Pretty little things

It’s strange how small accomplishments can often bring the greatest pleasure: a completed crossword, a neat pile of ironing, a tray of perfectly risen cakes. That’s why sometimes creating small but beautiful things rather than knitting an inch of your current major project is a good use of a precious hour. I’ve been on a bit of a jewellery-making binge recently (both knitted and non-knitted) and I’ve put some photos of a couple of the things I’ve made below.  I'll put more projects in my next post, but I thought I'd stick to a sea theme in this one.

Blue wave -silver beaded cuff

Seafoam and Pearls - knitted lace choker

A simple seafoam stitch choker with pearls.  The buttons at the back are made with larger pearls and seed beads and the tiny button loops are just so sweet.

Home help

The Bunkey loves to help around the house.  When I’m hanging the washing on the maidens to dry he follows behind me and carefully pulls it all off; he loves to come and peer into bowls of cake or scone mixes but as he also loves to try and get a sticky finger into the mixture, I’ve taken to giving him a big plastic bowl and wooden spoon so he can stir too.   Another task he enjoys is carefully sorting my embroidery threads (imagination will help you picture the kind of ‘sorting’ a 14 month old boy can do to a tin of brightly coloured cottons...)  But he does think he is helping and is so proud when I praise him for some particularly good ‘work’. 

Recently, I decided that it was about time that we made something together, so Alex helpfully obliged by making some lovely hand prints which we turned into the cushion pictured below.  I added a small amount of embroidery over the top just to give it a bit more texture.  2009 is going to be a year of make do and mend for me as it is the first year that I won’t be earning a wage. So the cushion is made out of an old tablecloth, the sofa it is sitting on has been recovered and then to salvage those covers recently re-dyed and the knitted cushion was made out of a ball of horrible old wool that has been hiding in my stash cupboard for a long time.  When the Monkey got home from work he thought I’d bought a new sofa!

I'm still here...

Apologies for the strange looking blog, gremlins seem to have taken up residence during my long vacation.

This post is going to be mostly pictures, I’m afraid, just to bring the blog up to date. It has been a long time since I last updated here, despite composing many posts in my head. Alex has taken up so much of my life, sometimes it’s easy to forget to think about other things. But I am beginning to realise that for the sake of my sanity I should make an effort to do more. Being a stay- at-home mum will be such a wonderful job (if you use that word for something that is more fun than work) but, like any job, I don’t want it to be all that I am so I am trying to make an increased effort to be more than that (in the very small amount of spare time that I have).

Anyway, here are some of the FOs which I haven’t previously posted about. They are on Ravelry with more photos (my user name is skendras).

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl (interweave knits)

Yarn: Posh Yarn Eva – Orchid (I think)

Needles: 3.5 mm

This was made for my Monkey’s Grandmother. I added tiny purple beads to the points of the edging.

Pattern: Kerchief Bib

Yarn: Rowan Denim

Needles: 4mm

Made for my little monkey, to soak up the rivers of drool he produces when he is teething. Just made a few mods to allow for the thicker yarn and the fact that the denim shrinks. Plus I added a felt heart for some extra cuteness.

Pattern: My own Bobbley bobble hat

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and some left over Rowanspun Aran from my Juno

Needles: 4mm

This was made for my baby monkey, it looks totally ridiculous :-) He gets so many nice comments when he is wearing this hat!

Pattern: Just made it up as I went along

Yarn: Sirdar Baby Bamboo

Needles: 4mm

This was made for my baby Monkey. He loves to fiddle with the various textures. It’s quite a small blanket but I wanted to make it so that he could cuddle up to it.

I’m currently knitting a Cardigan for Merry, Icarus, two lace stole and a baby blanket... hmm did I say I don’t have much spare time!

Now a quick non-knitting update. Alex is almost a year now and is busy crawling and cruising the furniture. He has been through a (long) period when he wasn’t sleeping well at night and I have been feeling like a zombie but for the last 5 nights he has slept through and it’s making such a difference to both of us! I‘ve actually regained enough brain power to finish sentences and not put the milk in the dishwasher.

So that kind of brings me up to date. I wonder whether any one is still out there! I’ll have to go and check out all your blogs to see what you have all been up to.

'Snow in April'

I know I said I would post more frequently and I’ve not. I’m sorry. We were burgled recently and my laptop was stolen. I know that it is just a ‘thing’ but to be honest, I’m feeling quite down about it.

It isn’t just the laptop (although it did have all the patterns I’ve downloaded over the years and my new design on it); it is the thought that someone got into my home so easily and looked through all my things. I hate the fact that they might have touched my baby’s toys. This is a bit silly and I shouldn’t let it bother me but it does. We are going to get a new lock fitted soon, so that will make me feel a bit happier I think.

Everyday the blank spot on the coffee table where my laptop used to sit reminds me about the burglary. If I were to get close to explaining how I feel about it, I would say that mostly I feel foolish. It feels like ‘a slap in the face when you expected a kiss’ (by the way if you can tell me where this quote comes from and what the full version is I’ll be sooooo impressed). People are all so nice to you when you have had a baby and I guess I had got used to it! I was wondering around with my head in the clouds and a smile on my face and I really didn’t expect it.

Anyway, that is enough moaning about that. Let’s send it under the metaphorical bridge. I’ve been knit, knit, knitting away here. I can’t really show you as I am still planning on trying to get the pattern into one of the online magazines but I’m really pleased with it so far. By the way what are your views on beads in lace? I can’t decide whether to put some teardrop beads in the border of the design or not.

I’ve put some pictures of my finished scarf up. I was hoping to take some of me wearing it but somehow the only person who gets photographed these days is my beautiful Alex.

Serendipity Scarf* details

Yarn: Colinette Point 5 dusk - 3 skeins
Needles: 15mm Lantern moon (lovely, lovely, lovely)
Pattern: none really

I wanted to really show off the colours in the yarn and a simple garter stitch just didn’t seem to do it. So I used a kind of slipped stitch rib, which, as well as meaning it didn’t curl, made beautiful bud like stitches that seemed to bloom out of the fabric.

CO 14 stitches
Row 1: (RS) K14
Row 2: P2, (slp wyf, P2) 4 times

Repeat these two rows until you almost run out of yarn, BO.

*I'll explain the name of the scarf in a future post!

More lace

This is my favourite drawer in my entire home. Look at all that lovely lace weight yarn. The problem is that I really need to knit this yarn up before I can allow myself to buy any more. Knitting lace is definitely more difficult since Alex was born but during my maternity leave I came up with a new design and the temptation to start it was so great that last week I cast on.

I'm making it in Jaggerspun Zephyr in a gorgeous shade called Ruby (it reminds me of the colour of the Grand Prix roses I had in my wedding bouquet). I'm probably being a little bit over ambitious but I was thinking that perhaps I might try and get the design into one of the online knitting magazines. I know that this is unlikely as there are so many people trying to do this and most of them have much better patterns than me but I thought I'd give it a go. However, this means I'm being extra picky about the knitting and the design. I keep changing my mind and having to undo about 10 rows or so at the time and mistakes that I might normally turn a blind eye on have to be corrected. Anyway, I thought I'd tell you about my knitting ambition for 2008. If nothing comes of it I'll put it as a free pattern on here and try again another time.