Finished Crochet Blanket

Its finished!!! It was a labour of love but I finally managed to complete it and boy am I feeling pleased with myself! 

So here's the general gist :

1 x 20 row granny square

2 x 15 row squares

5 x 10 row granny squares

23 x two colour five row granny squares

2x multi coloured granny squares

I started it just after Christmas and I finished it on the first Sunday in February whilst lil man was feeling poorly. In fact he helped out by passing me various squares to be stitched together! Naturally now he's been telling everyone he made it........

I wish I had blocked the squares because its hanging funny on the washing line, but I guess you live you learn! Size wise Its a bit bigger than I thought it would be but its not huge! I'd say its lap quilt size. Lets put it this way it covers little man very nicely and it covers me if I;m curled up on the sofa after walking to school!

The initial colour pull came from my stash I chose greens, blues, greys, whites, blacks and purples. Towards the end I was starting to run  out though so the final influx of wool came from my lovely pen friend Jeanette [who also sent crochet hooks because she is a BABE! ] And Rikkis Nan who is now trying to learn crochet for herself!  Luckily granny squares only take a small amount of wool so she was able to clear out all of her odds and sods of wool!

I went for a patchwork style of blanket and worked according to a plan I had drawn up. I like the hippy vibe it has and I'm really glad I decided to mix things up because I think I would have been bored if I had just made granny squares of the same size. 

After all the squares were stitched together I decided to add two rows of crochet as a border, This was SOUL DESTROYING! the sides were huge and I felt like I was crocheting for hours! That said I think it really ties the whole thing together!

I am so chuffed with this project, after struggling for so long it felt lovely for the skill to finally click. And it was also nice to see how my granny squares improved over time and got neater. 

Now I just need to work out what my next crochet project is going to be!!!

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Finished November Makes!

Here's my Youtube video for my finished November makes!

Sorry if there's some distortion! I don't get it on my phone but on the laptop I do and I'm working on trying to fix it!

Anyway 

ENJOY!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Finished August Makes Vlog Post!!!

Here's just a quick link to my latest video post showing my finished august projects!

Its about 15 minutes long so make yourself a brew and ENJOY!!!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Pixel Mario Blanket

Okay so I'm pretty sure my new neighbours think I'm nuts. My old neighbours had got fairly used to me taking a quilt outside hanging it on the line, taking pictures and then taking it back in. These new neighbours however...... They curtain twitched. Yes the curtains actually twitched.

But anyway curtain twitching aside I managed to take the pictures! This is my finished backed, bound and quilted mario quilt!

After the quilt top sat basted for about two weeks I finally sat down and busted out all the quilting in one evening! Each colour section is quilted In a spiral in the corresponding colour. For example all of the red sections are quilted in red and all the blue are quilted in blue!

That meant I had to change my bobbin about 1 million times but I really think it worth it! I love how the quilting makes each section stand out! I even quilted the background with crosses so that Mario would really stand out.

The Binding is some embroidered white floral stuff that I was given, I think it looks kind of like computer code! And I added a coloured triangle to each of the corners because I might have screwed up on the binding a little bit and had to hack away at it. I'm blaming this on tiredness and lack of playing attention. But you know what they say, they are not mistakes, they are lessons! 

There's no batting in this quilt just the quilt top and then its backed with a fleecy blanket. It's currently my preferred method of finishing a quilt. It means you can layer the quilt on top of a duvet without actually sweating your bum off. Plus *whispers* its cheaper! I do want to do a few quilts with cotton backs and actual batting but for the moment the cheaper option is much better!!!! The "perfect quilts" will have to wait until I have a new house and I've redecorated and made a quilt for every room. Yes I have big plans for when I get to decorate my perfect house!!!!! 

And that's it really, I finished it really late at night so I could wrap it and have it waiting for Rikki when he finished work after a night shift. Like a little treat pressie!!!!!

So yeah we are both very happy with how it turned out and I almost can't wait until Rikki gets the flu so I can snuggle him up in it!!!

Well almost! that man is a baby when he's sick!

Much Love

Frankie

xxxx 

Finished Disappearing 9 patch quilt

Yay I've finally finished one of my baby blankets [Well I've finished both of them but I've not written the Blog post for the second one!] So I'm all caught up and I can start my own quilting projects again! Yay! 

So this one is for the first baby that's being born in April, or thereabouts. Its based on a disappearing 9 patch but added some borders.

These pictures are not brilliant because the wind kept blowing and I've been feeling peaky all day, so I just reached the point where I gave up and decided to live with what I've got.

Its quilted quite simply, I basically started at one corner and quilted at right angles so its like a corner quilting technique. Pretty simple but it looks cool and its all pretty flat.

Its backed with a piece of fleece, I don't tend to add wadding to baby quilts just because I don't see it as being necessary, so instead I just use a squishy fleece. This fleece came from b and ms and was part of a two pack of fleece blankets for 3.99 which is far cheaper than buying fabric from a fabric shop.

I also used fleece for the binding which I hand stitched because I'm a sucker for a hand stitched finish!

So yes very pleased especially seen as I did most of it whilst I was really tired and not in the mood for complicated sewing, actually it was quite nice to just do some really simple finishing of a project!

Aren't the owls adorable? The whole quilt apart from the backing came from my stash, although the entire quilt was inspired by the colours from the owl fabric. Mainly I just wanted to keep things really bright and fun and not fall into my usual dark colour palette.

Yeah so there's not much more I can say about it apart from I love it. I just hope the parents of the baby like it as much as I do! I think its fun and modern and doesn't look too homespun so hopefully they will.

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

John Lennon

"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination"

-

John Lennon

Original Artwork By Frankie Carson

Owl hats and horrors...

I nearly had these finished last night but we ended up watching "the hills have eyes" instead. For someone who believes that everything in life should be colourful and cute I actually enjoy horror films quite a lot (although "the exorcist" had me screaming with laughter rather than terror) But I did not enjoy "the hills have eyes" it was just a little but too messed up for my liking, and about halfway through I wished I had just stayed down stairs and finished of my projects.

Instead I managed to get them finished this morning whilst Little Knitwit was having a rare quiet moment! 

This is owl hat number 1, is super soft and what I would call newborn size! I love the splash of orange it really makes it pop!

And this is hat number 2 , also done in soft wool and the same size. I've got  2 more hats knitted up but they are destined to be monsters! Other than that I've done some embroidery that I want to add beads to but I'll have to wait until I have a little Knitwit free moment. Toddlers and beads do not mix! 

Right I'm off to try and get the horrible images out of my head from last nights film! Why do I let mr Knitwit talk me into these things? Horrors would be so much more pleasant with a couple of owl hats thrown in, don't you think?

Much love

A terrified Frankie 

Xxx

Hybrid.9 Tshirt Re-Vamp

Does anyone remember the album artwork I did for Hybrid.9?

 

Well I also did a revamp on one of their band t-shirts ages ago, I just hadn't gotten around to blogging about it yet because its always either on my body or in the wash. When I was given my t-shirt it was a size xxl, so it was a lil big! to say the least.

 

 

It was a basic t-shirt shape with the logo on the front and nothing on the back.

 

I started off by browsing Pinterest looking a t-shirt revamps for inspiration. If anybody is looking to get into sewing and fashion and isn't really confident on a sewing machine, I would definitely recommend starting with a t-shirt revamp because so much can be done by just cutting and a little bit of hand sewing!

 

The only request that my sister whos married to a member of the band requested was that I try and keep most of the fabric, I think it was a polite way of saying I don't want my baby sister wandering round with just the logo across her boobs and not a lot else on!

 

This is what it ended up looking like, and I literally got rid of seams that was it!

 

Photos taken by Momma Knitwit in her beautiful garden.

 

I kept the front simple and just cut a slightly lower neck and chopped off the sleeves.

 

 

 And then I sliced and plaited the entire back, I have no idea how I managed it, I know I was worried at one point that they wouldn't reach across but luckily strips of t-shirt stretch when you pull them. The only thing I had to be really careful about was how many strips I cut so I'd have enough for plaiting and none left over. And that meant that I need all the material the back had to offer! Haha Big Sister!

 

 

I used the material from the sleeves to bring the shoulder seams together and I criss crossed all my plaits using the under over method.

 

 

I love it! I usually wear a vest top underneath during the day to keep it a bit more modest and to make sure I don't get any trampy momma comments, But if I'm wearing it too a gig I usually don't bother with the vest top, which works out quite well because it means I have my own ventilation system for hot and sweaty gig rooms!

 

All in all it one of my best revamps! But it was really nerve racking to do! mainly because my brother in law (who's in the band) was nice enough to give me the t-shirt for free. So I definitely didn't want to screw up!

 

But I think its cool enough and rock and roll enough! And you can see the logo!

 

Much Love

 

And Rock On!

 

Frankie

 

xxx

Beady Eyes

Yesterday between looking after the boys and trying to motivate myself to start the beading on my Indian owl. (As well as trying to finish my knitting) I actually managed to have a quick play around with my watercolours.

He's definitely not my best work, for starters I always tend to work better on a larger scale but I've  fallen in love with illustrations on book pages after stumbling upon some on pinterest. I also did it in five minutes using a postage stamp sized picture on my phone as an image to work from.

But I actually kind of like him, I think he's got a certain something. And I love his big old beady eyes!

This is probably just me being optimistic about him though, I can already hear the voices of art teachers past telling me to bin it and start on something fresh!

Which I might just do (not the binning part) the starting fresh part, it's been ages since I've had a go at painting. I'm thinking something of the large scale variety, possibly on canvas. And to be honest I am quite liking the idea of doing an owl! Just need to get myself a canvas now and to get my bum into gear.

Speaking of getting my bum into gear I have a list of things to do as long as my arm!

• finish current knitting project for etsy.
• finish patchwork quilt (lord give me the strength to actually complete this project!)
• aprons to be sewn
• needle books to be made
• beading on Indian owl to be started/completed
• all embroidery projects to be turned into cushions

The list goes on and on and on!

 

It seems every time something's finished something else rears its ugly head!

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx

Lazy Day's

As promised I finally got some pictures of me wearing my handmade pyjamas! My lovely daddy was kind enough to offer his photography skills for this occasion! 

 

As usual please prepare yourself for the usual round of awkward posing, although I did have enough sense to crop out my eyes because of the horrific bags underneath them (no seriously you could have packed those bad boys for two weeks holiday, abroad, with children) 

 

 

I still love them, they are very comfy and I love that I made them myself!!!!  However I was not aware of just how short I am!!! I blame my daddy he must have caught me at a weird angle, I'm fairly sure that I'm a six foot amazon women who should be strutting the runway and winning Americas next top model. At least I'm fairly sure.

 

 

Here's the bottom by themselves I should probably add that I'm didn't make the vest top its a Primark original!

 

 

And the robe is back on! So glad I put the pockets in perfect for carrying my phone around. I know there just patch pockets but they are the neatest patch pockets I have ever done!

 

In other news!

•  Simplicity 4070 dress done! Including a zip! my first one EVER! Just need to finish stitching the trim down. And by the way my zip was met with approval from both Momma Knitwit and my Aunty (who is quite the dress maker herself!)
• Starting Lil Knitwits jammies today!
• Knitting always knitting! Never stop knitting.
• And spending far to much time looking at fabric online! And drooling, and then drooling some more. 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx

Too Late . . .

Do you ever make some thing and just wish you had finished it a little tiny bit sooner? I knitted this owl ages ago and only finished it yesterday, four days to late. When I picked out the colours I didn't think it would look like this in the end, I'm really glad he does but if I'd have known I'd have worked faster, Much faster.

 

Without further ado I'd like the introduce you to..... "Mr I would have been perfect for a 4th of July post, owl"

 

 

Here he is Mr Red White and Blue!

 

 

Isn't he sweet? He's going to be up in my Etsy shop very soon! If you haven't been over for a visit in my Etsy shop please do pop over and take a peek (you can find a link on the right hand side of this page). there's lots of lovely handmade completely unique owls in there, all looking for new homes!

 

 

I sign all my owls with my initials, I think it gives them a personal touch. Reminds people that this object was made by an actual human person not just a machine! (Although sometimes I do feel like a machine, not the cool Terminator kind. More the plodding along Wall-E kind)

 

 

I had to add a bow tie to make him look festive!

 

 

And multi coloured pompoms!

 

And as its WIP (Work in Progress) Wednesday, I better tell you what else is being stitched together in my house at the moment.

• I'm finishing off another owl this one is larger much like my black, white and red one.
• I've started a dress in a really nice linen, I'm using a old pattern I worked with a few times and that I love (more on that later) so I can take part in the OWOP (One Week One Pattern) That Handmade Jane is hosting! I'm so excited!
• But right this second, my work in progress is my scatter cushions, lovely future mother in law was getting rid of some dark brown fabric, so I'm using it to cover 8 cushions! I know right 8 but trust me they all need doing my old cover were so grotty!

What have you been up to this week?

 

Frankie

 

xxx

Woo's A Pretty Owl Then?

This owl was slow going, probably because I've been doing a little bit of everything at the moment! But its finally finished! I love making owls , I have so much fun deciding on their little personalities and was accessories they should have.

I feel like I should call this owl "Molly Ringwald" Because it reminds me of the movie Pretty in Pink! If you haven't seen Pretty in Pink buy it and watch it immediately! this is the film my mum showed me when I realised I didn't dress the same as the other kids.

 

 

Here she is! I decided to do block stripes this time in a nice set of pastels, and then used pops of colour as accents.

 

 

So in love with her lil dinky feet/flippers?

 

 

She is filled with toy stuffing and rice to add weight!

 

 

Don't you just love the bow! Couldn't resist a girly touch!

 

 

This little lady with be winging her way over to Esty shortly (depending on how long Little Knitwit decided to nap for!)

 

Other than trying to get this finished lots has been going on! Little Knitwit has been testing how much he can get away with and testing mummy with it!

 

I've been trying to find a time to shoot my vintage inspired pyjama set , which I still haven't worn in an effort to keep it nice! I did however recommend the elastic I used to a lady at Tesco and managed to slip in that I'd made my own jimmies', she was less than impressed, but how can you expect someone who made their own wedding dress to be impressed by pjs! I know a wedding dress! Amazing!

 

And this week I also had the opportunity to go to my very good friends 21st birthday! And I used my up cycled moustache bag! Hopefully pictures of what I wore it with will be up soon!

 

How you've had a good weekend!

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx

 

   

And loses herself in her dreaming and sleep
And her lovers walk through in their coaches

Pretty in pink, isn't she?
Pretty in pink, isn't she?

Bottoms Up

I finished my pyjama bottoms!!! I actually couldn't be more proud of myself! Especially after I had accidently sewn up completely the wrong seams and had to start over, I'd like to say I unpicked them, but I just cut them off because I'm a teensy bit lazy! But either way they are done! And there pretty neat too! I reinforced the edges? (I think that's what you call it? I basically picked the most complicated looking stitch on my machine and re-sewed every edge to make sure they don't come apart, and then trimmed it down, kind of like over-locking but without the posh machine! ) Anyway without further ado here they are!

 

 

This is how they started out, I used an old pair of PJ bottoms as a template and just drew around them , and I cut all four layers at once (I didn't use separate piece for the front and back, I probably should have done to get a really good fit. But you live you learn)

 

 

Here they are finished. Now I completely understand that these are not going to win any sort of award in the pyjama bottom department, but I love them. And to be honest the fit is just as good if not better than some other pairs I have. (And they don't have a missive rip in the bum so there already have one up of some of my other pairs!)

 

 

I did an elasticated waistband because I couldn't actually think of any other way to fasten jammies, until I remembered about tie fastenings! Doh!

 

  

The bow is purely for show! The ribbon I used for it was my grandmothers! She had a lot of the stuff and its never been my favourite thing but it actually works pretty well on this.

 

 

And then I added some of the ribbon to each cuff to give it more of a vintage feel!

 

And I've nearly finished part two of this project, the robe! It was going to be a pyjama jacket but I mulled it over for a while (in bed, with a brew of course) and realised I prefer to sleep in vest tops, its very rare I wear anything long sleeved to bed unless I have the flu! So I've opted for a robe, which I'm making using my old one as a pattern but more on that later.

 

As soon as both pieces are finished, I will be giving them a model! Prepare yourself for some awkward posing and possibly my teddy bear! (you think I'm joking) So keep your eyes peeled!

 

And um did I mention I made them myself? Couldn't be more thrilled if I tried, I've actually made a wearable garment, dreading when the postman comes and I'm wearing them, I don't think I'll be able to stop myself from telling him!

 

Much Love

 

Frankie

 

xxx