Sew Ho Ho

When our children were born Stella, a friend of my mother-in-law's, would make them a Christmas stocking.  At this point I should post a cosy fireside picture but that would require me going up into the attic, opening up the Christmas decs bag and, quite frankly, its too early in December.

Plus I might be a bit scared there's a mouse up there.

Anyway, needless to say, now I am a Granny with a mild obsession with making stuff, I feel that our Little Love should have her own stocking, too.  

Ho ho ho

I'm not saying I can compete with Stella's amazing efforts but I felt inspired to give it a go after I found some lovely Christmas fabric during a browse around the Eternal Maker and an online tutorial here.

I'd love to be able to show some elegant, Instagram-lifestyle, Pinterest-ready version of how things turned out.  

But, as I may have alluded to before, there often seems to be a mis-match between what I imagine in my head and what I end up making.

No no no!

I mean, I KNOW how to do applique, for crying out loud.   

I've also watched tutorials, downloaded (and even read) a great little instruction e-book and practiced many plenty of times.  

However....  this was baaad.

I need to remember that the whole reason for the blog being named Fashionably Slow is to celebrate the creative process and to honour the time it takes to make things from scratch.   The problem is I get so excited about starting something new that I rush in and mess up.

Things I have learnt from my mistakes: the secret to Applique is to make sure you stabilise the front fabric with some iron-on vilene, and the back with stitch and tear paper.   Practice on scrap fabric first.  AND SLOW DOWN. 

Plenty of room for pressies.

I always underestimate how long its going to take to make something.  I always think that I can just 'run something up' on my sewing machine.  

This was just one of the things on my list to make today and it took me hours!  

I reckon the next one will be easier, though!

  

Its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Back in June my fantasy of having lots of hand knitted presents to give at Christmas seemed like a great idea and easily achievable.

It also felt a bit daft.  After all there were still 6 months to go and it was early summer.  People might think I'm crazy (or crazier).

And I didn't really feel motivated to start.

Now its late November and my plan for socks, hats, hand warmers and hot waterbottle covers galore is hopelessly behind.

I've ditched the sock plan anyway.  Is it me or are socks just really boring to make?  Maybe I need to have another go.

I'm quite tempted by the 'knitting two socks at the same time' technique.  For a start I think I'd enjoy the technical challenge and also it means I would avoid the dreaded One Sock Malaise.  Although only making one sock probably wouldn't matter in this house - the attitude amongst The Young seems to be 'the odder the better'.

Anyway, socks are off the menu this year.  So are hot waterbottle covers.  I've completed two but I have to confess that the second item gave me a touch of One Sock Malaise; once I'd done one side repeating it just didn't appeal.

Hence .....

Ta dah!

Whatever

This creative journey is revealing how low my boredom threshold is!

Baby hat knitted in the round.

Now hats are great - so many shapes and sizes and quick to do.

My problem is that to reduce the monumental stash of wool in my cupboard I'm trying to match the wool I have with the patterns I want to knit.  In order to do this successfully and not end up making things that come out the wrong size I need to unravel (see what I did there???) one of the great mysteries of knitting.

Gauge.

That means making a sample square of knitting to establish the right amount of stitches per inch on the 'fabric'.  If your sample matches the pattern requirement, you're good to go.

Everything I've read so far tells me 'gauge' is crucial and that I ignore it at my peril.  I know I have to master it, but it requires a level of maturity that I haven't arrived at yet.  I still enjoy diving in and making mistakes - then scouring the amazing online resources like here to help problem solve.

I like learning this way for now as the items I'm knitting are usually pretty small and the mistakes are easily sorted. But I do want to knit myself a jumper/cardigan as part of my capsule wardrobe and bought a beautiful pattern from the Amercian company  Brooklyn Tweed.  I can't understand a word of it at the moment and I don't want to end up making something I can't wear so mastering gauge and getting the yarn & needle size right will be a vital first step.

By the way, if you want to learn to knit and make cool, fab stuff (I do, I do!) - this blog is brilliant.  I am hoping if I read enough of it and keep practicing I can hang out with the cool kids.

Mastering Cable stitch on Handwarmer

Meantime, at the foothils of my knitting journey are handwarmers.

Quick to make, loads of different designs and even though, like the socks and hot waterbottle covers,  there is the 'second one' to make, somehow it doesn't seem to matter.

They are a great way to practice new stitches and techniques.  I've  finally got the hang of that lovely wavy pattern that was the mysterious Cable!

On the next pair I want to up my technical challenge and make Fair Isle mits with a thumb gusset.......

It may be a Happy Christmas 2016 for  someone!

PS Having just read the hilarious Yarnharlot's blog about being Christmas ready, I'm feeling a bit better about my state of affairs.  Its good to know I'm not alone!