frayed at the edge

Tuesday Tutorial 16

Teenie tiny baby knits

This week's tutorial is a gift set, a hat, bib and washcloth, for a new baby, knitted in soft cotton.  You will need two 50gm balls ( but that will leave enough to do an extra bib and washcloth), a pair of 4mm needles and two 4mm double pointed needles.  The tension is 20 stitches and 28 rows to 4 inches.

 

 

For the washcloth, cast on 30 stitches

Knit 4 rows

Next row knit

Next row k3, p to last 3 stitches, k3

Repeat last two rows 16 times

Knit 4 rows

Cast off and sew in ends

 

 

For the bib, cast on 30 stitches

Knit 4 rows

Next row knit

Next row k3, p to last 3 stitches, k3

Repeat last 2 rows ten times

Knit 4 rows

Next row, k11, cast off 8, knit to end

*Next row k2tog, knit to last 2 stitches, k2tog

Next row knit

Repeat last 2 rows until 3 stitches remain

Knit every row for 6 inches, cast off

Rejoin yarn to remaining stitches, work from *, so that the two sides match

Sew in ends

 

For the hat, cast on 49 stitches

Knit 4 rows

Work in stocking stitch for 22 rows

To decrease, work as follows

Row 1 k1 *k2tog, k6, repeat from * to end

Row 2 and alternate rows, purl

Row 3 k1 *k2tog, k5, repeat from * to end

Row 5 k1 *k2tog, k4, repeat from * to end

Row 7 k1 *k2tog, k3, repeat from * to end

Row 9 k1 *k2tog, k2, repeat from * to end

Row 11 k1 *k2tog, k1, repeat from * to end

Row 13 k1 *k2tog to end

Row 15 k1 k2tog to end - 4 stitches remain

Change to double pointed needles to knit i-cord for approx two and a half inches, cast off.

Use mattress stitch to sew the back seam, then fold the i-cord in half and stitch in place.
 
  

 

I'm singing a John Denver song!!

Yes, Our bags are packed, and we're almost ready to go (hooray).  We are setting off later this morning for Morpeth, to go out for lunch with Jennifer, then later in the day, we head to Newcastle Airport to check into an airport hotel.  Our flight is very early tomorrow morning, so we would rather spend the night in the hotel than have to drive down way before the crack of dawn!!  I have set up some posts to appear while we are away - I haven't done this before (maybe I should have had a trial run!), but all being well, there will be Tuesday Tutorials and Shadow Shot Sundays.  Please still leave comments, as I love to get them and I will read them all when I get home.

 

So for the next two weeks, you can think of us here .....

 

 

perhaps indulging in some of these ......

 

 

and definitely some of this .....

 

Cheers!!

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

 

 

It had been a glorious day here, so I didn't have to go far to find photos to share with you and my fellow shadow shot seekers over at Hey Harriet

 

 

washing dancing on the line

 

 

an old wool winder, which I bought this morning for £5 at a car boot sale!

 

 

shadows inside and outside the laundry basket

 

 

a bowl of pot pourri on the hall table

 

 

Hooray, it's the weekend!

Well, it has been a bit of a fraught week, with airports closed, then open, then closed again, open again ........ so fingers are still firmly crossed that our holiday goes ahead ok next week - especially as we have bought the sunscreen and got lots of euros!

It was forecast that we would have some spectacular sunsets because of the volcanic ash.  Although this sunset from the other evening looks dramatic, it isn't any more so than our usual ones

 

 

When I turned to go back into the house (before any of the neighbours saw me in my jammies!) I saw that the moon was already out

 

 

Last weekend, we had a trip to the garden centre to replace some of the plants that we lost because of the terrible winter.  There was a good choice of hellebores, and I finally chose this one

 

 

We also got a new cordyline - but it will be a few years before it grows to the size of the one we lost - it was obliterated when the snow came off the roof.  This time we choose a dark one, rather than the green of the previous one

 

 

Of course, we have to end with a photo of the Friday afternoon cake - another of Annette's light as air sponges - this time with apricot jam ...... delicious!

 

As it's Friday evening, I'm enjoying a very nice glass of wine - the weekend starts here!!  I hope you all have a good one, love, Anne

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fabric of my life

Having shown you my South African fabric (which I bought here!), I thought I would show you some of the fabrics that I have collected over the years on my travels.  I brought lots of fabric back from our three years in Indonesia - these are two of my favourites

 

 

The gold paint on the black fabric is applied by hand

 

 

One day I may fussy cut these flowers for applique

 

 

I bought this fabric in Kuala Lumpur, when I accompanied Malcolm on a business trip

 

 

This next fabric has a rather large carbon footprint ..... it is African fabric, which I bought in America and brought back home!

 

 

Some years ago we went to the Netherlands for a short holiday.  We had a few days in Amsterdam, then we went to The Hague for ...... a quilt show!  I actually have a project lined up for this fabric - it's just a long way down the list

 

 

This fabric came from, oh dear, where was it, I'll remember in a minute - oh yes, it was New Zealand

 

 

For several years before he retired, Malcolm worked abroad a lot, and sometimes I didn't see very much of him.  He had a spell of working in the South of France, coming home late on a Friday night and leaving again on Sunday morning.  Eventually I went out to Aix en Provence to spend a week in the sunvisit him, so of course I came home with fabric

 

 

You know I like fun, so as soon as I saw this fabric in Australia, I had to have some!

 

 

I definitely agree with this sentiment

 

 

But I'm not the only one to bring home fabric from abroad ......... when Malcolm came home a trip to India (I didn't get to go on that one) he handed me a gift bag and said - I thought maybe you could cut that up for cushions or something.  I don't think so ..... the bag contained six yards of sari silk!!

 

 

 

Backsliding!

I have been trying really hard to keep to my New Year's resolution to buy fewer books and magazines .... and adding to my stash.  But at the weekend - oh dear!  It started on Saturday, when I saw the first issue of a new sewing magazine, complete with a kit to make a spotty bag and a catalogue full of all sorts of crafty things

 

 

Then on Sunday, when we went to The Main Street Trading Company in St Boswells for a cuppa, of course I had to have a browse round the books.  Oh dear, oh dear ...... not one, but two books came home with me

 

 

If all that wasn't bad enough, on Sunday evening when I was reading my favourite blogs, I saw that Helen had details of a wonderful shawl kit .... yes dear readers, I ordered one as fast as my fingers could type my order!

 

 

I think that's my pocket money spent for the next several months!  At the weekend, I was carrying all the bits and pieces for the hexagon pincushions back and forward to the studio - when I dropped bits yet again, I thought it might make sense to use one of my (many) bags, so I used this one

 

 

The fabrics in the centre panel are from South Africa, as you can see from this stamp on the wrong side of the fabric

 

 

I still have these lovely pieces in my stash

 

 

On my way home this afternoon, I had to make another of those emergency stops, when I spotted these tiny calves

 

 

And to end, a bit of fun ....... on late Sunday afternoon, I was relaxing in my jammies, slathered with a 'fruit smoothie' face pack, when Malcolm crept into the room with the camera ........

 

 

You can stop laughing now!!!

 

Tuesday Tutorial 15

Hexagon pin cushion

 

The pin cushion is made with the paper piecing method (also known as English piecing).  This is a traditional way of working - and hexagons are often the first experience people have of patchwork.

First, you need to make templates of the two sizes of hexagon needed.  This is where it is good to be married to an engineer ...... first Malcolm reminded me of how to draw a hexagon and secondly I was able to use his compass (which he has had since he was at university!). 

 

you will need a piece of paper, compass and ruler

 

 

set the compass at an inch for the first hexagon

 

 

draw a circle

 

 

put the point on the cirle and draw a mark, then put the point on the mark and make another one - repeat this the whole way round

 

 

Use the ruler to draw lines from point to point.  Glue the hexagon to a piece of card and cut out.  Make another hexagon, this time with the compass set at an inch and a quarter.

 

Use the small template to draw fourteen hexagons on a piece of paper - I use printer paper (if you are going to do more than one pincushion, you can photocopy your original).  Cut the hexagons out and set them aside.  Then use the larger template to mark out your fabric.  You will see from the next photo that the strip of fabric I used was slightly small, but there is a generous seam allowance, so it wasn't a problem. 

 

 

Cut seven hexagons from each of two contrasting fabrics, each side of the pincushion will have a centre of one fabric, with six surrounding it.

 

ready to start sewing

 

 

pin a paper in the centre of the fabric

 

 

fold the fabric over, and tack in place

 

 

Malcom drew this diagram!

 

 

Place two patches right sides together, then sew them using a whip stitch.  Continue sewing the patches round the sides of the centre hexagon, then sew the side seams.

 

 

Make the other side in the same way, then sew the two sides together, leaving a gap.  Remove the papers, and turn the pincushion right side out

 

 

Stuff the pincushion firmly and stitch the opening

 

You can then embellish your pincushion

 

In each of the outer hexagons, I took several small stitches through the pincushion, then added small buttons

 

 

For this one, I took several stitches through the cente, then added a thimble-shaped button

 

 

I used two fabrics for the outer hexagons, then added beads

 

You could also make the pincushions with all different fabrics - a good way to use up small scraps.  I hope you have fun making them!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beware of the geese!

Today has been chilly, but bright, so after lunch, I set off for a walk to take some photos for today's post.  Usually I turn up the hill past the church, but today I went downhill and along the main road, walking quite a bit further than usual.  It was worth the extra distance to capture this photo ......

 

 

I decided not to take the chance of encountering either the loose dogs or the geese, and hurried on past!  I make no apologies for the next 2 photos - as far as I'm concerned, you can never have too many photos of lambs 

 

if you think this is a cute photo ....

 

 

if only you could see the little tails wagging!

 

There was one annoying thing to see - who dumped this toilet here?  If they could make the effort to drive out of town and heave it down the bank, couldn't they just have taken it to the tip?

 

 

You know that I like old, dilapidated buildings, especially if rust is also involved, so this one ticked all the boxes!

 

 

When I saw (and heard) the water trickling down through this wall, I stepped forward to take a photo ..... squelch!!

 

 

Of course, along with everyong else, we have been watching the news about the disruption to flights because of the volcanic ash - but we have to admit to being somewhat selfish in our concern ........ we are supposed to be going to Majorca next Tuesday, with Stuart coming out to join us the following Tuesday.  The news tonight is more hopeful, so we have fingers firmly crossed!!

 

 

 

Shadow Shot Sunday

 

Yes, it's that time of week again, when shadow addicts around the world post their latest collections, which can be viewed at Hey Harriet.  This week, we have to say a very big thankyou to Tracy for all her hard work in organising SSS, as this is the 100th!!

 

I took these photos last week, when we were in Coldstream.  The first photos show a memorial to the Battle of Flodden - a very dark day in Scottish history, when the King and most of his Noblemen were slaughtered by the English

 

this magnificent sword

points to the battlefield on the horizan

 

 

the story of the battle (click on the photo to enlarge)

 

These new wooden steps provided an excellent shadow shot

 

We also visited The Hirsel, home of the Home family (you can read more about our visit here), and we saw lots of these beauties

 

A swan provided this lovely reflection shot

 

Back home the sun was still shining, casting a lovely shadow of the wrought iron railing in the back garden

 

To finish, a photo I took this morning.  You may have to hunt to find the shadows in it, but who could resist this ......

 

ps - sorry that the photos meander somewhat - Typepad is  having an off day and won't align them all in the centre ... or the left!!
  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday Girl

All can now be revealed!!  Tomorrow, Jennifer has a 'significant' birthday, so I have been working on a quilt for her ........ I couldn't show you, as she reads the blog.  We went to visit her today, to take her out to lunch and give her her presents

 

 

While she is sitting with her feet up on her cracket, she can read her new book

 

 

and if it's a bit chilly, she can cuddle up under her quilt.  I couldn't decide where to photograph it - first in the garden

 

 

then in the studio

 

 

this detail shows the machine quilting

 

 

and this the hand quilting

 

 

The weather must have realised that it was a special day, as we had blue sky and sunshine for our day out

 

 

It was hard to decide what to have, when faced with this fabulous menu

 

 

Here is the Birthday Girl, trying to make up her mind

 

 

She decided on this wonderful butternut squash and ginger risotto

 

 

Malcolm had smoked haddock and spinach risotto, with a poached egg

 

 

and I had a warm salad of bacon, Stornoway black pudding, mushrooms and quail eggs

 

Of course, a special occasion means that you can have pudding as well .....

Jennifer had rhubarb brule with a ginger biscuit

 

Malcolm had fresh fruit salad with a ginger syrup

 

I had a beautiful lemon tart with raspberry sauce

  

The food was so good, this lovely dog wanted to come in

but had to be content with sitting outside

 

Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Jennifer,  have a wonderful day!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, love, Anne