Sewing machine blues

Recently I've been getting into sewing a lot more, well all things crafty really...

Anyhoo, with an increased desire to create I decided it was high time I got a better sewing machine and went for the Janome 525s. I wanted to show support for a local business in town and by doing so luckily got a 10% discount making it about £23 cheaper than anywhere else, plus I didn't have to pay shipping which I would have from an online retailer. When I ordered, it the lady in the shop said it'd be about a week, but it's now been a whole month :-( Apparently the company are out of stock & today was the new date she gave me for its arrival, but I haven't heard from her still. I gave my old machine to Simon's Mum and so haven't had a machine for about 3 weeks now, which isn't a very long time in the grand scheme of things, but I've got a list of projects as long as your arm, all of which require a machine! BOO!

Anyhoo...isn't it beautiful?! It isn't fancy, but is so very much nicer than my old one - and quieter too! Little things, like a thread cutter at the back, larger plate, transparent bobbin housing & an horizontal spool holder make it great. I know these things come as standard, but weren't present on my old one. It was a good machine, don't get me wrong, but I think over time it would have irked me. This one is a more robust with more reliable stitches (i.e.:  a zigzag is a zigzag rather than sometimes being a straight stitch!), plus comes with a hard case. It has it's own little place on the shelf waiting for it to come home to :mrgreen:

My wonderful Da is also fixing my sewing box. I bought it online from an hospice with a load of thread in it - most of which were differing shades of purple! It was a little more rickety than advertised, but still a good £20 cheaper than a new cantilever box, plus I feel good that I've reused something that had already been made and clearly used & loved. He's coming up next week so I'm excited to have it back - I can put my bits away rather than fishing about in the two rather fetching plastic tubs which are the temporary accommodation for my threads/needles/scissors/pins/miscellaneous sewing accessories etc.

In other crafty news: I made this hat from two and six's beautiful blog (isn't her son the cutest?) Yes, I've made it for Isaac, but it's definitely too big for him just yet! Although I'm sot sure by how much because I finished it this evening after he went to bed so I haven't had a chance to check. A small job for tomorrow. I know it looks a big like a giant egg cosy, but the shape will change, when his head is in it & the right size for it, to a bit more like a giant egg cosy LOL!

I'm well chuffed. It's only a small project, but I achieved 3 firsts; I did my first attached i-cord hem, used Kitchener stitch for the first time and used backstitch for the first time in knitted seam sewing. I have a marvellous book which I bought about 4 or 5 years ago called Simply Fabulous Knitting. I knew it would be useful, but lost touch with knitting and didn't give it another thought until I was faced with Kitchener stitch. Of course, it was in there! PLUS the method in the book i.e.: flat (minus the starching, although I can see how that would be helpful on occasion) was so much easier than the on-the-needle method which is just confusing and weird.  I have to say that, even though it is only a hat, it had the best seam I've ever done on the top. I guess I must be taking knitting more seriously these days. So now I have a seam-free, tassel-tastic hat for the boy. At least he'll never be short of hats - hurrah!

I found this pattern for a beret a while ago and would quite like to use the yarn  stipulated (Louisa Harding  Grace) rather than substituting for a change. Luckily Yarn,  just outside Nottingham sells it. Whilst on my search for said yarn I found Threads of Life in Castle Donnington. It's about the same distance as the other place and looks totally fabulous! I like the first thing the owner says on her site:

"If you are interested in working with yarns or threads there’s nothing quite like coming into a shop where you can enjoy the colours and textures of a wide range of wools and silks. It’s a bit like being a child in the middle of a sweet shop!"

Couldn't have said it better myself. Isaac and I will be paying her a visit in the not-too-distant future :-)

P.S.: I just got an email from Lion Brand telling me that my order has been shipped. Amigurumi ahoy - whoop whoop!

New hat for Isaac

As his first hat was getting a wee bit small, I decided it was time to make a new hat for the Little Man. The basic pattern is still the same hat as before from Seija Set in The Happy Hooker, but slightly different colour/stripe arrangement. I used the same yarn (Sublime Extra Fine Merino Wool DK) in seaspray (light blue), plume (blue-green), clipper (dark blue) & biscuit (greyish natural colour). Anyhoo here it is!

I was measuring the new hat against the old hat only to find they were of a similar size, yet I'd used a different sized crochet hook for each.  Baffled. Later on I realised it was because Isaac's head had grown & stretched the old one (!) There's that post-baby-brain again!

I made enough of these hats for my NCT group's bebs to not need the pattern anymore - I've even made one for my Health Visitor!  (Actually, I made one for a friend (sans stripes) with a neck warmer thing, each with a matching flower on to make a little set. Darn it, should've taken pictures.) I'm quite pleased that I don't need the pattern anymore because I'm learning about increasing evenly. I only really learn through practical application. Reading it in books is one thing, watching it take shape in your own hands is quite another matter.

For my next project(s?): amigurumi!

Hat II

I made another hat!

I told you I'd have another crack at it!

I gave in & used a pattern from Debbie Stoller's The Happy Hooker (the Seija Set, but without the blanket (obviously duh - got enough of those already - and not the stripy version because I only had this yarn). It went through a short phase of looking like a little Gestapo helmet before I put the ear flaps on, which was highly amusing for all who witnessed. Don't think the dog was very pleased to be used as a model, even if she did look very turn-of-the-century! Teehee!

If it's a girl I can put some flowers (or something) on it and if it's a boy I can put a tractor (?) on it (Simon's suggestion!).

I think that's enough hats for now.

What next...?

Hat!

I made a hat! It's somewhat pixie-esque, but hey - the child's got to know what kind of family it's been born into!

Olivia gave me the yarn a few years ago & it's been sitting in my yarn stash since then. It rather luckily matches a lot of the Bertie Bear stuff from Boots that we have which is good!

Rinny worked very hard too while I was knitting away -

Oh to be a dog.

I started to crochet a hat, but I kept mucking it up with sizes and number of stitches to increase by and it also had a weird lump running along the join at the back. So I unpicked it all. The beauty of crochet it that it's so much quicker than knitting! I dare say I shall have another crack next week. I'm thinking about putting ears on it :-D

I'm starting to think that maybe I should've stayed at work for the extra 2 weeks as I'm now getting increasingly bored. It's nice to be at home and all, but I think I'm going a little crazy! I'm told I should be grateful for not having anything to do, but I'm one of those people who can't just sit around (unless I'm ill); I'd rather be too busy than not busy at all, that's just who I am.

Anyhoo, I'm leaving the house today! WOOH!