being two weeks old.
The beautiful hat is all the way from Chicago, the home of Heidi. Thank you! - such a gorgeous buttery colour and the perfect fit for Grace's little head. (I think I recognise the pattern - I have looked at it a few times but now I've actually seen it knitted up I just have to try one myself. Looks like that crochet blanket will take just a little longer....)
And another photo just because....
There's a distinct chill in the air today...lucky I finished Charlotte's elf hat over the weekend. Both the girls insist on wearing them to bed even though it's really not that cold. They look pretty cute though!
I've used the same pattern as I did for Rose's hat with a variation in the stripes and colours....you can find it here on Amanda's blog. Of course I added a pom pom just like Rose's, as requested by Charlotte.
Just don't ask about the baby blanket or the half finished cat....
"mama, can I please have a nightcap?"
Once I had established that Rose was after a pointy kind of hat such as you might wear to bed, as opposed to a scotch and ice after dinner,I went on the hunt for a pattern. Amanda over at Zhinka dinka doo has a pattern for an 'Elfin cap" that was just the thing (thank you Amanda!).
It only took a few evenings to complete using Jo Sharp Dk merino wool and the magic loop method on a size 4.5mm ( size 8) circular.
Now Charlotte is asking where her hat is....
Looks like the baby's crochet blanket will have to wait a bit longer.
(So glad to see that the odd sock soup' mini zine is turning up in letter boxes all over the world...thank you for all of the feedback!)
hopefully what this baby earflap hat will ensure....
pattern courtesy of Julie knitted in Debbie Bliss cashmerino ( a pale pink and mint green) with a double crochet edge and one of these small flowers just for fun.....
You might recall my New Year's resolution....to be more like a peg. Basically to be simple, quiet and functional. Well, that resolution is being put to the test as this pregnancy progresses ever so quickly in some ways and so, so slowly in others.
With both the girls, I was still rushing around at a million miles an hour at this stage ( week 28 give or take a few days). Not this time around. Despite not being that big ( everyone else's opinion, not that of the author, mind you!) I am reduced to moving at a snails pace. A very sedate and slow snail. Any faster brings on quite numerous and rather uncomfortable ,distracting contractions, which is not much fun at all. So I've been told to take it easy and not do too much.
Put my feet up. Rest.
Not as easy as it sounds.
But I am trying.
Really.
Anyway, enough grouching about what I can't do and a bit about what I can and have been doing.
Finishing this hat for starters, just in time for Georgie's birthday next week.
She's a pom pom type of girl.
Adding the final touches to this project...all soon to be revealed....
And getting used to the fact that my small girl is now a big girl at preschool.
10 weeks or so and there will be another girl in the picture.
Oh
My
Goodness.
After doing the boring but very necessary chores ( like reorganizing the plastics cupboard...yawn) I finished a tiny knitted bear for the baby, made using the pattern found in this magazine and organic baby alpaca (in dark brown and light brown fox) bought online at EcoYarns. The red scarf was crocheted using left over silk and merino from this hat. He's only a very small bear ,standing about 15cm high- the perfect size for a newborn.
(colours from top left clockwise: azul,orchid,espresso,drift,thistle,honeydew)
After much deliberation I finally chose and ordered some colours to make a crocheted cot blanket....Blue Sky organic cotton found here.
It arrived just a few days after I hit the 'buy now' button -I'll most definitely order from fabulous yarn again- really fabulous service indeed!
Still haven't quite decided how it's going to look- if I find time tonight,I might make up a few swatches.Really, there are other things I should be doing first( sort through the bathroom cupboard- another yawn) but the texture and the colours of this cotton is very, very tempting.....
Oh and I'm glad I didn't crop off my head in the belly photo from my last post- so many compliments on how glowing I'm looking ,that I actually began to feel a little less tired and heavy and a bit more earth goddess! Thank you!
Just what I needed - next time I need a little pick me up ,I'll know just where to find the little boost I'm after. Never say no to a pretty compliment, I say, especially when you feel like you're carrying a tonne of bricks around strapped to your belly!
First finished project for 2008....Leigh Radford's baby hat from One Skein. Knitted up in Louisa Harding's 'Grace' colour 06 raspberry- a beautiful 50%silk, 50% merino mix with a soft handle and a slight lustre. And it took less than one 50gm ball.....
Thank you for all of the comments on my Cloth,Paper Scisors article..I decided after all to give away my spare copy as well ( really I don't need two!) so if Angelique and Robin would like to send me their mailing details, a copy will be on its way shortly. I wish I had enough magazines for everyone who would have liked them...sadly I don't but I do have a pack of my third set of postcards as a small consolation 'prize' for Caty and Sascha! Let me know where to send them!
Just about finished this hat from Oneskein.....
I only had three attempts at it before I finally hit the jackpot. As I was using a substitute yarn , it took a little while to get the gauge right. Even though my swatch seemed quite correct I realised about 8 rows in that hat no.1 was going to be about the right size for an elephant.
Two needle sizes down and after finishing the first pattern repeat I could see that something was not quite right with hat no.2 - obviously I had made an error reading the chart so back to the start again.
Cast on and find once more after the first pattern repeat of hat no. 3 ,that once more, there is a problem somewhere. I was certain I hadn't made a mistake but all of the cables were out, even though skinny rib section looked fine.
Then the penny dropped - I have worked from a graph several times before with no problems- start at the right hand side and read back and forth just as you would knit. However this hat is knit in the round and so I should have been starting each row from the right hand side of the chart.
Perhaps this is just common knowledge but it is something I have never come across before ( having said that I have never knit in the round from a graph before). It makes perfect sense now that I have almost finished hat no.4 of course( I know now the pattern repeat by heart). However for the slightly confused knitters like me, a small reminder at the top of the chart would have saved me a lot of grief!
Now I just have to decide whether to add the pom pom or not. The hat is not shaped at all but simply seamed straight across and then the two corners stitched together to give it a bit of shape.
I think that I will have another go at this hat but this time add some shaping to the crown to make it a bit neater and less bulky.
Because summer is on its way and I really do need a thick woolen hat for those 30 degree plus days....
I finished Rose's cardigan.
Let me say it again.
I finished Rose's cardigan.
And I finished it before it was three sizes too small for her.
So I'm a little bit chuffed.
Now I can understand that all of those dedicated knitters out there who start garments, knit garments and finish garments will not find it such an amazing event.
However, anyone who knits garments the way I do- that is a front ,a sleeve and half a back before losing interest and starting a new project- will appreciate the enormity of this occasion.
There is still just enough winter left for her to get a bit of wear out of it and then she can wear it again next year. I suspect that the sleeves will be a little short next year, despite the fact that I knitted them to the length measurements for a ten year old. Rose has very long arms that seem to get longer by the month. Along with her feet! I am not the least bit bothered as it is considered very chic in Parisian circles to show a little bit of wrist bone. If need be, we will move to Paris just so that Rose can wear her cardigan and still feel fashionable.
Charlotte is wearing her newly finished hat ...I am rather happy with it but don't feel the need to jump up and down about it.
After all, I've finished hats before.
But not a cardigan.
See the cardigan. Now I'm a bit proud of that.
pattern notes:
cardigan from 'Rowan Junior' ISBN 0-9540949-5-6 , Design 17 'Rose'( see it was meant to be) knitted in Jo Sharp DK wool, can't remember the colour names but let's go with royal blue and light blue!
hat- made up the pattern, knitted in 'rose garden' raindrops wool
And those bows... made of course by the lovely Tamara...
My current on- the- go knitting project lives in a plastic zip case that originally contained hair products. This then gets thrown into whichever bag I happen to be carrying around with me at the time.
It's certainly not very glamorous but it is practical and doesn't take up too much room.
I have been wanting to replace it for some time with something a little more aesthetically pleasing. Everything I have looked at has been too big,too small, too expensive, too many features. Some were just plain old ugly.
On Saturday I came across a small clutch purse/pouch in leather -simple, functional and lovely to look at. Sigh. I didn't need it so back on the shelf it went.....
Later it occurred to me that the design could be adapted to suit my need for a project bag.
This is a rough sketch of the clutch purse - a bit of tweaking with regard to the size and shape ( I want my bag to be tall and narrow) and a decision as to the fabric I want to use.
And an hour or so to sew it all up of course.
