Overnight headband

I think it's fair to say I love dressing up my daughter. And for a ten months old, she's already amassed an impressive collection of accessories, mainly shoes and headgear.

A lot of it has been bought or received but I've also taken great pleasure in stitching, crocheting and knitting hats and headbands for my baby girl. I think mainly because I haven't really got the time for big projects anymore and hats and headbands are so quick to make.

My latest creation was improvised one evening and finished by the next morning. With the festive season coming up, I wanted a red knitted headband to keep her little ears warm. I raided my stash and set to work but kept things really simple: one straight piece of knitting for the headband. Then for the bow, I started with the same width, decreased gradually towards the centre then increased gradually to get back to the starting width. Finally I knitted a tiny rectangle which I used to finish the bow and tie it to the headband. Add a big button and... doesn't she look glamorous?

Cosy baby knits

I didn't manage to do much crafting during pregnancy. Frustratingly, just when I had the best reason ever to make lots of cute things, my creativity was sapped out of me. I have since learnt that your uterus holds your creative energy apparently so I guess while my womb was very busy making a gorgeous (if I may say so myself!) baby, there wasn't much energy left for other creations.

I did manage to start a knitted sleeping bag however and finished it just a few days before giving birth. I even got round to taking a few pics on my old baby doll (nearly 30 years she is!) but never found the time to blog about it. And yes that doll is massive, it's about the size of a six months old!

I've used a Debbie Bliss pattern, it's super easy to knit. But it still took me months to finish! The pattern calls for a zip but I was worried it might irritate the baby's chin so decided to use some grosgrain ribbon to stiffen the edges and use poppers instead. I've also added a tassel to the hood because, well, why not?

The bag is quite big so Nimue should be able to use it for a while and she's super toasty in it, she loves it. Personally, I think she looks like a little doll in there!

I had a fair bit of yarn left over once I was done with the sleeping bag so in an attempt to distract myself from the fact that my due date had been and gone and I was still without a baby, I started knitting a hat from the same book. I knitted the rib then realised I didn't have the right size needles to carry on. I was going to go needle shopping the next day but of course that morning my waters broke and all our plans got cancelled! 

It's taken me a while again to finish the hat, not because it's a particularly difficult or big project, I've just really struggled to find the time to knit. I'm glad I've finally finished it though, just before the weather gets too hot or her head too big for her to wear it.

As much as I've enjoyed making this, I'm going to take a little break from crafting so I can use the spare time to read some of the baby books I have piled up in my living room. I'm sure it won't take long before the crafting bug gets me again :-)

Gearing up for a lot of baby makes

As we get ever closer to our 20 weeks scan, and by that, the mid-point of my pregnancy, I am more and more itching to make stuff for the baby.

We have settled on a loose "owl" theme for the nursery and I've placed an order for a load of fabrics from Fabric Rehab. I'm hoping to turn those into a baby quilt, a cot bumper, some cushions and whatever else I can think of. Aren't they cute?

Inspired by the Make Lounge and their brilliant screenprinting workshop, I've also ordered a Permaset screen printing kit. Expect some pictures soon of printed baby grows and T-shirts!

I already own a couple of baby knitting and crochet books which I'm really fond of, namely
Crochet for babies and toddlers by Betty Barnden and Baby knits for beginners by Debbie Bliss. Both have great projects in them, really well explained and generally easy to make, I highly recommend them.

I've now ordered a few more books, The ultimate book of baby knits by Debbie Bliss, which I'd been eyeing for some time now as it's full of really beautiful and practical projects and I trust the author, and Cute and easy crocheted baby clothes by Nicky Trench, which I've only just discovered but like a lot already.

I'd also ordered the Big book of baby afghans but promptly decided to return it. I couldn't find one single project in the book that I liked. Every single afghan looked like something that would have been popular when I was born, in the late seventies. It's all a bit frilly and lacy and the stereotypical pastel palette made it even less palatable. It's the first time ever I have returned a book but I really couldn't see any point in keeping this one and couldn't think of anyone that might have liked it instead of me.

Now I just need to find the time to make all these lovely things!

Baby knits - part 2

My latest baby knits have reached their destination safely so I can finally blog about them. 

Little Liam was born in Quebec at the end of February and I'd promised his mum I would handcraft him something with love. 

I came across this cute pattern by Sublime for a little motoring coat and matching hat and I just couldn't resist. 

I decided to knit it in Debbie Bliss Eco Baby, an organic cotton yarn. I had to fiddle somewhat to get the tension right but eventually found that by dropping 2 needle sizes I could get the right stitch count. This meant I had to go and buy size 2.5mm needles, as I only had double pointed ones in that size. I usually prefer knitting on wooden or bamboo needles but when knitting with very fine needles, I have now learnt that you're better off with metallic ones or, if you insist on wood, then go for circular ones. The straight bamboo needles were just too soft and ended up bending after the first few rows. With the circular needles, the needle part is that much shorter that it doesn't really have the opportunity to bend. 

This pattern is really easy but it's knitted in many individual parts so if like me, you don't particularly like stitching your knitting together, it's a bit of a bummer. I stayed up most of the night to finish the stitching, I just got so fed up with it, I had to get it out of the way! But the final result looked great. The yarn is really soft and the pebble colour gives it a bit of of a vintage feel. What do you think?

 Little Liam certainly seems to like it, even if it's still a few sizes too big for him!

Pink silky socks

I think hand knitted socks are the best. They fit beautifully, they keep your feet warm and they have no seam, what's not to love! But quite often when I talk about woollen socks people look at me in horror and ask me: "Aren't woollen socks really scratchy?".

Well let me tell you this: no they aren't! Of course the question comes mostly from non-knitters who don't necessarily know that there are many different yarns out there, many of which are anything but scratchy. Think of cotton, bamboo or silk for example. But even wool can be lovely and soft and in my experience, sock wool is often blended with polyamide to give it a bit of stretch, reducing the potential for scratchiness at the same time. 

 I have just knitted myself a pair in Sublime's Cashmere Merino Silk DK. I've been working with this yarn on my rose jumper (which is still in progress!) and I have fallen in love with it. It is so lush and it has this gorgeous sheen to it. I had to stop myself from buying an endless stock of it for my stash.

I ordered the Jolley Hockey Socks pattern from Sublime as I'd never knitted socks in this weight of yarn before but I was really disappointed when it arrived as they recommend knitting the socks on the flat. To me that is just sacrilege! As mentioned above, one of the key advantages of hand knitted socks is that there is no seam but if you knit them on the flat, you end up with one big seam across the whole length of the sock. So I put my maths head on and worked out from the pattern how many stitches I needed at every stage to knit the socks in the round. And they turned out great!

If I ever win the lottery, I AM going to buy kilos of this yarn!

Baby knits - part 1

Some years it seems everyone is either moving away, getting married or having babies. This year is definitely a baby year for me, at least four of my friends, and counting, are expecting in 2012.

The good news of course is that I just love knitting baby stuff. A project that you can see the end of, now that, I really like! So I've parked the making of my rose jumper for the time being so I can concentrate on making tiny, oh-so-cute, baby clothes.

First on the list was a set for my friend and colleague Marta who is expecting a baby boy.

I started with a little pullover from the book "Baby knits for beginners" by Debbie Bliss. I can highly recommend this book to anyone who's a novice knitter, all the projects are clearly explained and the book is arranged in such a way that you learn a new technique with each project. It's definitely become one of my references in baby knits.

But back to my pullover. I picked an organic cotton yarn in cream and light blue. I tend to avoid wool for babies because I'm concerned about skin allergies. Organic cotton is soft, it's eco-friendly and it's easy to wash, something most young mums tend to appreciate.

 

When I was done knitting the little pullover, I had lots of yarn left so I decided to knit a matching hat, using a pattern from the same book. That was a super quick knit, I pretty much did it all in the car, on the way to Dover. By the time we were boarding the ferry, I was finished.

And when the hat was done and I still had a fair amount of yarn left, I decided to knit a pair of matching socks. I had to divert from the pattern in the book here, because I just can't bring myself to knit socks on the flat so I adapted things a bit to knit them on double pointed needles. I had plenty of yarn for the socks but I found myself short on time. I had to finish the socks, and photograph them, in the car, on the way to my team meeting in London. The result is so cute though, it was worth the stress!

Feel the fear and do it anyway

What were your new year's resolutions? Do you even remember them? I do. This year for me is all about tackling my fears, big or small.

I've been in the UK for over nine years but in all that time I'd never driven a right hand drive.  Driving on the left side of the road has never really been an issue but the idea of driving a car fitted all the wrong way round simply terrified me! 

When we were in London, there was no real need for me to drive but now that we've moved to Bristol, it has become a bit of a necessity. So my Nr.1 new year's resolution was to get behind the wheel of our car and start driving the damn thing.

It's taken quite a few practice runs with hubby in the passenger seat but I am proud to say that I now drive our car. I'm still quite nervous every time I get behind that wheel, and I don't think I'll ever enjoy driving (I never did, not even in Belgium) but I'm gaining in confidence every day. 

In a completely different category, I was quite worried about knitting with different colours even though I have developed a real love for all things fair isle. But if I ever want to call myself an accomplished knitter, I have to get over this fear. Experience has taught me that knitting techniques often look a whole lot more complicated than they really are, you just need to know how it's done.

Luckily for me, there are plenty of people out there willing to help. One of those wonderful people is Staci Perry and her website, Verypink.com.  I used her Bunny Slope Hat pattern and her excellent video tutorials to knit my first fair isle project.

I loved it so much, I decided to knit a pair of matching fingerless mittens. 

They were a bit of a challenge because I originally wanted to knit them in the round but that would have meant having to carry the pink yarn all the way around or knit the snowflake on both sides, which I didn't want to do. After numerous attempts which all ended up getting frogged, I eventually resigned myself to knitting them on the flat. 

The yarn is lovely and thick so it knit really quickly. The mittens took me just one evening for the pair!

It's true what they say, beautiful things can happen when you face up to your fears. Next on the list for me will be beating the sugar addiction!

To Russia with love

My darling husband is off to Russia and has asked whether I could knit him a scarf to keep him warm.

He already has a scarf from me, in fact it's that scarf given to him on Valentine's day a few years ago that got me back into knitting and re-ignited my passion for crafts. But that scarf was knitted in a super chunky yarn and I had made it extra long so it's rather bulky and cumbersome to take with you in a suitcase. Hubby finds it too warm as well so it's barely been worn.

I agreed to make him a new scarf but this time I got him involved in the choice of yarn and the pattern and the final length to make sure this one doesn't sit abandoned at the bottom of a drawer.

We settled on a beautiful Noro Yuzen yarn bought in the sale at Black Sheep Wools. Hubby didn't want a thick scarf so that determined the choice of pattern. I would have loved to knit the whole thing in stockinette but I knew that no amount of blocking would stop the scarf curling inwards if I did. So eventually we settled for a simple two by three rib.

The yarn was a bit scratchy to work with but once knitted, the fabric isn't that scratchy at all. The colours are truly beautiful and will suit Mr Goose's blue eyes perfectly!

While I was knitting the scarf, I remembered these few lines from a book by Ann Hood called The Knitting Circle. They seemed so appropriate for this project:

"... I pick up my needles and I knit. Every stitch is a letter. A row spells out 'I love you'. I knit 'I love you' into everything I make. Like a prayer, or a wish, I send it out to you, hoping you can hear me. (...) Hoping, that my love reaches you somehow."

Oversized knitting

When I went to the Knitting and Stitching show at Ally Pally in October, I picked up two skeins of Gedifra Easywear. I just fell in love with the colour blend and the feel of the yarn.

What I soon found out was that having just two skeins was going to be pretty limiting and with the yarn being discontinued, there was very little chance of finding more. I tried, but even Ebay brought me no joy.

The other thing I'd not quite factored in when buying the yarn was that it's to be knitted on 20mm needles. I had a look on Ravelry and after reading a number of comments that said the yarn really calls for the huge needles, I resigned myself and ordered a pair.

I decided to knit a simple snood, inspired by another snood I bought at a high street outlet at the beginning of the winter which has been keeping me toasty and has been admired by a number of friends.

Manipulating the humongous needles was rather awkward at first. Hubby thought it was hilarious and took the following picture to demonstrate just how oversized those needles are compared to my hands.

The good news is that it took me just an hour to knit a snood and I had just enough yarn for it. I worked it with one row of knitting with a yarn over in between each stitch followed by a purl row where I let the yarn overs slide off the needle. This makes a row of loose stitches followed by a row of tight stitches. It's actually quite nice.

The bad news is that as much as I liked the colour mix on the skein, I'm not feeling it so much now that it's been knitted :-( Ah well, this would make a great gift for someone, in fact,  I may just know who!

The cutest cactus ever!

I might have crafty fingers but they're most definitely not green. I have been known to kill even the most hardy of plants out there. So imagine my delight today when I found this little thing at a Christmas craft fair!

Yep, it's a knitted cactus! Isn't it the cutest cactus you've ever seen? At least I know I won't be able to kill it off. And it's taken pride of place on my desk because I know I'll smile every time I look at it :-)

Christmas madness is upon us!

I love Christmas, I really do! I can't wait to put the tree and the decorations up, nothing would cheer me up more on these cold dark days.

But at this time of the year, being crafty is both a blessing and a curse. Yes, I love that I can make Christmas presents rather than settle for the shop bought stuff. But now that people have gotten used to getting handmade presents, I crumble a little under the weight of their expectations.

Like each year, I start the making process at the end of the summer. And like each year, I reach the end of November and have to admit defeat, I have yet again given myself too much to do and something's gotta give.

Things are particularly stressful this year because I've arranged for a small selection of my cocktail rings to be on sale in the Sugarlesque boutique in Kingly court from 1 December (there's a hint in there!) so I need to make sure I have the stock ready. And in a moment of temporary insanity, I've agreed to (wo)man a stall at the Redfest Christmas fair in Bristol on 18 December. It's a great opportunity for me to meet local people but it's a small community project and the products I will be selling will have to be at a much lower price point than my rings. That means having to create a whole new stock between now and then! What was I thinking?

This is not to say that I haven't accomplished quite a bit already. I've managed to finish all my Christmas baking last weekend, the puddings have been steamed for 8 hours and I have plenty of mincemeat waiting to be turned into pies.

I have six nephews and Santa is bringing them all a pair of felted slippers to keep their little footsies warm. I've almost finished knitting them, next I'll have to stitch them together, throw them in the washing machine to felt and then stretch on the lasts and leave to dry.

Miss Marple finds the pile of slippers very comfy indeed!

Oh, and I've managed to knit this lovely chunky snood in Patons Fab Big and learnt a new stitch in the process!

But with December now looming, I have to resign myself to the fact that that's probably as much as I'll manage this year and I'd better start hitting the shops to find the presents I still miss...

The long awaited slippers

When I first started felting, I promised hubby I'd make him a pair of felted slippers. That was about 3 years ago and he still didn't have his slippers. Other projects just kept taking priority. I tried to make up for it by buying him a pair of sheepskin slippers last year but once in a while, I'd still get reminded of my promise.

With his birthday coming up and my running out of gift ideas, I figured it was time to make him his long awaited slippers. When I made that promise years ago, I'd planned to hand felt the slippers from roving wool. But after discovering the Wash & Filz It yarn earlier this year, I decided to experiment with that instead. 

The trick with machine felting of course is that you have very little control over the felting process and thus very little control over the finished size of your creation. I found a Drops Design knitting pattern on Ravelry and I just had to trust that my wool would shrink just enough to fit hubby's feet. During felting, the wool shrinks by 30 to 40% so the pre-felting knitted slippers looked ridiculously big. Just to give you an idea, here's a couple of pics with the knitted slippers against a sheet of A4.

Once I'd finished knitting and assembling the slippers, I anxiously tossed them in the washing machine. I put them on a regular programme at 40°C. When they came out, I had a slight moment of panic as the slippers I pulled out were tiny, almost my size! But I know that felt can easily be stretched and moulded into shape while it is still wet and luckily for me, I'd bought a pair of polystyrene foot lasts in hubby's size when I made that fateful promise years ago.

After a bit of pulling and stretching, I got the slippers to just fit on the lasts (picture at the top). I left them to dry on the radiator for a day before adding a final touch. Felt on wooden floors is very slippery so it's best to add a bit of grip to the soles. I used different colours so that it would be simple to remember which is right and which is left. In time, the slippers will mould around his feet and it should be easy to tell then but in the beginning, a touch of colour will make it straightforward enough.

I am pleased to say that the slippers were an instant hit with hubby. In fact, they've become almost inseparable! And they were so easy to make, I think more of them will find their way in my Christmas gifts...

Mid-season gloves

Life is pretty stressful right now. It's very busy at work and I'm about to move house... in a whole new city! Sleep has been a problem all my life but in stressful times like these, my insomnia takes a whole new dimension. That means I have a lot of extra time to occupy and I desperately need to use my hands to easy my anxiety.

I remembered seeing a knitting pattern in Making Magazine for a pair of lacy gloves. With autumn now approaching fast, a pair of gloves that's not too warm is just ideal. And I knew I had the perfect mohair-like yarn for this project in my stash so I got knitting.

The gloves are knitted on the flat and then seamed together but I think if I ever made these again, I would probably try and knit them in the round. I'm also pretty convinced that something doesn't add up in the pattern instructions for the left mitten so I went with my gut instinct and did the left mitten in my own way. It's turned out pretty well in the end! Now I can't wait wear them, they're so soft. I'm also thinking I might knit a matching scarf in the same lace pattern...

I'm a sucker for novelty yarn

Whilst I learnt the art of knitting as a child, it's only in the last 3 years or so that I have developed a real passion for it. In that time, something has become quite obvious: I'm a complete sucker for novelty yarns!

The first garment I ever knitted was in Sirdar Ocean, a ribbon yarn. I loved working with that yarn because it's fairly forgiving and the result was so good that the cardi that was originally meant for me ended up as a gift to my mum. And when she got it, she just assumed I'd bought it until I told her I'd actually made it, that's how good it looked! For a first, I can say I was pretty chuffed with myself! This has paved the way for many experiments with novelty yarn, some more successful than others.

Rico Design has got me hooked as they release a new fun yarn pretty much every year. The first time I went to the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace, their pompon yarn was all the rage and I have used it to make a number of Christmas gifts.

In the past couple of years, they have released the CanCan and the Loopy, both of which knit into a fun frilly scarf. You can see an example of the knitted up CanCan in the image at the top, in green on the left, and the Loopy, in pink in the middle. There are many knock offs out there but as you can see from the blue-green scarf on the right in the image above, the result isn't always as pretty!

The good thing about these yarns from Rico Design is that you only need the one ball to complete your project and you don't need to be an experienced knitter either as the whole project is in simple knit stitch, no purling required! If you were interested in starting a Rico scarf, I strongly recommend watching the video tutorials from Hulu Crafts.

Recently, my friend Jemma introduced me to another kind of novelty yarn, the Wash & Filz It from Anchor Style. It's a yarn that you knit and then throw in the washing machine for felting.

It took me a while to decide what to make from the one ball Jemma gave me but eventually I settled on a mug hug. I know completely pointless, but hey, why not?! At least I won't burn my hands on a hot mug of tea anymore :-)

Next, I plan to make a pair of slippers but first I have to figure out how big I need to knit them so that they're the right size when felted!