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!!

YOTD: Patons Smoothie DK

Happy Sunday Everyone!! Hope you are all well today, its gone back to blooming miserable here, its horrible and cold and rainy. Yesterday was not a good knitting day. I began the cutest little pattern for a pair of booties, but then when I had finished one, it was the worst looking thing I have ever seen in all my life. I actually used the word Horrendous. Twice. Still I might try another new pattern today, maybe.

Today is YOTD again!! Yay!! I actually really enjoy Yarn of the Day, I love planning knits and knitting up little cardigans and hats and testing out yarn. Well that is normally anyway, because this yarn truly tested this love.Patons Smoothie DK is a 100% Acrylic yarn and is incredibly soft and smooth. It comes in 100g balls and you get a whole 200 metres on a ball and for around £3.29 it is pretty good value. It is also available in so many different colours. It is surprising to get such a soft and smooth acrylic yarn, acrylic is normally known as the cheap fuzzy rubbish, but this truly shows acrylic isn't all bad. It is machine washable and knits up as DK on 4mm needles. The tension over 10cm is 22sts over 30 rows.

I was totally taken in by its softness, the fact that it is easy to care for, and the cute colours available. I love the variegated styles, and I love the finished fabric. It is soft, thick and warm. But I completely hate this yarn with a vengeance. It is terrible to knit with, it is so splitty even on wooden needles, and despite its soft exterior it is so very fluffy. It felt like 20% was fluffing on the surface and ending up in the bin. Whilst I was knitting, I was cursing and hating on this yarn so much but now it is done I love the finished product.

I have a few different colours in my stash, having been donated to me by my granny who thought it would be nice for crochet blankets but it is not good for crochet for her. So I've got it. But there is no way in a million years I will buy it again. I do not want to waste the stash and I totally love the finished fabric and the Paxton I've knit in it, so I am sure I will use it and curse and throw and moan my way through it. Plus it is easy to care for. I am totally in a love/hate relationship with this yarn- I love the finish- hate the yarn. Lucky I only knit one-ball-knits right?!?!

There are so many colours available in this yarn, 12 solid colours and 6 varigated. They are all available on Deramores, and above I have the Red Mix (2018), which as you can see isn't that red, more of a mix through red, purple, orange, pink and grey. I also own Multi Mix (2020) and Blue Mix (2102).

Have a lovely relaxing Sunday, and I hope you are all having a lovely Bank Holiday Weekend, despite the horrible weather!!

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.

YOTD: Hayfield Bonus

Happy Saturday everyone!! Hope you are all either relaxing at home, or working and its a good day full of happy people who don't ask silly questions or moan. Can you tell I work in retail?

I am knitting my little fingers to the bone to get the YOTD up, but  sometimes you just cannot knit quick enough. I am working on it, I promise, with a beautiful silk and bamboo yarn which I am loving, but it will take time. Perfection takes time. So for these next few YOTD I am going to focus on some of my toy yarns that I love to work with, and find really easily in most yarn shops, and is really quite cheap. I don't mind spending money on more expensive yarns but for toys, the cheap acrylic is so perfect, and available in every single colour under the sun. But keep reading even if you don't knit toys. I use it for other things too.

The first of these yarns is Hayfield Bonus. I am using Deramores again as a yarn shop, but they really do show a great amount of the colours, in good swatches, so you can really see what colours you can get. They are also a good price. Bonus comes in 100g balls, which really is plenty when you talk about toys, as you get 280m on there. It knits up on 4mm needles for the tension, but normally when you knit toys, you go down a few sizes of needles to get a thick tension so the stuffing doesn't show through. Normally this yarn is about £2 a ball, but at Deramores currently they are £1.69 a ball.

Here are just a few of the toys that I have knit with a variety of yarns, including Hayfield Bonus. It is a great yarn to work with, easy to knit with and the stitch definition is very good. You get a really nice finish with it. It is also washable, but of course with toys, you would probably only want to make it surface washable, but with these yarns, you know it is going to be safe. It also doesn't fluff so it is pretty safe for little ones.

Not everyone knits toys. I know that. And I have used this yarn for other projects too and they have been really successful. I like to use the cheaper acrylic for the projects that I want to wash a lot, or is going to be used a lot. For example, this tea cosy and teapot stand. This is a stranded tea cosy and a mitred pot stand that I made for a present for my granny, who actually won't use it, despite the fact it is knit in washable acrylic. She uses it on display in the kitchen, over her display teapot.

Toy knitting does really need cheaper yarn. Don't be a yarn snob. You don't need the expensive cottons and silks for these. The cheap acrylic is perfect, mostly because on some yarn you will only need a very small amount. You can buy smaller 25g balls in some brands and I will be showing these soon, along with a specific post about skin tones, as that can be a difficult thing to find.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, we are off tomorrow to celebrate my Sister In Law's birthday with family, and I apparently need to go make a pineapple upside down cake for the Blattman. And a Swiss Roll. Knitting might be on the back burner for a little more!!!

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: Tivoli Pearl DK

Hi everyone!! Bit later today, because me and the Blattman have been out and about. Today is a actually a yarn I used last year and bought when we went to Shropshire for my birthday last year, (when I was all young!!) I thought it was time for a bit of glitter frankly, there is not enough of it on this blog yet!!

Tivoli Pearl DK is a glitter yarn and is made from 95% acrylic and 5% wool and has a lurex glitter strand running through it. These come is fab big 100g balls and you get 300 metres. A ball costs around £3.85 too so you get a lot of yarn for your money. Tension over 10cm is 22sts over 30 rows on 4mm needles. It is machine washable and tumble dryable on cool too, so a great yarn for anything really.

Now my swatch is on slightly bigger needles than it says because I was making a shawl, so the tension square above is bigger, and creates a slightly looser fabric. I have made some toys with the yarn left over and the tension has been fine. Because of the way the yarn is made, with a twist in the spinning, it creates more of a slubby yarn effect, which I am not a fan of really, but for shawls its fine. I dont think I would use it for clothes really, but my christmas angels liked it and the shawl looks great.
On most of the websites I've read, they describe it as a soft baby wool. I would not want to be the baby wearing this. It is so very very itchy. The lurex is not soft, its really quite scratchy when you are knitting it, and if you are in contact with it for a lot. It has got no softer with blocking.

Now for the question- would I buy it again? No, I wouldnt, unless I needed knitting for toys. I dont mind scratchy yarns for toys so much, because a lot of the toys I knit arent for holding, like the nativity. There are much nicer yarns out there for glitter and softness, like Rowan Romance.

I am using the white glitter (160) and there are 5 pale colours in the original line up of Pearl, and now another 4 deeper shades have been released too. The others include pale baby yellow (161), baby pink (162), Baby blue (163) and lilac (164) in the pale shades, and Purple (165), Navy (166), Black (167) and Bright Red (168). Today's website of choice is the fantastically named Togs and Toggles!! I liked the name, and they have a lot of good information about each of the yarns and some new yarns I havent seen so they are worth a look at.

And Finally, as always, the last word from the Blattman: Scratchy.

YOTD: Sirdar Summer Stripes

So todays YOTD is Sirdar Summer Stripes. This yarn was released last year and is a 60% cotton 40% acrylic number which knits up in DK, tension over 10cm is 22sts by 28 rows . It hopefully then should make good knitting for summer this year too. Here are the facts, then Ill get down to some actual reviewing. You get 158m on a 50g ball of this yarn, which is pretty good meterage and it costs normally around £3.50 a ball, but todays shop of choice is Black Sheep Wool and they have it on offer for £2.99 a ball. (On a side note, Ive ordered from BSW before, they are fantastic, great customer service and very quick delivery.)

The yarn is another self striping yarn, and the colours are muted and more washed out than others, they look like they might have been washed a few times first. There are a few of my stitches without colour at all. The colours are quite pretty, and the cardy knit below was from one ball. This yarn is a bit hard but it is very easy to knit with. It doesnt split like the normal cotton yarns that I have been testing and I enjoyed knitting with it. The stitch definition is good and creates a nice knitted fabric. I blocked the cardy, and it didnt get any softer, but the colours didnt run so I was impressed. It is not like a normal cotton yarn, it holds together well and isnt heavy. I like it. I am not a fan of self stripers- im way too fussy about matching for that, but this is probably one of the best. I did enjoy it for this pattern where I didnt have to worry about matching anything up, and I enjoyed seeing the ball unravel and the colours reveal themselves. This yarn is also machine washable! Hooray for machine washable yarns! So would I buy this one again? Actually for a one ball knit, yes I would.

Again, I only have one colour today in this yarn, but this colour Tequila Sunrise (310) is one of 9 created by Sirdar. Calypso (317) is a stripy mix of reds, yellows, blues and pinks. Tropicana (316) is more blue and green but still has the pinks, yellow and white. Sombrero (315) is orange, blue, yellow, green and a number of other smaller stripes of colour too. Margarita (314) is pink primarily mixed with an aqua green and a lighter green. This colour is probably my favourite of the lot, but I am quite a pink girl. Oasis (312) is very lilac and blue. Some of these colours have so many different coloured stripes, but Oasis is much more bluey purple, like denim really. Pina Colada (311) is more beige and green, which a few yellow and purple stripes. Blue/Green/Sand (309) does not have the fantastic tropical names of its followers but does what is says on the tin, as does the two final colours Khaki/Purple/Mustard (308) and Tan/Orange/Purple (307).

I have now decided to let the Blattman way in on these. As he isnt a knitter, you are going to probably get exactly what he thinks!! He thinks this one is rough to touch and that the yarn is washed out, and makes it look a bit old before you have worn it. He says however it looks good knitted up. He is concise if nothing else!!!

Hope to see you tomorrow for another YOTD, and whatever else I get up to. Off to Westfield Stratford tomorrow so who knows what the odd ball bin in John Lewis might hold for me

Tis Nearly the Season

Now we are over half way through October, I can hear those jingle bells vaguely coming over the horizon, and I can see the Coca Cola Advert in my minds eye, and we all know that means Holidays are most definately coming!!! So because of that, I have been knitting a few more christmas bits. Ive moved from the presents and into the decorations now and the excitement of Advent. This post is all about what is on my needles at the moment

This is my latest FOs, and I love it!! My most favourite part has to be the plug!!! My string of lights was a pattern originally knit in the round, and as you have probably worked out, DPNs and me are definately not friends!! I have sewn them onto a satin cord that looks like the twisted cables that normal christmas lights come on, and each light is a little pocket for a chocolate or a little gift. I love it and Im so pleased. It was a great stash buster and a very quick knit.

Another of my knits at the moment is my own new design and I will hope to publish the pattern by November, so people can knit their own before Christmas arrives. This particular Nativity is going to be knit for Year 2 at St Domenics RC Primary School and the BlattMother In Law who is their teacher. There are ten pieces, created for the ten school days after the first Sunday in Advent. I have already designed the basic body, and my first figure is Mary. The second is Gabriel, and he is coming along nicely. Here is a sneak peak of the pattern, and I hope you will all want to knit them as much as I do!!

As always, Sleigh safe everyone and look forward to sharing more patterns with you soon

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!!!  

Breakfast Set Pattern- Tea Cosy

Here is my brand new pattern I have been working on for a couple of days, for a breakfast set. It consists of a tea cosy and egg cosy pattern. I am working on a different version of the tea cosy pattern too so there will probably be another pattern up soon for that one too. I am pretty sure there arent any problems with the pattern, but since I am only human after all there may be one or two. Let me know if there are and I can change them. Hope you all like it

Ok, so here goes. You will need approx 30 grams of two different colours in DK yarn. I used the free yarn that came with Lets Knit this month, but any DK will do. You may need more than 30g.
So I used a peppermint green and a candy pink for my set. First up the pattern for the tea cosy

Needles:3.25mm and 4mm
Yarn: 2 colours of DK yarn, yarn A and yarn B (for me green was A, and pink was B)
Gauge: 22 sts over 30 rows on 4mm needles, make a 10x10cm square

Abbrevations:
Gt st- Garter stitch, knit every row
St st- Stocking Stitch, knit 1 row, purl one row
K2tog- knit two stitches together
Rep- repeat

Cast On 44 sts using yarn A and 3.25mm needles
Gt St 4 rows
Change to 4mm needles and change to yarn B
Starting with a K row, st st 4 rows
Change to yarn A
Starting with a K row, st st 4 rows.
These 8 rows make up the stripe pattern. Continue throughout the instructions using this stripe pattern.
Continue this pattern for another 20 rows. (this is the part where you can add extra length to the cosy, make it match your tea pot)

Start decrease (continue in stripe pattern)
Next row: *K2, K2tog, K3, K2tog, K2 rep from * to end
St st 5 rows in stripe pattern
Next Row: *K4, K2tog, K3 rep from * to end
St st 5 rows in stripe pattern
Next row: *K3, K2tog, K3 rep from * to end
St st 5 rows in stripe pattern
Next Row: *K2, K2tog, K3 rep from * to end
St st 3 rows in stripe pattern
Next Row: *K2,K2tog, K2 rep from * to end
St st 3 rows in stripe pattern
Next Row: *K2, K2tog, K1 rep from * to end
Purl 1 row in stripe pattern
Cast Off

Making up
Place right sides together. Sew up the sides of the cosy, leaving sides where handle and spout will be. Use your own tea pot as a guide, or leave the sides as open as you want. Do not sew up the top of the cosy. Turn the cosy the right side out. It looks very much like a cone, but bear with it at this point, it gets prettier, I promise!!!! Put it on your teapot, and using the same colour as the row you are going to gather, gather the top part of the cosy tight to create the top.

Egg cosy pattern in next post!!