Unblogged Round Up: Sewn, Knitted & Embroidered

Time is really running away, and the end of the year is upon us. This year in my great wisdom I have been developing a page showing everything 'Made in 2013' so you can see what I've made this year should you wish to. I think I'll do a looking forward/looking backward type post at the start of 2014 instead.

I have a few projects that I have been meaning to blog about but not got around to, so I decided to do a round up of those so that I'm up to date before the New Year. Here goes:

Sewn:

I made the A-Line, self-drafted denim skirt I talked about here. I've worn it quite a lot although the hem is a bit messy and needs fixed. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out though so I think I'll probably make another using the same pattern and some stash fabric.

Knitted:

 

A hat for a friend's 2 year old. I'm chuffed with how this turned out and I believe it is being fairly happily worn by the recipient without being removed too frequently, which is a key point of success for a child's hat. I liked that the style would allow for it to be tied under the chin if required, and thought it was really cosy.

The pattern is from this book:

Available here

It was one of those rare times where I actually used the recommended wool type for the pattern although I had a few issues with how the pattern was written. I was pretty unimpressed that the pattern did not seem to have been proof read as there were a few bits which didn't make sense. It seems to have been written to be knit flat and then converted to be knit in the round and all the terminology hadn't been changed. It also overestimated the amount of wool required so I over-bought. Still, I'd probably make the pattern again as it's a nice one and there are a few other ones in the book I'd like to knit too.

I also made an Aviatrix hat for Baby Kestrel:

I've made this pattern multiple times and it's a firm favourite in my baby knitting repertoire. I used some lovely blue wool given to me by Krafty Kat in the Sewing Swap I hosted this year. I started this hat way back in August and this was in my knitting bag when I puked over it while in labour - fun fact!

Embroidered:

You may remember the nautical baby quilt I made this year and about which I banged on excessively. It's been quite a success as it's very useful to throw down for the wee one to roll about on, and is sturdy enough to survive regular washing due to the amount of little pukes deposited upon it.

I thought it would be nice to add Baby Kestrel's name and date of birth but I've never done any embroidery before. Luckily I had been given some embroidery silks from a friend of my parents' and the lovely Rachel of House of Pinheiro pointed me in the direction of the Wild Olive blog. I can highly recommend Wild Olive for easy to use tutorials and her Etsy shop has some cute patterns too. I even felt adventurous enough to try some French Knots on the sail of the little boat I added, keeping on a strictly nautical theme of course.

I think that brings me up to date now. I'm currently knitting my Fairisle gloves for the Knit for Victory Challenge, which should be on track for completion by the end of January. Well, I say that, but I recently had to rip back half of the second glove when I realised that I was knitting TWO RIGHT HAND GLOVES - ARGH. What an idiot.

Sewing-wise, I've got a Scout Tee on the go just now and am hoping 2014 will be a productive year.


K x