A beanie for me!

Check it out! I made a beanie for me :)

I talked about the Minno Hat in a blog the other week and it is now done! I am so happy with it. It's squishy and very warm.

The pattern is very clear and super easy to follow, well worth the $5. 

 

The stranded colourwork is very simple and not too many ends to weave in although it looks messy.

See, all the ends are weaved in, nice & tidy!

Here are some stats:

Yarn: Luxury 8 ply by Bendigo Woollen Mills
Colourway from the bottom up: Slate (0307), Tangerine (0347), Koala (0353), Aquarium (0324), Baby Pink (0318), Baby Mint (0317)
Needles: Knit Picks 80cm circular 3.5mm & 4mm

Modifications... yes I did that. It appears that I have a big head! just around not the height. I knitted the large size but started decreasing early, after 7th round from the last row of colourwork. Then I worked 8 pairs of decrease every other round before decrease every round.

It's slightly sloughy but I like how it sits on my head.

How about the details!

So I am going to be warm this winter :)

Stitch with love...

What's on the hook and needles

Today I decided to do an inventory of what WIP I have on the hook and needles, yes, not include the other non yarny projects... I try not to get overwhelmed by projects cause I love the process.

1. The Haruni shawl - what I call the long term project... I started this in October 2012! Hopefully it will be done for mother's day this year... fingers crossed!

2. Just started last week is this baby pullover Binic. I have a whole list of babies due before July this year amongst our group of friends. Whilst I don't have any particular baby in mind, I figured this will come in handy!

3. A little something for myself. I came across this beanie pattern called Minno Hat a little over a week ago and my brain was screaming "knit, knit, knit, knit!!!!!"... before I knew it, I purchased the pattern on Ravelry! The next day, Bendigo Woollen Mills shade cards appeared in our letter box... I saw that as a sign! So like some unknown forces, I found myself stroking the Luxury yarn, mentally imagining how different colours would go together. Next I knew I ordered 6 balls of different colours!  When they arrived last week, I quickly calculated how much I needed in each colour and here they are, ready to for cast on :)

4. Experimenting with shapes and self striping sock yarns for my next amigurumi design.

I am a relatively quicker crocheter now and I keep hoping that the more I knit, the quicker I get.

Have a great stitchy crafty week!

Notthingham beanie - how to make cables without the cable needle...

This week I finished a baby sized Nottingham beanie for a friend's impending new arrival. This is such a easy knit and I used less than one ball of a Morris Estate 8 ply yarn.

There are some cables in this pattern and this time around I tried making these without a cable needle. Very Pink Knits and Knitting Daily both have excellent demos.

Off to plan for the next project!

Another baby beanie in the works...

Last week I casted on another Nottingham beanie and this one is for a friend's new baby boy who is coming in May. He is just one of many impending babies in the first half of 2013 and I am again having to keep a list as I did in 2012 so that I can remember them all :)

Last year I made this same beanie in adult size for Terry and it turned out very nice so I am keen to see a mini version of it.

I am using some Morris Estate 8 ply in the Swimming colourway, knitting with the 5mm 60cm circular needles. The yarn is lovely to knit with, soft in the hands and very quick to knit up, even with the fiddly cables. I picked up a few balls of this yarn in different colours at the 2011 Christmas sales in the Morris & Sons Sydney store. I thought they would be perfect for little knits like this one.

This is now going to be my commuting project (mum's shawl is back on the coffee table!) and I have it in a box shaped bag I made about 18 months ago.  I am definitely going to make more of it as it is perfect size for little projects.

Hopefully I will be able to get more done on it this week so I have more baby gifts on the list!

Happy stitching!

Tiffany Lace Baby Hat

I really don't know what I have done with the time as I just noticed that the last time I posted was 3 weeks ago!

During this time I have finished a couple of projects and made some progress on others. First one I finished this week is the Two Lace Baby Hats pattern by Heather Tucker. There are two lace designs in this pattern and I was instantly drawn to the Tiffany lace. It's quite a simple, well written pattern and I have really enjoyed it. It also worked up really quickly.

This cute little hat and together with Ellie the elephant minky blankie, will be going to my friend's little baby girl who was born in May this year. I hope she likes them.

I dare say that this will be my go-to baby girl hat from now on.

The week that was...

Some quick pics of what I finished this week.

First up, the Puerperium Cardigan. After a nice warm wash and all blocked to shape, I sew on the buttons. I got them from Lincraft and they match perfectly with this little knit. Today we delivered Spotty Panda and my first cardi to their new owner, a cutie called Olivia who was born two weeks ago. I was relieved to see that the cardi is a little big for her right now!

Meanwhile I finished the Swirl hat I started about two weeks ago. This was such a quick and easy knit, I am definitely going to make it again. I used just over half a ball of the Filatura Di Crosa Zara Print Melange yarn, so I might be able to squeeze another hat with the leftover or I will make a pair of mitts or booties... I hope it fits my friend's little baby girl who will be 6 months old by the time she has first winter! 

This weekend, I did some sketching and experimented with couple of different ways to sew a body of a softie I am designing (doh! forgot to take some pictures!).

More crafty adventures to come....

Some new knitting projects...

This week I started a couple of knitting projects. It's unusual for me to have more than 2 on the go but I needed to (of course I did)... two babies are due this month, actually one was born yesterday (whooper 9.5 pounds! cute little girl).

So on Monday I started the Puerperium cardigan, my first cardigan of all time, so I am pretty chuffed to see that it is turning out like a cardi :) I am using Morris Estate 8ply in Nasturtium (a shade of orange). I wanted a gender neutral colour so thought something this bright would be perfect. I got a handful of Morris Estate 8 ply yarns in a few different colours from my local yarn shop Morris & Sons at their December sale.

Then this morning, after a small silent panic session last night as a result of being told about the arrival of the 9.5 pounds bubba, I decided to cast on a little beanie. This is the Swirl Hat pattern by Mandie Harrington. I am using the one ball of Filatura Di Crosa Zara Print Melange (merino superwash) my friend brought back for me from Italy. It's really soft and squishy and nice to knit with. The pattern has called for 4ply but I don't mind it being a little larger so I thought this yarn would be perfect.

I am also running through another softie pattern in my head and working on an amigurumi (slowly)... wouldn't it be nice to have more time!!!!

Anyhoo - just off to knit some more now!

Another Norwegian baby hat

This week I finished another Norwegian baby hat by Djevellue. I loved making the first one so much I decided to make another one, also with dinosaur ridges. You will enough have enough of these in storage in this baby booming time!

Been so long...

Whoa, it has been so long since I last blogged... I got distracted with experimenting different softie making techniques and then I went away to see the olds for week.

Here are some pics of a softie I am making and experimenting techniques with. Going slow but I think I am making progress...

Anyway am home now and have a finished project to show. I finished my first Norwegian baby hat by Djevellue. I followed Pennywenny’s notes to make the dinosaur ridges. I really enjoyed making this hat and just casted on another one since there are going to be two boy babies due in coming weeks within our group of friends.

Aside from this, I am still knitting the Lemongrass glittery Glinda socks by Stranded in Oz. I am at waste yarn row for the after-thought heel on the second sock. My first after-thought heel socks so I am going really slow...

Itching to get back to crafting and so happy that this is the Queen's birthday long weekend!

STITCH ON!

Following the World's Greatest Shave...

So following the World's Greatest Shave a couple of weeks ago, Terry is still getting used to the no hair. With winter coming, I have (naturally) made him a beanie!

The pattern is Nottingham by Melissa Mall. It's a simple straight forward pattern and it is made up snug and warm. I used a skein of Naturally Harmony 14 ply and half a skein of Katia Sulka. I ran out of the Naturally Harmony and the local yarn shop doesn't stock the 14 ply anymore so I took a punt and got the Katia Sulka in similar weight in a slightly lighter shade brown. The colours merged nicely I thought.

So cold...

It's been so cold and windy here which inspired me to knit more. So this week, I finished the simple stockinette beanie for a friend's new baby boy.

This is loosely based on Katt Walker's pattern "All Ears" on Ravelry but I made some decrease rows before grafting it shut. I wasn't going to made the ears but without them, it seems a bit too plain... so I knitted up a pair of bear ears. I made these ears up as they are not in the pattern though they are very simple, just very tiny version of the toe up socks toes! I used the magic loop cast on and it's a good practice for me as I always crochet little objects for the amigurumis and never knitted them.

Anyway, the whole beanie knitted up very quickly and it has turned out quite nice. I can't wait to give it to our little baby friend!

I also started the left mitten of the One Cabled Mitts. It's going so far so good. Simpler than I thought though I haven't used double pointed needles for a long time and found that I am still as clumsy as I first used them.

So hopefully my tension will stay the same and the mittens fit my hands properly!

It is still cold...

A simple stockinette baby beanie

The other project I brought to Brisbane with me is a simple stockinette beanie for a new baby an old friend of mine just had. I always struggle to make things for boys but when I saw this colourway (#835 Pier Dyelot 9005) by Morris & Sons called Morris Empire Superwash Merino, I knew it would be perfect for a baby boy.

I am using knit pro interchangeable 40cm 4mm circular needles and it is knitting up quickly.

Back at work for me tomorrow so there will be the morning and night train commute knitting time.

Cabled beanie

I can't believe it has been two weeks since I last blogged, where has the time gone?

Well whilst the time went quickly, my crafting hasn't and I have only managed to finish one thing - the cabled beanie.

I casted on 96 stitches rather than the 72 stitches the pattern has called for as the baby I am giving this to is a big bubba. Anyway I think it has turned out nicely. I have enjoyed this pattern a lot although it wasn't all smooth sailing and it was just me not paying attention.

When I noticed the mistakes, 10 rows down, I thought I could fix this easily surely... just drop the stitches were the mistakes are and pick them up again right? ahmm, no not really... anyway after spending a few hours trying to unpick and pick up the stitches to their rightful places, I realised it wasn't going to work. It looked awful! I asked Terry what he thought, if I should just pull it out... : ( he looked at me sympathetically and said "babe you know you will only be happy if all the stitches are the way they should be." So I did. He watched as I pulled out 10 rows with a sad face.

Fast forward a few days and this story has a good happy ending! : )

More progress!

Big Herringbone cowl - so soft!! I have done a few more rows and the pattern has turned out to be very easy - not as daunting as I originally feared. This is going to be a great social/ train project as the stitches are all the same.

Cabled baby hat - oh this has come up so nice!! Just finished first pattern repeat and one more set to go then I will start decreasing...

So happy with these progress : )