Mystery Blocks Tutorial: Sewing Up Part 3

Bonjour mes amis!

Happy Tuesday to you all :)

Today, we had lovely weather in SA (at least here where I live :) ), and although there is a definite chill in the air come early evening, the day was sunny and warm for what is already Autumn here... yup!, time certainly flies...I can't believe that we are already in April!!! The little red-headed finches living in our porch light are growing up (I know because their loud, insistent food-demanding is much more grown-up than before), the roses are fading and losing their leaves, and the mornings are darker when I get up to start the day...I am not a winter person, but this year I am determined to try and find something positive instead of negative about winter...I may have to drink hot chocolate every day, make fires every night, and maybe knit a gorgeous cashmere scarf...

I have been so taken by so many projects in the last couple of posts that I have neglected the poor Mystery Toy ! Shame on me...it's been lonely :)

I hope that, (if you are making this project), that it has been clear to you, and that you are managing to follow along...

The next installment, mes amis... :)

Mystery Blocks Tutorial: Sewing Up Part 3

If you look back here, you'll see that the next step is to sew up the orange (or your equivalent colour) rectangles. I have tried to show which seams are joined together, by adding coloured stripes to the edges (just as before)...

Sew up the seams indicated by the red stripe to the seams indicated by the green stripes. This translates to sewing together the edges of the green squares to the edge of the orange rectangle.

Repeat on the other side.

A close-up...

This is what your works should look like now.

Next, sew up the edges shown above, ie the outer orange rectangle edge to the short edges of the yellow rectangles. Repeat on the other side...your toy is slowly but surely coming together :)

Here's how things look now...

Time to add the red squares. These are sewn onto the orange squares (the edges of the orange squares that are farthest away from the blue...)

I have flipped over the red square so that you can see more clearly how it should be placed...remember to sew up with both "right" or "knit" sides together...

All red squares are sewn on...I love how it's beginning to take shape.... :)

Allow the red squares to flop back, purl sides up. This will show you more easily what seams come next. Sew up the edge of the red square indicated by the blue stripe, to the yellow rectangle (you are only using half the yellow rectangles edge...) Repeat on all sides.

All done!

The next step, for today's post.... place the red rectangles over the work as shown above. Sew up the outer edge of the red rectangle (indicated by the blue stripe), to the yellow rectangle (indicated by the red stripe)... Repeat on the other side.

Done! Can you see how it is taking shape? :)

Now turn your work, so that you are looking at it from the short side. Place the light green rectangle into the space between the red squares as shown above. The light green rectangle will be folded in half, with half of the edge being sewn to the orange seams (indicated by the blue stripe), on either side. Repeat for the other end of the toy.

Now sew up the seams as shown above (red squares edge to the edge of the green rectangle). Repeat on the other side of the toy. Well done, you are getting there...

Word of the Day

desideratum

a noun, meaning: something considered necessary or desirable

A couple of interesting links...I enjoyed reading this (my field...and as I say "knowledge is power"...in fact that has been challeged recently by a lawyer friend of mine..."the application of knowledge is power", is a far better way of phrasing it...), and thoroughly enjoyed this latest post's photographs ( I have always been drawn to these isolated icy places, and their undisturbed beauty...)

See you all tomorrow,

Sleep well,

Lots of Love,
Heidi :)

(Semi-) Officially Half Way!

Well Folks, I can officially say (as close as I can imagine anyhow...), I am middle aged today! Yes, indeed, today I turn 40!!! Kind of momentous, yet strangely it doesn't feel much different to 39?

Above is a pic of the Maluti Mountains, in the Free State in South Africa. The teeny, tiny little housey thing somewhere in the middle is the Golden Gate Hotel, which is in....yes! you clever people, The Golden Gate National Park! A whole bunch of us went for a 6 hour hike up to where I took this pic. It was in the middle of winter, so everything is a bit dull and brown, but in summer after the rains, everything turns green....it's awesome!

Ok, back to the mystery toy!

Mystery Toy

Requirements:

6 balls of yarn, in different colours (preferably colours that sort of go together)
I have used a lovely 100% merino hand-dyed yarn, in DK

One 3mm pair of knitting needles
(I have used circular needles, but straights are fine too. The knitting needs to be a bit dense, so I used a smaller needle than one would normally use on a DK weight yarn).

A pair of scissors

8 (5x5x5cm) firm foam blocks (I went to the local upholsterer, who cut them quickly)

A tapestry needle for sewing up seams

Row counter

I suggest that you label (in your mind, that is...or on paper), each colour yarn, A, B, C etc as shown. Things can be a little confusing if you don't keep track...

It is customary to give a gauge (to new knitters: this refers to the "tightness" of the stitches, ie some people knit very loosely, others very tight....so you can imagine what will happen if the knitted item is a jersey... totally the wrong size if the pattern-follower and the pattern-creator have different knitting tightness! So... you will usually see something on your pattern that says "gauge", or "tension", followed by "___ stitches per inch, ___ rows per inch. Some pattern makers use "____ stitches over 10cm, ____rows over 10cm", and what you then have to do, is knit a "gauge/tension swatch", and see how your knitting tightness compares. If you have less stitches per inch, you will need to either knit looser, or increase your needle size, so that you achieve the right number of stitches per inc etc. If you have more stitches per inch, you will have to knit tighter, or decrease your needle size. It may initially seem complicated, but will all make sense as you keep knitting.)

For this project: I have knitted at 7 and a half stitches per inch (don't be distracetd by the half, it simply means that I have half a stitch or "v" at the point where the inch ends), BUT in reality, gauge for this project is not critical, as the foam block we will be covering are compressible, so different tensions won't make enough of a difference to be a problem.

However, try to keep the tension the same in all the squares and rectangles, so you don't end up with a lop-sided item... ;)

Step 1. You will be knitting two basic shapes: squares and rectangles.

Square:

Using the thumb cast-on as in the previous tutorials, cast-on 13 stitches. Knit one row, turn around, Purl the row etc until you have completed 18 rows in total (9 Knit, 9 Purl).

Cast off.
Your square should be about 5cm x5cm

Rectangle:

Using the thumb cast-on method, cast on 27 stitches. Complete 18 rows as above.

Cast off.

Your rectangle should be about 5cm x 10cm

Colour A: Make 4 squares, and 2 rectangles (In my case, Royal Blue)

Colour B: Make 4 squares, and 2 rectangles (...Red)

Colour C: Make 4 rectangles only (...Yellow)

Colour D: Make 4 squares, and 2 rectangles (...Orange)

Colour E: Make 4 squares, and 2 rectangles (...Light Green)

Colour F: Make 4 rectangles only (...Dark Green)

If your blocks are not exactly the size indicated, please don't worry, I will post a short How-to about blocking and all should be well... :)

And just look at what arrived...birthday flowers! From my dearest husband... Thank you :')

One interesting link...

Right O! I am off for a sushi lunch with my best friends... I hope you all have a wonderful day...filled with peace and contentment :)

Lots of Love,

Heidi :)