Saturday 18 August 2012

How to do a square knot (with bells on!)


I may have got a bit carried away with the bells.  It's just that it is such an easy pattern (from "Handmade Living" magazine July edition) that once I started, I kept thinking of more and more people who would love one.  It also used up a bag of tiny bells that I bought last year to make jingly baby balls.  The pattern is my idea of heaven.  Quick, simple, cheap and very effective. 
The bracelet uses simple square knots and  threading bells on at regular intervals.  This was a new technique for me and I found the square knot tricky at first.  The first two photos show how I did it.  The thread for bells was always the same strand so I found keeping the needle threaded helped me see which part of the knot I was on. 
1-You start with four threads and separate the first and last thread out for knotting. 
2-Left thread over middle two to make a loop. 
3-Back thread comes over the first thread, tucked behind the central threads and through the loop on the left. 
4-Pull these threads slowly and evenly to make half of the knot.  The needle is now on the right.
5- Repeat the process so that the needle ends up back on the left to make a square knot!
Hope this helps x

Thursday 2 August 2012

Belated Birthday Bear.

Ladies and Gentlemen....Presenting Penny Bear in all her Royal Glory!  I've been meaning to post this for a while as it was a lovely gift from one of my sisters for Katie's 6th birthday.  Isn't it ace?  The present arrived just as Hubby and I were rushing around to get ready for a surprise birthday meal.  It got packed in the changing bag and brought along when we picked  up the girls.  The evening was a riot of little girls having a whole restaurant wrapped around their dainty fingers and the crown- well- crowned it off!  Seriously, the waiters were enchanted by my little madam in a crown, placing her own orders and skipping around to introduce Penny to the chefs.  She basically had the whole restaurant wish her a happy birthday as we left (By name, I might add).  Baby Hannah wasn't going to be out done either as she sang "Twinkle Twinkle", danced to "Jingle Jangle  scarecrow" and flutter her little lashes to the waiters.  What finally sent me off into hopeless laughter was our charming waiter go down on his knee, hold out his arms and have both my little heart-breakers run into his arms to hug him goodbye.  I'm in for a rough ride with these two, I think!