Socks

Have you ever made socks?  I'm giving it a go and joining in with the sock-a-long at Winwick Mum's blog.  Crochet is my preferred craft with wool but this looked like a really fun thing to do and the encouragement received from other people participating has been wonderful.  I've spent an incredible amount of time casting on, knitting, losing stitches, recasting on, many many times and getting very frustrated.  I finally set aside my first ball of sock yarn deciding it was jinxed and restarted the whole process with another ball of yarn I had.  I had success this time with a minimum amount of mistakes.

 
 I've chosen to knit with four dpn's which has been described as a bit like knitting with a hedgehog.  Hopefully progress will be good from now on.  If anyone is interesting in knitting socks (this pattern is from the top down), Winiwick Mum is leaving all the details, instructions and information up on her blog so you can refer to it at some other time.  There's still time to join in with the sock-a-long if you are interested.

Anne xx

Another cushion cover

I've fallen in love with sewing all over again and just had to make another cushion cover.  This time it's for a cushion on the sofa in what we call the chill out room.  Basically it was a room originally destined to be a dining room on our house plans but has evolved into being a space for a desktop computer, a clothes airing area, sofa bed for overnight guests, bookcases etc.  Back to the cushion cover.

I found the fabric at Spotlight in the remnant bin for 50 cents.  It is a good quality fabric and I love the colours and pattern.  This was such an easy cover to make and once again I decided to hand stitch the button holes.  I was thinking about how I would style this photo and our other cat Bungee solved the problem for me.  :)

The reverse side and Bungee's back.

Making the buttonholes.

Bungee being cute and stealing the show.

Have a lovely day everyone,

Anne  xx

New cushion cover

Yesterday I had the urge to make something on the sewing machine and decided on a new cushion cover for one of the many cushions that sit on my bed.  The current covers are 12 years old, so I think a change might be needed.  I chose some fabrics from my stash and came up with this.

 The reverse side of the cushion is made from this large polka dot fabric which I love as much as the front fabric.

 I decided I would hand sew the buttonholes.  Although I can do it on my machine, it's difficult and I rather like sitting down doing something by hand.  I chose some pretty buttons from my stash to complete the cover.

The machine sewing is not great close up as I had a problem with the needle.  I didn't realise that part of the point had broken off and wondered why the fabric kept pulling.  After I changed the needle, all was well.

Have a wonderful day,

Anne  xx