Christmas basket

Christmas crafting begins in the summer for me when 

I visit mamma in Norway and this year despite

the coronavirus I managed to squeeze in a quick flying 

visit to see her and of course some knitting...  

I love felting, all types but there is something quite unknown about knitting/felting as to what size your eventual items will be.  Wondering whether the width will marry up correctly to the height.  Mamma always says it depends too on your washing machine, a bit like knowing your own oven, does your oven cook a little quicker or slower than recipes say and so it is with washing machines ... it all adds to the spice I say.

Don't you just love how increases look on dpn

It's so exciting when the pattern begins to emerge

The basket begins to emerge

The stitch definition will be lost when felted

Basket before felting

Dpn decreases for the base of the basket

Could this be a hat? 

Photo to show the size of the basket before felting

Place the knitted basket in the washing machine with a couple of 
towels to aid the friction and rubbing whilst being washed

Once the basket comes out of the washing machine it is imperative to mould it onto something to get the correct shape.  Sometimes it takes a few goes to find the correct mould... 

I definitely was not the correct size or shape for the drying process so I resorted to using a bucket.  Unfortunately, the photos I took have mysteriously disappeared and as I do not own a round bucket and now with lockdown restrictions in place I can not just 'pop' back over to mamma's to take another photo with her bucket, you will have to imagine the next photo...

Imagine a photo here of an upturned purple bucket,  

with the felted basket, wet and dripping with water, tied around and around  

tightly to the bucket to hold the walls as close as possible to the sides of the bucket.

Here is a mock-up of what the
the imagined photo could look like... ;)

A Christmas Felted basket, ready to use

The basket is large, it has a diameter of 25cm and a height of 16cm and is proving perfect for Christmas satsumas and clementines...

Knitted felt basket full of Christmas satsumas,
what could be more appealing?

If you are interested in making this, the pattern is from Garn Studio and can be found here: Felt basket they also have patterns for Spring baskets too.

♥  How are your Christmas preparations coming along?  ♥

December wristwarmers

December  6th

A hint of red under the coat

I love mittens and gloves but confess to not being able to keep them on for too long.  My hands just become too hot. My solution after several years has been to wear wrist warmers if the weather is not too cold as that seems to be enough for me. Warmth around the wrist where the cold air can seep in between the coat cuff and my skin.

So a perfect excuse to grab those knitting needles and make yourself a pair or maybe even gift them away.  I am actually thinking of making a navy blue pair next for my husband.

They are incredibly quick to knit up one or two evenings maximum I would guess and are perfect for intermediate knitters as you do have a few rows of using three colours at once.
Beginner knitters, this is such a small project that you really could give this a try! If three colours is too much for you, omit the Christmas tree and go with the white snow flecks instead.

Knitted wrist warmer number two in the making

Close up of the knitted pattern

Full effect of the wrist warmer 

WRIST WARMER PATTERN:

Using dk wool of your choice and appropriate needles, I tend to prefer dpn, but you could very easily use circular needles instead.
The wrist warmers can be made in either the standard long length or can be adapted to be made into shorter wrist warmers.

Cast on 32 (8 on each of the four dpn)
Rows 1 - 10
knit in rib ~  knit 2 pearl 2

Rows 11 - 31
Begin the pattern at bottom left hand corner.  Start each row from the left side of the chart.  The pattern follows a repeat after 8 stitches, so if you are knitting on dpn each needle will follow exactly the same pattern.

SHORT VERSION:  If you wish to have short wrist warmers that literally just cover the wrists then follow the pattern with ribbing on either side only and no plain red after the pattern.
Short version only:
After the pattern
Rows 32 - 42 
knit in rib ~  knit 2 pearl 2
Cast off

Make second wrist warmer.

STANDARD VERSION:

Rows 32 - 62
Knit 30 rows
NOTE: If your lower arms are larger than average, as are mine, then you will need to increase stitches to accommodate for the widening of the arm.  I added 8 stitches making one at the beginning of each of the following rows: 32, 36, 41, 45, 49, 53, 56, 60 = total of now 40 stitches in each row


After the pattern
Rows 63 - 73 
knit in rib ~  knit 2 pearl 2
Cast off

Make second wrist warmer.

Please note the numbers at the side do not correspond to the written pattern

Please note the numbers at the side do not correspond to the written pattern

Inspiration from here

♥   Keep warm out there   ♥