Knitted socks

I knitted some socks years ago from a magazine pattern, wore them once and ended up unravelling them because they were far too lose and slipping down on the sole of  my feet - look at that ridiculous shape!:

So I've since rekindled my liking for knitting socks and finished some ankle ones 18 months ago or so, and I love those.  Started them with the Judy's magic cast on which is a great technique.
I've now bought Toe-Up 2-At-A-Time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes as I was suffering from the 2nd sock syndrome - so watch this space.....  And I have a small (ish) stash of the sock yarn from the YarnYard which I got through the Small Skein Society last year, so I won't need to buy more yarn (or will I...) :-)

Knitted earrings

The talented Erica wrote a pattern for knitted wire earrings, and years ago when I was in a knitting machine phase I knitted quite a lot for presents.  Now and then I get the knitting machine from under the bed and make some more...

Spiral geese mini quilt

I'm nearly finished this spiral geese mini quilt and  it's been so fun doing some foundation piecing again: I find I can really get some precise sewing with this method - and it's been doubly fun as I've done it with my new Janome machine which my FIL purchased for me, how incredible is that!:  he just offered to buy it after I said I was saving my £2 coins to buy a new machine, and he took pity on me: how about that ladies!?
And the local Fabric Shop supplies Janome, which I have gotten used to, so I am the proud owner of a new TXL607 :-)

Baby quilt for Marc

I made this first baby quilt for my nephew Robin (in April 2012), using a charm pack I had got from the States, and my 1/4" seams are really not neat but if you don't look too close it's not shocking :-)
That was a fun quilt to make anyway!

Thistle quilt

I've been going to quilting classes for over 2 years now, first in the Sew Materialistic shop in Ayr, and then with Sheila's normal quilting classes.  Sheila kindly designed this double bed quilt on her quilting software, and it took me a wee while to complete it (ha!) but managed it - it's in FV(favourite daughter)'s colours, purple and a touch of turquoise.  Now the twist is that once I had finished it, I was told by FV that she couldn't possibly use a double bed quilt on a single bed!  So it's been out on our bed during the winter, and I have actually enjoyed it a lot!

Fireside cardigan - finished

This Fireside Cardi *has* been finished for ages but my blogging time has completely been taken over by other stuff (life?!).  So anyway, I am really chuffed with the way this cardi has turned out and I have loooved knitting it - even in the high summer heat!  The one hitch is that one of the fronts has a line 1/2 way up because I didn't check the dye lots when buying the wool - despite Antje at the Yarncake warning me!  Talk about learning through your mistakes....see the line on the left handside when looking at this photo?:

It's Garnstudio DROPS Nepal.

Bringing up kids

A few interesting links:

• Three Huge Mistakes We Make Leading Kids…and How to Correct Them
• How to Raise a Kid Who Isn't Whiny and Annoying
• How to talk to little girls
• How to fix your child's attitude
• a better way to say sorry
• weary? watch this
• 30 active indoor activities for kids
• What’s the ‘Sweet Spot’ of Difficulty For Learning?
• Teacher to parents: About THAT kid (the one who hits, disrupts and influences YOUR kid)
• 28 rules for fathers of sons
• 50 rules for dads of daughters
• the race to nowhere in youth sports
• How ‘Deprogramming’ Kids From How to ‘Do School’ Could Improve Learning
• Why some of us don't have one true calling

Stitch Gathering 25 August 2013

Well, I soooooo enjoyed spending yesterday sewing at the Stitch Gathering 2013!
The organisation was fantastic, and we were given the most amazing goodie bag shortly after arrival - still can't believe all the stuff that was inside!  With the lucky dip and the fat quarter exchange, came home a very happy girl - and that's not mentioning the actual classes I joined and the lovely ladies I chatted to!

We were asked to embellish our ticket, and all 65 tickets will be turned into a quilt to be auctioned off next year.  Here is the ticket that I embellished -

Here's an overview of some of the tickets that were done:

We were also asked to make up a name badge for another participant, and here is mine:

Again there were some incredible name badges: the imagination of those ladies is something else.... here is the one that was made for me by Alison: a glasses/scissors carrying case! how neat!

back of name badge

front of name badge

Roll on next year!

Knitting bag

Also one of my latest sewing class finishes: a knitting bag - I've been faffing about for months with really small bags, so at last I've concocted one, inspired by Yvette's lovely work.  There are 2 inside pockets and the handle makes it easy to carry about!

Divided basket by Noodlehead

My daughter and I have been attending sewing classes at our local fabric shop, Sew Materialistic in Ayr, every 2nd Saturday, for about 18 months now. We both love going as we make it a girl's day out, doing a bit of shopping, lunch (at Cafe Le Monde) and then going to the sewing class.  It is a 'mother and daughter' class, and at the beginning we both tackled the same project, so we have both some bags, cushions etc - [photos for another post....] Now I just bring my own pattern and make it there.

So at a recent class I made a divided basket (from Noodlehead) and just love it: will definitely make some more, though next time I will use some stronger interfacing, or even wadding, as the sides are a wee bit floppy....But once again the Noodlehead pattern instructions were nice and clear with photos for ease of reference: 1st class stuff!

Fireside cardigan

I started this cardi back in May and have never knitted such a big garment in such a fast time - but then the needles are 5.5 and the wool rather chunky (Garnstudio DROPS Nepal)! It has been a labour of love though in the summer heat!  I have finished the back piece and started the 1st sleeve: going alright now, after having unravelled about 5 times!
Finished item in another post soon.... honest!

Noodlehead bag

Before going on holidays I was determined to make myself a new bag and chose the Super Tote pattern from Noodlehead.  It was very easy to put together together, the instructions were great and and I love the finished result.

The downside is that it is so big, it is always very heavy to carry around!! I know, I'm never happy!!
Also the fabric for the handles is a spotty red and the dye is running - aaargh!  Esp as it has been so hot, all my tops have a reddish mark on the right shoulder!  I have no idea as to the fabrics names, sorry!  I'd better get my facts right for the next posts....

I have made several totes 241 from Noodlehead too, mostly as presents, and really like that pattern.  Next on my list of things to do is Noodlehead's divided basket

Birth post

Finally, after months of humming and howing about creating  a blog, TwoPinsInAPod is born, hurrah!  This is mostly about sharing my craft activities with friends, but also to keep a record for myself of what I do - esp as there can be months between the start and finish of a project, and I always curse myself for not taking a note of needle sizes, tension etc.....I might also put snippets of holidays now and then....

Besides, I have been so immersed in the world of blogs (reading them, that it is), that jumping on the blogging bandwagon was only a matter of time!

So, first post is from my parents' house where we are finishing off our French holidays - with 30°C, everyone is chilling out after a really nice lunch. We have had the most amazing weather in Brittany with similar temperatures: not that usual there any more!

Finally what better day to start a blog: on Bastille day!