FO Friday........and a Bloomin' CAL.

Hi, how are you all doing, I'm writing this a bit later than I planned, I've had no internet for the last few hours. Anyway, I'm back to show you some finished projects for FO Friday.

I've finished my Striped Cardigan and Hat by Sarah Hatton, though I still haven't managed to take it over to my friend yet, hopefully I will see them next weekend. I used Jenny Watson Babysoft in light blue and grey, so it will wash well, nice and practical for a newborn. 

I've also finished the Forest Floor hat by Alana Dakos, if I'm honest I'm not that happy with how it turned out. It's nothing to do with the pattern but I think I used the wrong yarn, it's turned out quite small, I would have liked it a lot more slouchy. It's a Christmas gift for a friend but I think she will really like it and it will keep her warm through the winter months when she takes the dogs out for their walks.

Check out Tami's blog for more FO's.

I didn't get home until late, yesterday, so I didn't have time to write my post for the Bloomin' CAL so I'll show you all my finished Hexagons on this post.

I now have a total of 42 and by next week I should have crocheted the border around all the other centres that I haven't had time to finish.

I'm using the pattern by Lucy from Attic 24, Lucy has used four different colour yarns for her beautiful hexagons but I have just chosen to use one colour for the centre and the cream border, you can find the pattern here.

Check out Chrissie's Crafts and Ladybird Diaries, to see more projects.

Have a great weekend, I'm off to a Midlands Bloggy Meet Up, tomorrow over at Gilly's, I'm looking forward to meeting some fellow Bloggers, it look like everybody had such a great time at the last one.

Thanks for stopping by.

xxxxDebxxxx

A New Work in Progress.........Livingston Baby Sweater.

Hello there, my friends, I hope you all had a good weekend. I've just made myself a big mug of fruit tea, so I'm ready to sit down and write my regular Wednesday post of my WIP's, this week.

I do have  a new project to share, which is part of my baby nephew's Christmas present and the pattern is called Livingston by Nadia Crétin-Léchenne. I've been looking for a cute baby boy pattern for a while but nothing caught my eye, until I saw this pattern!!!!

I had the perfect yarn in my stash, it is Rowan Cashsoft DK in an apple green, I'm not sure how you will see the colour on your screen as on my PC, it looks really washed out but on my iPad, it's showing the true colour.

The pattern calls for a Sport weight but I'm using a DK on 3.75mm needle, I'm knitting the 12 month size and it seems to be knitting up fine size-wise.

It is a seamless knit which is a bonus as I really don't like sewing the pieces together, I'm on the second sleeve so will soon be ready to knit the sleeves to the body and start knitting all in one.

I've knit a few more rows on my Pennycress socks, so hopefully will have them finished in the next week or so.

Each week I love to join in with Ginny's, Yarn Along, where you can show what you are knitting but also what you are reading. I'm still reading Take A Look At Me Now by Miranda Dickinson so rather show you that again, I'd thought I'd share my new knitting book, that I keep flicking through since I bought it on Friday.

I bought Labour of Love by Vibe Ulrik Sondergaard, at the bargain price of £4.99 from The Works. It has over 22 patterns, which works out at 22p a pattern!!!!! The patterns are beautiful with gorgeous photography, all the patterns are for girls aged from 3 years to 8 years. I would highly recommend this book if you have little girls in your life, some are traditional knits but some are a little bit more unusual, which I love. I thinks it's nice sometimes to knit something a bit more interesting.

I've bought the yarn to knit this sweet Marie Cardigan, it is knit in Drops Alpaca which is soooo soft, it's going to be gorgeous to knit with. It's also on offer through November and December with 25% off so it's only £2.20 for 50g of 100% Alpaca. I always buy my Drops yarn from Wool Warehouse who give great customer service.

That's me done for today, check out Ginny's blog for more knits and reads......

and Tami's blog for lots of other WIP's.

One more thing before I go, did you watch The Sewing Bee, well one of the finalists, Lauren Guthrie has opened an haberdashery shop in Birmingham called Guthrie & Ghani and I'm going to one of her workshops tonight!!!! I'm really looking forward to it and will tell you all about it, later in the week.

Thanks for stopping 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

WIP Wednesday......Stars and Stripes Ripple Throw and more.

Good morning, how are you all doing? I hope you are having a good week. I'm going to show you three works in progress, today. I do have one more WIP but want to give that one it's own post so I will show you it tomorrow in a separate post.

In honour of our American friends, who will be celebrating the 4th of July, tomorrow, I have started a small throw which is the Stars and Stripes American Flag. It is a free pattern from Lion Brand and you can find it here.

I love all things American so when I received last month's newsletter and saw this free pattern, I immediately ordered some yarn. It doesn't take a lot of yarn like a lot of blankets I've made, I wanted to use Drops Nepal, which is an Aran weight 65% wool/35% alpaca.

I worked out how many balls I would need by looking at the original yardage in the pattern and converting it to the Nepal. It came out as 9 balls of red, 6 balls of cream and 3 balls of blue, Nepal is very economical to use at £2 per 50g ball. I buy mine from Wool Warehouse, their service is fabulous and next day delivery.

This was my lazy Saturday morning, breakfast in bed and a spot of crochet, I'm on the first stripe of cream now, it crochets up very quick. I pick this up when I want something that doesn't need much concentration.

The next WIP, I've just started my second pair of socks from the book Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson. I'm working through the book in order and the second pattern is called Lacy Ribbed Socks.

I'm using the new Rowan Hand Painted sock yarn called Fine Art in Sarin. This yarn is beautiful, with 45% Merino Wool, 20% Mohair, 10% Silk:, 25% Polyamide, it is a pleasure to knit with.

The pattern is worked on circulars, I use 2.25mm needles for socks and didn't have that size in circulars so I'm using DPN's. I do want to try knitting socks on circulars and have ordered some Hiya Hiya's so will have a go with them on the next pair of socks.

Last but not least is a little Matinee Jacket by Debbie Bliss, I started this before I started the other projects, just because I like knitting baby items. I'm not knitting this for anyone in particular, it will go in my gift box for when I need a baby girl knit.

The pattern is from the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino book but it has taken a back seat since I started the other projects. I've only got one sleeve to finish so I should get it finished by next week.

Check out Tami's blog, for more WIP's.

Thank you for stopping by, I'll be back tomorrow with another project I've started and very excited about. Have a great 4th of July, my U.S.friends!!!!!!!!!!!

xxxxDebxxxx

Baby Boy Knits..............

Hello Friends, I can't believe it's over a week since I last posted, I've got so much going on at the moment that I haven't been near a computer. I will catch up with all your blogs in the next few days, though.

My sister's baby boy is due any day now, so I've been knitting little boy cardigans, ready to give my sister when the big day arrives. I've knit plenty for baby girls before but I've only started knitting for boy's in the last 6 months, I was really surprised at how many trendy little knits are out there.

When I went to Brean a couple of weekends ago, I found a good old fashion knitting shop in Burnham, I loved having a mooch around, you don't get many bricks and mortar knitting shops any more. I bought the King Cole Baby Book 4 which is full of gorgeous patterns including this little shawl collar cardigan, I bought some Paton Smoothie DK in this denim blue and was ready to go.

I've now started another cardi, when I was at our local craft club, last week, I saw my friend Dee using some yarn that gave a mock Fair Isle effect. It looked gorgeous knitted up so when I popped into the local haberdashery shop, that has a small selection of yarn, I spotted some Sirdar Crofter DK which was what Dee was using.

I bought a couple of balls in this pretty blue and chose a simple stocking stitch V-neck cardigan pattern, which has knit up really quick, so I hope to have this finished tonight.

Finally, I wanted to share this super sweet photo that my friend, Maria, sent me of her grandson. He is wearing the Debbie Bliss Teddy Bear All-in One, I knit for him, back in November. Doesn't he look cute, in it?

Thanks for stopping by, have a great week.

xxxxDebxxxx

FO Friday..........A Teddy Bear Baby Cardi.

Happy Friday !!!! I hope you've all had a good week. I'm back today to show you this little cardigan, that I've just finished for my soon to be born nephew.

I saw this sweet pattern in the Jenny Watson Baby Boutique Book 1, I used Patons Smoothie DK, that I had in my stash. I don't usually like the feel of acrylic yarn but this is really nice to work with, it feels very soft and it didn't make my fingers sore like most acrylic's. Even better, I've just looked on the net for it and it's less than £3 for a 100g ball so the 0-6 months has cost me less than £6 to knit.

I've also been making more tissue holders but have adapted my pattern slightly, instead of crocheting it in one and sewing the seams, I made two sides and double crocheted them together. I think I like this version better.

Another thing I've been crocheting are quick and easy wash cloths, I got the pattern from Cute & Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench. They make great gifts, together with a nice bar of soap or some shower gel.

If you'd like to take a look at other FO's check out Tami's blog.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend, my friends.

xxxxDebxxxx

WIP Wednesday.....Debbie Bliss Baby Cardi.

Hello my friends, I hope you all had a great Easter weekend. We went away for a few days, which I'll share with you tomorrow.

While I was away though, I found this book, that I'd been looking for since I saw a photo on Coco Rose Diaries blog, I fell in love with the little girls cardigan.

The book is called The Knitters Year by Debbie Bliss, it is split into four sections, Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn and has some beautiful patterns.

We stopped off at John Lewis in Bristol to get some yarn, I bought some Debbie Bliss EcoBaby Cotton which is the recommended yarn for the pattern. I choose this pretty, neutral colour, shade 14026, so I was all ready to start when I got home.

It's very quick to knit using moss stitch with minimum seaming as the sleeves are knit as part of the back and fronts. It would be an ideal pattern for someone just starting out with knitting, if you can knit, purl and cast on and off, you could follow this pattern.

I've finished the back and right front, so tonight, I should finish most of the left side, I may have a FO by Friday.

If you are wondering about my Mary Jane Tearoom Daisy Bunny, I've just got to finish the dress, which I'll do once the baby cardigan is finished.

I love her little socks and pantaloons.

If you'd like to see more WIP's, head over to Tami's blog.

When we were in Waterstones buying the Debbie Bliss book, Mick spotted this, it is a mini knitting kit in a box, so he bought me that too, he is good to me.

The box is only 3" by 3" and included the yarn, pattern book and needles, it is so cute. I finished the newborn beanie while I was in Brean.

I was going to give it to my sister as they like the newborns to wear hats in the hospital now but not sure whether the pink stripe makes it to girly for a little boy. What are your thoughts?

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be back soon with a few photo's from my weekend away in Brean.
xxxxDebxxxx