Innocent Smoothie Hats - Knitting

Every year Innocent Smoothies support Help the Aged in their Big Knit campaign, where volunteers knit little hats to go on top of the smoothie bottles, send them to Innocent who send them to Sainsbury's supermarkets. The little hats go on the smoothie bottles and 35p is donated to Help the Aged for every hatted smoothie sold. 2009 is the first years I've knitted for the campaign, and I can't wait for next year's Big Knit!!! The projects are ridiculously portable, quick, easy, and satisfying :)

Tarot Bags - Knitting

I've made a variety of Tarot Bags for myself and as gifts for other people (some of which I haven't photographed). Here's what I've done to date:

Mini-Tarot Bag which fits the pocket edition of Rider-Waite-Smith deck, 50% Silk, 50% Linen (Mine)

Left: Acrylic for Tarot of Prague deck, Centre: Cotton for Pocket RWS (has been replaced with red silk bag), Right: Cotton for normal sized RWS (All mine)

Red 50% Silk bag for full-sized RWS (Gift for a friend)

Acrylic bag for Tarot of Prague deck (Mine)

Silk and Bamboo bag for Transparent Tarot deck, Sun card shown here (Mine)

Acrylic mixed blue with "evil eye" beads for Faeries Oracle deck (Mine)

Kilt Hose - Knitting WIP

When I was made redundant on 2nd January 2009 ("Happy" New Year!) from my job at Battersea Park Children's Zoo I tried to make the best of a bad situation. My then boyfriend had gone to study in Holland for three months, and I figured I'd finish those Kilt Hose I'd promised when I'd made the little anteater socks (see earlier post).

The yarn was pure wool, Dream in Colour, Night Watch, Double-Knit, absolutely gorgeous colours, came together beautifully and was soft and easy to work with, and smelled like sheep (not really)! Bought from Stash Yarns in Putney at a ridiculous price this was a work of art, a labour of love and would have been a gift to treasure forever. The pattern, John Anderson Kilt Hose, can be found here.

Problem is, he broke up with me about three inches away from having the second hose of the pair finished, and when I sobbed every time I tried to finish them my mother confiscated my knitting and so they are still not finished!!!

Jackie's Blanket - Crochet

This blanket is inspired by similar blankets and throws I've seen on TV usually in American programs thrown over the backs of sofas. It's made from individually crocheted Granny Squares (each one a unique combination of six differently coloured yarns) then crocheted together with black yarn and boardered.

My now ex-boyfriend's mum has been in and out of hospital having operations on her knee since I met her in 2007. Due to my obsessive creativity and being now physically unable to go anywhere without some knitting or crochet to do I'd always be making something when I went to visit, and she'd always comment how patient I must be to be able to do something to monotonous! Again, I'd gained another follower of my peculiar yarn addiction. So, as a Christmas present I made a lap blanket to keep her knee warm as she recovered after operations. Needless to say she was very happy to receive something so personal, and she still uses it (I always love to see something I make being put to use!)

Little Socks - Knitting

I had a quest: to make kilt hose for my (now ex-)boyfriend. I didn't have time to finish them for his birthday.
The pattern which he found required the hose to be made on circular needles, so I made a trip to Stash in Putney, a luxury yarn shop, for some wool and the necessary needles. This was where I was introduced to Ravelry!

I thought I ought to practice making socks on circular needles, and found a pattern at Mind's Eye Yarns . So that I wouldn't get too confused I made one sock at a time, and made little baby ones so that I wouldn't spend too much time on them. The pattern is easy to follow, and the socks simple to make and nice when finished. The two prototypes now form part of the birthday present, on a toy giant anteater.

I used some blue acrylic DK I had lying around for the prototypes, and they look quite nice now, what do you think?!

Banana Cosy - Knitting

A very silly project but also a lot of fun! When visiting Stash, a yarn shop in Putney, I picked up a postcard with a pattern for a banana cosy, from a pile of postcard on the desk. It was an advertisement for "The Rebel Knitter's Guide" to be published in The Guardian that Saturday, which I duly bought. The Monday after the guide was published I started and finished it!

It's simply stocking stitch to the length of a typical banana, with a bit of increasing at one end to get a tapered shape, and a few YOs at the other end to thread a ribbon (or, in my case, an icord) through. Check out the pattern on Ravelry!

I got a lot of funny looks from people watching me knit it in public, I think the shape of the item was suggestive! ;o) My cosy is constructed from yellow acrylic yarn, left over from Tom's Watford United scarf (see earlier posting). The guide I've kept, and the post card I've given to my grandmother, who is planning to make cosies to sell to raise money for a charity "Containers of Hope", who fill boxes with useful items to send to places of conflict/famine/natural disastors etc..

Watford United football scarf - Crochet

This was a birthday gift for my good friend Tom who supports Watford United Football club and had always wanted a supporters' scarf! It's crocheted in doubles, acrylic yarn (for easy washing, you know what boys are like!) in the club's colours. Making a crochet scarf like this is very easy, you just cast on (or whatever the equivalent is in crochet, I don't know) until you reach the width you want the scarf to be, and then crochet away! I've made several scarfs in this way, one in Gordon clan colours to match one of my friend's kilts (see below), one in "Magpie" colours for an ex who loved magpies, and one for myself to match my uniform where I used to work, to name a few!