Dalek Illusion Knit

My friend and I, when we were 12, developed a joint crush on Jamie McCrimmon in Dr Who, aka Frazer Hines. A week before my 13th birthday, it was my friend’s 13th birthday and her grandfather managed to arrange for us to go to a Dr Who rehearsal, where we met the Dr Who actors - Patrick Troughton (Dr Who), Wendy Padbury (Zoe) and of course Frazer Hines (Jamie). Meeting Frazer Hines in person killed the crush for me. Well, it was really Jamie I liked, who is obviously not a real person, whereas Frazer Hines definitely is. He seemed like a nice person, but was definitely not actually Jamie!

In honour of that long-ago day, and because I have fancied doing an illusion knit (see note below) for some time, I decided to do the illusion Dalek for her for the Facebook 2013 Crafty Pass it on thingummy.

There were no Daleks in the episode we saw the rehearsal of, but as one knitting friend said, it is symbolic.

This one is knitted in DK acrylic, but it could be done in other materials and thicknesses of yarn, which would obviously change the size. I used black and grey from my stash, so still on yarn diet!

I did think of making it as a wall hanging, but then to see the effect properly, you would have to be looking at it from below or above, not directly at it. So I decided against that and made it a kind of runner instead by putting a fringe on each end.

The top photo shows the effect when seen at an angle. The picture is supposed to disappear when viewed straight on as in the left smaller photo. It pretty much did in real life, so I guess the camera can lie a bit! The right hand small photo is what is looks like on the reverse.

(1) Illusion knitting: In case you are interested in how this is done, I was going to try to explain it but thought it best to direct you to Woolly Thoughts website, as it is explained far better there than I could do - and you can explore the rest of the website, if you fancy doing an illusion knit yourself, or just for interest.

http://www.illusionknitting.woollythoughts.com/introduction.html

Refuge blanket

I made a hair band for a friend in the Facebook pay-it-forward craft thingy. I made three crochet flowers like the first crochet flower I made (see post of 26 June 2012) and attached them to an i-cord band. Unfortunately the only photo I have is really rather rubbish, so you'll just have to imagine it.

I also made another hat for another friend in the same Facebook thingy, using Woolly Wormhead's Ruislip pattern, which I used for the Valentine hat I made for a swap (see post of 29 March 2013) but as it is identical, there is not much point in putting a photo here.

However, I did say back in my post about mitred squares (see post of 16 March 2014) that I had incorporated them into the last of our blankets for Refuge, so here is the finished item. I crocheted the blanket together and made a few other of the squares in addition to the multi-coloured mitred squares (the brown and cream diagonal one is one of mine). The rest were knitted/crocheted by DD, DM and various other members of the Croydon Knitting Group. I had hoped that someone else would offer to put together squares for future blankets, as I would be happy to do some more squares, but feel I have 'done my bit' as far as putting them together is concerned. It hasn't happened as yet...

Pink Lacy Cardigan

Whole thing

I got another Sirdar knitting pattern from ebay to keep up the variety of the cardigans I make for the Special Care Baby Unit. I actually had some Sirdar Snuggly (apt name) 4-ply so I was using the yarn recommended in the pattern for once! It is quite an easy pattern. The insetting of the sleeves is a bit different from others I have done lately.

 I already had the yarn - it was left over from the multi-colour cardigan I made DD some years back (see post of 11 May 2011), so I was keeping to my yarn diet, but I didn't have any pink buttons, so I got some cheap from ebay.

Lace detail

When I took it to the hospital, I saw a different lady and she commented that parents really appreciate having something to clothe their babies in, which is nice to know.

(By the way, what happened to April and May - I was going to blog at least once a month, but they keep going past too fast for me!)

Mitred squares

I  mentioned in the Entrelac Blanket post that I still had a bit of the multi-coloured yarn left. This is what became of it. I made one mitred square the usual way - cast on 63 stitches (or whatever number gives approximately twice the length you want your square sides to be) and knit three together in the middle of every other row. Then I had a thought (it happens once in a while). If you started with one stitch then knitted into the front, the back and the front again of that stitch, then did this with the middle stitch of every other row, wouldn't that also make a mitred square, but in the reverse direction? It seems logical, but just to make sure, I tried it and yes, it does.

These two (with their dangle yarn ends tucked in) have been incorporated into a blanket for Refuge (more about that later)

Winter is Coming Cushion Cover

sewn side

knitted side

I was going to do a post about all three cushion covers I have made, but unfortunately realised I have no photos of the ones I made for DD in their completed state, just the progress photos. I have asked her more than once to take photos of them but I am still waiting...

This one was done for a Ravelry swap entitled Winter is Coming. For people who are not Game of Thrones fans, this is the motto of House Stark and was also apt as it was an autumn swap. The lady I got to send to likes autumn colours.

The sewn side (yes, I know this is a knitting blog, but sometimes things have to involve more than one craft!) is made from the cut-off bottoms of some friends' curtains, which I acquired in a craft swap meet. The border (down the left and right side in the picture) is the very bottom of the curtain. I cut two pieces the same and inverted one, so that the two halves (there is a seam down the middle) are (more or less) mirror image.

The knitted side is made entirely from stash, except for the burgundy, which I bought quite cheaply (so still sticking to yarn diet, more or less). I asked the recipient to imagine looking at a picture an autumn garden at the edge of a forest, then the picture is smeared (whether by hand or Photoshop) diagonally. The brown represents tree trunks; the two shades of beige (not easy to discern in a small photo, but there really are two) represent dead leaves; the burgundy represents copper beech leaves; the multi-coloured yarn represents a mish-mash of leaf litter etc; the yellow is the odd ray of sunshine through the trees; the pink is the odd faded rose in the garden; and the tiny bit of blue, which really should be at the top, not the bottom, is a little patch of blue sky. Yes, maybe I did get a bit fanciful and carried away with this, but it was that sort of swap and it was very well received, I am glad to say.

Minty Baby Cardigan

Can't believe I haven't put this on my blog yet! I made this for a work colleague, who went on maternity leave well before I left that job over 6 months ago.

This is not one of my blended efforts. It's almost as the pattern (the one I used for the stitch pattern for my blended cardigan) says, which means it is second size, which I sometimes do for new mums, as they probably get plenty of first size stuff, then their baby grows a bit and they have to start buying franticly.

I have modified the pattern a little (do I ever just do a pattern?) in that I didn't fancy doing the cable effect on the tiny needles that the ribbing is done on, so that is just k2 p2 ribbing (round the bottom, the bottom of the sleeves and the button/button hole/neck band)

Another colleague said she thought the pregnant lady would be pleased to get a hand-made gift, but I was not prepared for the mum-to-be's reaction. I was hugged and she cried, she was so pleased to receive it!

Entrelac baby blanket

Another one for the local hospital's SCBU. The stripy yarn was left over from the gloves I made my friend some time ago and the blue was in with a batch I bought cheap on ebay some long time ago. The colours seems to go all right and I thought they'd look good knitted as entrelac. I started at one of the short ends. I underestimated how big it would be initially and had to undo one triangle to make it about the size that SCBU requires.

When I had done all the knitting, I crocheted a border (doubles) in a fortuitously matching yellow I happened to have. I like my blankets to have borders - I think it kind of brings the whole thing together/makes a nice finish.

There was still a little left of both the stripy and the blue when I had finished this - the stripy has now finally been finished (further post to come...)

Blended Socks

First post of the New Year - still trying to catch up a bit. If I made New Year Resolutions, mine should be to keep up with my blog, amongst other things...

These are blended socks, because I blended two patterns. I used the same basic pattern and the same yarn (from the everlasting cone of acrylic/cotton blend as my last two pairs) as I did for my first toe-up socks, but added the lacy pattern from a cardigan in a magazine (Simply Knitting Issue 102 February). I had another idea initially, but it didn't work. I had some problems along the way - one heel had to be completely redone - but I am pleased with the result. (Not sure why the photo has come out sideways - I was looking down at my feet and the pic saved on our computer is as that would be...)

Little things please little minds - I am a bit pleased with myself that I started the lacy part of the second sock with the second half of the lace pattern, so these socks are mirror image. Also, as my toenails tend to go through socks (and shoes!) I decided to try to reinforce the toe area by using the same technique as the pattern uses on the heel. As there are increases to make the toe shape, this staggers the effect, which I think looks quite good - you may be able to see what I mean in the more detailed photo to the right. If you want more info as to what I mean, please do message me and I will send you a more detailed description.

Heartsease bags

A member of our knitting group brought some leaflets to a meeting early this year. Ruth and Belinda (www.ruthandbelinda.co.uk) have teamed up with Kids Company, which delivers services to vulnerable children, those 'not properly cared for' as the founder Camila Batmanhelidjh puts it, and set up a project for knitters to make heart-shaped bags for use in therapy sessions with the young people Kids Company work with. They are trying to get some large number (can't remember the figure) by 14th February 2014. I therefore set to and made a heart-shaped bag, using one of their patterns. Unfortunately I did not read the pattern properly and left out 12 rows at the sides of the heart, making it a somewhat dumpy heart, but I decided to leave it as is rather than undo and correct. I added a little i-cord handle, a tassel at the bottom add a butterfly I found somewhere.

It occurred to me, however, that maybe boys would not be keen on a heart-shaped bag. I consulted DS, who is not particularly vulnerable, but has been a boy fairly recently and he said in no uncertain terms that he thought heart-shaped bags would not be suitable for boys, so I emailed Ruth and Belinda to see what they thought. They said something to the effect that I had made a valid point and that bags of all shapes would be acceptable. So I then made a boy bag. It started like a scarf, but after about 8 inches, I started decreasing to make a triangle at the end, the folded it in half (minus the triangle) and sewed up the sides. I gave it a toning button and to cheer it up a little embroidered a little yellow thingy (supposed to be a sun with little rays, but it could  be interpreted differently - as a flower or just a funny blob). I also attached a long enough i-cord for the bag to be worn over the shoulder. I've shown two photos to show the length of i-cord in the top one and a bit more detail in the bottom one.

Both were made with acrylic DK yarn I already had, left over from previous projects. Thus they are machine washable and stashbusters (although I had quite a bit of yarn given to me recently... Oh, well).

I still have my doubts as to whether any boys would like any shape of bag, but nevertheless I sent both off with the Tunisian crochet one I made some time ago and some others made by members of the knitting group, including the stripy one made by my Mum mentioned way back. I do hope they'll do some good.

Pentagon coaster

Slightly odd this one. I found instructions to make a Tunisian crochet hexagon coaster and followed it, triangle by triangle, but after five triangles, there was no room for another, so I sewed it up and made a pentagon. This was actually the second attempt, but the first went off in a swap package without being photographed. The same happened with that one too. Hmm...