His and Hers Cardigans for my Niece and Nephew

I started these a couple of months ago and have just finished the pink one.  They are Christmas presents for my niece and nephew who will be 3 and 1 next year.

The pattern is the Jake Hoodie by Martin Storey in Rowan's Milk Cotton Baby book.  I had a lot of odd balls of the Milk cotton so this was a great pattern to use it effectively.

Knit on 3.75mm needles, this pattern could be done in any DK yarn.

Instead of knitting the sides and back separately I cast them all on at the same time and divided at the arm holes leaving the remaining stitches on holders.  This saved time in sewing up!

Really looking forward to seeing them in these at Christmas, they are going to look super cute.

Vintage Owl Cushion Pattern Re-Mixed

Here are baby, mummy and daddy owl.  Knit from a vintage pattern unearthed by my mother.  Knit in Amy Butler Belle Organic Aran yarn, a 50% organic wool and 50% organic cotton blend.  I used shell buttons from John Lewis for the eyes and a square of grey felt to make the beaks.  Stuffed with washable toy stuffing.

These are a gift for my niece Annabell for her 2nd birthday, I got baby and mummy done before her birthday but have only just finished daddy (hence two pictures). 

I am very please with them, they are a bit bigger than I had expected but the pattern does describe them as cushions not toys.  I will be tempted to knit baby again if someone wants a little toy. 

Milk Cotton Hoodie for Thomas

I've been super organized and started to make Christmas presents!  This is for my nephew Thomas.  He will be 9 months old in December but I have done the 12-18 month size because he is a little chunkster. The pattern is 'Jake Hoodie' from the Rowan Milk Cotton Baby book.  Knit in Rowan Milk Cotton. 

I bought a couple of packs of the green and white when they went in the sale with the intention of knitting a blanket.  That never happened so I am going to use it to do a selection of baby things for friends and family.  Other colour stripes are colours left over from other projects in the same yarn, I knew they would come in one day.  Hoarding yarn pays off!

I am going to do his big sister the same pattern but in different colours.

Name Badge in 2ply

As I am now helping to run The Kings Arms Knitters which entails teaching/helping new people with their knitting, we thought it might be a good idea to have name badges.  Normal name badges would not do, so I made a pattern for a knitted one!

I used some 2ply/cobweb yarn that was a gift brought back from Peru.  It was knit on old size 17 needles which is 1.5mm.  There is an intarsia knitting needle at the top and bottom with my name in the middle.  The badge is a bit long, but it had to be to fit 7 letters on it. The badge is 5cm x 15cm.  I used a piece of funky foam to stiffen it then backed it in bright blue felt and sew a large safety pin to the back. 

Ginkgo Shawl

This is a triangular shawl pattern called Ginkgo from Ravelry. Its a free pattern knit in 4ply on 4mm needles.  I used Jawoll Magic sock wool hence the stripes.  The main body of the shawl is in stocking stitch with a lace border.  This makes it quite a quick knit up to the lace so you really feel like you are progressing with it.  I am already considering knitting this again but in a solid colour, because even though I love the wool I have done it in, it would be nice to show the lace pattern off a bit more. 

Cora Scarf in Rowan Colourscape

This is a FREE pattern available from Knit Rowan . Colourscape is a beautiful 100% lambs wool yarn with a self striping colour palette designed by Kaffe Fassett.  The pattern takes 2 balls and is done on 7mm needles. 

I loved knitting this!  One of my favorite yarns on my chunky KnitPro needles  with my chunky Clover cable hook.  Awesome. And it is for me, its a gift that keeps giving!

New Shawl in Old Yarn

This shawl is a free pattern on Ravelry called Pimpelliese.  It is knit from point to point and is really simple!  The pattern is done in 'fingering' weight yarn (4ply) but I had this hand painted cotton in DK after I pulled back a previous shawl I had made up myself and fallen out with.  Just divide your yarn in 2 and increase until half is used then decrease using the other half.  Done! This took me 10 days to knit in my spare time after work.

Here is the pattern : www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pimpelliese