Ratjetoe ....

Ratjetoe.

 

What?  I hear you say! 

Ratjetoe is Dutch for hodgepodge and is the name of the pattern for these armwarmers.

 

A fantastic pattern using up odds and ends that I found on Ravelry.

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ratjetoe

 

This is the pattern picture - can you see why I couldn't resist giving them a go?!

 

I have so many oddments of double knitting yarn - and me being me - I hate to throw anything away!  I love the idea of creating something beautiful and practical out of oddments.

 

I thought I'd use some blues, browns, creams and greys.

 

I took it all up in the car and knitted in the car on Saturday afternoon.  We went up to Windsor Racecourse for The War of the Worlds Fireworks!  It was fantastic and well worth the wait

- and even worth me having an extremely painful fibromyalgia day yesterday.

 

I am really lucky in that Jonathan doesn't mind doing the majority of the driving - in fact he did it all on Saturday - so it means I can knit whilst in the car. 

So last night I managed to finish the right arm, and will be going onto the left once I have finished a commission that needs to be finished by Thursday.

 

Then I have a quandary as on the pattern the right and left hands don't match.  Actually there is only the written pattern for one arm!  It then gives you the freedom to do what you like for the second arm.  Now do I go for different - or do I try and match?

 

Onto something entirely different ... a little Christmas stocking ...

Just a little reminder that it's not long now .....!

 

;-)

Mitten Knittin'

Baby, it's getting cold outside!

 

And so commences the knitting of many mittens and gloves ...

 

 

Right now I am loving the mittens that I've been knitting for little ones with the i-cord attaching them together.  This enables the mittens to be threaded through their coat and they won't lose them!

 

It also helps with time as I know how long it takes to hunt for gloves

 when you realise the weather is getting chilly!

 

This was the start of the pink girly ones I am currently making. 

 As you can see by the first photo I have one mitten finished and am on the i-cord. 

The second hand will be finished tonight.

 

I do find myself going for the blues and greens a lot of the time! 

They are my favourite colours so I guess it makes sense to knit in them!

However I know it also makes sense to knit in other colours to appeal to a wider audience

.... hence the pink ones!

 



 

 

Although on the topic of my favourite colours - I have knitted myself a pair of fingerless gloves.

In my favourite shades!  This yarn was in the Autumn box from Devon Sun Yarns. 

 

 https://www.facebook.com/DevonSunYarns/?fref=ts

 

http://www.devonsunyarns.co.uk/

 

There was a choice of colours - Autumnal etc, but I decided to go for MY shades

and then would be more likely to make myself something!

 

And so I have!

 

This pattern is from Tin Can Knits https://www.facebook.com/TinCanKnits/?fref=ts

 

And is a FREE pattern!  Find it on www.ravely.com here ....

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/maize-3

 

Isn't the yarn to die for?! 

 

It really is a gorgeous yarn to knit with!

 

 

And ... I had enough left to make the child's mitten version of the same pattern!

 

Here's my little Ninja modelling them for me! 

I added an i-cord to these mittens so that they wouldn't get lost either! 

I'm actually thinking it may be worth putting i-cords on the adult ones too

- I know I hate losing gloves - and just think how handy (ha ha!)

they would be if they stayed with your coat all the time!

 

 

What do you think?   Would that be a good idea?!

 

Now back to more creative adventures ....

 

 

~~~ *** OOO *** ~~~

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin heads

I thought I would embrace the Halloween season and knit with pumpkin coloured yarn!

Of course that also lends very nicely to pumpkin hats ...

 The one above is a crochet one that I made up myself as I went along.  I'd already made two knitted pumpkin hats (you can see one below) and I thought it must be fairly simple to crochet one too. 

It has come up quite small - baby size - and is dead cute!

This one above is made from Stylecraft yarn - I love the softness of this yarn!

 

 

|I decided to make some mittens to match!

 

Aren't they sweet?!!

 

I then thought I'd try an adult hat. 

I found a pattern which I thought looked quite pumpkin-like with the rib pattern going down regularly round the hat.  I was undecided whether to add green at the top for the leaves and stalk.  Eventually decided against it! 

 

 

Here is my trusty model!

 

It fits his head nicely but also is a good fit for my adult sized head too. 

 

 

 

It is nice and stretchy and slouchy too!

 

Doesn't he look cheeky?!

 

Finally decided to use the same yarn as the above hat (Rowan dk cotton)

to make some fingerless gloves.

 

 

This is such a pretty pattern.

 

It is from the book Simple Knitting by Ros Badger and they are called Fingerless Cotton Gloves (says what is does on the tin!)

 

 

I think they are rather pretty and Victorian looking.

 

So I have gone rather mad making lots of pumpkin coloured things and am now knitting myself a lovely pair of fingerless gloves in "my" shades - I'll show you soon! 

 

***** 0*0*0 *****

 

It fits him but also fits my head as it is lovely and stretch and slkslouchy.

Alas poor Yorrick

Oooo Hallowe'en is nearly here ....

 

and I have made a few bits to go into The Crafty Phoenix Lady unit at The Emporium   https://www.facebook.com/yeovilemporium?fref=ts

 

 

A little while ago I found a pin on that Bermuda Triangle place know as Pinterest.

 

It lead me to 2 Mile Creek Primitives at Etsy

 https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/2MileCreekPrimitives?ref=l2-shopheader-name

to the above pattern in two styles of skull.

 

There were many more great patterns that I may go back for at a later date.

 

Anyway ... I made 9 skulls ....

 

 

I had a ball making them.  It was so much fun making the fabric look old and worn; and then going made with the teeth, and choosing buttons for their eyes or should I say sockets?!!

 

What do you think?

~~~~~ oooOOOO OOOOooo ~~~~

 

 

comMISSION completed .... at last!

Do you remember the blue stars I was piecing together a little while ago? 

The two bags that I'd been commissioned to make.

Well I have .... at long last ... finished them! 

 

So many things have happened to delay these bags being finished.  Family stuff; broken sewing machine; illnesses; lost cutter .... you wouldn't believe it!

 

 

 

BUT finally they are both finished and have been given to Noah's Mummy,

ready for when he starts Nursery.

 

This is the PE style bag that have a drawstring top - ideal for PE kits; swimming gear; trainers ...

 

The bigger bag I wanted to make roomy enough to fit everything and the kitchen sink in. 

 I wanted to make pockets so items like wipes and bottles could be placed in separate pockets.

 

And I wanted to continue the bright stars theme into the pockets - so the grey pocket edges were bound with bright yellow fabric with equally bright coloured stars on. 

The lining of the bag was bright yellow!

 

I quilted the main bag as I wanted it to be sturdy yet soft.

So after appliqueing on Noah's name and rocket ships I quilted "in the ditch" of the squares.

 

The handles I made with one of the patchwork squares fabric with stars, moons and suns on. 

I brought the red from Noah's name into the stitching down the sides - and these too were padded to make them more comfortable.

I also made them long enough for Mummy to have over her shoulder or on the handles of the buggy.

 

The base had to be sturdy too - so that it would sit nicely if placed on the floor. 

It also meant it would be easier to pack and to find things.

 

The base was an elongated oval shape.

 

 

I wanted the bag to be rounded and not angular so making the ends slightly curved worked.

 

 

Lots of stitching to hold it in place!

 

 

See how many pockets it has!  And how bright!

 

Oh and a little bit of Homer in the photo too (above). 

He thought I'd gone out to play - not take photos!

 

 

I don't think Noah will have any problem finding his bag!  I also think with his name on these and on his bunting he's going to learn his name very quickly.

 

What made this commission even greater is that I finally got to meet Noah and his Mummy! 

 They came into The Emporium on Thursday morning and collected their bags.

 

It was so nice to be able to put a face to the name and to meet the absolutely gorgeous Noah

(he has the biggest brown eyes ever!)

 

AND they liked the bags!

 

Result!

 

~~~ *** ~~~