It is just so important to remember to be grateful... :)

What an amazing year of creativity!!! Just tonight I have finished my last creation for the year 2011... it looks amazing. I say this only because it was a free style knitting project and as such, I kept adding and subtracting stitches, changing techniques as I went...  I simply did not imagine this home ware item would look  the way it does now.

Can you guess what this is..?

I am one of those people who get such a kick out of creating new things and developing new ideas and having said this I know that I am not the only one... :)

Additional edging for enhanced effect!

Have you ever had that feeling of giving everyone else credit but yourself for what you have done?

Yes, I am talking about INSPIRATION!!!

Inspiration is a driving force of creation. It keeps us / the world going, but even more so, it plants the seed in the garden of our thoughts and then it is all up to us... Tonight I was knitting, crocheting and stitching , combining all basic techniques and as I was doing so all I could think of is all the people that have inspired me this year to all of whom I am very grateful.

Is it easier to figure out what it is now?

So this post is about reflecting on 2011 and giving my thanks to all wonderful people that I worked with this year with and who have truly inspired me. Here is my little list:

1. my beautiful parents who continue to inspire me every day
2. my aunt Nada and uncle Alan for bringing me to Australia 
3. my hubby and my beautiful children - for alowing me to be who I am
4. my beautiful friend Erika, the owner of Algerika Design - for introducing me to blogging and encouraging me to embrace my creative side
5. my wonderful friend Sandee, the owner of Thyme 4 Tea for just being there to share many of our creative moments
6. Trudi Pollard, the owner of PollardDesigns - for being a fabulous artist and a constant source of energy
7. Trisha Bagott, the owner of Madam Bukeshla, - for opening the doors of her amazing shop to 'Sunchi B' products and being yet another creative force that produces such a unique and superb quality garments
8. Bloggers - this wonderful community of creative people who dedicate their time to share their projects on-line and who continue to inspire me with their talents and professionalism
9. Magazines - designers and every day people who care about comfort and art and who continue to put the two together... (Inside Out, Living Etc, Elle Decoration, Real Living, Country Living... are only several of my favorites, ♥)
10. Finally, remembering that today the Earth kept moving, the Sun kept shining and I had plenty of food    :)

THANK YOU ALL!!!

PRESENTING TO YOU...

If you would like to learn more about my products, you can find me:

1.) on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunchi-b-knit-and-purl/

2.) or Facebook - www.facebook.com/sunchibknit?sk=wall

Recycle your old sweaters...

I love this look... what a creative way to decorate a room, out of old recycled sweaters...

via ... http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/6-recycled-sweater-crafts

If you would like to learn more about my products, you can find me:
1.) on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunchi-b-knit-and-purl/
2.) or Facebook - www.facebook.com/sunchibknit?sk=wall

Custom made floor rug

I can make these rugs to any size fit. This beautiful red rug is 100% cotton and it comes in size 1100 x 900 mm. It is made out of 11 meters of pure cotton fabric and it is made in one continuous strip. It is smooth, soft under your fit and double faced, looking the same on either side. This is a hand made rug, made with a giant crochet needle and this size rug takes 3.5 working days to make, i.e 28 hours.

Where to look for inspiration...

You may find inspiration in a tree...

or in interior design and upholstery....

Dark gray and mustard - new crocheted bag

Inspired by the dark gray and mustard colour that is currently in almost every magazine, I wanted to try make a bag that would reflect this beautiful colour combo. This bag is 28cm x 28 cm!

This time I experimented with different materials. For the main part, ie the body of the bag, I used 'shantung suiting tobaco' which is a little bit thinner than ponti. The 2 meters of fabric make one bag, but when working with this material the bag comes a little bit smaller. The gorgeous mustard colour comes in very fine linen which goes wonderful as contrast to the dark gray. Because it is a smaller bag, I decided to use one button only. 

raw materials used in this bag

'Sunchi B Knit & Purl' is now available on Facebook. If you would like to stay updated with new products, become a fan!

(www.facebook.com/sunchibknit)

Giant Crochet Floor Rug - Work in Progress

The making of my rugs is a lengthy process. Here is the 11 meters of Indian cotton in it's raw form. The whole roll of this material will be used to make a rug that is 1100 mm x 900 mm.  

The fabric is first cut into strips and then crocheted into rug. Cutting of the fabric is the most lengthy process as this material is very hard and it needs to be cut manually. This is a very durable material that is just so very soft for children to sit on and it does make a conversation piece for anyone visiting your home. The making of the whole rug takes 28 hours.

The very last ball of fabric finishes off the rug!

You can now follow Sunchi B Knit & Purl with Bloglovin'... :)

New feature for my Blog

'Sunchi B's Pin Up Board' -  a new addition to my Blog! It highlights the flavor of the month, the colours and textures that inspire me and provides updates on the latest, in-house handmade items. I am starting it as a test feature! It may not necessarily stay permanent but is something I thought worth giving a go!

'Sunchi B Knit & Purl' is now available on Facebook. If you would like to stay updated with new products, become a fan!

(www.facebook.com/sunchibknit)

Crocheted teddy bear - Meet Chester

I have been working on a market version of my prototype teddy bear that I made earlier in the year. Although the prototype was knitted, I have decided to go for a crocheted look. Why? It is so much easier to make and you can make almost the whole teddy in one go.  Curious what it looks like? Here it is, Sunchi B presents to you 'Chester -  the crocheted teddy bear'.

Here I am sharing the process that went into making this cuddly teddy bear. I started off by crocheting a circle for a teddy's foot and from there I built it into a leg.

Then, I crocheted a second leg.  I joined the two legs by making a crocheted link between the two, and by adding and deducting the stitches, I defined the body of the teddy.

The teddy's head and arms were crocheted separately and then secured to the body. I crocheted the ears by creating new stitches of the each side of the head and then crocheting them to the desired length. The green scarf was knitted separately and then secured around the neck, so that it wouldn't come off. 

'Sunchi B Knit & Purl' is now available on Facebook. If you would like to stay updated with new products, become a fan!

(www.facebook.com/sunchibknit)

Hot Water Bottle Cozy - Entrelac Knitting

(apologies, the first paragraph of this post accidently got wiped out)


Hot water bottles are very commonly used throughout Europe to keep children warm in the cold months of winter or when the tummy is aching. This is the way I remember my Mum using it to stop my tummy ache. It is a very old concept and if you do a little research, you will find that a variety of different types of heating bottles were used as early as in the 16th century. These early hot water bottles were made of a variety of materials, such as zinc, copper, glass, earthenware or wood. To prevent burning, the metal hot water flasks were wrapped in a soft cloth bag.

Today, the modern conventional rubber hot bottles are made out of durable rubber, that can withstand sufficient heat and they are commonly covered in fabric with novelty design. So, here was the opportunity to for me to learn a new pattern and design a hot water bottle cozy. There is so many ways you can go with the cozy design, combining different colours or interesting patterns. Try it, it is heaps of fun to make.

Learning Entrelac knitting

Entrelac knitting is such an intriguing knitting pattern!  You look at it and the first thing you do is try figure out how do the colours interact with one another and what is the technique behind it. Entrelac may seem complex, but once  you create a base for it which is a set of triangles, you pick up the stitches of the side of each triangle and by working the rows, your stitches will be slanting to the right or left depending on what side you are with your knitting project.

It is very handy to use an entralac diagram as a reminder in which direction your knitting is going:

I found this image on:
http://fuzzyjay.blogspot.com/2010/02/entrelac-diagrams.html

Working with the shades of gray, PATONS wool (50%wool, 30%acrylic, 20%alpaca), the Entrelac knitting works wonders on this wool. It accentuates the different colour shades, making any garment stand out!

Light Summer Bag - Finished

My summer bag is now finished and when I look at it, it reminds me of spring. As soon as I started playing with the light gray fabric of which this bag is made, I knew that it needed to look fun, light and summery. Initially I was going to use the main fabric in combination with 'English grass' green, but on my last trip to Spotlight I have discovered this wonderful flowery fabric that I knew would work wonders on this bag as a lining.

silky button hook

Below is the back of the bag. The button hook is crocheted out of silk and matches the lining fabric of light and dark purple roses. Just to add some more interest, I secured several flowers in between the over sized stitches.

'Sunchi B Knit & Purl' is now available on Facebook. If you would like to stay updated with new products, become a fan!

(www.facebook.com/sunchibknit)

My very first Markets!

Well, it has finally happened! 'Sunchi B' had it's very first appearance last night @ The Glades Moonlight Markets.  It was a fantastic night and it was wonderful to be there and share a stall with 'algerika design' and 'Thyme 4 T'. My cup cozies and tea pot cozy received a lot of attention and it was very nice to chat to people and find out what they liked. Here are a couple of photos from the night!

Lounge room floor rug

This rug took a long time to make, but it is ready now and it is coming with me to The Glades Moonlight Markets tomorrow, 4pm - 9pm, my very first market stall. VERY EXCITED !!!

This rug is made out of 100 % Indian Cotton and it measures 120cm x 90cm. It is made using a very simple crocheting techniques, so yes it is made with one crochet hook. It is very thick and soft, wonderful to walk or sit on. It consumed 22 meters of fabric, so it is very heavy and very durable. This is the very first rug I made for selling purposes and I am hoping to produce them in a variety of colours. More information  coming up soon.

Warm and soft floor pad for the little bums and feet

Anyone with little children knows how much they enjoy spending time on the floor. Regardless of how many times we tell them to get off that cold floor, and whilst they might happily agree with you and move away, it is only a matter of seconds before they are there again rolling on the floor, and the story repeats itself over and over again. With this in mind, the 'Sunchi B' floor range delivers this simple hand knitted 'floor pad',  made out of felt, warm and comfy just the way little bums and little feet like it. It is very light, easy to carry around and it measures 41cm x 32cm! I hope you like it.

If you like IKEA, and you happen to have this stylish reclining chair ,

you may want to use this pad on this reclining chair too!

Here comes the bag with a strong strap

The very first entry on my blog was the laptop prototype bag. This bag received many great comments but one thing that needed improvement was the strap. So here it is, a brand new bag from 'Sunchi B' that is smaller than the laptop bag and because of this I am calling it a personal bag. This bag as well as the strap is crocheted with black and gray striped winter ponti material and the flap with which the bag closes is made with 'bouvardia' european yarn (70% acrylic, 30% wool). This bag is extremely durable as the strap supports the whole length of the bag.

Of course, we can always add a matching scarf...

I first made a strap for the bag, which I secured by joining the ends of the strap. The sides of the bag are then crocheted from the strap up, which gives it support. The sides are then joined using multiple strands of several yarns, which adds a bit of colour and character. 

Here is the bag in one big piece....

This is an up close look at the pattern....

Three cable knitted scarf with a yellow wrap

Dark gray and yellow go together like peanut butter and jam! 

Tea Pot and Cup Cozy

I guess any passionate knitter would be delighted to browse through ' Really Wild Tea Cozies' by Loani Prior, the queen of the tea pot cozies.  I came across this book in a shop about 6 months ago and could not put it back on the shelf- unless it was on my own shelf! Finally, I found some time to play with different designs and patterns and decided to knit a tea pot cozy with a matching cup cozy. This is my latest creation and I absolutely love it!

Making this tea pot cozy was quite an experience. It felt like I was preparing a daughter for the Prom. This tea pot cozy has a lining underneath as well as padding at the top to shape it like a box. I am obsessed with the bobbles at the moment, so of course part of the design needed to show this.

If you have browsed through my blog, you would know that I really like the cup cozies too, so for this cube-looking tea pot cozy, I needed to make a matching cup cozy. The pattern on this cup cozy is called the 'diagonal garter stitch' and it is a wonderful pattern if you like to use a variety of colours because it accentuates the colours in the most beautiful way.