Cath Kidston/Greengate Inspired Bakeware and Blanket

If you're like me and LOVE everything Cath Kidston you will understand my joy at these incredible finds!  I let out a little squeal when I saw them, in a Michael's no less!  If you are in the USA, you should have one near you.  For my overseas followers, Michael's is a wonderful craft store.

Just LOOK at these measuring cups, dipping bowls and measuring spoons!  Doesn't it scream Cath Kidston?  I was like a little kid playing with the measuring cups.....stacking and unstacking them, admiring them, enjoying their lovely colors.  I found them in the isle where they have all the bins for things costing $1 - $5.00.  Not the bins in the front of the store where everything is $1.

 The spoons were $5.....and come in two different colorways.  Red and blue.  The little dipping bowls, in the 2nd photo, were $3.  The stacking measuring cups were $5.  All are ceramic, not plastic or melamine.

Of course, I then ran over to the yarn isle to pick out my colors for a baby blanket.  The pattern is ready to purchase from my Etsy shop!

I snatched up a few of each for future presents.  They also had big spoon rests and decent sized coffee mugs with the same designs.  If you are not familiar with Cath Kidston, find her site here.

Visit my Etsy shop
Craftsy shop

Till next time,

Sheila

Yarn tip:

When winding yarn from a hank, snip a little piece off and tape it to the yarn band.  Mark the label with any notes from your project.  You'll have a handy reference if you use that yarn again.

Food tip:

I use lemons all the time when I cook.  I love how they look in a bowl on the counter, but that is not the best way to store them.  They last 4 times longer when I store them in a ziplock bag in the fridge.

Bonfire Wedding Blanket

 I created this for my cousin, Eleni, as a wedding gift! Gorgeous in the colors of her big day...yellow and orange. Her mother and I are very close and I have received many a handmade gift from her during the milestones in my own life, so choosing a wedding gift for her daughter was easy!

 The hash tag (#) pattern is so common in technology, I just had to design something that is relevant for today’s young people. The clusters are at an angle lending to the hash tag pattern (see in the 3rd photo down).  Get your own custom buttons....."made with love" would be cute!

 Lightweight, colorful, reversible and easy to crochet with a one row pattern repeat. 

 Gradient yarn produces a stripe pattern without changing colors! The edge is a simple 4 row single crochet, but feel free to substitute any edge you like!

 This would be lovely in a smaller size for a baby!  Look close and you can see the hash tags are at an angle as opposed to on top of one another. 

 40” W x 67” L

                                                                                       (102cm W x 170cm L)

Tools & Materials:
*4 skeins Patons Lace (2) in Bonfire. 498 yards (455 meters); 3 oz. (85 gms) 
Any lace weight (2) will work. Approx. 1992 yards (1821 meters) total needed for the blanket
*crochet hook size K/10.5 (6.5mm)

Skill level: easy
Abbreviations given for American and United Kingdom terms
Find the pattern:
Etsy
Craftsy
Ravelry

or use the tabs at the top of the page!

Have a great weekend,

Sheila

Pattern storage tip:

I keep all my paper patterns in a 3 ring binder.  One binder holds all my scarf patterns.  Another holds all my baby patterns and so on.  I use clear, three hole page protectors to keep each one in and when I want to knit or crochet that project, I remove it from the binder in its page protector and take it to the yarn shop to buy my supplies!

Knit Socks On Straight Needles and a Crusty Bread Recipe

 I posted last week about finding an easy pattern to knit socks on double pointed needles.  After making several pairs, I popped over to the Barnes & Noble book store to browse sock pattern books.  Can you believe I only found one book!  But what a book it is!  Knit Your Socks on Straight by Alice Curtis!  Brilliant!  I have seen this book online and in book stores for quite some time, but never picked it up to flip through.  Big mistake!

 Beautifully written, easy to understand and tons of photos.  This is the first pattern in the book using worsted weight yarn you can find in your local Hobby Lobby, Michaels, WalMart or fabric store that sells yarn.  Alice shows you pics every step of the way.

 How cute are these little gingerbread people and snowmen?

 I adore these moccasocks house boots made with chunky yarn!

 Flip flop socks....whoduthunkit?  Use your sock or fingering yarn for these.

 I love these for St. Patricks Day!  A pair for you and a pair for your little leprechaun! 

Now, on to the bread.  This is the most awesome artisan bread I have ever made!  No kneading, no rising, no bread machine.  Crusty outside a with a chewy center.  If you follow Lucy at Attic24, you may have tried this already.  The only draw back is it must rest for 12 hours or more.  I put the dough together about 3:00 in the afternoon.  The next day at 3 in was in the oven.  The recipe states 12-18 hours but the 24 hours was just fine.  If you put up the dough in the evening, you can be baking the next morning.  The recipe is in American terms, but if you pop over to visit Lucy, she has the English terms for you.

Have a great week,

Sheila

Yarn tip:

Not sure which size to knit from a pattern?  Compare pattern measurements from your favorite sweater.

Bread baking tip:

You'll know when you bread is baked fully when the inside reads 195 degrees fahrenheit  (90.55 celsius) with a food thermometer.

A Decent Pair of Socks

This is the first decent pair of socks I have made....ever!  I've tried so many patterns, I can't tell you.  Maybe it's me....maybe I'm reading the pattern wrong....maybe I've picked the wrong yarn...maybe I ate something  bad!  Ok, maybe not that last one.  I finally found a great pattern!  Whipped up in Knit Picks Wild West yarn and size 2 needles produced this lovely pair.  However, the yarn is not very cushy, so, if you're like me and don't like to wear shoes around the house, these are not practical.

 Fiesta Baby Boom in Coyote delivered some cushy goodness and in colors I like....grey, black, cream and brown.

 The above and below are Fiesta Baby Boom in Harlequin.  You might remember my post using this yarn for Karen's Carnival Baktus Scarf, below.  Look how different the colors look depending on knitting in stockinette or garter stitch and dye lots.

 Knit Circus' Pixie Dust Fingering in Robin's Egg have a bit of twinkling goodness in them.  Gorgeous color and squishy soft!

Knit Picks Stroll Fingering in Frosting are a gift for one of my besties.  Her signature color is pink and she will love these.

Now, about the pattern.  Don't ask me why it took so long to get it out as I've had it for quite sometime!  It belongs to Susan B. Anderson.  I adore her and have all her books.  She has this easy way about her.  You'd want her as a sister, neighbor or best friend.  If you watch her teaching, she is relaxing and mesmerizing at the same time.  Patient and thoughtful in her delivery.  Her patterns are the same way.  Technically, beautifully written, but with that element that she is speaking to you from the page.  In this pattern, she makes it so easy to understand the dreaded turning of the heel!

The pattern is free.  Just pop over to her Rav page or blog.  

I'm working on her mitten pattern and will have a future post about that.  Another great and easy pattern.

Best,

Sheila

Yarn tip:  

If you have trouble getting started knitting socks in the round on those small needles, here's what I do.....work the 2 x 2 ribbed cuff back and forth on 2 of the double point needles leaving a tail long enough to sew it up when the sock is finished.  After you complete the cuff, start knitting in the round with the remaining needles.

DIY Shawl Closures With Buttons

 The winds howl this time of year in the midwest!  In an effort to keep my shawls and scarves from blowing down the street, I made these from my button stash with a bit of elastic threaded through the button holes and tied in a knot.

 So very simple and extremely effective.  I love giganto buttons!  Big, colorful and easy to store if you are a collector like me.  Easy and affordable to purchase from local yarn shops I visit on my travels.  Above is a Lacy Baktus from Ravelry.  You can find the pattern link on my Karen's Carnival Rav page.  

 I found this button in a local yarn shop in St. Louis, Missouri.  The Freesia shawl pattern is from Jumpers Cable Knitting.  Very easy and quick to knit up with worsted weight yarn.  Find the pattern link on my Rav page.    

 I love the color combination and can use this one on so many shawls.  That's the beauty of these closures.  You can use them on all your scarves.

 I often wear my Crocodile Stitch shawls around my shoulders and this button adds a bit of color and interest.  Find the Crocodile Stitch pattern via my Rav page.

So, there you go!  Get out those gorgeous buttons, tie a bit of elastic through the holes and knot.

Best,

Sheila

Yarn tip:

Can't find the right button?  Use leftover yarn to make i-cord buttons or frog closures instead.

Visit Creative Design's profile on Pinterest.

My First Knitting/Crochet Book...well sort of!

 I've just self published my first book...so to speak!  I have a new sponsor on my blog, Blurb, and was given a free book.  Not having used this site before, I decided to just create one with photos of my most popular patterns to see how it looked.  I must say that I love it!  Hard cover, great paper quality and wonderful resolution in the photos.

 It was very easy to use, but it's not a quick job to complete.  It took about 4 hours.  I'm hoping the next one will be a bit easier.

 The photos came out lovely and it's a great keepsake for all my yarny goodness!

 You can choose paper color, border style for the photos and there is also a nice range of page layouts.

 I was a bit disappointed that there is no spell check, so you have to be careful there.

 I really love how it turned out and will be writing one to publish with my patterns.  You can also publish an ebook.

 This book is about 20 pages, which is the least number of pages you can create.

You can even have a photo on the back, which makes it very professional indeed!  You can find the link on the right hand side of my blog page....."Blurb Make Your Own Book".

These would be great for all your Christmas photos every year.  Family reunion pics.  New baby.  Wedding book.  Even one filled with cherished family recipes.  I'd like to have one filled with my daughters artwork that she has done since she was little.  She is now in college majoring in costume design.

So here's my quandary....what would you like to see in a book from me?  I have had a number of  customers, as well as people I meet in person, ask me if I have a book they could purchase.  Enough requests that make me think I should.  I'd appreciate your thoughts  on this very much.

A book with all my knitted scarf patterns?

One with knitted AND crocheted scarf patterns?

One with the blankets...knitted only or knitted and crocheted patterns?

What about an ebook?  It would be more affordable than a hard cover and no shipping charges!

Myself, I am very much old school.  I adore my books.  The weight, the real life pictures and the opportunity to write on the pages.  You don't get that with an ebook.  Plus, if you save it on your computer, there is that outside chance of crashing!

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

Sheila

Yarn tip:

If your favorite pair of socks develops a hole in the toe, cut the toe piece off and kit a new one.  Pull off the cut yarn until you get a complete round, put your needles through the stitches, join the yarn and knit up the toe.  You can also use duplicate stitch to darn holes in other parts of the sock.