Paisley Elephants on the Loose

A supersoft denim coloured wool,

hand stitched paisley lawn bias edging,

over on etsy.

Lambswool Duck Egg Blue Bunnies

Another up-cycled lap blanket/baby blanket.

Lambswool and duck egg blue, impossible not to love.

Sewing Bee is back on YAAAAY,

 I am sure my appliqué technique would get top marks!

Available on my etsy shop.

Liberty Love

Another soft wool pre-loved blanket refashioned into a little blankie.

A patchwork of Liberty Tana Lawns,

to make the binding,

and hand stitched heart.
Available in my etsy shop.

Mabel Lucie Attwell

Super soft and super cute,

 couldn't resist the heart shaped puffs of chimney smoke,

another one of a kind 2014 make, see more details over on etsy.

Embroidery Club

Some lovely stitching from my year 2's, the theme was a wintery walk.

I love the dog in the one above and the ducks on the pond.

Bunnies with chick legs are adorable.

 They drew out a scene on paper and we transferred it to calico, with a little bit of embellishment.

My own making has been with a little help from Mabel Lucie Atwell, needs a chimney?

Is it worth recycling wool?

I would say definitely, especially if it costs an arm and a leg in the first place, lots of people are put off  by the thought of lots of permed balls of undone re-wound yarn.  Cadet Moran is about 7 in the picture above - he's 13 now - and he loved his Noro Silver Thaw jumper.

Miss Belle got in on the act when I used up the oddments on a cardigan for her, this one is stored away for future knitted babies.

Miss Belle is 8 now and although she loves her big brothers cast-offs which is obviously the very best way of recycling  it just didn't suit her.

I was looking for an Olympic knitting project and found a Noro cardigan, I happened to have a child's jumper and a tank top hanging around once loved but now a bit sad.

I undid the sweater and top, not an easy job as I am such a stickler for hiding my ends and invisible sewing up, wound them on to my trusty Niddy Noddy and gave them a good soak.

450g of Noro Silk Garden and Silver Thaw, with an RRP of 9.95/50g ball I make that nearly £90.

What else to do with expensive woollens if you can't be bothered to undo them?  The cardigan above was made of the leftovers from the cardigan below which was an Annie Modesitt from the front of Vogue knitting.  Great when I was pregnant but after I took off the sleeves and made a bag and kitchener stitched the armholes, now it's just a massive very warm blanket.

When Miss Belle was sprouting out of her leftover cardigan I found some more leftovers and knitted a frill, it's in the future knitted babies box.

 This shawl ws Noro Silk Garden and it was just too Jemima Puddleduck so I undid it and it's now a fabulous entrelac scarf.

 Noro Kureyon cardigan later became cushions and bags.

Sometimes it's okay to just retire knitwear, I loved this Noro Cash Iroha and Blossom at the time but got sick of seeing it so it's tucked away to live another day.

The Noro Blossom and Kureyon is a lot longer than when originally knit and so Miss Bell will be clad in it this year.  She's still running rings around him.

This is another Noro with sparkle in it, I forget the name, it did about three years service, dress into tunic into vest because knitting is so accommodatingly stretchy, another for the future knitted babies collection.

So be industrious and creative with your woollens, they're worth it!

Le Moulin de Wijk

More makes for 2014 and available on my etsy shop.

Vintage needlepoint of Le Moulin de Wijk.

 Backed in velvet.

Lined in navy jumbo cord.

Up-cycled leather woven belt handles.