Monday 29 April 2013

Tutorial - How to make a Puppet Theatre from a Shoe Box

This weekend I got crafty with the kids - CB wanted to make her own puppet theatre and presented me with a shoe box.  Well, after a little deliberation, some hunting for materials, a little cutting, sewing, painting and sticking, we came up with this shoe box puppet theatre:

You will need:
  • 1 shoe box with lid
  • scissors (or Stanley knife)
  • 1 thin twig/chop stick/bamboo stick 4 cm longer than the width of the box
  • poster paints &/or felt tip pens
  • glue & sticky tape
  • 2 small pieces of fabric
  • needle & thread


Instructions:
  1. Mark out with pencil a large arch on the bottom of the deep half of the shoe box - this will be your frame for the theatre.
  2. Use scissors or a Stanley knife to cut out the arch and put this piece of card to one side.
  3. Use poster paints or felt tip pens to colour the inside of the box - we opted for green for grass on the bottom and blue for the sides and top for the sky.  If you've used paints, leave to dry.
  4. Take the spare piece of card (the left over bit of card from the arch) and trace round a cup in the centre of this piece of card to create a clock face.  Add numbers, hands (if desired) and decorate the face.  Cut a semicircle shape out around this clock face ensuring that there is enough room to fold back 1.5cm underneath the clock face.  Decorate the remainder of this piece of card.
  5. Take your fabric - you will need 2 pieces - measure the width and height of the shoe box frame and cut 2 pieces of fabric that are 1.5cm longer than the height and 2/3 of the width.  If you have pinking shears, trim round the bottom and sides.  The top edge needs to be folded over 1cm twice and hemmed with a quick running stitch.  Check your twig/chop stick will fit through this hem.  Repeat for the second piece of fabric.
  6. Take the twig/chop stick and poke a small hole with scissors through the side of the shoe box frame at the top, push the twig through this hole and put the 2 curtains on the twig/chop stick, making sure you have the right side facing the arch opening.  Then poke a second hole through the top of the other side of the shoe box and push the twig through.  Your curtains are hung - trim if necessary!
  7. Glue or stick the clock face to the top of the shoe box frame.
  8. Add glue to the bottom of the shoe box frame and attach the frame to the lid of the shoe box to create a shallow base for the puppet theatre.  Leave the glue to set well.

There we go - one puppet theatre from a shoe box finished. CB loves it and has requested more puppets for her shows.  Off to make some sock puppets now!

Thursday 25 April 2013

Tutorial: How to knit a picot flower

Adding flowers to a hat, cardigan (as in the design below), cushion or headband is a great way to add an individual crafty touch - this tutorial will show you how to knit a very simple flower in one piece to add to your project.  If you can cast on, bind off, pick up stitches and use the knit stitch (no purling needed), you can make this flower.
Carina Seamless Top Down Cardigan Knitting Pattern
  
You will need:
  • A small amount of spare yarn (double knitting or worsted weight yarn) in a main colour and a second colour (if you want to add spokes).
  • knitting needles (I used 2 4mm (US size 6) DPNs as this is a small project)
  • 1 button (for a button centre)
  • yarn needle and scissors

Abbreviations:
KFB: Knit into the front and back of the stitch to increase 1 stitch.
K2tog: Knit 2 stitches together to decrease 1 stitch.
st: stitch
sts: stitches

First make the centre:
Cast on 3 sts.
Row 1: KFB, K1, KFB. (5 sts)
Rows 2: KFB, K3, KFB. (7sts)
3- 6: K all sts.
Row 7: K2tog, K3, K2tog. (5sts)
Row 8: K2tog, K1, K2tog. (3sts)
Bind off sts but put final st back on the left hand needle.
 
Pick up sts round the centre to make the picot petals:
*Cast on 3 sts to the left hand needle (4sts), bind off 3 sts, pick up and knit 1 st from the edge and slip the last st on the right hand needle over this st and put remaining st back on the left hand needle.  Rep from * aiming to create 10 – 12 picots round the centre.
When you have worked all the way round the centre, cut the yarn leaving a long tail end and thread this through the final stitch. 
 Finishing off:
Thread the yarn onto a needle and work a circle of running stitch round the edge of the centre, just below the picots.  Pull the yarn tight to gather the centre and pull the picot petals into a circle, secure on the reverse.

You can finish off the flower in different ways:
1.  Sew a button to the centre.

2. Thread your coordinating yarn onto the needle and secure to the back of the flower.  Bring the needle through to the very centre of the flower and then place the needle and yarn between 2 petals to create a spoke and bring the needle back through the centre of the back of the flower to the front - repeat until you have sewn a spoke in between each of the petals.  Secure the yarn at the back.
3. Complete step 2 and then step 1 for spokes and a button centre.
You can make a larger flower by using thicker yarn and needles.  You can also make longer petals by increasing the number of stitches you cast on and bind off for each picot petal. 

 

Sunday 21 April 2013

The wonder of mohair - a free scarf knitting pattern


I had been lusting after this Rowan yarn - kidsilk haze stripe - for quite some time, pondering the fabulous array of colours (thanks to Kaffe Fassett ) and how no two balls looked the same and wondering just how you could make a scarf from one ball.  Well you can - here it is!


The colours are amazing, the yarn whilst thin, is incredibly strong and the drape of the mohair is excellent.  Rowan have very kindly added a pattern to the reverse of the label, but I wanted to add a little lace into my mohair scarf and designed this alternative pattern - alternating between blocks of lacy rib and moss stitch. 

Marvellous Multicolour Mohair Scarf:

With 5mm needles cast on 57sts.

Begin the lacy rib pattern block:
Row 1 (WS):*K2, P3, rep from * to last 2 sts, K2.
Row 2 (RS): *P2, K3, rep from * to last 2 sts, P2.
Row 3: *K2, P3tog, rep from * to last 2 sts, K2.
Row 4: *P2, yo, K1, yo, rep from * to last 2 sts, P2.

Repeat this 4 row pattern until 9 pattern repeats (36 rows) worked in total.

Begin the moss/seed stitch pattern block:
All rows: *K1, P1, rep to last st, K1.

Work 15cm in this pattern ending with a RS row.
Continue to alternate these 2 pattern blocks, aiming to end with a lacy rib pattern block, yarn permitting.  The scarf still works well if you have to cast off before the end of a block.

Cast off after either Row 1 or 2 of the lacy rib pattern in pattern.  Darn in yarn ends.

Finished and ready to wear with pride.
You can also find a PDF version of this mohair scarf pattern here.