Friday 7 September 2012

Olympics inspired

Hello everyone!

It is good to be back again.  We have just had a lovely week in Scotland and it is a beautiful place.  We love it.  Pictures will follow in another post! 

I have a little finished project to show you.  Actually it is not so little because it took a lot of work to complete!  I was watching the Olympics for a lot of the time whilst I was making this item and it definitely helped to spur me on and give me extra enthusiasm for this project!

I was asked to make a union jack blanket for a baby.  I wasn't sure exactly how to tackle this project, especially as I have never attempted instarsia before!  But if someone puts a challenge before me, I am not one to give up lightly!

I found a union jack knitting chart and bought some suitably coloured aran yarn and began!  I also watched quite a lot of 'how to do instarsia' videos on the very helpful youtube!


At one point I was knitting with 13 little balls of wool!  I did get in a proper tangle on more than one occasion, but I persevered and I was very pleased with myself as it started to look like a union jack!

 

After about 30 hours of knitting, I had a knitted baby blanket that clearly depicted the union jack!  Mission complete!  The back actually looked surprisingly unmessy, but I decided to back it because I didn't want to risk little baby fingers or toes getting caught.  I used a navy blue cotton fabric and secured it by hand using the simple whip stitch.  Now, sewing has never been my forte at all, so I was very daunted by this final task, but again, I was fairly pleased with my efforts.  I am sure many of you would do a much more wonderful job, but the stitching was neat and it all held in place!

Hopefully Mum and baby will be happy with the addition to the red, white and blue themed nursery!

4 comments:

  1. This is a gorgeous blanket, I am sure it will be well used when the colder weather arrives too. I was commenting on 'Bunny Mummy' and saw your little pic with a beautiful friendly smile and just had to pop in to see you!

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  2. Hello Rachel
    Goodness me...determination certainly pays off....impressive blanket!!! Parents must be thrilled with it. Sewing isn't my forte either but I must admit since I've been blogging I've been inspired to do more and more.

    keep well

    Amanda :-)

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  3. that is really cool! they will no doubt be amazed - especially during what seems like the most patriotic year in british history!

    cant wait to hear about scotlant! we loved it!

    x

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  4. This is lovely! Where did you find the pattern?

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