Bloomin CAL...........and a FO.

Good morning, I'm back today with this week's progress on my Pretty Pastel Hexagon Blanket for the Bloomin' CAL hosted by Chrissie and Marianne.

 

Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot of crochet going on this week as I was concentrating on the Striped Baby Jacket and Hat which I wanted to finish before I went to see my friend and her new baby boy.

I've started adding the border around the centres, that I finished last week but have only managed six complete hexagons this week....................

but I have completed the Fair Isle Style Crochet Cardigan by Sarah Lora.

The buttons are sewn on, I used some wooden buttons that I had in my stash.

I've left it hanging in my craft room as I just get so much pleasure looking at it, is that sad??????? I can't wait to see Olivia in it, when I give it to her for Christmas. I hope to start another one soon in another colourway.

Talking about Christmas, my friend, Kerry came around my house, yesterday, for some Christmas crafting. I'm so glad she came round as I haven't done any papercrafting for three months and had lost all inspiration but Kerry has inspired me to create again!!!

Check out Chrissie Crafts and Ladybird Diaries for more projects on the Bloomin' Crochet-A-Long.

Thanks for popping by.

xxxxDebxxxx

A Quick Baby Knit..........baby arrived earlier than expected.

Good morning, how is everyone? I hope my UK friends didn't have too much damage caused by Monday's storm. We were very lucky in the Midlands and didn't get any of the bad weather forcast, apart from a bit of rain.

This week, I've had to find something I could knit very quickly for a baby boy, I received a photo message from my friend with a message, "look who's here", their baby boy had arrived two and half weeks early.

I didn't have time to order yarn so I wanted a pattern that I could knit using some of my stash, I found a pattern in 10 Simple Projects for Cosy Babies. It was the Striped Jacket and Hat, which needed 2 x 50g balls of DK and 1 x 50g in contrast colour. I had some Jenny Watson Babysoft DK in Light Blue and Grey which was perfect for what I wantd.

I knit the smallest size, 0-3 months, he was only 5lb 12oz and is a little dot, I've really enjoyed knitting something this small, my nephew was born 9 1/2lb so I knit his first jumper in 3-6 months, I'm now knitting 6-9 month and his only four and half months old!!!! I've  got one sleeve left, so I'll soon have it finished and sewn together, ready to give to him.

I haven't had time to knit on my Pennycress socks but I have started a new book. I'm reading, Take a Look at Me Now by Miranda Dickinson, I'd pre-ordered it a few weeks ago and it arrived on Friday. The author is from my home town, we actually grew up in the same stret, not that we knew each other, she's a few years younger than me. I love her books and have read them all, they are always feel good stories, it is the perfect book to curl up with on these cold, dark evenings. 

I'm taking part in Ginny's, Yarn Along..........

and WIP Wednesday over on Tami's blog.

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy the rest of your week.

xxxxDebxxxx

Bloomin' CAL.............and a Fair Isle Style Cardigan

I can't believe it's Thursday again, where did the rest of the week go????? It's time to show you my progress this week for my Bloomin' CAL , hosted by Chrissie Crafts and Ladybird Diaries.

I'm crocheting a Pretty Pastel Hexagon Blanket, I'm not sure how many hexagons I will need so I will just carry on until I run out of yarn, the pattern is from the Attic 24 blog.

I had a couple of people on Instagram asking what colours I'm using, it's Drops Merino Extra Fine in these six colours......

Bottom Row-Left to Right......14 Steel Blue, 22 Medium Purple, 16 Light Pink.

Middle Row- Left to Right..........25 Pink, 01 Off White

Top Row................15 Light Greenish Grey

I've got a little system going, where I do all the centres first then add the Off White border, I find it quicker than keep changing colour.

I don't know about you but I love cosy, Autumn evenings, with just the lamps on and the candles lit with the fragrance of vanilla, filling the room. This was me last night working on my hexagon centres and watching Poirot, a perfect evening. 

 Do you remember me showing you a photo of this on my last post, well this is the other project on my hook.

It's a Fair Isle Style Kids Cardigan and I love it, you don't get many kids crochet patterns which is why I started doing more knitting. It's a pattern by Sarah Lora from Ball, Hank 'n' Skein, I first saw this pattern on Lulu Loves blog and instantly fell in love with it, you can find Emma's cardigan, here, the colours she choose are gorgeous.

It's a fairly quick project, I started it on Saturday and had this much finished by Sunday evening. I would have probably finished it, but I ran out of wool on the second sleeve. The pattern doesn't give you a brand, just the type of yarn and how many yards so I 'guesstimated'. I counted the pinks into the yardage but you don't actually use that much of the colours so as a guide, whatever yards is given, order that as your main colour, then one ball of each of the other  two colours. It's always better to have too much than too little.

I originally ordered 4 balls of Drops Nepal Beige Mix, 1 ball of Cerise and 1 ball of Medium Pink, it is an Aran weight wool/alpaca mix. I needed 5 of the beige which has arrived now arrived, so I can carry on, this is part of my niece's Christmas present. I also ordered some grey which I will use to make my friend's Grand-daughter one, too, I should have enough of the pink leftover to make the second cardigan.

Check out Chrissie and Marianne's blog and check out, everybody else's progress, this week.

Thanks for stopping by.

xxxxDebxxxx

WIP Wednesday..........One Pennycress Sock.

Good Morning, how are you all doing? This is just a quick post from me as I don't have much on my needles apart from the Pennycress socks. I've actually got more on my hook than my needles but I will share more about that tomorrow.

Here's a little sneaky peek of one of the projects on the hook, it's a Christmas gift and I love it!!!!

Back to my Pennycress Socks by Rachel Coopey, I have finished the one and have just cast on the second. I should be quicker with the second sock now I've worked out the toe to top version. I'm still loving the pattern and hopefully next time you see them, they will be finished and on my feet.

I'm still reading The Murder of Mr Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, I'm three quarters of the way through so I'm thinking about, which book to read next. I'm joining in with Ginny's, Yarn Along, where you can share what's on your needles and also what you are reading.

The second series of The Paradise started on Sunday evening, here in the UK, it's my favourite TV programme ever! I love seeing all the ladies in their beautiful Victorian dresses, the men all looking very dapper and the stunning shop with all the gorgeous wares and shop fittings. I bought the book by Emile Zola's called 'The Ladies Paradise', which the series is based on, when the first series started. The original title is 'Au Bonheur des Dames but has been translated by Brian Nelson, so I think I'll read this, next.

Don't forget to check out what everyone else has been knitting and reading, this week.

I'm also joining in with WIP Wednesday over at Tami's blog.

I know I said this was going to be a quick post at the beginning but as I was writing, the postman bought me some "Happy Mail". 

Stephanie from the Knitspiring Odyssey blog, emailed me to tell me I'd won her Birthday Giveaway!!!! She is such a sweet lady and a great Bloggy friend. I won some Madelinetosh 'Tosh Sock' which I'm thrilled with, this is my first ever Madtosh yarn, I'm not sure you can buy it in the UK, if anybody knows, anywhere, please let me know. It's 100% Superwash Merino in Curiosity, and it is so soft for a sock yarn, I love it!!!! She also sent me some little sheep Post It notes and a lovely handwritten note. Thank you so much, Stephanie.

Thank you for stopping by, I'll be back tomorrow with some crochet projects.

xxxxDebxxxx

Bloomin' Crochet-A-Long.........Week 3

I'm back today with an update on my Hexagon blanket, it's week 3 of Chrissie Crafts and Ladybird Diaries, Bloomin' Crochet-A-Long.

I've made seven hexagons, this week, I will get there slowly but surely, It's a pattern from Attic24 which you can find here. I want to finish at least one a day and thanks to this great Crochet-A-Long, I'm back into my crochet as I have a few WIP's I need to finish. 

I'm also on a mission to finish my Springtime Throw by Nicki Trench, the pattern is from the Cute and Crochet book, I started this, back in August 2011, it took me just over a year to make 780 tiny squares and join them together lengthways. I need to join them across the other way now and crochet a border. I will hopefully have it finished before the start of the Winter.

Check out Chrissie's and Marrianne's blog for my beautiful crochet projects. 

Thanks for stopping by, I really do appreciate it and thank you to all the lovely ladies who have been leaving me some kind and wonderful comments, lately. I do try and reply via your blogs but some of the comments left take me to Google+ so I can't find you, so sorry if I don't reply to some of you.

xxxxDebxxxx

Coop Knits Socks...........Pennycress.

Good morning, how is your week going? I had a very lazy Sunday, watching films with the family and I also cast on a pair of socks from Coop Knits Socks by Rachel Coopey.

These socks are called Pennycress, I love the delicate, swirly lace pattern, it's so pretty. I'm using Skein Queen, Blissful Duro 4ply sock yarn, it's 75% superwash BFL and 25% Nylon, this yarn has now been discontinued.

There are ten beautiful designs, this is my first pair from the book, eventually, I will knit each design, they are all cuff down but I prefer working toe-up. This pattern was quite easy to convert, it is a 8 row pattern so rather than starting from row 1, I work backwards and start with row 8.

I'm taking part in Gilly's, Yarn Along, where you show what you are knitting and the current book you are reading. I've have just started The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, I love watching Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries on TV but I have never read one of her books. I'm only a few chapters in but I already know that I'm going to enjoy this book, she has a great style of writing. Don't you love the illustration on the dust jacket, this is a reproduction of the first published edition. Check out what others have been up to this week, here.

I'm also taking part in WIP Wednesday over on Tami's blog.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

xxxxDebxxxx

Bloomin' Crochet -A-Long..........Hexagon Blanket

Happy Friday!!!!! I hope everybody has had a good week, it's been another busy week for me, with lots going on, Wednesday I babysat my toddler niece and for the first time my baby nephew. They are golden and not a bit of trouble but I'd forgotten what hard work little people are.

Anyway, I haven't had much knitting time this week but I did manage to do a few of my crochet Hexagons. I find crochet a lot easier to pick up and put down, especially if you've only got ten minutes here and there.
I'm using Drops Merino Extra Fine which is reasonably priced and very soft with lots of gorgeous colours to choose from. I'm up to 21 hexagons now, I'm not sure how many I will do altogether, I will see how I go.

I started it back in July, I haven't really worked on it over the summer but this week, all of a sudden, Autumn has arrived in the UK. I love our seasons and especially enjoy the Autumn months, I always get the urge to crochet a blanket through the Autumn/Winter months, so out came my hibernating Hexies.

 I'm using Lucy's hexagon pattern from Attic24, which is a free pattern but I did donate a coffee, as she puts so much time into writing her patterns up, you can find the pattern, here. I'm just using a block colour for the centre and cream for the border, I think using one colour makes the centres look like flowers, what do you think?

Chrissie Crafts and Ladybird Diaries have started the Bloomin' Crochet-A-Long, they are both working on the Hexagon Flower Throw from the book Crochet with Flowers by Nicki Trench.

I've only just bought this book and had already started my Hexies so I hope it's OK, if I join in with them, it will keep me motivated. I will definitely be doing some of the smaller patterns in-between working on my Hexie, there are some really pretty projects in this book.

If you pop over to Chrissie's and Marianne's blog, you can check out what other lovely ladies have on their hook. I've had a look and there are some fabulous projects, my list is growing longer.

Have a wonderful weekend.
xxxxDebxxxx

Work in Progress.........Forest Floor by Alana Dakos.

Good morning, I hope you are all well and had a great weekend. It's Wednesday, so I'm here with my regular 'WIP' post. I haven't had much knitting time as I was away the weekend at Burgh Island Hotel, which was amazing and will share some photo's with you over the next few days.

Whenever I go somewhere I always Google local yarn shops and in the next town, to Burgh Island, Bigbury on Sea, there is a place called Modbury which has a fabulous yarn and fabric shop called Hulu Crafts. Mick treated me to this gorgeous pearl yarn by Lanamania, it is 50% Pearl Fibre and 50% Tencel, it is so luxurious, I want to find the perfect shawl pattern to use it with.

On Monday evening, I cast on Forest Floor by Alana Dakos which is a pattern from her book, Botanical Knits. It's a slouchy hat and the pattern has a subtle layered leaf pattern running through it. This is the first of my knitted Christmas gifts and over the next few weeks, I will be knitting a few gifts for friends and family.

I'm using Drops Lima DK which is 65% wool and 35% alpaca, this yarn is very reasonably priced at £2 for 50g but it doesn't feel like a cheaper brand. In fact, it's cheaper than most acrylic yarns, I buy my Drops yarn from Wool Warehouse, who have the whole range, they are fantastic with sending your orders out too. I've ordered from them in the morning and have received it following day.

I'm half way through Stay Close by Harlan Coben, it's getting very good now, where I'm having trouble putting it down as I want to know what's going to happen next. There are lots of secrets and intrigue, a great plot, all the things a good thriller should have.

Check out what everyone else has got on their needles and what they are reading over on Ginny's blog, where she does a regular Yarn Along.

Also check out Tami's blog, where you will find more 'Works in Progress'

Before I go I want to announce the two winners of the Pau Hana pattern giveaway, the first winner was Joy from Joy Jinks Creations and the second winner was Jarka who's blog is From now till then and Inbetween. I will be in touch, I just need your Ravelry name so Mel can send you your download.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week.
xxxxDebxxxx