Notebook Cover

It's been a long time since I last posted, and I really can only blame Module 11, it has taken so much work, time and effort, but I am pleased to say I actually passed it! :D

Anyway, I decided to make this little cover for a notebook or a book. I am always one for taking a book away with me, but it is always a little sad when you carefully put you book in your bag, only to take it out and it's managed to worm its way under everything, and bent the pages and now your water bottle has leaked all over it...
Admittedly this cover isn't waterproof but it can protect against most things!

The material I used I got in a fat quarter pack, and I used most of two of those fat quarters.

You need four pieces of material for the case, the width approximately 11 inches and 13 inches in length. I found folding a fat quarter in half along its long edge gave me the 11 inches before trimming the top down to 13 inches.

Two of these pieces will be the outside of the case and the other two will be the inside. Using a material in between the two materials can give the case more protection, but is entirely optional. I used some childs craft felt between my layers. It used two A4 size pieces, with a strip from another piece of felt to make up the width. If you are using felt, place the felt in the portrait position, with the fabric also in that position. There will be a gap between the felt and the top of the fabric, this is okay.

So we have four pieces of fabric and two pieces of padding. I started by laying two of the pieces of fabric right side together, then on top of that, laying one piece of padding. Making sure that the edges of all three pieces are lined up, I then made a seem with a straight stitch down one side, along the bottom and along the other long side, making sure to leave the top open. Then turn it the right way around. That is one side of the case.

I repeated that with the other three pieces of material, and I had two sides done. This is the point when I couldn't decide what fabric I wanted as my lining and what I wanted as the outside. Seeing as I had two halves with one side of each I decided to sew them together so each side was different.

I've got the two sides, and still the top is unsewn. I placed the two pieces right sides together (it doesn't really matter the way I did it, but if you want the inner and outer to be different then do!) and pinned them in place before sewing the two pieces together. Now this step can be done with a sewing machine, but my sides were very thick, and I didn't want to take much away from the space inside the case with seams. So I hand stitched around the outside. Admittedly this did take longer, but I think it was worth it.

Finally with the case mostly done, I just had to finish the top on both sides. I did this by folding the two rough edges inwards, and sewing a straight stitch along the top. Not forgetting to add a ribbon half way along one edge to be able to close the case.

There are a few different ways to secure the case shut, you could add buttons, button holes or loops to hold it shut, but I felt that a ribbon would be able to accommodate different sized books and notebooks that I wanted to put in there.

Also this case isn't just limited to books, it can be used for anything that would fit inside it that you wanted to cover!

I am sorry that I didn't take any step by step photos of how I did it. I can imagine that it could become difficult to follow. I am also aware that there might be an easier way to make this, so feel free to experiment and take away from this any ideas that you might have!!

Happy Making!

Legwarmers!!

They are here at last! The lovely leg warmers I promised.
They were made with double pointed needles and worked in the round, the two I've made are the inverse of each other and where I have started with one colour on one of the leg warmers, I started with the other colour on the other legwarmer. But this pattern is written for a lovely matching pair!

Each leg warmer is 15 inches long. My tension square was 3 3/4 (three and three quarter) inches by 3 3/4 inches, with 20 stitches and 17 rows, kitted in single rib, with DK wool and 3.75mm needles.

The pattern can always be adjusted to suit different sizes, by increasing or decreasing the number of stitches can adjust the size of the legwarmer, and by adding more or less rows can change the length.

The legwarmers themselves are kitted in single rib with DK yarn.
The pattern alternates different coloured yarns, but you can ignore the change of colour and knit a set of legwarmers in one colour, or use a variegated yarn.

Repeat the pattern twice to make two legwarmers.

Needles: 
A = 4 x 3.75mm double pointed needles.
B = 4 x 4mm double pointed needles.
Yarn A - this is the colour you start with.
Yarn B - the second colour you have chosen.

Pattern:
Cast on 60sts on 3 needles (20sts on each needle) with needles A and yarn A.

Place a stitch marker between the first and second stitches, this will indicate when to change colour later on.

Row 1: With the fourth needle and yarn A: (k1, p1) to end of round.

** To begin with you will have three needles in a line, to begin the first row, with the fourth needle, knit with the first needle in your left hand, make sure you pull this stitch tight, and then the three needles will have formed a circle. Having the stitch marker between the first stitch you knit and the second one will help when changing colour.

Row 2: (k1, p1) to the end of the round.

Row 3: k1, change to yarn B, (p1,k1) to the end of the round.

Row 4: (k1,p1) to end of round.

Repeat rows 3 and 4, changing the yarn colour every two rows. (The coloured stripes should be two rows thick, but the very first stripe will be thicker as you have cast on.)

Continue until the work measures 2 inches long, then change to needles B.

Continue with needles B until the work measures 13 inches and change back to needles A for another 2 inches.

Cast off.

Go Vote

Today I voted, did you?

The May local elections are small, but they are important.
When someone has fought for my right to vote, I feel like I should use it.
It's the same for everyone, today is the day for going out and deciding who is worth your vote. There are a huge number of people who don't think their vote will count. Collectively all those people will make a huge amount of difference. If we want a country that is run in a way that represents the people in it, EVERYONE needs to vote.

But today wasn't the big election. The big one is on the 8th on June, so make sure you get registered, get the info, and get down to that polling station and have your say.

No one else is going to do it for you.
Make sure you register by the 22nd of May to vote in the 8th June elections!
Register to vote

In other news, I've been playing around with my Bullet Journal and found a daily spread that I really like! There isn't much doodling and drawing like on some I've seen, (Which are pretty amazing).
This one is fairly simple, with a space for events happening in the day, tasks I need to complete, the weather and what I ate. There is also a large amount of space for notes during the day!

Apart from my journalling I have been working away on some of my makery projects, so hopefully soon there will be some stuff arriving!

Holidays...

I am very sorry for the lack of posting in the past three weeks. I had got romantic ideas that when I went to Wales for two weeks I would be able to finish loads of projects, revise for my upcoming exams, and manage to fit it all in around working on the Talyllyn Railway.

Obviously none of that actually happened. I worked on the railway most days, did minimal revision and hardly any making. But we'll try and get back on top of all of that.

I did start another scarf just like the one I did before (Striped Scarf). I made this one with the left over wool I had from the one the Mr M asked me to make. Whilst I'm not a football person, it did just happen to be the colours of the Welsh Rugby Union team! The pattern for which I've now put up on Ravelry so you can download it as a free PDF pattern here, but you can always refer back to the original post on the blog here for how to do the fiddly bits.

Sadly the lovely leg warmers that I promised are still a work in progress, but they will be up soon! I did take them to wales with me, but about two rounds were knitted of them... I know I need to get a move on.

The polka dot knickers also have not made any more progress, I didn't really feel up to taking my sewing machine with me.

In other news I have started bullet journaling.  There is a lot of cool things going on with bullet journaling and it has become really really popular over in the states, but going back and looking at the original website, it is actually a really useful tool when used properly, to help people organise themselves, but also be able to become more productive by writing down thoughts, and things that need to be done. Once those things have been written down the brain isn't struggling to remember everything that needs to be done, giving you a chance to properly focus on the task in hand.
There is a really interesting post about it here, it also mentions attention deficit traits, and gives a fair bit of food for thought.

There is also a section on that website for getting started. One of the lovely things about it, is that you can be as creative or as minimal as you like. You can use whatever you have around you to get started, you just need a notebook and a pen. I've just got a notebook I picked up from the doctor who experience in Cardiff, and a load of coloured pens. What you make of the journal is completely your own, and sometimes beautiful things can come out of it.

Slow But Steady

Apparently wins the race...
This week (I know it's Wednesday but I've lost track of the week already!) I've managed little pieces here and there, but still, not much has rolled out of the factory doors!

I've made a little bit of progress on the Granny Stripe Blanket, it's now a whole three rows taller! (Hopefully more soon as I finish more bits and pieces off) To read more about that one check it out here.

There has been some work done on a lovely pair of legwarmers, which will be making their way here hopefully along with a pattern before too long, so that is to look forward to.

Apart from that, I've been panicking along with a whole ton of work from my Module 11 work, which is why there has been a sad lack of making recently, but hopefully when I get back on top of it all it will begin to pick up the pace again and we'll have lots of lovely made things to share! :)

Plodding Along

This week has been somewhat a slow week in the factory of things. I've been keeping up with our new module at Flybe, and making stuff has taken a little bit of a back seat, but we'll get around that, I just need to get a move on!

Today I made some more progress on the Polka Dot Knickers! I got the elastic sewn in to the two legs and the waist band, although this is only the first bit of elastic sewing, so they look rather crumpled and will begin to look better once I've managed to do all of the top stitching.

I did actually start to do the top stitching on one of the legs, and it is a very long and fiddly task. I got nearly all of the way around the leg and then the bobbin ran out and I decided that it was enough for today!

I have also started another blanket for a friend, but I'm not going to post that one until it has been finished and delivered, he doesn't want to see it until it's done.

Hopefully I'll get back on track soon! xx

And Done.

On one quiet, hungover morning in Wales, I quietly knitted away and I finished the cover of the cushion that I have been making for a little while now. It was a happy moment to see the cover being finished.

The final steps are now for it to be sewn onto the cushion, and finally installed at the house in Wales.

The quite celebratory moment when this was finished was in the house that the cushion will be in, and at the time I was with the people who would be staying there too. It was pretty good. Another project finished and time to try and start another one!

Other posts about this project:
Making the cover: Mitred Knitting