Lots of socks = a sockie, scappy blanket!

Hello!

I still can't quite believe I can actually knit socks!  My success is down to the excellent tutorial by my lovely friend, Christine, AKA Winwick Mum and her fabulous pattern, taught as an online sockalong.  Honestly, if you've never tried knitting socks and fancy having a go, I can highly recommend her books and detailed online tutorials.

Here's the latest pair I just finished for my husband.  This was a lovely yarn from the (I find!) unpronounceable Schachenmayr.  I love their yarns as they are smooth, soft and very hardwearing!

This must be pair number 14 that I've knitted and each pair has resulted in a small ball of yarn left over. I make the socks for DH and DD a bit longer than the pattern, so the leftovers are about 20g, or a little less.  

I try not to waste anything, be it food, fabric or yarns, so I had a think of what to make with the leftovers.  I also had some unappealing 4ply wool left over, in a dreary sludge colour.  One day at our Cooper's Creative group, Lucy Attic24 was making her solid granny square.  The little squares were so cute I thought, as I drove home that day, they would be just the thing!  

I'm using a 3mm hook and doing an extra round, to make them four rounds big. Each one uses approximately 3g of yarn and measures about 6.5cm.  As sock yarns look so random when made into squares, I am also combining teeny tiny scraps of toning yarns to make up squares.  See?  Nothing wasted!

I'm using Lucy's join as you go method and that means no heap of ends to sew in at the finish!  Better and better!

To get a good even spread of colours I am holding back some squares of each colour to use later in the blanket so the colours aren't bunched up in patches.

I originally intended this a cosy basket blanket for Daisy Dog, but I am liking it so much it will be a People Blanket and I will keep adding squares until I think it's the Right Size!

This is such an enjoyable project and I am really enjoying working the squares and joining them together.  The only downside is I am quickly getting through my leftovers, but some lovely friends have offered me their sockie scraps and I am sooooo excited to soon be adding more colours!  I love our creative community and have met some wonderful friends along the way, for companionship, crafty hours well spent, support and just the fantastic thing that is Friendship.  

Donna x 

A Pinafore Dress

Hello!

As regular readers will know by now, I sew a lot of clothes for my Darling Daughter.  She works long days in the financial sector in London and needs clothes that are smart but comfortable.  I recently made her five dresses from her favourite pattern here.

She wanted a pinafore dress for some variety, to wear over the shirts I make her.  We looked at patterns together the last time I visited and this is the one she liked.

As she's not here at home, I have to combine all her measurements and knowledge of her to alter a pattern at distance!  We then go for a 'first fit' in some less expensive fabric and make any more tweaks from there for next time.  The fabric I used for this first trial was a large remnant of black gabardine style fabric, with a black satin fabric for the lining.  I don't often sew black fabric and found it a bit hard going on my eyes, even with all available daylight bulbs switched on!

This pattern is really straightforward to make and there are a number of variations to make it either a pinafore dress or a dress in its own right.  

I finished it on Thursday and tried it on Valerie with one of my shirts underneath to get the idea.  

I'm pleased with the clean lines and neat shape. I hope she likes it!

Donna x