I watched lots of movies over Christmas and New Year, while working on some crafty projects... including one that's been a "work in progress" for over 25 years!
When I was a baby, my mum knitted me a blanket made from lots of little squares. She then started knitting squares for a second blanket but never finished it, and the bag of squares sat in the back of a cupboard for years.
Then when I started knitting as a hobby when I was at University, my mum gave me the squares and I picked out all the pink ones and the blue ones and stitched them together to make two cushion covers:
The rest of the squares had been sitting in a suitcase under my spare bed for several years after University. Then I found them while moving this autumn, and decided to sew a third cushion cover so I could have three lovely colourful cushions to put on the day bed in my studio.
Here's the front and back panels of the new cushion, almost ready to sew together:
There are just a few squares leftover which will go back in the bag and in my "works in progress" box until I work out what to do with them...
... I don't know how long it's been since there was a wool section in WHSmith's but I imagine it's been quite a while!
Oh how gorgeous..I love that idea. Does your mum like it? I think that is a nice idea in general, like a crafty time capsule for your child. I might do that for my children.. just lovely.
ReplyDeleteWow that's an impressive length of WIP, I love the though of a wool section in WHSmiths. They are lovely and that bit more special due to the connection to your Mum.
ReplyDeleteKandi x
Lappteknik av stickning. Supersnyggt!! En idé som jag kommer att spara och testa någon dag när jag blir sugen på att sticka. Du har många bra idé i din blog.
ReplyDeleteKram Susanne
Love the cushion covers, those little squares are very appealing!! And I didn't know WHS used to have a wool section!
ReplyDeleteooooh they are yummy! how big are they? and is it moss stitch it might be a good way to use up my stash of bits!
ReplyDeleteFab - I knitted Aran cushion covers for daughter this Xmas - not nearly so colourful. She is working on a knitted blankets of squares - 2/3rds there now
ReplyDeleteBTW Smiths wool depts must have disappeared about 25 years ago - they never really caught on.
They are beautiful cushion covers and I love the moss stitch (my favourite!).
ReplyDeleteI don't ever remember a wool section in WHSmiths and we had quite a big one near us when I was growing up - perhaps they were a trial thing in certain parts of the country only...?
Moss stitch indeed, using double knitting yarn and quite small needles. Ah, those were the days when my fingers were still nimble and my eyesight excellent. Each square was about ten stitches, so, yes, very small. Hey, naturally I love these cushion covers, I made the original blanket!!!
ReplyDeleteAhhh they are lovely and with that story bound to become a family heirloom.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun way to use something your mother made for you! They look great. Perhaps you can make a teeny tiny cover with the remaining squares. Haha.
ReplyDeleteThey look great! I wonder if there's some record for duration of WIPs? And I had forgotten about WHSmith's wool department, but seeing the design on that carrier bag brings back some memories.
ReplyDeleteLove your cushions. I don't ever remember woolshops in WHS perhaps they were trialled in certain areas?
ReplyDeleteHow lovely that you are able to complete a project with pieces made by your Mum. Perhaps there’s hope for all my own unfinished projects. The worse one being a cross-stitch I started for my Dad’s 80th and is still unfinished - he’ll be 91 this year! My Mum is the knitter in my family (I crochet) and you can see how we collaborated on knitted Clangers on my blog (that was another story about finishing projects!). Look forward to seeing what you do with the other squares.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments everyone :)
ReplyDeleteI really love the colourful patchwork of these cushions, although sewing in all those ends is a seemingly endless task! Using squares knitted by my mum does make them extra-special, I adore objects with family history / personal meaning like that. I'm really looking forward to seeing them every day in my studio space.
I bought Jaeger Alpaca yarn from WH Smith in Birmingham in 1981 and the cardigan is still going strong! They had a really good choice of yarns.
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