Sunday 29 July 2012

Another week gone by

I thought I would try to post something about my crafty activities once a week. I wonder how long that will last! Anyway, I have good intentions.

First up, I managed to finish a  Harry Potter  jumper for Harri.


The wool was from the New Lanark Mills www.newlanarkshop.co.uk and is Aran weight. It is a lovely mixture of 90% pure new wool and silk. The pattern is from Canadian Living which I think I found on Ravelry www.canadianliving.com/crafts/knitting/knit_a_harry_potter_sweater_3.php.

The neck and bottom have rolled edges which means you only have to rib the sleeves






The main thing is that he likes it.

Last Saturday I made a pouch for Toril for her birthday.


This in fact is the reject pouch (I had to make another one ) because I thought the interfacing was iron-on and it wasn't. Result: very wrinkled fabric, so I had to grit my teeth and start again.
Toril is an avid horsewoman, so I hope she likes it.

I also made a few blocks.


This is the urban nine patch from Jenny at Sew Kind of  Wonderful. I bought her Quick curve ruler and thought I'd better try it out. I found the nine patch easy enough but the sides were a real b**** as I found it difficult to line up the curves correctly as you can see in the photo.


I love this one. It's to add to my blocks for a star quilt which I'm making for the daughter of one of my oldest friends. Hopefully, I'll finish it before she leaves home!


This is another block for my red and white sampler quilt. This quilt is going very slowly , probably because after one red block I long for some other colours and have to do something else.


In March 2012 I cut a patch of the lawn out using a turf cutter which I hired locally. Boy was it hard to control but I managed it eventually. The ground was very poor so I added loads of compost and then planted the volcanic seed mix from Pictorial Meadows ( www.pictorialmeadows.co.uk.). This is a company associated with Sheffield University that has developed a whole range of meadow mixes some annual, some perennial which are used to beautify ugly patches of council land and in some parks. They are very beautiful and very good for attracting  insects so I thought I would give it a go.


I planted the seed in April and carefully distributed it so that it was even across the plot. As soon as I finished we had torrential rain.
Unfortunately, I think the rain washed away a good proportion of the seed as I have large gaps and some of the seeds have failed to grow at all. Still, it looks better now than it did and the insects are happy.



I think I'll try again next year using a different mix

I think they also used some of their mixes for the Olympic sites. To finish wasn't the opening ceremony for the Olympics fantastic!Have a good week

Sunday 22 July 2012

My first ever blog post!

I made this fabric for a new bag. I used Suzuko Koseki's quilt as you go method as described in her book Patchwork Style. I'm pleased with the result but obviosly it is a work in progess.




This is the back  and below is the front to which I'm going to add a pocket. 


Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday in the glorious (at last!) sunshine.

Welcome to The Running Hare.