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I was invited to a baby shower last weekend, so I crocheted a baby gift to take. I might know next to nothing about the care and maintenance of babies, but I think I am pretty good at making baby things.

He is such a handsome dinosaur.

I had a bit of a false start with some 4-ply (fingering) wool, and I soon realised that the finished toy would be very, very small. I ripped out that attempt and restarted with 8-ply (DK) cotton. The pattern actually calls for 5-ply (sport), but 8-ply yarn worked perfectly.

I had a false ...

One of the unfinished projects that has been lurking in my sewing room has been oven mitts.

Long ago, I bought some Insul-Bright insulated wadding, and I set it aside with some kitchen print fabric with the intention of making mitts. More recently, I realised that I could also use up quilt wadding scraps and some heavy wool fabric remnants I had in my cupboard.

The Insul-Bright came with a pattern for oven mitts, so I used that pattern and some cotton upholstery fabric remnants for my first test mitt. I only had enough fabric for one mitt, so that ...

I have finished another UFO! This one dates from 2018.

My April goal was to turn this kokeshi panel into a cushion. I made it originally as a humidicrib cover with fabric remnants I had bought in Japan, but when the hospital advised that they did not want any more humidicrib covers, I changed the plan into a cushion.

I was so happy when I found the Japanese scrap packs.

I hand quilted it during April and early May, wearing a hole in my thumbnail in the process. Despite the wear and tear on my hands, you cannot easily see ...

I started this sewing case a little over two years ago. I was on leave before starting a new job in January 2018, and I thought I would quickly whip up this whimsical sewing kit in a weekend. I had everything I needed for such a little project already in my sewing cupboards. Too easy!

Instead of two days, it has taken me two years. As with so many of my projects, I stalled and it was forgotten.

The house front can be decorated in any way you like.

The back of the house is undecorated.

The pattern is the ...

Before Christmas, I whipped up a handful of Lola zipper pouches to give away as Christmas and birthday presents.

I started with the intention of making two pouches with some sort of bird or cat print for a colleague, but while I was digging about in my stash, I decided to make a few more. I could have kept going – they always make great gifts – but I was trying to be realistic about how many I had time to make.

I even found coordinating tassels in my stash.

Until now, I had not made the smaller size in the Lola ...

It is almost the end of October, but I have only just realised that October is breast cancer awareness month. Obviously, I am not very aware. Even the huge breast cancer screening truck parked in front of my workplace this week was not enough to give me the hint.

Despite my obliviousness, I have been doing my bit. I have been knitting my second batch of knitted knockers, cotton breast prostheses that are given to women who have had mastectomies. One of my neighbours and friends has been knitting them, and she got me started. The charity supplies us with ...

Like the characters of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories, I do love a useful pot (bag or other container) to put things in.

If you are unfamiliar with the story about Eeyore’s birthday and useful pots to put things in, here is an snippet.

Who would not be as happy as can be with a Useful Pot to put things in?

In the last few weeks, I made:

• three tote bags
• two divided baskets
• one lined basket.

Yes, I love storage!

The three tote bags used the basic bag pattern from Nicole Mallalieu’s The Better Bag Maker. After making my ...