Mr.&Mrs Mousey

Havn't been doing any crafty work these last couple of weeks, the garden has taken priority what with weeds an all. So here is Mr & Mrs Mousey that reside on the top of the wardrobe. They were made a loonngg time ago and unfortunately the pattern for them and their clothes have disappeared into oblivion. I suppose they could also be bunny rabbits....but they're not they have long thin tails!

 He's got his work dungarees on and she has her pearl necklace ready for a posh night out!

I wish I could do woodwork!

Once upon a time (about 38yrs ago) I made a little stool held together with nails. Was quite proud of it (even tho the legs were uneven) till my bro-in-law sat on it and they both collapsed! Since then never tried anything again which requires wood,saws, measurements and nails all together!

We have plenty of room in our back garden (field) for our polytunnel  and even tho it's not finished, although progressed a little bit, I have wonderful plans for making a wooden potting shed next door to it so we can put all the gardening bits and pieces in it, which, at the moment is in our large garage but means if you forget something it's a bind (lazy) going and getting it.

We have a large wood pile of branches and other stuff put by thinking it will come in useful someday and thought maybe we can incorporate it into a shed. Well it's the start of a plan! :0D Think this wont be anytime soon tho. But I'm going to cut pictures out of mags for inspiration and stick to the freezer to keep the motivation going. This is bearing in mind it wont be me making it....but hubs haha. Even want a little picket fence and garden around it.....is that going to far?! (I could hand the nails and saw up to him tho) :0D

Here is a p.s. I thought I'd show you a picture of the doodle that I was trying to explain to long suffering hubs about the above idea. I thought he had put my well drawn design in the bin but as he has stuck it on the cupboard door, we just might have a project for next year....yippee.....although I do hope it doesn't come out anything like my scrawl  :0D

Cardigan finished

After a bit of faffing managed to get the collar of the cardigan done. I think it was because I don't usually cast of the back of the collar but keep these stitches on a holder, whereas the pattern said to cast off all 64 stitches. With a bit of dividing etc I still kept the back of the cardi for the collar on a spare needle and cast of the end shoulders. (but there were still two stitches short as the front shoulders had 18 stitches and the backs either side 17!)I don't know why some patterns cast of for the collar as it leaves a lumpy line all the way along so I've always kept these stitches on a spare needle and then instead of picking up stitches they are all ready to be knitted. (I hope you understand all that!!)

Anyway here is the finished product. It looks nicer in real life. The things I would change would be having buttons all the way down and the hem which I think looks to bulky for aran knitting and so I would do either a cable to match or rib so it looks neater.

 It looks a lot nicer in real life.

Collar detail (with the added brooch)

 It will be put away for the winter.

I was given a huugge bottle green aran cardigan which is unused and doesn't fit anybody. So I thought that it could be unravelled and re-knitted into a smaller size. Does anybody know how to effectively get the crinkles out when it's been wound into shanks or balls?

Now to think of the next project which might be the rather large cross stitch as I have sorted out the threads onto spools but there it ended!

Putting the bits together

Hello my lovies. Been madly knitting this cardigan and all the pieces are ready for putting together. It is a nice oatmeal colour with flecks in it.

As you can see it has a bit of aran in it but not much. BUT it seems that the wording for the back neck is wrong! Been left with 64 stitches instead of 32. There is no casting off for the shoulder shaping. I have read and re-read and then read again but it's definitely the pattern and not me. So that's a big nuisance, as I will have to figure out whats what. That's a job for tomorrow now.
Why do the wool manufacturers always do such huge balls of aran? As the second ball of 400g is usually only either a quarter or half used. (yes I do know the answer!!)

Knitting patterns

Why do  some patterns in the instructions for measurements say for example knits to a 34" but then says real size 36" or 38" I dont want to knit it so it's swamps me but thereagain don't want it to come up too small either!

I am halfway through knitting an aran cardigan with a bit of cabling in it so I hope the next picture will be the finished peices, it's knitting up quite quickly which is good cos when I got everything I had the knitting mojo which is slowly disappearing for some reason!

Another Quirky Village.

Well me ducks, here is the finished picture of another 'Quirky Village'.

and some close ups

Tis sightly brighter in real life.

The weather at the little cottage has turned back to windy and dismal. Hope the caulis and lettuce that were put into the ground a couple of days ago will survive OK. Everything else seems to be growing, and I found out why the runner beans turned  a yellowy colour as when they were planted they were nice and green . Apparently it's to do with nitrogen in the soil (or lack of it) and it takes a little while for them to re-adjust. But they are still growing and the slugs havn't eaten them!!

book mark

Thank goodness it looks like my camera has dried out and is taking pictures once more. (hope it lasts)
Although not much crafty work going on at this little cottage....because at last we have sun, yep indeedy. Monday it was a very dismal 8c. Friday was the hottest at 28c! (also no wind or breezes)  3 days so far with sun and no wind, rain, overcast skies and so the best place to be is out in the garden, weeding, sowing, planting and planning.
But here is the book mark I was making, although it hasn't quite turned out how I expected, it better than tearing little bits of paper off for a marker (or horror of horror turning the top of page over!!)