Paper & needle crafts among other handmade things

I just had a quick look through my blog archives to see when was the last time I posted any motifs for this challenge and it was in June which sounds like a very long time ago!

The motifs below were made sometime in July, they're from this book by Edie Eckman

and for the Beyond the Square Challenge hosted by Barbara from Made in K-town.

Here they are in random order.

Obviously taking part in this challenge means that I now have a box with several of these motifs and the question is what to do with them. Do I just leave them in the box or do I find a way to use them? I think I found a way to use these motifs that I'm happy with, to know more please watch this space.

Children's cards are a lot of fun to make and I really enjoyed creating this one for an adorable 2-year old daughter of a friend. I apologise for the quality of the photo, the light was terrible and I was running out of time to give the card before the big day.

As promised here's my tutorial on how to make a flower with the tube you've knitted using a knitting spool.

You can find my previous posts on how to cast on and off on a knitting spool here, here and here.

Get your knitted tube ready and let's start.

Fold the tube as shown below.

Thread a tapestry needle with the end of the wool and pass it through each fold like so.

Pull tightly to close and shape the flower. Pass the needle through the inside end of each petal pulling tight so the flower stays closed.

To stabilize the middle of the flower you need to stitch through each petal all the way around until you reach your starting point.

This will make sure the petals stay in place. Repeat this step if you think it's necessary, for instance, if your flower has long petals.

Sew a pretty button in the middle and your i-cord flower is finished.

These flowers can be used as brooches if you attach a brooch bar to the back or to embellish bags, hats, etc.

 

Hello again,

Here I am to show you another way of casting off on a knitting spool and it's really easy.

So, you've knitted a tube to the desired length and want to cast off.

Cut the end of the wool you're using making sure it's long enough for what you want and thread it through a sewing needle.

Starting on the next stitch push the needle under and up like so.

At the same time remove that stitch from the peg making it go up and over the peg.

Carry on like this until the very last stitch. Remove it from the peg and pull the wool to close the tube. Sew a stitch or 2 to make sure it won't come undone and that's it.

On one of my next posts I'll show you how to make a flower with your knitted tube.

Meanwhile, you can have a look at my previous posts on how to cast on and cast off (method 1).

Just a reminder that this is how I do things and it works for me, if you look on the web you'll find many other methods for casting on and off on a knitting spool.