One or two things I made earlier

It's definitely the week for internet chat about baby knitting (specially shawls, I hear that the one that wrapped HRH now has a waiting list of 8 weeks) but also for us, closer to home, as our DD2 is slightly overdue with her first baby.  When planning the baby kit she would need, including the lovely tradition amongst her friends of passing on things (there's a beautiful moses basket crib that has now cradled several babies) my daughter kindly said she was not buying any baby cardis as she thought I might have some ideas for these my self - Well! Yes! Of course I do - and shoes too

All the shoes come from the Debbie Bliss book, Ultimate Baby Knits.   I have used these patterns again and again since the book was sent to me by the publishers to review. One pair of these shoes makes a great little baby present

Extra embellishment 

Simple Jacket pattern by Debbie Bliss

Buttons by Kath Kidston

Lace edge cardigan by Debbie Bliss

This cardigan is modified a little.  I don't like sewing up (no surprise there) so try and knit as much in one piece as possible and where I can't, I will pick up along an edge and knit on.  So here I knitted the fronts and back in one piece, dividing for the armholes and then seaming and casting off both shoulders at once with a three needle bind off. I then picked up the sleeve stitches around the armhole, incorporating the cast off stitches underneath the arm one per row (by picking up the cast on loop and K2tog with the last live stitch of the row). Then I  knitted in the round, reversing the shaping down to the cuff.  I knitted the lace on the cuff edge as I went, casting on 5 stitches and K2tog at the end of alternate rows.  To work the lace around the body I picked up all around the hem, fronts and back neck in the main colour and worked one round in purl, then cast on 5 more stitches and finished the edging in the same way as the cuffs.

The pattern does not call for buttons but when I made one before for TLM I found that the cardigan kept slipping off her shoulder.  No need for button-holes as the yarn overs suffice.

(petit) Artichaut

The tiny wrap over cardigan pattern was written in French and although I bought a translation I felt that it had been translated by someone who is not familiar with the way in which knitting patterns are written in English.  It was not impossible to understand but at times awkward, some interpretation was needed and at one point the stitch count was wrong.  I think I would have been less confused if I had worked from the original.  I love the pattern, however, and the construction, almost seamless except for the side seams.  There was a totally seamless version but I just could not figure out how to work it.

A button instead of a tie, another from Kath Kidston

Now, so much was made of the baby shawl that HRH the Princess Charlotte was swaddled in for her first public appearance.  Very elegant but it was machine knitted.  This cannot happen in a knitters household. Although I did not knit it (and the story of our family baby shawls is here) here is a shetland style baby shawl ready to wrap our latest family member

My late Mother-in-Law knitted dozens of these shawls, all from the same pattern, for so many women she knew who were having their first baby. All four of my children were wrapped in ours that is now worn, yellowed (wrapped in tissue in a drawer) and still treasured.

Now all we need is for the baby to arrive!

xx

c

A New Book

A little while ago those very nice people at Quadrille sent me a copy of Debbie Bliss' new book Knits for You and Your Home

The book,which was published on March 28th, arrived several weeks ago; but if you have read any of my reviews in the past you will know that I like to try out a project before passing an opinion.  And what with the BBK and other knitting projects, although I chose what I wanted to make,  it took me a while to actually get it done.

I suppose it is no longer strictly necessary to make something each time I receive a book to review, particularly when it is one by Debbie Bliss.  Her books are always beautifully presented - a joy just to browse and the patterns well written and turn out just like the illustrations.

As always the book is full of things I would love to make, some projects are ideal for small amounts of stash yarn, for others you can get really extravagant and buy 9 balls of Party Angel (for a pretty pink shrug to wear over a floaty Summer dress).

The book is divided into four sections, Indulge, Cocoon, Pamper and Detox.  The big difference is that, unlike many project books, it really is for YOU as well as for your home.  There are some great original ideas, including one or two pretty things to wear and only a couple of cushions - I know I have said it before but, how many cushions does a home need?

I love the bath bag in the Pamper section

And the Hanging Pockets in Detox

I decided to make the keepsake box from Indulgence, modifying it slightly to make it into a picture frame.  My first problem, the frame I had in stock was day-glow green, no good at all with the soft colours I had chosen for the fairisle background

So it needed a lick of paint

The fairisle stocking stitch panel for the background turned out fine, though the usual curly tube needed some firm handling

Using some double sided sticky tape I fixed it in position to the back of the frame and used another tiny bit of tape to hold the picture in place as I reassembled the frame - Et Voila!!

A lovely book, I'm definitely going to make more of the things in Detox to organise my study

xx

c

Present knitting

I've been doing a bit of knitting to order recently. This customer seems quite pleased with his new shoes.

It's all very well to have gorgeous pictures, fabulous materials and delicious colours in crafty books but do the patterns work?  How frustrating to fall in love with a beautiful cardigan or bag and find that the instructions are impossible to follow or that the finished object looks nothing like the cleverly photographed matte image in the book. So before I pass on my opinion on a book to you, lovely readers I like to try it out

But then what to choose?  I need something that is fairly quick, I don't want a six month project so that by the time I write my review the book is no longer newly published. This is why when I reviewed Debbie Bliss' The Ultimate Book of Baby Knits I chose to make a pair of baby sandals. But somehow I couldn't stop

My daughter (the Little Model's mother) saw these and asked if she could have a pair.  It seems that all the girls in her NCT group are having their second baby and these will make perfect presents. I think it was then that I really noticed, once it had been me and my friends having babies, now it was my daughter and her friends.  Some of her friends I had known since they were children, knocking on our door to see if anyone was coming out to play.

So I find I have gone into small scale production.  This pattern from Knit Today is already well used

When The Little Model saw these sitting on the radiator drying after their eucalan rinse she wanted some for herself

It was easy to adapt the pattern, making them longer and a little deeper (double the stitches and rows).  We had fun drawing round her feet onto a piece of card to have a template.  I'm not sure how much she will wear them, I need to get some of that anti slip glue for the soles.

But she was very thrilled to have her own pair of booties, since her Mummy seemed to be giving away all the others.  She was also very excited to find her doll wearing a matching pair.

And they really do only take one evening to make.

xx

C

PS on the subject of things that knit up quickly I have just received Knits To Give  by Debbie Bliss to review.  It looks fabulous as usual, and she says all projects can be finished in under a week.  Perfect for Christmas presents.  As soon as I have finished my chosen project I will tell you more...

Exciting beginnings and satisfying endings

Last weekend I gathered up several half completed projects and finished them off.  I was going to blog about my success and call it The End of Loose Ends.  Then we had some exciting family news which sent me running to the wool shop.  Well it doesn't take much to do that, in fact I'm really not to be trusted in wool shops, fabric shops or Haberdashers at all.  

Soft Sublime double knitting cotton and kapok mix in delicious pastel candy colours.  To make a baby blanket.  Yes The Little Model is to have a new baby brother or sister, a lovely new beginning.  The first project I knitted after taking knitting up again was a blanket for her (from The Baby Knits Book by Debbie Bliss) so it follows I would knit one for the new baby.  It is to be in a modular pattern with stars in the centre I will blog more about it later.

Back to the weekend and the satisfying endings. Firstly I finished my 'New Look' summer dress, made from some 50s style lawn and a Vintage Vogue pattern.  

The pattern was a joy to make up, using techniques like covered buttonholes that I had not practised for years.  But I learned one big lesson - Make a Toile.  If I had, I would have discovered I needed to add an inch to the waist length and a couple of inches to the skirt if the dress was to be truly New Look.  But it fits well otherwise and with a wide black patent belt the slightly raised waistline doesn't show. I already have some navy spot to make a second dress (did I not say I should not be trusted in fabric shops?) incorporating all the modifications.

Our new kitchen was finished a while ago as far as the 'man jobs' of plumbing, carpentry and electrical stuff were concerned but I had still to pull out some vintage fabric from my stash for a blind and a sale bargain meter of black and cream Toile de Joie for kitchen chair cushions.

The blind is 50s Rayon, a mainly black and yellow oriental style pattern.

The cushions have simple buttoned flaps.  No covered buttonholes here - my clever Elna has a sort of jig foot where you insert the button in a slot, press the buttonhole button on the control panel, down with the presser foot and sew.  All this requires is courage to put your foot down on the pedal and keep it there until the machine comes to a halt.  I had enough of the vintage fabric left for a tiny cushion to go on the Little Model's chair too and some proper vintage buttons from my mother-in-law's button box for the fastenings.

Finally I finished the socks that I began on holiday

And mastered the grafting stitch for the toe.

Of course this is not the End of Loose Ends as I have many other projects on the go, and not just the navy spot New Look dress and the baby blanket but a sleeveless top for me, a cowl for a friend... and more.   But that just makes me happy to think I have more days and weekends ahead sewing and knitting.  

xx

c

The knitter's year by Debbie Bliss

One of the truly exciting things about blogging on something I love doing so much is that occasionally I am asked to blog a review of a new knitting book.  It has happened a few times now but I still get excited when a large envelope from Yvonne at Quadrille Publishing is sitting on our hall table when I get home from work.  I know that after supper I can flick through the pages and plan my next project.  After all I think it is only fair before reviewing to test drive the instructions given in the books.

However, I could recommend The Knitter's Year by knitting designer and producer of gorgeous yarns, Debbie Bliss  as a book that gives pleasure just in the way it looks, feels and in the way she writes.  Why not? I often buy a book about art or architecture (more often than not as a present for JTH ) and there is never a guilty thought about not tackling a project (what would I do? paint a portrait, build a house?) but with a knitting or sewing book I have to make a real effort not to have that guilty feeling that I should only buy if I am also going to make.  But if you are not a knitter please remember you can still buy this beautiful book for the sheer pleasure it gives the senses (you can always persuade someone like me to make something for you!)

Look at the cover and the pretty baby cardigan and coat hanger in front of the shabby chic set of drawers (wouldn't this be just great for my wool stash?) and you know you could love this book for purely aesthetic reasons.  Like lots of Quadrille books it has high quality thick mat paper. The photography is very very good, with a limited colour palette, punctuated by one or two gentle splashes of colour.

I was very pleased with the image above then reminded myself that it is just a photograph of a photograph and someone else did all the clever stuff.   I spent a lovely evening turning the pages and reading the little introductions to each pattern.  Even as a knitter I could  just love the book for its looks and the way it makes me happy to see something so elegantly set out, season by season, but I also want to make up so many of the projects it was quite hard to choose.

Perhaps a necklace from Spring

Or a chunky scarf from Winter

In the end I chose to make the  lavender bags from Summer

Ever since the Summer Of The Moth Infestation I like to have as many nice smelling things in my wardrobe and chest of drawers.  At the time we had to resort to the 'agent orange' version of household insecticide as  the moths had even eaten holes in our carpets!  But since then I have learned that plenty of cedar wood and lavender smelling stuff around is a good preventative.

The little lavender bags don't take much yarn so I suppose I could have made them from stash but I wanted to make a little set in the coordinating colours from the Debbie Bliss yarn range.  I did add some twiddly bits of my own as I wanted to be able to hang the little bags from coat hangers.  The spotty ribbon seemed perfect and comes from RE-found objects . The lavender came from The Lavender Fields .  Now a few words of warning, lavender is very light so a small weight comes in quite a large box.  I did not pay proper attention to this little fact and now have plenty of yarn, ribbon AND lavender to make quite a lot more bags.

I was perhaps a little more pleased with the results than I should be to stay within the bounds of modesty but I do think they look very pretty. 

If you are someone who looks very closely at pictures on blogs you may have seen the yellow bag making an early appearance here two weeks ago.  I found it was a perfect partner for the suit carrier I made, in fact I made three more suit carriers and they each have their own lavender bags.

Happy weekend everyone

xxx  C