~Gingham Shell Top~

I'm struggling with both money and time at the moment, but have managed odd half hours this week to make a top for myself. Have lost a stone and a half so I need some new work clothes but have no pennies :(

I get a free paper pattern each month with my Prima magazine subscription I got as a gift at Christmas.  This month's is this top and skirt...

 It comes as a full size paper pattern (great), but printed on 2 sides, so you have to trace some pieces off (not so great - grrr!)  I think the sizes are small too (Bust 34" Waist 26" for a 12) but I cut out a 12 as I'm usually a 10/12 now.

I used 90cm of cheap gingham (£2 a metre) so in effect it was a toile to see how it fitted.
How I wish I had a mannequin!
( If anyone's great aunt Gertie is getting rid of one please let me know.)
This is the finished top...

It fits okay but is snug on the waist/hips and is also quite short.  I'm going to add half a cm to the side seams below the bust darts on my next attempt.



 

Didn't have the requisite concealed zip so made do with a normal one, but it looks okay; although I look like a broad shouldered weightlifter in this photo.

 

 The edges at the top of the zip are a tad wonky, but isn't that what cardigans are for?

It will be fine for work.  When I am office-based I have to wear black and white as a uniform, which is at worst morbid and funereal, and best, like a Betty's waitress!
Next attempt is in this polka dot cotton...

Has anyone else been sewing clothes this week?

~Easter Chicks~

I've been knitting these chicks for a few weeks now in preparation for Easter.

They're the one that hide a Creme Egg inside. A free pattern and tutorial for them can be found on Susan's blog Evie's Gran.
I've used leftovers of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in various colours as well as yellow.  These ones are also sat on yummy Lindt mini-eggs too, and are for the small folk in our family.

I'm taking this clutch of chicks to work this week to hopefully sell to my lovely colleagues.

I especially love the little beige one desperately peeping over the  yellow chick 2nd from the right.
Come on Spring weather, where are you? With snow about here in Yorkshire again, I'm tempted to make them all a woolly scarf.

~Thrify Handknitted Pressies & Tea Cosy Pattern~

I thought I'd do a 'Ta Da' post for this titchy tea cosy I've knitted for my sister-in-law's birthday at the end of March. It fits snugly on it's teapot-for-one which I found on my vintage travels.  How come I always love (and want to keep) the things I knit for other people?!?
This project has been knitted from my wool stash of odds, ends and the never-even-started projects. Having done a bit of blog reading tonight,  I would wholeheartedly like to join Tina at Tea and Woolly Socks in her No More Buying Yarn Stash Busting Campaign.
So here's the tea cosy...

It's a made-up pattern; the main body is knitted in Louisa Harding Fleuris, colour Meteor - a 70% Bamboo 30% Wool yarn. Using your stash makes you choose colour combinations that maybe you wouldn't normally, if you get my meaning.  I think that it is a good thing. 

The pattern; I knit this in chunky wool on 6mm needles.

The main body basketweave pattern was done in 2 halves by casting on 40sts, or a multiple of 4 sts, 

Row 1 Cable 4 fwd to end

Row 2 Purl 

Row 3 K2, then Cable 4 back to last 2 sts, K2

Row 4 Purl

Then for shaping I just make it up as I go along. Usually it's K2 tog across the knit rows only, then draw remaining stitches up. The roses hide this bit anyway! The roses and leaves are from the tea cosy book I have posted about before, Really Wild Tea Cosies by Loani Prior.

~Tea Cosy~

I finished sewing up my tea cosy, knitted at the seaside last weekend. I've adapted a pattern from a womens magazine from a certain era; you could see it in my previous seaside blog post. It's almost certainly from the 1950's...ahem, and I quote...
       " Gay for Giving! Knit a handsome present in time for Christmas....tassel trimmed cheerful tea cosy"

Well if you start it today, if you're anything like me, maybe it will be finished for Christmas!

Pattern
Double knitting wool & No. 8 needles
Cast on 50sts and knit 4 rows.
Work in pattern
Row 1 K
Row 2 K2, * P4, K2 rep from * to end
Rows 3 to 6   Rpt last rows twice more
Row 7    K2,  P to last 2 sts, K2
Rows 8 to 10  Rpt last row 3 times more.
Last 10 rows form the pattern. Rpt til 2nd row of 6th pattern has been worked
Next row K1 *sl.1,  K2tog,  PSSO  rpt from * to last st,  K1. (this makes holes for the drawstring)
Next row K2 tog  9 times
Next row  Knit
Next row K twice into every stitch (front & back)  (this increases the stitches for a frill)
Knit 5 rows then cast off.
Sew it up leaving holes for the spout & handle, I plaited wool to make a drawstring thread, then with a safety pin threaded it through the eyelet holes and pulled it tight. Then I knitted some flowers to decorate the tassels, embellished with wooden buttons. If I could crochet I would have crocheted them; but I can't, so I didn't!!
Let me know how you get on.