaaa! I'll be there with Mister Paxman selling some of my hand printed paper (See below) and Mister Paxman will have some lino prints on sale too. P.S. I'm quite busy at the momento trying to finish off the writing sets and some bunting (Last minute idea!) but I'll hopefully get the new images of my papers up before tomorrow.

COMING TO A STALL NEAR YOU...

... this weekend I will be selling some hand printed pieces I have made on a stall at the Fiesta Latina on Castle Street in Liverpool. The festival will start this Saturday (which is the 24th) at 12 noon. There's also the Bold Street festival on too so if you're going to that why not pop over to Castle Street for a bit of a Fiesta afterwards!

If you're not lucky enough to make the festivities in person and would still like to purchase some of my paper feel free to get in touch with me here. Each sheet measure roughly 100cm by 50cm but there's still more to come yet too, these are just for starters! So watch out for the next batch where there will be some letter writing sets, my christmas collection and some more printed sheets of paper. Busy busy, no time for knitty!

I HEART BABY BOOTIES

I just can't keep away from that moss stitch now! After making my friend a tie with the good old moss stitch I decided to make my next baby project with it too, just to make sure I've got the stitch remembered! Aren't they gorgeous?! The pattern is by Debbie Bliss and I have just added the hearts myself. It might look like I haven't been up to much over the past few weeks with yet another lack of posts but trust me I have! Plus I was brought a little surprise last week all the way from North Wales which I am quite excited about and will definitely be taking up some of my upcoming time, trust me!

WHY WHY WHY 4PLY?!

As my first "big" knit project I decided to make a cardigan for myself to go with some buttons I bought in Japan about 2/3 years ago. I was quite new to it all and didn't know much about wool etc and chose a 4ply pattern, mmmhhh! My mum bought me the wool and since then I have also foolishly started another 4ply fair isle jumper. I have now managed to finish all of the jumper except one sleeve but the cardigan really has been put on the back burner which I feel quite sad about but I really wanted to start something with a bit of chunk to it! so....

I WANT ONE PLEASE!

Aw! I keep saying I need a machine that does the reverse of what Willy Wonka's shrinking machine that Mike Teavee went into for my knitting! When I completed this gorgeous jumper for my friends baby almost everyone who I showed it too now wants one in their size too! It's a really easy pattern and just the simplest of things like throwing in two knit rows in a contrast colour on the stocking stitch pattern gives a great effect. I have to admit that I may have had a bit too much fizz when I got to the top of the fair isle and the neck line and my amazing Grandma had to help out a bit ;  ) It was the first time I'd used a circular needle though! The pattern I used was from the same one as this lil beauty too.

BIRTHDAY TIES

My friend has wanted either my sister or myself to knit him a tie for what feels like forever now! So for his recent birthday celebrations I experimented by learning how to do moss stitch and made him his tie! I was really pleased with it's outcome as was he and I may consider making more to sell. Any takers?!

A POST TO LAST A WHILE!

Apologies for the recent lack of posts. I have been here there and everywhere and have still yet to prep my posts for you! This weekend I'm London bound and so again wont be posting for a few days. What's up and coming though is worth the wait with some bits from Berlin, some recent knits of mine and hopefully something from the South! But for now I leave you with my Mum's amazing baby outfit she has just finished and I have to say it is oh so adorable! Those booties with the zig zag rim are fab. The zig zag rim makes me think of ravioli! Yummy! So enjoy the weekend people and I'll be back sooner than you know it!

NEEDLE CASES

For as far back as I can remember, Mum has always had the same needle case. It turns out it was one she had to make whilst in school! Apparently they did absolutely loads in their sewing classes whereas I only really remember making an oven glove, and only the one at that! I asked Mum to make me one for last christmas in the same style as hers and over the easter holidays I thought that Sarah might like one too! So off I went to find the felt! I bought mine from John Lewis whereas the oh so wise mother found hers for a mere £1 in one of the many pound shops in Holyhead!

My friend bought me a really lovely brooch for christmas from the online Fair Trade shop, People Tree and I was really inspired to have a go at something similar myself. Since I had the felt from making Sarah's needle case I thought I'd make my lovely friend one too, even though I'm sure there's not that much sewing she gets up too but hey ho they're always handy for those holes in ya socks hey folks?!

MY FIRST PAIR OF SLACKS!

Well Mum you were right, in one afternoon I was able to make myself a pair of trousers from scratch. It was possibly the easiest pattern I've had to follow and with the genius help every now and then from 'the sewing book' which I will shortly be adding to the library how could anything go wrong? I bought the fabric ages ago from Abakhan in Mostyn North Wales and the pattern was a vintage vogue one that I was given by my Grandparents over the easter holidays. It doesn't have a date on it but it was from back in the day when trousers were called slacks! There will be a few minor adjustments I'll be making on my future slacks from this pattern, which again is a first for me but I'm am just so happy to have found a pattern that works well for me. Smiles all round for the slacks please ladies as they will soon be replacing my pipe leg dark jeans! Mum will be so happy!

SWEET BREAK

Well after a really sweet break in Wales I have returned with many a post to blog about. Above are a couple of the eggs I made for easter as a bit of a starter for you, one was for Mum and the other Grandma's. But keep an eye out this week for lots of vintage patterns, some lovely material from Anglesey, the old knitting machine which we still didn't get to have a go at and lots of lovely things made by each of us and are yet to be shown to the world!

HANDY MAN BOB

Well, Bob will probably laugh when he sees this as he made these little tools for me years ago and it's only now I've started to experiment with them! I've made a start on an idea I've had for ages, which is to try and french knit with cotton. I'm not too sure what the end result will be yet but here's a sneak preview! Yesterday was independent record store day and whilst visiting Probe records at The Bluecoat Gallery in Liverpool I popped into purlesque, one of the small shops in The Bluecoats courtyard. I've wanted to mention a couple of things about this little shop for a while now. I went in months ago and noticed they sell the same fabric that you can get from the fabric town Nippori in Tokyo. I was very excited to spot this as the fabric I recognized was one that in Tokyo I kept picking up and putting down and in the end never bought. But now I can get it in Liverpool! The second thing which I spotted yesterday was that in the shop they have a similar tool to what Bob made for me but they have gone in the opposite direction and it's the size of a stool!! Shame I didn't take a photo for you too see but it made me laugh too which means smiles all round ey Bob?!

BAMBINO TALK

There's been quite a lot of baby talk this year with lots of my friends bringing little bambino's into the world. I haven't made many items for babies but as my first I quite liked this one. A friend of mine wanted one making but inside out as he preferred the pattern on the inside! I'm not quite advanced enough to transform baby size into adult size just yet though so he'll just have to do with the tie for now and wait a while!

MOTHERS DAY

I'm just setting up the accounts for Mum, Sarah and Grandma to post up their own items but in the meantime here's what Sarah and I made for Mum, Sarah made the cushion and I made the pooch. As mum said last Sunday, 'Aren't I a lucky mum!' xxx

MAN OR MOUSE?

This year definitely is the year of the bambino! I made this pair of beauty booties last year for a family friend and have another 2 ordered for this summer (Make that 4! 17.04.2011). I might consider making them a size bigger for the winter so they can have some cheesy mittens to go with them too, watch this space!

PAPER CARVING

This was made for someone else, however I'm thinking my next one will be wearing a shirt and will be for my wall!

POM POM QUILT

Say hello to the pom pom quilt! After a hard days work it's nice to settle down and make something that doesn't require much thought. My quilt is still very much in it's early stage but there is a big bag tucked away in the cupboard bursting full of ready made pom poms waiting to take their place on the quilt. Happy days, pom pom pom pom.