Cake and chicken - mmm!

I've been enjoying sewing lately.

For Christmas I gave out sewn birds in pretty fabric. Pictures to come.

I completed another paper-pieced quilt square. The pattern is free from winnowing.com

Right now the cake slice may look strange or elongated at the bottom but all four sides will be covered (sewn over) when the next pieces are joined to it.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have recently joined Pintrest. It can be a great waste of time but I've also found inspiration on the site. I look for cute or interesting projects to do, like the Little Chicken Bean Bags. Super quick, easy and so cute! (I added tail "feathers" embellishment. It's filled with small tapioca.)

Happy crafting!

New pursuits

I am still knitting but lately it's taken a back shelf to sewing. This year I want to expand my creativity and learn new crafting skills.

I've always sewn, but just before Christmas I began to quilt. I started small. Here is my first small quilt (about 14 x 14 inches):

This small quilt is based on V & Co's baby doll quilt. Yes, there are a few mistakes but overall I'm happy with it - maybe it's the bright colours?

Paper piecing sounded intriguing to me and so I started with a free tutorial from Piece By Number (a direct download of the tutorial is here). If I can find the original link from their page I will post it.

Here is mine:

The internet has a lot of free sewing and paper piecing patterns available. Pintrest is a great source for ideas, patterns, and can be a great way to spend your time.

Happy creating!

Val :)

Van freebie - afghan square

I have adapted my original van design to make an afghan square to participate in the Ravelry group "A Year in a Blanket." Here is the pattern:


VAN (afghan square)

Copyright 2007 and 2009 by Val Campbell (http://nimbleneedles.blogspot.com)
Supplies: Afghan yarn and 5mm needles.
Model stitched in Bernat Berella “4” in “Sage.”
Finished size: 13 1/2” wide by 13 1/4” long.

Cast on 50 stitches.

Rows 1 to 6: Knit across.
Row 7 and all remaining odd-numbered rows: knit across.
Row 8 and all even-numbered rows to row 22: k3, p44, k3
Row 24: k3, p11, k3, p17, k3, p10, k3
Row 26: k3, p10, k2, p1, k2, p15, k2, p1, k2, p9, k3
Row 28: k3, p5, k4, p1, k2, p1, k2, p1, k13, p1, k2, p1, k2, p1, k4, p4, k3
Row 30: k3, p6, k4, p1, k3, p1, k15, p1, k3, p1, k4, p5, k3
Row 32: k3, p6, k5, p3, k17, p3, k5, p5, k3
Row 34: k3, p6, k33, p5, k3
Row 36: k3, p6, k33, p5, k3
Row 38: k3, p6, k33, p5, k3
Row 40: k3, p6, k22, p8, k2, p6, k3
Row 42: k3, p6, k22, p7, k2, p7, k3
Row 44: k3, p6, k22, p6, k2, p8, k3
Row 46: k3, p6, k22, p5, k2, p9, k3
Row 48: k3, p6, k28, p10, k3
Row 50: k3, p7, k26, p11, k3
Row 52 and all even-numbered rows to row 68: k3, p44, k3
Rows 70 to 76: Knit across.

Bind off.

Copyright 2007 and 2009 by Val Campbell.
http://nimbleneedles.blogspot.com/


More pattern adaptations and new patterns to come!

Happy knitting!

Christmas Past

I haven't posted on here lately, but I have been knitting constantly. The multitude of Christmastime scarves that I knit as gifts were well-received.


Super-Fast, Ultra-Cozy Scarf by Jen Reilly (free):




These were very fun and very fast to knit up. These went to my kids' teachers and I received great raves for them.

Palindrome: A Reversible Cable Scarf:

Filippi Scarf from the book "One-Skein Wonders" by Tamara Del Sonno:

The Big Little Dude Scarf in linen stitch (my design):

LINEN STITCH: Multiple of 2 stitches.

Row 1: * wyif sl1 purlwise, wyib k1 *

Row 2: * wyib sl 1 purlwise, wyif p1 *
Cast on with darkest colour of yarn and knit 2 rows. Add in second colour and repeat these 2 rows. Continue alternating between two different colours of yarn to achieve desired pattern.
--FO: Cast on 20 stitches. Final finished scarf is 7” x 40”



Cameo Faggot Stitch Scarf (free):

Easiest Farrow Rib Scarf (free):

More photos of these works are on Ravelry

Happy knitting!

My first sweater

I've decided that since I've been knitting for almost a year it's time to start on my first sweater project. My niece's 15th birthday is coming up at the end of September and so the sweater will go to her when it's complete.

Ravelry is a haven for patterns (read: free) and so I selected the Springtime Tee designed by Melissa Leapman. I think it's gorgeous and surprisingly there are only three of us on Ravelry who are working on it. (I'm using Bernat Handicrafter yarn in off-white: it's soft, inexpensive, and because it's 100% cotton so will wash up easily.)

Here is the back, with the first lace pattern repeat completed:



This is a close-up of the same:



This is how the lace repeat on BACK piece looks when finished:



I'm loving how this is going and I think that my niece will like the completed sweater. I've finished the St st (measuring 13 1/3 inches from the bottom) and right now I'm working on shaping the armholes. It looks like I may need to frog a bit - either I'm counting wrong, or the pattern is wrong... :-)

I'm back...!

Things have been utterly turned upside down in my life as of late. It has been an extremely stressful time, but I have found some time in this chaotic life to knit.

I've finally delved into the famous ballband dishcloth. I enjoyed knitting up the pattern and the colour choices are virtuously endless:



Friends have been my saving grace during this trying time, and so I knitted this Relay Angel for one such friend:



I've always wanted to knit up the Little Houses cloth. It is a more detailed pattern and, I admit, it was frogged a few times because I wasn't paying close enough attention...



A wonderfully fun project to do was the mother earth illusion cloth. It was wonderful to see the pattern come together. I would like to eventually design my own illusion cloth, time permitting!



I love how it turned out with an incomplete border (the little bookworm was also appreciated).

It seems that I always know someone who is pregnant. Three friends have already had babies this year and there is one more baby waiting to arrive next month. This free pattern for Bunny Blanket Bunny is just so cute that they are probably all going to get one! (Photos of the completed bunnies to come!)

Inspiration! (At last!)

Okay. After a few weeks of hiatus I've finally been inspired to resume my knitting. This comes after a lot of frogging of my first hat project.

I guess that inspiration comes in many forms, and one of the best forms of inspiration is that of other knitters who are still utterly enthusiastic about their work.

Such is my book club friend, Pat, who knit yet another sweater for my eldest son (this was the second one). She actually asked me if I wanted the sweater! She has been knitting a while, and she clearly knits because she loves to. The sweater fits very nicely (photos to come) and is BEAUTIFUL! Thank you so much for your generousity, Pat!

Another friend is from Ravelry. Brad is quite an accomplished knitter for being a newbie. He recently began crocheting, and is now knitting and crocheting with a vengence. If we can both get our acts together we will be knitting a hat together. He, unfortunately, has a growing list of WIPs. We've discussed this problem. Then he met a REALLY nice yarn lady who, after he told of his hat-knitting frustrations, "inspired" him to buy Alpaca ($$) to knit a sweater. She lured him in with the line, "If you can knit a sweater, you can knit a hat." I burst out laughing when he told me that. Of course "she was SOOOOOOOO nice!" ;-) In all fairness though, he IS finishing off projects, so it's not like his WIPs aren't being worked on.

I took pics last night of the Easy Rib Hat that I'm finally working on again. Here is my progress:



Happy knitting!