Easy Peasy Scarf

I have knitted my first item! To be honest I didn't use a pattern, and was unsure of what to do so I cast on 35 stitches, and figured I would just keep knitting until it was long enough. The first section of my scarf is now wonky, I managed to add about 15 stitches originally by accident but managed to purposely take off 10 and decided that if I took it back down to 35 it would look too too wonky, in hindsight I should have probably started again, but you can't tell unless you look closely and then I can say how it is the first item I have ever knitted.

Easy Peasy Scarf

Cast on 35 stitches (This can be as many or as little as you want really, my scarf is now quite thick but you could do a thinner one)

Row 1 - Knit

Repeat Row 1 until you are happy with the length and Cast off.

First Finished Item of Knitting!

Report Writing

I have been interested in Psychology for as long as I can remember, I think people are fascinating.  After doing it at A level my original plan was to do a joint degree in psychology and drama and become a drama-therapist.  However my gorgeous man and gorgeous babies came instead so my plans changed a little. For the better - I would not swap the three of them for a lottery double roll over jackpot! But about a year ago I realised that the plans can still be there, just altered a little. So I decided to do a Psychology degree from home with the OU.  It involved a lot of self control doing this kind of thing at home because you don't have anybody to nudge you in the right direction all of the time or to make sure you are actually reading everything, but I sorely missed 'proper' learning and luckily have enjoyed it.  My last assignment was to do my own study (I will point out that we were given a pretty detailed run down of what this study would be, so to call it my own would be a tad optimistic) but I carried out a bit of my own research which is what I would love to do some day and wrote a report on it as if you were doing it for real.  This daunted me quite a lot - I enjoy writing essays and kind of know what I am doing.  But this was a different kettle of fish altogether so I have been nervously checking for the results and had prepared myself for my lowest mark yet to find that it is quite the opposite and is now the highest mark I have got! 88 !!! Squee! Very happy bunny!

Moving!

It is official, me and my family will be moving half way across the country to lancashire!!My husband, after two months of interviews and job hunting got offered two jobs in the space of 24 hours!I am absolutely thrilled to pieces and so proud of him.  So there will be little crafting done for a while as these were one of the first things to be packed.  (3 boxes and counting.....)

I'm Hooked!

I have often watched the women of my family knitting.  It has had me intrigued for years - how do you make something using only needles and a ball of wool? It just doesn't seem logical. However I am fed up of just watching these beautiful items being made and have decided to try my hand at it. 

For once I am actually going to start with something easy! I started by just practising knit stitch, then trying purl stitch, with varying degrees of success. I have moved on to make a scarf. Just knitting. No Purling or any intentional increasing or decreasing. Simple...Apparently...

My Scarf so far

There is one warning that I will give for anyone who is thinking about taking up knitting.  It is incredibly addictive! Strange but true.

I have also bought some beautiful balls of wool that I found to give me some motivation, ...

The photo does not do the sirdar crofter (the one on the right) justice, it is an absolute stunning mix of colours!
And the most adorable book for gorgeous knitted bears for even more motivation...

Beautiful!

First Goal!

I'd better get knitting....

My First Item of Clothing...

I have tinkered with the sewing machine, I have made cushions (lots of cushions) and bags, and little bits and pieces. BUT for about six months I have been attempting to make my first actual piece of clothing.  Now, most people start with a simple skirt (I would strongly recommend this route to anyone who wants to start sewing) but I, for no logical reason I can find started with a linen shirt! The only explanation I can give for this madness is that my husband happened to come with me to the habidashery and found this in the burda easy section and said how he liked it.  (I think at the time I must have been trying to convince him what a good idea it would be for me to take up yet another hobby.)
The reason it has taken six months is that every time I tried to read one of the instructions, I realised that I had no idea what I was doing and found lots of other very important things to do. But every now and then I would sit down with my plethora of books for beginners and have a stab at part of it and finally it is complete...SQUEEE!!!!
So without further ado - my first item of clothing:

Burda Easy 8461

Burda Easy 8461

 I am quite proud of this.  It need adjusting in a few places, apparently the shoulders are uncomfortable and the amount of chest on show would put my hubby off wearing this, but my plan is to add a piece of material behind the lace of the chest. 

I am not sure about this at the moment, but I'm toying with the idea of possibly putting a white cotton behind this, just to make it less black.

Evil Collar!

The hardest part of this by far was the collar, I lost sleep over this collar. In the end I went to Burda's website where they actually have a forum to go when you are really stuck on something and they offer advice and help.  


Right.... I think I might try a nice easy skirt now......

"Who is more than a woman?"

My aunt posted this link on her blog and it was so nice to read, that I thought that I would do the same.  Sometimes it is easy to forget how the little things can make such a difference, even if it is just to make someone smile. I wanted to share this because it is lovely!

Cross Stitch Cushions

Alot of the kits I do are of teddy bears, although I have plenty of books of patterns, teddy bears are ones that I find easier if you just get the kit - due to the amount of different variations of one colour!

Popcorn kits are definately one of my favourites and my lovely mother gave me a bag full of kits a few years back and they are very cute.  These two cushions were the first things I ever did on my sewing machine (nice simple cushion and a way to use my stitches!)

Popcorn with roses

Me To You are alos very cute, but horrible to stitch, whoever designed the backstitch is evil, as they rarely stick to an actual hole in the aida so you have to poke into the stitches that you've just spent hours doing...but they do look adorable and I think they are worth the effort.

Me To You 

Painting

I have only started to paint recently, and got a brilliant "Ready to paint" book with tracings and step by step instructions. This was the result.

Poppy Fields

This took me one evening to paint and was the first time that I had used masking fluid, for the wood on the fence and signpost. 

 This was a joint effort as my hubby loves dragons.  He drew it and I painted it.

 

First Stitches

First Stitches