French Knots

Hurry, hurry

With the children off on Easter Holidays for two weeks April will slip away and before I know it the big day will be here! Hurrah! But it has motivated me to finish off some projects that have been hanging around for ages....quick....hurry .....sew,sew,sew.

 

So a large linen antimacassar becomes a tote bag, ready for visiting the park when the summer comes. Lots of room for drinks, rug, suntan lotion and the brolly we'll need if this summer is like the last one! I loved the deep lace border which, folded back on itself, makes a great decorative edge for the bag. I've stitched a couple of pockets inside too so I'm not groping around for essentials.

 

This is a lovely blend of rescued fabrics - doily was given to me at a jumble sale as I bought some tray cloths I must have looked like the right recipient and the lady thought nobody else would want it! The backing is ticking from the Textile Fair at the Armitage Centre years ago and the linen is an old tea towel that I found at a car boot sale. So it must have cost me at least 50p to put togther and all of 10 minutes sewing time once I actually sat down and got on with it. I like it enormously and felt Mr FK was not enthusiastic enough when I showed it to him - 'well I'll blog about it' I harumphed, 'they'll like it!' 

Lastly a bunch of bunnies have been completed, just in time for Easter

 

Little felty lovies to sit on your egg and keep it warm. Or just to decorate it if it's the chocolate variety.

Have a lovely weekend!

Knitted Patchwork

I just can't get to grips with crochet no matter how much I want to make a granny square or ripple blanket! So I was delighted to find a pattern for knitted hexagons over at Knitty Vintage and Rosy which is easy to follow and saves my brain having to try too hard.

   

They knit up quickly so I might make a blanket with them, or if I get tired of stitching them together it'll be a cushion cover! The wool is the Louisa Harding silk that I picked up in the sale and I'm loving the richness of the colours together.

I haven't done much knitting since finishing the little jumper as my hands, and especially my thumb joints, have been aching a lot. But no need to worry it's just pregnancy related carpel tunnel syndrome! Great, I can add it to my growing list of pregnancy ailments along with my malfunctioning bladder, worn out back and  sudden urge to clean out cupboards!

This and that

Well thank you for all the good wishes and blog recommendations, lots of new ones to add to my list, which was handy last week as I was taking it easy (backache/sciatica) so I was kept entertained reading and being inspired. So much connects us all around the world and reading through a blog's archives is like finding a really great book about my favorite things.

My Little Helper acted as random number generator and chose the number eight which is Lina so the little parcel will be on it's way when I can waddle down to the post office. 

I thought I'd show you my new spotty slippers ( the plan is I don't need to bother trying to bend to put socks on with slippers to keep my feet cosy instead)

 

Hmm what's the big boulder doing in the way??

Goodness I think I must be growing an elephant, 34 weeks. Thanks to My Little Helper for his photography help!

I've finished the sock yarn jumper, my first knitted garment with seams - socks are easy to finish off but this needed to fit together. I read up on matress stitch but as usual just winged it in the end.

 

A cute little jumper, all I need now is a cute little baby to go in it!

200

Well I've burbled on for 200 posts, who would have thought it. I've really enjoyed blogging and the connections it enables you to make. When I published my first tentative post I never imagined the network of inspiring women across the globe that I was joining, though we are miles apart we all share such similar interests and priorities - family, home, creating, growing, connecting. Thank you to everyone who reads French Knots, I truly appreciate all the comments you leave.

 

(please ignore horrid extractor fan!)  

In time honoured fashion I'm having a giveaway! Remember the tea towels? Well I've now made some jaunty bunting and a little blind for the bathroom and thought they were such jolly colours that I'd include a pack of them in my giveaway. As a packet of tea towels seemed a rather lacklustre way of celebrating I'm also including one of the lovely old tablecloths from my hoard.

 

So just leave me a comment sharing the most inspiring blog that you read and I'll pick a winner on Sunday. I really enjoy Domesticali, Blue Yonder,   Maya Made and the one hundred and eight six other blogs that I subscribe to!

 

Lovely fabric

My Little Helper is popular with the girls in his class and has been invited to quite a few'girly' parties, which is great as I get to make little girl presents.

 

This is one of my favourites at the moment, hopefully the little pocket is big enough for the Tooth Fairy to leave the going rate. She has been known to forget to call in this house and on one tearful occassion popped in while we were all having breakfast to collect the tooth and drop off the money. We think she must have been rather tired the night before! Whoops!

I have had a little splurge on ebay and added some pretty spring time fabrics, which at the moment I'm 'saving', as you do, just because they are so pretty. Which project will ever be good enough to use them up?!

   

And I was a lucky winner over at greenolive and look what arrived in the post

   

her fab designs, which she prints herself on lovely linen. This too is sitting on my desk, being stroked. I'm going to make something for the baby's room but at the moment can't bear to cut into it's red and cream cheerfulness.Thank you so much Martine, it is wonderful!

Hope the sun is shining on you too and have a chilled out Mothering Sunday if you are in the UK. 

Settling in

My new little sewing room is finished, I just need to arrange all my treasures. Fabric needs sorting as it is in cardboard boxes and hard to find what I want. I'm also led by trying different fabrics together when planning a project, so without the visual inspiration they take longer to get off the ground.

I prefer the little room to the large one I had before for some reason, it's cosy and snug. My pretty little den.

  

Thanks to Mr FKs wall building, door frame making, painting and curtain hanging skills it is up and running and already looking messy....I mean  lived in! The door was going spare from a friend renovating a couple of houses and will probably get a lime wash type finish at some point.

 

The curtain is two re-purposed tablecloths, rescued from the jumble for a pound each. The larger one had a mark in the centre so I stitched the smaller one in place to hide it. Such wonderful, detailed work, months of effort given new life in my sewing room. 

 

Just so you don't think it's all calm serenity, here is the messy view of the shelves I need to sort out! And the Little Bo Peep outfit my Mum made for a fancy dress competition when I was about 5. 

WIP

 

My first proper garment! Not counting socks of course. I've been reading up on finishing, so hopefully there'll be a cute little baby sized jumper soon.

And what do you do on a wet Friday? Well inspired by Lavender House I nipped off to Wilkos to get some tea towels

 

then chopped them into big squares, mixed the stripes up a bit, 20 minutes at the sewing machine and abracadabra!

the perfect antidote to grey skies. I'm going to try out my walking foot and see if I can quilt it, backing it with a recycled blanket for summer picnics. Grand total 2 quid, excellent. Because we are having a summer this year aren't we?! Just planning ahead.

Have a lovely weekend!

A little sewing

 

I have been continuing with my plan to make as many presents as possible this year, to keep costs down and also to reduce my fabric mountain. And of course because I believe that handmade gifts carry with them the love and care that went into their creation. 

This is a game I put together for one of my nephews. A noughts and crosses board from large checked fabric with a zigzag stitch playing area marked out and felt counters stuffed with soup mix. You be green and I'll be blue! A drawstring bag and stamped label finished it off.

I'm finding it hard to come up with ideas for men, what do you knit or sew for men? I'm also making ahead so presents are ready and waiting for the weeks following the baby's arrival as I think I might have my hands full!

Unless I can work out how to knit while feeding.I think I learnt to pretty much feed while asleep during night feeds with My Little Helper, all went well apart from the time I awoke with a jump sitting up in my bed in the wee small hours and to my horror had lost the baby. Was he suffocating under the covers? - no, of course he was back in his cradle, just where I had put him before falling back into bed.  I always felt there was something magical about feeding in the silence of the middle of the night, the world around me sleeping and only us awake. Peaceful, mindful ,nourishing for both of us.Mothering at it's best. I still can't quite believe that I'm lucky enough to have that gift again, soon.

Moving forward

 

Winter flowering jasmine last time, now it's sweetly scented hyacinths and cheerful primulas. Despite the grey skies and lack of sun I'm trying to create a bit of spring to cheer myself up. I'm sure the fact that I have only 8 weeks to go until the baby arrives is pushing me along the path seeking spring too. I feel like I have been hibernating this winter, staying at home feeling ropey and waiting for spring.

Mr FK has been busy creating a new bedroom out of my old sewing room, a large room with two windows, which has now been divided into two with a little hall area

   

this is the view into the bedroom which will soon hold a cot and other baby acoutrements. I'm lucky to still have a little sewing room and am trying to whittle down my fabric mountain to fit it all in. I'm a dreadful hoarder and a firm believer in things'coming in useful' at some point in the future so the destashing isn't going too well yet!

 

My Christmas present is finally in use, just had to wait for the wall to be built, and now hangs in my sewing room so I can play with the colours and rearrange them. A few flowers and a bit of colour, I'm easily pleased!

Is it nearly here?

Spring, is it on the way? I hope so, I'm tired of dull grey days and long for a bit of warmth and sunshine. I've been watching out for signs

 

 

Yellow blossom to herald the return of the sun, soon please!