Free gift with all website orders in June of ready knitted jacket

I missed offering a free gift last month so here is a special offer for June.

With all website orders this month I will be including a FREE lovely ready knitted jacket with mohair edging.

The jacket is in 12th scale and will fit a tiny 5 to 6 inch doll such as Heidi Ott or similar.  It will also fit small ball jointed dolls such as Pukifee, Lati Yellow or Hoojoo Baby, or other small dolls such as Pippa, Dawn, or Strawberry Shortcake.  The mohair edging will vary slightly due to the random nature of the yarn.

Check out the website and take advantage of this free gift:
www.bitstobuy.co.uk

Wonderful craft shop

Just got back from a week away so busy catching up with the washing.

Just wanted to mention this lovely craft shop I found recently, for all those crafters in West Sussex

http://www.angmeringframing.com

It has so many lovely things!  Well worth a visit for all sorts of fabric, bead, embroidery, scrapbooking etc supplies.  They have a huge stock of items which are difficult to find on the high street these days.  There is a little bit of knitting yarn but not enough to merit a visit.

I hope they manage to thrive as much of this business is online now, but it is nice to go and actually buy something you can see.

Free patterns for crafters

I just had to share this site I found recently.  It has links  to lots of free patterns for all kinds of crafty things: patchwork, fabrics, knitting, crochet etc.  Lots to keep all us crafters happy for hours.

Free knitting pattern for 'Ugg' boots for tiny bjd

Wot no website free gift this month????     Sorry folks, May is going to be so busy and I just haven't had time to think of a give-away with website orders this month.  But I am knitting, knitting, knitting and I promise a super free gift of a ready knitted item for June, so keep watching this space!

But here is a free pattern instead.  This was designed for bjd (ball jointed dolls) tiny size, so will fit Lati Yellow, Pukifee and similar dolls:

Knitted 'Ugg' boots for a 6 - 7 inch tiny bjd

Materials needed:  Small balls of yarn in brown and white.  A pair of 2mm knitting needles.

Measurements:  To fit a doll of up to 7” tall, with a foot length of about one inch.

Abbreviations:  st = stitch;  sts = stitches;  k = knit;   p = purl;  ss =  stocking stitch (one row knit, one row purl);   turn = turn knitting round and work back along sts just knitted;  k2tog = knit 2 sts together; p2tog = purl 2 sts together;  m1 =  make one by picking up and knitting between the sts;  tbl = through back of loops;  [ ]  = repeat instructions in brackets.

Make two the same.

Starting with sole cast on 10 sts with brown yarn and k one row.

Next row:  k1, m1, k3, m1, k2, m1, k3, m1, k1 (14 sts)

Next row:  k2, m1, k3, m1, [k2, m1] twice, k3, m1, k2 (19 sts)

Next row:  [k3, m1] twice, k7, [m1, k3] twice (23 sts)

Next row:  k4, m1, k3, m1, k5, m1, k4, m1, k3, m1, k4 (28 sts)

Change to white and k two rows.

Next row:  k6 brown, k1 white, k14 brown, k1 white, k6 brown

Starting with a p row, ss 7 rows, at same time keeping continuity of pattern with brown and white yarns the same (there will be 2 sts of white on each row).

Shape top of foot: 

Keeping continuity of pattern with brown and white yarn continue as follows:

Row 1:  k16, k2tog tbl, turn

Row 2:  slip one, p4, p2tog, turn

Row 3:  slip one, k4, k2tog tbl, turn

Row 4:  slip one, p4, p2tog, turn

Rows 5 to 6: repeat rows 3 to 4 (22 sts)

Row 7:  slip one, k to end of row

Row 8:  p

Row 9:  k6 brown, k10 white, k6 brown

Row 10:  p6 brown, p1 white, p8 brown, p1 white, p6 brown

Starting with a k row, ss 4 rows, at same time keeping continuity of pattern with brown and white yarns.

Change to white yarn and k two rows.

Cast off.

 

To make up:  Fold with right sides together and join back and sole seam.  Turn right side out.  Do not press.

A kit giving everything needed to make the boots, a duffle coat, and leggings is available from the website.

www.bitstobuy.co.uk

Upcycle, reuse and recycle packaging materials

I have a small business which uses quite a lot of packaging materials for posting parcels.  When I am busy I am posting several packages a day, perhaps up to eight a day in the run up to Christmas.  Add in ebay sales and I use a lot of packaging/envelopes/Jiffy bags etc.
For the business I tend to use new materials, and find ebay is a good source for plastic bags, and I scour the internet for good deals on Jiffy bags.  Ebay is a bit more flexible as it is quite usual to reuse and recycle good quality packaging materials, and as you know I am always trying to reuse as much as I can, both to save resources and to save money.  This is even more important now that I try to offer my ebay items with free P&P, and postage rates are due to increase hugely at the end of the month.
This is a list of materials that I save for recycling:

Plastic bags for immediate packaging
The plastic envelopes that greetings cards come in
Tiny plastic bags that hold spare buttons on new garments
My son is an IT technician and saves me lots of plastic bags that electrical components come in
The outer bags used for catalogues that come through the post
The air cushioning plastic strip that comes eg with Amazon parcels which I cut into bags

Outer packaging
Thank you Amazon for using lots of that brown paper strip to cushion inside boxes.  This is invaluable.  It can be used as brown paper to make parcels.  I cut it into smaller pieces, double layer, and run some seams down the side with my sewing machine to make envelopes.

(Incidentally, although off topic I can't resist adding this link on how to make storage baskets with it).
Corrugated card which is cut to sandwich items eg knitting needles
Most Jiffy bags can be reused
Plastic sacs received in the post are turned inside out and reused

Postage
I am brilliant at sandwiching stuff tightly so that it can be posted as Large not Packet - this saves a lot of money
Superdrug sometimes sell stamps at a discount - it is worth stocking up
And although too late for this year it is worth stocking up on 1st class/2nd class stamps at the old rate

I promise that this is the end of my recycling blogging, I will get back to knitting next time.

www.bitstobuy.co.uk

Re-use, re-cycle, up-cycle or just save the world

I was brought up in the years of austerity just after the war, in a family without a lot of spare cash.  It was drummed into us at an early age that nothing was to be wasted, and to some extent this is ingrained into me still.  I hate to see waste in any form, and really dislike throwing anything away that can be reused.  Then it was to do with saving money, although now it would be called saving the world.  I strongly believe that the earth's resources are finite, and that we should all be thinking about reusing as much as we can.

Some things I remember from my childhood:

Never leave a light on when out of a room
Be sparing with hot water - we were allowed one pint jug full to rinse when washing hair
Reuse waxed paper from cereal boxes to wrap packed lunches
Wear jumpers to bed in winter
Unwrap Christmas presents carefully and fold paper to use next year
Burn as much rubbish as possible on the open fire
Shut doors to keep in heat in winter (hands up if you can remember huddling next to the open fire and getting blotchy marks on your legs and a frozen back!)
Hand down clothes (I was the youngest girl of three so certainly knew what that meant!)
Hand knit and sew as many clothes as possible
Re-use fabric from old clothes to make new garments, and unravel jumpers to reknit the yarn
Shop at jumble sales

I am sure there are many more.  We never actually used newspaper in the loo but I remember going to play with friends nearby who did!

We re-use and re-cycle as much as we can now without especially thinking about it.  Although we are not fanatical about it here are a few of the things we do:

Used stamps are taken to Oxfam
Plastic milk bottle caps go to the playgroup
Unwanted DVDs and CDs are hung up to deter birds on the allotment
Old video tape is used to tie up plants on the allotment
Shredded paper is composted
Fizzy drinks bottles are cut down and used as mini greenhouses on new plants
Small plastic bottles like Yakult size are used to top canes
Old spectacles go to Specsavers for renovation and passing on
I collect buttons from old clothes
Junk mail/letters or paper printed on one side goes through the printer again for non important printing
I refill printer cartridges with ink (tip, unless you want black fingernails for weeks use plastic gloves)
Yoghurt pots are used for mixing filler/paint etc when decorating
Old carpet goes onto the allotment for paths or on areas to clear weeds
Old hand knit jumpers are unravelled and the yarn reused (I wind it round plastic bottles, dunk in water with a bit of detergent in and dry, to take out the kinks)
Plastic plant pots are saved for plant sales
Broken terracota pots are used for crocks in pots
Plastic carrier bags (we get them occasionally even when using our own bags!) are used to hold rubbish for the dustbin
Clothes go into clothes banks (whatever happened to jumble sales, they don't seem to exist in our area any more?)
A couple of old bikes have gone to a chap nearby who renovates them and they are sent to Africa (he doesn't seem to have a weblink but I see there are several similar schemes online)
Old pallets have been used to make a compost bin
Screws, nuts and bolts are saved for reuse
Margarine containers are cut into strips to make plant labels
Many many things such as packing materials can be used in craft activities with children

We have an excellent kerbside collection which takes all the usual things such as glass, paper etc.
In our area there is a thriving Freecycle scheme, and any unwanted item listed there is snapped up by someone who would like it.
This site tells you how to recycle anything!

I had intended to write a post about how I recycle packing materials, but got carried away.  That can be for next time.

www.bitstobuy.co.uk

Make do and mend

I always wanted one of those M&S Per Una jackets, you know, the one everyone of a certain age has.  The one with the stripes and big buttons down the front.    They seem to do the same one every season in slightly different colours, so they are obviously a big seller.
I finally bought my version in blues and greys, and although I was told it looked nice I was never completely happy with it, as it gaped at the neck and worse still the flappy opening at the bottom of the button band put inches on where I didn't need them. 
I was brought up in an age when you made do rather than chuck things out, so I decided to modify it.

First I took off the front two bands.  I forgot to take a 'before' photo but here it is with the band placed where it was.
I found some grey 2 ply yarn and picked up along one side, double crocheting to the end.  I carried on until I had a wide double crocheted band then slipped stitched it to the other side to fill the centre.  As the yarn is so fine the band is firm and the crochet stitches are so fine that it just looks like the same fabric as the main parts of the sweater.  Then I sewed the buttons in place.

I am much happier with it now.  I always prefer a sweater to a jacket anyway, it can just be pulled on without having to think about layers to put underneath.  Made do and mended for another day!

www.bitstobuy.co.uk