Rainbow Baskets

This weekend's project was sewing a set of rainbow mini baskets to use at work (daycare). Our theme this week is Colours and I thought this would be a nice way to incorporate some non-plastic elements into the room. I worked on them assembly line style and was happy with how quickly I got them done. It was fun to work with such bright colours and seeing them all together makes me smile. I also made some little felt pillow shapes to go inside each one but forgot to take pictures of them before they left home. Enjoy the before, after and during pictures!

Fingerless Mittens

Just a quick post to show off my latest knitting project - fingerless mittens for keeping wrists warm!

I got the pattern from Sandy in Wonderland and made the minor adjustment of using one skein instead of two. (The pattern calls for two skeins so the stripes will match. Then with the leftover yarn you knit a second pair for your "best friend") I wasn't too fussy about having them match and couldn't think of anyone to give the "best friend" pair to so I knit both from the same skein.



I loved knitting with this yarn: it's really easy to work with and has such lovely colours running through it! It's got a really long colourway and each bit of yarn can have several colours in it. A bit hard to explain so take a look:



I have to admit this project was a little addicting, it knit up so quickly and with such great colours I said "just one more row" several times!

Recent Projects

I think I need to plan my blog posts (better). This could also mean making more time for crafting. hmmm... something to work on. In the meantime these are the projects I've been working on:



I made this bag from an old pair of pants that had outlived their usefulness (as pants at least). Everything came from one pant leg - the buttons and tabs were used to hold the pants rolled up in a capri position! I plan to use the bag to hold my rain gear (jacket & pants), particularly when out and about. Bonus is that it can double as a pillow while travelling.


This card was for a young friend's birthday. I wanted to use some chiyogami paper I got from Etsy. Originally I'd planned to put the flowers on the branch but they didn't look right so they ended up in the corners instead. I really like how this turned out but would like to work on my branch technique.


I'm using this headband at work. We have to cover our hair when serving food and I thought this print would be nice and cheery. I had it in my fabric stash and it's nice to get it out and about!



This knit mesh bag turned out quite well (I still need to block it). The only problem is the strap stretches quite a bit so if the bag is full it reaches to my knees! I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that yet. Maybe just tie a knot in it.

My current project is knitting wrist warmers, I'm using Noro's Silk Garden which is absolutely lovely to knit! I love seeing the different colours in each inch of yarn and how it stripes. Pictures next time!

Spring!

Spring doesn't offically start for another two weeks but today we had our first little taste! It was warm enough to be outside without a jacket, the sun was shining and the spring breezes were blowing. Definitely a day I'm glad my job (a daycare teacher) involves being outside for part of the day. It was great feeling to leave the snowpants hanging on their hooks as we all headed out to enjoy the afternoon. I hope wherever you are you are enjoying some springtime too!

Thrummed Mittens

This winter I have fallen in love with knitting thrummed mittens. You start with some wool roving and yarn...


and end up with this:


I started with a kit I got for my birthday (which wasn't by chance - I dropped some "subtle" hints). It took me a while to get the hang of thrumming but once I got it I had so much fun playing with the wool roving. This is what they look like inside, all that lovely wool against your hands!


About a week before Christmas I noticed my sister needed new mittens, guess what she got?


Actually it was a bit of a rush so she only got the one mitten (finished on Christmas Eve day) wrapped up but the other one appeared a few days later. Then, not to leave my mom out I made her a pair too.


I love the combination of the two blues. I enjoy playing with the colour combinations. I think a pair of black mittens with really bright roving would be great! Now I just need more people to knit them for...