Let's go fly a kite!

In the UK, next week is Dementia Awareness Week (May 14 - 20).  My dear Mum developed dementia towards the end of her life, and was cared for very kindly and lovingly in a home for people with that awful disease.  Last year I started volunteering with our local branch of the Alzheimer's Society, and on Thursday 17th May our local Dementia Action Alliance are holding an awareness day in the Bay cafe, which is on Weston-super-Mare sea front.

Our theme is 'Let's go fly a kite', which is of course the title of a song from the Disney film of Mary Poppins.  We have been thinking all things kites for several weeks.  I thought that knitted kite badges would be a good awareness raising idea, and after several different attempts, came up with a basic mitred square with a crocheted tail and small button for decoration.

They each have a badge back or a safety pin sewn on the back.

I've done them in variegated yarn, glitter yarn, snowflake yarn, tweedy yarn made from several strands of coned yarn, and some of them are sitting in their box (above) waiting for Thursday.  Several other people are making these too, so we should have quite a wide choice available.

Laura, the manager at the Scrapstore, has made us this marvellous fish kite from offcuts of hot-air ballon material, which Cameron Balloons kindly donate to the Scrapstore.  She has also made several others which we can use to draw attention to our event on the sea front (it is always breezy on our sea front!)

We thought it would be good for people to make or decorate kites for us to display on the day.  Luckily the Scrapstore has loads of sticky-back plastic in a range of colours, so we have cut out lots of stars and hearts, and I've been busy cutting A5 card into kite shapes.  In my stash I had an amazing ball of yarn that is like ribbon decorated with bows, just perfect for kite tails.

And in best Blue Peter tradition, here's one I made earlier! Can you see the tiny little bows on the tail?

We have a large piece of netting all ready to display the decorated kites.  We are now keeping our fingers crossed for a fine day.  If you are in the area, please do come and join us!

Twiddlemuffs for men

 Have you come across twiddlemuffs?  They are made for people with dementia, and they provide both warmth and comfort for their hands, as well as giving them something for their fingers to twiddle with, which can distract and calm them.  These are a couple of muffs that I made last year:

I volunteer with our local branch of the Alzheimer's Society, and sometimes get asked to add the twiddly bits to muffs that other people have knitted.  Thankfully the Scrapstore gives me access to lots of useful bits and pieces that can be adapted into 'twiddles', such as the toggle, buckle and webbing used in the top muff.

One of the Alzheimer's Society's support workers mentioned to me that a lot of the muffs they receive are more suitable for ladies than for men, which got me thinking.  Football scarves!  As my husband is an Everton supporter, I started with blue and white as my colours, and knitted a muff.  Then I added some twiddly bits that I though were appropriate, including a blue squeezy sponge, some chunky buttons and some textured wooden beads (they reminded me of Rawlplugs) on a thong.  There's also a leather button like the ones my dad had on his sheepskin coat, with a piece of flexible plastic tubing to hook round it.

This is how the muff looks once it is sewn up:

It is reversible:

Suitable for an Everton or Arsenal fan!  So the next one underway will be for a Chelsea or Manchester United fan.........

If you want to make a twiddlemuff, the instructions can be found here.  They are welcomed by Knit for Peace, local hospitals and charities for people with dementia.

Jumper number 12

Yessss!  This is boy's jumper number 12, so I've met the first part of my challenge for 2016.  It's knitted from a Knitwell pattern which I found among my Mum's patterns.  There is no date or price on it, but it uses old needle sizes (9s and 7s) so is pre metrication of knitting needles, which I think was around 1975.  It was interesting to knit; the front centre panel has increases and decreases to make the little stocking stitch squares.  I enjoy cabling and knitting twisted stitches, which featured on the sleeves as well as the front.

The yarn is from a cone which I bought from the scrapstore.  It is marked as chunky, but to me it felt more like aran.  I compromised and knitted it on size 4.00 and 5.00 needles (8s and 6s) instead of the recommended sizes.

I have another half a dozen hats to make to meet the second part of the challenge by 31 December - watch this space!

Rainbow cardigan and another donation

I'm so delighted that the little green cardigan I wrote about in my last post was voted as one of the favourites in Linda's latest stash buster party.  A couple of years ago, Linda, who is a fellow Loving Hands member, had the brilliant idea of holding on-line stash reducing parties to showcase the items we make to reduce our stash.  Lots of crafters from all over the world share their projects on her website and vote for their favourites.  There are some amazing items featured in these showcases and it's a real pleasure to have had one of mine voted as a favourite.  Thank you Linda for all your hard work in hosting the link-up.

Last week I was put in touch with a lady who, very generously, had a lot of yarn to donate to Loving Hands.  It was all coned yarn, and I filled my car with around 100 cones.  Coned yarn is normally sold for use with knitting machines and is often very fine.  Most of this, however, was 4 ply, which is great for hand knitting too.  I advertised the yarn on our Loving Hands forum, and I have been busy this week sending out boxes of it to groups and individual members.

I have kept some cones for me to use too, and I couldn't resist knitting a garment this week.  I chose 2 cones, one in grey and one in a grey / multicolour mix, to put together to make worsted or aran weight.  As it happens, a couple of weeks ago, before I knew about this donation, I bought myself a wool winder.  Boy, has it been useful this week!

When I started knitting a cardigan, my intention had been that, with plenty of grey in the yarn, it would be for a boy.  By the time I came to knitting the button bands, I was not so sure.

I consulted my colleagues on the Loving Hands forum, and they almost unanimously confirmed that this should be a girl's cardigan.  So I put the buttonholes on the girl's side, and, sure enough, when it was all sewn up and finished, it could only be destined for a little girl.  

It is 26 inches across the chest, so should fit a five to six year old.  Although the photo doesn't pick them up well, I found some sparkly oval buttons which I acquired from the Scrapstore, and they finish it off perfectly.  A big thank you is due to Nicola, who made the yarn donation; it will keep lots of LH members busy for many months to come!

Twiddling!

Last week a lady from the Alzheimer's Society came into the scrapstore.  Our local branch are preparing a display of 3000 knitted and crocheted forget-me-nots to go on Weston's pier during Dementia Action Week in May.  She was looking for something to use as a backing to display the flowers.

 We got talking, and I mentioned that I had made a couple of twiddle mats and a twiddle muff.  These are used by people with dementia to keep their fingers and hands busy and stop them picking at their clothes.  I offered to show her some, and asked for her input on whether I have got the activity level right.  So on Saturday I got the sewing machine and my box of bits out, and started twiddling.

These two are ones that I made a while ago:

The top one is rather 'loud' in that there are lots of different patterns and textures, but there are lots of things to discover, including the crocheted dog who lives in a pocket.  The fleece muff in the lower picture is very soft and comfortable to have over my hands, but the standard of sewing is sadly very poor because I got the dimensions and construction of the muff totally wrong - and on top, my sewing machine decided it didn't want to sew through several layers of fleece.

For the ones I made on Saturday, I used an old valanced bedspread that I had bought in the scrapstore.  I started with the intention of making a muff, but again, got the dimensions wrong, so I ended up with a long and narrow mat.

There are lots of things to fiddle with, including metal buttons on a thong and a large bead underneath the fleece heart on the right, which can be pushed around within the shape.

Not to be defeated, I cut out yet another piece of the quilted bedspread to make a muff.  More success this time, and as you can see, there are lots of things to twiddle with both inside and out.

I hope to get some feedback on these this week from the Alzheimer's Society, and then I can make some more.

Hat embellishment

After looking at my Pinterest (which I don't use nearly enough), I decided to finish off the girl's crochet hat with a large flower.  I chose this flamboyant but easy to make corsage from the Eweewe blog which I pinned a couple of years ago when I was looking to embellish a plain black bolero.

I used the pinky/fawn 4 ply from the hat and paired it with an oddment of acrylic variegated yarn that I found in my leftover yarn bag.  I made 16 petals rather than the 20 the pattern called for, and still ended up with a very large flower!  It's finished off with a sparkly button from the Scrapstore.

I would certainly use the flower pattern again, it was quick and easy to do and really stands out.

2016 makes....

I'm not really one to make new year's resolutions, because I either forget them or break them with monotonous regularity.  In terms of my knitting and crochet, I am always a bit of a gadfly, with several different items on the go at the same time:

• there is usually a preemie blanket being knitted on circulars (good for in the car when we go somewhere and my husband is driving.  Have you ever tried to retrieve a knitting needle from under the driver's seat while he is driving???).  
• there is always a small item (usually a baby hat) in the bag I take to the scrapstore, in case we get a quiet time when I can sit behind the counter and knit or crochet.  
• there is something with a fairly easy pattern that I can take to craft club on Monday nights - so much nattering goes on that I make mistakes with anything complex. 
• there is often something I have started as a result of a charity appeal with an urgent need for something - the butterflies I made last year fall into this category 
• then of course, there is something which has caught my eye, either a pattern or some yarn, that I must start immediately because it is the most important thing that needs to be done.  It can, of course, be superseded when another must do item catches my eye, thus becoming a wip.

New year is a good time to go through the stash and the wip bags and see what is there.  I found 2 boy's jumpers that I had started and put to one side - one of them I had completely forgotten about.  

This jumper is one that I made for one of my sons in the 1990s.  It requires a degree of concentration, plus remembering that I had started it in the first place!

This is one of my favourite go-to patterns; it is free to download from Ravelry here.  I took it to craft club last night because it falls into the 'easy' category.

This one falls into the "Oh my goodness, I love this pattern and must try it out immediately" group. The pattern was one of a stack that someone donated to the scrapstore, and I loved it.  You can see that the price of it was 10p, which means it probably dates from the early 1970s (why do they not date knitting patterns?)  It is done in double knit and has a cable and honeycomb pattern.   I had bought some Aldi yarn between Christmas and new year, so I cast on and plunged in. It will not be quick to knit, but I am enjoying it so much.

A Loving Hands member (Pat) who noted that fewer boys' garments are knitted than girls', suggested that she was going to consciously aim to knit boy's jumpers this year.  Several of us are joining her, and I am hoping that I will be able to knit 12 jumpers (I have a head start after all with 3 on the go!).  I also think that I can average a hat a week, so for 2016 I will aim to make 12 jumpers and 52 hats.  I have set up a page on this blog to post photos of what I achieve.   One hat completed to date - I wonder whether I will make it?

Gosh, I hadn't realised that I haven't posted anything at all in November!  It is a busy month, with both my and my husband's birthdays.  We've also had a visit from my niece and great-niece; Millie is a super toddler, but she left me with a cold which is lingering and lingering.

But enough of the excuses.  Drum roll please, for I have finished the other WIP I was working on, the aran cardigan.  I am so pleased with the finished article.  The yarn was donated to Loving Hands for charity use, and is 100% wool, so the cardigan will be super-warm for whoever receives it.  It will fit a 28 inch chest, so probably a 9-10 year old.  The picture below doesn't really convey the rich red of the yarn.  It is flecked with yellow and black and is really attractive.

The pattern was one of my Mum's, and offered the option of hood, collar or a simple neckband to finish off the neck.  I wasn't sure the I had enough yarn for the hood, so I opted for the collar.  It went on really easily and I'm very pleased with the overall finish.  A couple of weeks ago we received a large bag of toggles in the scrapstore.  I made a donation and took a few to act as the fasteners.

I have also done some other bits and pieces of knitting and crochet since I last posted on here; mostly they were preemie items, including hats, body warmers and a small blanket.

One WIP finished

I'm very pleased to report that I have now finished the Leaping stripes and blocks blanket.  I love the overall effect; because of the way it is constructed, it is a very dense and warm blanket even though it is done in double knit.  It is 32 inches by 36 inches, and weighs 420 grams.

Compared with other blanket patterns, this one grows very slowly, and it took much longer to make than I originally thought it would.  But I enjoyed making it nonetheless.

I am also knitting the final sleeve of the aran cardigan that I showed in my last post.  Because I have done so well with my WIPs, perhaps I can be forgiven for making a penguin hat as well (classic procrastination tactic, I know!).   We received a consignment of buttons in the scrapstore, and they looked so much like eyes that I had to try them out.  I used Repeat Crafter Me's pattern, although I changed the beak a bit.   Aren't the buttons just exactly right for eyes?

Open Day

We had our Scrapstore Open Day on Saturday, and very popular it was too.  Lots of families came through the door and purchased scrap for children to play with.  I embellished a few more bags with hot-air balloons (appropriate since I was using balloon fabric) like this one, which we sold for £2 to fill up with scrap.

The tiger who has hitched a lift is one of a range of very cute little finger puppets that we sell! I thought that a child might like to be able to put a tiny doll or lego character in the balloon basket. As the 'ropes' are made of elastic, it should help to keep the toy in place.

On the knitting front, I fancied making some bootees after seeing the ones that Una made.  My never-ending stash of 4 ply provided some contrasting yarns. When I have done a few more pairs I will send them to the Freedom from Fistula Foundation. 

 In the meantime, however, I am concentrating my stash-busting on making 6 inch blanket squares for Loving Hands to make into blankets which will go to Nepal via Operation Orphan.  It is good to feel that we can do something practical to help those poor people after their earthquakes.

A bit of sewing for a change

One of the things I love about being retired is having the time to do things I really want to do.  Being a teacher these days is all-consuming, with the need to be ready for Ofsted at a moment's notice and the need to document everything; an inspector once told me,"If it isn't on paper, it didn't happen" when I tried to explain how I gave informal one-to-one support to mentors but didn't have written records of precisely when and what had been discussed.  It made me realise that if I had sat in my office and written up fictitious meetings, instead of actually giving support where it was needed, Ofsted would have been well pleased!

Anyway, given I now have so much time, on Mondays I volunteer at our local Children's Scrapstore.  In case you're not aware of them, scrapstores are wonderful places where members can access a fascinating range of waste materials from businesses and industry, so that they can be re-used for children's play.

This is our local scrapstore, which is an offshoot of the larger Bristol Children's Scrapstore.  We have card, paper, fabric, leather, felt, netting, fur, foam, shells, paint.... and all sorts of interesting things.  Can you guess where the spotty bunting in the picture comes from?  It's the fabric left over when ironing board covers are cut out.  Isn't it fantastic?

Although we are a membership organisation, we are having an Open Day on Saturday 16 May when anyone can come and collect some scrap in return for a donation.  Recently we received some fabric bags as scrap, and so I have been decorating them with more scrap so people can see what can be done.  On Sunday I got my sewing machine out and made some kites with ripstop material (we have a hot-air balloon manufacturer who donates their offcuts) and some coloured elastic which was left over from making bra straps.  I rather like them!