Another Cushion

Another cushion, this time that blogland favourite, the round crocheted cushion. I expect you've seen plenty of these on your bloggy travels, and there are some lovely ones out there.

It's the second one of this type I've made, but this time I was able to find a proper round cushion pad to fill it.

It's just a standard flat circle in trebles (US dc) with regular increases on every round. The flowers are 2-layer ones, examples of which can be found in many good crochet books, or there are free ones to be found online. The pattern I used was from here (Ravelry link).

My flowers don't seem to look exactly like the pattern, but I liked this one because it has 5 petals.

I couldn't find a pattern for the small fat leaves I had in mind, but it was simple enough to improvise a very basic one.

Here's a tip if you want to make a circle with a smoother curved edge. You can get a rounder shape if you stagger the position of the increases on consecutive rows.

For example, if you move the point of each increase one or two stitches to the left on every round, and keep that consistent throughout, the pattern of increases will still be regular but will form a gentle spiral effect, and the edge will be more of a curve.

Other methods are just as good of course, it all depends on the effect you want.

Yarn info: The yarn is a a real mixture - aran for the cushion, dk for the border and 4 ply for the flowers. This was because apart from the pink, I wanted to use what I already had, and now it's done I like the contrast in scale between the different yarn weights.

♥ ♥ ♥

Outside, I've been doing some late cutting back and overdue weeding between the rainy days this week. There isn't much autumn colour in the garden yet, but the leaves are starting to turn now.

This hibiscus bush grows outside the dining room window. The leaves with the sun on them are such a pure yellow, the photo doesn't really do them justice.

Birthday Owl

In our family there are several birthdays close together at this time of year. This week it was daughter no.2's birthday - can you believe she is now 23. Not too old for a birthday tea made by her Mum though!

The birthday cake was a chocolate marble cake with white chocolate and cherries, with white chocolate buttercream icing.

She likes owls and had asked if I would make her an owl cushion. This is my homemade version of one she saw in a shop.

Firmly stuffed or what? A huge amount of stuffing has somehow disappeared into it.

Some respite from the stifling heat today. Thank goodness cooler temperatures are being forecast for next week. I might even get some gardening done.

This year I grew some marigolds and this is the first one to come out.

Enjoy your week whatever you're doing.

ETA: There is no pattern for the owl, it was based on a similar ready-made one and I just winged it (no pun intended)

Birthday Quilt

I've spent the past few weeks working on this quilt, which was a requested birthday present for someone. It's been given away now, but I remembered to take some photos and now I can show you it, finished, quilted and washed.

The spec was for a multicoloured quilt with red and blue predominating, with the fabric choices left to me.

I think it must be at least a couple of years since I made a quilt, so I thought my quilting wheels would be rusty, but amazingly, like riding a bike, it all came straight back.

The idea was that it would be used for the seat area of a sofa. Fine, I don't mind if they sit on it. Also, part of the requirements was that it be twice the size actually needed, so it could be used folded. Hmm!

I stuck to the instructions though, and generally I'm pleased with how it turned out. I think the red border does a lot for it.

The best thing was, I was able to make the whole thing entirely from stash. The biggest thing was the backing, which I made by joining 3 shorter lengths. I already had the wadding, so the only thing I had to buy was thread.

Some pattern info: The quilt is based on Amy's Four Patch, a 2003 pattern by Jo Morton, but I added an extra row of blocks to change the proportions. I also did the outer border pieced instead of all one fabric, and made the border wider.

The circular motif I used for quilting the blue blocks is from 60 Machine Quilting Designs by Pat Holly and Sue Nickels, published in 1994 but still available. I've used this book many times. I reduced the size of the pattern to fit the block, and made templates to transfer the design.

It's been too hot this week to do any work in the garden, so I've just been keeping the plants watered that need it, and making sure the bird bath's full.

I'm not keen on the heat, but it's nice to see the garden full of flowers again after a long cold winter.

More flower pics another day.

Spring

When I was little I used to love tiny things. I still find there's something particularly appealing about something nice that's very small.
The nest is 2" across and is just one of the many details in Alan Dart's Easter Parade pattern for ducklings in the April issue of UK magazine Simply Knitting.
It's knitted flat and seamed, and the eggs are very fiddly, but are sewn in with the seams underneath, which hides a multitude of sins!

I made the nest as per the pattern, and was going to leave it at that, but then I thought some embellishment wouldn't come amiss, so added the flowers, and I love the effect.

Spring is arriving late in the garden this year, but at last we have snowdrops in flower.

I tried to do some gardening yesterday but it was too muddy, and parts of the ground were frozen. I made a start though and I'm looking forward to sowing the seeds for this year's flowers for cutting.

Keeping Warm

We've got several inches of snow today and it's still falling. I took some pictures of the garden from the window this morning. We haven't had snow like this for years.

It looks pretty but only if you don't have to travel in it!

The road outside is unusually quiet, what traffic there is is crawling along, and many of the local schools are closed. It's the right weather for staying inside with a hot drink and getting on with some knitting.

It's many years since I attempted Fair Isle, so I chose a small project to brush up on it with. It's actually very absorbing to do, as you are constantly counting the stitches for each colour, and you see the pattern grow before your eyes. You wouldn't think so at first glance, but there are only ever 2 colours in each row. It should look smoother when it's blocked and pressed. For now I'm trying not to think about darning in all those ends!

Almost forgot to tell you what the pattern is - It's a hot water bottle cover from the most recent Debbie Bliss magazine, Fall/Winter 2009, and the wool is DB Baby Cashmerino which I love. It comes in a fantastic colour range. It can be bit "splitty", but I can put up with that for the softness and the colours.

Hope you're keeping warm!

I've Seen the Future and It's Knitted

Well, back after a summer of not much blogging, but quite a lot of knitting. Have I any readers left?

I think I've mentioned before that I used to be a keen knitter when I was younger. At that time though, I knitted purely to obtain the finished garment. I would sit and knit all evening after work just to achieve the finished item so I could wear it. (Should have got out more!)

But all that has completely changed with this second wave of knitting. Now, the reward is all in the process. It's so pleasant to sit in a tranquil state accompanied by the gentle rhythm of needles and yarn, or "wool" as it's still generally called in the UK, regardless of the fibre content!

I've even made a couple of cardigans - once I had come to terms with the fact that I can't now knit the same size I knitted 25 years ago!

Do you think I'll have enough scarves this winter?

The grey scarf pattern was from a recent issue of Yarn Forward magazine and is by the exceptionally talented Ysolda Teague. The other two patterns I found through Ravelry.

If you want to find them in Ravelry, the green triangular one is called Aestlight and the purple ruffled one is Cinnamon Grace.

All these scarves were quick, interesting and fun to knit, and I learned a lot from the very clever techniques used in all of them.
If only it would get cold enough to wear a scarf.

The hedgehog pattern is by Little Cotton Rabbits. Such fun to knit and so sweet. I love the small scale and his tiny feet.

It's been quite a busy summer, with our younger daughter's graduation and of course lots of garden work. If we ever move I don't think I want quite such a high maintenance garden next time.

Some late summer colour from the garden. The sunflowers are a small variety called Valentine, which are long lasting and perfect for cutting.

I'll try not to leave it two months before I post again!

May Flowers: Sunday

May Flowers: Saturday

May Flowers: Friday

May Flowers: Thursday

May Flowers: Wednesday

May Flowers: Tuesday

A Week of May Flowers: Monday

I always think it's amazing how the garden leaps into life in spring, especially in May.