Happy 2nd Anniversary!!

Hi All!! Well tomorrow, 26th August is the Blatman and I's 2nd wedding anniversary. We got married at the Little Silver Hotel in Tenterden and we had such a wonderful memorable day, one of the best days of my life. I am so happy to be celebrating our anniversary and being married to such a wonderful man. So this is a post to thank him, just for being him, oh and to show you some of our wedding pictures too!

Nunchuks Away!! New Pattern

So what do you knit as a christmas present for a man who owns an armoury?

Nunchuks. Obviously.

So if you have a wannabe Ninja in your ranks, or maybe someone who needs nunchuk practise and is fed up of the bruises, knit a pair. They are so quick, takes about three hours and you are ready for anything!!!

You will need: 5mm needles (2 straight and 2dpns)

                       Black Chunky/bulky yarn

                       2 colours of grey DK wool, or one grey chunky

                       Tapestry needle

                       Stuffing

There isnt really a gauge for these, just make sure your needles are about 2 sizes too small for the yarn you are using. This is to create a tight fabric so you cant see the stuffing through the knitting.

Abbreviations

sts- stitches

K- knit

P- Purl

kfb- knit in the front and the back of the stitch, a form of increase

st st- stocking stitch (knit a row, purl a row)

k2tog- knit two stitches together

DPN- double pointed needles, in this pattern used for I cord

Nunchuks

Using 5mm needles, Cast on 4 sts

Row 1: kfb in all stitches (8 sts)

Row 2: Purl

Row 3: Kfb in all stitches (16 sts)

St st for 7-8 inches, ending after a P row. Here is where you can add length or shorten your nunchuks depending on the size of your ninja.

Change to grey (i used 2 strands of DK held together- if you have chunky/bulky use one strand)

Next Row: K

Next Row: K

St St for 6 rows

Next Row: K2tog across row (8 sts)

Next Row: P

Next Row: K2tog across row (4 sts)

Put these stitches onto a DPN

I cord for three inches

Cast off the 4 sts.

Sew the i cord into a loop at the top of the nunchuk. Sew up the side seam of the nunchuk and then stuff. Close and you have one half of your nunchuk. Make one more.

Chain Loops (make 3)

Cast on 4 sts using DPNs

I cord for 4 inches

Cast off.

Thread through the loop and sew together. Complete all three and link together as shown in the picture.

Then hide your valuables!!!

Hope you enjoy. I have knitted this up, but it has not been tested, let me know if there are any problems.

I LOVE charity shops

Ok so I have had a tough week. The worst drs appointment ever, getting my house keys locked on my motorbike and my motorbike keys locked in the house, a data protection breach and the second week of Lactose Intolerance. Not me, but the Blattman, who we knew was intolerant before, just not to Lactose!!!
Today I decided to treat myself to a morning of cheap shopping, by which I mean Chatham. Chatham is not the nicest place on earth to go to, but it has a lot of pound shops and charity shops. So i was strolling up the high street, go into a charity shop to have a look for vintage knitting patterns as I always do, lean down to search through a basket of old magazines and what should I find??

Oh yes, the out of print Jean Greenhowe knitted toys from 1997, for the princely sum of £2. I immediately text my granny who would appreciate the excitement of finding a pretty much brand new copy of this book, paid my money and walked away with a big smile on my face!
Add to that a happy Blattman due to the fact I have just made Lactose free cakes and one little chef penguin hot off the needles, and I have had a good day

Hats Off!!

Its not exactly summery here, there is a bit of blue sky lurking, and frankly we are all just pleased it is not raining. So instead of thinking about the beach bags and soft cotton I should be knitting with during the summer months, I am in fact looking forward to and knitting the wonderful warm chunky knits of winter. My favourite thing about winter is being able to grab my scarf bag from the cupboard and accessorise in a variety of lovely big bulky scarves in every colour under my black coat. This year, Ive decided, although easy and lovely to knit, I have so many, and can only give so many as presents. So its time to make hats. There are other great patterns available of course for winter, fingerless gloves being last years christmas present staple, but hats are calling to me this year.

I have a brand new short haircut for the summer, which I think I will keep for winter, so I have chosen berets. Ive just knit a fab one by Hannah, over at White Girl Knits, called Leeannes Eyelet Beret although mine is knit in King Jarol white cotton, so I can wear it here in the chillier autumn. The picture below is from Hannah's website, my picture will follow up when I wear it.

There are so many fab patterns for berets this year, from chunky berets in cable to slouchy eyelet ones like the one above, which is warm and soft. Ill keep you all posted on how christmas and my winter wardrobe knits up!! 

Shawl we dance?

Here in the Blattcave, as I am sure you can see, we like to get ahead on our christmas knitting. I am also stash busting, so what can you do with all those odd balls left over from projects and those that were just too much of a bargain to miss out on? Well if you are here, you make shawls/shrugs/scarves with them. With the help of Ravelry of course this is so blooming easy. I have now knit 8 of them, and the mass shawl-a-thon doesnt seem to be stopping any time soon!  So here we go, ill show you what Ive been working on, with the pattern links so you can shawl along with me!!! Here are 6 of the 8, as the shrug im knitting Falling Leaves, still needs to be sewn up and the last Gedifra Samina Impossibly big needs casting off.

Number 1: Lace Triangle Scarf- knit in Tivoli Ocean I got on holiday in Shropshire in February in colour number 164 (i think) Beautiful wool yarn and so so pretty colourway

Number 2: Snap Knit in another yarn I bought in Shropshire. It is white, and has glitter running through it. It is called Pearl. Looks fab now I have blocked it

Number 3: A Chinook Scarf, knit in a yarn I bought in Wilkinsons for £1 a ball. (this is a normal line not on offer and so good to knit with) I think it is called Stripes. The pattern is amazing, the straight edge is an I-cord knit into the pattern and then the other side is a lovely lace edge. loved this pattern so much!!

Number 4: This is a Lacy Baktus, made in Sirdar Juicy in orange (which was on sale in Hobbycraft-this particular yarn was a leftover from my mum when she made a top). this is a great pattern if you have a couple of balls of yarn because you increase for one ball then decrease for the second which makes sure you use up all those old balls but also creates a fab scarf/shawl

These last two are called impossible large, impossibly easy- and i promise this is exactly right. Although the pattern calls for 10mm needles, I chose 7mm circulars (and my first time on circulars and Im converted) and created these amazing shawls. So good and so pretty, and im about to finish my third of these and probably cast on the fourth!!
This blue one is made from some yarn from the Roof, ie my grannys loft. It is a beautiful wool with a gold thread running through which makes it shine.

This white one is made from Picasso. As you can see it is white, but actually has shades of colour in the stripes. It is so pretty and so soft, which probably comes down to the fact that it is baby wool. I love it so so much and it reminds me of a pretty crystal rainbow.

So thats what Ive been up to!!!