Sunday 21 August 2011

Fall for Blues cowl pattern

Thin cables running across the soft textured surface keep this cowl comfortably around neck, while its height is enough to cover one's head and ears in cold winds.
The cowl is easy to knit and finish, it is worked in the round on circular needles as one piece.

Fall for Blues cowl


The cowl requires four 50 g balls of DK weight yarn, but naturally, it can be worked in lighter and heavier yarn weights just as well.

The pattern is available on Ravelry.

Fall for Blues cowl


Fall for Blues cowl


The sample is knitted in Schachenmayr Nomotta's Extra Merino, shade no. 56. Because of its loose twist, needles sometimes get lost between the threads, but that also makes the yarn so wonderfully soft and fluffy. It is also a very convenient centre-pull ball.

Schachenmayr nomotta Extra Merino

Monday 15 August 2011

Haapsalu Shawl Day

The picturesque town of Haapsalu celebrated the annual lace knitting day yesterday: woolwhite lacework was to be spotted everywhere, both in finished and work-in-progress status. The seaside resort atmosphere was something well worth envying as always.

The lace knitting contest was not too crowded with its fourteen participants:

Haapsalu Shawl Day knitting contest


Some people just knitted on the street without competing:

Haapsalu lace knitters


Shawl dance presented by a classy local dance group:

Shawl dance group

Shawl dance

Shawl dance


And some other highlights of the program:

Haapsalu folk dancers

Haapsalu Shawl Day 2011 singers


Shawls and other lacy items made by the local master knitters were also sold at the craft fair. And for a shocking price of 50 Euros - unfortunately, this is what people who value handmade can afford here. (The price for being an economically well-behaving country.) Well, start planning your lace shopping trip for next August!

Haapsalu Shawl

Estonian lace


This is the window of the Dome Church chapel, where the White Lady appears on full moon August nights (she must be hiding in there by day as well):

Haapsalu White Lady chapel window


By the end of the day, all this motivation overdose resulted in a midnight swatch with Karukellakiri pattern. This project cannot be postponed any longer and as soon as I'm done with the hardest part - choosing a stitch pattern - my first Haapalu shawl will be cast on.

Lace knitting swatch


There is also a sweet short film about knitting in Haapsalu in 1937 available in the Estonian Film Archives:






Wednesday 27 July 2011

Summer in the sewing room

A small wall hanging object can exist both as a decoration in sewing theme and a storage solution to keep all the small tools at hand.
The alternative mission of the hat is to serve as a pincushion, while the bag can hold small scissors, safety pins, thread spools etc.

Sewing room wall decoration


The piece is made of linen and all sewn by hand, the wires at the top and bottom give it a good hold. Seems like the only thing without a clear purpose is the dress.

Sewing room wall decoration with pincushion hat, dress and bag pocket



Friday 15 July 2011

Old craft book finds online

I discovered recently that the Book Depository offers many digitised old books as free downloads, among those some about arts and crafts. Here is a short overview of my favourite finds.



The Ladies' Work-book
Patterns for knitting, crochet, point-lace, etc.

The Ladies' Work-book


Point collar in crochet:

The Ladies' Work-book: point collar in crochet


Crochet purse with beads:





The Lady’s Album of Fancy Work for 1850,
'consisting of novel, elegant, and useful designs in knitting, netting, crochet, braiding, and embroidery with clear and explicit directions for working the patterns.'

Knitting bags and fingerless gloves were already discovered:

The Lady’s Album of Fancy Work for 1850



The Art of Modern Lace-Making, 1891
History and techniques for making various types of lace, for example, a darned-net edging with overwrought stitch:

The Art of Modern Lace-Making 1891



Art in Needlework: A Book About Embroidery, 1900
Many illustrations and embroidery stitch examples.

Darning designed by William Morris:

Art in Needlework 1900: darning


Embroidered renaissance ornament:

Art in Needlework 1900: renaissance ornament



Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet, 1918
Knitting and crochet patterns for the entire family.

Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet, 1918


This pattern for ladies' gloves with fancy backs is certainly worth trying out someday:

Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet, 1918: ladies' knitted gloves with fancy backs



Friday 1 July 2011

Allegretto shawl pattern

This is a knitting pattern for a light and cheerful lace shawl with plenty of air and texture: long zigzag rows blending into a narrow trellis lace edging all around.
It is a relatively quick and easy lace knitting project, since the shawl is worked in one piece without any grafting, picking up stitches or difficult techniques.

Allegretto Shawl


The shawl requires one 100 g skein of lace weight yarn - approximately 800 m or 850 yds. Naturally, it can be worked in lighter and heavier yarn weights as well.

The pattern is available on Ravelry and YarnCanada shop.

Some help with lace cast-on and bind-off methods can be found in this post.

Allegretto Shawl

Allegretto Shawl

Allegretto Shawl


The sample shawl is knitted in Madelinetosh Tosh Lace hand-dyed yarn, shade Corsage:

Madelinetosh Tosh Lace Corsage

Thursday 30 June 2011

Summer verdure

Hot weather - short text post: had to try some popular style jewellery parts and so these three études in green were born:

Green lucite flower earrings


Green glass bead and antique bronze necklace


Green velvet ribbon choker necklace with fairy cameo



Thursday 16 June 2011

Needle patches

It is my strong belief, that workspace and all the tools must be something personalised and inspiring. After all, they will accompany you through all the good and bad working days and they will stay, even if the things you make are bound to go to new homes.
The one thing that I cannot live without, whether working with yarn, fabric or beads, is a pincushion. And it was time to try something new: a little bit of patchwork, more applique, a lot of stitching and a crochet flower... The fabulous fabrics are all vintage home textiles collected from second-hand shops.

Blue and white patchwork pincushion


All the needles and pins fit together in one place now and can be organised conveniently to different patches.



Wednesday 8 June 2011

Make a knitting chart marker

To make it easier to follow knitting charts or text lines in a pattern, you can make a simple marker out of cardboard. It is best to have the marker in a modest solid colour, but who says the other side cannot be as colourful as you like!

Knitting pattern chart marker


You will need:
  • piece of cardboard
  • decorative paper (optional)
  • pencil
  • eraser
  • ruler
  • craft knife or scissors
  • glue (optional)

Colourful papers


Cut out a piece of cardboard measuring approximately 6 x 21 cm. If you would like to style it up, cut a piece of decorative paper in the same size. Glue these together and leave to dry under weight (e.g. a pile of knitting magazines).

Chart marker layout


Mark a distance of 2 cm from one end of the cardboard piece. Then mark four horizontal lines at 2 cm and 2.5 cm from each long side. Cut along these four lines until the vertical end line and the ends of the narrow straps. Place some cardboard leftovers under the chart marker, if you are using a knife. Erase marked lines if necessary. And done!

This chart marker is about the width of a standard magazine.
Of course, you can make it any size that seems convenient to use.




Monday 23 May 2011

What women crafted 107 years ago

Came across an antique German craft magazin called Frauen-Fleiss (Women's Diligence) from 1904 and I just have to share some of those fabulous art nouveau style designs and patterns.
It appears to be a tabloid size magazine on four pages, published quarterly since 1893, possibly a supplement of some newspaper.

Frauen-Fleiss

Bin seit kurzem in den Besitz einer alten Handarbeitszeitung "Frauen-Fleiß" von 1904 bekommen und einfach muß einige von diesen wunderbaren Handarbeiten im Jugendstil vorstellen.
Diese Zeitung auf vier Seiten wurde offensichtlich seit 1893 von Verlag John Henry Schwerin veröffentlicht, möglicherweise als eine Beilage zu irgendeiner größeren Zeitung.

Die Zeitung hat insgesamt 53 Anleitungen, meistens für Stickereien, Näh- und Häkelarbeiten, aber ebenso für einen Behälter für Postkarten in "modernem Kerbschnitt" und für einen Palmenkübel als Tiefbrand-Modellierarbeit.
Es gab noch einen Extra-Bogen mit Musterzeichnungen für größeren Arbeiten, den mußte man von der Redaktion zusätzlich kaufen.



There are 53 instructions for sewing, embroidery, crochet and other needlework, but also for a wooden postcard storage box and a decorated flower pot to be made of clay.

Frauen-Fleiss

Frauen-Fleiss

Frauen-Fleiss

Frauen-Fleiss

Frauen-Fleiss

Frauen-Fleiss

This last crochet lace edging seemed the easiest piece in the collection and the pattern quite understandable to my surprise, so this is my small sample with one motif:

Häkelspitze im Jugendstil

Not sure, if everything turned out the way it was supposed to, but it looks art nouveau enough to me. The only thing missing now is a dress on where to sew it.



Friday 13 May 2011

No colours today

Sometimes eyes get tired of sunshine that lasts for weeks and a grey cloudy day feels very refreshing. In the same manner, all the colours around can seem too much to take every once in a while and it is time to look at things in black and white for a change.

Black and white beaded pincushion



Tuesday 10 May 2011

And the pincushion goes to...

Thank you all so much for taking part in the giveaway and leaving such complimenting comments! Besides blushing, I have a long list of blogs to visit and read now, this is so exciting.

The most popular post according to your votes was the Mystic Forest shawl pattern, followed by Wire Mailbox. Good to know! For example, the blocking frame post was not mentioned at all...
I knew it! The nails were not straight enough. Must remind myself to concentrate on softer materials.

But to the most important part: the drawing. Used the help of an impartial organisation and here are the results:



Congratulations! Comment no. 4 was written by Ashley, hope to get in touch with you soon.

For all who did not win today: thank you again and better luck next time! This will certainly not be the last giveaway on this blog, I really enjoyed the entire event.



Saturday 30 April 2011

First blog anniversary. With giveaway!

This blog has been in the web wide world for a year now and it has been an interesting journey to see it grow. But what would a celebration be without a cake. I made a very sweet and creamy one for the occasion, with white chocolate, marzipan and sugar decorations, still containing absolutely no calories:




For a chance to win this bead and sequin embellished pincushion, please leave a comment here with the title or date of the blog post you like most (excluding this one!). Feel free to share your blog address, I would like to come for a visit.
The winner will be drawn from all entries posted until midnight GMT (before) May 9th. Good luck!