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.  

Fit for a Queen!

 Fit for a Queen!

Ta da...

here's my first "post surgery" project,

a knit and felted hat

that even Queen Elizabeth II 

would look lovely wearing!

I haven't been so excited about knitting in such a long time...

this hat was so much fun to create and embellish!

The hat pattern is Vivian by Designer, Lisa Cruse.

Vivian is Lisa's signature hat and is named for her grandmother. 

I have admired Lisa's felted hats for quite some time and am so excited that I finally made one.  

I think Lisa's hats could very easily become addicting.  

The possibilities of embellishing them are endless.  

I had the chance to chat with Lisa by phone yesterday. 

I found out that we both share a love for Victoria Magazine,

tea, cooking, travel, romantic style and pretty hats. 

Lisa is really more of an artist than a knitter. 

She has been artistic all her life and her love of color, fiber and creativity are evident in her designs. 

I admire her ability to turn a  felted design into a work of art.  Her trademark style is magnificent embroidery, wool needle felting, applique and silk flower embellishing on her designs.  

Her most recent design is her sweet Bertie Bonnet....

which looks like it stepped right out of a Jane Austen novel from
the Regency period.  Lisa travels the world and does workshops on her embellishing techniques.  

I would love to take a workshop from her someday!

Pre-Felting

My Vivian hat is a test knit for my lys Knitique. 

Knitique is having a class called "Fit for a Queen" 

where you can learn how to knit, felt and embellish your hat.  

The hat class will celebrate Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee 

with a tea party on the Jubilee Weekend where we will all wear our hats, of course!

Lisa's hat pattern is well written and an easy knit. 

Most knitters can probably knit it in just a few days. 

The magic begins for this hat once you felt it and then 

embellish it. I've done a bit of felting before and am always

 a bit nervous during the felting process, fearing that my project may shrink, too, much.

I kept a pretty close eye on my hat during felting.

After the hat is felted, it's time to block and shape.

Lisa has great tips and  techniques
for felting and blocking on her website. 

For the Vivian hat, she recommends blocking the hat
with a dessert plate "right side up" 

in the brim to make it flat.
I followed her advice and it worked like a charm!

Fit for a Queen!

I think the most fun of this entire hat making process is 

embellishing the hat!

I've had interest in millinery and flower making so I chose to decorate my hat 

with silk style "raggedy roses".

I was inspired by Lisa's Raggedy Ribbonry Roses kit 

that you can purchase on her website to decorate hats. 

I used "regal colors' and tartan trim, 

 "Fit for a Queen", of course!

Now, I can't wait to wear my hat 

to the Diamond Jubilee Tea Party!

(In the photos:  Adorable hand-made Union Jack bunting by Etsy seller Betty and Barlcay, 

Emma Bridgewater Union Jack Tea Pot and vintage Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Mug.)

Make Do and Mend

Reduce

Today is Earth Day.

I've always cared about Mother Earth.

When I was 10 years old I started an ecology club in grade school

called the Helping Hands because I cared about the environment.  

I care about the environment even more today

and do my best to live "green" and  follow the Three R's:

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. 

 Reuse

So last winter, I discovered some moth holes in one of my cashmere sweaters.
(Lesson learned...I should have stored it in a plastic bin.)

Being a knitter, I just couldn't bring myself to throw all that 

luxurious cashmere away.  So instead, I decided to

 "make do and mend"

and recycled that sweater into beautiful felted flower pins.

I love that it's "vogue" again to 

"make do and mend".

Just check out the adorable Mollie Makes and

  Green Craft magazines and all the upcycled goods 

for sale on Etsy 

and you'll see what I mean.

Recycle

So now my cashmere sweater has a whole new life 

and I saved it from the land fill!