Scandi-style knitted bags (2)

Hi all. Hope you are enjoying your weekend :) I'm trying to catch up with my long overdue blog posts so here is another one, this time about the knitted bags I made last autumn. 

Perhaps you remember these - my first ever 3 knitted pouches from Arne and Carlos crochet / knitting book. I found them very enjoyable to knit so I made some more! Floral theme is definitely my favourite and I just fancied seeing some colourful patterns on them. 

I tend to knit the bags in threes then take a break and move onto something else as I get bored easily and need frequent changes in my crafting. This time I made 3 floral ones and one extra pouch using my own pattern and colours. I was very pleased with how they turned out. 

I used various types of yarns to knit them - Vipe from Dalegarn (mercerized cotton), DMC Natura (DK Cotton), Sublime Egyptian cotton and a mercerized cotton yarn called Wendy. They all give slightly different textures and thicknesses. I like to see these knitted pouches in various colour combinations. 

DMC Natura cotton seems to be working really well for these kind of knitted bags. The thinner yarn, the better because as it always happens in colourwork, the thickness doubles depending how many colours are used in the pattern and it's just nice when a bag is nice and flowing rather than overly thick and puffed up from the yarn. 

For the knitted bag below I used the well know Marius pattern and combined it with my own colours. Sort of wintery hues. The Ivory shade of DMC Natura looks so ... natural here and I like how it combines the with ashy blue shade.

My mum ordered some of the pouches and some have already been sent home. They have so many uses. You can store anything you like in them.

There is always a dilemma for me: should I crochet a string for the pouch or just use a ribbon. Actually I like both ideas so I do a bit of both. 

These seashells in the photos make me really want to go to a seaside now! :)

In the meantime a new knitted pouch is coming on on my needles. To be seen soon on my blog! :)

Have a great weekend and enjoy your crafty time. 

Thank you for your comments and feedback. 

Martha x x x

Christmas Cards of 2014

Hi all. I'm alive but still struggling to find more time for blogging but hey, here I am here today with some more crafty news. I know, I know it's way past Christmas and most of us are already thinking of Easter days but I still wanted to show you my festive cross stitched cards into which I  had put lots of time and effort so it would be shame not to mention them. 

So here they are. Ta Dah!

A set of 6 Christmas cross stitched cards. Patterns for the motifs come from an archival issue of Cross Stitch Cardshop, issue no. 81. I liked these as soon as I saw them and knew I'd have to stitch them one day.

It takes at least 6-8 hrs to stitch a single motif. There are satin and metallic threads in them too. They give  those nice shiny light effects. Buttons add an extra dimension too. A few close-ups:

I think the Christmas tree with tiny cute buttons is my favourite in this card collection :) I may feel tempted to stitch this motif again sometime.

The elf boots are sweet too, I think.

All in all it has taken me 2 years to finish these cards. I lost my motivation and patience half way through and came back to finish them off 2 Christmases later. I'm very pleased how they turned out.

I obviously couldn't resist embellishing the aperture cards as well. Not too much though otherwise the embellishments would overshadow the cross stitch itself.

And this is what they looked like when put on my still festive window. They look quite good as a group, don't you think? :)

In the meantime I couldn't stop myself from starting another big project - a gorgeous Christmas sampler. This one will be stitched throughout the whole year and hopefully finished by Christmas 2015. 

The canvas is navy which means stitching this piece of work requires a great deal of sunlight and I can only stitch it while I'm sitting in my conservatory without risking an eyestrain. Too cold at the moment but it will be more pleasant later in the year and I'm really looking forward to see how this sampler is coming on. The pattern requires a lot of Anchor Reflecta metallic thread so I predict some battles with fraying threads. The stitching with metallic threads is slow but the design is stunning so eventually it will be worth all the effort. 

Currently I'm busing myself with knitting some Easter bunnies as gifts and a bit of crochet too. I'm thinking of trying some new projects, some being a little out of my comfort zone. Lots in plans, just need to stretch my day a bit... by a few hours at least ;)

Hope you are all ok and thanks for stopping by here x x