crochet – something from seaview

Many many moons ago my mother stitched me a fabric roll to contain my knitting needles. She made it beautifully, and I have treasured it and appreciated it for all these years …Thirty eight years ago, in fact …But over those 38 years, my knitting style had changed, and I have acquired modern needles that just don’t fit in the old holder. So I also had a box of knitting paraphernalia that looked like this…Recently, I saw this nifty little knitting needle holder on my Instagram feed, and a germ of an idea was sown. That’s just what I need! So I assembled my fabrics and treasures. It was very important to me that I make use of some of my nicest pieces of material for this project as I knew I was going to make something that would be a good friend for quite some time. In particular, I had quite a few pieces of beautiful Japanese fabrics and I thought they would look very well together.

I was also keen to restrict myself to what I could find in my own stash. Fabrics, of course, but also buttons, zips, ribbons etc Some of my early ideas (such as incorporating this charming rabbit embroidery as a flap to keep the needles in place) never materialised …It was definitely a very red project …First I made myself what all good dressmakers will know as a muslin (from an old sheet) …This was absolutely key to my whole project, and I referred back to it again and again as I progressed. It made clear to me, for example, that I had so many 4 mm needles that I would need a double pocket for them.

My muslin came our right at the beginning, before I had even cut any of my fabrics up, as I worked out exactly what size I was going to be working to …This then is the back layer (a wonderful piece of Japanese fabric my daughter gave me one Christmas) stitched onto the wadding (an old mattress cover), and ready for the second layer …Here is the second layer, and you can see how I used the muslin to mark out the pocket spacings …Kindly Ilsa dropped by at this point to cast a critical eye on my work …No, Ilsa, that’s not helpful!With Ilsa out of the way, it was now time to fit the third and final layer of back fabric …And once again consult the muslin for the placing of the pockets …Marking the stitching lines carefully with water erasable marker … Adding a few pieces from old dresses of mine to complete the centre panel … Just a little bit tricky to embroider the numbering …Getting a little carried away with the embroidering now …With the inner centre panel completed, it was time to move on to the side panels. I planned to make pockets to hold various knitting aides – stitchmarkers as well as the wires for my Knit Pro Symphonie needles …There was just enough of this fabulous scrap of Japanese silk for the right side … I cut up a light net bag to make two see-through pockets to lie on top of the silk scrap …These were machine-stitched into place …But I had to hand-stitch the poppers to close these bags …On the other side, I decided to make two zippered pockets (reusing old zips of course). This fabulous batik printed lobster was part of my wedding dress – amazing really Stephen didn’t flee away quick …I handstitched the zips into place so as to be sure to get a really tight fit, and then machined the surrounding fabric to make secure pockets …Now for the outside cover. As it happened, I had been indulging in a little bit of happy mindless doodle-stitchery over the summer. This was an old dress passed on to me by a kind friend, and it lent itself so well to a bit of embroidery …It wasn’t quite long enough by itself, but was easy to extend with another piece of treasure from my stash. Now to quilt it all together …Just a few final touches now. My knitting needle holder needed an edging to finish it off. What could be better than these lovely little Japanese flowers … Perfect edging for this project! You’ll see that I also added a couple of strips of vintage ribbon, roses on the right, and on the left – most usefully – a centimetre tape measure. And in the top right hand corner … ?Why – feeling smug after all this machining – I gave myself Mrs Random-makes badge of sewing excellence!Just finally one thing to finish it all off before I put my knitting needles and accessories to the test – my own initials and the date …In go all my knitting and crochet accoutrements! A place for everything, and everything in its place!I think the outside is just as pleasing …But it’s also a thrill when it’s all scrolled up. With great good fortune I happened to have a lovely Wallace#Sewell scrap in my stash just perfect for holding my fabric scroll stylishly together …And even the cherry blossom binding gives me a frisson when seen all scrolled up like this ..Now I can’t wait to start a new knitting project because first I’ll have to get some knitting needles out of my new knitting needle organiser! 🙂

Part of the fun of Christmas for me is the making of both gifts and Christmassy stuff. It’s an excuse to make all sorts of things. In the lead up to December, we were busy with lots of such projects, but because they were presents, I haven’t said much about them. Now – with Christmas well behind us – this is the opportunity to show what we were busy with in those autumn months.

I started my GiveWrap making in September with lots of fabrics spread around, and some very intriguing printed pieces from my cousin Polly. When I’m working with Polly’s prints, I sort them first into colours, and themes. These two predominantly blue GiveWraps mainly incorporate a mix of her human body prints. Her images are bold so I try to marry them up with fabric that has equally strong images – thus, in the top example, there are striking Japanese ladies from an old yukata, and some wonderful owly pieces too. The images in the lower givewrap are softer in colour and tone, and have accompanying softer fabrics.Other prints from Polly inspired work in different colourways. Her “little people” are all facing inwards here, dancing to the central tune, in a golden melange. It’s a particular favourite of both of us.This wine-coloured GiveWrap is at heart a worn-out cushion cover of Polly’s. I covered up the holes with bits of new fabric, and built up the edges.Later in the autumn, I made more GiveWraps. These blues, yellows and golds worked so well together that I got carried away and made two more similar GiveWraps.Another old cushion cover (this time an old green one of mine) got re-pieced here. The holes and stains were removed and I added some strong contrasting purple. Interestingly, this GiveWrap attracted more interest and likes on Instagram than any other that I have made.Lastly, I made a small red silk GiveWrap with my mother in mind. This to my mind is the best of the lot! I loved it – was sad to part with it – but my mother loved it too. And when a recipient loves the gift that is best of best!Off they went to new happy homes, bearing Christmas wishes and love!Apart from GiveWraps, there were practical things to make like the Christmas cake – here garlanded with our own gorgeous glossy holly.We also made jams and jellies. Here’s Stephen concentrating intensely as he pots up his chilli pepper jam.The finished products – chilli pepper jam and spicy harvest jelly – don’t look bad for Christmas presents, do they?I made two little Toft monsters this year as gifts. The patterns come from Kerry Lord’s brilliant flip book of patterns, Imaginarium. A mix-and-match pattern book to enable the crochet creation of just the monster you want. The other little monster I made is quite different – but that’s the whole point of a book with so many pattern choices!Different they may be, but they look like good friends, sitting here together.You may have read an earlier blog I wrote this autumn about our Seaview poppies … we collected as much seed as possible, and packaged it up to send off to friends and family, hoping to spread a little bit of poppy colour in other gardens.I made hats too. Some I forgot to photograph. But one I did remember to photograph was this pink two-eared beanie for my daughter. The pattern came from my beloved ancient (1977) Paton’s Woolcraft, and I knitted it using odd pink scraps from my stash. The scraps included some Rowan Kidsilk Haze so together with the alpaca pompoms, it was a fluffy hat!Just right for our beach walks …My son is fascinated (and most knowledgeable about) the periodic table. So what better to give him than periodic table pillowcases?! Stephen found the fabric on the internet, and I sewed them up. Does he now dream of the elements of the periodic table? …. I must ask him …There was the usual making as well. You might say, the bread and butter making. Wonderful to have a man around who makes all our bread.Stephen made some wonderful knits for Christmas presents. He wrote in an earlier blog about the blanket he knitted on his knitting machine as a present for his youngest daughter. That knit incorporated a knitted monogram of his daughter and her husband’s first initials: J and E. My cousin admired it especially because her two daughters share those particular initials. So how about some cushions with your daughters’ initials on them as a Christmas present for my cousin! Here is the maker man himself with his wonderful knitted cushions.He made two scarves for other daughters.
Stephen here: Here is one of the scarves I knitted about to be cast off the machine. For the technically mind it is knitted in 2-colour tuck stitch using every third needle with tension dial set at 10 (the largest possible stitch size) to give a lovely loose feel. The wool is Rowan baby merino silk double knit – in all I needed 100g of each colour. When washed carefully they came out beautifully soft, though somewhat narrower and longer than anticipated.

I also experimented with some Christmas designs. Here are two panels I knitted just for fun. The left hand one is of random snowflakes ( see the end of our blog Ellie’s Blanket for more details of this design) and the second is derived from typical Scandinavian Christmas designs and made using their traditional colours.Perhaps by next year I will have my own machine-knitted supply of Givewraps.

Katherine here: I’ve written so far about the pre-Christmas preparations. But there was one project we made that involved all of us who were here over the Christmas period.

One of my most treasured Christmas decorations that comes out every year looking sadder and more worn is the crib my children made when small out of toilet rolls, tissue paper, and a bit of glitter and trim. There’s only one shepherd these days, and one king has gone AWOL.I put this picture on Instagram, and a helpful virtual friend of mine from Nice suggested it was missing a Ravi as well. You don’t know what a Ravi is?! Well, a character from the santons of Provence, the Ravi stands amazed at the events taking place, with his (or her) arms in the air. So we got to work, and we got delightfully carried away. I made a Ravi, Stephen created a new king, and son James added a Cagador. (James knows this character as a Cagador having lived in Spain, but it is elsewhere known as a Caganer.) When the Cagador turned round and revealed his true intent, the King and the Ravi turned away, a bit giggly and embarrassed.But they all came together to make a much happier crib scene … Several other creatures and presents crept into the mix … but that’s life isn’t it? All can come to the manger …

Category: crochet

Got my knitting needles sorted!

Christmas makes