Sunday 22 July 2018

A New Garden Bench


A couple of months ago, 'im outdoors bought home some tatty bits of metal, found in a skip and no longer wanted.  It took me a moment to realise what they were - the metal ends to a park bench.  All the wood had rotted away but the metal bits were OK, just needed a coat of paint.


So I painted them a lovely dark green, and when 'im outdoors had cut and sanded all the wood I vanished it.  Then he put it all together.  I am so chuffed with it.  Sat against the side of the house it is in shade all morning and again in the evening so perfect for sitting out in this hot weather.  And Milo likes to lay under it when we're sitting on it - the family all together.  This is up-cycling at its best.

Sunday 1 July 2018

After the Rain Jumper


I found the jumper pattern 'After the Rain' a couple of years ago.  I fell in love straight away, but I'd not knitted a jumper before (or any clothing come to that) and it is knitted in the round and to be honest looked a little scary.  But I kept looking at it and at the beginning of this year I decided, this was going to be the year I knitted a jumper.


It was a very easy pattern to follow once I'd got my head round the knitting in the round bit.  I used Stylecraft's bambino DK wool in vintage blue and sage, which is lovely and soft and a brilliant colour.
I started knitting right at the end of March and it took me about 3 months to complete.  Of course it was nothing like as hard as I'd imagined - the worst bit making sure I changed colour for the stripes at the right place.


And I'm pretty pleased with how its come out - I mean it actually looks like a jumper and it fits!  However I am thinking about making another one, but a size or so bigger, and maybe a tad longer in the body - this one is a bit snug and not as long as I like my jumpers.
I've also got some other jumper patterns that I'd like to knit now, and suddenly it doesn't seem quite so impossible.