Persian Tile Throw

I have been working on this project for quite a few months. The pattern is by Janie Crow and inspired by Moroccan tiles. I used Stylecraft Special DK throughout. The colour scheme was chosen by my daughter Katherine to go with her lounge decor.
16 large octagons,9 Persian granny square motifs, 12 Persian granny triangles, 4 small triangles.

catch up on crafting

Sadly the day job interferes with crafting so I don't do as much as I used to. Plus I am doing more work either knitting or crocheting rather than jewellery making.
However here is a round up of some of my more recent makes:

a baa ble hat for me - huge fun to make knitting in the round with simple intarsia work

I bought myself a new bobble maker too

 this rainbow jumper is a family tradition that goes back over 30 years so of course Joel had to have one - the his mummy wanted one - then his aunty!

a variegated yarn makes a cute hoodie with a kangaroo pouch style pocket

a spring jacket in magpie

My current project is a Persian Tile throw for daughter#2. The original looks like this

but Kathy's lounge colours include grey, maroon and purple so this is the colour scheme she has gone with

It is quite a complex project and a large throw so I may be some time.......

My makes this year

I haven't made much Jewellery this year because I have been working on knitting and crochet most of the time.
So I thought I would gather the pictures together .
I haven't been able to get all the pictures but here is a good sample.

21st birthday present

My business partner has a daughter who is just 21 and I have made a blue opal necklace for her.

The feature connector and clasp are Stirling silver.

It is very delicate and I think will go well with her dark hair.



I also made a card and this time remembered to take a picture!

Hope she likes the necklace.

Autumn outfit

Now that the cooler weather is here I have pulled out the knitting needles and made a little cardigan/jacket for my grandson.

This pattern by King Cole uses a lovely bubble type rib stitch that leaves a very warm texture and plenty of stretch.

This is one of my daughter's favourite patterns and as it knits up really quickly I am more than happy to help.

The cute hat is knitted as a square with pom poms in each top corner.

I made a set of mittens with thumbs to keep his hands warm

So what I have been up to?

I haven't been blogging for ages, mainly due to work but also because I've been occupied knitting for my first grandchild. Joel arrived on August 1st so now I know I am knitting for a young man I have tweaked my pattern choices.
Before he was born I kept things fairly neutral, steering away from overtly  pink!
This is a gallery of my creations so far.

SO USEFUL!

I am an avid knitter and I also love to crotchet. I prefer knitting for most garments but crochet for summer lightweight lacy tops and baby blankets.
As a very personal preference I rarely fasten up cardigans so don't usually bother to knit buttonholes and as buttons are often so expensive I wouldn't use them for just decoration.
Sometimes though a garment really needs buttons to finish it off, some button bands demand the weight of buttons!
This was just the case with a cardigan I have recently finished.
It is a very light yarn with a stunning range of colours in the twisted and slubbed weave. There is also a gold thread that shows occasionally.

It is called Sirdar Divine which is a good name for it!
I chose the mainly purple mix with an umber orange twist. The result looks quite chunky  but it is a double knit weight so actually light.

I like the  curved band and the fold back collar.
There was no way to find a button to match the colour so I decided to make my own from polymer clay.
This is the first time I have used polymer clay to make buttons. I am new to this medium but I do have a mould from my jewel enamel.
It was a very simple procedure to use the mould, just pushing the clay in and gently removing before adding holes then baking.

 I am really pleased with the results and will definitely do this again!