I'm Knitting a Mini Jubilee Bunting!

Tea & Jubilee 

The May issues of the British knitting magazines

 have finally landed in the States.

I've been watching for them since I knew they would be filled with Jubilee goodies

and sure enough they are!

Mini Jubilee Bunting

I was so inspired by the magazines 

that I'm now (last minute) knitting a mini-bunting 

to adorn my Diamond Jubilee tea party table. 

I hated to miss out on all the Jubilee knitting 

so this little project is one I can tackle 

as my hand and fingers continue to heal.

I'm knitting my bunting with a Jubilee Celebration Yarn kit

that came as a "free gift" with the  Let's Knit magazine, issue 54.

There are patriotic projects for the yarn in the magazine but after seeing the adorable 

 mini-buntings by Nicole at Nicole and the bee, 

I opted to use my yarn kit for a mini-bunting like hers. 

You can find the pattern on Ravelry called Knitted Bunting

and modify it to a mini size, like Nicole did.

I also love Jane Brocket's knit Bunting 

and borrowed her style idea

 by putting my knit bunts on red rick-rack 

for a vintage1950's look.  

Quite fitting I think, since after all, 

Queen Elizabeth was crowned Queen in 1952 

and had her Coronation in 1953. 

 Jubilee Knits

All three British magazines are filled with brilliant

Jubilee projects including:

 Union Jack flag and cushion, several crown hats, corgi hat, a crochet picnic throw, several buntings, pom pom tea cosy, Jubilee coin purse, egg cosy and a placemat just to name a few.

 And all the magazines came with free gifts.

I love that about British magazines! 

Cool Knitannia

The Simply Knitting magazine came with a free pattern book called

"Cool Knitannia".

I can't wait to knit that adorable tea cosy on its cover 

with crowns and hearts 

to use with my Emma Bridgewater pottery.

Gotta run for now though...

I'm off to knit more bunts. 

(In the photos:  Emma Bridgewater Pottery and Betty and Barclay Union Jack Bunting.)

Hail Britannia!

 Hail Britannia!

You don't have to be a Brit

to be excited about the 

Queen's Diamond Jubilee!  

I'm quite excited and plan on celebrating

 with tea parties and luncheons

all Jubilee Weekend long!

I had planned on knitting Debbie Bliss' Union Jack flag

and her retro Tea Cozy  for my Jubilee tea parties.  

Unfortunately due to my ganglion cysts and hand surgery, my knitting projects of the last six months have been put on hold. 

In the meantime, 

since I'm not knitting much,

I have enjoyed seeing the Diamond Jubilee 

patterns that have debuted in the past few months.  

I thought I would share a few of my favorites. 

Here they are:

 Diamond Stole

I adore lace 

and love Susan Crawford's Diamond Stole. 

It's one of 14 designs in Susan's Coronation Knits 

collection featuring designs inspired from 

Queen Elizabeth's 1950's Coronation era.

Jubilee Bunting

No Jubilee celebration is complete unless you have bunting!

I love this Jubilee Bunting pattern

 by Gemma Atkinson 

for Rowan.
And, it's a free pattern!

Jubilee Placemat

Naturally, the British knitting magazines have special 

Jubilee projects in them. 

I love this Jubilee Placemat 

from the UK's The Knitter, Issue 45.  

I love the placemat's photo styling, too.  

I would love to sit down at that table for an English breakfast!

Knittania!

And, in case you're wondering about my adorable 

"Knittania" Union Jack tea mug...

my Ravely pen pal Jo sent it to me 

all the way from England

 to "cheer me up" after hand surgery.  

If you love knitting and Britain like me,

you can find the Knitannia tea mugs by Mason Cash

 at Lakeland. 

Hail Britannia!

(Photo Credits:  Diamond Stole/Susan Crawford, Jubilee Bunting/Rowan 

and Jubilee Placemat, The Knitter.)

(In the photos:  Brick Stitch Tea Cozy hand-knit by me and Union Jack bunting by Betty and Barclay. 

Out on the Town!

Vintage Clutch

I'm ready for a night "out on the town"!

I've been easing my way back into knitting with felting projects.

For some reason,

I think that knitting with two strands of yarn on bigger needles is easier on my fingers and hand as I recover from hand surgery.  

It's been challenging knitting since I still have swelling and numbness (on my long finger) 

even now 8 weeks post surgery.  

Physical therapy is helping and selecting fun "felted" projects seems to inspire me 

to pick up the needles every few days. 

I decided that my felted tea party hat needed a matching purse 

so this week I knit and felted a darling clutch purse called

 Vintage Clutch. 

The pattern is very easy to knit and a well written pattern.  

My version is knit in Cascade 220, color 9419/Vermeer Blue.  

The purse takes less than two skeins and is knit with the yarn doubled.  It's finished size is 6" x 12".

Here are a few before and after photos of my purse.

 Pre-felting

Here's how the purse looks pre-felting.

 Felted

Here's how the purse looks after a few cycles in the washing machine with hot water, 

a little soap and a little magic!

G.G.'s brooch

The most fun part of this project is the finishing work 

and determining what brooch or pin 

you will embellish your handbag with.

Since the designer named it Vintage Clutch...

I think it's perfect to use a vintage pin on it. 

I used a vintage brooch from my jewelry box that belonged to my great-grandmother. 

 I called my great-grandmother G.G. and she is the one 

who taught me to knit and crochet when I was a little girl.  

G.G.'s brooch is a vintage Weiss rhinestone pin 

and very special to me.  

I know my G.G. would love that her pin and love of knitting 

live on through me.  

Happy Mother's Day

Hand-made Cards

When you care to send the very best...

there's nothing like a hand-made card.  

I've been making my mom 

hand-made cards for years.

This year her Mother's Day card
is made with upcycled
Emma Bridgewater catalog photos.  

Happy Mother's Day!

Fit for a Queen!

 Fit for a Queen!

Ta da...

here's my first "post surgery" project,

a knit and felted hat

that even Queen Elizabeth II 

would look lovely wearing!

I haven't been so excited about knitting in such a long time...

this hat was so much fun to create and embellish!

The hat pattern is Vivian by Designer, Lisa Cruse.

Vivian is Lisa's signature hat and is named for her grandmother. 

I have admired Lisa's felted hats for quite some time and am so excited that I finally made one.  

I think Lisa's hats could very easily become addicting.  

The possibilities of embellishing them are endless.  

I had the chance to chat with Lisa by phone yesterday. 

I found out that we both share a love for Victoria Magazine,

tea, cooking, travel, romantic style and pretty hats. 

Lisa is really more of an artist than a knitter. 

She has been artistic all her life and her love of color, fiber and creativity are evident in her designs. 

I admire her ability to turn a  felted design into a work of art.  Her trademark style is magnificent embroidery, wool needle felting, applique and silk flower embellishing on her designs.  

Her most recent design is her sweet Bertie Bonnet....

which looks like it stepped right out of a Jane Austen novel from
the Regency period.  Lisa travels the world and does workshops on her embellishing techniques.  

I would love to take a workshop from her someday!

Pre-Felting

My Vivian hat is a test knit for my lys Knitique. 

Knitique is having a class called "Fit for a Queen" 

where you can learn how to knit, felt and embellish your hat.  

The hat class will celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee 

with a tea party on the Jubilee Weekend where we will all wear our hats, of course!

Lisa's hat pattern is well written and an easy knit. 

Most knitters can probably knit it in just a few days. 

The magic begins for this hat once you felt it and then 

embellish it. I've done a bit of felting before and am always

 a bit nervous during the felting process, fearing that my project may shrink, too, much.

I kept a pretty close eye on my hat during felting.

After the hat is felted, it's time to block and shape.

Lisa has great tips and  techniques
for felting and blocking on her website. 

For the Vivian hat, she recommends blocking the hat
with a dessert plate "right side up" 

in the brim to make it flat.
I followed her advice and it worked like a charm!

Fit for a Queen!

I think the most fun of this entire hat making process is 

embellishing the hat!

I've had interest in millinery and flower making so I chose to decorate my hat 

with silk style "raggedy roses".

I was inspired by Lisa's Raggedy Ribbonry Roses kit 

that you can purchase on her website to decorate hats. 

I used "regal colors' and tartan trim, 

 "Fit for a Queen", of course!

Now, I can't wait to wear my hat 

to the Diamond Jubilee Tea Party!

(In the photos:  Adorable hand-made Union Jack bunting by Etsy seller Betty and Barlcay, 

Emma Bridgewater Union Jack Tea Pot and vintage Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Mug.)

Make Do and Mend

Reduce

Today is Earth Day.

I've always cared about Mother Earth.

When I was 10 years old I started an ecology club in grade school

called the Helping Hands because I cared about the environment.  

I care about the environment even more today

and do my best to live "green" and  follow the Three R's:

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. 

 Reuse

So last winter, I discovered some moth holes in one of my cashmere sweaters.
(Lesson learned...I should have stored it in a plastic bin.)

Being a knitter, I just couldn't bring myself to throw all that 

luxurious cashmere away.  So instead, I decided to

 "make do and mend"

and recycled that sweater into beautiful felted flower pins.

I love that it's "vogue" again to 

"make do and mend".

Just check out the adorable Mollie Makes and

  Green Craft magazines and all the upcycled goods 

for sale on Etsy 

and you'll see what I mean.

Recycle

So now my cashmere sweater has a whole new life 

and I saved it from the land fill! 

Back to Knitting

 Knitting Break

I've had a five week knitting break since my hand surgery.  

I still have some swelling and soreness in my fingers
and palm where my two incisions are.  

I wasn't quite sure when I would be ready to pick up
the needles again.  

Then the other day, I was at JoAnns and saw a display of

ergonomic products for crafters. 

 Anxious to get back to knitting, 

I bought a pair of Crafter's Comfort Gloves. 

I thought they would be perfect 

for my surgery-hand to help me get back to knitting again.

For the record,

 I did get the "go-ahead" from my physical therapist to knit.

She said "just be sure to set the timer!".

 Ready to Knit

So yesterday, I picked up the needles and began a new project.

As much as I wanted to return to my lovely
Louisa Harding projects,

I felt it best to begin with a basic knit project
since I don't have full range of motion yet with my fingers and hand.

Due to stiffness and soreness...

I wore my new Crafter's Comfort Gloves.

Well, you know the saying...

"fits like a glove".

Well, these sure do!

The compression glove felt comforting on my surgery hand 

and made my incision/palm area feel protected as I knit.

The comfort glove box says they give relief for:

arthritis, hand pain and swelling.  

I was so happy to get back to knitting.

I must say though,

it was not with out moderate pain.

but I did manage to knit a few rounds.

I can report though,

 that after wearing the crafter's compression gloves, 

knitting and doing my hand exercises afterwards,

my hand felt pretty good.  

So, I'm thinking now that a bit of knitting everyday will be good

physical therapy for my fingers and hand now.

And yes, I will set the timer!

Comfort Gloves

I highly recommend Crafter's Comfort Gloves.

They are designed in the USA by an Orthorpedic Surgeon.

They are made of stretchy cotton/spandex and 

provide mild compression and support for knitting.

They provide pain relief to help us crafters keep doing what we love to do!  

I can't wait to put them on again today 

and knit a few rounds!