FO Friday.......the perfect newborn baby cardigan.

Hello my friends, I hope you all had a good week. I'm back to show you the two Newborn Vertebraes I've knit over the last week.

I love this sweet pattern and think it's the perfect cardigan for a newborn, it only takes one 50g ball of 4ply so is quick, economical and great for a baby shower gift. It's perfect to wear over the all in one sleepsuits that they mostly wear when they are so tiny. It is open at the front but is long at the back, covering their little bum, keeping them warm and cosy.

I have lots of odd balls of Rowan Cashsoft 4ply and picked navy for the first one, I had a small amount left over from another project so with some left over cream, I knit a stripy Easy Peasy Newborn Hat to match, isn't it cute? I used DPNs instead of circular as I really struggle with Magic Loop, I always end up with a ladder whatever I try. Does anyone else have this problem with Magic Loop?

Again, I used Rowan Cashsoft 4ply in sky blue for this one, it was what I knit the Pom Pom Bootees in. I'm going to knit the next one in a DK to make it larger for when he's a bit bigger, these newborn ones are tiny.

Have a great weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Mini Georgie Baby Blanket........and a couple of other FO's

Hello my friends, are you ready for the weekend? I'm off to the seaside for a couple of days, the last weekend away before my grandson arrives in about four weeks time and I've finished the Mini Georgie Baby Blanket in plenty of time for his pram and car seat.

I absolutely love the Georgie Blanket by Helen Stewart, it is so versatile, it's suitable for a boy or a girl depending on your colour choice, you can make it as small or as large as you like and it's quick to knit.

I used Rooster Almerino DK which is beautifully soft, the original pattern uses four contrast colours, you can see my larger blanket here. I just used three contrast colours for the mini version in Gooseberry, Starfish and Custard, the main colour is knit in Cornish.

I only had three balls of the main colour which was left over from another project and knew I probably wouldn't have enough to finish the border, rather than buying another ball of Cornish I used the contrast colours for the border.

Another project I've finished for my grandson is a little garter stitch set including the Garter Stitch Jacket, Garter Stitch Hat and Origami Bootees.

All these projects are from this great little book, 10 Simple Projects for Cosy Babies, this is a great knitting book for beginners but also for more experienced knitters who want a quick project.

I originally knit the hat as the pattern was written which you knit flat and seamed but I didn't like the seam, it was too bulky so I frogged it and knit it in one piece on DPN's. I will add a couple of wooden buttons to the bootees to match the jacket.

I've also finished something for me, it's the Menehune by MskiKnits, this was the pattern that you knit along with Mel on her With Mel Podcast. This is such a great concept, each episode, Mel gave us another section of the pattern, it's a small shawlette and we finished to over four episodes.

I will be mostly wearing it as a scarf, perfect for those cooler Autumn days.

I will take it to the beach with me this weekend though and wear it like this, over my shoulders when it gets cooler.

So that is it for my FO's this week, all very simple knits but I love each of these patterns. Have a great weekend.

xxxxDebxxxxx

 

FO Friday.....two test knit hats.

A short and sweet post today, just to say hi and show you the two test knit hats for Melody, they don't have a name yet but the pattern should be released by the end of the month.

I knit the first test knit hat for Jodie in Cascade 220, it's a very quick knit in worsted weight yarn in garter stitch and a textured panel.

This is the second one, finished this week, knit in The Natural Dye Studio Godivia DK, though it's more of a worsted single spun hand dyed yarn in Amitola. I'm not sure whether I'll be keeping it for myself or giving it as a Christmas gift.

Have a great weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

FO Friday.......blankets and bootees.

Happy Friday, are you all ready for the weekend? I'm back to show you a couple of finished baby projects today.

I've finished the Twinkle Twinkle Blanket by Helen Stewart, this is what I'm calling his "best blanket" and will come out of the hospital wrapped in it.

I used 5 balls of Rooster Almerino DK, a gorgeous soft blend of alpaca and merino which shows off the stitch definition beautifully.

Next up, I've been making some Pom Pom Bootees, I used different weight yarns to get the different sizes.

The white pair are the larger out of the two, I used MillaMia which is a sport weight on 2.75mm, they would fit a 3-6 month old.

The blue pair are knit with Cashsoft 4ply again on 2.75mm needles and have turned out a lot smaller, fitting a 0-3 month old. I decided to add some pompoms for the cute factor and used the Clover Pom Pom Maker in small for the white and extra small for the blue pair. I can't recommend the Clover Pom Pom Maker enough, it's simple to use and you get a perfect pom pom, every time.

That's all for the knitting, the next part is photo heavy of what I've been up to this week. Do you remember me saying on Wednesday, I was hoping the rain kept off so we could take the little ones out? Well it did and we went to Bantock House and Park.

Even the grown ups were having fun.

Then yesterday, my friend Kerry and I went out for the day. We went to Hobbycraft and picked up some Project Life which has 25% off at the moment then had lunch at Pizza Hut, I love the lunchtime buffet!!!!

After lunch we drove to Ironbridge a beautiful Shropshire town by the river, famous for it's iron bridge across the river.

The obligatory selfie by the bridge ;-)

Have a great weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

FO Friday......A Wee Envelope Jumper.

Happy Friday, everyone. I've finished the Wee Envelope Jumper!!!!! It is so cute!!! After a few false starts, joining the back and front yokes, I whizzed through it. It is knit in the round and there is no seaming at all with this pattern, just picking up a few stitches.

If you decide to cast on this gorgeous baby sweater by Ysolda Teague, all I would say is read the instructions carefully and if it says join with first stitch, think about which exactly is the first stitch ( I joined the last stitch) or picking up stitches along a certain row not along the edge like I did, that's where I went wrong not reading instructions properly. The above photo shows you how the jumper is supposed to look like once you've started the back yoke. I'm sure everyone else won't have a problem anyway, it's just me, I'm going to blame my fuzzy head and warm weather ;-)

Once you're ready to start and join the right sleeve to the back yoke it will look twisted, that is correct, I knit it flat and obviously didn't get the envelope opening. This is how the front should look like once you start knitting the sleeve.

I hope I haven't made this knit sound complicated, it really isn't, it was just me not reading and following instructions correctly. I'd never knit this construction before and when I emailed the pattern support with a photo asking where I'd gone wrong, I had a reply within an hour putting me back on track. Once explained it clicked straight away where I'd gone wrong, I just need to go button shopping now to finish it off.

I know this pattern will be one I keep going back to time and time again, I've already decided the yarn and colours for the next one in a bigger size, the pattern goes up to an age four year old. I love that there is no seaming, it makes for a quick knit, once I'd finished the yokes and sleeves, the body didn't take long at all. I used Kettle Yarn Wimbledon Sport in Blue Pictcies, it's a beautiful, soft squishy yarn in 100% superwash merino, perfect for baby knits.

We've had another couple of birthdays this week, it was Paige's birthday on Monday, she's my youngest daughter and she turned 19, where do the years go??????

It was a beautiful sunny day, so we decided to take a picnic over to Bantock Park. She had a lovely time, it was nice as her sister and partner were still down visiting, her gran and grandad, Aunty and all her cousins were there to celebrate with her.

Wednesday, it was my sister's birthday, this time we took a picnic over Telford Park, we were going to take this cutie over to the play area but it was so hot, we found a spot under a big shady tree and didn't move. She was happy playing with her new frisbee or flying disc as she kept correcting us.

I managed to just sit and get some knitting done, I love to knit outdoors, it makes me happy and with this wonderful weather we are enjoying in the UK, I'm getting plenty chances of doing exactly that.

I had to share this photo with you, this is my dad and baby nephew, it was all too much for them and they zonked out. I love this photo, it makes me smile every time I look at it, my dad said he wasn't asleep, he was resting his eyes. Yeah right!!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend.

xxxxDebxxxxx

 

FO Friday.....Pavilion Spoiler Photos!!!

Happy Friday, my friends, I hope you've all had a good week. It has been a beautiful week in the UK with plenty of sunshine but today it is raining. The gardens could do with a drop of rain though and I'm finding it quite therapeutic, listening to the rain pitter- pattering onto the conservatory roof. Hopefully, it will clear up later and we'll have some more sunshine over the weekend.

Now back to the knitting, after been very British and talking about the weather. I've finished the Small Cable Cardigan by Vibe Ulrick Sondergaard. I absolutely love this pattern, I think it's probably my most favourite baby knit that I've done.

It's from the book Lullaby Knits and is full of beautiful baby knits from birth up to two years, I bought my copy from The Book People and is only £4.99 instead of the recommended £16.99. I don't think there is one pattern I don't like so to me this book is super value. What I will say though, a few of the patterns are modeled on girls or knit in pink as this pattern was but I actually think most of them are unisex. When I asked my daughter to chose some patterns from the book, I told her to look past the model and the colour of the yarn and imagine it in a more masculine colour.

I love the cable stitch, it's really unusual, I've knit a few cable patterns but none like this, I think the stitch definition is gorgeous. I knit the 0-3 months and used two balls of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Mink 064, this yarn washes great and stays looking nice, great for baby knits.

My next FO of the week are the Pavilion socks, a mystery knit along pattern by Rachel Coopey, the last clue was released last week. This pattern was designed and is part of the Unwind Brighton Festival, there have been a few patterns released for the occasion. There is one more pattern that I would like to knit as part of the festival and is the Aileron by Dieuwke van Mulligen. I plan on buying the yarn from the Marketplace, my problem will be what to chose with so many gorgeous yarns in one place!!!!

I used Artist Palette Yarns Smoothie Sock in Banana Milkshake, a very nice yarn which I think showed the stitch definition, very well. The true colour is showing up on the first photo, the colour is very washed out on this photo. They fit perfectly, I have found that cuff down socks seem to fit me better that toe up, it must be the heel flap that makes the difference. Also doing cuff down after finishing the heel, the foot seems to knit up very quickly and I have them finished before I know it.

That's it for this week, thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx