Free Motion Stitching

I took part in a Zoom stitching class with Janine Pope earlier this year. She creates a very distinctive kind of figure and the class was learning about her drawing style and teaching the basics so that we would be able to create our own figure. I can't find a website for Janine, but she does occasionally post on her Instagram page and it was there that I found out about her online classes. You can find her Instagram page here. It was a completely different way of doing free motion stitching for me. If you have been following me for a while, you will know that I have made cushions in the style of Poppy Treffry in the past. Using Poppy's technique, fabrics are cut to the right size and shape and stitched onto the front of the backing fabric. With Janine's approach, you stitch on the wrong side of the fabric, attaching fabric in different layers on the reverse (the right side of the fabric) and then trim the fabric close to the stitching. The workshop was several hours long, but it certainly didn't feel it as we were so busy drawing and then stitching. You can see my first effort in the photo above. I definitely want to try again. I think that they would make perfect presents for people, making personalised portraits of them, don't you? xxx

 

Farewell dear friend

I had to say goodbye to my beautiful Flo last week. She had been unwell for the last couple of weeks and an ultrasound scan showed several masses in her abdomen as well as enlarged lymph nodes. The vet said that there was nothing that could be done to help her so I made the decision for her to slip away while she was still sedated from her scan. She was my best girl and constant companion, especially after Mr JK died and throughout lockdown and the house feels horribly empty and quiet without her. I hope that she's curled up on Mr JK's lap with unlimited cheese Dreamies close at hand. Sleep well Flo. xxx

 

Julia and the hat

Once upon a time there was a girl called Julia. She very kindly offered to deliver a hand knitted hat to a friend for her birthday. The knitter was extremely grateful.

Julia loved the hat and thought that it suited her so well that she tried to take it away with her after giving it to the birthday girl!

The knitter was a kind-hearted soul and so she promised to knit Julia a special hat of her own in her favourite colour, purple.

Julia loved her new hat very much and wore it straight away. It was so warm and cosy.

She wore it every single time she went swimming in the sea, right through the year. (Yes, even in the winter!)

One winter's day, when Julia was swimming in the sea, a huge wave crashed into her. The force of the wave was so great that it knocked her off her feet and her precious hat got swept away into the North Sea. Julia was very sad.

Luckily for Julia, her knitter friend offered to make her a replacement hat. Julia was happy once more. She promised that she would never wear this special hat in the sea.

So if you ever come across a seal wearing a purple knitted hat, you know how this happened! xxx

 

A spot of stitching

I have been meaning to share these pretty stars with you since January! As part of a friend's birthday present, I arranged for an online Zoom stitching workshop with the designer Anna. You can take a look at her Instagram page here. Anna sent me a materials pack in advance so we had everything that we would need to make our own decorated stars. The hour's workshop went by so quickly, but we were all able to complete one star. My knowledge of embroidery stitches was a little bit rusty and I eventually managed to crack French knots! We added beads and sequins to our stars for some extra sparkle. I have plenty of felt left to make more stars - I should crack on with them now, rather than leave it until towards Christmas when I will no doubt have a gazillion other things to be doing! Watch this space! xxx

 

Flower Patch socks

I'm delighted to be able to share my new sock pattern with you. It's the first time I've really felt like doing any designing for several months and it feels great! I was inspired by a beautiful sock set that was dyed by Hayley who owns Ducky Darlings. She dyed lots of yarn in the colourway 'Once and Floral' as a charity yarn for the Flower Power Fund which raises money for Marie Curie UK. I decided to offer my pattern to the FP Fund too, so that all proceeds will be donated. It's such a worthwhile charity.  

The sock is knitted from the cuff down, and features a lace and garter stitch stitch pattern. I used a short-row heel but if you're an experienced sock knitter and prefer a heel flap and gusset, you could easily do that instead. The pattern works well with both variegated and semi-solid and speckled yarns. I've already started my second pair and used a sock set dyed by my friend Helena in the 'Summer Meadows' colourway, and I've posted a couple of photos of that sock. I have yarn in mind for a third pair too! 

The pattern is available on Ravelry for £4 and all the proceeds from the sale of every single pattern will be donated to Marie Curie UK for ever! If you'd like to buy a copy or gift a copy to a friend, you can find the pattern here. If you are unable to use Ravelry, please send me a message on josiekitten123 at gmail dot com and I will do my best to help you!

You can buy the special 'Once and Floral' skeins from Ducky Darlings until the end of May, so you only have ten days left to get your order in. I bought a sock set in superwash merino/nylon which came as a 100g skein of the main colour and three contrasting 10g miniskeins. Hayley has several options to choose from so take a look here!

If you knit a pair of Flower Patch socks, I'd love to see them, so please tag me in on social media when you post a photo! xxx

Flower Patch sock pattern

Once and Floral sock yarn

 

I'm back!

Hello! Apologies for such a long absence. It has all just felt a bit much recently. I had a flare up of my myositis which really knocked me back. It honestly felt like a massive achievement just to get myself up, dressed and downstairs some days! Living with a chronic illness is hard going at times. I was talking to my Occupational Therapist about it and afterwards did some research online. I don't want this post to be full of moans and self-pity, but when I read about how other sufferers were feeling, I felt relieved that it wasn't just me! If you'd like to read more about what it's like, have a read of this article. I shared it with my OT, and he shared it with his colleagues to give them a greater understanding. When you throw into that mix all the issues of isolation and anxiety that being classified as 'clinically extremely vulnerable' gave rise to during the Covid pandemic, it's no wonder that I have 'off' days.  Thank you so much for sticking around.

I do have lots of things to share with you - I have actually been uploading photos into draft posts since my last post at the end of March - so hopefully there will be some more regular blog posts over the coming weeks.

I had surgery to fit a portacath last month. Whilst this will make my regular IVIg infusions a whole lot easier as I won't have all the trauma of cannulation, it was yet another reminder that my condition isn't going away. But now that I've got my head around that, I'm glad that I've had it done. It's such a clever device - one end feeds up into the jugular vein and the other end is in the vena cava which goes into the heart. If you're interested, here's a link to read more about it. I've already had my next round of infusions via the port and all was good. I will say goodbye for now and I promise to be back very soon! xxx

A bit of a mishmash

I've been casting on things like it's going out of fashion recently. I know that if I just had a couple of things on the needles at any one time, I'd get them finished more quickly. The trouble is, my head is all over the place, and I can't seem to remain focused on anything. I've had another week of infusions and was all gowned up ready to go for surgery to have a port fitted when they realised that they didn't have the right size port available. So I'm on a 'short notice' list waiting to be called back. Plus I am waiting for the results of some X-rays as my last MRI scan showed up some issues. There's always something! Thankfully my scrappy socks have brought me a lot of pleasure, so much so that as soon as I'd finished the first pair, I started a second! Here's the finished pair...

and here's the start of the second pair ...

I use the stitch markers to mark every 10 rounds to save me from having to start counting from the cuff each time. This sock is now finished (no photos yet) and is awaiting its partner. I finished a pair of plain vanilla socks for my local rheumatology consultant and she was delighted with them. They used an Opal 4ply yarn; you can't go wrong with Opal yarn for socks.

I have another pair of Opal yarn socks on the go too - these are for one of the rheumatology sisters whose favourite colour is green.

I have started a new sock design, still very much in its early stages. It took me at least ten attempts to knit the short row heel, and I think I'm going to have to unpick it as I always forget until too late that I need to knit the leg longer if I'm using that kind of heel! It's currently sat in the naughty corner until I feel ready to tackle it again.

I don't think I shared my latest shawl with you. It's super-quick to knit as it uses chunky yarn. The pattern is called Second Love and it's by Melanie Berg. I used Stylecraft Softie yarn as I had some in my stash and it's really cosy and snuggly. 

I have two jumpers on the go too! The first is called Hush by Tin Can Knits and has a gorgeous, cabled yoke. The second is the Elton sweater by Joji Locatelli and has rows of 4ply and suri alpaca which feels as light as a cloud. There are more jumpers that I am itching to cast on, but I'm not going to (I don't think!) until I've cast one of the current ones off! What's on your needles right now? xxx