I'm Knitting a Mini Jubilee Bunting!

Tea & Jubilee 

The May issues of the British knitting magazines

 have finally landed in the States.

I've been watching for them since I knew they would be filled with Jubilee goodies

and sure enough they are!

Mini Jubilee Bunting

I was so inspired by the magazines 

that I'm now (last minute) knitting a mini-bunting 

to adorn my Diamond Jubilee tea party table. 

I hated to miss out on all the Jubilee knitting 

so this little project is one I can tackle 

as my hand and fingers continue to heal.

I'm knitting my bunting with a Jubilee Celebration Yarn kit

that came as a "free gift" with the  Let's Knit magazine, issue 54.

There are patriotic projects for the yarn in the magazine but after seeing the adorable 

 mini-buntings by Nicole at Nicole and the bee, 

I opted to use my yarn kit for a mini-bunting like hers. 

You can find the pattern on Ravelry called Knitted Bunting

and modify it to a mini size, like Nicole did.

I also love Jane Brocket's knit Bunting 

and borrowed her style idea

 by putting my knit bunts on red rick-rack 

for a vintage1950's look.  

Quite fitting I think, since after all, 

Queen Elizabeth was crowned Queen in 1952 

and had her Coronation in 1953. 

 Jubilee Knits

All three British magazines are filled with brilliant

Jubilee projects including:

 Union Jack flag and cushion, several crown hats, corgi hat, a crochet picnic throw, several buntings, pom pom tea cosy, Jubilee coin purse, egg cosy and a placemat just to name a few.

 And all the magazines came with free gifts.

I love that about British magazines! 

Cool Knitannia

The Simply Knitting magazine came with a free pattern book called

"Cool Knitannia".

I can't wait to knit that adorable tea cosy on its cover 

with crowns and hearts 

to use with my Emma Bridgewater pottery.

Gotta run for now though...

I'm off to knit more bunts. 

(In the photos:  Emma Bridgewater Pottery and Betty and Barclay Union Jack Bunting.)

Hail Britannia!

 Hail Britannia!

You don't have to be a Brit

to be excited about the 

Queen's Diamond Jubilee!  

I'm quite excited and plan on celebrating

 with tea parties and luncheons

all Jubilee Weekend long!

I had planned on knitting Debbie Bliss' Union Jack flag

and her retro Tea Cozy  for my Jubilee tea parties.  

Unfortunately due to my ganglion cysts and hand surgery, my knitting projects of the last six months have been put on hold. 

In the meantime, 

since I'm not knitting much,

I have enjoyed seeing the Diamond Jubilee 

patterns that have debuted in the past few months.  

I thought I would share a few of my favorites. 

Here they are:

 Diamond Stole

I adore lace 

and love Susan Crawford's Diamond Stole. 

It's one of 14 designs in Susan's Coronation Knits 

collection featuring designs inspired from 

Queen Elizabeth's 1950's Coronation era.

Jubilee Bunting

No Jubilee celebration is complete unless you have bunting!

I love this Jubilee Bunting pattern

 by Gemma Atkinson 

for Rowan.
And, it's a free pattern!

Jubilee Placemat

Naturally, the British knitting magazines have special 

Jubilee projects in them. 

I love this Jubilee Placemat 

from the UK's The Knitter, Issue 45.  

I love the placemat's photo styling, too.  

I would love to sit down at that table for an English breakfast!

Knittania!

And, in case you're wondering about my adorable 

"Knittania" Union Jack tea mug...

my Ravely pen pal Jo sent it to me 

all the way from England

 to "cheer me up" after hand surgery.  

If you love knitting and Britain like me,

you can find the Knitannia tea mugs by Mason Cash

 at Lakeland. 

Hail Britannia!

(Photo Credits:  Diamond Stole/Susan Crawford, Jubilee Bunting/Rowan 

and Jubilee Placemat, The Knitter.)

(In the photos:  Brick Stitch Tea Cozy hand-knit by me and Union Jack bunting by Betty and Barclay. 

Out on the Town!

Vintage Clutch

I'm ready for a night "out on the town"!

I've been easing my way back into knitting with felting projects.

For some reason,

I think that knitting with two strands of yarn on bigger needles is easier on my fingers and hand as I recover from hand surgery.  

It's been challenging knitting since I still have swelling and numbness (on my long finger) 

even now 8 weeks post surgery.  

Physical therapy is helping and selecting fun "felted" projects seems to inspire me 

to pick up the needles every few days. 

I decided that my felted tea party hat needed a matching purse 

so this week I knit and felted a darling clutch purse called

 Vintage Clutch. 

The pattern is very easy to knit and a well written pattern.  

My version is knit in Cascade 220, color 9419/Vermeer Blue.  

The purse takes less than two skeins and is knit with the yarn doubled.  It's finished size is 6" x 12".

Here are a few before and after photos of my purse.

 Pre-felting

Here's how the purse looks pre-felting.

 Felted

Here's how the purse looks after a few cycles in the washing machine with hot water, 

a little soap and a little magic!

G.G.'s brooch

The most fun part of this project is the finishing work 

and determining what brooch or pin 

you will embellish your handbag with.

Since the designer named it Vintage Clutch...

I think it's perfect to use a vintage pin on it. 

I used a vintage brooch from my jewelry box that belonged to my great-grandmother. 

 I called my great-grandmother G.G. and she is the one 

who taught me to knit and crochet when I was a little girl.  

G.G.'s brooch is a vintage Weiss rhinestone pin 

and very special to me.  

I know my G.G. would love that her pin and love of knitting 

live on through me.  

Happy Mother's Day

Hand-made Cards

When you care to send the very best...

there's nothing like a hand-made card.  

I've been making my mom 

hand-made cards for years.

This year her Mother's Day card
is made with upcycled
Emma Bridgewater catalog photos.  

Happy Mother's Day!