Unseasonal

Outside the temperature is heading towards the high 30s.  Inside I am packing for winter as I am soon to leave for the northern hemisphere.  Reports on the television news indicate that the temperatures there are very mild and I wonder if this eternity scarf which I have just finished will be needed.

It will go into the suitcase anyway just in case the temperature decides to plummet and then I am sure its warmth will be welcome.

I wish everyone a wonderful, healthy and successful 2016.

The pattern for this came from The Purl Bee site.  The instructions are for a scarf but I turned it into an eternity scarf by sewing the ends together.

Meet Maeve

This is Maeve.  She used to be a boring white polystyrene foam head and I thought she would look much better if she was embellished so I decided to decoupage her. 

She is covered in the words of Maeve Binchy so, naturally, I called her Maeve.   This was my first attempt at decoupage and as you can see poor Maeve has a few wrinkles, but she is in good company in this house.

Today I put her to good use as a model for my Downton Hat.  I saw this pattern here and loved it so much I had to knit it.  To be honest, it looks better on Maeve than it does on me, but I still love it.

New vests

I have knitted each of the boys a little vest. On the right is Little O and as you can see his vest is rather short and doesn't hide his nappy. So when I knitted one for Little J, I made it much longer and he manages to retain his dignity. The yarn I used was by Rowan and is called Cotton Glace.  I think the pattern came from a Rowan book, but I cannot be certain as it is a photocopy and was given to me a few years ago.  I think they look very cute.

They will have their first birthday this weekend.  Where did that time go??

A perfect match

Two new projects - completely unrelated to each other, yet coordinating beautifully.   I have been collecting grey and yellow fabrics to make a new quilt and yesterday I bought this lovely cotton yarn to make a vest for one of the twins.  I  made this vest for Little C when he was a baby which is still in great condition.  However, I love the feel and colours of this new yarn and might even make two if it knits up well.

 

The quilt is very much in the gestation stage.  I am not sure what design it will be and am hoping for inspiration to strike soon so that I can make a start. 



I love new projects.

And then there were two

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww

And then there were two. Double Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Aren't they cute. The free pattern can be downloaded from The Purl Bee. It is a wonderfully quick knit with adorable results.

Even fewer seams

Here is version two of the no seams jacket.

The sunlight has washed out the colour and the lovely little pink polka dot buttons. I must have been standing in a bad position. So I asked my model to wear it while I took the picture and it looks much better.

I really love this pattern which I found on Ravelry and, while the old saying goes - 'when you are on a good thing.....', I think I will put the knitting needles away for a while and try to make some progress on the mystery quilt.

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I have had a couple of requests for the name of the cafe in my post of 15 October.  It is Kokko Black in the new Claremont Quarter.

Look - no seams

The little top down jacket is finished.

It was a very quick knit and even quicker to finish off as it had no seams to sew up. As that is always my least favourite part of garment knitting I was very pleased with it and have started another one.

Samaritans Purse

One of the ladies in my sewing group is always doing/making something for charity. Her latest project is to fill shoeboxes with goodies for children in third world countries. The boxes are given to the children for Christmas. It is run by an organisation called Samaritans Purse and I have offered to fill up a box for her. That is the easy part. The challenge is to make a teddy bear which is to be included in the box and a knitting pattern is provided. I don't much like making toys but did my best.

At this stage of the process, the poor bear looks more like roadkill than a teddy but I persevered and managed to produce something vaguely resembling a bear.

At our last sewing get-together, when I produced my bear and thought how magnanimous I was, one of the other members had knitted 15 bears, all of them different, very cute and much much better than my poor little mis-shapen offering. That put me back in my box I can tell you.

I just hope that a child who has never owned a toy of her/his own will receive my bear and love him anyway.

Lazy knitter

I have downloaded a pattern from Ravelry to knit a little jacket for V and I started it last night. It is knitted on circular needles from the top down, a method which I have not tried before. So far it seems to be working.

However, when I reached the buttonhole row, I came to a grinding halt. In the past I have always managed to make very simple buttonholes which are fine for small buttons, but this jacket has large buttons and my little basic holes just would not work. The directions in the pattern were not very clear - what was I to do. Then I spotted my Ipod in my lap - left there after completing my nightly Words with Friends (currently getting soundly beaten by everyone) - so I quickly googled how to make a one-row buttonhole and up came all the information I needed complete with You Tube videos.

I didn't even have to get out of my chair to search for my how to knit bible. I love technology.

Frilled with that

My girls complain that it is very difficult to buy good knits for little ones. I complain that it is very difficult to find good patterns to knit for little ones. So when I put this pink and white jumper together for Little A without following a pattern, I felt pretty pleased with myself.



It is the first time I have attempted to knit something without religiously following a pattern and while I can't say it has given me great confidence to create more originals, I certainly feel released from the tyranny of slavishly following patterns.



Who knows where this might lead.

A little vest for Baby C

I love any excuse to play with my button collection so when I finished this little vest for Baby C I reached for the button jar to look for some buttons for the shoulder seam.



For once I was able to find buttons which were just right. Usually when I look for buttons to finish a project, either I don't have enough of the same sort or they are not the right colour and then I have to visit the shops to buy yet more buttons.



Having found the buttons, it was time to block the vest. Back in the day when I learnt to knit I had never heard of blocking and when I finished a garment I used to iron/press it. (Do I hear cries of shock and horror?) Now, thanks to reading knitting blogs I know better and block all my knitting projects which gives them a much better finish. Ironing simply flattens all the stitches. In case there is anyone who doesn't know what blocking is (and I think I am probably the last knitter alive who didn't know), it involves pinning the garment to a flat surface while shaping it and then spraying it with water (lots of water). Leave it to dry and the end result is a beautifully smooth garment which looks as if it has been pressed but all the stitches have remained plump and don't look flattened.

As you can see below, the two top pictures are pre-blocking and the bottom picture is post-blocking. See how much flatter the neck sits and the whole garment has a much smoother look. I was concerned that the armholes were a little small so I stretched them slightly while pinning them down and now they look much better.

 

To finish the vest, I added a row of cross-stitches around the neck and armholes. I am not sure that these add anything to the vest, but will let mum Melissa be the final arbiter on this. If she doesn't like them they will be easy to remove. Now I think he needs a new shirt to go under the vest.



The pattern came from a Rowan book for children and the recommended yarn was a Rowan Purelife Organic Cotton. However, I believe both the book and the yarn have now been discontinued. I used a yarn which was 80% bamboo and 20% wool and I was very pleased with the result.

For our newest little flower

Already she is growing quickly so I had to finish this in a hurry before either the weather became too warm or she was too big.



The pattern came from a little book I picked up recently called Baby Knits - 50 Beautiful Patterns. They are indeed beautiful patterns, the only problem is that all the yarn used is from France and it has taken some research on the internet to find suitable alternatives. As a result what I have been knitting has been improvised, although fortunately I haven't had any disasters yet. It is a gorgeous book and I could knit everything in it (if I had time).



I love the pretty detailing around the edge of the neck. I used bamboo yarn for this little jacket and it is so soft - just perfect for delicate skin.

The neighbourly vest

The last time Mandy and I visited Materialise to buy fabric for the zig zag cot quilt, a little girl came in with her mum and she was wearing the cutest vest I have seen. I asked her mother if she had knitted it and, of course, she had. She told us that the pattern was available free online and so, as soon as I got home, I downloaded it and knitted it up.

When I presented it to the small one she was not very impressed, thinking it was a dress and, therefore, much too small. She was not in the mood to model it for me so I had to use the props in the back garden.





I am pleased to say that on my next visit she was in a much more receptive mood and made a great model for a great little vest.



The pattern is for an older child so I used a lower ply yarn and smaller needles and am very happy with the result, although if I was to do it again I would make it a bit longer.

Here is the link to the pattern where the pattern writer explains why she has called it the neighborly vest. I thought it was very appropriate to have discovered it at Materialise which is a very neighbourly kind of place with a lovely community atmosphere.

Messing about

I have been messing about with the layout of the blog and am not sure if I like this new look or not. Actually, I am sort of stuck with it because I am not able to retrieve the old layout. I do think I need a picture, but as it will probably take me hours to find something I like, get it to fit etc etc, this might be a while in coming.
Because I am not able to post without including a picture, here is something which has just come off the needles for the littlest one. With spring (almost) in the air, it is good to have something light and fresh in the wardrobe.

Bread and roses

While the cot quilt is definitely my priority, I have to do something with my hands while I watch Masterchef every night. Having not watched a single episode of the first series, I find myself addicted to the second series, but at least I am producing something while I watch the contestants cry and sweat over their kitchen benches. If baby is a boy, I can always remove the yellow roses. I know fathers don't approve of their sons wearing flowers.

Speaking of Masterchef, I bought the magazine last week (I said I was addicted) and was really surprised by the number of doable recipes - not just those from the show, many of which I would not attempt. I mainly bought it for the banana bread recipe and, if like me, you like banana bread, this one is a keeper. I like my banana bread toasted, but this is so delicious fresh that it will be all gone by the time it is ready to be toasted. It is so good, I have to share, so here it is.



Banana Bread (Curtis Stone)

250g (1 & 2/3 cups) self-raising flour
1tsp bicarbonate of solda
1/2 tsp gound cinnamon
2 large eggs
275g (1 & 1/4 cups) caster sugar
125ml (1/2 cup) vegetable oil
3 overripe bananas, mashed
2tbs Greek-style yoghurt
1sp vanilla extract
150g (1 & 1/2 cups walnuts, roasted, halved

Preheat oven to 150C. Grease and line the base and sides of an 8cm x 11cm x 30 cm (6-cup) loaf pan with baking paper. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp salt into a bowl.
Using an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until thick and pale. Reduce speed to low-medium and gradually add oil in a thin, steady stream. Add bananas, yoghurt and vanilla, and beat until well combined.
Add flour mixture and three-quarters of the walnuts and stir until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and scatter with remaining walnuts. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Enjoy

Brrrrr - it's cold

It's freezing here.



I hope these help to keep the small one warm in this chilly weather.

Tiny teddies

When my girls were small they used to love these tiny teddy biscuits. Now they are no longer small and have little ones of their own who will also probably enjoy seeing how many different teddies they can find in a tiny teddy box.



When I saw the pattern for these little booties I wanted to give my big girls some tiny teddies of a different variety.



It took me a while to get my head around intarsia knitting as I hadn't done any of this for years, but after a few false starts I finally remembered how to do it and I am thrilled with the result.



These have gone to Melissa for the littlest one and now I have to knit another pair for Mandy's new baby because I think you can never be too big for a tiny teddy.