Tuesday 29 October 2013

What I have been knitting

Hello All!! Greetings from the land of dribble and cbeebies. There has been a little knitting thrown in for good measure (or should I say my sanity!!) As you can imagine, in my blog break, I knit a lot of things that I haven't shared with you all. So I thought you would like to see some of my projects and some knitting notes too if you fancy having a go yourselves.

I have been making a few toys recently. Having a little girl now makes me want to knit dolls for her, and lots of lovely things, so that is pretty much what I have been up to, and I will be showing more of my projects over the next few days. I am going to start with my Cinderella Topsy-Turvy Doll, pattern by Jean Greenhowe. As soon as I saw this pattern, and some of the projects others had knit, I knew that I wanted to knit it, and I really didn't have any excuse when I found out about Little Bear


So here is Cinderella, in her glory with her fan and pretty dress. I used James C Brett Twinkle for the white, as I wanted it to have more of a sparkle for her princess dress. I also used a sparkly pink (whose name escapes me, I'll check and get back to you) Robin DK in blue, and Stylecraft Life for the green on the flowers and the yellow for the hair. Here is Cinders, who appears when you lift the skirt of Cinderella over her head.


This was made with oddments of mostly Stylecraft Life DK and Robin DK, things that I have floating around. I am determined to stash bust, and use colours that might not be exactly right, but I have to save buying a full ball for just a few rows.

I love this pattern, always have, and now I love the finished article too. I now have to wait until she is big enough to play with it rather than eat it!!

Friday 18 October 2013

Hat of the Month- October

When you have a baby, it seems necessary to dress them in ridiculous outfits and hats because they are still small enough to allow you without moaning. My little pumpkin is no different. Knitters and crocheters seem to have the knack too of creating fabulous things you can't get on the high street. My friend has a brilliant boob hat for her breastfed daughter. I have a lovely berry hat knitted by a Rav friend. But it is October, month of autumn and of course Halloween. So it seemed right, if not necessary to create a pumpkin.



So here it is, with customary swirly leaf on top. It is such a cute little hat, and very easy to knit. It comes from the pattern, Pumpkin Hat by Jill Albert Allen, and I have knit it flat rather than the round it suggests, and I also used a rib pattern to make mine a bit more pumpkin-y (oh I do love to create a word- so glad I am back!!) The rib has also helped it to fit better, as my pumpkin seems to have a larger head than anticipated. Luckily I can get away with her wearing it for october because I am not sure it will fit for Halloween. Although she does look cute in it.


I used a basic acrylic for this pattern, I believe it was Robin DK, but the ball band is probably residing in the same place as my memory- if anyone finds it let me know. I tend to use the cheap acrylic for these patterns (shoot me!) simply because she will not wear it forever, I can shove it in the wash when it gets dribble, biscuit or any other baby stains on it, and I can afford it. She has so many lovely knits thanks to the odd ball bin at John Lewis, but most of the time it is baby acrylics and there is nothing wrong with that. I enjoyed knitting this one, the pattern was so simple and easy, and she has worn it pretty much every day since I finished it...except for the time I left it in the library!!!

She loves it, and keeps it on pretty much all the time, although she wouldn't want you all to think that...

Finally!! Im back!!

Hello all my lovely readers!! Man has it been a long time since I last blogged. And the reason for this epic absence...
 
 This little monkey is my daughter, born in March this year, and when I was pregnant and through the early part of her life, blogging took second place to firstly sleeping and then swiftly followed by not sleeping!!! I had some Post Natal Depression too which I am undergoing treatment for and I now feel almost back to normal, and that includes going back to my other great love, Knitting. And I even have a model now for all my fab baby knits. So everyone is a winner!!!
My little bear is now nearly 8 months old (erm where did that time go? she will be at University next week!!) and crawling and causing all sorts of trouble, and I am really enjoying knitting for her. My next post will be about her hat of the month so keep your pointers poised.
Thankyou all for continuing to use my patterns and read my blog. I hope there will be many more to come, and I am glad to be back!!