One down......

I finished the bag......at last!
Only I'm not so sure I like it now it's done.
Oh well at least it's off my list of things to finish.

Spring makes.

A sequinned egg for the season table.
Sparkly and pretty and catches the light at every angle. A distraction from all the knitting and sewing I have lined up. But an easy make for a quick craft fix after a long night in work. My poor fingers are suffering now though with all that picking and poking and pushing of pins.

Works in progress.....

Be warned, there are a few!
So to spur myself on into making them I thought I'd list them here.

Number one - a knitted bag from a pattern in simply knitting magazine. Different yarn to the one used in the pattern but this one is so much nicer I think. I really like the way the colours have created stripes and especially how the stripe changes match with the bobbles so each bobble is different. And all by chance. Started - 4 weeks ago. Reason it's hanging around - I had to teach myself to crochet after I realised the finished edging is in double crochet as are the bobbles on the strap! So a crash course in crochet has ensued.


Number 2 - More cabled 2 needle socks for dearest husband. Read further down the blog and you will find a blue pair I knitted not long ago. The pattern needed a few amendments but once it was sorted out I was very pleased with the finished result......apart from one thing, they were pretty BIG socks! So this pair I have gone down a needle size and hope this makes for a better fit for the wearer. Not that the original pair went to waste, my 16 year old daughter has claimed them for bedsocks. Started - last week. Reason they are hanging around - spring season swaps to craft. GP forum members know what I mean ;-)


Number 3 - The latch hook rug. Quite enjoying this. Its very therapeutic as the making is so simple and can be done whilst listening to music, watching the boys play, chatting with olders and so on. Well so can knitting really but this demands a lesser degree of concentration I think. Also the mathematical approach appeals to me, read the chart, transfer the information, make the stitch. Simple. Quite looking forward to having it done though so that I can create the rug I have in my minds eye next. Started - 3 days ago. Reason it's hanging around - well actually it's not, this is the WIP I keep turning to when I sit down.


Number 4 - a stripey top for the new bump. Lovely soft bamboo cotton and easy to make. Started - 10 weeks ago! Reason it's hanging around - maybe because theres no urgency, babe has another 14 weeks ish before she needs clothes. Or maybe the weaving in of the loose strands is putting me off, there are lots of them with this stripe pattern.


Number 5 - patchwork blanket for baby. This is knitted with lots of balls of Sirdar click which were sold as lot ends in the local wool shop for £1 per ball. Too good to resist. It's a "make it up as you go" kind of project so not sure how it will end up. I am getting three squares from each 50g ball and have three balls each of the three colours knitted up already, so I should get 27 squares altogether. I have 4 balls of the final colour, shown unknitted, so will use that for edging and possibly a thin border to join all the squares, although I'm not sure yet. Started - around 4 weeks ago. Reason it's still hanging around - because I take this to work with me and so manage only a square or two on each shift, and I only work two nights a work.


Number 6 - another baby knit. Absolutely gorgeous wool from Mirasol, my favourite yarn brand. Hand dyed merino with an amazing colours. I think this will be a little hoodie but not quite sure yet. Started - 14 weeks ago. Reason it's hanging around - I forgot about it until I found it at the bottom of my yarn drawers yesterday!
I think that's it for now. Although I do have a considerable list of planned makes which I won't bore you with just now ;-)

Boot sale bargains.

I keep meaning to make myself a knitting bag but have never got round to it. So this bag, top left, was a definite bargain at the car boot sale on Sunday. After all it would have cost more than the £1 I gave just to buy the materials.
And the other bargain, a rug making kit. Years ago I used to babsit for a lady who made latch hook rugs freehand and I thought she was soooo clever. Been meaning to get hold of one for years but always put it off in favour of other wants, books, wools, etc. So again when I saw this complete kit for sale for only £2 I couldn't resist. Not really my choice of design but for a first time project I couldn't grumble for that price. And it will make a nice rug for baby when she arrives.


Only thing now is finding even more time to do these things ;-)

The cable socks.

So the pattern is sorted. After I realied that line 2 is actually line 10 and vice versa, and the heel shaping needed a few tweaks to make the pattern make sense, this is what I ended up with. Quite nice don't you think? They feel lovely and warm and so dear husband should be pleased. The wool is 100% merino, I think James Brett, but as it is left over from another project I can't quite recall. Maybe if I was to use the pattern again I would try a wool with a little more elasticity, this sock has a very broad foot so not sure how it will fit? Well anyway, one is done so will start the other later and see what happens. Esy pattern once the mistakes were rectified though, and very quick and easy to knit up, a couple of hours for this sock and should be quicker for it's partner now I know what I'm doing. So anyone wants the pattern, you know what to do ;-)

Simply knitting is simply........

..annoying me at the moment!
Ok I tried a pattern for a pair of baby shoes a few weeks ago. Followed it exactly, even though at one stage I began to think "mmm this doesn't look quite right?" but I carried on. Then it came to the making up and there was no way it was ever going to look like the picture, or even like a baby shoe at all, not unless baby comes with an extra pice of foot growing out to the side! But hey ho, one mistake is not so bad and the magazine itself is great.
Then two weeks ago I started on a lovely bag pattern that was featured in the February issue. It became apparent within the first three rows that there was a mistake in the pattern. The pattern asks to cast on 82 sts and then has a herringbone type pattern worked over this number of sts all the way through. Only problem is every other row is written to work over 84sts! Fairly simple to rectify though and I am over half way through but I would have stressed over it a fair bit if I had been a more intermediate knitter.
And now my third knit from the magazine is a pair of socks from issue 47, the November issue. Started this evening and already it's driving me nuts! It's for a pair of cable knit socks worked in DK over two needles only and I thought they would knit up quickly and be a nice surprise for dear husband. Well yes, I was right, they do knit up quickly, unfortunately my time is taken up more by adapting the pattern so that it actually makes sense!
So thats three attempted patterns and all three with faults. Wondering whether subscribing was such a great idea after all?

Knitted slippers.

Owen complained yesterday that his slippers have nails in them? So as I am pretty much housebound at the moment we needed to find an alternative........and here it is:




Knitted very quickly, in around about an hour, from aran weight wool with a white chunky yarn used to create bobbles and a double crochet edging. The pattern is really simple and suitable for even a first time knitter. It comes from "All year round", one of our favourite books for makes.
Now to make another pair for Cain who has also taken a liking to them.