Friday Night Sew-In: Saturday Morning Report, November 2011

I did something a little different last night, knitting instead of sewing.  I've been working on these little slippers for a week or so.  I had to unpick the first one and then sort the pattern out which I wasn't too happy about.  I suppose I should have realised sooner that there was a problem but I've never knitted slippers before so I wasn't sure how it was all going to work - answer, it wasn't!!

The pattern was originally for using Bernat Sox wool and you can see it here:  http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=3815&cps=21191

Two things.  Firstly, it's not a UK pattern and so the shoe sizes are different.  I wear a size 5 and knitted a 7/8 which fits well and a 2.5mm needle is a size 12 in old money!  Secondly, the pattern should read:

Cast on 5 sts.
Beg at heel, work in garter st (knit every row), inc 1 st each end of needle on 4th and every following 6th row 3 times. 13 sts. 

Cast on 17 sts beg next 2 rows. 47 sts.

Cont even for 2 ins [5 cm] in total, ending with a WS row.

Anyway, I'm pleased with my little slippers now and will be knitting a few more pairs soon.  

I then decided to get on with some Christmas projects 

but was soon distracted by Children in Need on television, absolutely amazing generosity from the public in these horrid economic times and amazing stories of children and the people who help them.
Thanks to Heidi and Bobbi as ever, I hope you all had a great FNSI, today I am baking my Christmas cake (more about that tomorrow) and working on the Advent calendar shown above, have a good weekend whatever you're doing.

My 500th Post, Giveaway Winners and a Knitting Bee

This is it, my 500th post and here are the winners of my celebratory giveaway, thank you to everyone who entered and for all your lovely comments.

The random number generator did it's thing and the winner of Keira's generous prize isBenta, who said
Hi, wow 500 posts, congrats! I love your first quilt, you are justified in bing proud of it, it's great! Fab colours! I was sent a quilt when Lusa was born 20 years ago, and thought I can do that, then proved I couldn't! 8" (ish) squares (ish) in random cotton and poly cotton and goodness knows what else, all cut by hand. The points are all over the place! I didn't add wadding but backed it first with an old brushed cotton sheet. Years later I added fleece and it became my camp blanket when the girls were brownies and guides (I cut a slit in the middle so I could wear it like a poncho!) I do love it! Thanks for the blast from the past! If I win kind Kiki's contribution, I'd love a charm pack as I've never used one, but hopefully you or Kiki would chose me one! 
I'll leave the choice of Charm Pack to Keira if that's okay Benta, congratulations.

The winner of the Inspirational Strippy Quilts magazine from Traplet is
Jenny on the other side of the world in gorgeous New Zealand who said,
Hi again Lis. Your first ever quilt looks pretty good to me, and is just so suitable to be hanging up in your bach with those lovely colours. My first quilt was one I made for the bed in our first caravan. Made in brown, cream and green with the fabrics ever so carefully co-ordinated, it served us well. I went to my first ever class and learned about rotary cutters, mats and rulers but did wonder why the teacher went on and on about the quarter inch seam! It is now retired and does duty in the car. Congratulations again on your 500 milestone.
I hope you'll enjoy reading a UK quilting magazine Jenny.
And finally, the winner of my sashiko tea mat, one of my lovely followers, is Sue who said
Great giveaway, I've updated my blog with the alert and you'll know that I'm a follower too! If I was to win the fabric I would like a blue FQ collection - I seem to be going for blues and reds at the moment.
My first quilt was a sashiko cushion cover, which I still have but it is in store as it is the worse for wear. I made it about 17 years ago when I first went to Bourne Quilters in Poole. I'd never heard of sashiko before then.
Well done Sue, I hope you like my little bit if sashiko.

I'll be emailing you for your snail mail addresses (but if you see this post before that please send me the details in an email) and getting your goodies on their way to you.  Thank you again to everyone who entered, I wish you could all be winners.

I had a lovely few days away with my parents, lots of lovely meals, catching up with family and the visit culminated in a knitting bee with Mummy which was great fun.  We'd been to John Lewis and she'd seen some wool she liked the look of (Riva by Debbie Bliss, who wouldn't?).  She hasn't done any knitting for a while but it's winter, an ideal time and so I was able to persuade her to buy some wool.  We sat down on Saturday while the menfolk were otherwise amused with manly stuff and knitted the afternoon away, chatting all the while.  I finished one of the mulberry-coloured items I am working on (to be revealed when I have a pair!) and Mummy got a long way up the back of the jacket she decided upon, a good afternoon's work.
Now I'm home again I have a lot of quilting to get on with but I must also do some tidying up in the garden as this Friday's green bin collection is the last one until next Spring!

Stitching and Knitting Weekend

Another weekend has passed and here's what I achieved.  Firstly I have really enjoyed doing the sashiko stitching on the quilt I made with Susan Briscoe a couple of weeks ago.  I had thought I might be able to use the sashiko as the quilting stitch but when I made the little mug rug (see the tutorial here) I tried stitching sashiko through two layers of fabric and the wadding and wasn't overly happy with the results, plus it was hard work.  I decided to use the sashiko as an embroidery embellishment to the quilt which I will then quilt, probably in the ditch, when it's all done and layered.
I've also had a little deviation from quilting and have got my knitting needles out.  The needles I have used to belong to my grandmother and I love knitting with them.  This is what I've done so far, too little for you to imagine what it might be!  It wasn't the colour I intended to choose but I think I was subconsciously influenced by Nat's post on dyeing with mulberries!