Hats off to the Lads

Some of these hats date back to the beginning of the year though the last one was finished as recently as a few weeks ago. There is another one completed but was a gift and forgot to take a photo before I gifted it.
 They are all stash busters from part used balls in my leftovers basket, but the pattern I used for the two in the picture below is this . I'm fairly sure the yarn used for Luke's charcoal one is Robin Aran with wool, some leftovers of a huge 400grm ball that I've had knocking about in the basket forever. Hubby's version in claret and blue in honour of his football team Aston Villa. It is knitted in some Rowan that I think is Cashsoft that came out of the bargain bin without a label in House Of Fraser some time ago . A fantastic pattern, well written and easy to read as well as a great looking hat to boot. The hat in the photo above that Luke is wearing whilst trying to disappear at breakneck speed cos I welding a camera, is a DK version I cobbled together. I think it is knitted in Sirdar country Style in a silvery grey colour.

Oh Dear, Now We're On Catch-Up Catch-Up

I've done it again haven't I, gotten so embroiled in everyday life that blogging has passed me by yet again! Sorry folks, life was so hectic, busy and chaotic in the run up to Christmas and New Year (Happy New Year by the way) that time just flew by, and, before I knew it, we are are almost halfway through January.

I think last time I blogged I was looking forward to Harrogate for the Knitting and Stitching Show at the end of November. Did she get there I hear you ask????? To that, I answer yes I did. I travelled up to Yorkshire on the Saturday morning after a concerned week as to whether I would get there at all because of the weather. We had snow early this winter here in the UK, because it was a surprise and because we are so unused to it, pretty much everything can and sometimes seems to come to a standstill. There hadn't been that much snow at that point, just an inch or 2 in Birmingham and a little? bit more up north. Well there was enough to cause some minor disruption but the trains were still running and the weather forecast was OK, so after a few concerned conversations with hubby (who was a little worried)about me getting back or being stranded on a train or in a station Sunday night if the weather took a turn for the worse. After trying to reassure him of course as much as possible that it would all be tickety boo. I went !!!!!!

I arrived at GG's and HWN's fine, (the only delay was on the local line at the other end due to staffing problems, not the weather). I had a lovely time Saturday spending it with with my friends, I was made to feel very welcome, spoilt rotten, fed to bursting and looked after wonderfully. They are really a wonderful couple.

I also finished a hat which I'd started on the journey up. I don't travel on the train very often, and big stations like Birmingham New Street that are very busy and a little!! like a maze, make me nervous and panicky. I also had to catch a connection in Leeds (where I'd never been before so had no idea of the station layout) of which I had to wait a short time for, so I wanted something simple that I could pick up and put down easily, so I went ultra simple from my head for my head. The pattern started off as another copy of Luke's hat, but I knitted it in a odd ball of Rowan tapestry and I was having serious doubts about having enough so I altered the decreases slightly to try to make sure I wouldn't run out. I did have some left over but I'm not sure if it would have been enough for the original pattern or not.

I wore this hat a lot before Christmas, it fits quite well considering the accelerated decreases but, I had a new gorgeous dark green duffel coat or Christmas and it doesn't go with it as nicely as with my old coat. As the weather warms up I will wear it and my old coat again but for now it is languishing at the bottom of the hat basket waiting until then.

I wore my hat to Harrogate on Sunday. We got up early to a beautiful blue cloudless sky and so very cold of temps of well below -10, even in the car a hat was needed. GG's daughter, the wonderful M was going to Harrogate too, so after she arrived at GG's we set off to collect the lovely Nelly and lovely Jan (some fellow Fekkers) on the way. The countryside was very pretty with it's few inches of snow blanket a very bright white with the sun glistening in it.

We had a great day, even though the show itself wasn't as busy as last year, crowd wise or exhibitor wise. We thought the weather had a lot to answer for, and for the lack of visitors that must certainly have been true, but we were puzzled at some of the big company names missing, until we spoke to one of the organisations that were showing there. Apparently the stall fees had gone up a lot for that year so a lot of companies had pulled out or decided not to bother. It also explains why there much fewer bargains than the year before. Not only were there not as much knitty stuff this year but the amount of needlework fabric and notions as well as cross stitch available had gone up considerably. There also seemed to be a few more not related to craft at all stalls that had also crept in. But as much as I had gone up for the show, the real reason was to see friends that I talk to on-line pretty much everyday but are not able to see more than once a year. I have now managed to see some of them several times in person despite living so far from them. We also got to see the lovely Donna (another fellow Fekker) and her lovely daughter Rosemary who we met up with for lunch, a chin wag and a show and tell of what we'd all bought.

Now I did buy stuff honestly, not loads but I did buy some yarn and a few buttons etc but the next pictures are a bit of a cheat as I forgot to take some, both when I got home and after Christmas day. My spending money as usual came in the form of cash to buy my own Christmas presents from my 2 eldest children and my MIL, even though I bought the money from my MIL back home with me and bought my new coat the following weekend with it! So when I retuned home (eventually that is, and I'm getting to that bit) I had to hand them over where they would not be seen again until Christmas day. So my apologies that these photos weren't taken until a few mins ago after going on a retrieval hunt, I've had to dig them out of cupboards, from my stash under my bed and other bits from baskets and knitting bags. I hadn't realised they were all so scattered around.

This is pretty much my total haul, though reduced in that the pink Sublime cashmere merino silk (from Black Sheep Wools) was 10 balls but, as it is my WIP at the moment there is only 2 balls left and they will soon be knitted up pretty sharpish.

There are also some ball of pink chunky to the left of the pic, though bought at Harrogate they were for me to make a present for someone else rather than a present for me.

This beautiful silk mini project bag, I spotted first, sorry Nelly and Jan who both liked it too but it was the only one in this pattern., the other patterns were pretty but this one was lush! I can't remember where it came from, I did put a business card in the bag but it is now empty. If I come across it I will update and add it.

Just a little close up at the scrummy yarn. The Rowan actually wasn't quite bought at Harrogate. A little more about that in a minute!

Some vintage buttons that came from a stall that sold not only vintage buttons but vintage dress patterns and lots of other vintage equipment for stitching of all descriptions. They are surrounded by the contents of a bag of buttons from The Button Lady.

From inside The Harrogate International Centre there aren't many vantages to see outside, but on the morning had been beautiful, very cold for a soft southerner like me but sunshine and lots of it (and did I mention?) with not a cloud in the sky. About 3 pm we happened to notice some skylights, and the snow coming down very thick through those skylights! The thought crossed our minds that it may be wise to leave early, my train home from GG's wasn't until 7.30pm but if the snow carried on it may cause problems. We saw some more skylights 10 minutes later and the blue sky was back so we gave a sigh of relief and carried on looking for a stand that sold back issue magazines that we'd seen earlier but had disappeared. 20 mins later we still hadn't found the stand we wanted but we did spot that the sky had gone very dark and that the snow was coming down again, very heavily. We were in 2 groups to walk around the halls but we met back up quickly and decided to leave straight away. We were in fact out of there in minutes and were shocked at home much snow had come down in such a short amount of time and it was still coming down in bucketfuls of blizzard proportions. Put that with the snow already on the ground and the Arctic temps from the previous night and you have some pretty horrendous conditions for driving. The multi storey car park we were in very near to the halls has a very steep drives going into and out of it. There was also a queue of other people all with the same idea at roughly the same time of making an early move and getting out of the car park alone was something GG told us after she didn't think we were going to make without getting out and pushing. The car struggled to get a grip on the very steep incline to get back onto the road, the car in front was also struggling and despite a huge gap between them and us it was still hold your breath in case they slid back into us. We made it out of the car park and the traffic was already bad. As well as the Knitting show, it was also a lot of peoples last pay day before Christmas so lots of people had been Christmas shopping in the town centre, there was also another show on elsewhere in the town or so I was told. Down the road in York there was also a huge Christmas Fayre on, which also generated a lot of traffic. All this added together caused us huge problems. Over 2 hours later we were still in Harrogate sitting in gridlock traffic having moved no more than a hundred yards or so. At that point it was looking unlikely that we were going to get back in time for my train. 90 minutes later and again we were still in Harrogate, I had to phone hubby and tell him what was happening. I was safe, in good company (very good company, we spent most of that time stuck in traffic in fits of giggles) but I wouldn't be home as expected late that night, I would let him know as soon as we got back to GG's what would be happening. He wasn't very happy obviously but there was nothing any of us could do. I had joked about being snowed in at GG's for a week and that I was looking forward to it, but I never for a minute thought it would happen. My biggest concern was that I hadn't booked an open train ticket in an effort to keep the cost of my trip down. I had left plenty of time for getting back so as to cover what I thought would be every eventuality, knowing that the journey from Harrogate to GG's shouldn't take more than an hour or so and that she only lived round the corner from the train station. Silly me eh?? In the end we got back to GG's 5 and a half hours later. The only reason it was that early was because Nelly's husband came and collected Nelly and Jan from a service station which was at a halfway point, so GG didn't have to try and drive down rural lanes to drop them off. Nelly's husband obviously knows their local area well and which roads were best to use and where he would be least likely to get stuck. The weird thing was though, once we were a few miles away from Harrogate there was hardly any snow at all, in fact no snowfall at all for some of the journey home, and the snow from the previous fall had all gone! Apparently Harrogate is quite high up so the weather can hit there pretty hard! The problems we had were pretty much localised to the area and although Leeds and York also had problems I'm not sure they were as bad as we had.

Once back at GG's with a nice hot meal inside us was the problem of trying to sort out then how to get home???? Trains were far too expensive so close to the travel time, it would have been £50 of which ,quite frankly I did't have, National Express wasn't much better either at around £40. Whilst stuck in traffic , we had spotted a Mega-Bus, a company that offers cut price travel around the country. Jan had said that she had used this company to travel Birmingham on several occasions (she is originally from the same area of Birmingham where I live now and still has family that live, whom she visits) and were pretty good. M looked up the website for me and my fare home?? It cost just £9.00. I booked for it the following afternoon, if we had more bad weather I wanted to make sure that the bus would be running and that I could get to it to catch it as it meant getting to Leeds. If it snowed again overnight then I reckoned the roads would be easier to travel later after a certain amount of traffic had travelled through them, also give gritters etc a chance to be out. Also GG looked exhausted, it was hard work for her driving for that, being stuck in that traffic all that time and some decent sleep for her was much needed. An early get up for all of us to be honest the following morning was out of the question. The Mega bus went from Leeds which is still a fair bit of travelling from GG's house and although I expected and then offered to get the train to Leeds both GG and HWN insisted that they would take me by car get the bus. It was a good job they did, the bus stop wasn't in the main bus station, it was in fact very hard to find, but GG after remembering something Jan had said about where the stop was being opposite a pub, we got there with minutes to spare, and so I was soon on my way home to Brum. Tired and missing my family but happy from a lovely weekend.

The bus dropped me off in Birmingham city centre, just literally opposite the bus stop from where I catch the bus home in fact. Problem is I needed to use the toilet. I wouldn't use the one on the bus. I simply wasn't brave enough. So the necessity I had to venture into House Of Fraser to use the toilets after 3 hours or so on the bus was urgent, the pull on the way back down in the lift from the toilets on the 6th floor to the Haberdashery dept on the 4th floor was strong. The Rowan fine milk cotton on sale for £10 for a bag of 10x 50grms was screaming at me so loud it was deafening. Once it had my attention it lay there on the table whimpering until I relented and bought it home with me too. Well I had money left, so what was I supposed to do ;0)

Some Tiny Ones For The Girls, Lola and Esme

Jinkies (sorry I've been over dosing on Scooby Doo thanks to the boys) is it really 3 weeks since I last blogged! You can tell Christmas is round the corner when you start losing whole weeks!

This post is all about some tiny pink arrivals, very tiny pink arrivals.

Firstly (although she didn't arrive first but she is related and I have actual baby photos) Lola. A few weeks ago I became a great auntie. I have a few mixed feelings about this, yes she is beautiful and a baby is very very special and something to be cherished blah blah blah but I'm not 40 yet!!!!! In my (admittedly very very late twlightyears) 30's is not old enough to be be a great auntie. Honestly my nephew Paul has an awful bloody lot to answer for making me a great auntie at thirtysoddingnine and not quite a half !!He has had a light clip round the ear but unfortunately it didn't rectify the situation, Lola is still and here blissfully unaware of the agony and heartbreak to my ego. I mean come on, great aunts have grey hair (OK so I've been colouring mine for years and I have more, far more than my fair share of grey hair). Great aunties stay in on a weekend watching TV and drinking cups of hot chocolate (hhhmmm it's a few years since I saw the inside of a nightclub and the last time I was in the city centre on a Sat night I was pooped and ready for bed well before midnight, I couldn't wait to get home for acuppa and kick my high heels back into the bottom of the wardrobe where they still languish). Also great aunties have old fashioned hobbies like ....knitting. Eerrmm yes, well eeerrr OK. AL RIGHT then maybe I'm old enough in spirit if not in years!

Lola was born on 5th November weighing in at a tiny 5lb 12oz. She was only a few days early considering her tiny birth weight but mum is only tiny so no real surprise even if dad is a lofty 6'5" in his socks!

Hold on tight there are a few pic's to post, links to find and yarns to remember.

First up this is a preemie cardi and the link is here It is knitted in Hobbycraft's own Palette DK in a soft aubergine/dark berry colour. The hat is a basic preemie hat and although I cobbled this from memory from doing many of these there are patterns for these available all over the web in the guise of topknot hat or umbilical cord hat etc.

And the beautiful Lola herself wearing the hat!

This hat unfortunately is still a little big and I'm afraid that by the time the hat fits then this cute little cardigan both knitted in Sirdar Baby Bamboo won't fit! I may find myself doing the next size up once the crimbo knitting is out of the way. It is a pattern taken from a book no longer in print I'm afraid. But for reference the book is Knitting For baby 623 by Teddy Knitting Yarns. It goes down to a 14inch chest. The hat I made up as the hat to match the cardi was a bonnet and I didn't think being a young couple they would like a bonnet.

Next up is a baby slouchy beanie knitted when Lola was known as Peanut. I used this as my basic pattern but extended the straight body of the hat before doing the decreases. Dad is a huge fan of the slouchy beanie and has many of them, he is rarely seen without a hat so it was for a little jokey whimsical that I knitted this. It is knitted in Sirdar Snuggly 4ply, plain white.

I thought these were probably the cutest things ever when I first spotted them on Ravelry. The blog is in French but my browser prompted me to translate to English, even if yours doesn't then the very clever lady has done a very simple foolproof chart instead. They are so easy and quick it is actually ridiculous. I'm not sure what the yarn is I used, just some beige DK bought labeless from a car boot sale many moons ago. I've also just remembered that the pattern calls for aran but I re-gauged it and used DK

Even though there a few other bits for Lola at the risk of me crashing my blog from posting too many pictures I'll move onto Esme.

Esme is the daughter of Liz (my friend)'s SIL Julia (also a friend)'s brother and his wife (who I have met once but don't know personally). She came into the world 8 weeks early due to mum suffering from pre-eclampsia and weighing a teeny 3 and a half lb. These were so small they didn't take long to knock up.

This is actually a dolly cardi taken from Doll's Wardrobe (also suitable for preemie babies) 614 again by Teddy Knitting Yarns. It's knitted in Sirdar Countrystyle in a bright Barbie pink. It was an oddment left oner from something else so I have no colour way reference's etc

This last one is Paxton that is a Ravelry link as I downloaded the PDF from there. My apologies if you are not on Ravelry, seriously if you are a knitter then I question why not and urge you to join. It's the best thing sliced bread honest. It is a wealth of inspiration, knowledge and guidance which also packs in some wonderful patterns (many free some not) projects and totally fab everything you can think of. It is a place you can not only showcase your own projects but also unashamedly peer at other peoples and not only become amazed (and occasionally envious)at their skill and patience but also gogglefied at their sense of humour. It is the place to join like minded people! The yarn is some more Hobbycraft Pallette in DK and leftovers from this along with the above berry coloured yarn for Lola's hat and cardigan. I'm afraid I'm not sure where the buttons came from though I do remember they only cost 10p each.

OMG I nearly forgot to mention, Harrogate is in ONE WEEKS TIME whoop whoop!!!! Mama's gonna buy me some yarn!

Prototype (I hope the force is with me on this one)

Autumn's fast approaching, the signs are all around us. There's already quite a nip in the air mornings and evenings, the kids are back at school (whoop whoop, I wasn't looking forward to them going back at all but once they'd gone it was a deep exhale then a gentle oh yes! ) and the leaves are already falling from the trees and turning brown. I was actually a little ahead of myself and bought the boys winter coats early this year, as in it was still the summer holidays when we went shopping for them instead of it being October half term and I'm scouring what is left in the shops for whatever will i) fit ii) is machine washable and hopefully tumble dryerable iii) they actually like and will wear.

My next thought was hats, after finishing a commision (future post honest) which had taken months and months I wanted something interesting but fairly quick and new hats for the boys seemed logical. I thought as well that I would have time for something a little more challenging as they shouldn't actually need them for a while yet so I wouldn't have to end up settling for yet more ribbed beanies churned out quickly because of necessity. Trawling round ravelry I came across these. Now the boys have become very into Star Wars over the last 12 months or so (it is the law to educate young boys in the way of the force, at least I'm sure it is!), just like my oldest son Luke was VERY into Star Wars at their age. As a consequence I've also been known to sit through the original movies several hundred times (at least it feels that way ;0D ) and the newer ones once or twice! Good job I enjoy them too.

This is my first attempt at Fairisle in over 20years and to be honest I'm pretty chuffed with the result. It is a prototype because I wanted to knit it in 4ply to get as many characters on there as possible and wasn't sure about sizing etc as I very rarely knit in 4ply. So I suppose you could say it is in effect a whole tension square.

The yarn I used is just oddments out of my stash, the black is Sirdar crepe 4ply and the grey and white are some Sirdar Countrystyle in DK.

I was also pretty impressed at the wrong side too. It is however a pity that it doesn't quite fit either of them, it is a little too tight so although they can both get it on their heads it pinches their ears. It is also just a tad on the long side so if it wasn't too tight then it would come down over their ears.

This is Max giving it the thumbs up

Zakk though had a little moody as he was trying to play on the laptop and wasn't in the mood to try on hats.

For Jaiden

I know I know, my blog posts are like a number 11 bus, you don't see one for ages then you get several at once! The silence before my last blog post was an enforced one due to a faulty router which my broadband provider (Sky) were for some reason was very reluctant to replace even though the very expensive engineer who they sent to check the lines first said they cost them only pennies. The result I was off line for about a month in total although the first week of it was whilst we were away in Cornwall. My oldest lad Luke wasn't a happy bunny though, home for the most part alone (he is 20 and had to work so couldn't come away with us), a pc pretty much to himself and no internet. He wasn't quite crying on the phone to me to say he couldn't get anyinternet on the Sunday morning (our first full day away)but almost. Life can be so cruel.

Anyway, this blog post is for the pressie I knitted for my new Nephew Jaiden. The new baby son of my half sister Bobbie, born a few weeks ago. I haven't seen him yet, in fact I don't see my sister or her other little boy a lot but I am hoping to visit in the next week or so! I'm still adding to the pressie with some vests and trousers etc to make it a full outfit so will be taking it round when I'm done and hopefully whilst it still fits as he was a big baby at 8lb 7oz.

This matching hat and jumper were taken from Sirdar booklet 338 Tiny Tots DK book and are design A. They are both knitted in Sirdar Snuggly DK in a pale beige. Both items took around 80grms just over 1 and a half balls and I knitted the smallest size 0-6 months. Another quick easy knit in easy care yarn to make it easier for mum to wash them. Just hope my sister likes them.

Feeling Good

By Sarah Hatton is just one project recently off my needles. It was my holiday knit (well one of three taken with me but only this one actually got started). It was started in the car on the way down to Cornwall and despite my best efforts of knitting whenever I got a chance

I only managed to complete the back whilst away and about a third of that was in the 7 hour journey on the way home!! I did manage to start the the front as well but only around 2 inches or so.

The photo was taken at Bude Harbour. A good afternoon for us all the boys loved these giant fireplace alcoves we were sat in for the picture. They overlook the harbour and looked pretty old to me. I don't know anything official about them I'm afraid

The rest of Feeling Good took another week or so to complete after I got home.

These pictures were ironically taken back home in the sunshine.... we had one glorious day of sunshine in Cornwall and the rest of the week was all rainy at some point!! To be fair it was raining mainly early mornings which would then dry up mid morning leaving the rest of the day to be a little overcast and a tad on the blowy side but not cold and so we were able to go out and about. We even managed the beach everyday except one!

I'm really happy with it so far and have worn it a few times. I say so far because I have only washed it for the first time this morning and I am desperately hoping it hasn't grown even though I've followed ball band instructions to the letter etc. Bamboo however.....

OK details are... the pattern is Feeling Good by Sarah Hatton taken from Simply Knitting magazine issue no 70 August 2010. Yarn is from my birthday booty post Rowan Bamboo Soft in the soft Aubergine/purple. I don't know what the official colour way is except it's very pretty It took almost exactly 9 balls (I had a few meters left and believe me I was sweating whilst doing the button bands in case I run out!).

No close up of the buttons, my apologies especially since they were bought in Bude. I managed to find a little bead shop in a shopping precinct just as you go into the town. The precinct is hard to spot as although on the main road into Bude it is a little away from the main shopping area. There was a shop selling biker t-shirts on the front of the precinct and it was just down an alley way at the side of it. As well as beads the lady also sold some very pretty buttons and a little acrylic yarn. She was also very friendly and chatty. I was very sorry I had a mini gang of males (hubby and the youngest two boys) behind me and who were not as interested and enthralled as I. I suppose 10 mins was very patient of them but I could have easily spent much longer and a lot more than my humble couple of pounds that I paid for some scrummy buttons including a perfect match for my work in progress.

I must also mention The Remnant Shop just further down from the precinct, a TARDIS and Aladdin's cave full of fabric of all sorts of descriptions and delights. I left hubby and the boys in the pub round the corner and explored this heaven on my own. My sewing skills are hopeless even though I have a couple of machines, some beautiful patterns and very good intentions of practising to improve. I loved this shop and again could have spent a lot longer to browse than I had the opportunity to. It just kept going on and on (hence the TARDIS label) there were so many little rooms just stuffed with rolls of fabric, big truggs and baskets of remnants, I didn't think I was ever going to get to the back of the shop. There was so much choice and I know I didn't see a fraction of what they stocked. It's a good job we've already booked up to go back next year, so I can hopefully be a little more keyed up on what I need and actually buy some next year.

For The Newest Member Of The Family...George

Just a quickie post I have lots of other FO's in fact at least 4 which ='s another 2 blog posts but I'm tired so this will do for now.

This is for my cousin's baby George the newest arrival to our family. It took me 2 days to knit, nearly 3 weeks to post it to the proud parents and then another few weeks to blog it!! I need my backside booted into touch I think!!

Pattern details. The pattern is from Sublime and is called albatross when featured in Lets Knit magazine no31 which is the June 2010 issue. Yarn is a Jarol baby yarn bought locally and the colourway is a baby mint green. I knitted it in an easy care acrylic as I do not know my cousins wife well at all (they live a fair trek away in another county) so have no idea whether she would hand wash or not or even put a hand knit on her baby! So I played it safe with my time ( a quick knit) and my pocket (hubby's job has been in question over the last few months, at the moment it is looking fairly secure so we are slowly exhaling after holding our breath since well before Christmas). It took just over half a 100 grm ball.

Out of Sync

Well hello there! A little longer between the posts than I intended but it is the same month so I'm doing well ;0) This is a very recent FO that was indeed finished 2 weeks ago, it is also my most recent FO in fact.

Hubby and I at my mum's cousins wedding a few weeks ago!! I made the bolero specially for the occasion. I wish I could say that my hubby is pulling a funny face but alas this is his normal expression XOD I think you will agree the bolero is the best thing about the whole picture......cheeky,!!

Well it is a design from Drops Design at GarnStudio www.scandinavianknittingdesign.co.uk and is design 119-27 shrug pattern. I was very pleased to discover the same design was pictured in this months Knitting Magazine (June 2010 issue 77), I'm a subscriber and my early copy dropped onto my doormat the morning after I finished it. The pattern itself wasn't featured, just a picture of it and a suggestion as a wedding season knit. I was chuffed to discover I was right on trend for probably the first time in my life!!!

It is knitted in Lang's 100% merino which is lovely and soft and lush. I bought it in Harrogate at the knitting show, I'm not 100% which stall it was from but Woolfish rings a bell. I do remember rummaging in a suitcase for as many balls as possible with the same dye lot. I think the lady was asking for £2 a ball but I think I did a deal for buying multiple balls, I think I got 7 balls for £10 in the end, 5 balls in this colour and 2 in a dark green.

The button which you cannot see clearly on the picture came from my Fekkers Christmas swap present from the lovely Leigh. She sent me a lovely bauble filled with georgous buttons, all pretty, some shiny or just beautiful in their own right. She totally pandered to my button fetish, but I was under orders that these were a stress buster pressie to sit sort and soothe my worries, but as this was a knit for myself, and a special one at that then I was sure she wouldn't mind.

I am very pleased with this knit, it's easy to wear and very comfortable. The colour will also go with a lot of my wardrobe. I also had the very dubious compliment of "oh you made it, but it looks like you would buy it in a shop" !!!!

Some Recent Work (Look I Have Been Busy, Honest)

Hello there, I seem to have forgotten about blogging again for a while, the time passes so quickly and the weeks are flying by. I honestly thought I would have more time now the boys are back at school again, instead my time seems even more sparse.
Anyway here's a few bits and bobs completed in the last month or two.

This first one was actually completed last, it is a very thick jumper by Sirdar (pattern leaflet Bigga 8568) knitted in Bigga. The sizing only goes up to a 38inch chest which I suspected would be a little cosy on me so I upped the stitch count by a few as well as the rows to make it a little longer in length. The biggest size is supposed to take 9 balls but with my alterations I used exactly 10. The yarn is a wool/acrylic blend and was purchased from www.kempswoolshop.co.uk a long time ago. I had been looking for a pattern for a while to use it up as when I bought it I thought a 1000grms would be plenty but the yardage isn't that long and I had trouble finding something I liked that I had enough yarn for!! It only took 2 days to knit. Hows that for instant gratification!!!
This is going to be my footie training jumper, both boys are going training on Saturdays and Zakk is also going Tuesday nights. It is cold on that field and I'm hoping this will be thick enough to keep the biting wind out.

This is another Louisa Harding cot blanket taken from Natural Knits for Babies and Mum's. It is the same as I did for Isabel but in a more girly colourway. It was knit for a friend of my daughters who has just had a new baby niece . I added her initials into what would have been the plain panels. I hope Grace Alice's parents (and auntie) like it!! I used yarn from Hobbycraft, their own brand the palette range. It is 100% acrylic again but easy care and a lovely range of colours and a very good price too at I think it was around £1.55 a ball for 100grms.



This is a hoodie knitted for Zakk in Sirdar Snowflake Chunky. Vile stuff to knit with by the way!! It is pattern leaflet Snowflake Chunky 4310. It just needs a zip. The yarn came from EBay ages ago. I added the hood as the original pattern didn't have one. I still need to order a zip though.!!!

This was going to be a hoodie for Max the same as above but in an ordinary chunky yarn, however as always when using up unknown stash judging how much you have is a little hit and miss so I had to improvise a fair bit, including adding the contrast colour for the edging. This also needs a zip ordering, looks like I have some Internet shopping to do once I've finished blogging!!

This picture is unfortunately very off with the colours! This is a scarf requested by my daughter Leigh-Ann to wear to the Reading music festival which happened August Bank Holiday. Not trusting the British weather she asked me knit a scarf 2 days before she went in the loudest, brightest funkiest colours I have. The real colours are bright red, bottle green and purple. All from my stash and it's a simple YO K2TOG pattern knitted on 12mm needles, alternating the YO's. Not my favourite item knitted by myself but she loved and wore it in the evenings at Reading when the temps dropped and has also wore it since she came home.

I seem to have spent a lot of August knitting scarves!!! These two came about after finding the yarn in my local Wilkinsons store being sold off in a bargain basket for 10p a ball. I grabbed 3 balls of these two colorways and also some other yarn with a metallic thread running through it. They only had 1 50grm ball in a very pretty pink but 10 50grm balls in a dark green and silver.Not too sure what to do with those yet but these have knitted up fine and will possibly be used for either teachers pressies for Christmas or for myself at footie training to go with my lilac jumper. The top colourway is monochrome

and this is the purple mix

This a pattern I fell in love with some time ago. Unfortunately my knitting hasn't done it justice, maybe it is just the colourway I'm not sure. I bought the pattern ages ago from Kemps and by chance happened on the yarn a long time after in the clearance section but this was the only colourway (Mahogany) left. It is from leaflet Sirdar Duet 8679 and it only took 4 balls which being in the clearance section were only 49p a ball.

Gina's Turn

Well both Charlotte and Isabel have both had their own blog posts and now it is Gina's turn. For someone who is usually quite a tom-boy I think she has potential for a model!! Very professional posing there Gina :0)

Georgina 's birthday was a few weeks ago and these are the cardies I knitted for her birthday. They were both taken from The Juicy Book by Sirdar Spinning Ltd as were Charlotte's. In fact the Frilled edge Bolero is the same design but obviously in a different colour and yarn.

This one is another Frilled Edge Bolero, the same as Charlotte's taken from Sirdar's The Juicy Book, design H. It is knitted in Sirdar Bonus DK and features a two tone frill around the edge, mainly cos it was stash yarn that didn't stretch quite as far as it should have, but I actually like the effect.

This one is also from The Juicy Book, design F Lacy Cropped Cardies. It is knitted in King Cole Baby Comfort DK. Very soft for an acrylic yarn and I have used it quite a few times. In fact I think most of the projects on Ravelry for this yarn are mine.

Well I think she liked them anyway, the cardie she had been wearing was straight away stripped off and these tried on!!!

I also did another few of these for my youngest niece Alice, no piccies yet though I'm hopeful to get some.

These were actually finished quite a while ago now, I have been lazy in blog updating again, but it has been the summer hols for the kids here in the UK. Another 31 days and they will be back at school YIPEEEEEE. Only joking honest!! the boys have both been very good, still to young to realise that being bored is cool. I love their innocence and the fact that they manage to fill their days themselves. I suppose it helps an awful lot that they are so close in age and are best friends, they rarely get bored with each other!! Fingers crossed that lasts as long as possible.

For Isabel

OK two blog posts in one day? but Isabel Margaret is so beautiful she does deserve a blog post all of her own. Isabel is the new baby daughter of my friend Liz. I did mention her a few posts ago and that she was imminent to giving birth! Isabel Margaret was born on June 21st, right on her due date!! Of course I could not let the wonderful occasion go unknitted for now could I? So here are my contributions for her arrival...

This blanket is taken from Louisa Harding's Natural Knits for Babies and Mums, I have to confess I didn't knit the individual squares though, I cheated and did it in strips and just stitched those edges together. The yarn is acrylic (sorry but I know Liz, and her tumble dryer is her best friend), the yarn came from The Art Of Knitting partwork series that started a few years ago. It was weekly series and despite collecting the whole series of over 90 issues with yarn every week to knit a square and make a throw, I have to date only done a dozen or so squares. Then when the first throw had finished they then started sending yarn for a second throw using these colours, however I decided I wasn't going to knit it and ended up cancelling the series, leaving me with 17 balls of yarn. So when looking in my stash to see what I could at least use as a starting point for the blanket I was chuffed to bits to rediscover them. I love the colours and as Liz was still pregnant when I started the blanket it was a perfect and modern colour scheme that could be for either boy or girl.

This one is the Debbie Bliss Ribbed Jacket taken from 22 Gorgeous Knits For Babies and Toddlers although I got the pattern from The Prima Magazine website, it was available as a free download and Liz gave it to me but I will have to ask her for the link as I do not have it, although you should be able to find it on Ravelry somewhere. It is knitted in Sirdar Supersoft Aran in lilac. I also hand knitted the flower embellishment and this was taken from Louisa Harding's Natural Knits For Babies And Mums. The flower was taken from Amelie the knitted dress.

This tiny pink cardie was knitted as a last minute add on because all the others were too big for Isabel, it is a dolls pattern that I adapted for quickness the original pattern had a ribbed yoke and embroidery along the bottom edge and on the yoke. It is knitted in King Cole baby comfort which I have used before. I love how pale the pink is not at all garish like some baby yarns.

This was knitted from Patons leaflet PBN-02698 which contains 4 designs for babies up to 18 months. It is knitted in King Cole Baby DK. A girly variegated colour full of pinks,lilacs peaches and lemons. Very pretty and softens up a little after washing too.This was my first baby knit for Isabel and an impulsive stash buster, I found some very old Wendy Elegance which is a wool rich but machine washable DK. I had barely enough hence the short sleeves but I figured that would be fine as she is a summer baby. I knitted the sleeves together last and cast off when it became obvious I wouldn't be able to do much more than that. I think I was left with something daft like 30cm of yarn!! The pattern is Harvey Kimono taken again from Louisa Harding's Natural Knits For Babies And Mums

This green jacket is a pattern from a part work series that came out in the early 90's called Creative Needles, it is a series I started collecting at the time and did indeed knit a fair few patterns from it, however when I moved house 11 years ago it was during a huge knitting break and it got left behind along with a big black sack of yarn, needles and other patterns. I've kicked myself many times since then for leaving it there but hubby found a complete set of the Creative Needles at the car boot a few months ago and surprised me by calling me back to buy it cos I had walked past it!! It bought back a few memories and straight away I wanted to knit this again as I had knitted years ago though I forget who for as it certainly wasn't either of my older two.!

Another FO WHOO HOO

YEY I have yet another finished object, it is another that has been finished for a while but I had to order a zip online blah blah blah and then take it to have the zip put in because my sewing skills are so poor and my sewing machine is STILL waiting to be repaired :0(

I started this 12 months ago for Zakk but it went into hibernation behind the settee over the winter as I'd reached a point where I had to make a decision on how I was going to do the yoke. It is part designed by myself / part heavily modified pattern from somewhere else. I couldn't make up my mind whether to do the yoke as one piece with sleeves at the same time or each section individually and sew it all up after. I did it all in one in the end and the only sewing up is the lower part of the sleeves.I took a lot of notes early so I could attempt to write it up and eventually publish the pattern on here and/or Ravelry. I need to make one for Max too so I will have the opportunity to test what I have written and try a smaller size at the same time, you never know it may well appear here one day.

It was knitted in two shades of Patons Fab, I brought over a year ago in House of Fraser, Birmingham and the blue one is an air force/denim type blue shade 02312 and the red is quite a cherry red shade 02322. The zip was bought online and the shade is Saxe blue. I think I got it from here http://www.doughtysonline.co.uk/nylon-open-end-zip-41cm-saxe-blue-5030121018511.htmlughtysonline.co.uk/nylon-open-end-zip-41cm-saxe-blue-5030121018511.html.

I'm quite chuffed at how it came out, considering I finished it a year later it fits quite well although when I picked it back up I did add some extra length to it.

He has had it on all weekend. Of course the main reason he loves it is because it is technically claret and blue. The same colours as his beloved Aston Villa. Note to self, anything claret and blue Zakk will wear including my knitted stuff ;0)

My Needles Are Smokin........

Well I have been busy with the pins. These are both hot off the needles last night, finishing on them took forever BTW.
These are two summer style short sleeved cardies taken from the new for this season Sirdar Juicy Book, the pattern support for the new Juicy DK yarn out this spring. Unfortunately my LYS isn't stocking the yarn yet! so I substituted them for other DK yarns.

They were both knitted for Charlotte my friend's daughter, it was her birthday yesterday but she only just got them on her birthday thanks to my HUGE underestimation of how long they would take to finish.

The cream one is design D taken from the book Lacy Yoke Cardi. I've knitted size age 10-11, chest size 30in/76cm. It's a really simple lace pattern but very pretty. It is also available as a long sleeved design but I opted for the short sleeves for quickness.It is knitted in King Cole Smooth, which is very soft and has a cotton like sheen to it but it is acrylic so is machine washable and can also be tumble dried on low. Charlotte's mum is a busy working mum and also heavily pregnant at the mo so hand washing etc is a big no no.

The blue one is design H Short Sleeved Frill Edge

Bolero, this is also available in 3/4 length sleeves but again the short sleeves was a time frame thing. Sssshhhh I knitted it in a cheap acrylic aarrggghhhh!! Teddy Vanguard. It was given to me by a friend of my MIL about two weeks ago. She found it whilst having a sort out along with a few other knitting bits and bobs, a few sets of needles and stitch holders etc. I had a choice, it was either open the wardrobe door and risk not being able to close it again to find room to squeeze it in there or use it. The button is one of the blue mother of pearl buttons from my last post.

It is a very pretty and a very easy knit to do, I just wish I hadn't put myself under so much pressure time wise so I could have enjoyed knitting it more! I do like the finished effect though.I also think it looks lovely on her but then I am biased. I'm also very chuffed that she seems to like them.

Charlotte's mum's baby is due in around 6 weeks and it is also her younger sisters birthday next month, ooh err I'd better get clicking.....

Click Click I've Been Busy

Whoo Hoo, I have another FO. And this one is a proper garment that took ages. It was also finished ages ago (well a about 3 weeks or so) but it has been waiting for a button, I had trouble finding one big enough that I liked but I struck gold yesterday whilst browsing t'internet.
Hubby reckons this is one of my best ever, he actually likes this jacket and as if that wasn't a big bonus I have the double whammy that it fits me well too. It is in fact a perfect fit. It also looks better on me (honest) than it looks in the pic. In regards to taking photos David Bailey I am most definitely not!!!!

The design is by Wendy Wool and is called Frosted Blossom and I got the pattern from Simply Knitting magazine issue no49 Jan 09.

It is a design for Wendy Zena yarn but I used Sirdar Aran with wool and the shade is Cinnamon. It was another bargain buy from http://www.kempswoolshop.co.uk/ about 18 or so months ago. I used just under 650grms for the size 16 (bust size 38in 97cm) which in yardage is a smidgen under 1500 or 1397.0 m.

I do have to say though that the moss stitch took forever, but worth it in the end.

The button is a Dill 60mm and came from http://www.craftshopsupply.co.uk/products/dill-60mm-round-buttons/12/ and was a very reasonable price along with very reasonable p&p costs. Although the selection of buttons wasn't huge (a thing most places seem to have in common) I recommend this place as my service was excellent. Firstly for speed, I ordered it yesterday lunchtime and it arrived this morning. Secondly communication was very good with emails to notify me to confirm my order, and that it had been dispatched an hour or two later. Thirdly it was well packaged. I will certainly visit them again.

Ps I just fixed the Kemps links. Sorry for putting in a bad linky :( they should work now.