FO: Colour Me Cute

It seems I have been doing a lot of test knitting lately.  I really enjoy the process of testing a new pattern out and finding any errors etc along the way.  This particular test knit was a bit of a happy coincidence.  Lately when browsing patterns on Ravelry I have been strangely drawn to colourwork projects and had been trying to decide what to knit to get this out of my system.  I was tossing up between socks for me or maybe some fingerless mitts for next winter but had yet to find the 'perfect project' that really jumped out at me.
Then I saw that the lovely Elena Nodel had a new design ready for testing that is as cute as can be and would also fulfill my 'need' to get my colourwork fix.
This wee top/jersey (can be knitted with short or long sleeves) she has called 'Colour Me Pretty' and here is my version of it.

The smallest size for this pattern is 20" chest and as Miss M is only currently a 19" I knew this would end up a little on the big side.  She can definitely wear it now but I think it will be perfect come the end of summer and into autumn though.  I have knitted this version in Perendale 100% wool, mainly because I had the chocolate for the main color in stash and also because I could get a nice range of coordinating colors for the colourwork.  I must say a huge thank you here to the lovely ladies from my knitting group who helped me make the very awkward decision of what colors to use for this, I am completely rubbish as decisions like that.
So what do I love about this top?  EVERYTHING!  I am thrilled with how the colors have turned out, I love the design and the colourwork was loads of fun (and made the top seem to grow so quickly).  For any knitters out there that haven't tried colourwork before all I can say is its nowhere near as scary as it looks so just bite the bullet and give it a go :-)
Here are some shots of Miss M wearing it.  The yoke bunches a little on her at the moment simply because it is still a wee bit on the big side, still super cute though.

There is a high chance this will be my favorite FO of the year and is one of my all time favorites ever!

A Busy Day

Lately Mr A seems to wake up every Saturday and ask Daddy if he is going cycling today.  Most weeks they head down to the riverbank and ride along the riverbank trail and I collect a rather tired wee boy and bike at the end of the run.  Last weekend their bike computer told them they had cycled 8.5km at an average speed of 10k/h, not bad for a 4.5 year old.
Anyway this weekend we decided to try something a bit different.  By some miracle DP managed to fit both his bike and Mr A's in the car so we drove to Pencarrow and the boys went for a cycle ride while Miss M and I went for a nice brisk walk.

Getting the bikes ready to go.

All set in the buggy.

A wee warm up round the carpark.

Here are some of the things Miss M and I spotted along the way.

Pink daisies.

A wee reminder of Scotland.

A view across the harbor

The pathway.

Waves crashing.

Miss M with some 'fluffy flowers'

A 'monster' bush

When we all got back to the car it was time for a quick picnic lunch and a play at the beach.

What better way to round off an outing like this than to stop for gelato and coffee on the way home.  This might have been a busy day in itself except that when we got home we deiced it was time to do some gardening.  Unfortunately (or fortunately because it was probably too embarrassing to post) I didn't get a before picture of the garden but here is what it looks like now.  Suffice it to say it was a haven for every type of weed imaginable so Mr A and I cleared it almost completely and then prepared it for some new plants.  With Mr A's help we chose some seedlings and a couple of lavender bushes and it is now looking much better.

Now I just need to find the motivation to tackle the rest of the garden as well :-)

FO: Baby Vertebrae

This project was a test knit for Kelly Brooker. When I saw her first photos of this design I fell in love with it. On first glance a frontless baby cardigan ay not seem practical but there are so many reasons this is a fab idea. Think of all those times a wee neborn alls asleep on your chest and you really need to take heir cardy off before popping them to bed. Have you ever had a refluxy or spilly baby, or a messy eating older baby and got sick of the endless woolen washing for the grubby cardy frints? Or my personal fav is that I think this design would be perfect for baby wearing, giving warmth on the arms and back while the wee one is snuggled up to you :-)
Anyway where was I? Oh yes having fallen in love with this pattern I jumped at the chance to test knit it for Miss M and here is the result.

The baby vertebrae pattern comes in a variety of yarn weights (4ply, 8ply and 10ply) and in sizes nb-2y (37.5cm-52.5cm chest).  Miss M is currently about 48cm chest so I had the choice between doing the 47.5cm or 50cm size.  I went up to the 50cm size and as a result the finished cardy is a little big on her right now but I think it will be perfect towards the end of summer/beginning of autumn.  Here I have knitted it in 8ply Skeinz Random Print in colourway Candy.  I was too sure about this yarn when I started knitting it up but now that it's done I am pretty pleased with the result.  For the 50cm size knitted with all lengths exactly to pattern this took exactly 150g.
Here are some pics of it being worn, Miss M was a bit too busy to be bothered with photos so they aren't the best.

I am still a bit obsessed by this pattern even having knitted it up, which is very strange for me as I don't very often knit a pattern more than once.  I can see this becoming a bit of a go-to pattern for me for new baby gifts though so be warned anyone I know who may be expecting or have a new baby.  Speak now if you don't want one, or if you do ;-)

FO: A Gift For a Special Boy

Once again I time has run away with me and I am behind in popping all my FO's up here.  I will start right now with a quick post about a special baby gift.
I love making baby gifts and enjoy searching out the perfect pattern for the baby, what the parents might like, what would be right for the season etc.  Then the hunt is on for the yarn that is just right etc.  Early in 2011 we were very excited to learn that we would be introducing a new niece or nephew into our family.  Unfortunately for us this new wee person lives on the other side of the world, about as far away from us as you can get, so we knew we wouldn't be able to enjoy baby snuggles and that fabulous first meeting.  We later learnt that my SIL was having a wee boy and so I felt that a lovely snuggly cardy to wear through the Northern winter was just the ticket.
The pattern I chose this time was Young Einstein by Julia Stanfield which is part of the Little Rascals e-book.  I honestly don't think there is a better value for money pattern around.  This e-book contains a vest, jersey and cardigan in sizes nb-8y and is one if the few truly unisex patterns I have come across.  With options for cables, hood, collar, pockets the options are endless.
Here is my version, a size 0-3m.

The yarn I used here is Utiku multi in colourway Ocean.  I chose to do cables along the raglan increases and didn't add a collar or hood.

The hardest part of this project was finding the perfect buttons and after a long search I chose these cute wee teddies.

So congratulations to the proud new parents and sisters and I will check if I can add a picture of the wee man himself here soon.

In the Craft Room

Oh that sounds so organized but in reality it is completely the opposite plus my craft room is predominantly the computer room and place for storage of random stuff unfortunately.  But what I really mean is that I thought I would pop a wee post up about what has been happening on the crafty front round here.
Mainly of late I have been knitting.  I have got two things here that are recently off the needles but one is a gift and the other is blocking so instead of posting proper pics I will just show this until I am ready to do FO posts on these ones.

So what is on my needles now?  Another test knit, here is a sneaking WIP pic.

The main problem I have had lately is that I have a whole heap of sewing I HAVE to get done (I promised someone nappies weeks ago) and I have no motivation to drag out the machine and get stuck into it.  But yesterday this arrived in the mail

Followed by this today.

Well hello there sewing mojo, now I just need some kid free time to get on with it :-)

Anything You Can Do

I can do too :-)

Giveaway Results

First of all a huge thanks to everyone who read my Designer round-up ramblings and left comments, I have loved looking up patterns people mentioned and even discovered a couple of new designers, woohoo.

Anyway the winner of the free pattern, as chosen by random.org, is......... number 5.

The lucky recipient is Natalie who requested Christine's Daisy May pattern.

via

Congratulations Natalie.  Can you please let me know your contact details so I can gift the pattern to you :-)