Monday, August 30, 2010

So far I have signed up for these swaps!

I just can't help myself!... I LOVE receiving parcels in the post, so I have joined a few swaps. The first one is a Spring Cloth Swap hosted by Jellywares. I was in one run by her about a year ago and it was fun to be in, so I decided to join another one and I am madly knitting a "spring cloth"... I had to buy the handmade soap on eBay, as I live in a small town that doesn't sell that sort of thing.... but that was just an excuse to buying some yummy soap for me too!


The second swap I am in is a Secret Santa swap run by on my verandah. Apparently, this lady ran the same swap last Christmas with great success, so I joined this with gusto, as it is a bit different to the other Secret Santa I was in last year and joined again this year:


The third swap I am in is Chookyblue's Secret Santa Swap. As mentioned above, I was in it last year and was chomping at the bit, waiting for it to be advertised this year. Last night I started making the Christmas Tree ornament as part of this swap.

I wonder, is there any other swaps I should know about out there in blogland?

Until next post...

cheers...Jewells

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Scarf Finished



I finished the scarf yesterday..54inches long and no more of that wool left.

Now I am going to start making a Christmas Tree ornament for the Chooky Blue swap.

Until next post..

Cheers...Jewells

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

BOM Block 3 Finished



Block 3 was received and made, all within a week! I must applaud the Fat Quarter Shop for the quantity of fabric sent with each block...there is probably enough in each pack to make every block twice!

I have now joined 2 Secret Santa Swaps (no logo yet available for one of them to add to my side bar)... so I now must work out what I want to make for each of them.

Until next post...

Cheers...Jewells

Kitchen Set Finished

A friend (Betty) of a friend (Robyn) knew I made dishcloths as she received one as a gift from Robyn, so she contacted me and asked if I made a cloth and something else that matched the cloth...I said I made a tea-towel and dish cloth set, but she wanted more, so I told her that I had made pot-holders as well.... upon hearing this, Betty commissioned me to make a set.



Betty told me that the person who will be receiving this set as a gift loves homemade items and treasures them more than the expensive ornaments (dust collectors) that Betty has given her in the past. Betty says that she is in a "win, win" situation with buying a homemade gift from me for $20, as it is a lot, lot cheaper and will be appreciated a lot, lot more... makes me think I might be too cheap???

Until next post...

cheers...Jewells

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Leftover Wool Scarf & Crochet Book

As I don't like waste, I was thinking of knitting another beanie, but I didn't think there will be enough wool left for that, so I decided to knit up this scarf. I will just keep knitting until I run out of wool. It is a 10ply pure wool and the scarf is knitting up so soft, which I found to be a surprise!



I also have been looking at and ordering some craft and reading books last week and this in one that arrived...it is so "yummy" (if a book can be yummy!) and I am itching to do some crocheting again.... so much to do, so little time...wish I didn't HAVE to work!



Until next post...

Cheers...Jewells

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Finished my boyfriend's Jumper

I finished the jumper tonight... after re-knitting one sleeve and having to pick up the stitches for the neckband, twice...(the stitches fell off one of the double ended needles the first time)... I eventually can say that this birthday present is now finished...with a month to spare!!..phew!!



These are another 2 sets of matching cloth and tea-towels. I have been making them at night time during the week instead of watching TV... this one is butterflies:



and this one is a duck:



I have knitted a couple of cloths with a sunflower on them, and now I have to make the tea-towels.. just love making up these gifts.

Until next post..

Cheers...Jewells

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Matching Tea-Towels & Cloths

Last night, I started sewing "matching" tea-towels, for my knitted cloths.



I quite like the corner strip on one of the tea-towels... that came about when I cut off the strip for the first towel, leaving some left over that was not enough for another width of a towel. I experimented with placing it diagonally and was quite surprised at how nice it looked.

I still have other tea-towels to make... I have a Duck cloth and a Butterfly cloth to match with fabric.

Until next post....

Cheers...Jewells

Block 2 BOM finished

I realised that block 3 is due very soon, so I thought I had better get in and sew block 2...phew made it!



Two down, ten to go.

Until next post...

Cheers...Jewells

Monday, August 9, 2010

FREE Sailboat Cloth Knitting Pattern


Sail Boat

100% Cotton – Worsted (8ply)
Size 4.5mm (7) needles
Gauge: In stockinette Stitch, 5 sts = 2.5cm (1inch)

Cast on 37 sts
Rows 1 – 7: Knit across
Row 8: K 4, P 29, K 4
Row 9 and all odd numbered rows: K
Row 10: K 4, P 7, K 15, P 7 K 4
Row 12: K 4, P 6, K 17, P 6, K 4
Row 14: K 4, P 5, K 19, P 5, K 4
Row 16: K 4, P 4, K 21, P 4, K 4
Row 18: K 4, P 3, K 23, P 3, K 4
Row 20: K 4, P 2, K 25, P 2, K 4
Row 22: K 4, P 29, K 4
Row 24: K 4, P 2, K 12, P 1, K 13, P 1, K 4
Row 26: K 4, P 3, K 11, P 1, K 13, P 1, K 4
Row 28: K 4, P 4, K 10, P 1, K 13, P 1, K 4
Row 30: K 4, P 5, K 9, P 1, K 13, P 1, K 4
Row 32: K 4, P 6, K 8, P 1, K 13, P 1, K 4
Row 34: K 4, P 7, K 7, P 1, K 12, P 2, K 4
Row 36: K 4, P 8, K 6, P 1, K 11, P 3, K 4
Row 38: K 4, P 9, K 5, P 1, K 10, P 4, K 4
Row 40: K 4, P 10, K 4, P 1, K 9, P 5, K 4
Row 42; K 4, P 11, K 3, P 1, K 8, P 6, K 4
Row 44: K 4, P 12, K 2, P 1, K 7, P 7, K 4
Row 46: K 4, P 13, K 1, P 1, K 6, P 8, K 4
Row 48: K 4, P 13, K 1, P 1, K 5, P 9, K 4
Row 50: K 4, P 10, K 4, P 1, K 4, P 10, K 4
Row 52: K 4, P 11, K 3, P 1, K 3, P 11, K 4
Row 54: K 4, P 12, K 2, P 1, K 2, P 12, K 4
Row 56: K 4, P 13, K 1, P 1, K 1, P 13, K 4
Row 58: K 4, P 29, K 4
Rows 59 – 65: Knit across
Bind off all sts in knit

Free Knitted Sailboat Cloth

I have been asked by a friend to make 4 tea-towel & knitted cloth sets for her to give as Christmas presents, so I went looking for some nice border prints to decorate the tea-towels, and this is one I found:


Next I had to find a cloth pattern to knit, so I went looking on the computer and found the following pattern here, then I knitted it up and this is what it looked like:

However, I wasn't happy with it, as it didn't look like the sailboat on my material. I decided to design a cloth myself, so out came some graph paper, and I knitted this one:

It still wasn't quite right, so out came more paper and this is what I ended up with: (if you click on the photo, it shows up a lot better).


As I have knitted up a lot of cloths that I have obtained from the computer for free, I thought I would return the favour and pass it on... I have tried to include it here, by copying & pasting, but it won't accept it... so I am doing a separated post with just the pattern, which follows this one...
Until next post...

cheers...Jewells

Monday, August 2, 2010

Block of the Month (BOM) and $5 Garden Spoons

Last weekend I managed to make Block One of the Mystery Christmas BOM from the Fat Quarter Shop. Block 2 is sitting there to be made... I must get onto it before Block 3 arrives in the middle of the month.



I also made some more Gardens Spoons. This time I banged them flat, and I printed them with the letters. To be honest, I started with 34 spoons and ended up with 16. I have 4 sets of 4 spoons.. each set has Sage, Thyme, Mint & Basil... was hoping to sell each set for $5 (plus postage)... the price is low as I am still learning and a couple of the letters aren't 100%... if anyone wants a set, either leave a message or email me, or both..payment can be made by bank deposit (Australia) or Paypal... (clicking on the image of the spoons enlarges the picture for a better view).

Must go out and find more spoons...

Until next post...

Cheers...Jewells