Making Poppies

We discovered the 5000 Poppies Project through the Legacy newsletter and decided to join in.  Having a father, grandfather and great grandfathers who were Veterans it seemed like a fitting tribute.
November 11th 2013 was the first deadline with the project planning an exhibition and workshop at Fed Square in Melbourne. Time was tight!

The website had patterns for both knitted and crocheted poppies and I began by making each of these.  While they turned out ok I thought I'd be faster and better if I could make some in felt.  After checking Pinterest I found a tutorial for felt poppies used as brooches.  Only problem was it was in Russian!
Luckily I can read pictures so  after a bit of trial and error I came up with this.

1. You will need: red felt, black or green felt, small piece of fibrefill stuffing, red and black stranded cotton, small black beads or 'eyelash' yarn

2.The pattern. it doesn't really matter what size you make but I put the 5cm guide on to help if you are printing it out or photocopying it.

2.  Using the patterns cut out 4 petals and a back circle from red felt.  Cut out one centre from black or green felt.

3.Blanket stitch around the edge of each petal. Pull the thread a little as you go to create a cupped effect for the petal. When the four petals are completed running stitch them together across the bottom. Overlap petals slightly as you go and join into a circle but leave end free to gather up the petals later.

4. Run gathering stitch around the black or green centre circle. (I've done it in orange so you can see it but use matching thread. Place small ball of fibrefil stuffing in the centre and pull up tightly.  Wrap thread around a few times to secure and then sew off end.

5.Place the petals around the centre and pull up gathering thread. Secure by stitching through centre from one petal to another.

6. Making stamens Version 1: Sew long and short blanket stitches around centre, three on each petal. Add a bead to the top of each stitch.

7. Making stamens Version 2: On the front side of poppy wrap eyelash yarn between centre and petals.  Stitch down to secure.

8. Neaten the back  by blanket stitching the red circle back over centre of  poppy. A dedication tape can be added before completing the stitching.

This makes a basic poppy.  You can change the design to suit yourself. Make it easier by finding a pretty button to use as the centre or more complex by adding more beads or a double row of petals.

If you would like to send your poppies to the 5000 Poppies Project I'm sure they would love to have them.

5000poppies.wordpress.com or 5000 poppies on Facebook

H

xoxoxo

A Gorgeous Bag For A Gorgeous Girl

Last week Kati and I took the two littlies to see the wonderful Peppa Pig puppet show that was on at the Arts Centre. Both love Peppa and George so when I heard about the show I was desperate to get tickets, as was every other parent in Melbourne. The pre-sale tickets sold out almost straight away. I was then lucky enough to snare 4 when they were fully released the following week. 

I'd decided it would make a great birthday present for Miss E's 2nd birthday in September. However as the time drew closer I was concerned that it may be a bit disappointing for a two year old to receive a couple of bits of cardboard. 

So the weekend before whilst doing my daily perusing of Pinterest I saw Kati had pinned these gorgeous crocheted bags. Given I was in the midst of my new found love of crochet I decided that's what was going to be the rest of her present. There wasn't much info or a link on what Kati had pinned, but I could make out a little picture that said 'made with love Vendulka'. So off googling I went, and I struck gold!! This woman is amazing with what she creates. I purchased the pattern on her etsy store and then got to work with the wool I had available. 

It didn't turn out exactly as my perfectionist self wanted, but I was pretty proud of what I had achieved in under a week. And I'm sure Miss E was much happier to receive her tickets in a bag, rather than by themselves. 

A

xoxo

Finally It's Finished!!

As I mentioned in my previous post, earlier this year I decided to pick up the knitting needles for the first time in eons to make a 'textured throw'. I'm pleased to announce it is finally finished!!

It started with a trip to a girlfriend's house to visit her and her new gorgeous baby girl. Sharing a love of all things handmade and crafty Kris showed off some of the beautiful things she had received and made for Eden, including some adorable little cardigans and a wonderful crocheted cot blanket done by her mum. I came home inspired, but not sure where to start. It just so happened that around the same time Spotlight put on their Facebook page a project, the textured throw. Each week they released patterns for 2 squares. It should really have taken me about 3-4 months to do, but I think it's been closer to 6 or 7. I did lose focus and complete a few other projects in that time though. If you're interested in trying to make one yourself it's on the Spotlight Facebook page here - you'll need to click 'see more' to expand the description, all the links to the squares are there. I saved them in my iBooks on my iPad for easy reference.

It was a great way to get back into knitting and learn some new stitches (and start my new crochet obsession). Some of the squares took longer than others (fisherman's rib I'm talking about you!!), and there's one or two that I'm not a big fan of, but I'm really stoked with the overall result. YouTube was the most wonderful resource when I couldn't understand from the written instructions what to do. I just googled the stitch. 

Mum created one of these too, though she finished weeks ago. Once she gets back from NZ I hope to get a photo of the both of them to put up. It's strange how different the same blanket can look just by having different colours. 

I'm now feeling a little lost, my usual feeling when I finish something that's taken so long. It won't last long, I've already started on the next thing.

A

xoxo

I started out with the needles recommended, but after doing the first
square (garter stitch) it was much bigger than 20cm, so pulled it all
undone and started again with 3.5mm needles.

My little guy loving helping to spray the water on the finished product
to block it.

I wasn't too sure on how I wanted the edging done. In the end I went
with a double crochet border in white, finishing off with single crochet
and 2 chains in purple all the way around.

And it's all finished. 

. 

Stripey Crochet Giraffe

We had a very BIG day yesterday taking the kids to the Show. So with Ol off at crèche today and me feeling horrid after coming down with a horrible cold it's going to be a day on the couch trying to knock off the edging of the remaining 10 squares of my textured knitted throw. I have been working on this for months and once I finally stop procrastinating and get it finished I look forward to sharing the final result.

When I began this throw I'd never crocheted before. Whilst all the squares are knitted, the edging is crocheted. With mum not being around and easily accessible for a lesson I went searching the net (as you do) and have managed to teach myself mainly off the wonderful thing called YouTube. In my searching, however, I came across some gorgeous things to create. And me being me, instead of finishing what I'd started before moving on to the next thing I decided to give this little cutie a go.

I found him here at this blog called I Love Buttons By Emma (and I love the name). The instructions were pretty easy to follow as a newbie and she's made some changes to where the pattern was wrong since. Given it was my first ever attempt at crochet I'm pretty pleased how she turned out. Whilst I could have kept her I felt she needed to be with a little person that will hopefully love her the way she deserves, so I packed her up as part of a welcome to this world present for our neighbour's newborn baby girl.

I have plans to make another, possibly for Ollie in some blues and greens, but I keep finding more and more different things I want to make. My list just keeps getting longer and longer, but first I have to get back and finishing the edging on those knitted squares...

A
xoxo