quick knitted gifts

so if you are expecting a christmas present from me look away now, this could be a bit of a spoiler.
I wanted to make some quick knitted gifts, and had the idea of these mug cosies.

I thought I'd share my pattern

needles:4mm I think,they say 8 on them, if I remember rightly that's 4mm
yarn: that random ball of wool in the knitting basket with no label on it, but it's the right colour. probably double knit. is that sport weight in the US?
a button.

tension square:what's one of those then? just don't knit too tight or too loose and if you do, put it on a bigger or smaller mug.

Cast on 62 stitches, in whatever way you like to cast on
K1 P1 rib for two rows
3rd row K6 P2 K6 P2 K10 P2 K6 P2 K10 P2 K6 P2 K6
4th row K2 P4 K2 P6 K2 P10 K2 P6 K2 P10 K2 P6 K2 P4 K2
repeat row 3 and 4 once more
row 7 K6 P2 C6F (cable the next 6 stitches,ie put 3 on a cable needle at the front (or the back if you prefer) knit next 3 sts then k 3 from cable needle) p2 k10 p2 C6F (I don'thave to explain it again do I?) p2 k10 p2 C6F p2 k6
row 8 as row 4

repeat rows 3-8 twice more

then row 3 and 4 once more

k1p1 rib for two rows
cast off,leaving a long thread.

use loose cast on thread to join the bottom rib

use cast off thread to make a button hole. make a loop by sewing it through the back to the front, wrapping it round your finger (to make a size for the button you have chosen, then into knitting again and repeat so you have a double thickness loop. then bring the yarn back through and blanket stitch around the loop.(I'm sure that made no sense. if anyone's bothered I'll try and explain it better.

sew the button on the other side.

buy ultra cheap mugs (I got these for 9 for £4.99) and dress them in their new winter jumpers.

phew! what a challenge

On Saturday Stampers Kaz set the following challenge

For this week’s challenge, and I think it really is a challenge……I’d like you to make one piece that will cover all of the following challenges……..themes only, no size restrictions, you can still make whatever you want, card, atc, skinny page, whatever you like, but you must incorporate ALL themes below……..good luck!!

Gothic Arch Challenge……………….theme is………………”Friendship”

Mixed Media Monday………………..theme is………… “Buttons”

Fluffy Fatbottom’s Twisted Tuesday………..theme is…………..”Button Wisdom”

Wednesday Stamper………………..theme is………………..”Diamonds”

Theme Thursday…………………..theme is……………….”Chalk”

I can’t wait to see what you all come up with on this one!!!

gosh!!!! well I do love a challenge so I went for it!

I think I fulfilled them all

friendship, check! Buttons, check! Button wisdom, check! (made that one up myself!! lol),Diamonds, check! (in the background, plus little diamonds between the buttons) and chalk, check! (the back ground is done completetly with versamark and chalks. I used to do that technique all the time, but haven't for ages, maybe I'll play with it a bit more now)
I'm going to put this in for twisted tuesday as well, as I have purposefully done it postcard sized so it will fit their challenge. this is the first time I've done twisted tuesday. I've wanted to, but didn't think my creations were mad enough!

oh I suppose while I'm at it I'll add it to theme thursday too!

wednesday stamper- diamonds

This week's theme at wednesday stamper is Diamonds. I decided yet again to think a bit 3 dimensionally and decided to make a diamond shaped decoration for christmas. it was a lot fiddlier than I thought. I won't be doing it again in a hurry. I also decided to do it all in shades of purple to fit saturday stampers' "tone on tone" theme.
The girl stamp and diamond background are by Inka and the words and snowflake are rubber stampede

mixed media monday

I was in the mood to make something tonight, I'm not yet ready to start my christmas cards, so I decided to have a go at mixed media monday for the first time.
The theme is buttons. I love buttons. I have a massive box full of odd buttons. So I had to play. I then had the idea I'd like to make the piece itself a button. so I decided to alter a CD, not a normal one but a mini one (about 3" diameter)
the main image is Inka. as is the feather on the background. I have also used a SeeDs button and hampton art mesh, and the letters are hero arts.
I'm holding the CD to give an idea of the size and also to try and catch the shimmer spray.

an "actual" card for an "actual" person!

Don't you find it hard to just make normal cards sometimes? I have so much fun making things for swaps and challenges that sometimes when it comes to making an actual birthday card, I'm stumped!! ridiculous really but I know it's a common problem. I needed a birthday card for my mum, she's a very spiritual person and really into complementary medicine, astrology, palmistry and that sort of stuff. so I thought she might appreciate the image on this Inka stamp. She also loves purple so I made it a bit of an homage to purple!! I have also used an Inka skeleton leaf stamp for the background with versamark, for a subtle background and then a real purple skeleton leaf too. I have edged the main stamped image with veracolor ink and embossed the edges with sparkly powder. I hope the picture catches the sparkle.

saturday stampers

The theme at saturday stampers this week is tags. I think Kaz will probably kill me if I don't take part, as she knows I need very little excuse to make one of my tags.
it also gave me another excuse to play with my new stamps from inka. The clown, halequin background and flourish are all by inka. and the red is fired brick distress ink. the harlequin is actually a solid stamp, but I love the way distress inks work on solid stamps for backgrounds

wednesday stamper -chairs

This week's theme at wednesday stamper is Chairs. I don't think I have any chair stamps, but I remembered this great chair template from stampington.
As luck would have it I received some fabulous new stamps from Inka today, and I thought this little girl would be perfect stood on a chair.

do you remember when you used to stand on a chair when you were little and you were as tall as your parents? it gave you a whole new perspective!

The calligraphy flouish on the chair is also by Inka (and could well be my new favourite stamp)
I did the writing by putting white card through a dymo and then rubbing it lightly with distress ink.

Abbie's friend

After I made my knitted doll. I was challenged by Kaz to make a doll especially for her, and quite a challenge it was. She didn't just want some ordinary doll though, she wanted her own miniature version of Gerard Way, from My Chemical Romance. (she's ever so slightly obsessed with him). Tonight Kaz has gone to see My chemical Romance (for the millionth time) and has threatened to throw the doll up on stage.
So I felt it was time to put him up on my blog.

saturday stampers

The theme at saturday stampers this week is collage. that seems easy enough until you remember it's a stamping site so it must also include stamping.
I have combine this challenge with a tag swap with the theme " 'tis the season to be jolly"
that theme immediatley suggested the jolly man himself, father christmas, but I also wanted to play with the idea of the song as well so I have decked the tag with boughs of holly! and used my new music background from river city rubber works. The holly stamp is an old favourite of mine from rubber stampede, as is the Ho! Ho! Ho!
The Santa image is taken from some wrapping paper, very "collage" I thought! also added a little bit pf holly confetti. The red and green inks are both distress inks.

November's Inchie Swap

The theme for November is "Christmas Time"
you may interpret the theme however you want to , there are no rules!!
well actually there is one rule: It must be 1 inch square of course!!

The swap, as always, is open to anyone. If you haven't taken part before but have considered it, then this is a good one to start with. We all have something christmasy in our craft boxes (lol, it's a long time since my craft stuff fit in just one box!! now it's the box-room!).

So when you are starting to play about with ideas for your Christmas cards, make an inchie! it's a good starting point.

You can take part wherever you are: if you are based in the UK I ask you to include an SAE with a "large" stamp; if you are outside the UK, I will pay the return postage, so I ask you to include an ATC or something to cover this (although I'd rather have the inchies and nothing else if it puts you off taking part).

You can use any media you like. I usually stamp, but this isn't just a stamping swap.

You make 9 inchies. Keep one for yourself, and send the other 8 to me. You will then receive a selection of 8 back (so basically it's an 8 for 8 swap).

Any questions, leave a comment, or if you want to take part, you can email me for my postal address. My e-mail address is in my profile.