Matilda

I started this blog with the intention of showcasing my creations, but phew, I am so tired lately. I will use this post to show off a project I finished in November:



Project: Mosaic scarf
Pattern: Matilda by Silke Hupka
Made for: Jack
New skill: Double knit, slip stitch, working with two colours

This scarf is amazing, I am so happy with it! It was my first serious, wanna-make-it-perfect project. I made it as part of Jack's Christmas present and put a lot of time and effort into it. The doubleknit took exceedingly long (I worked on this DAILY for over a month) but makes it so cosy. I chose the brown-grey Kureyon because it looks great with a variety of his jackets.

Yarn: Noro Kureyon, 100% wool, colour 149 (2 skeins); Inca Gold Marra, 70% merino 30% baby alpaca, black (3 skeins). The Kureyon pissed me off, I probably won’t use it anymore: BOTH skeins had that issue where it wasn’t one consistent string of yarn but had been tied to another. This happened in TWO places in the second skein which was spun terribly uneven to the point of near-breakage! Bah. The other yarn was lovely though.

One of the first people to compliment Jack on the scarf were two old ladies who coludn't believe his girlfriend had knit it for him. They told him it was well done and a beautiful pattern -- I think it was good to hear that from someone other than me!

Hand-wash only.

Stitch markers

A couple of months ago, I was working on a project that required stitch markers. I was in a hurry so went and bought a pack from a chain store for a couple of dollars, but really didn't like them. They were big and clunky and made quite large holes where I used them in the piece. I can't post a picture as it is a Secret Project, so just trust me on it..

So, a few days ago I made my own stitch markers:

Materials:
17 ga wire
needle-nose pliers
wire cutter (sometimes on the pliers)
beads


You also need something to wrap the wire around to make a circle; this should be big enough in diameter that the stitch markers can be used on different sized needles. I used a whiteout pen and they are hanging from a 6mm needle in the picture. You can see that there is plenty of room for them to be slid onto larger needles, and because the wire is such a fine gauge you do not need to wore about noticeable holes in your work where the yarn was pulled over the markers.


1. Cut a piece of wire 3-4"
2. Wrap wire around the pen and twist together for about 0.5"
3. Add beads to one end of the wire
4. Fold the wire over the beads and wind it around the middle.
5. Trim excess wire, press in ends with pliers so it doesn't snag your yarn.

I used beads that I already had, so only had to spend a few dollars on the wire -- and I got tons. This is a quick and simple craft and I plan to make more!