The perfect Aussie Christmas... and a Happy Christmas to all

Log Cabin knitted blanket - finished

Completed 12 squares that were then sorted into four rows of three and edged with navy blue wool

 Sorting the squares into a suitable design

Finished blanket folded in half showing six of the squares. The squares were washed by hand in a fabric conditioner and dried flat in the sun before being sewn together, as some of the wool was old

 Joining the seams from the front of the blanket using mattress stitch after joining them in strips of three. Hint - don't pull the thread tight with 8ply or you will distort the shape. Makes a neat seam.

 Reverse of blanket showing thread ends woven into strips in stretchy figure of eight pattern

Detail of woven ends showing how ends were secured and disappear into the knitted strips

What did I learn?
How to weave ends so that they remain stretchy and disappear.
How to join seams of different types of edging using mattress stitch
Thank you Staci for this pattern and these very useful videos

Decided to complete the blanket with 12 squares as I had used most of my left over wool and wanted to move onto a different project. Suitable size for the flat surface of a single bed. Lots of time and patience required to sew up the seams. Would not make squares again but pleased this blanket is finished!

My grandson's comment - " Love it!" (He will go a long way with comments like this...)

Maisie

Have just finished making Maisie as a birthday present for a little girl who is turning four years old next week. Hope they will be good friends. The pattern is from Toyshelf but I used 3mm needles so the doll would be smaller. Maisie measures 12inches (31cm) in height and is made with 8 ply wool.

Log Cabin knitted blanket

Here's a great way to make use of all those left over short ends and half balls of wool. I'm usually not a fan of knitting blanket squares but these have more appeal and are so easy. The pattern is here Log Cabin Scrap Blanket Make sure you watch the video on the site that explains the process so well and shows how the strips are knitted on to make each square. I would endorse her three rules:

1. No single colour should dominate a square
2. No single square should be dominated by mostly dark or mostly light colours
3. Keep really uncomplementary colours from touching each other.

and also add

4. Repeat at least one colour if possible in each square to create a unified design.

Lace throw rug

The whole month of January seems to have gone without anyone even realising! A very busy household over the holidays with family visiting so not much time left for anything else. Have been occupied marketing my new Australian history book that was finally published in December and reviews will appear in two magazines in March. However have still had time to complete a large project as a special gift... and here it is...

 

Fiona's Throw Rug 

Size: 48"x 62" (122cm x 157cm)

cream Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 100% washable wool 

8 ply x 4mm circular bamboo needles 

peach petals lace pattern x 8 row repeat

border edges knitted onto finished item with mitred corners

weight: 1130 gms