Progress - or lack of

Progress has been a little slow around these parts.
After consultation with my friend I finally decided to knit Roo for Carys for her birthday (which is today). I bought some gorgeous raspberry Dream in Color from Pure Purl - a new-to-me online shop. Superfast delivery and beautifully wrapped yarn.
However I started off knitting the wrong size and had to rip out about 1/4 of the back - grrrr - so I have nothing but a garter stitch edge to show you on that one - and no hope of finishing it before we visit this weekend. Never mind!
There has been progress on the Rainbow Wooleater blanket.

More cream yarn has arrived and also a ball of a much more co-ordinating blue for the next coloured round. Each 2 row round takes nearly 1 full 50g ball of DB Baby Cashmerino - maybe I will be keeping this blanket for me after all!

Finally, a sneak peak of the new Knit Love Club yarn that arrived last week - I am resisting the urge to cast on until progress on Roo is a little further along.


I have also managed to get my hands on some Macushla from the Yarn Yard - beautifully soft - I really want to make a Bitterroot shawl with this.

Knit Love Club - Part 1 - Rumpled

My only resolution of 2010 is to try and keep up with the Knit Love Club - a sock club organised by Alice of Socktopus fame.
Now this may be tricky come the summer when I have my hands full with a small baby - but I am hoping that I can complete the January, March and May parcels before the next one arrives.
That said, parcel one was finished just in time, as parcel 2 arrived on Wednesday.

Pattern: Rumpled by Alice Yu
Yarn: Alchemy Juniper in the Rumplestiltskin colourway
Needles: 2.5mm
Started: 24th January
Finished: 15th March

These were my commuting project for the last couple of months and were good for getting me back into sock knitting. I love the colour - perfect for a Wolves fan - at last a pair of gold socks.
Knit from the top down with a heel flap they were well within my comfort zone. The pattern was very easy to follow and I had it memorised by the second sock. Beautiful twisted stitches and an interesting twisted stitch toe.
The yarn was a little splitty to start with, but as soon as I worked out a slightly different way to do the s4k decreases it made things much easier. I slipped all 4 stitches knit wise, knitting the last two slipped stitches (like you would an SSK) and then slipped the other two stitches over the SSK. The opposite of what Alice adviced for the k4 tog.
So now it is time to wind the yarn for part 2 - a far more scary prospect that seems to involve taking scissors to my sock. Eeeek.

Hillside Renovations

Hillside Renovation is the new blog detailing Tony's work at the project house which is now underway. Go and take a look and see what he has been upto!

6 miles on Sunday

Inspired by Eddie Izzard's amazing marathons last year, this Sunday, 21st March, me and my (ever expanding) bump will be walking 6 miles in aid of Sport Relief.

I will be walking as part of a team from work. Between us we are aiming to walk/run 51 miles and we are aiming to raise £500.

All the sponsorship money raised for the Sport Relief Mile will help to change vulnerable people’s lives for the better - both at home in the UK and across the world's poorest countries.

To find out what a difference your sponsorship money can make, please visit http://www.sportrelief.com/about/how-your-money-helps

So if you can spare a few pennies, please sponsor me (and the bump)

I might even take my knitting!

My first baby knits

The 20 week scan went well, so I decided to start on a couple of baby knits for my wriggly bump.
First up, an Oz Vest from Louisa Harding's Natural Knits for Babies and Mums.
I've knit this at least twice before, possibly more times and knew it would be fast.
This one is knit from The Yarn Yard's new Alpaca mix DK weight yarn.

Hopefully it is unisex enough! Actually - it is purple, so I don't care. Just need to find some buttons for the shoulder now. The rest of the yarn is destined for a matching hat.

Next up, Emil(ia) by the very talented Åsa Tricosa
Åsa very kindly sent me the pattern to test knit for her. I rummaged through the stash and came out with 4 colours of Rowan Wool Cotton which I deemed to be suitable (after spending about 30 mins sitting on the upstairs landing swapping and changing balls of yarn).

I knit this over the course of my week in the Lake District. A fun knit, with unusual construction. It is very easy - the only sewing to do is along one shoulder.

However it is the edging that I love the most. It really finishes the garment off well. The neck edge looks like i-cord and the bottom has a lovely moss stitch border. I forsee more of these in my future - defintely one in Gold and Black for the future Wolves fan!
Again, only buttons to find before this one is finished.

Blankets - the latest obsession

I'm blaming Katie. It started off with her posting this innocent link on Ravelry. Which led me to these instructions.
I tried to ignore it. I tried to forget it. However when I saw Katie making those circle-squares in York I knew I would succumb.

The first effort, in Araucania Toconao, a merino yarn I bought at Skip North last year.

This is an aran weight yarn, which means it crochets up very fast and made a sizable lap blanket in no time. However, it isn't really a baby blanket. Too many holes and a little heavy.
I've just got the ends to sew in and then I need to give it a good blocking.

With the above in mind, I switched to sock yarn and a 2.5mm hook.

However the variegated yarn just gets lost and you can't see the circles. I think this one is going to the frog pond; to be turned into barnraising squares for a very purple knitted blanket.

Onto the next option, the faithful Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. I still have a decent colour palette of this left over from previous blankets. So I'm going for a big square in a rainbow of colours (from red through to violet) with the cream in between each round. (Inspiration taken from this blanket on Ravelry.)

The first 5 rounds are complete and I think it is working so far. I think this one might be a keeper!

Hemlock Ring

I have quite a bit of catching up to do, as a week in the Lake District has meant my knitting and crochet productivity has increased somewhat.
However I will start at the start, with my newly finished Hemlock Ring blanket
I finished knitting this on the 15th February, but it wasn't blocked until the 25th.

I found 10 skeins of Rowan RYC Cashsoft Aran in this gorgeous eau de nil (ish) colour in the sale at House of Fraser over Christmas. I knew instantly that it needed to come home with me and become a Hemlock Ring blanket.

The blanket is based on an old doily pattern and someone has charted out the feather and fan section here.

I love the simplicity of the design and the softness of the yarn. On the advice of HilltopKatie I crocheted the edging - so much simpler than the knitted version.

Now I just have to work out which baby this is a gift for (or if I keep it for my bump!)