Knitted Coffee Pot Cosy

On 12th Aug 202112th Aug 2021 By woollymakerIn knittingLeave a comment

If the people that you knit for are sick and tired of you knitting them scarves then this is a really quick and easy idea for a knitted Christmas Present!

I made this last December and I think it only took me a couple of evenings to knit.

It’s in an Aran weight yarn with 5mm needles so it does knit up quite quickly and the pattern was a simple diamond one using just knit and purl stitches.

I found the pattern in my Knitting Pattern Folder. Yes, that holy binder of pages ripped from knitting and crochet magazines merits capital letters!

I pulled it out of a magazine a while ago and liked the look of it. It’s one of the few patterns in there I’ve actually done! Usually I just flick through the pages and try to find some inspiration.

I just double checked and it’s by Sian Brown and from Let’s Knit Magazine but I have no idea what issue number!

It’s a bit loose and fluffy because it’s been in use for nearly 8 months!

I’m sure if you were to do a quick Google search you could find a good pattern for a coffee pot/ cafetière!

I did find one on Ravelry for a really cool Dalek one by Coryna Blasko…

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/caffeinate-press-style-coffee-maker-cozy

Or, if Dr Who isn’t your thing, how about this cabled one by Ruth Churchman? (also on Ravelry)

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cabled-cafetiere–tea-cosy

Or…just freestyle your own. Make a rectangle and add buttons! 🙂

You can find my most recent post on Medium below.

7 Non-Fiction Book To Help You Live A Better Life!

https://woollyorbit.medium.com/7-non-fiction-books-to-help-you-live-a-better-life-89e146c3fad6

Knitting with the freebie yarn – Christmas and Rude Mice!

On 6th Jul 2021 By woollymakerIn crochet, knittingLeave a comment

In the previous post I talked about using up the stash of yarn I had saved up from free yarn kits that you get with knitting magazines. Here are some of the things I’ve made so far…

I’ve been knitting Christmas stockings in July. Yep, you read that correctly!

I’ve done 3 so far and I think that’s the lot for now!

I also made a knitted bauble and a crocheted one (which I don’t think I’m going to keep – I just can’t get the decreases in the round to look good when I’m crocheting). AND I also tried to make a knitted paper chain but the first link I made looked so rubbish that I changed my mind pretty quickly on that one!

I really like the knitted bauble. I made a Christmas one last year and placed a polystyrene ball inside. This time I used toy stuffing and the result looks just as good, maybe even better as the knitted fabric doesn’t have to stretch over the ball.

So…2 baubles and 4 mini stockings are done so far.

I did also make a knitted toy mouse, thinking if the pattern was any good then I could make a few more for an animal shelter (specifically for the cats to play with)…but NOOOOOOOOO!

All I can say was before I sewed on the ears and eyes it looked REALLY RUDE!!

How can the stockings look slightly different when it’s the same pattern?!

Lol to the rude looking mice! I threw the blue tube away (it was the wrong kind of yarn for paper chains really)

I’m going to save the white fluffy wool and the bit of black I have leftover…that’s pretty much all I have left.

Not bad for a few evenings knitting. I even did a few rows on my jumper.

I also bought some more yarn at my local yarn shop today. It’s so funny because for so many posts I’ve been saying things like ‘I need to stop buying yarn and use up my stash’ or ‘it’s not environmentally friendly to keep buying acrylic or other manmade fibres’.

And what do I do?!

BUY MORE ACRYLIC YARN IN REALLY FUNKY SHADES WITH NO PROJECT IN MIND!

And I’ve bought some more possible baby blanket yarn. I have plans for that.

And some plain black toy eyes.

Oh and 2 books – 1 about using up sewing leftovers into mini projects and another for knitted baby blankets.

I am getting my creative mojo back! Yay!

I know I’ve been ill for a few weeks, but I’m feeling much more productive and motivated now. I’m getting back to crafting and writing and even spent a happy hour organising files and folders, cleaning, recycling bits and bobs…you know, the sort of productive pottering around that feels like you’re procrastinating but you actually get a lot of stiff done!

The next thing is sewing! I haven’t sewn anything since Christmas and the projects are slowing piling up!

What to do with all that free yarn from magazines…

On 2nd Jul 20211st Jul 2021 By woollymakerIn crafts and hobbies, knittingLeave a comment

One of my great weaknesses is knitting and sewing magazines. Overpriced with naff freebies and as the years go by, the adverts get more frequent and the number of pages in the magazines go down.

Seriously, soon it will be £9.99 for about 10 pages. It’s ridiculous.

And I don’t even like all the patterns in them if I’m honest, although yes, I do realise they have to try and cater for everyone. But have you noticed how so many of the patterns are disgusting blue and green jumpers that look like two different patterns have been Frankenstein stitched together? Yurgh….just give me a normal pattern in one colour anyway. OK, stop whinging now!

It’s the freebies I wanted to talk about.

I’ve stopped buying issues with cheap plastic freebies out of principle – they go straight in the recycling or in bags for the charity shop. I can’t even give some of the freebies away as none of friends really knit a lot.

And then we have the yarn. It’s not ‘good’ yarn that you get free with any magazine. You rarely get a branded ball of wool that you would want to buy in a wool shop!

It’s cheap acrylic made in a factory in China and not enough to do anything decent with in any case.

It’s OK for small things like the free toy patterns you get with the magazines, the freebie yarn does tend to knit up quite tightly when I’ve tried some of the patterns out. And it does seem to be hardwearing and in bright colours, I’ll give it that!

I’ve thought about donating yarn to local schools, but they’re closing for the summer soon and I’m sure they could do without having to sort random craft items at this time of year. It’s hard to give these yarn packs to charity shops as they are branded and probably say something like ‘not for resale’ on them, which would mean they, in all likelihood, would get thrown away.

So, I decided that instead of wasting these tiny balls of yarn, I would use them in something sort of productive. They aren’t the best mix of colours, but that’s OK.

I am going to make Christmas decorations out of them and use up the yarn that way.

I do have a small ball of a fluffy white, which could be good for the top of a mini stocking. I was thinking of doing mini stockings, knitted paper chains, maybe some baubles and then see what I have leftover from that.

I could donate them to charities accepting knitted items or find a way to sell them for charity. I’m not sure yet.

I have enough knitted and sewn Christmas decorations from last year…I don’t want anymore at this time. I’m just thinking of a fun way to use up the little stash.

I’ve already started a grey and pink mini stocking- last night I got the top part done, just need to do the heel and the foot and then sew it up.

I suppose there is always things like coasters or placemats to make…but I probably wouldn’t use them anyway!

What do you do with the freebie yarn if you buy these expensive magazines?! I’m desperate not to send it all to landfill!

on the left, it was difficult to photograph flat, that’s going to be a mini stocking and on the right is all the freebie yarn I have so far!

Granny Square Stash-Buster

On 12th Mar 202110th Mar 2021 By woollymakerIn crochetLeave a comment

So, after me saying I wouldn’t cast anything new on anytime soon. After me saying I have no crochet projects planned anytime soon. Here I am with a new crochet granny square blanket.

I looked at the few balls of Christmas yarn I had leftover from last year (and my recently finished jumper) and suddenly on the spur of the moment I decided to crochet a granny square blanket to use up the last bit of my Christmas stash.

So far, so good. It’s DK weight yarn with a 4mm hook, so it’s not super duper fast, but still it’s getting there. If it isn’t that big after I’ve used up all the yarn I have, I will just put it aside and maybe buy some more nearer to Christmas.

I just want the space in my materials and project tub that’s all!!! 🙂

Saturday- Short and Sweet

On 30th Jan 202129th Jan 2021 By woollymakerIn crafts and hobbies, knittingLeave a comment

knitted stockings — left: 2020 stocking; right: 2019 stockings

For today’s short post: a quick look at the Christmas stockings I knitted in 2019 and 2020.

On the far right is a pattern from a Let’s Knit magazine of 2019 (don’t ask me the issue number – I don’t still have the exact pattern details!). I used a dark green yarn instead of a horrible light blue in the original pattern. But otherwise it is intact (the yarn was a Hayfield Aran weight yarn – for all 3 stockings above).

The one in the middle is technically the same pattern (I was on a role at the time) but look carefully and you will see it is not exactly the same shape as the one on the far right. This is because I got fed up of the colour stranding for the Fair Isle pattern and decided to just keep it simple.

And, finally the one on the left was made in 2020 and is from a pattern book by King Cole called Christmas Knits (either volume 1 or 2). I completely changed the colours from yucky bright pinks and shocking neon greens to a more traditional palette and added a ribbed top, which I folded over and loosely sewed up to keep it in place.

All three were knitted flat and sewn up at the back. I can’t choose a favourite – I like them all! 🙂

And, best of all, the one on the left used up leftover yarn so I didn’t even have to buy any more!!!