Much Love Monday - Bank Holidays

This Monday I am loving the fact that it is a Bank holiday, so although I was working on Saturday I still have two whole days to knit, write, read and hang out with my lovely husband! Happy Monday!

Bobble Hats and Beyond!

First I would like to say that I have been rubbish at blogging this week and I'm sorry. It has been a really busy week and I just couldn't fit it in. I will try harder this week I promise!

So, now things in my knitting world are starting to get a little tricky! For my next project - The Bobble Hat - I need to learn how to purl.  The first few attempts were not successful. I thought I was totally doing it I really did but then I looked at what I had been knitting and it looked the same as plain knit stitch... clearly something was wrong. I tried again, this time it seemed to be okay but I got a little carried away and dropped some stitches, not ideal but at least what I had knit was purl! No I'm already a believer that third time is a charm so off I went again... and hooray this time success, no dropped stitches and purl all the way.

At this point I thought I would quit practising and start my hat before I forgot how to do it. I had decided to make my bobble hat in a fabulous shade of pink to match some gloves I have. The hat has a 1 x 1 rib border but the rest is in garter stitch so wish me luck.

To be continued...

Much Love Monday! New mug

Happy Monday everyone! This Monday I am not loving all the wind and the rain but I am loving my new mug for work



I love Agatha Christie!


Also as I work in a library I thought it was rather apt!
Hope your having less rain and wind than me and enjoy your Monday xx

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Baby Booties!

Oh my word, that was so easy! I managed to make these in one night! I don't think it was because I am now an amazing and very talented knitter ! I think it has more to do with a very easy but great pattern.  And now I have a new skill... I can decrease! This was also quite straight forward but I was pretty pleased that it worked first time. The first bootie turned out perfect but as I was reading the pattern one of the things that could go wrong was that your second bootie might not come out the same size as the first one! So I started quite nervously but hooray two perfectly matched booties!!

Now all that was left was to wait for my my new niece or nephew to be born! Which happened rather earlier than expected, 7 weeks earlier! But we got a lovely little nephew, James, who is doing just fine and loved his booties.

All I need to do now is make some more, I might play around with them as well and try different variations. Fingers crossed! 

Onwards and upwards

So now that I have finished my scarf, its onto the next knitting adventure. Project two in my knitting bible aka Knitty Gritty: Knitting for the absolute beginner by Aneeta Patel, is baby booties. Now this is quite handy as when I was looking at this a couple of months ago I was due to be an Aunt again (he is now born and doing very well and of course is gorgeous!) so I thought this would be perfect. So of I went to the wool shop to look at baby wool.
Baby wool is pretty cool, lots of lovely pastel shades and so so soft! I was tempted to buy loads, I did however, stick to just one ball of very neutral lemon. Now all I had to do was knit them...

Amazing finds!

Hi everyone

I just had to share this with you, this is the best thing about blogging!
I have just been looking around some blogs and saw a really cool knitted ear warmer with flower! So I clicked the link and it took me to this great blog which not only had more pictures of the ear warmers but instructions on how to make them! It is so adorable! I have to make one!
Have a look yourself:
http://imtopsyturvy.com/index.php/knit-ear-warmer-with-crochet-flower/
I love blogging!

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Much Love Monday - Listening to the foo fighters

Today I am loving listening to the foo fighters while I knit! Can't wait to see them again in July!
Happy Monday! X

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A Scarf Is Born!

So after not too many mishaps my first project was starting to take shape! I was becoming more comfortable knitting and found myself desperate to get back to it when I'd been at work or just too busy. This really surprised me especially after the shaky start I'd had. Anyway after 3 weeks and 4 balls of wool my scarf was finally finished! There was a quick phone call to my mum about weaving in the ends but no major disasters! So here is it:



Isn't she lovely?!

I was so pleased with it I decided to wear it straight away, the only problem was the rather warm March day we were having. But I thought to hell with it I made so I'm wearing it! I was slightly too hot but it was worth it, I felt so proud of myself



Please let me know what you think, I'd love to hear your comments!

Happy knitting/blogging xx

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Tips for the beginner

Now I am not trying to say I'm an expert but over the last three months I have picked up a couple of really good tips about learning to knit and I would have been lost without them. So here they are:

1. Get books from your library first - don't buy until you know you will use and love the book
2. Don't try anything too complicated at first
3. Choose a pattern that you love, making it will be more rewarding that way and you'll want to keep going with it until the end
4. Always check the pattern for needle size and type of yarn that you will need
5. Count your stitches after every row
6. Keep a record of your projects. Include the pattern, yarn used, needle size and notes about the knitting process.
7. Take photo's of all your work, especailly if you give them away. It's nice to look back on what you made
8. As a beginner always buy more yarn than you think you'll need, you never know
9. Don't worry about mistakes, everyone makes them
10. Try and knit a little everyday

These tips have really helped me and I hope others find them useful!

Happy knitting/blogging xx

Where & why I blog

So I have just been asked where and why I blog. Firstly I usually blog in my living room which looks a little like this

However, you will probably notice a furry lump on my chair and that would be my little cat Phoebe who seems to think it's her chair. A daily battle ensues over who has claim and unfortunatley as she has claws she wins and I end up on the sofa or the dining room table. I also blog from my iphone which is really handy but I have to admit it's not my favourite way to blog. I like my chair, a cuppa and my laptop.

Why I blog? Now there's a question, I suppose I started so that I could share what I was doing with people who were as in love with knitting as I am! I have not been knitting long and blogging for an even shorter time but I really enjoy both. Blogging has been such an eye opener, I love looking at what everyone else is creating and doing!

Anyway, that will probably do,

Happy knitting/blogging xx

Knitty Gritty

So I took my mum's advice and practiced for a bit. I was doing just plain knit and actually finding it ok and was starting to feel quite happy about things. What also helped was the arrival of one of the knitting books I ordered from my Library. It's called Knitty Gritty by Aneeta Patel http://www.amazon.co.uk/Knitty-Gritty-Knitting-Absolute-Beginner/dp/0713685425/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304861165&sr=1-1
It wasn't lying when it siad it was for the absolute beginner, it starts at the very beginning. The directions are so easy to follow and the projects are really cool and gradually progress in difficulty as you go. So I decided it was time... I was going to make something! The first project in the book is a chunky scarf. I checked what yarn I would need and the type of needles and went to the wool shop!

This is what I came back with, size 12.0mm bamboo knitting needles and some gorgeous chunky charcoal coloured yarm.

I was so excited and got knitting straight away.

To be continued...

Watch this space

Have just got the blog app for my phone to work! Very excited, will be blogging on the move now!
Have also ordered some books from the library on blogging - the one for dummies in particular, so I'll be a pro at this in no time!

Happy blogging! X

Tantrums and tears!

So my first knitting experience didn't go so well, I had got this really cool looking book from the library, which advertised fun and easy projects. However, after three hours I was finding them neither fun nor easy. I was totally struggling to make sense of the patterns or any of the instructions and really holding the needles was becoming a challenge. At this point I decided it would be a good idea to call my mum, I know, I know calling my mum a bit sad but what's a girl to do? Once she had established what I was trying to do, which turned out to be rib stitch she very tactfully suggested that maybe I just concentrate on just knit. I thought that she was possibly underestimating my skills but again she pointed out rather tactfully that this was my very first time kniting so maybe the basic stitch would be a good place to start and to just practice for a bit before I tried to make anything. I have to admit I was pretty disappointed I thought this knitting thing was going to be quite easy and that I would be making cool knits and accessaries in no time. I was wrong, so wrong!

So I picked my self and my knitting needles up and tried again.

Was knitting not enough?

I have now been knitting for  3 months and already finding it hard to find the time to do the recommended 2 lines a day why on earth did I think that writing a blog about it would be a) easy to do and b) not time consuming in the slightest. This is the first day and it's already taken me 1 hour and I've barely wrtten anything. Anyway, I'm determind I'm going to do this so here goes...

So why did I decide to start kniting at the tender age of 28? Well it was probably my mum to start with as she knit's and is always making cool things that I want, and also because a woman came into the library where I work and wanted to start a knitting group and I thought it sounded  like fun and hey how hard could it be?!! Well very to be honest, but we'll come to that later.

First I thought I would get a book for beginners and give it a bash. As I work in a library I thought this would be pretty simple but I was to be proven wrong. Apparently I'm a bit slow on this knitting thing and the whole world is full of people knitting, and oh borrowing books about it from my library. So anyway I ordered a few books for the complete novice and waited. When the first couple arrived they were not exactly what I was looking for but I did buy some wool and needles and gave it a go regardless. This however, ended in tears and with a phone call to my mum but more about that tomorrow.

I think that enough for tonight, I'll continue with my knitting adventures tomorrow.

Happy knitting/blogging. x