Emily's Christmas Stocking

Emily's Christmas Stocking, a photo by RooKnits on Flickr.

No time to knit one this year, so Miss E will have to make do with a felt stocking. Not bad for a couple of hours work.

Christmas cardigan

Christmas cardigan, a photo by RooKnits on Flickr.

A sleeping baby means I've been knitting. Emily may get a Christmas cardigan after all.

More ripples, a cardigan and tiny socks.

Yet another blanket is in progress. This time I get to keep it, as it is for baby #2, due in a week.

I started this on the 8th October, so I doubt it will be finished in time for the new arrival - unless of course it delays it's arrival for a couple of weeks!
Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino again, this is what I planned when I started....



I am using Lucy of Attic 24's Neat Ripple Pattern again, but this time using the series of integrating stripes she used with her most recent ripple. Each set of 4 rows takes about 25g of yarn. The blanket is 10 repeats of the pattern using a 4mm hook.



It has been growing slowly... as of 17th October


and then today, 22nd October


I've changed the colour sequence a little, as I needed to buy a couple more balls of yarn (not enough gold/yellow to make a set of rows and it needed the yellow), but I should have more than enough to complete it now.

I'm still not great at project monogamy, so I've also been working on a little cardigan for our Jubilee year baby. Beyond Puerperium - 0-3m in fingering weight.


and some matching socks

 

I've 20g of yarn left, so I reckon I can squeeze a hat out of the skein of sock yarn (The Yarn Yard Toddy in Jubilee). 

African Flower Blanket for Emily

My latest crochet baby blanket is an African Flower Blanket for baby Emily who arrived a few days late at the start of October.

Once again, I have been inspired by the amazing palette of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.
This time coming up with a variation on a rainbow - with hexagons rather than stripes or rounds.  I used about 25 different shades (mostly from my stash) plus cream for the flower part.
 
I started making this at the beginning of August and have been working on it on and off for a couple of months. Each hexagon took me about 30 minutes. The blanket is made up of 59 hexagons and  8 half hexagons.
I joined the hexagons as I went along, loosely using the instructions here and I  made up some half hexagons to fill in the ends on the 6 hexagon rows.

I added a border of double crochet followed by a round of shells (1dc, skip 1 (or two on the long side), 5 tc into next) -the shells were meant to mirror the insides of the flowers.


 

The blanket weighs 570g and measures  85cm x 100cm - large enough to wrap around my toddler - and hopefully big enough for my good friend Lauren and baby Emily to snuggle under on the sofa. 

The end is in sight

The end is in sight, a photo by RooKnits on Flickr.

One more hexagon to go

September 2012

I'm still here, taking a photo (nearly) every day. Blankets, bumps and boys are all growing! 

1. Cheeky, 2. Socks for gloves, 3. Garage Progress, 4. Teddy Sunflowers, 5. Garage Roof progress, 6. Flaming, 7. Mechanics, 8. Sofa sleeping, 9. Jubilee baby cardigan, 10. Handprints, 11. Jubilee Cardigan Progress, 12. 86,000, 13. Shining Light, 14. Me see, 15. African Flower Blanket, 16. Severn Valley Railway, 17. Kiss for the bump, 18. Evening entertainment, 19. Builder Thomas, 20. Flower blanket progress, 21. Bump, 35 weeks, 22. Enjoying some juice, 23. Wolves vs Wednesday, 24. Bisous

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

August 2012

A little late with this one!



1. Thomas & Bunny, 2. Too fast, 3. Stripes, 4. Feeding the ducks at Baggeridge, 5. On the platform, 6. Ben & Thomas, 7. Lacy Baktus, 8. African Flower beginnings, 9. In the sandpit, 10. Shoulders, 11. Closing Ceremony, 12. Helping in the Kitchen, 13. Blanket progress, 14. More Ducks, 15. New Stand, 16. Pop!, 17. Driving with Grandpa, 18. Asleep at Lauren's, 19. First home game of the Aug 12 033season, 20. Engrossed in the TV, 21. Bantock House, 22. Cosford with the gang, 23. Pop!, 24. Flat roof, 25. Folding Sliding Doors, 26. More Hexagons

More Hexagons

More Hexagons, a photo by RooKnits on Flickr.

Blanket progress...

Pop!

This special handspun yarn has been waiting for the perfect project for quite a long time. It is a a 3ply yarn made up of 3 singles each single coming from a seperate 100g braid of The Yarn Wench Falkland:  464m / 310g - 16wpi
I got it in a swap with a friend on Ravelry back in 2009. I thought it might make the yoke of a cardigan for me, but when I saw Knittingtastic's Pop! Cardigan I knew it would be perfect. The patttern is from Knit Now magazine (issue 11) - (this magazine also has an amazing pair of socks also designed by Rachel) and was designed to be a quick weekend project with 100g of DK yarn.
 
 It took me 3 evenings to make the smallest size - and then another week to choose buttons!
I wasn't sure how the yarn would knit up, but now I am left hoping that my bump is a girl... as don't think I can part with it!

African Flower beginnings

WIP Wednesday - another blanket started

Ripples for Sophie

The latest big project has been a crochet ripple blanket made from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino using the Attic 24 instructions.
I dug out all of the scraps and half balls of this yarn I had accumulated over the past few years and started rippling in the middle of May using a 4mm hook. After a few rows I decided to use a random stripe generator to make my yarn selection easier. I'm still not 100% happy with the way the colours work together, but it got better as it went along. I finished this on the 9th July by adding a border of trebles in cream and then a row of double crochets in purple.
 
 It measures 75cm x 95cm and is making new baby Sophie very cosy!
 

July

1. Big track, 2. Rockin', 3. Big boy bed, 4. All I need now is a cake!, 5. Building inspector, 6. Tired boys, 7. Birthday Boy, 8. King Thomas, 9. Brown clothes from Uncle Bodger, 10. Boys, 11. Tiger PJs, 12. Ripples, 13. Lilian the Engine, 14. Bude beach in summer!, 15. Sunflowers at The Eden Project, 16. Making pancakes, 17. White Lady Waterfall, Lydford Gorge, 18. SAND!, 19. Nose stealing, 20. My first haircut, 21. Monkey, 22. Hat for Grace, 23. Sliding, 24. Baktus, 25. Jul 12 050, 26. The Tiger Who Came to Tea

June 2012

 1. West Park Steam Rally, 2. Patriotic, 3. Diamond Jubilee Party 2012, 4. Tuesday night ripples, 5. Lupin spikes, 6. Tractors at the Staffordshire show, 7. 23 Months, 8. I still love my dummy, 9. Lost in the undergrowth, 10. New wheels, 11. Herman and ice cream, 12. Kingfisher Baktus scarf, 13. Nelly, 14. Allotment progress, 15. Old school stairs, 16. So many ripples, 17. Here comes trouble, 18. My first geocache, 19. Tettenhall pool, 20. Tractor boy, 21. In threes, 22. Come on England, 23. Another cache, 24. We do love our tractors, 25. Gone to seed, 26. Trains, 27. Smile for the camera, 28. Olympic Torch in Wolverhampton Created with fd's Flickr Toys

In threes

In threes, a photo by RooKnits on Flickr.

A cardigan for Thomas' best friend Katy who is two the day after. he is.

WIP Wednesday

So, this is what I've been working on for the last 4 months, and the reason I am capable of nothing other than ripples and garter stitch at the moment.
The amazing picture above was taken on Monday and I am 21 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. All is well with the next little Baby H and I am starting to feel more human again.
A winter baby this time, due on 30th October, so a good excuse to cast on something tiny for the wee one to wear.

So many ripples

So many ripples, a photo by RooKnits on Flickr.

It is growing steadily...

Kingfisher Baktus scarf

Kingfisher Baktus scarf, a photo by RooKnits on Flickr.

Knit in Sparkleduck silk/merino laceweight held double on 3.5mm needles. I'm going to add a beaded crochet edging when finished for a bit of sparkle

Tuesday night ripples

Tuesday night ripples, a photo by RooKnits on Flickr.

Progressing nicely.

May 2012

I managed 24/31 photos for May 2012
1. Thank you, 2. New Moo, 3. Fluffy chickens, 4. Lauren's Wedding Shrug, 5. Curls, 6. Pooh sticks, 7. tomato plants arrive, 8. Lauren's Wedding Shrug, 9. Roo & Tony, 10. Lunch outside, 11. Birdcam 2012, 12. fabuland, 13. Sleepy, 14. Birthday Dinner, 15. New Chair, 16. Baking, 17. Yum, 18. Paddling, 19. ripples, 20. Balancing stones in the River Hebden, 21. Picnic time, 22. Patriotic Castles, 23. Ripples, 24. Jubilee Crafting

Jubilee Crafting

Jubilee Crafting, a photo by RooKnits on Flickr.

Getting into the spirit of things. A felt necklace, corsage and a button bracelet.

Ripples

Ripples, a photo by RooKnits on Flickr.

WIP Wednesday.

A wedding shrug for Lauren

My best friend got married this weekend and I had the honour of making something for her big day.
Back in February we started to look at patterns and shortlisted a few things. We looked at shrugs and shawls, knitted, crocheted and sewn. In the end we took this beautiful crochet shrug as our inspiration.

I started with lots of swatches,


and ended up going down to a 2mm crochet hook to get the right size squares with my Zephyr Laceweight (in ivory, the same yarn I used for my wedding shawl).

By Easter I had this


and knew I needed to crack on.

4th May and nearly there -


I made a u shape with 10 squares in total. I joined the squares on the last round of each square and blocked the shape flat before joining the side seams.

I added edging and finally blocked the entire piece on the Thursday before the wedding!




Luckily it fit perfectly and was worn with pride on Saturday.

I am sure there will be better photos, but here are a few to give you an idea of the fit (and the beautiful bride).

Thanks Lauren, for letting me be such a big part of your special day.

April 2012 - Gone in a flash

 1. Potatoes Planted, 2. Climbing, 3. My first McDonalds, 4. Jam, 5. Caterpillar in the wash, 6. Eggy breakfast, 7. Fancie Cakes, 8. Crochet, 9. Chef, 10. Buttons Egg, 11. Sleepy, 12. My first Kinder Surprise, 13. C & T, 14. Popcorn and Toy Story, 15. Down the allotment, 16. Norbert, 17. Better than Maccy D's, 18. Gone in a blur, 19. Park your yarn, 20. Wedding shrug back, 21. New Stand and Relegation, 22. Banana boy, 23. Yoghurt mess, 24. On the train, 25. Cupcake flowers, 26. Forget-me-not
Created with fd's Flickr Toys

March 2012

1. Burn baby burn, 2. Clockwork Forest, 3. Everyone needs a caterpillar for a pillow, 4. York 3 monkey socks, 5. Dungaree boy, 6. One to go, 7. Hollies - 50 Year Anniversary Tour, 8. Sunday treats, 9. Blossom, 10. Wedding shrug beginnings, 11. Playdough, 12. Allotment beginnings, 13. Washing day, 14. Bounce, 15. Afternoon tea, 16. Poorly boy, 17. Toad, 18. Turkey, 19. St Peter's, 20. In Nannie's Garden, 21. Bethany's Bargainballs blanket, 22. In the toy box, 23. Cheeky, 24. On the big chair, 25. A sunny morning in Tettenhall, 26. Beautiful Blue Skies, 27. Mummy, I fell asleep eating my toast, 28. Sleepyhead

York 3 monkey socks

York 3 monkey socks, a photo by RooKnits on Flickr.

Monkey socks. Knit in The Yarn Yard Toddy in the York 3 colourway.

February 2012 - Photostash

1. Cosy, 2. Sewing during nap time, 3. Clothkits Birdie Skirt, 4. White Saturday, 5. My first sledge ride, 6. Chilli Sunday, 7. Twisted willow, 8. Kilt Hose WIP, 9. Story time, 10. Tasty train, 11. Saturday sex on the beach!, 12. Black Country derby, 13. Birthday time, 14. The animals like it in the house, 15. Flowery blanket, 16. A sock in cosy corner, 17. Slide anticipation, 18. Sleepyhead, 19. Thomas' Welly Socks, 20. Kilt Hose for Kerry, 21. Pancake Day, 22. Toddy York 3, 23. Crocus in the sun, 24. The wheels on the bus, 25. Lunch at the services, 26. Quack, 27. A stick in the park, 28. On the bridge, 29. Lake District Feb 2012, 30. Lake District Feb 2012

Christmas 2007 in February 2012

If ever a pair of socks deserved a "Ta Daaaah!" it is these.
Highland Schottische Kilt Hose by Nancy Bush from Folk Socks.

They were started way way back in November 2007, finished on the 10th February 2012, arrived in their new home today and will be off on Honeymoon to Scandinavia soon! 
Here are some shots I took before I parcelled them up (they are a little too small for me).

For two socks knit 4 years apart they aren't that bad!

There is one place they are definitely fraternal - the calf shaping - but no one is perfect...

I am so glad they are finally finished!

Making Monday - Welly socks

The first pair of socks from the Regia College "bargainballs" is complete.



36 stitches, on 3mm needles fit my 19 month old.