For a Friend

I met a lovely lady through Sparkpeople and we met a little while ago and have stayed in contact. She has kindly sent me yarn a while back so I could knit baby blankets for the baby unit in my Hospital.
She is such a lovely lady and I count her as a good friend. Sadly she has undergone two operations for Breast Cancer after a lump was discovered during a Mammogram it was too deep for her to feel it. Thankfully after these two operations they were able to get a clear result now she will start Radiotherapy treatment on Tuesday 20th July 2015.
I have sent her little gifts during this difficult time as a way of showing I care and sending her emails and cards to brighten her day.
So as she is to start this phase of her treatment I made these.

This is a simple little keyring that I made by casting on 30 stitches and working in stocking stitch until I thought it was wide enough and bound off. I used a little wooden heat button to sew onto the ribbon that also holds it together, then I sewed this to the keyring. I made it from cotton yarn as it holds its shape better.

This is a little heart mascot also made in cotton yarn  Little Hearts
I added a mouth and a loop at the top. The loop is there for my friend to put over her finger so she can hold the little heart in the palm of her hand.
This is the back of the heart mascot

I know it will bring a smile to her face and that is what it was made for a little reminder she is thought about with love and a simple way to make her smile even though she will be nervous and the treatment will make her feel ill.
I may not be able to be with her but at least she knows I care. I also sent her a card with a tea bag in an envelope inside the card so she have a cup of tea with me.

My New Crafting Blog

I don't just knit I make all sorts of things and have been asked how I make them so I have just started a new blog

The Nutty Crafter

There is not much there at the moment but I would value any feedback. I have tried to keep the instructions simple.

I love crafting and making things like Artist Trading Cards, bookmarks, cross stitch and sewing small items. I make them for friends, family and myself.

Cat Blankets

With postage costs becoming more and more expensive I have had to cut back on what I make and send off.
Free post is fine but not many charities do this so I looked locally for anyone who wanted some knitted items.
The Hospital has enough baby blankets and chemo hats so that was not an option so I called the Cat Protection League.
Yes they wanted blankets and knitted mice so my needles were back in action.

I have made 3 blankets all different sizes.

This is the largest one

A medium sized blanket

This one is  15 inches square and could be used for a kitten or in a cat carrying basket.
Know all I need to do is make three mice to go with them and they will be ready for collection.
That is a huge plus no postage as they are happy to come and collect them. I am slowly using up my stash and making something useful with it as well.

Tulips

Yes I have been knitting Tulips and they are really easy to make.
So why Tulips? I hear you ask.The answer is simple I found a Charity quite by accident that needed people to knit for them and they wanted Tulips. The Charity is Knit A Tulip for ME  you can find out more here
Knit a Tulip.

I emailed them for the pattern and started knitting. Like I said they are easy to do and a great way to use up odd bits of stash that are not big enough for much else.

All of these will be sent off during the coming week and I will be making other things for a while.
I will need to find out how much postage it will cost before I make any more as I am finding postage expensive and will limit what I post.
So I am on the hunt for local Charities that may want some knitting done so I can either take it them on the bus or they can collect from me depending on where they are.
The Hospital as no need for any more baby blankets as they have a large amount the same goes for Chemo caps, shawls or blankets.
The Salvation Army may want scarves or blankets but have a lot at the moment so I am still looking a round.
The Cat Protection League may be a good idea and I have sent them an email.
I am sorting out a few patterns so I can decide my next project.

Ravenclaw theme

Okay I admit it I am a Harry Potter fan and I love Hogwarts. I like Ravenclaw in particular as I am like  Luna Lovegood.

Am I weird ? Oh yes I am definitely weird and I am not about to change that I have been a little weird all my life and that me  unique.

So when I was invited to join the Hogwarts team on Sparkpeople I jumped that the chance and was put in Ravenclaw House. I was so pleased and decided to make something in Ravenclaw colours one was the cushion cover in the post below and now this.

It is a Mobius scarf/cowl/ shoulder warmer.It is knitted flat so not a true Mobius but a fake one.
The pattern is really easy

I used 6.5mm needles with DK yarn
The amount of stitches can be increased to suit what you want
Cast on 26 or add groups of 4 to increase size
I used 50 stitches

Every row is

* K2, K1 Tbl , P1 repeat from * and end with K2

Repeat this row until it as long as you want it to be and Bind off in pattern.

Tbl = Through back loop

To make it a Mobius you do this

Simple Mobius Scarf

It so simple anyone can do it.

My mobius is in silver grey  with two different blue yarns and a copper coloured yarn for the stripes. I added the stripes randomly where I thought it was time to change colour and did the stripe in two rows.
You can see it better here

It is wide enough to pull over my shoulders so it can be worn on chilly days in the Spring in the garden or as a scarf in winter. It is light and warm at the same time making it very versatile, not the usual Hogwarts scarf and I think Luna would approve.

Cushion Cover and Gifts

2015 started out busy and looks like remaining so for a while at least.
Christmas was quiet with just myself and Colin we had a real tree, the last one we will have as they are so expensive. I love a real Christmas tree but the cost means we will go back to our artificial one this Christmas.
It looked nice though, we had a Nordic Santa as the tree topper.

So January began and I have been busy writing and knitting. I write poetry and keeping a journal that has some of my thoughts and things I do in it and I am illustrating it as well.
I am still knitting and have made myself something, a Cushion Cover.

I belong to Sparkpeople   it is to do with healthy living and has:  

• Food tracker and personalized meal plans
• Customized fitness plan
• Spark Points motivation program
• Support from our experts on message boards
• Articles, recipes, tips, and much more! 

It is far different to many sites as it has teams that you can join and get support from the people on that team. I have made many friends there and we all support each other in our effort to get healthier. All the teams are themed to various things like:  Hobbies and Interests, Age Groups, Lifestyle and Culture,Parenting and family and a host of others.
 Each team has various challenges that you follow if you want to and I have found it very helpful in forming a healthy eating plan.

Anyway I belong to a team that is based on Hogwarts from the Harry Potter films. It is fun and has helped me find my creative side again. I am in Ravenclaw House and I wanted to create something to do with Ravenclaw and decided to make a Cushion cover in the colours of the House.

Ravenclaw colours are Blue, Silver and Copper.

So I set too and made a cushion cover using colours that were as close as possible to the colours I needed.
This is the result

                                                               I used two strands of yarn held together to create a thicker material and knitted squares that I sewed together. I added a button to the middle and chose an Owl as Hogwarts use Owls to deliver the mail. 
I used blanket stitch to sew the two large squares together in the copper colour and made ties to close the cover, that way the cushion pad can be easily removed when I want to wash the cover.

I have also made some Dishcloths for my friend in Texas as her birthday is in March and I need to post them early to make sure she gets them on time.

A cookie jar dish cloth Pattern for Cookie Jar Dishcloth

A Cupcake with a candle Cupcake cloth

This one is from the book Kitchen Bright Dishcloths


I also made this

It is a facecloth that will contain a bar of soap and was so easy to make. The pattern is here
Bath Bundle

All of these items were made for the Stashbuster Challenge on my Knitting team in Sparkpeople for January 2015.

Keep knitting and have a happy and healthy 2015.

Dishcloths galore

I have knitted some dishcloths for a friend and will be posting them in the New Year.
So I made these and hope that I have got it right the colours never show up as bright as they are in reality.

A Butterfly for Spring you can find the pattern here Butterfly
This is 8x8 inches

Halloween Cat the nearest I could get to Autumn Halloween Cat
This one is 10x9 inches.

This one is in Pink and can be found here Cat
This measures 9.75x9 inches

I called this one Kitten and in a  yellow Purrfect Cloth
Kitty is 7.5x7 inches

Another Spring themed cloth in Lilac Bloom
This one is 6.5x7 inches

Another cat that is tall and elegant Cat
This elegant cat cloth is 8x7.75 inches

All were knitted on 3.25mm needles in Cotton Yarn some in Lily Sugar and Cream and others in Cotton DK Classique by Stylecraft and Drops Paris.
All are easy to make and fun as well I enjoy knitting this sort of cloth as it is I love seeing how they grow and how the picture forms as you knit. So 6 dishcloths will be winging their way to America and a new home.
I added a loop to each cloth so they can be hung up on a hook to dry off, or they can be used as potholders.