What's in a name?

We were talking about names today... it seems that everyone in my office is called Linda... different ages, so no rhyme or reason... although at school we had four Susans, how Bunty like is that?

My sister was born on Easter Sunday and my mother managed to fight off the suggestions of Esther and Joy, still it could have been worse but fortunately Bunny did not feature

My father, who would not go to the phone box to ring the hospital when I was born wanted to call me Molly!  Still I have my brother to thank for revenge by proxy, he was sent on the phone box mission and returned to the house looking very perturbed, he broke it to my father that it was twins... he kept it up for half an hour before admitting that it was quality and not quantity!

Even my brother has a name tale... my mother was under Eamonn De Valera's son who was a gynaecologist in Dublin and like his father quite a Catholic.  He asked my mother if she would call her first born after the Virgin Mary... she said she would consider it, if it was a girl but frankly not one for a boy... however, my mother was so acquiescent which is why my big brother is called... oh it's bad but not quite that bad,  Michael James Mary... I kid you not!

And really there is only one song to listen to...

Tales of Woe with Happy endings - Afghan Begins

The quilt has to be delayed as my special wadding has been delivered to the wrong place *stares hard at suspects near Barlow and Fields*  I had arranged for it to be delivered to my local coffee shop and it has not arrived although it has been despatched.  After a quick call to The Cotton Patch and talking to the lovely Jeff, a new bundle is now on its way to a very clearly written address!

So I thought that rather than waiting we will start the Afghan... and as I cannot sew, I thought I would make a quilting inspired reversible square of flying geese and another of reversible diamonds.

All squares should measure 12 x 12" and I am using Jarol Sweet Briar Chunky and 6mm needles. Now to do these square, all you need to do is knit and purl, and count... so yes, you can do this.

Abbreviations

K - Knit
P - Purl
St - Stitches
rep - repeat

Reversible Diamonds with Double Moss / Seed stitch

Cast on 42 stitches

Row 1 - K6, P6, K6, P6, K6, P6, K6, 
Row 2 - P6, K6, P6, K6, P6,K6, P6,

Row 3 - P1, K5, P5, K1 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, P1, K5
Row 4 - P5, K1, P1, K5 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, P5, K1

Row 5 - K1, P1, K4, P4, K1, P1 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, K1, P1, K4
Row 6 - P4, K1, P1, K1, P1, K4 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, P4, K1, P1

Row 7 - P1, K1, P1, K3, P3, K1, P1, K1 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, P1, K1, P1, K3
Row 8 - P3, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K3 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, P3, K1, P1, K1

Row 9 - K1, P1, K1, P1, K2, P2, K1, P1, K1, P1 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, K1, P1, K1, P1, K2
Row 10 - P2, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1K2 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, P2, K1, P1, K1, P1

Row 11/ 12 - P1, K1- rep to the end

Row 13 / 14 - K1, P1 - rep to the end

Row 15 - P1, K1, P1, K1, P2, K2, P1, K1, P1, K1 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, P1, K1, P1, K1, P2
Row 16 - K2, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P2 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, K2, P1, K1, P1, K1

Row 17 - K1, P1, K1, P3, K3, P1, K1, P1 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  K1, P1, K1, P3

Row 18 - K3, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P3 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, K3, P1, K1, P1


Row 19 - P1, K1, P4, K4, P1, K1,  - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  P1, K1, P4

Row 20 - K4, P1, K1, P1, K1, P4 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, K4, P1, K1


Row 21 - K1, P5, K5, P1  - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  K1, P5

Row 22 - K5, P1, K1, P5 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, K5, P1, 


Row 23 - P6, K6, P6, K6, P6, K6, P6
Row 24 - K6, P6, K6, P6,K6, P6, K6

Row 25 - P5, K1, P1 K5 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  P5, K1 
Row 26 - P1, K5, P5, P1 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  P1, K5

Row 27 - P4, K1, P1, K1, P1, K4 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  P4, K1, P1


Row 26 - K1, P1, K4, P4,  K1, P1 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  K1, P1, K4

Row 29 - P3, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K3 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  P3, K1, P1, K1


Row 30 - P1, K1, P1, K3, P3,  K1, P1, K1 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  P1K1, P1, K3


Row 31 - P2, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K2 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  P2, K1, P1, K1, P1


Row 32 - K1, P1, K1, P1, K2, P2,  K1, P1, K1, P1 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  K1, P1, K1, P1, K2

Row 33 / 34 - P1, K1- rep to the end

Row 35 /36 - K1, P1 - rep to the end

Row 37 - K2, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P2 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, K2, P1, K1, P1, K1

Row 38 - P1, K1, P1, K1, P2, K2, P1, K1, P1, K1 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, P1, K1, P1, K1, P2

Row 39 - K3, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P3 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, K3, P1, K1, P1

Row 40 - K1, P1, K1, P3, K3, P1, K1, P1 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  K1, P1, K1, P3

Row 41 - K4, P1, K1, P1, K1, P4 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, K4, P1, K1

Row 42 - P1, K1, P4, K4, P1, K1,  - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  P1, K1, P4

Row 43 - K5, P1, K1, P5 - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches, K5, P1

Row 44 - K1, P5, K5, P1  - repeat twice more and for last 6 stitches,  K1, P5

Row 45 - K6, P6, K6, P6, K6, P6, K6
Row 46 - P6, K6, P6,K6, P6, K6, P6

Cast off.  Sew the ends in now... you will just not want to spend an evening doing this when we come to put the blanket together.

Flying Geese Square

Cast on 41 stitches

Row 1 - P1, K9, repeat to the end of the row, P1
Row 2 - K1, P9, repeat to the end of the row, K1

Row 3 - P2, K7, P3, K7, P3, K7, P3, K7, P2
Row 4 - K2 P7, K3, P7, K3, P7, K3, P7, K2

Row 5 - P3, K5, P5, K5, P5, K5, P5, K5, P3
Row 6 - K3 P5, K5, P5, K5, P5, K5, P5, K3

Row 7 - P4, K3, P7, K3, P7, K3, P7, K3, P4
Row 8 - K4, P3, K7, P3, K7, P3, K7, P3, K4

Row 9 - P5, K1, P9, K1, P9,K1, P9, K1, P5
Row 10 - P5, K9, P1, K9, P1, K9, P1, K9, P5

Repeat these 10 rows three times more and cast off.

So there you have it, we have started our Afghan, next Winter we will be snuggling under it after a day out sledging in the snow...

Now let's pop over to Handmade Monday and see what has been happening there... and who knows by this time, next week I might have got my wadding and be ready to start :)

... And can you smell that from my kitchen, my slow cooker is on a roll with a beefsteak and kidney casserole just the thing for a snowy evening, yummy!

The Big Projects for 2013 - You can do it!

Happy New Year everybody and welcome back!

This year I am challenging you and me for that matter to make something a little bit bigger than our usual Sunday project, we are going to make two items... well pretty big items, we are going to make (drum roll) a fabric quilt or a knitted Afghan over the year.  I have every faith in you and your skills, so this post is all about prep.

Now I know what you are thinking... Ros this is going to sooo expensive, don't you know about the recession?  Well tell me about it people, this is why the quilt is going to be quilt as you go, as well as being a scrap sampler quilt, which means we will do two blocks a month, a plain block and a patterned block and we will quilt them as we go along, so there will be no big backing to do.  And did I mention, you will learn a new and mysterious language?

The Afghan will be a little bit different too, it will be reversible... yep, that is right, which ever way you look at it, it will look the same.  It will be knitted on big needles, so it will not so much grow as race off your needles... I promise and remember I had my Firefighters and Braille badge when I was in the Girl Guides, so you can trust me!

What will I need to have and be able to do to make the quilt?

Right let's talk about the skillset... can you do Maths?  Scared, OK, can you do sums and read a clock, yes?  Well, then you can do this, it will be a cinch!  Can you sew straight?  Can you use an iron?  Did you answer yes, then how come your house is not covered in quilts? You can definitely do this.

This is just a selection of my fat quarter... and one of the odds and ends bags...

Next, do you have a bag(s) of scraps that are too small to be a fat quarters (Ros, you are using language, what is a fat quarter?  It is a piece of fabric 22"wide by 18" long, ie, a quarter of a yard) but just too big to throw away?  Or do you have a stash of fat quarters (a stash is a hoard by any other name, it's what you have to have to make your life complete) that are just begging to be released.
Now, you have to make a choice about backing, is it going to be the same colour for each block (the square or section) but remember you will only be doing two squares a month, so you really only need to buy a metre of backing and front every couple of months.

So you will need cotton fabric, batting / wadding, rotary cutter, quilting ruler, cutting mat, thread, a water soluble pen or pencil, fish knife, washi tape, sewing machine and then you will be ready to make a start.

This was my very first quilt - a hand sewn Amish quilt

I am going to use black as my main fabric (yep, I know I swore I would never work with the dark side of the palette again) as it will make any fabric that I use sing and pop out.  However, if you want to do this make sure that your wadding / batting is black.  Why? Because if you use white wadding it will beard (great term) which means that little white flecks will spread through your cotton just like an old man's beard not a pretty look!

But don't worry, I know that not everyone will want to make a quilt but you can try out any of the techniques to make smaller projects like cushions / pillows, tote bags, place mats.

Hang on a minute, what will it look like, well do you know something, I just don't know, here is my work book, I can see it in my mind's eye and I will be making it alongside you... so don't just read this jump on it for the ride!

And this Afghan, what do I need for that?

Can you knit and purl? Can you count?  Then you can definitely make an Afghan and this one is going to be special as it will look the same both ways.

I am making mine in three colours, grey, cream and red and we will be knitting up 12" x 12" squares... they will knit up really quickly and I aim to have squares that will knit up in an evening.

We will join them together with a crochet stitch and it will look fabulous, as well as being snuggly.

I am going to be working with 5 balls in each colour of Jarol's Sweet Briar Chunky, a pair of 6mm needles... and a cable needle, cos we know how to do reversible cables already, don't we team?

Just remember all we are doing is making a mess of knots with sticks and string... and even children, cats and kittens can do that!

Anyway this is how it will roll, the first Sunday of the month, will be our quilting date and two weeks later is our knitting date... except this month, cos we quilt next Sunday.

In case you are worried, we will still be doing other fun crafty projects on the other Sundays... I still owe you a tutorial for an Etui box, don't I?

Just a little plea before we finish, I know that many of you will immediately start looking on the internet but if you can, please remember that your local yarn and fabric shop need your support too, these are tough times people and we all need to support our local shops.

And the good news now, is that Handmade Monday has returned from its Christmas hols... and you just know that the team on there will have done something amazing in the break!