Monday 31 August 2020

Ginx Woolly Linx Party September


 Thank you to everyone who joined in the party for August. Some really amazing projects.

Leyla of Silk and Wool has made two wonderful crochet dresses by designer Nadia Dunaeva. The red one has a bit of a rustic peasant feel, and the gold one is very elegant. It is worth visiting her blog to see both.

Ulrike of Ulrike's Smaating has made this cute little vintage caravan for a competition. It really sums up summer.

Linda of Linda's Crafty Corner's Indianna Afghan is made with mosaic crochet. I just love the mix of colours and design.

And a very different style blanket from Tonna of Sew Crafty Crochet. She has shared this beautiful undulating waves blanket. Love this pattern and the wonderful textures of the wool.

Looking forward to seeing what you have all been making next month.

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

 

Wednesday 26 August 2020

More Moss Stitch Booties (and My Photograph Spot)

It is hard sometimes to find a good spot inside for photographs. It is probably why I often take my photographs of knitting outside. The light has to be just right. Plenty of light, but not direct sunlight, which is usually too harsh. In my old house there was not a lot of choice, as there were no window ledges, and my favourite place was at the top of the house, under the velux window. Even that was difficult at times, and I might arrange a raised surface to get more light, or use material as a backdrop.

My new home is a cottage, so has its own problems. The windows are fairly small, but I have found my self a photography spot. One of these fairly small windows on the stairs has a deep window shelf area, all painted white, which is perfect. On a nice day (although we have not had many of those recently) there is light, but not too direct. I really like the plain white background. Positioning the camera is a bit difficult, as I am standing on the stairs, but I think I have found my spot.

 
 
As you can see I am still knitting moss stitch baby booties. I must thank my pattern testers, Jennifer and Jo, who have both knitted booties from the pattern, and helped me come up with some corrections. All they get is a copy of the pattern, but I am incredibly grateful for their help. It is very reassuring to know that someone apart from me has followed the pattern successfully.

 https://ginxcraft.blogspot.com/2020/07/ginx-woolly-linx-party-august.html

Just a reminder that although we are approaching the end of the month there is still time left to join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for August. Click on the photo above or at the top of the page to find the party. I would love to see what you have been working on this month.

 

Tuesday 18 August 2020

Cushions and Country Shopping

One of my concerns about moving to the country was shopping. I'm not really a big shopper, but in town I was very lucky being within walking distance of a big shopping centre on the edge of London. But even there, sometimes it was hard to find what I needed, and I have recently been buying wool online. 

But I have found that the small town that we live near in the country, Launceston, has more than one really good wool shop. The Cosy Little Wool Shop, runs knit and natter coffee mornings, and I am going to try and be brave and go when they start again. There is also somewhere out of town called Cowslip Workshops, which runs craft classes and has a cafe, but is only open by appointment at the moment.  

One of the other shops in town, Threads Designs, not only has wool, but a whole range of fabrics for dressmaking and furnishing, and everything else that a sewer might need. Nice ladies who can advise and cut whatever you need.

I have made these cushions, with everything needed bought from Threads Designs. I am going to take them with me to the flat. Less than two weeks now, and me and my daughter will be heading back to town for school. Her final school year. Perhaps then I may get back to a bit more crafting, as there seem so many outdoor distractions here.

What is nice in the country is shops tend not to be chains.  I have not even mentioned Cornwall Smallholder Supplies, where you can look at the large range of brewing and jam-making equipment. Or Maunders, more geared to agriculture, so among the gardening supplies, you can also find tags for your livestock and other more mysterious equipment.

https://ginxcraft.blogspot.com/2020/07/ginx-woolly-linx-party-august.html

Just a reminder that there is still loads of time left to join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for August. Click on the photo above or at the top of the page to find the party. I would love to see what you have been working on this month.



Friday 14 August 2020

Gardening (and some foraging too) Diary August

This has been our month to finally reap the reward for some of the hard work earlier in the year.  As you will see from the above I have got a bit carried away with making jellies and jams, am only limited by how many jars I can get.

The main thing I have learned is to feed the soil and mulch. Before recently planting some pumpkins and turnips, I dug in some horse manure, and these plants seem to be doing so much better. It was too late to dig in manure for the broccoli and squash, but I have put it on the surface around the plants as a mulch, and that also seems to be working.

The vegetables that have gone really well have been the courgettes. Almost too well as despite the face I love courgettes, and have made soup and cake, we are still overwhelmed with them. The carrots have also been good, and are so much tastier than shop ones. The tomatoes are nearly ripe, and with the cucumbers we now have a game of "good cucumber, bad cucumber". I did not remove the male flowers very well, and the ones from male flowers taste bitter, while the ones from female flowers are tasty. The runner beans are starting to get big enough to eat now, and the sweetcorn is still growing. The broad bean plants were my pride and joy, as they looked so healthy, but did not really produce many beans.  

I have enjoyed the row of sunflowers, as I have never managed to grow these before. The sweet peas also gave us quite a lot of flowers in the end. But my other lesson may be not to plant wild flowers in the vegetable garden. I thought I had planted a wild flower mix, but the only ones that have done really well are the forget-me-nots and poppies. The forget-me-nots so much so that they started coming up everywhere. I do love them, and have potted some up, and am planting them other places outside the vegetable plot.

Apart from the vegetable garden, I have been busy foraging. There have been masses of blackberries. Perhaps it is a good year for them, as I have not seen blackberries like this before. Big and juicy, and I could go out and pick a bowl every day. We also realised we had a wild damson tree. Elderberries are also starting to ripen, along with sloe berries along the whole side of the field. My husband also keeps pointing out hazel trees to me, but we will have to wait a while for them. So I have been busy jam and jelly making. I seem to be a bit of a compulsive pickers, and every so often my husband tells me to leave something for the wild life. My dog very much enjoys picking the low down blackberries.

The apples and pears are also coming along. We don't know what type they are, but are hoping to eat some of the apples, and store them for the winter. We realised none of us are very keen on eating pears, but we have also got a small fruit press, and are going to try and make some fruit juices and cider. Very excited about this.


https://ginxcraft.blogspot.com/2020/07/ginx-woolly-linx-party-august.html

Just a reminder that there is still loads of time left to join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for August. Click on the photo above or at the top of the page to find the party. I would love to see what you have been working on this month.



Saturday 1 August 2020

Moss Stitch Baby Boots

We have had some dry weather, so I had to hunt around for a mossy place for my photo.

I have hinted at this new pattern for a while, but find it hard to believe how long it has taken me to write this one. I love the look of moss stitch, but found that working it into a pair of baby boots was harder than I imagined. These boots are like some of my other baby shoes patterns, Baby Bee Shoes and Baby Daisy Shoes, in that they are knitted in one piece, and the shape for the foot is created by turning mid-row. To do this, and work in increases and decreases, and keep the moss stitch, was not easy.

But don't let this put you off making a pair, as I have done the work, and they are an easy and fairly quick knit. There is just quite a lot of counting in your head. I do like how with PDF patterns you can print it off and then mark the rows you have knitted on the pattern to keep your place.

You can knit them in any doubleknit wool, and like my other shoe knits they are on quite a small needle (2.5mm), as I think this tighter knit helps give the shoe a better structure. I have gone for a mossy coloured wool, but may use some brighter colours for my next pair of boots. And unlike my other shoes, I have given these ones a little cuff to help keep them on the babies feet.

I also forgot to mention that the pattern include two sizes - 0-3 months and 3-6 months. These are written out separately, as I always find patterns with brackets for sizes a bit confusing. The pattern will be available on ravelry, Etsy and LoveKnitting.


https://ginxcraft.blogspot.com/2020/07/ginx-woolly-linx-party-august.html

Just a reminder that there is still loads of time left to join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for August. Click on the photo above or at the top of the page to find the party. I would love to see what you have been working on this month.