Knit 20 for 2020 Challenge

Hello my friends, long time no see!  I haven't been able to get onto my blog for a while as I forgot my password! So after a fairly long hiatus, I'm back with lots of things to share.

Firstly, I'd like to share a new challenge for this year from my friend Helen of Curious Handmade, it's called Knit 20 for 2020. So who's up for a fun challenge? It can be a big or small as you like,  depending on how much knitting time you have, I'm going for the full 20 but you could tick off several boxes for one project. One of my projects is a cabled cowl so I could tick off #6 and #13. Helen is running it on Instagram with the hashtag #20knitsfor2020 and also on her Ravelry Group, it will be lovely to see your projects.

The biggest news that I have to share is I'm going to be a Nana again, my youngest daughter is having her first baby. The first project that I will be ticking off the list is 'GIFT', I'm knitting is the Spring into Summer Romper by OGE Knitwear Designs.
They aren't finding out the gender of the baby so I've chosen a neutral colour. I'm using Blacker Swan, Falkland Islands Wool by Blacker Yarns in Sand.

I'm knitting the first size 0-3 months, it's a really simple pattern and knits up very quickly. 

The first challenge on the list is 'Finish a WIP', I don't know why these aren't off the needles yet, it is such a small WIP. I started the Shortie Trainer socks back in September, I finished one and haven't picked them up since.

I'm using 30g of leftover sock yarn and a mini skein for the cuff, heel and toe. I'm not following a pattern, it's my own recipe. Here it is if you're interested, they are perfect for wearing with my Converse.

Shortie Trainer Sock Recipe

Cast on 64 sts

5 rows 1x1 rib 

7 rows stockinette 

Eye of Partridge heel

knit the foot until you are 2"

shorter than needed.

Knit your favourite toe.

5 ways to work a Toe

My third project on the needles is the Grete by Woolfolk Design Team, I splurged on the yarn using my Christmas money and bought the Woolfolk Luft from Loop London. I'm using Medium Grey, this bulky yarn is delightful. 'Luft' means 'Air' in Danish and I can see why they've named it this, it's so soft, light and airy.

I'm enjoying this pattern very much, been a bulky yarn it's a quick knit and the cables are very simple and easy to memorise.

I started my Cosy Nana Stripe Blanket three years ago but still enjoying every stitch. This is a crochet blanket but this challenge could be the push I need to finish it by the end of this year. It falls under 'Scrappy or Advent' and I'm using 6g of leftover sock yarn for each row. This is such a special project to me, my grandchildren love to chose which ball of yarn for the next row plus friends have sent me some yarn to add.

The final project I have to share is the Love Note Sweater by Tin Can Knits, this will tick off the 'Pullover' on the list. This wasn't planned but I saw someone wearing it and thought how nice it looked plus I had the right amount of yarn in my stash.

It only takes 2x100g skeins for the Large and the same meterage in mohair/silk, I'm using Ito Sensai in Pale Blush and the main yarn is Annabel Wiliams Corridale Sock in Pink Chai, naturally dyed with avocado. All of Annabel's yarn is responsibly sourced and naturally hand dyed, I've used her yarn before and highly recommend it.

Thank you for stopping by and I will be back on Saturday with an exciting pattern release that I'm looking forward to.

xxxxDebxxxx

Ponderosa by Manderines and a new knitting book.

Hello my friends, I'm back today to let you know about another test knit that I've finished and has just been released. It's called Ponderosa by Manderines and is a gorgeous slouchy beanie hat, knit in DK so perfect for those cooler Autumn days when the tempreture is dropping and the leaves are changing colour. It's a fun knit with lots of texture and Melody cleverly replicates the shape of the pine trees from her beloved woods in Latvia.

Melody has a video podcast called Manderines which is one of my favourite podcasts to watch, she has such a beautiful, gentle way about her. As well as her fabulous knitting she brings a touch of Latvia and nature to us, if you've never watched, I highly recommend you take a look.

I always use 16" circulars for knitting hats and then DPNs for the decreases when the hat gets too small for the circular needles. The pattern calls for a 3.75mm but I only had 4mm so used them, the hat came out slightly bigger but I like slouchy hats so it wasn't a problem. There are two sizes so if you don't like too much slouch you can knit the smaller size though as you can probably guess, I went with the large size. I also went up a needle size for the rib, I used 3.5mm instead of 3.25mm.

I used Rowan Purelife British Sheep Breeds DK which is an undyed natural wool, the breed I bought was BFL so is very soft with a lovely drape. I really liked using this yarn and got it at a bargain price of £1.50 per 50g ball, I bought enough for a sweater so need to find the perfect pattern for it now.

I also wanted to share this new book that I've just received, I pre-ordered at the beginning of August and have been patiently waiting for its release in September. It's called Loop's 10 and celebrates Loop's 10th Anniversary.

It was definitely worth the wait with 12 stunning patterns including shawls, accessories, garments and even a little girls cardigan. It's a beautiful, well laid out book with amazing photography and written descriptions of the projects and yarn used which they've had especially dyed for the occasion. I think these two yarns from The Wool Barn will become an Islington Shawl by Kirsten Kapur, a gorgeous two colour project.

The first project that I'm going to cast on though, is the Bunty Cardigan by Donna Higgins, a classic top down cardigan with a crochet picot edge. I'm going to knit the 0-3 months size but does go up to age 4 years.

My yarn is caked and I'm ready to cast on, I'm using Hartlams Alldays 100 Sock in Fields of Gold, which was an exclusive colour for The Golden Skein, Power of Three Club. It's 100% Superwash Bluefaced Leicester 4ply.

I'm linking this post to Nicole's KCCO and Ginny's Yarn Along, thank you for stopping by, have a great week.

xxxxDebxxxx

 

Summertide Shawl MKAL........and a baby knit.

Hello my friends, well I haven't left it as long as before and I'm really going to try and pop in each week, if I can. I just wanted to let you all know that the Summertide Shawl MKAL by Helen Stewart has gone on sale as a pre-release. The summer is coming to an end and the kids are back to school so now is the time to cast on something just for you. The first clue will be released on the 10th September so you can have fun picking out the perfect yarn for your shawl in the meantime.

Helen has kindly offered my readers a 25% discount code until the 10th September and you will get four clues, one each week. I really love this shawl and can see myself casting another one on so I can join in the MKAL, so many things to knit so little time!!!! The DISCOUNT CODE is.... imagine25

I'm having to work on one project at a time at the moment, not having much free time and when I saw that Maria from Stitched in Sweden had released a very sweet baby knit, I had to cast one on. It's called the Ria Vest and is a top down seamless sleeveless top with a pretty little eyelet design, the sizes are from Newborn to 18 months. I had some MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino in my stash so cast on straight away. I knit the Newborn size which only took the one 50g ball and was super quick to knit, this one is going to my friend's granddaughter who is due very soon.

Maria used Quince and Co Chickadee in the pattern which is a yarn I've been wanting to try for such a long time that I decided to treat myself. It's an American yarn and there aren't too many places that stock it. In the UK, I bought mine from Loop based in London. I chose Petal (peach) and Dogwood (pink) and the reason I decided to knit another one and my colour choice was because..........

I'm going to be a Nana again and I'm having a little granddaughter, there are so many things I want to knit for her and the list just keeps growing.

I've just cast on in the Petal colourway as I thought it went perfectly with the little sleepsuit that I bought for her. My next project for her will be a colourwork ballerina style cardigan which I had my eye on when she first found out she was pregnant with Caiden. I'll let you know when I buy the yarn and cast on, there's even a matching teddy bear which I really need to make too.

It's been a while but I'm participating in Nicole's KCCO and Ginny's Yarn Along.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you all next week.

xxxxDebxxxx

Baby News........

Hello my friends, if you are wondering why I haven't been around in the last week, well my little grandson arrived 9 days early, last Thursday evening by emergency c-section, weighing in at 7lb 2oz. He hadn't been moving much in the last week, so they made the decision to induce but his little heartbeat kept dropping so they decided to do a c-section and get him out. Jodie and baby are doing really well and here he is at just an hour old.

There was a lovely midwife on duty and I was lucky enough to be able to go into recovery and see my daughter, son-in-law and their beautiful baby boy. Here I am, a very proud nana.

He's wearing his Easy Peasy Newborn Hat That his Nana knit him, I just have to keep going awwwww, everytime I look at him.

They returned home on Saturday after two nights in hospital, he was very happy to be home and was wide awake, taking everything in.

We've had a couple of little walks up to the village shop.

He had his first bath that he really wasn't happy about.

He got to meet his Great Gran, Great Granddad, Great Aunty Jo and cousins.

I'm not sure when I'll be blogging next, I'm not doing any knitting or crafting at the moment. Have a great weekend.

Deb x

 

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

 

Yarn Along.....Garter Stitch.

Hello my friends, how is everyone? I hope your week is going well, the theme for my knitting this week is garter stitch. The first stitch that you're taught when you learn to knit, I use to find this stitch so boring when I first started knitting but I actually quite enjoy doing garter now. After seeing that Zena has nearly finished her Leftie, it made me pick mine back up, I've now used all ten colours of the Five Moons Mini Skeins so now to start from the orange again.

I'm on the garter stitch border of my Mini Georgie Baby Blanket, just a couple more rows and I'll be binding off. I was nearly out of the off white so decided to use the three contrast colours for the border, it's turning out really well.

Next up is a Garter Stitch Jacket set from the book 10 Simple Projects For Cosy Babies by Sarah Hatton, can you see the theme here!!!! I'm using yarn from my stash and had some balls of Drops Extra Fine Merino in Navy and some Jenny Watson Merino DK in grey and really liked them together. Again it's a very simple knit but I'm really enjoying this 'potato chip' knitting.

I'm also kniting the matching Garter Stitch Hat, I had completed it but it's knit flat and I didn't like the seam so I frogged it and started again, all in one on DPN's. Do you like my DPN holder? I love it and have ordered a matching project bag from Little Bobbins Etsy Store, it's very well made and she has great customer service with quick delivery.

As you can see on the above photo, I've been putting together the jacket as I go along and just have one little sleeve left. This week I'm reading Elephant Moon by John Sweeney, set in the Second World War where 53 elephants and an English school teacher who rescues a group of orphans from Burma and takes them to India to safety. It is a wonderful, awe inspiring story of a young woman's determination.

I'm linking to Ginny's Yarn Along, Tami's WIP Wednesday and Nicole's KCCO.

I've very nearly finished the beautiful Menehune Shawlette, I knit this along side With Mel podcast, where she gave instructions for us to knit along with her, such a good idea.

So that's what I've been working on this week, all very simple knits but sometimes simple is good.

Have a good week and I should be back on Friday with some FO's.

xxxxDebxxxxx

Yarn Along.........a wedding but not much knitting

Hello my friends, I hope you had a good weekend and if you're in the UK a good Bank Holiday. I went to a beautiful wedding on Sunday, it was my first outdoor wedding and it was perfect, the weather kept nice for them and the bride looked stunning. I will share some photos with you soon but my daughter has took my gadget to load the photos onto my iPad, on holiday with her!!!!! It was the wedding I made the invitations for, you can see them here and they gave me this beautiful bouquet of flowers at the reception.

Here I am all ready to go, my lovely friends trekked the shops of Chester with me, trying to find a little gold jacket but couldn't find what I was looking for but they'll be happy to know I found one at the local shopping centre!!!!

I've had a busy weekend so I didn't get much knitting done and what I did do I can't share just yet as it's a test knit but this is the yarn I'm using. If you want a little clue of what I'm knitting check out this Ravelry Group thread.

I've knit a few rows on my Mini Cable Jumper and now on the front. What I'm reading this week, I've just finished Fresh Doubt by Eva Hudson and haven't decided what to read next, what I have been flicking through is this little book Keep Calm and Cast on. It's a fab little book full of helpful tips and knitting quotes. I'm linking to Yarn Along, WIP Wednesday and Keep Calm, Craft On.

I have been buying yarn this week, I bought some Jamieson & Smith 2ply a 100% Shetland wool, to join in with Melody, who is running a Shwook hat KAL on her Ravelry Group. It is part of Shetland Wool Week that runs from the 4th October-12th October, you can find the free pattern on the website. I had trouble choosing these colours as there were so many gorgeous shades to chose from!!!!

Have a great week.

xxxxDebxxxx