A Patchwork Blanket

I have four daughters of child bearing age. Quite rightly, because of where each of them is in their lives, not one of them is bearing any children. I am not completely desperate for grandchildren with my own two little ones to keep me busy, but it would be nice. I often imagined knitting a little something for the new baby as I awaited the moment that my child became a mother.

Recently, I sorted through my collection of wool, needles and pattern books that I have barely looked at for years.

I'd spent some really happy hours learning to knit with my mum as my mentor, trying all sorts of different projects from zombies, to meerkats to all the birds from the twelve days of Christmas. I also practised new techniques and designs on small squares that I intended to put together to make a patchwork blanket. My mum gave me three patchwork blankets that she made in the time it took me to make a handful of squares. My blanket project lost impetus.

Sorting through the knitting cupboard as part of my preparation for moving house this summer, memories of the happy times flooded back. I found the little plastic bag that I had kept all my blanket squares in and wondered what to do with them. I wasn't sure if it was something worth donating to a charity shop and I didn't want to just throw them away because each one was like a page in a special knitting diary. I was overcome with good feelings as I laid them out and quite surprised to find that by chance, I had made exactly enough for a 7x5 rectangle. I ignored my head that was telling me that I had too much to do to mess around with knitted squares and listened to my heart that was urging me to finish the job I'd started all that time ago and sew them together into an blanket (a small blanket but still a blanket).

I found a video on the internet that explained a few different ways of putting the squares together and decided on the one that I thought would work best for me and my limited sewing skills. My husband came home to no dinner that evening but I joined all the pieces... and I loved it. It was surprisingly relaxing. As for the finished item, I am really proud of it. It's a bit higgledy piggledy but the squares seem to blend together to create something different... to become what it was always meant to be. Definitely a case of the whole being more than the sum of the parts.

The cupboard is now sorted. I have donated a lot of what I had but kept a small number of needles and my very favourite pattern books just in case I feel the urge to get creative with wool. And I have a blanket. It is a tiny blanket but a tiny blanket that would be perfect for a new baby. Even if I never knit again, my first born grandchild will have a little something from its granny with love in every stitch.

The Big Knit

It has been about a year since I last picked up my knitting needles.

It's daft really because I enjoy knitting and I was pleased as anything with the last project I completed, my Zombie. It's like a lot of the things I enjoy - dancing, playing guitar, painting, reading, running,  photography, decorating... - there is simply not enough time to dedicate to them all. Knitting was one of the hobbies that slipped down the priority list and landed in the holding pen to be rediscovered later.

'Later' came yesterday.

I had heard about a campaign from Innocent to raise money for the Age UK charity. The campaign was called The Big Knit and the idea was for people to knit little woolly hats that would be placed on Smoothie bottles to be sold next month. For every 'hatted' bottle sold, 25p would be donated towards the cause. I thought I had missed the deadline to submit the hats but when it was extended, I knew it was a project that I wanted to get involved with - along with my trusty knitting partner, my mum.

Mum came to visit yesterday and after lunch, we printed a knitting pattern from the Big Knit web page and got cracking (or perhaps I should say clicking). We opted for the most basic design but took a moment to marvel at the intermediate and advanced designs on display.

I wasn't even sure I'd remember how to knit, but I did. The pattern, true to its word, was very easy. It was no time at all before our first hats were completed. All that was left to do was make little bobbles to sew on top for decoration. My daughters Ivy and Charis were both available to help so I delegated the task of bobble production to them. They were willing - but not very able. Ivy nearly cut her finger off and Charis decided it would be easier to learn to knit. Sadly, that was not the case!

Charis - talented musician, gifted scholar, rubbish knitter!

Between us, with some input from dad who never likes to be left out, we muddled through with laughter aplenty. We made five in total - four bobble hats and one Hallowe'en inspired design that I made up. I felt proud of our efforts.

It was a lovely project to take part in - lots of fun to do and helping a worthwhile charity.

Ours are all ready for posting. I can't help but wonder where they will end up. 

http://thebigknit.co.uk/ 

The Gallery

It has been a long time since I took part in The Gallery at Sticky Fingers, a weekly linky where you share photographs on a theme. I was reminded of it yesterday with a tweet from Tara Cain, author of the blog.

'Body Parts' was the theme for week 41 of the Gallery and has been resurrected for this week, week 162 (it really has been a long time since I took part!). And yes, @PaulaHaylock (aka me) did post a picture of a willy.

I am joining in today with the following Body Parts.

This was an attempt I made to knit Usain Bolt during the excitement of the 2012 Olympics. The poor woollen chap has spent the last year buried in my craft cupboard in this dismembered form. I fear that may be as good as it gets for him.

For anyone interested, here is the link to my original Body Parts contribution: 

http://qwertymum.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/gallery-week-41-body-parts.html

Silent Sunday

Taylor's 'tache

One of my greatest pleasures as a mum is to see my children inspired by something that I do.

I have been doing a lot of knitting in the last year. I have made a Meerkat, Xmas decorations, zombies and even the Queen. It can be challenging and relaxing and always gives me a sense of achievement when I finish a project.

My daughter Taylor decided to cast on with me.

I can't take credit for teaching her the basic skills that she needed to get started. She learned from a tutorial DVD. But I have got her out of the odd tangle (much as my mum still does for me from time to time) and I did lend her the DVD!!

Her first success was to make a little penguin that she presented to her boyfriend on Valentine's day. The pattern was from one of my many knitting books - All You Knit is Love. (This is a beautifully illustrated book with some quirky ideas but we have found some mistakes in it).

For her next project, she found inspiration on the internet and without the slightest bit of assistance from me produced a rather magnificent moustache.

Fairly pointless you might think, but a lot of fun and perfect for Movember.

In support of all the people raising funds and awareness for men's health issues by growing upper lip hair this month and in celebration of my daughter picking up the needles, I give you my little Addy modelling Taylor's 'Tache.

Knit Your Own Zombie

The chill in the air and the carpet of autumn leaves is leaving no doubt as to the time of year and Hallowe'en is very nearly upon us. Usually by now, my house would be decorated and parties planned but I have been very slow to get going for some reason I have yet to fathom. I have, though, completed a craft project which combines my love of the macabre with my knitting hobby and made this handsome little fella.

The pattern is from Fiona Goble's Knit Your Own Zombie which I highly recommend (should you have any leaning towards knitting needles, yarn and the undead).

The protruding entrails do detach completely from the 'gut pocket' leaving plenty of room to insert a brown rat should you desire. I have made the rat but my personal preference is for the guts. I just love the colour!

One day I may progress onto sensible and useful hats, gloves, scarves and jumpers but for now, I'm having far too much fun.

Illusions

We recently acquired one of those giant foam glove things that you use to wave in a crowd. It came from a friend who had ventured down to London to see the Olympic parade that marked the end of a fantastic summer of sport and patriotism. Undoubtedly there would have been a lot of waving in a lot of crowds! It was in the shape of the National Lottery symbol and my little girl has adopted it and has it in her bed with her. She call it Toodles.

The focus of this post is not about the weird and wonderful things children attach to. It is more about a way of seeing things.

I remember when the National Lottery launched. I remember buying my very first ticket for the very first draw and my complete belief that I could win. I remember lying in a hot bath (not really relevant but sets the scene I suppose) fantasising about how I was going to spend my millions. I entered religiously every week up until the time that the Wednesday draw was introduced (two draws a week seemed excessive and I lost interest). I never won anything. I do still buy the occasional ticket when I remember or I'm feeling particularly lucky and I still fantasise about spending my millions.

In all the time that the National Lottery has been present in my life, I have only ever seen the symbol as crossed fingers. When my daughter started talking about the National Lottery 'whale' (in reference to the foam glove thing that accompanies my little one to bed) I had no idea what she was meant. I'm still not sure if it is supposed to be a whale or a fish but I can definitely see some sort of fish-like character looking at me from eyes that I only ever saw as fingers. I don't know how I never saw it before.

My daughter Charis always surprises me with her way of looking at things. Although never formally diagnosed, she has always exhibit characteristics associated with Asperger's Syndrome. I read on a T Shirt recently - Autism: It's not  a processing error, it's a different operating system. This perfectly describes my daughter and I'm not too embarrassed to be educated by slogans on casual wear.

Charis does see things differently. From a  young age, she puzzled us all when she talked about the road sign with a chair on it. It transpired the road the road sign was actually the one warning of a slippery road and to this day she insists it is not a skidding car - it is a chair.

If (like me) you are struggling to see it,  the car part of the image is the back of the chair, the white space between the two skid lines above the crossover is the seat and the two black lines below the crossover are the two rather wobbly chair legs.

I do love optical illusions. I recently came across a knitting technique called Illusion Knitting and I really wanted to have a go. It is quite simple  - using different combinations of  plain and purl stitch to create raised areas that when viewed from a certain angle create an illusion of a pattern that cannot be seen when looking directly. The pattern I used was this Piano Scarf. I knew I wouldn't have the patience/time to knit a whole scarf so I adapted the pattern to make another 5x5 square for my patchwork blanket project. I admit the illusion of a piano keyboard would look a lot better as a scarf but I was quite pleased with the taster that my blanket square gave me for this technique. You can almost see the piano keys!

Illusion Knitting viewed straight on

Illusion Knitting viewed at an angle - can you see the piano keys?

Silent Sunday

Con-graduations

It has been lovely to see celebratory statuses popping up on Facebook from recent graduates finding out what degrees they have been awarded by their Universities. My Ivy was no exception. It was almost with disbelief that she posted a photograph of a section of the letter that informed her that she was now a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Film Studies with a 2i.

I am so proud of Ivy- proud because she thrived in her second choice University after failing to achieve the A level grades she needed for her first choice, proud because she threw herself into her course and loved every moment of it, proud because she did things her way and without regrets.

To commemorate her success, I have been busy with a meerkat knitting project with my mum. As much as my daughter's three years at Uni have been a journey with tears, laughter, frustration and elation - so too was the knitting project! I will never forget the afternoon I spent with my mum crying with laughter when her meerkat ran into hilarious difficulties at the making up stage (what a difference a placing of a body part can make to the overall effect!)

We finally completed our project today and so all that remains is to say ... "Con-graduations" to my beautiful Ivy and all the other graduates who will now be anticipating the next exciting phase of their lives.

I Knitted the Queen!

In gratitude for the long weekend coming up, I have hung my Jubilee bunting, bought the Union Jack themed 'Party in a Box' and knitted the Queen!

I still have the coat part of Liz's two piece to knit and the reason she is hiding her lower body is because I didn't have the needles I needed to make the shoes. Barefoot and bare armed, I still rather like her.

Her outfit is more 'peacock' blue than the distinctive 'royal' blue I intended to use, but that was because I forgot which shop it was that I had seen the correct shade.

The pattern is from 'Knit Your Own Royal Wedding" by Fiona Goble - a book that could be barely be given away once William and Katherine's nuptials were done and dusted. I'm sure this is not the last time I shall make use of it.

Congratulations to our Queen on her Diamond Jubilee and however you choose to celebrate - enjoy!

The Gallery - Week 95 - Colour

At the start of the year, my mum and I both began a knitting project to make patchwork blankets for my two little ones.

Last week my mum presented my son with the finished piece. It is a glorious explosion of colour with plenty of child appeal thanks to little knitted mice and mini beasts that she has sewn onto it. It looks beautiful on his cot and makes a perfect subject for this week's Gallery.

My own blanket is still very much a work in progress!

Reasons to be Cheerful

ONE

The furious pace of my life has calmed down ever so slightly now that the pantomime Charis was performing in has finished. No more rehearsals running late into the night requiring pick ups, no more desperately tired Charis crawling out of bed post-noon on non school days.

She was amazing in the panto (oh no she wasn't!!!! - I hear you cry). Despite swollen glands I could still hear her beautiful voice when she sang in the chorus and she demonstrated such poise and precision in her dance routines it was hard to believe that she has never had any formal dance training. As for her role as a Sat Nat, the clarity and command that she conveyed in her lines, belied her tender years. I could not have been more proud.

TWO

In my previous marriage, I was not very lucky with my in-laws. Now, I am blessed with a wonderful mother and father-in-law who unfortunately for us, live some 5 hours away in Brighton. We visit when we can but it is not often enough. We talk on the phone but it is not the same as actually seeing them.

I decided last month that I would try and keep them more up to date with the things that are happening in our life by writing them a monthly newsletter. For a mummy blogger, it is second nature to talk about home life and family. I wrote it much as I would a blog post, illustrated with current photographs, printed it off and sent it.

I received an absolutely lovely letter back from  my mother-in-law today, saying how much she had loved it and appreciated. How she had read it many times already and knows that if she needs cheering up, it is right there for her to pick up and read again. It made me so incredibly happy to think that such a small gesture on my part meant so much to her. I am already mentally planning my February update.

THREE

The sun shone brightly enough today to go out without coats and to sit in my conservatory with the door thrown open wide while the kids played in the garden. I made the most of my time by knitting a few rows of the trauma bear I am making for the West Mercia Police Family Protection Unit. It's coming along really well and although tinged with sadness thinking about the poor child for whom it is intended and the horrors of child abuse, it still makes me happy that I can do this one small thing to offer a little comfort.

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Trauma Bears

My wonderful friend, who never ceases to amaze me how firmly her finger is on the pulse of everything that is happening, pointed me in the direction of  an appeal by West Mercia police for knitters.

I always love to give something back to society whenever I have the opportunity and the new initiative launched by the West Mercia Police's Family Protection Units was an absolutely perfect opportunity for me.

The aim of the initiative is to provide children being interviewed in a case of child abuse with a knitted 'trauma teddy' that they can keep with them for comfort during the process of the investigation. Apparently, research has shown that this very simple idea of having a teddy companion is an effective way of helping the young victims to cope.

Recently, I have been reading the bestselling books of Cathy Glass, author and foster carer. They are the true stories of the children she has fostered and paint a harrowing picture of the long term effects of abuse as well as the suffering endured.

Some years ago I began the process of applying to be a foster carer. Then I discovered that I was pregnant and put my plans on hold to concentrate on my new, unexpected but much welcomed baby. Had it not been for my little late in life miraculous daughter, followed by a second miracle in the shape of my son, my life would have been very different. I like to think I could have helped in some small way with any children that would have been placed in my care for whatever reasons.

Knitting trauma teddies for the Family Protection Units is a tiny link to the sort of life I might have had.

I contacted the people in charge to offer my services and hopefully can begin teddy production as soon as I have the pattern. I only hope that my newly acquired knitting skills are up to the task. I will certainly give it my best effort and hopefully my mum will get on board to help out too.

When I was talking on the telephone with the Family Protection Unit, I was mortified that Dylan chose that moment to bang his Bob the Builder work bench loudly and repeatedly with his plastic hammer and Addy started yelling and screaming because she wanted a biscuit and I was not giving her my undivided attention! I had visions of the emergency despatch of trauma bear yielding social workers to see what on earth was going on at this madhouse.  Two bourbon biscuits restored calm immediately but not until after I had replaced the telephone in its cradle.

I am really looking forward to a new knitting challenge and if one of my creations can offer even the slightest comfort to a child that needs it, then that makes me very happy indeed.

Valentine Intarsia

I never tire of learning new things.

Until recently the word 'intarsia' was unknown to me and today I have just completed my first intarsia knitting project.

The success of my little project relied heavily on these two YouTube videos that were simple enough for a complete novice like me to understand.

Intro to Intarsia Knitting part1
Intro to Intarsia Knitting part 2

I started with a really straightforward, symmetrical design. Even something this simple required five different strands of wool to be worked. It was a challenge to keep everything from getting into an almighty tangle but for a first attempt, I am quite pleased with the result. I still need to weave the ends in and press the square to stop the edges curling up.

I have knitted this as part of my 2012 patchwork blanket project but I couldn't hep thinking of the Valentine potential - with love in every stitch.

Making a Start

Although the beginning of the new year hasn't been the most fantastic ever, my 2012 Plans and Goals  have got off to a flying start, giving me plenty to be Cheerful about.

I haven't been able to put the plan to lose my festive plumpness into action yet because of the temptation of the remaining seasonal goodies and the habit of drinking alcohol that I got into very quickly over Xmas. I am, however, enjoying brisk walks to and from school and have a spa day to look forward to this weekend to reinvigorate and motivate me.

Both of my little ones are now going to bed at a reasonable time without too much fuss and sleeping through the night again. I had all sorts of strategies that I was going to implement to get them back to a good bedtime routine, including a Super Nanny style reward chart, but none of it has really been necessary. The promise of a sticker book and more resolute parenting seems to have been enough. As much as I enjoy the occasional night with a warm body (or two) nestled between my husband and I, regular bed sharing isn't an ideal situation for me and I am very happy to have my nights back.

My mum and I made a start on our new knitting project after the success of our Birds of Xmas. After some trial runs, mum worked out that with 30 stitches on size 4 needles with DK wool and working 54 rows in garter stitch, the result is a 5 inch square. The plan is to make many 5 inch squares (84 we think) in a variety of colours with different embellishments and join them together to make patchwork blankets for the children's cot beds. Mum is churning squares out faster than I could dream of but I am enjoying plodding along at my own pace.

My de-cluttering drive is gaining momentum and despite my husband's inadvertent sabotage, the decorating is going well. It is amazing how much more energetic and optimistic I feel simply by throwing out some unwanted junk and the smell of fresh paint is helping to keep me focused on my goal to achieve my perfect living space.

Tonight is the first of our new Ballroom Dancing classes. We have dropped a level because we were struggling to keep up with the advanced class, particularly in the dances that we had never covered before with our old teacher. I am looking forward to taking things slower and reminding myself that it should be about enjoyment as well as mastering routines.

The Birds my True Love Sent to Me

It has been a busy run up to Christmas as it always is. Add to this the fact that one of my fillings fell out (requiring urgent treatment if I was to stand any chance of indulging in the seasonal fare on offer), the usual sprinkling of illness and general 'run down-ness' that has become synonymous with this time of year and the inevitably stressful completion date for my eldest daughter's house purchase - it is a wonder I have survived unscathed.

Yesterday, as I did battle with other shoppers trying ineffectively to steer overladen shopping trolleys around my local Morrisons, I was not only trying to purchase everything I needed for arguably the most important dinner of the year, I also had a shopping list of cleaning products for my daughter who was beavering away with her sleeves rolled up and marigolds on to make her new house gleam. Rather than being stressed by it all, I found myself walking up and down the aisles with a big smile on my face. I may not have managed to buy everything I needed but I have a grown up home owner daughter and a tooth with a brand new filling that will put to the test with all the lovely treats did find their way into my trolley. If we could all just stop coughing, everything would be perfect.

One of the things that has helped keep everything (relatively) stress free has been my Xmas knitting project in which I have attempted to make one of each of the birds that feature in the Xmas classic, The Twelve Days of Christmas. I never imagined I would find knitting so relaxing and I have really enjoyed seeing my little creations taking shape. Here are the (slightly malformed!) birds my true love sent to me with a Santa thrown in for good measure!

Kodak Christmas Photo Craft Challenge

I love taking photographs and recently I have discovered a new passion for knitting. I thought there had to be some interesting ways to combine these two hobbies and the Kodak Christmas  Photo Craft Challenge gave me just the incentive I needed to get creative.

This is the image I decided to use for my Christmas Photo Craft.

I love my daughter's cheeky little expression and the outline of the head is quite clean which made it easy to cut out. 

This is the knitting part of the project.

I have been busy making little knitted decorations for my Christmas tree. The hat and beard of my knitted santa seemed to lend themselves perfectly to the idea I had for this challenge.

I adjusted the size of the photograph and printed it. I cut out the head and added a knitted beard and hat. All that remained was to hang it on the Christmas tree!

My Kodak Christmas Photo Craft Challenge

The 12 Knits of Xmas

I loved knitting little pumpkin decorations for Hallowe'en and really enjoyed the time I spent with my mum doing it.

I decided to embark on a new project, again with a seasonal flavour, and mum was more than happy to restart our "knitting club".

We are making (or attempting to make) all of the birds My True Love Sent to Me using The Twelve Knits of Christmas pattern book.

We started with the swan.

I don't think I'd ever have the patience to make a jumper or anything bigger than perhaps a tea cosy but I love making little things with very few stitches and rows and lots of interesting shaping. The best part for me is making them up and adding the details that give character to the finished result.

I was so enjoying making my swan that I carried on after my mum had to leave and in a bid to get a head start, so that I have the slightest chance of completing this project before Christmas, I then went on to knit whatever else I could manage.

My biggest problem is that being new to the whole knitting game, I have yet to accumulate all the wool oddments that are ideal for this sort of craft. Mum has bags full of the stuff in all the colours you could ever need but they are in Wrexham, 45 minutes away, and next knitting club is not for another week and a half.

I used my limited colour choices to knit up as much as I could. I now have enough assorted bird body parts waiting around to make me feel like some sort of mad ornithological Frankenstein.

It's my mum's birthday today. She has yet to see my finished swan so this is for her. Hope you're proud of me mum and HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

More Premature E-dracula-tion

My pumpkin knitting project is going well. With some contributions from my mum, I had enough to attach to an ivy garland to bring a little bit of autumn into my conservatory. I haven't yet gathered together the courage to try and embroider on Jack-o-Lantern faces but I still have plenty of time for that..

I was in Wilkinson yesterday, looking for a picture frame to display a print of Ivy with her favourite band Hard Fi on The Best Night of Her Life. I noticed some bags of plastic Hallowe'en tat for £1 and being  a sucker for Hallowe'en tat, popped a bag of skeletons and a bag of bats and rats in my basket.

What had mostly caught my eye were the little skulls with deformed skeletal arms. Why? Two reasons. One: they remind me of the Belial character from one of my all time favourite films "Basket Case"  and Two: I thought they would make absolutely fabulous little decorations for wine glasses and beakers to lend a spookiness to our Hallowe'en drinks. There were 18 of these little things in the packet - enough for a whole family gathering!

The skeletons have a hanging loop on the top of their plastic skulls which does seem to cry out for a craft project to turn them into something spooktacular. I will let you know if I have any inspirational ideas! In the meantime, Addy is very happy giving them all names, making them hold hands and be best friends.

I'm not quite sure what use I will make of the bats and rats apart from allowing Dylan to see how far he can throw them (will I ever get used to the way boys play after having had 5 daughters!) but some will definitely go in a bowl to supplement the sweets that I have at the ready for any Trick or Treaters that come calling.

 

I'm certainly getting in the mood for Hallowe'en and think we've already had £2 worth of fun out of my impulse purchases. And it's only just the beginning of October...

Silent Sunday