ABCs aren't as easy as I thought...

Hi guys,

Well I’ve had a productive few days, I’ve almost finished designing my alphabet and pictures for the building blocks! The pattern only comes with ABC which will make 1 block (6 sides including a picture for each letter) so I have copied the format and designed each letter of the alphabet and a picture for each…they took some deciding on I’ll tell you, to be honest I’m still struggling with a few letters to get them finished off! I'll post pictures of each square as I finish them (or maybe each few as there will be a lot....) :)

Also I’m still not sure on how I’m going to make them up as there will be 3 letters and 3 images per block which will run through the alphabet in order, I’m not going to try and get clever with how they are position to be able to spell words etc…, they are for a newborn after all :) But obviously there are 26 letters in the alphabet and this isn’t divisible by 3…..so I’ll have 8 full blocks and 2 letters and pictures left over – any ideas from anyone how to correct this? The only thing I’ve come up with is to do the old XYZ as the 24th block (which will help a bit with picture issues, but then what do I do for the picture on there as it’s only a small space?

The over the weekend I’ve finally achieved a life-long dream – I’ve taught myself to crochet!! I’ve tried so many times before but never quite managed to master it, I became a dab hand at making the first chain but the thing I always struggle with is identifying where the loops are to crochet into, but I’ve found that after your first row it’s a lot easier as you’re going through the stitch. I still need some practice because I’m nervous when it gets to the end or beginning of a row where I should be stopping, it’s still quite hard to identify the stiches around there, and of course I can only do the crocheter’s equivalent to the knitted scarf at the moment so I have all the weird and wonderful stitches and techniques to learn but at least I can do the basics now! Here's my first piece of crochet (incidentally the ideal size to sit my iPhone on for my desk at work! :)



Catch up with you soon,
Mrs K
xxx

As easy as ABC...

Hi peeps!

Firstly an apology - where are my manners!

I was shocked at myself when I had a quick look at the blog last night to see that I didn't wish you all a very happy new year in my last post (3rd January)! So here it is, wishing health, wealth and happiness to you and your families for 2012!

There, that's better - now on with the post.

Since hearing about my sister's forthcoming arrival I've found so many little things I'd like to make! Especially since last week when we found out she's team pink! (although on this note, my sister like myself isn't a pink fan as such so there will be a rainbow of lovely colours for ther nursery, toys and clothes but none of them pink...well until bump grows up a little bit and puts her own stamp on things :))

So my next project, using the wool from my earlier post that I made the monkeys with so the toys are coordinated, is this lovely building block which I'll be making 3 of to produce a set:

Of course I'll be amending the colours and using my wool and was going to put a little bell inside one of them to make them a little more interesting for the little lady.

It would be lovely to see some other creations on here too, what projects are you all working on at the moment? :)

TTFN
Mrs K
xxx

Glitzy Wrap Progress

Here's how it's looking so far......

I'm really pleased with it I've got to say, although it's more narrow than I was expeciting it will still look lovely (and I couldn't bring myself to increase the width and making it an even longer project!) :) I didn't think it would ever take off as I started making it 5 times before I got past a few rows of pattern without totally losing track and messing up, but once I got into the swing of it I've got the pattern remembered and am sailing through...well, I nearly hit a metaphorical iceberg a few days ago and had to unpick a few rows but managed to get back on track and haven't got one single error or dropped stitch....yet! :)

In fact that's my main focus to start this year, practising how to identify the stitches by paying attention to my knitting and learning how to become more methodical with my corrections and not just unravelling a few whole rows until I can pick up how many stitches I had and just squint my eyes while I re-knit a row hoping it will work out!! I'm confident I can identify which way a stitch should lie on the needle now as I've had to undo a few stitches here and there and learnt from making mistakes, always the best way I find :) Does anyone out there have any tips on how to learn from your knitting mistakes and to not be as much of a 'wing and a prayer' type of gal?

I've always loved all crafts but there's something about knitting that seems to have just got me hooked and I'm hoping, in time, I'll become a pro! I've been looking at new techniques too and have got really excited about trying some of these but am concious I don't want to start loads of separate projects and get none of them finished so I'm in the process of deciding which I'll start alongside this one I'm currently working on - the options at the moment are fairisle (which I had a bit of practice on with the stockings), intarsia (this seems to be a bit more flxeible than fairisle as the yarns aren't attached on the wrong side of the work so I might choose this method for a cardigan/jumper...) and cable knitting!....then of course there is knitting in the round and four needle knitting which I've never had a go at....so many ideas!

I was also thinking of making the site more interactive rather than just being me talking about my projects and boring you all with progress pictures :) All I've come up with so far is to start including patterns, I think I might go back and add links to the patterns I have used on each project so far and maybe add in a section for patterns I collect along the way. I could also have a little section on methods I'm collecting along the way but I feel that I should try these out myself first to see if I can understand the instruction before trying to distribute them to others - there have been so many stitches and techniques along the way which, being a novice, I haven't encountered before and have resorted to the wonders of Google and YouTube to help me out and I've struggled to find good instructions on a few of them so thought it might be useful to save them for future reference and I could pool these together for you.

What do you think and do you have any more ideas for things you'd like to see on here?

All suggestions welcomed!
Until the next time...
Mrs K
xxx

Rebranding...

Hi all,

You may have noticed the title of my blog has now changed to Knight Knits. I wanted to get away from the Unfinished Symphony stigma as I've now proven that I can finish things I start by completing a few projects so it's onwards and upwards in preparation for the new year! :)

I deliberated over my lunch break what the new title should be and decided on 'Knight Knits' as thought it would be good to incorporate my name so I can add this to my creations (and also Knight and Knit are very similar so was trying to think of a clever word play....clearly I failed.)

If you can think of any different witty titles please feel free to send them to me at KnightKnits@hotmail.co.uk (my new site email address!...this is all getting very official!) and I'll happily consider a re-branding in the new year if it's better than what I've got....come on folks, surely that can't be hard, get those thinking caps on!

TTFN
Mrs K
xxx

It's a wrap!

Hi readers!

I've been scrolling through my "what I'd like to make lists" and craft sites to find my next big project to keep me interested whilst making my secret baby projects for my sister's bump as I find that I have a tendency to get bored of a project which is why it sits unfinshed in a bag or box for months (or more commonly years...) so my new technique is to get more than one project on the go that I'm excited about so I can chop and change between them whenever I get chance to be crafty :)

I found this lovely wrap that a lady had made as she couldn't find anything to go with her dress for a new year's eve party several years ago and is a little on the more cuddly side like my good self so the pattern caters for ladies with "strong" arms :)

All I had to do then is decide what wool I'd like to use for it as there are so many I love out there at the moment, especially the fine or wispy ones like Debbie Bliss Angel which make beautiful wraps with lace knit patterns but unfortunately these start between £7 and £9 per ball... ! So I finally decided (or rather my budget decided) that I'd go for this at a bargain £2.99 a ball from a little shop my hubby spotted in Northumberland on a recent trip:

So my plan is to get started on this at the weekend (for the 5th time...I struggled to focus on it whilst finishing off my monkeys and stockings so always lost the plot by the 7th or 8th row and kept pulling it out!) and I'll keep it stored neatly in my new wool basket next to the sofa in the living room because it will make a nice feature (and of course be handy when I want to do 10 rows while catching up on Corrie!) :)

Will keep you posted on the progress of this one over the coming months whilst blogging about my smaller projects in between,
TTFN
Mrs K
xxx

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Hi folks!

As Christmas is just around the corner I wanted to make something to start a tradition that I can continue through the years as it's always nice to have that personal touch and those tatty little snowmen made out of toilet rolls tubes and cotton wool that your son or daughter made for you 20 years ago and have made an appearance every year since (if only to embarrass them!) :)

So each year from now I'll be added a piece to my collection that I've made myself, some years may be a big project (if i get them finished in time...) but I feel most will be small things to add here and there.

My first addition to my home will be little mini stockings to hang on the tree and fill with edible goodies - that way I get my hubby interested in this new tradition too as he is a definitely a fan of hidden sweets and chocolates on the tree :)

As soon as I began knitting these I was hooked because they're so small and quick to make I get to see the end result withing a day or two of starting, definitely a bonus for a person with so many unfinished symphonies.... :) The other thing to grab my attention was a new technique to add to my repetoire which I am now in love with - Fairisle or Intarsia knitting! I got to have a go at Fairisle on a very inexpensive and not very time consuming project and I must say I was very impressed with my first attempt...(the first one is the red and white diamond design)

So I made these 3 up and of course did what any self-respecting crafter does, went to seek the approval of two of my main critics, the parents :) I left their house with my chest puffed out after receiving praise and beaming smiles for my cute little decorations......and an order for 6 more for their tree!! (and I must say, annoyingly one of the ones I knitted for mum was definitely my best one so far so I'm on with duplicating it for my own tree!) :)

Now to buy some choccies to put in them......
TTFN
Mrs K
xxx

Monkey Business!

Hi readers!!

Well I'm a bit late in posting this but I'm going to be an Auntie again!! My sister this time and I can't wait! She's due 18th May so plenty time to get some crafting done and of course I have countless ideas whizzing through my head (and will most likely not get any of them done!)

Of course I couldn't say anything to begin with anyway but since I have been able to shout it to the world I've been deliberating over whether to post as the things I'll be making will be gifts to my sister and there's always the risk that she might stumble across this thread....but after thinking about it for a while I decided that there's a cats chance in hell that she'll read my craft blog (in fact will anyone read this blog now.....if not then am I just talking to myself, and if I am does that make me a crazy lady...)

So my impatient nature won over and I had to post this because I'm so chuffed with myself for actually finishing something in such a short space of time!! Here are the colours I'll be working with for my "baby makes" as these match with colour theme of the nursery.....

And here are the first makes with these wools - I chose these because my sister has always liked monkeys and had many soft toys when she was younger so thought this might be a nice personal touch.....meet Charlie and Carly:

I'm chuffed to bits with them, hopefully my sis will stick to her colour scheme for the nursery and these little outfits will match but I can always knit them a change of clothes if not! :)

I'm going to wrap these up for Christmas because I can't wait until May to give them to her so I'll have to start thinking of something else to make now to give her when the baby is born.....what a shame! ;)

and remember for any of those of you out there who are fortunate to know my lovely sister....ssh, it's a secret! :)

Ta ta for now!
Mrs K
xx