Work in Progress - The Blanket of Doom #2

So August has been and gone, and as predicted in a previous blog post, Joe and Laura's blanket is not yet done. But it is coming along...

It's just taking me a loooong time. I am even starting to get a bit worried about getting it done in time for Christmas! Especially as I am also trying to make as many Christmas presents as possible this year.

This is a detail of the pattern - I am really pleased with the way it is turning out, even if it is taking me forever!

Flower Brooches Galore!

I was trying to work out what to do with what I thought was the teeny final bit of my lovely SkeinQueen yarn. So I found a little flower pattern and thought I would make a couple of those and make them into brooches. This is what happened next -

I wasn't expecting to get quite that many of them! Undeterred, I rifled through my sewing box, and found some pretty buttons I bought a couple of years ago from creamrose on etsy (who doesn't seem to trade on there anymore, or else I'd give you the link), some brooch backs, and some felt.

Two episodes of Cold Case and one episode of GhostWhisper later (OH helpfully being out at cricket for a long time yesterday), and I was done! Flower brooches all over the place. One is already winging its way to a friend of mine, leaving 7 to find new homes somewhere else.

This post is part of the I Made It Blog Party at Everything Etsy - go check out lots of other lovely things people have made this week!

Work in Progress - Alice's Silver Box

Work continues on Alice's silver box - all the soldering is done, and now I just need to 'finish it off' - on a project like this, that is at least half the work! There is filing and sanding and polishing, and maybe a bit of hammering to try and harden the gold wire that forms the branch and the spiral (in the photo below) that stops the lid from spinning round and round. And then there is some platinol to paint on and polish off. I've got three and a half weeks to get it finished!

Work in Progress - The Blanket of Doom #1

My brother and his girlfriend are moving to Cornwall in August. I found this pattern for a blanket in a Debbie Bliss magazine - her Nautical Throw. It looks lovely, and also a bit like a cricket jumper (with the cable pattern and the stripes) so I thought it would be a perfect housewarming present for them. There is a bit more information about it on ravelry www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nautical-throw

This is it as I was casting on at the beginning of May (it's a lot of yarn, I know) -


This is it, about 6 weeks later.... I don't think it's going to be ready for August.

It turns out I am not very fast at knitting. I can only do about 3 or 4 rows a night before my hands start to seize up - but it is already looking like it will be lovely and cosy when it's done. Maybe I should aim for a Christmas present, instead!

Work in Progress - Alice's Silver Box

So, I am trying to make my first silver box at the moment. It's quite a big project (by which I mean, it uses quite a lot of silver - the box itself is titchy), so I thought I would aim to have it done by Alice's first birthday. August is, however, approaching faster than I thought!

This is a picture of the lid, so far. I roll pressed a curve into the lid for a branch, and tried to fill the indentation with gold solder but once it was done, and filed and sanded down, you really couldn't see the curve. I could have kept going, I suppose, but I have instead decided to use gold wire. It isn't a solution that fills me with joy - I really wanted the branch to be flush with the main lid, and just the leaves to be soldered on top. But it will still look ok, I hope.

Last night I finished filing the leaves, and soldered them onto the lid. These I have roll pressed a design into, and hope to bring the pattern out with platinol once it is done. Soldering them on has also sent the gold solder a bit haywire, so much sanding needs to be done. I am waiting for my gold wire to be delivered, and then we will see. I am pleased with the leaves, and the overall design. It's just my first foray into using gold that hasn't gone so well!

This is the main body of the box, with Alice's name stamped on the inside. It is going to hinge with a pin, so the lid will slide round and not lift off. I need to try and think of a way to stop it going round and round and round the whole way, or undoubtedly someone will try and do that and the lid will fly off and damage something, or someone. I hadn't thought of that possibility when I started making it!