Itching for stitching
I haven’t been able to find a lot of time for craft lately, sadly. But when I have (usually only minutes from bedtime, when everyone else is asleep and I’ve finished most of the pressing chores), I’ve been knitting. A few weeks ago I made Isobel this wool nappy cover. I followed the free Ottobre pattern here. I used 12 ply machine washable wool, rather than untreated wool roving, which the pattern calls for, because that’s what I had leftover from other projects and I’d read on the Oz Cloth Nappies email list that other people had used it successfully. It seems to be working quite well over a fitted nappy, although I haven’t been brave enough to try it at night. If you think it sounds crazy to use wool as a nappy cover (and I admit it is a bit counterintuitive) and want to know more about its benefits, especially overnight, and how to lanolise (a must) go here. You should know that we have been using these wool covers very successfully on Elliott at nights for months, and wish we’d known about them sooner.
This is the most complicated thing I’ve ever knitted, which is saying something, as it’s pretty basic. I found the hardest part was picking up stitches along the leg openings. How do you do that?! I just kind of made it up. It looks OK, but I’ll try to find a tutorial on it before I try it again. I’ve started another one in 8 ply, hoping I’ve correctly calculated the pattern adjustments. We’ll see! Again, I’m just using what I have.
And if that’s not enough knitting news for you, there’s even more to come soon, as I visited Sunspun the other day and bought some beautiful wool to make a couple of things for Chris. I just need to work on my technique, though, because I know it’s not right and it’s slowing me down.
In other craft supply shopping news, I received some fabric in the mail a couple of weeks or so from Quilt Fabric Delights. Here it is, all freshly washed and ironed:
It’s now waiting for me to do something with it, along with some natural linen from here. Hopefully that something will include some aprons for me, Chris and Elliott, and some fabric coasters. A couple of family members who shall remain nameless think the fabric coaster idea is nuts (”Why would you want to make coasters out of something you’d have to wash?“) , but I am desperate to make my first attempt at patchwork and maybe quilting, very much inspired by these, these, and these. We’ll see who’s nuts…