Knitted hot water bottle cover

This is the second hot water bottle cover I knitted this Christmas - I didn't include it in my previous post as it was a present for my Grandma who I was seeing after Christmas day.

 
Both my grandparents liked their present, and it gave me a lot of pleasure to be able to make something for them.

Christmas makes

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I can assure you it's not because I've been idle!  I've been working my socks off this past month to try and get everything made in time.  Unfortunately, I was a bit over-ambitious about what I could achieve in the time available, so some makes are going to have to be presents for next year!  But now it's Christmas Eve, so I thought I would reflect on what has gone well.

I'm really pleased that I managed to make reindeer decorations for just about everyone I had been planning on giving one to.  Everyone who has had one seems to like them, so I'm happy.

I'm rather proud of this hot water bottle cover that I have knitted for my Nana.  This was my first real attempt at a cabling project, and the final result is better than I had hoped.  I know she is going to love it, and as a granddaughter I get great pleasure from being able to give homemade gifts to grandparents.  I only have two grandparents left, and they are incredibly important to me so I like to be able to make a fuss of them.

I actually found the pattern for this project in a knitting magazine I bought in a charity shop for 50p - another small victory for charity shop browsing!


I have previously posted about the Christmas fabric that M gave me.  I used this, along with unbleached calico, to make Christmas bunting.  I have to admit that I am really quite proud of the result.  I hope to make more for next year.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

Creating a better mood

Lemon drizzle loaf cake: easy to make, and the combination of lemon zest, juice and sugar provides a sweet, zingy lift to any day; it's a joy to prepare as well as to eat.

"They say baking soothes the soul" 

Interesting article in the Guardian last week about whether baking can improve mental health.  Journalistic hyperbole?  Quite probably.  However, the benefits of creative activity helping your mood is not new. Alys Fowler has written recently about how gardening can have a positive effect on mood.  Monty Don is another gardener who talks about the pleasure of gardening, and has written that "Gardening should, first and foremost, be a pleasure.  If you are not enjoying it then you can be pretty sure that you are doing something wrong".

I try to take the same attitude to the things I do; that when sewing, baking or whatever activity it may be, I am doing it for my own enjoyment.  Once it stops being something that I take pleasure from and instead becomes a source of frustration and failure, it is time to take a break.

Maybe the benefit comes from focusing the mind (similar to the technique of mindfulness).  There is also a meditative quality that comes from the repetitive action of sewing or stirring ingredients together.  It is an opportunity to slow down and focus on what you are doing in that particular moment.

Knitting can be a way to find calm after a busy day - counting stitches instead of sheep!

The words "slow down" are important.  I enjoy baking when I can do it at my own speed, pottering about the kitchen with the radio on in the background.  I think this is why I like baking but find cooking horribly stressful - a meal has to be ready at a particular time, and all the elements have to be ready.  You can take as long as you want to make a cake, it's not going to spoil, and is not normally being done to a particular deadline (I make most of my cakes the night before they are going to be eaten).

And let's face it, creative activity can also be about positive reinforcement, an opportunity to think "wow, look what I can do".  I'll be the first to admit I haven't always been good at recognising my own achievements, but I am trying to get better at this.

There is one big proviso though - it doesn't matter if what you try doesn't work. Baking, sewing or any other activity will never be an aid to improving your mood if you start your task expecting perfection. But pausing to enjoy the process can be its own reward, regardless of the results.  The best thing we can create is a calm mind and a sense of contentment.

Ok, so this is a little bit decadent, but sometimes its nice to spoil yourself - chocolate cupcakes topped with my favourite chocolate?  Oh go on then...

Knit one, purr one

Oh dear, more than a week on since my last post and still no new finished project to bring you I'm afraid.  Not that I haven't been busy; here's a sneak peak of a tablecloth I'm working on...

My most exciting news from the past week is that I have a new house-mate - a black cat called Leonard.  He was abandoned by his owners and lived as a stray for a while before ending up at Battersea Cat Rescue, which is where I met him.  He's a really soppy boy, who loves his food and being fussed.  Having him in the house really makes it feel like a home.

He's getting quite comfortable, and loves sitting next to me on the sofa, curling up on a dining chair next to me as I work, or getting comfy on the armchair.  I don't have the heart to discourage him, but of course the downside is the hair he leaves behind!  So I'm covering everything in old towels and blankets.  Which reminded me...


At the end of last year I started knitting small squares to practice different knitting patterns.  The arrival of Leonard has prompted me to get out my knitting needles again - my plan is to make lots of patterned squares which I can then join together to make a blanket for Leonard to curl up on and which will hopefully protect my furniture!  However, there is a flaw in my plan - well, have you ever tried knitting with an inquisitive cat nearby?

I'll keep you updated on progress...

The never-ending scarf

I realise I have been rather remiss of late when it comes to adding new posts.  My excuse is that I have moved house.  Lots of potential for future projects, but with all that moving entails it doesn't leave much time to indulge in the craftier pleasures of life.

On cold wintry nights I tend to find myself falling in love again with knitting.  Or perhaps I should say the idea of knitting.  I have idyllic images of being curled up in a warm house with the curtains drawn, a big mug of tea and some cake, and an ever-growing knitted creation spread out over my legs to keep me warm.

The truth is much as I love the idea of knitting, in practice it is not something I have had much success with, mainly because I find I lose patience.  In hindsight, this is probably because I have been overambitious with the projects I choose.  The prime example being my first knitting project: a scarf which took me about a year to complete.

Having not knitted since being a Brownie, a few years ago I was inspired by a friend to try my hand at it again.  My friend Maud had started making a scarf and I was so impressed by this that she kindly (and with much patience) taught me the basics of ribbing and how to knit with more than one colour.

Having started, I found it difficult to finish.  The technique is easy enough once you get the hang of it (and remember to count - there are a couple of stitches towards one end which are purled when they should be knitted!).  But I have to admit that the slow rate of growth (a few rows a night) meant I became disappointed with the progress I was making and that in turn meant that this became an increasingly neglected project.

Having left this scarf languishing unfinished for a couple of months, I came back to it and picked up the knitting needles with renewed determination.  Once I had managed to repeat the pattern a couple of times, and the scarf was just long enough to wrap around my neck, I found that progress seemed to be quicker - it suddenly felt more realistic that I could in fact have a decent scarf at the end of my efforts. 

I love my scarf, and the joy of wearing it more than makes up for the time it took to make; if anything, I get more enjoyment from it because of the time I spent on it.

There are lots of free resources on the internet giving basic instructions on how to learn to knit. learn2knit covers all the basics you'll need to know, including how to hold the needles, picking up dropped stitches and casting off. Fig 42 in the instructions on basic stitches shows the 2x2 ribbing technique, which was the basis of my scarf.

The about.com website also has some good instructions to help you start knitting, including instructions on knitting stripes.  I made my scarf using the weaving technique; rather than cutting the wool at the end of each stripe, the strand in the colour you are not using is carried along the edge of the scarf until you next want to start knitting in that colour.  Twist the two strands of wool (the colour you are knitting in and the colour you are not knitting in) at the end of the row (this will be at the end of every second row as the wool will be carried up one side) to secure the colour you are not using.