More Baby Knitting

9:19 PM gift , knitting 1 Comments

My hairdresser, who is lovely and I see quite often (I'm cursed with premature grey hair - I'd look older than my mother-in-law if I let it show!) had her first baby a little while ago.


And, in my usual fashion, I knit a baby gift for her that took me a month to actually give.


Though, in my defense, she did have the baby a whole month early!  So, technically the gift wasn't really that late.


So, you want to know the pattern details of course!
The cardigan is Beyond Puerperium by Kelly Brooker; made in NB size; using Vintage Purls Sock in Abilene.  I didn't do the garter borders, but did all over stocking stitch using m1 increases (instead of the kfb) and bordered it with single crochet using left over VP Lace double-stranded.
The booties are Stream Baby Booties by Julia Noskova done in the same yarn to match.


And it's got me all a little nervous about how disorganised I'm am in preparation for our little one arriving - what if s/he decides to be early also?!  I don't even have clothes to bring him/her home in!

Opps, I Knit too Much!

11:47 PM knitting , My Designs 2 Comments

So, in the excitement of knitting out all my goodies in my Magic Yarn Ball, I didn't really pay enough attention* to how long my vest was getting and started the pockets too far down.


So now I have to frog it all the way back to 6cm above the pockets and do them all over again!

But I should look on the bright side - it'll give me a chance to get better photos of the pocket construction so I can include a tutorial for it in the pattern (I did take some, but they turned out really blurry).  And I'm thinking I might make the pockets a bit wider too.

Joining in with the crafty makings over here.




*It was actually an error in my measuring rather than a 'just kept knitting' mistake - I measured from the underarm instead of from the back neck!

More Goodies for Me!

12:15 AM knitting , swaps 0 Comments

Remember my MYB swap?

I've been really good and knit out my goodies rather than just unwinding the yarn to see what I got.

And here's what I got:

• Three very cool Ravelry stickers
• A tube of yummy smelling hand creme
• An envirosax bag
• A set of six kiwi buttons to match the yarn
• A set of six 'Owl and the Pussycat' buttons from The Bird and the Fish (in case bubs is a girl)
• A set of six spaceman-themed buttons from Buttons by Robin (in case bubs is a boy)
• A set of ten stitch markers from Velvet Hippo
• A gift pattern of my choice from Ravelry (I chose the wee Austin Hoodie pattern)

And just to prove I did actually knit it all out:


That's my in-progress Billy vest for the baby.

I'm loving the yarn - it's from Little Plum Yarns in 'Mocha' on Superwash Merino DK.  I definitely think I will be wanting to purchase more in future - this yarn is so soft!

Breaking a Record

9:45 PM knitting 1 Comments

I'm sure it must be breaking a record, for me anyway that's for sure!

I cast off a size 10yrs cardigan test knit last night.  Then I actually sewed in all the ends and blocked it straight away!  (That's the first record - sewing in ends and blocking immediately.)


Then the BigMiss got to wear it to mufti day at school, after I'd taken quick 5-mins-before-having-to-leave-the-house photos of her modelling it.  I uploaded the photos to my Ravelry project page and the testing forum.  (That's the second record - updating my project page on the same day of finishing.)


And now here I am, telling you all about it on the very same day also!! (Amazing, I know!)


So, you want the details, right?

The pattern is the soon-to-be-released Suzanne by the infamous Tikki (aka Georgie Hallam) and is the third in the sister pattern series which currently includes Jane and Elizabeth (check out the next one ready for testing, Anne).

The yarn is Unicorn Tail from the Red Riding Hood Yarn's Winter Yarn Club 2011 - I managed to score a second skein from a de-stash on Ravelry.  And, even though I did need that second skein, this cardigan is very light on the yarn - this size 10yrs used 270g before I lengthened the sleeves (madam decided that 3/4 sleeves were not for her, thank you very much!)  I've yet to weigh it to get the final usage with the full length sleeves, but 270g equates to approx 690yds/630m of 8ply/DK yarn!

It was such a fun pattern to knit.  You start with the sleeves and then pick up and work the body down.  And the cute daisy stitch she used as the borders is a perfect dress-it-up feature also.

And did I mention, it only took me just over two weeks from start to finish?  Surely that must be record number four!  (I think it was helped by the weekend away that consisted of lots knitting while driving and sitting yakking when visiting.)

Oh, Goody! Presents for Me!

6:23 PM Nattering 4 Comments

Did you know it's my birthday today?

So far I've been nicely spoiled and thought I'd quickly show everyone some of the gifts I got before I head off to work.

The first one came last week:


A set of seagrass chairs to go in front of the fire.


Even though I had a hand in the purchasing decision, we're calling them my present as I was greatly in need of somewhere comfortable to sit.  My current getting-rounder condition means that the second-hand-when-we-got-it-ten-years-ago, very low couch is terrible to sit in and hard to get out of!  And they pass the knitting test (i.e. I can comfortably knit in them!)

From J and the girls I got some more useful presents, the best ones being the mortar and pestle and this really cool clock:


It's been well loved in the ten years we've had it and was greatly in need of replacement.

MYB Swap

6:26 PM swaps 0 Comments

Now you might be asking "What's a MYB Swap?"

It's a Magic Yarn Ball Swap.

A special kind of swap where special goodies are hidden inside a ball of yarn.  This means that you have to actually knit the yarn to get the goodies!

A group I belong to on Ravelry was having one and I was so excited to join in as it was my first ever swap of any kind!  (I was never a regular enough member/talker on the other forum they were usually run through to participate.)

So, basically we were given a list of questions to answer about our yarn preferences and our hobbies, likes, dislikes (to help our partner choose goodies to be included) and things like that.  Then we were assigned a secret partner who we had to find yarn and goodies for.  That's when the fun begins!

I had loads of fun finding just the right yarn and going shopping for little goodies (could be food, crafting or general related stuff) to wrap up in the yarn.

And then, when my yarn ball was almost ready to post off to my partner, the one for me arrived!


It is so gorgeous!  Super soft and squishy yarn from Little Plum Yarn called Mocha.  And the poking-out goodies are really tempting me to get knitting with it straight away to see what I've got!


J suggested I make a Billy vest for the bubs out of it so that's what it'll be I think, though probably sized for next winter to get the most use out of it.

I'll post a photo of the yarn ball I sent when I hear it arrives, though silly me forgot to take photos of the goodies I put inside before winding the yarn around it all!

A Spot of Gifting

4:03 AM Creative Space , Crochet , gift , knitting 1 Comments

I love to give handmade gifts but tend to be a little slow on the actual gifting side.

Take my sister's socks for example.  They were intended as a Christmas present but never got finished until June!

Or my Mum's socks.  These were intended for a birthday present - her birthday is in October and I finished them in May!

Or, more recently, the NB size top I made my latest nephew.  I never got around to sending it in the post before we saw them over New Year's (he was born in October) and forgot to bring it with us as I'd intended.  Though, when I saw him I could tell I was already too late and he was no longer NB size!

Now, socks for adults don't matter if they're gifted a little late - they should still fit - but clothing for babies have deadlines.  As in, you have to gift them before they out-grow them!

So, what do you do when you're too late to gift baby clothes?


Make it again in a bigger size!

It actually worked out more sensible as my nephew would've been fitting the warm woollen top I made in Spring/Summer but this one should last him through Winter.

I used the exact same pattern (Puerperium, but used the full version - Beyond Puerperium) and exact same yarn (Vintage Purls Sock in Chaff with random choc-brown from stash), but made it the 6-12mth size and used a giraffe pattern for the border instead of the elephants.


(And in case you're wondering what happened to the original NB size - I gifted it to a friend's new baby boy and it's getting good use!)


The next gift I made I was a little more organized.

I wanted to make something quick for my sister's birthday but had no idea what.  Then, when shopping with Mum, I saw the perfect tea-for-one cup - complete with a tea leaf strainer and lid - and thought it was exactly her.

But, as tradition is starting to dictate, I needed a yarny gift to go with it.


So I whipped up a quick cup cosy.  And to make it extra special, I used the last of the wool (Vintage Purls Sock in Noel) that I knit her socks in.


Actually, it wasn't that quick as I changed my mind on the pattern twice before I decided to crochet this one.  But I was very happy with it and so was my sister!

And the best thing about it?  I managed to have it arrive ON her birthday!

What sort of crafty gifting do you like to do?  And, unlike me, do you actually manage to gift it on time?

Joining in over here with My Creative Space - it's been a while for me!




Click on the pictures to go to my Ravelry project page if you're interested!