{26 Things I Made}: 14 + 15/26

I am well behind on this project, but I am still hopeful of finishing 26 things by the end of the year.  Term 4 is proving to be quite busy, with end-of-year reports and a junior end-of-year show item to teach to my class, plus sewing the 21 turtle costumes for the children to wear!  I am about to make my prototype turtle costume, so I will be back to share that hopefully next weekend.  In the meantime, here are a couple of baby cardigans for the gift drawer that I knitted in the last school holidays.

14/26: Grey Leaves Cardigan 
Ravelry details here
I am really pleased with how this turned out.  I significantly changed the original pattern to make the lace leaves shorter and make the body less flared.  I used self-cover buttons and I love the pop of colour that the pink polka dots give the grey.




15/26: Raspberry In Threes Cardigan 
Ravelry details here
Another In Threes cardigan.  I do love how easy this pattern is - knitted in one piece from the top down, with no seaming and minimal ends to sew in.  The buttons are also self-cover ones, using a scrap of cute cherry fabric.

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{26 Things I Made}: 12 + 13/26

I am way behind on my {26 Things I Made}, but am hoping to catch up a bit in the upcoming school holidays and also with some Christmas crafting I have planned. Here are the latest two additions, some more baby knitting to add to the baby gifts box.

 Some cute Mary-Jane booties to match the In Threes cardigan I made earlier in the year:
(Ravelry link)



A wee striped Puerperium cardigan, perfect for little babes, as it buttons right down the side, so you don't need to worry about pulling it over their head:
(Ravelry link)

{26 Things I Made} 11/26: More Slippers

Another pair of knitted slippers - these were a birthday present for Alex.  He has been wearing them round the house at every opportunity since I finished them a couple of days ago.  It's so nice when your craft is well received!



Ravelry details here.

{26 Things I Made} 6/26 and 7/26: some crafting for me

I actually finished both of these before we went to Boston in April, but have only just got around to taking photos and posting them.

6/26: Knitted Slippers

Made from the popular Aunt Maggies Slipper's pattern.  Ravelry details here.  I knitted these to take away with us on holiday and they were fantastic - I wore them on the plane and around our hotel rooms.  Very warm, squishy and comfortable.  Perfect to squash into your suitcase.  And also great to wear around the house.  I have always worn shoe-type slippers that you can walk in outside to the washing line or to the letterbox, but I think these slippers may convert me to being a slipper-sock wearer.  Alex has asked me to knit him a pair and I think I may need to knit a second pair for me for days when these ones are in the wash, so expect to see more of these on the blog soon!


7/26: Pleated skirt





A less successful project.  I fell in love with this amazing Japanese Chrysanthemum print fabric found here and decided to recreate a favourite pleated skirt from Max that I wore lots last summer.  I used my standard a-line skirt pattern and added in some pleats to the front before I cut it out.    Somehow the pleating has affected the overall shape of the skirt and it doesn't sit quite right.  I have worn it a couple of times, but I think it needs some altering so it sits more on my waist.  Future restyle post to come I think!  But the fabric itself is lovely and I have quite a bit leftover for pockets or binding on other projects.

Hello again

I didn't really mean to stop blogging for (ahem) more than two years, but you know, life got busy (teaching is lots of work!) and I wasn't crafting, so I didn't think I could post without something to show. Then I thought no-one was reading anymore, so I kinda just stopped.

But, last year, while writing a blog for my classroom, I realised I missed my own piece of blog-land.  I have still been keeping up with reading blogs, and pinning projects on pinterest.  Now I feel like getting back into the blog game.  One of my resolutions for 2013 is to make time to craft more.  Teaching is one of those jobs where there is a never-ending to-do list and I realised that I needed to let go of some things and be content that everything will not always get done.

Last year I enjoyed reading Clare's "52 Things I Made" series on Green Valley Crafts and so I've decided to do a similar series here to try and get me blogging regularly again.  I think 52 things is a bit ambitious, so I'm aiming for 26.  One per fortnight.  And to start me off, here are the first two, knitted for my future niece or nephew (who was born yesterday and turned out to be a boy, so the cardigan has gone to the "baby gifts" box).

{26 Things I Made} 1/26 + 2/26

"In Threes" cardigan - Ravelry details here

Striped Pebble Vest - Ravelry details here