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.

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!

Christmas Knitting - Festive Stocking

Christmas is coming! Festive stocking of my own design in Rowan Creative Focus Worsted, an American style worsted weight yarn (in the UK its between an aran and a dk). Lined with some nice thick cotton I found in my local Haberdashery shop. Just need to fill it with presents now...

Knitted Patchwork Blanket

Patchwork blanket in Rowan All Seasons Cotton. The squares are adapted from an old Martin Storey pattern, you cast on for the 4 outer edges of the square then decrease at the 4 diagonals into the centre then seam the last diagonal back to the outer edge. Now in All Seasons, an aran weight yarn done on 4.5mm needles. I have backed this blanket with a slightly quilted cotton fabric and used buttons to tie the two sides together. Its like a little duvet! Should be an awesome pram blanket for the new baby it is going to.

Fabric Covered Letters

Papier mache letters (bought from Fred Aldous in Manchester - £5 each) and covered in Amy Butler fabric. I traced the letters onto the fabric and glued the face pieces down with PVA. I then snipped v shapes around the curves and wrapped round the sides. I then made a sort of bias binding to fit round the edges, and glued with PVA again. I am going to use them as display items in the workshops I run at work.

Knitted Elephant

Here is 'Flo' from Knitty.com. Done in two balls of Rowan Pure Wool Aran with domed buttons for eyes and some toggles for tusks. I bought some blue tapestry wool to do blanket stitch round the ears and feet but I quite like it as it is. After a bit of trial and error I upped the needle size to 4mm.

After I started knitting this I saw this article and thought it was quite serendipitous: http://bit.ly/hXYekb

I also think it is a he, unsure of a name, we await the outcome of the football today as I have promised my boyfriend if Manchester United win I will call him Ferguson, if not he is being called Everton.

Pattern available here: http://bit.ly/bnZum1

Sheer from Rowan Studio 22

This jumper is pretty cool. 3/4 of the body and sleeves are done in Kid Classic - a mohair mix yarn, then the top 1/4 is in Kidsilk Haze - a mohair and silk yarn that is super fine but with lots of fluff.

By keeping the work on the same sized needles though out it creates the fine top panels. Done in reds in the book, I have gone for these taupe shades: Bitter Sweet in the Kid Classic and Majestic in Kidsilk Haze.

It knit up very quickly and not with any real effort - it just seems to have appeared before my eyes.

Now onto something more appropriate for the sunny weather we have been having. (Why do I knit 'winter' garments as soon as it gets warm??)

Page from Cherished

'Page' short sleeved cardi from Kim Hargreaves 'Cherished' pattern book. Very quick to knit in Big Wool, with an interesting nipped in pattern. To get the scalloped pattern you increase either side of the stocking stitch panels and then knit 4 together/knit 4 together to nip it in. Success!