Maps

On a recent visit to Orleans House Gallery in Twickenham the work I found most interesting was this embroidery map of my local area. The description says it was made on 35 cotton panels, but looking closely it is clear that these are white handkerchiefs. Perhaps that was all the ladies could get at that time. It was made in 1941 by the members of the Townwomen's Guilds of Teddingston, Twickenham, Kingston and Tolworth for the British Red Cross.

It is a bit hard to see in the top picture, so here are some panels closer up. It is said that the ladies included images of some of the older buildings in this part of the country, as they were not sure that they would survive the war. I loved seeing this shared project.

Last week was my birthday, and I thought I would show you my present from my daughter. I think she was inspired by looking at the embroidery maps, and pushed into this idea by the fact she did not seem to have much money to buy a gift. But also she had heard me and my husband talking about how nice it would be to have a work of art that reflects where we live. (We are moving house soon, so I may have a bit less time for this blog for a while.) So she has drawn me a picture map of our local area. Some bits are very personal to us, with our house being featured, and places we go to a lot. But there are also a lot of funny little details that I love. The Wombles on Wimbledon Common. So I have put this in a frame, and will treasure it as a very special present.

Just a reminder that there is still time join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for June. 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.

Baby Button Shoes

I've been busy working on a new pattern. Baby shoes, this time with a strap. I was going to call them Mary Jane's, but in the end decided Baby Button Shoes was a cuter name. The pattern is available on ravelry, Etsy and LoveKnitting.

In fact the button is simply there as a decoration, and the shoes are designed just slip on and off. I decided that mums of new babies have enough to do, without fiddling with tiny buttons and buttonholes. But if you wanted the button to be functional, it would be quite easy to make a buttonhole in the strap. But in my samples for the pattern the buttons are just sewn in place through the strap and shoe.

They are very easy and quick to make. I think most knitters could make a pair in an evening. The pattern comes in two sizes: 0-3 months and 3-6 months. I think they look cute plain, but have also jazzed some mine up with a bit of embroidery. 

Made with doubleknit wool, they only take 14g or 20g of wool depending which size you make. So they would also be a great way to use up any wool you have left over from other projects. 

On these green shoes I have embroidered a few daisies on the straps. 

... and on these I have used french knots to make some forget-me-not flowers. It is really quite simple to embroider with wool on wool. There are some tutorials of some of the basic stitches in my sidebar on the right.

The red shoes have gone to baby Scarlet, but the green daisy ones, and the forget-me-not shoes are for sale in my Etsy shop.

Just a reminder that there is still time join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for May. 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.

"All The Single Ladies"

... or perhaps I should call them "all the single fairies". It has taken me longer than I thought (as all jobs seem to), but the fairies have now headed off to my Etsy shop, complete with their little hand embroidered bags. I do hope they end up with someone who loves them.

And now to start thinking about the summer garden flower fairies. I have started on lavender, but would love it if you have any suggestions for the others.

Just a reminder that there is still time join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for May. 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.

Butterfly Baby Shoes

Yes, I know, I have slightly wandered off the Spring flower theme. I was looking through my embroidery stitch book, and found a page where they actually tell you how to embroider a butterfly.  I couldn't resist having a go.

Unusually for me, this is just a generic butterfly. I usually like to be precise, possibly with a latin name, but this time I just used the wool colours that I had to hand.

These shoes are for sale in my Etsy Shop, and the pattern is my Baby Bee Shoes.

Just a reminder that my Ginx Woolly Linx party for July is now running. 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.

Spring Flowers - Wild Garlic Baby Shoes

One of my favourite spirng flowers in my garden, are the wild garlic plants that come up every year in a shady corner at the bottom. (This last sentence gives the totally wrong idea about my garden - that it is huge and I live on the edge of an area of woodland. My garden is actually the size of a postage stamp, and I live in a town. Hubby planted the garlic, and it comes up every year.) 

I think these flowers are so beautiful, so used them as inspiration for the design on these shoes. I'm not sure that garlic is a particularly popular theme for babies. But if you look at the beautiful flowerhead above it really should be.

These Wild Garlic Shoes are for sale in my Etsy Shop, along with a selection of other baby shoes inspired by nature.  I'm getting near the end of the spring-flower inspired shoes.

Just a reminder that my Ginx Woolly Linx party for May is still running. 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.

Spring Flowers - Apple Blossom Baby Shoes

So many Spring flowers seem to be appearing. I love this season, but you have to make the most of it, as with some of the flowers they are here for a week or two and then they are gone. So I have been out with my camera, and then using the ideas for some inspiration for embroidery on some new baby shoes for my shop.

These shoes were inspired by Apple Blossom, but also by this lovely blue wool that I found in my stash. I love it when wool changes shade, and for these I was careful to get the colour change to match in both shoes. The pattern is my Baby Bee Shoe pattern. It is a fairly easy knit, but I love to make them individual with a bit of embroidery. These shoes are heading for my Etsy Shop, although first I will make a little drawstring bag for them. I have some more flower-inspired shoes and photographs on the way.

Just a reminder that my Ginx Woolly Linx party for May is now running. 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.

Most Personalised Mini (so far)

This is probably the most personalised mini I have ever seen. Isn't this photo of the car great? It was quite a challenge to make a knitted version. The purchaser, from Wales, was OK with me not making the roof rack.  A shame, as it is part of the look, but I think would have needed wire etc, and I like to try to just use wool.

This knitted version was bought for the owner by his girlfriend for Christmas. I wonder if I will ever get a more personal mini to make? I very much doubt it, but who knows.

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

Tiny Dutch Christmas Elf Clogs

I decided to make some new Christmas decorations for my tree. What could be more cute than some tiny pairs of elf shoes? 

In The Netherlands at Christmas, children leave a shoe out by the fireplace or sometimes a windowsill. They also believe that if they leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinterklass's horse, they will be left some sweets or small presents. I am not Dutch, but this seems like such a lovely tradition that I thought I would make  some very tiny elf clogs, to contain sweets or nuts on the tree. My daughter tells me that her German friend leaves a boot on the front doorstep for Saint Nicholas to fill, even though she lives in England.

I am posting about this today because we are very close to the days, 5th/6thDecember when St. Nicholas's Day is celebrated. (Although in some countries it is celebrated on 19th December.)

 

The pattern is available on ravelry, Etsy, and will be on LoveKnitting. They are an easy knit, all in garter stitch, and with one small seam to sew.

I apologise for the huge number of photos. I have rather got a bit carried away with making these little shoes. I also wanted to show them before and after they have been decorated. They are such a quick make, but also great fun to decorate. I have embroidered with wool, and added some beads. I am sure they could be zhuzhed up in other ways. I would love to see what other people do with them.

I've taken most of these photographs at the front of my house, where I have a fir tree. Lots of curious looks from passers-by. So my only problem now is when I do put them on the Christmas tree (we don't have it yet as my husband like to leave it closer to the day), how to I stop one very greedy labrador getting to them. 

In fact the whole dog/Christmas thing is a bit of a worry. We don't go to town with decorations, but do always have a tree in the living room, with gifts around it. I would love any tips on how to do Christmas with a dog who will eat anything and everything. I suspect the answer is, "carefully".