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!!

Baby Hats Off!! POTD

Hey everyone! Happy Thursday, its horrible again and rainy so I think that sunny spell was a bit of a weird spell. Hope we are all doing well out there. Today I am going to do a bit of a POTD because we have been sharing a lot of different patterns in our group on Ravelry and it has been making me grab my needles and cast on.

This little hat was recommended to me because it is so simple, and so easy and has made up the staple of many of my friends project lists. This is Little Boy Blue Ribbed Baby hat, which is actually in my case Little Baby Cream, but is a cute ribbed hat which is great for a new knitter, learning to purl

Here is mine:

It is knit with some of the leftover from my ripple cotton blanket- Stylecraft Special Aran in Cream on 4.5mm needles. This was the last of my non-pink knits so pretty much everything you will see this month will be pink- different shades mind you, but pink.

Have a great day all, I will be spending the rest of my evening here making sure my hair does not resemble Sideshow Bob now it has been cut short again and watching Great British Menu! Oh and finishing off knitting with Sirdar Snowflake- that could be a bigger task than taming the aforementioned hair!!!

YOTD: Wendy Beach Baby

Today's YOTD is Wendy Beach Baby. This is a crinkly looking DK yarn which has been discontinued, but my local yarn shop has absolutely loads in stock- That's Pats in Lordswood for those of you who live in Kent. I am sure that you can find these in odd ball bins, and your LYS. It comes in 100g balls and you get around 240 metres on a ball. It knits to a tension over 10cm of 22sts over 31 rows and is recommended for 4mm needles. It is 98% Acrylic and 2% Polyamide. It is a very soft yarn, and a good knit. I paid £2 for this ball, so really reasonable and really good value for money

It could be considered splitty, but I found it easy to work with, and there were no flaws in the ball at all. I enjoyed working with it. I chose to knit another Paxton, which seems to be my pattern of choice again at the moment. Don't you just love it when you find a pattern that you could just knit forever? I did the same with my pocketbook slippers and I know that both the Puerperium and Paxton have joined this catagory, along with the hospital hat, a pattern I now know off by heart!!!

It comes in traditional baby colours in the plain but I have it in shade 622 Carebear, which is a mix of mint green, baby blue and baby pink. I love it, and its knits up like a little pastel camoflage!! It is lovely and soft and it is cool wash and cool tumble dry as well- which is fantastic for these little baby knits.

YOTD: Rowan Cashsoft DK

Happy Sunday Everyone!! I hope you are all well. It's actually not raining here so thats a bonus. Can you believe a year ago my Mum was getting married? Wow, I cannot believe it has been a year since we were in France and we have had so much happen in the space of just a year. They are off out today to celebrate and I hope they have a lovely day. Happy Anniversary Mum and Dave!!!

Today's YOTD is Rowan Cashsoft DK. It is a beautiful yarn which is a blend of 57% extra fine merino, 33% Acrylic microfibre and 10% cashmere. It is a very soft lovely yarn and knits to a tension over 10cm of 22sts over 30 rows on 4mm needles. It normally retails for £5.75 which is pretty good for a cashmere blend, but I found 2 balls in an odd ball bin (good old John Lewis) for £1.50 per ball, which is in anyone's book a blooming Bargain!!! You get 115m or 126yrds on a ball too so not bad for a 50g ball.

It knits up to a lovely thick fabric. There is one little issue with the plying of the yarn, as in both balls I had there was a couple of bits that were big and fluffy and white!! Which shows really badly!! I had to cut them out and reattach the yarn a couple of times. But actually it is so worth it!!

From the 2 balls I got, I managed to make the Puerperium cardigan above, and the Hospital Hat below, and have about 10g left of the ball too, which will go later into something stripy, so I was really impressed. I enjoyed knitting it, and the yarn is lovely to work with. I would probably buy it again, and I would pay £5.75 a ball for it. It went a long way

It is machine washable too, and you can iron it. It is not tumble dryable, but I would tend to dry hand knits flat anyway so I am happy to ignore that. It is also available in over 20 colours, and in various deep and pastel shades. I have shade 508- Ballad Blue, and it is a lovely colour, and the pictures do show the true colour.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone!!

POTD: Easy-Peasy Baby Bibs

Hi Everyone!!! Happy Thursday!! Sorry there wasn't a post yesterday, but I had a meeting for publicity photographs yesterday morning (that sounds a whole lot more professional than it was I assure you) and then we helped my step-brother and his partner and my baby nephew move home. We worked non-stop and they were all moved in and could actually sit down on the sofa and sleep in their bed so that is a winner in my book! It was a hard days work, but worth it and we are finally even now for my step-brother painting my living room!!

I'm keeping with what would be the pattern for these posts so today will be a POTD, and the YOTD will wait until Sunday. So today's pattern of the day will be Easy-Peasy Baby Bibs. These are perfect for going out, and for using up those leftover bits of cotton. They don't take much yarn to make and only one button, so they are great little stash busters.

I used the Rowan Purelife cotton for these and they have come out really well. I am really pleased with the finished result. For this particular pattern I used 4mm needles and I cast on 35 sts rather than the 25 in the pattern because I wanted them to be a bit wider. If you are using bigger needles and a more aran/worsted weight yarn then stick with the pattern. I also added another buttonhole on the neck strap. So those are my changes to the pattern which made the one above mostly because I was using a thinner cotton than the recommended.

Today I am working on some recycling fabric. I have some fleece pjs that are hardly worn because they are too short in the leg. So I am taking them apart for the fabric and will be using them for fabric for all sorts of things. They will be perfect blanket backs too.
Have a lovely day everyone!!

POTD: Newborn Hospital Hat

Well, Happy Bank Holiday Monday Everyone!!! Hope you are all well. I am prepping for the drawing of the competition tomorrow- remember it finishes at midnight tonight and I'll be publishing the names tomorrow in my blog post from work, so get excited!! Of course, I have had to organise some sort of hat to draw the names from, and if it wasn't knitted then that would just be silly!! That has inspired today's POTD. Now these little baby hats aren't quite big enough to pick the names out, but they are still so blooming cute, and perfect for little ones, and for gifts.

The Hospital Hat pattern uses up all those leftovers from the balls you have used to knit the cardigans. You can knit a matching set for a gift and with minimal effort and yarn. This hat is also so so quick, so emergency knits for mums-to-be are no longer a problem. These also knit up with any DK which can be shown in my picture below!! I've knit them to match most of the little cardigans that I have knit.

As you can see I've made them above in Wendy Bambino, Sirdar Snuggly and in Sublime Baby Silk and Bamboo. They are all roughly the same size on 4mm needles. The silk one is the smallest but it is still about newborn size, and feels like a dream!!

With the Baby Silk and Bamboo and Snuggly I also added the pattern rows from the cardigan I knit so that they would match. It was a perfect fit too for the pattern and I'm really pleased with the end result. I also know that this pattern is a great basic one and therefore you can add whatever pattern you need. I also like this because instead of rib they have a garter stitch band, and this then also matches all the other garter stitch parts of my cardigan.

This hat was knit on 4.5mm needles instead using Wendy Bamboo and this has really made a great hat and slightly bigger than the newborn size, but I've heard that babies do have a habit of growing so that is probably a useful thing!!!

Have a great rest of the bank holiday, and enjoy yourselves all. I'm knitting another little cardigan in a lovely soft cashmere blend- its lovely- so that's what the rest of my day is shaping up like. My mum seems to have decided crochet is the new black so that's what she is up to- makes me want to pick up my hook again and make another blanket- but we will see. The lure of the needles is certainly strong!!

POTD: Puerperium Cardigan

Finally the Sun Shines!!!!! Happy Monday Everyone!!! Hope you are all well, and today because the sun is shining I'm sharing my most favourite pattern for baby clothes, and then we can move on to other things to knit- I promise!! I have knit three of these so far, and I really think there will be another in due course. They are so easy and make the cutest little cardy!!!

Puerperium is designed for little ones, about 8lbs-11lbs. However every time I knit this I get a different size. I have knit it on the recommended 4mm needles twice, one in Mirage DK- a cotton yarn, and in Trentino- an acrylic yarn. The cotton one is bigger because of the yarn, but both are really cute and I guarantee that with 5 siblings between us we are bound to have a little one that will fit each one.

This is the Mirage DK version, with some red buttons from my stash. You use circulars and stitch markers like the other knits and it is so quick and fab. The one below is made from Trentino and again some buttons from my stash.

I've also knit this pattern on 4.5mm needles using pink Bambino, and it has made a bigger cardigan and it is very snuggly too.

I seriously cannot recommend this pattern enough. It is so simple to knit, cute and makes a great little knit for anyone expecting. If you only knit one pattern of all of these baby knits, knit this one.

Come back tomorrow because it will be the start of my competition!!! I have two prizes to win and I am really excited, and I hope you will all come and take a chance at winning!!

YOTD: Robin Picasso DK

Happy Sunday everyone!! This is not so much a happy Sunday as a dark, damp, windy Sunday- Yuck!! I hope you are all warm and dry. I am too, and knitting. Lots. But finally I have finished that blanket so I can share with you this amazing soft fluffy yarn with a lovely colourway.

This yarn is Robin Picasso DK. It is a DK yarn knit on 4mm needles (I didn't- I'll get to that in a minute) and it has a tension of 22 sts over 31 rows over 10cm. The yarn is 100% acrylic and you get a great big 100g for about £2.50 from Wool4less. Bargain. On that ball, you are going to get about 270 metres, so this really is good quality yarn but on a budget. There are some really cute colours too!!!

For this particular colourway, I chose to do a feather and fan blanket. You already know this because I have been moaning about said blanket for days. The swatch above is in that pattern and on 4.5mm needles. It is a thick DK, so knitting it using 4.5mm needles is perfect tension for all those light worsted/aran patterns, and looks brilliant. I would use it as a light aran/worsted weight and on 4.5mm needles for clothes and blankets because the effect is much softer than on 4mm needles.

These pictures are not the best, I know. But because it is miserable outside, my colours are just not right. This particular colourway has a very gentle stripe through purple, orange, yellow and green, but is very light and looks almost white in sunlight. I have also knit this up as a shawl too because I love this colourway so much. But it really does not photograph well!! Here is the shawl below, and you can just about see the gentle stripe in this.

There is only one issue with this yarn. It is great value, it is warm and so so soft and cuddly, and it is all round lovely to knit with. Except the slubs. As you get to the middle of the ball you get slubby bits that really really show up. They aren't small and you can get away with them, they are big and fluffy. I really had to cut them out and reattach the yarn for the lace. There are a few when I was purling, and they have knitted in, but that is my only issue. I have used three of these balls now and each one had the same slubs in the yarn. I do have this in another colour that I haven't used yet so I will update again when I know if there are slubs in this too. I hope not.

Granted, its a bit slubby but I would most definitely buy it again. It is the softest thing, has blocked great, and is of course machine washable so perfect for any knit, and it is a great price for a great yarn. Perfect if you are starting out too, its cheap to play with, but you get a great knitted fabric.

The one above is Marshmallow (I think, although on my ball band I have 2848- and in all the shops the same colour seems to be 2849). I also own Sky (2846) is a mix of white and blues and I presume all of these will stripe like the one above. I have yet to find the perfect pattern for this, but I will recap later once I have knitted it up. There are lots of other colours available and all different stripes, including a very bright orange/purple/yellow number called Refresher and a variety of soft colours too.

I love this, I love the blanket I have knit with it, and I just love the way it has finished. Apart from the slubs. But I can get over them. Knit with this yarn, its yummy, and its a bargain- why not?!
Have a great day all, and stay warm and snuggly, and keep knitting!!!!
(oh and for an exclusive- I've got a great giveaway coming, watch out on Tuesday!)

POTD: Seamless Yoked Baby Cardigan

Happy Thursday! Well it is blooming miserable here that's for sure!! Today was one of those mornings where you get up and check your shed (and rather rickety fence panel) is still there. It is still raining and blowing a gale out there and who would have thought it was nearly May? Oh well, this is most definitely knitting weather, and that has got to be a good thing!!! So what have I been up to? Well at the moment I am knitting a feather and fan blanket I started last year and I figured I better actually get that finished. Doing these YOTDs are definitely making me fish through all the UFOs in my cupboard (no nothing flying, UFO means UnFinished Object).

So here is pattern of the day. I have featured this cardigan pattern on the last couple of YOTD and I have really loved it. It has made a really sweet little cardigan, which is different to the normal basic cardigans with a patterned yoke. The designer, Carol Barenys, has designed a lot of different baby knits including preemie knits, and also has a variety of different designs on her website, Carol's Baby Knits. This particular pattern is for the Seamless Yoked Baby Cardigan. Here are my two versions of the cardigan, minus buttons. I'm still trying to find the perfect ones, so please excuse their clear non-existence!!

This first one is knit using Sirdar Snuggly DK in white. It is a very soft, very cute little cardigan. I don't really have any babies to size this up against, well we do but he was a preemie and his sizing is a little bit misleading!!! The pattern states it is probably a newborn to 3 month size, and the pattern also makes a 3-6 month size.

This is my second one in Sublime Baby Silk and Bamboo DK in Juicy, or a subtle lime green. The pattern is knit on circular needles like all the other raglan increase cardigans I have been featuring and includes a cute little pattern on the yoke, bottom of the cardigan, and around the wrists on the sleeves. The pattern states you can leave the ones of the bottom if you are making for a little boy. The pattern is quite a girly one, but it is really cute that's for sure. It is well written and if you just follow the pattern row by row, which is how it is written, it is really simple.

Have a lovely day everyone, and I do hope your weather is better than ours!!

YOTD: Sublime Baby Silk and Bamboo DK

Happy Wednesday everyone!! Hope you are all doing good today, my post is a bit late because I had to go food shopping and to B&Q (Other DIY stores are available). We needed a new doorbell. By the way, the worst thing in the world might actually be testing out the door bell ringers in the shop. Lets be honest, you want a doorbell that isn't going to cost the earth (some in there were over £100- for a door bell???) and hasn't got a ringer that lasts for a week at about a million decibels. And as much as I did like the idea of being able to upload an MP3 to my doorbell (oh the options) I figured a simple doorbell would suffice. In the shop, you press the little buttons to hear the sounds and everyone looks at you like you might be one of life's special people. I'm over my doorbell fiasco now and back to knitting! Hooray!!

Back to knitting with a very special yarn. Normally quite an expensive yarn and one that I would normally shy away from, but, there I was, stalking the odd ball bin in John Lewis, and there were three balls of Sublime in there. DK? Check. Soft? Oh my yes! Over half price? Well then you are most definitely coming home with me.  OK so what is so special about this yarn. Well it is very soft, and made from 20% Silk and 80% bamboo sourced viscose. (nope, I don't know what that means either, but its soft so its a winner!!). Normally it retails for about £5 a ball, for 95 metres, or 104 yards which is about 50g. Here is a link to MCA Direct where they stock Sublime BSB (no not BackStreet Boys- oh that takes me back!!) and they have free delivery when you spend £10 or more-yay!! Tension here over 10cm is 22 sts over 28 rows on 4mm needles.

This is a lovely soft yarn because of the beautiful fibres, and it makes a lovely fabric. It is heavy, but I think that is something that comes with cottons and bamboos and silks, and also this little cardigan ate up the yarn as I was knitting. I have knit this in around 200m of acrylic but it needed all my 3 balls of Sublime to make this. Still, at £15, this is a lovely little cardigan for special occasions and is machine washable-hooray!! I only paid £2.15 a ball so it was a good price and a lovely finish. It will split if you aren't careful, these types of yarn tend to have a penchant for splitting as you knit, but on my wooden circs, that was reduced a lot.

Would I buy it again? At £5 a ball, probably not, I would need a lot to create a little cardigan and I am not sure it is worth it. If I saw it again in an odd ball bin, I would probably buy it, but there isn't really enough to make much with one ball, maybe a few cute little hats or mitts. I like the yarn, it is beautiful and soft and comes in some beautiful pastel shades that are not too common, and not too babyish.

The colour I've got above is a subtle lime green and called Juicy (273). The yarn also comes in Pillow (267) an off white, Milk Pudding (268) which is almost magnolia cream, Bib (269) a sort of denim baby blue, Ballet Slippers (270) which is a deep baby pink, Goosie (271) a subtle yellow, Tutu (272) a soft baby pink and Dumpling (274) which is not the nicest name but probably nicer than saying Brown, which is what it is.

Sublime also are very good at creating patterns to go with their yarns, and there are 2 pattern books so far to go with these, available at MCA Direct as above or through most stockists. As I am completely addicted to Ravelry, I tend to use the patterns on there, and pick exactly what I'm looking for.

Have a lovely day everyone, and back tomorrow with the pattern for this cardigan, one I have really enjoyed knitting!

POTD: Baby Eyelet Cardigan

Happy Tuesday everyone!! I'm playing nurse today because the Blattman has hurt his knee- doing something silly no doubt, but he is on the sofa with his knee up and an ice pack, moaning and generally feeling sorry for himself. I'm giving him zero sympathy outwardly, but do feel a bit sorry for him- Bless!!

POTD today is the very first Raglan cardigan I knit, and is a great pattern for newbies for Raglan, and circular needles too, and is all knit flat. It has a really cute eyelet pattern, and it is very simple, so great for lace newbies too. It is only 8 pattern repeats too so it is over before you know it, and so very easy. Here is the link for the Baby Eyelet Cardigan. 

Both of these cute little cardigans took one ball of yarn, Peter Pan DK (above in brown) and Peter Pan Sweetheart (below in blue). They are lovely little knits, and also use up one of your leftover cute buttons. The pattern is easy, and worth a go. It is a small one, uses basic increases, and basic lace.

This was the first cardigan I knit all in one go, and I have now knit 16 different cardigans using the raglan increases. I love them and I am hooked completely. I actually turn down patterns that are made up of fronts and back and sleeves. I love doing it all in one go.
Just had a look at the pattern page, and there is now a new link to a crew neck version of this little cardy and I may just have to cast on one of those today- here's the link for the Crew Neck Instructions.

Have a great day everyone, and Happy Knitting!!!

YOTD: Peter Pan DK

Happy Monday everyone!! I'm not sure everyone will be having a Happy Monday, but it'll soon be Tuesday if you aren't. We had a lovely weekend with family and wishing Rachel a very Happy Birthday, but now we are back and it is time for another YOTD. I am running out of YOTD, but I still keep finding yarns that I have used and projects to show you so hopefully I can keep these going a lot longer, but you may find over the next few weeks, there are a few more POTD whilst I get knitting!!!! I am currently knitting with a beautiful yarn that I hope to feature soon but I want to make sure I get it finished.

So today's yarn is another baby yarn, and another of my favourites. Peter Pan DK is a great baby yarn and a good budget yarn too. It comes in 50g balls of 55% Nylon and 45% Acrylic and you get 170 metres, and the cardigan I have knit below took slightly less than one ball, so it makes a great knit. The ball below was a bargain £1 in an odd ball bin at Francis Isles in Rochester, but they are normally around £2.80-£3 per ball, which for a cardigan really isn't bad!! The tension over 10cm is 24 sts over 32 rows.

This yarn is really soft, and perfect for baby knits. It is not as soft as Bambino, or Snuggly, but it is still a great soft yarn for babies, and the colour range is so very good. It comes in 57 different colours which is a massive range, and you can get solid and variegated colours. I absolutely love Coral Surprise, and Aqua Surprise in the variegated so much, so they might be the next ones. Here's the link to Deramores where they show you all the different colours, and they have a sale on so why not?!

It is a washable yarn and tumble driable too so great for little ones and for mums who really don't want to hand wash. I'm not a mum, and I don't want to hand wash, so I imagine a wriggly baby is not exactly conducive to scrubbing away in the sink. So these machine washable baby knits are perfect to give.

It has great stitch definition, and the yarn holds together well, no splits. You get a good finished fabric and it blocks very well with lace and stocking stitch. I enjoyed working with this yarn and I would most definitely buy it again, its a good staple baby yarn with so many different colours.

I've had an idea along with the YOTD and POTD to do some other reviews of some of the books and patterns I have bought over my knitting history and I hope they will be useful. I will be working on these alongside YOTD and POTD to give you all a bit more of an all round knitting thing, we don;t just use online patterns and yarns, but needles and other notions so I'm hoping to cover all sorts. Let me know what you think, and if there is anything you want me to review- I'm all ears!!

POTD: Paxton Cardigan

Happy Sunday Everyone!! We are off up to my In-Laws today to celebrate a birthday, my Sister in Law is 24 on Tuesday so we will be having a nice Roast Dinner to celebrate. Hope you are all going to have a nice relaxing day or if you are at work, then I hope you have a good day too, not too stressful and all that.

Today is another of my new little cardigans, and today's pattern is, unlike most, created for little people as well as newborns. This Paxton Cardigan has an offset front and two buttons. It can be made for preemies, small babies and newborns. Mine I must admit is a bit bigger than newborn, but lets be honest, babies grow so someone is going to wear it.

I really like this cute little cardy, and I've only knit one of these so far. I'm not sure why, but I just havent gone back to this pattern like I have with the eyelet cardys and the Puerperium. I still like it. It is another of the stitch marker jumpers, and makes use of the raglan increases like the hooded cardigans I showed you on Friday. These are great to learn new skills like the raglan increases and using circulars. This is simple too, you can follow the lines on the pattern and it comes out great. I love the fact too you can knit it in three sizes, and it goes down to little babies as well as newborns. You can also knit short sleeves and long sleeves, and it is very customisable. You can make more buttonholes if you want.

This is a perfect cardigan for a new raglan knitter. It is very simple, uses garter and stocking stitches, easy increases and creates a great piece. Give this little one a go, its a rewarding little knit.

POTD: Easy Baby Cardigan

Hi everyone, Happy Friday!!! Hope you are all well. Ultrasound went well and I am all healthy in the Kidney department, so all my family can rest assured that there is always a spare. I was also very shocked to be in and out of the appointment before I was even supposed to be going in- well done NHS! Now if only they could tell that to my GP!!

So POTD today has to be that incredibly cute little baby hoodie that I showed you in yesterday's YOTD post. I am absolutely loving the pattern, and since it is all knit in one go, hood, buttonhole rows, the lot, it is the perfect knit. It is also pretty quick, so a great project for a couple of evenings work.

These cardys need the use of stitch markers. If you haven't used stitch markers before, don't be put off. And don't think just because you haven't got any you need to buy them either. Now, when I first started I used bits of scrap yarn tied in a circle. Now I use ones I got free with a magazine. But I have been known to use whatever is around me at the time, including paper clips. They work remarkably well!!!! Give it a go, and simply follow the instructions. You use stitch markers to mark an area of your work normally where you are going to increase (in this case) or decrease. What you normally do is knit up to the stitch before the marker, increase, slip the marker over to the other needle, and then increase again. They save you from counting every time and just make things easier. Especially when your husband is shouting out numbers just to bug you!!. (yep, the Blattman thinks that's funny)

The other thing that is not necessary but to be honest so much easier for this knit is circular needles. No you are not going to knit in the round, as I see some of you shirk away and say Is she mad?. You just need a bit of movement in your work to help as you increase. Don't be afraid everyone, you knit exactly the same way as you would on straights. Now I have what my Step Dad calls the most expensive knitting needles in the world- they aren't of course but I do work on Knit Pro Rosewoods, so they aren't exactly the cheapest either, but any circs will do. I have free ones from magazines and a pair of Pony ones aren't expensive either.

What happens in this pattern is you start from the hood, then knit down, increasing for the shoulders and then you put the stitches for the sleeves onto stitch holders. These look like great big safety pins, and are again unnecessary too, you can use a bit of old yarn and just put the stitches onto it. Basically it just holds the stitches until you need them again. You knit the rest of the body, cast off, and then put those spare sts back onto the needles and knit the sleeves. Do them flat, its easy, you can and just sew em up later!!

Give it a go. What have you got to lose? Don't be scared, just try it. Its only knitting and purling right? Plus, I'm only a comment away if you need a hand.

YOTD: Wendy Bambino

Hi Everyone, Happy Thursday!! Hope you are all well. Weather still no better here, horrible and rainy but never mind,Am off to the hospital for an ultrasound to check my kidneys are all ok after last months infection today, so I really need a YOTD to cheer me up. I finished up the fourth colour for this one last night, and honestly, I totally have been impatient to share this one with you.

Wendy Bambino is apparently a DK yarn, but it is a bit thicker than your average and I have been knitting it to light worsted/aran weight on 4.5mm needles and it has come out really well, with good tension. This yarn comes in 100g balls, with 290m on, so lots of yarn to play with. It is 85% Acrylic and 15% Tencel, and is seriously soft. The tension on this one over 10cm is 24sts over 32 rows.  I bought this at my LYS, Pats in Lordswood, and paid £2.50 for the plain colours and £2.85 for the print, so along with being seriously soft, its seriously cheap too. I was a numpty earlier, but have now found the yarn online, so here is a link to a website that stocks some of the shades, as unfortunately this yarn has been discontinued. My LYS has lots of stock so check out yours too.

There are plenty of colours available in this yarn, and I have four to share with you, and you can see now why it took me so long to get to this one. This is a very baby blue, and is so very soft. The picture you see below is pre-blocked and with some of my button stash.

This colour has not come out as much as I would love it too, its actually a very pretty baby pink, and quite bright, but obviously the sun has not come out as much as I would like so is giving quite a grey look to it. Ill get some better pics later but you get the idea.

 This is the print colour I have, and it is 2 different shades of purple, and take note, this pattern will be coming very soon because I LOVE it so much, hence the 2 in this pattern. Only issue here is that when it was blocked, the dark purple bits ran, so the front is a varying shade of purple. Doesn't look too bad, but I would have preferred it if it didn't, and it does make me question the mild machine wash on this one.

This again has not photographed as well as I would like. This is actually quite a bright mint green, and is really cute and a lovely colour. This one has been blocked and I love this yarn and this pattern.

Would I buy it again? Oh yes I would, a million times over. I would love it in deeper colours, but I understand it is a baby yarn and most people prefer those baby pastel colours. I don't. Still I do love these baby colours for a few bits, and I love it knitted up. It is machine washable on mild and cool tumble dry too, but I really am not so sure about the colours since I blocked the purple version and the colour ran. I'd give it a go, but not with my whites!!! It is softer than the snuggly from Tuesday, and I love it for the American patterns that are for light worsted on 4.5mm needles rather than the smaller dk ones, because the tension is perfect.

I think that adorable cute hoodie pattern will probably be POTD tomorrow, but Ive got a few up my carefully knitted sleeves so we will see. Have a great day all!!

POTD: Super Simple Baby Tunic

Hi everyone!! Still very rainy, grey and miserable here, I think Spring might have missed this corner of the country this week. Never mind, I am lucky and don't have to go out today so now there is just much more time for knitting!!! And for those of you that may have been worried about the anorak toting scallywags- Bike is still there, so pleased I put the lock on!!

Today's POTD is a cute little dress that I knit a few months ago, and am now considering a cotton version of it too, so hopefully I can share that later. It is knit flat, but there is a version in the round too so whatever you prefer to do you can. Don't be afraid when I say there is a version in the round, this is such a simple little dress, so however new you are to knitting you will definitely be able to knit this one. In fact it would be brilliant for starting out in clothing, 2 pieces, and a few more challenging sections to learn.

So here is the link to the flat version from Rebecca Gunn from her blog and here is the in the round instructions. And here is the picture of my little dress made from the pattern flat.

This little dress is knit on 4mm needles with DK, and I chose Patons Trentino for mine. The other little bonus of this is you get to pick a couple of the cutest buttons you own/forage/buy for this little one. I chose some mother of pearl heart buttons that I got free with Simply Knitting and just suited this one so much. There are so many different ideas for the pattern on the Ravelry Page for it, click on projects, and you can see lots of others for ideas.

The pattern is made up of simple stocking stitch, garter at the bottom, an eyelet row (that I read wrong so I have more eyelets than the pattern says but never mind) and moss stitch at the top. It is very simple and easy to do, minimal sewing up for my version, just the sides of the dress, and it is probably the cutest thing!!!

There won't be a YOTD today because I am working on a new pattern in the final colour of a yarn I want to share with you all so you will have to make do with the POTD, but lets be fair, that is a cute little one. For the next POTD, I think we might start with a new technique to work with. Don't worry, its still so easy, and trust me, when you go Raglan, you really don't want to go back!!!!

YOTD: Sirdar Snuggly DK

One thing I love is the beautiful British Springtime, complete with lovely bright daffodils and cute little lambs. Do you know what else I like? That's right, beautiful British Sarcasm. I have just ventured out to put the lock on my motorbike in a hailstorm, yep hail, thunder, lightening, the lot. I thought about putting it off, thinking that there cannot be any motorcycle thieves who prefer working in the rain and hail, but knowing that, there will be a anorak wearing scalliwag waiting around the corner to nick it.

So I thought I would cheer you and me up with a soft baby yarn available in every colour under the sun (let me know if you actualy see the sun) and a good review too. Yesterdays was a bit down on what I presume are the nice people at Tivoli, so today Sirdar will get a nice review. (I obviously know that all the people at Sirdar are waiting on baited breath for this review!!!!)

Anyway, onto this yarn. I have two colours of this yarn to share with you today and I have had to wait to review it whilst I knitted up the second one. I love to review all the colours I own to get a good sample and you get different batches, different dyes and a better review- hopefully!! Today, I have chosen also to mention MCA Direct as my yarn shop as they have a great selection, and a great shadecard for their yarns so you can have a good look. They also offer free postage on orders over £10. There are so many colours in Sirdar Snuggly DK that if I described them all we'd all be here all week, and frankly that would eat into my knitting time!!!

So let's get on with it! Sirdar Snuggly DK comes in both 50g and 100g balls, but the bigger ones come in fewer colours. The blue came in 50g balls and the cream in 100g.  Ok, on your average 50g ball, you get 175m of a 55% nylon and 45% Acrylic yarn with a tension on 4mm needles over 10cm of 22sts over 28 rows. A 50g ball will set you back around £3, so pretty reasonable for the meterage. I got my little blue cardy from one ball, but it is a newborn size. My 100g ball has 330 meters on and costs around £5.50 so again reasonable money for reasonable amounts of yarn, I still have about 20g left from my ball from knitting the larger cardigan below.

This has to be one of the most beautiful blues I've knit with. I love this yarn, it is probably the softest thing I've knit with so far, it is just fab. It knits up well, and to a regular tension, and I found no problems with the yarn.

It is washable and tumble dryable on cool which is another fantastic thing about this yarn for baby knits, and it does come in a wide variety of colours too. I like both of these that I have used.

It has blocked very well. As you can see by the Evelyn blue cardy above, you can see how Lace has blocked and the picture below is not blocked at all, and I apologise for the lack of buttons. I absolutely love this little pattern, and I finished late last night so the cardy isnt totally finished up, but you get the idea. I can't wait to share this pattern for POTD.

So, at the end of the day, would I buy this again? Oh Yes I would. In fact many of the colours are really calling me. I would completely recommend this as a great baby yarn, at a reasonable price.

I would ask the Blattman about his review, but he is at work, and very happily too because he passed a pretty important exam yesterday and he is really on cloud 9!!! We are really very proud of him in my family, and he really worked hard to achieve this, and it means great things for our future, so all its good in the Blattcave.

POTD: Pattern of the Day! Baby Wrap Cardigan

Hello everyone, now for all of you tuning in for YOTD, its coming I promise! I am at work today, and I only finished the last of the review last night late, so I have yet to take all the pictures. It is coming later today when I get home. Its one of my favourite yarns too so I'm excited to share that one. I know you are all on the edge of your seats!!!!

I am introducing another little OTD sideline today, as I have so enjoyed doing the YOTD, but have discovered that I cannot knit to demand on that one!!!! So I am adding POTD too so I can keep up updating you all daily, but with different things. I have also discovered that in reviewing all these yarns, I am knitting an awful lot of new patterns and experimenting, and I am lacking on giving you the information on the patterns I'm using. I know, rubbish! So I am addressing this balance and adding Pattern of the Day.

Today's pattern of the day is going to be one of my new little favourites. As you can see, I am pretty much loving knitting the baby clothes and have learnt so much about garment construction and raglan seams, and enjoying every minute of it. This first pattern is the first garment I knit and is a little wrap cardigan.

This cardy is knit using DK and 3mm needles for the ribbing at the bottom and 3.75mm needles for the body itself. The original of the pattern was knit in Sirdar Snuggly, hang on for the review, but mine is knit in Patons Trentino in Orion. You are going to need about 250yrds for this one, which is about 230 meters. You are probably going to have no problem getting one of these cardigans from a 100g ball of DK.  

To knit this little cardy, you start at the bottom of each of the sides of the front of the cardy, knitting them each on two needles, then knitting across all the stitches of both sides of the cardy underneath the sleeves. Then you cast on for sleeves and away you go. I apologise if that description has scared you off but please read the pattern, it makes so much more sense than my ramblings!! Now, I am totally allergic to picking up stitches, I hate doing it, and would go via lands end to avoid them. The bonus of this cute little pattern is that all the bands and edging are knit in as you go. Hooray!!

This is a great little starter pattern for garments. The pattern is very easy to read, and comes in PDF form so is really good to work from. There are also lots of pictures to refer to, which is always a winner in my book. It is also completely and utterly free for your own devices.

I really enjoyed knitting this, it uses basic knitting and purling, easy techniques and no buttonholes either for all you beginners. It is a great pattern, and although there are not many other patterns knit in the same way, so you aren't really learning construction, you are going to get a fabulous little cardy in the end. Win!

So haven't knit clothing before? What are you waiting for? Give it a go. As my mum always says, its only knitting and purling!

YOTD: Patons Mirage DK

So yesterday's post went down well, so I am going to continue YOTD and hopefully you will find it useful!!

Today's yarn is Patons Mirage DK. (No, I'm not sponsored by Patons either, just remembered that yesterdays was a Patons yarn too- tomorrows will be different I promise!) Mirage is a 50% Cotton 50% Bamboo Viscose yarn, and knits to DK. You get 120m/131yrds on your 50g ball, and a 50g ball is around £3.90 a ball. I bought this ball in John Lewis at Bluewater, and fortunately found it in the odd ball bin, and found 4 at the end of a dye lot. I paid £1.75 a ball.

Patons Mirage DK comes in 10 different colourways, and each one is a mix of colours. The colourway I have is called Bright Blue Mix (shade 00082) and in the colourway is red, dark blue, light sky blue, white and green. As you knit through the ball more and more colours arise. This is great if you are knitting a one piece item, but for me, I just cannot have sleeves that don't match so I had to roll some off a ball to get the right pattern on the sleeves. Luckily I had spares. You can see the colours best in the cardigan I knit below. It is the Puerperium Cardigan which can be found on Ravelry. 

The yarn could be described as splitty, as it is quite a soft yarn, but it is nice and knits up well, the stitch definition is good. It is machine washable and again dry flat. I still recommend this for all knits, dry them flat, and lay them out, they will thank you and always keep in good shape. I was happy with this yarn, and I was surprised with the number of colours as you go through the ball, and if you have a one ball knit, then this is a great yarn. Due to my inability to have unmatching fronts or sleeves on a cardy or item, the striping was too irregular for my liking. Love the yarn, not sure I'd buy it again.

There are 9 other colours available in this particular yarn, some are very light and delicate colours and some are much more bright. Alongside my blue mix above, there are three other bright mixes. Jamaica (86) is purple, black and yellow and Exotic (80) is blue, pink, yellow and orange. Sea Mix (89) is another of the brighter shades and features many shades of blue, from a navy to a light sky blue. The rest are lighter mixes, much more muted colours. Soft Blue Mix (85) is pretty much as it says on the tin, various shades of light blues and yellows. Soft Pink Mix (83) is light shades of pink, yellow and grey. Purple Mix (84) is light shades of purple, green and blue. Lemon Mix (90) is pink and yellow and again a very light shade. Natural Mix (91) is made up of shades of light browns and greys, and lastly Violet Mix (88) is a mix of light purple, blues and greens. (Again Deramores is a great place to see the swatches for these colours, maybe if I mention them enough they might send me yarn- is that wishful thinking?!?!?!!)

I was very lucky to get to go to John Lewis yesterday too and found more bargains in their odd ball bin. As you probably know, I tend to only knit one or two ball knits, because I get a bit bored!!! This makes an odd ball bin a wonder to me. I will be sharing lots more as I knit them up.

I hope to get a YOTD every day, but because I want to knit them up first to give you all the best idea of how they knit up, the stitch definition and all the colours I own in that particular yarn it might take me more than a day.

Please please let me know if they are useful, or if there are any other things you want me to add to my reviews that would be useful to you