Yarning along - clouds

Hello

Well it's been a while, but I am really looking forward to joining in this week with Yarning along.

Currently I am knitting this beautiful fluffy cloud blanket. It is designed by my friend and very talented children's knitwear designer Vikki Bird, who is offering 20% off all her designs over the summer holidays! I am making this blanket for my friends baby, unfortunately baby Harris is already 4 months old, so I have decided I will finish it in time for his half birthday, in a couple of months. It should be achievable, it's a lovely pattern to follow and with the summer nights I'll soon have it finished. I'm just over a third of the way at the moment, but my youngest has chicken pox this week, so we have been confined to the sofa so I should get lots of time for knitting. I am using stylecraft special Aran for this blanket and it is very soft and squidgy, it's going to be a lovely warm blanket, which is great because baby Harris lives in the Highlands of Scotland and it can be a bit nippy up there! 

Book wise I have just finished the Unmumsy Mum by Sarah Turner, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. It was full of laughs and truths and in a lot of way summed up how I have felt and sometimes do feel about being a mum. I will start a new book so tonight but I'm not sure what that will be yet, I have a couple to choose from so I will see how I feel when I get to bed.

I'm not sure when I will blog again, maybe at the weekend, we are trying backgarden camping so I am hoping to do a post about that but if not probably next week for yarning along.

Fo Friday - baby bear hat

In my last post I said one of the things I wanted to do this year was use up my yarn stash. Unfortunately I have already added to my stash with 2 50g balls of Rico. The only upside of this purchase is that I do know what I'm going to make with it. I did have to buy some yarn to finish my baby blanket but I used so little I gave the rest of the ball away so I don't think that counts. 

Speaking of the blanket, I did run out of the white yarn and used some from my stash so that definitely counts towards stash busting. I was left with some of the third colour, the plain yellow. I was not prepared to just add this to my stash so I thought I would use it up with a little baby hat. This was extremely easy and quick to knit, just stocking stitch and then just knit for the ears. I do love the ears! I still have some of the yarn left, too much just to throw away so I think a pair of booties may be in order.

Once the booties are done I think if there is any yarn left it will be such a small amount I can just throw it away and then I will have used up all the yarn from the blanket! And I won't be left with some yarn that I would probably do nothing with. 

Happy Friday!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Fo Friday - baby blanket

I'm super excited today, not only have I finished my first item this year but I've finished the baby blanket! I can't believe how quick I completed this, I thought, in fact worried that it might drag on like the last time I attempted to make it! But no, in just 6 weeks it's all finished. Hooray!

I really enjoyed knitting this and can't wait to use it when our baby arrives! 

I have some yellow yarn left so I've cast on a baby hat that will match! 

Oh don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Happy Friday everyone!

The end is near...

Could it be, could I actually be about to complete the baby blanket, the baby blanket I started 3 years ago and abandoned, unpicked  and started again last month?

Well if this photo is anything to go by then yes!

I have one square left to do and then I just need to sew it together. I'm so pleased the end is near, not because I'm bored with the blanket, not at all, but because I never thought I would complete it and here I am, just one square away. 

I've loved knitting this, is been so easy and really calming just knitting away, slowly growing (me and the blanket!) I'll be sad to see this one finished but also super chuffed! 

Watch this space next week for a finished blanket! 

Making progress

Since I found out I was pregnant I have been in two minds as to what I would make/knit for the baby,  if in fact anything. The reason behind me thinking I might not make anything is because I didn't make anything for Angus when I was pregnant with him. I also somehow managed to attach some feelings of guilt onto this, feeling that it wasn't fair to Angus. However, now that my morning sickness has gone and a new year has started I feel I really should make something for our new arrival. Also my husband told me I was being silly, he was right. I make things for Angus all the time so I don't feel guilty about making this baby some things. 

So, what am I making... some of you may remember from when I was pregnant with Angus I started a baby blanket. There were a couple of problems with the blanket and it was never finished. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I would rip it out and start again. It's going much better than last time even with the small issue I had last week. I am now further with the blanket than I ever got when I was making it before and I am still feeling good about it and not bored. I mention the bored part as it's just plain garter stitch but at the moment that's about all my brain can handle! 

This is what it currently looks like

I have done 2 of the 5 stripes so making good progress.

Also if you would like to read about the last attempt at the blanket you can find it here.

Eureka!!!!

While being pregnant I have been doing some out of character things, mainly forgetting things, which is very unlike me. But generally just being absent minded. 

I go out on a Monday night to meet some lovely ladies and do some knitting, it's a lovely group and has an added bonus of pudding most weeks! I was there this week working on my blanket, all went well, I had a lovely pudding and a good catch up with the ladies. On Tuesday night I was knitting again and happened to glance down at my knitting and realised Monday night had not been as good as I thought. I had managed to miss out 20 rows of one colour and had started the next. Now for most knitters this would be annoying but not the end of the world, however, for me it was a disaster! This is mainly because I am rubbish at frogging, I either loose stitches and loose all the knitting. One of the ladies on a Monday night usually helps me but this was only Tuesday so I would miss a whole week of knitting. After sulking about this for a few days I decided I would just try and frog it, I have watched Vikki (the lovely lady who normally helps me) frog things a few times and thought I could give it a go.

Vikki has this method off putting a knitting needle through the row stitches she wants to keep and them she can pull put everything above that and not loose any knitting or stitches that she doesn't want too. So I tried it... I guess from the title of today's post you can guess how it went...I succeed!!!! I was so chuffed! Eureka!!!

Also thanks to a very accommodating husband and child I managed to get all the extra white rows done and redo all the yellow ones, so now I am back to where I had been and I've learnt a knew skill! Yay! 

Here's the blanket all fixed!

Wip Wednesday #28

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I'm afraid I've not much to show you this week and not much time but didn't want to miss another Wednesday!

First Wip - Baby

This is one of the rare moments Angus has smiled this week. We are teething at the moment, there are at least 3 top teeth coming through so understandably Angus is not at his best! This was him trying to chase mummy, his favourite game at the moment.

Second Wip - Baby Blanket

As you can see not a lot of progress here just half a white square, I have discovered since photographing it though that my squares don't line up! The pattern said to make each square 13cm and really I should have counted how many rows this was but I didn't and I'm not going to now, it will just have to be uneven! Hopefully it will work in its favour, what do you think?

Third Wip - Circular

I don;t want to say too much about this as its a gift for someone, but what I will say its that i am very pleased with it! I should have it finished soon but the reveal will have to wait until it has been received as a gift. I just hope they like it!

Well that's it for me today, linking up with the lovely Tami
I will also be linking this post with the following blogs
Wednesday - Show off your stuff party
                     Yarn along

A yarn about yarn

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So being a knitter I love yarn, I love yarn shops, I even like looking online for yarn, there is just something about these squidgy balls that I love. It might be the excitement of seeing how it knits up or what I'll make with it, I don't know I just know I love it and that I have far more than I'll ever need!

                       

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I thought I would have a bit of a chat about the different yarns I'm using just now for my wips. First up is my tie top. The yarn for this is by Rowan and is called Lenpur Linen, the colour shade is stone. Its quite nice to work with but it does split so you have to be careful, I think also because I'm using quite small needles it makes it more tricky. It knits up lovely though and will be really nice to wear when its finished. I would use this yarn again for other projects.

Next up is the baby blanket. This yarn is lovely its so soft and yummy. I am using three different shades of the same yarn for the blanket. A lovely lemon shade, a snow white and a lemon with a sparkle. They are all by stylecraft and called wondersoft. It really is yummy baby yarn. This yarn is really lovely and easy to work with and as the blanket is in garter stitch its just a really lovely project! (Sorry for the excessive use of the word lovely but there is just no better way to describe it, it really is lovely, just lovely!)

Now onto the circular, this yarn is super chunky and warm, perfect for scarves and hats. The colour of this yarn is a oatmeal colour which just makes the knitting look even warmer. The yarn is by King Cole and again is good to work with. It is quite warm to sit under which would be my only complaint but that isn't helped by the nice weather we have been having.

That about sums up the yarn I'm using just now. I have 2 other wips that I'm working on at the moment which I'll post about on Wednesday so maybe next Monday I'll do another yarn about yarn post.

I'd love to know if you've used any of these yarns and what you thought of them. Also if you just want to share which yarns you're using just now, or have a recommendation I'd love to hear it!

Happy knitting

Wip wednesday #26

Hi everyone!

Really excited today to be taking part in Tami's linky party today. It's been so long since I did one of these and I can't wait to share what I'm up to and see what everyone else is up to.

This week has been great knitting and blogging again. I really missed being part of this world and it's great making things again. I shouldn't really be surprised but I've already added several projects to my list,
what is it about knitters and are inability to stop looking at more patterns and yarn when we already have far more to do/use than we could ever manage! It's half the fun though isn't it?!

So onto the all important Wips (work in progress)

First Wip - Baby

Not a wee baby anymore, 10 1/2 months, I don't know where the time has gone. Angus is walking, eating everything in sight and expressing his personality, he's such a little character! Unfortunately as is the way with children we've had a couple of weeks of illness here, first Angus and I had conjunctivitis and then this week Angus has had a chest infection. He seems to be on the mend now, so hopefully we will start getting more sleep soon!

Second Wip - Baby blanket

Now the last time you saw this it looked like this, so it has progressed but as you can see it wasn't finished for baby's arrival! I am still enjoying knitting it and will finish it, one day!

Third Wip - circular

This is a bit of a sad story, hankies at the ready. I picked this up on Monday night and had thought I had cast on but had got no further, I was wrong, it was half way through. As you can imagine I was chuffed, so I started knitting and was getting on fine until I had a proper look at it. I had gone wrong, instead of moss stitch which I had been doing I was now doing rib stitch. As I tried not to panic, I started to frog it, well long story short, I'm not very good at frogging and had to pull it all out and I'm now left with the ball of wool pictured above. I don't really have words to describe how cross I was about the whole thing, but that's knitting for you, I'm always learning!

Fourth Wip - Tie top

OK so lets end on a high, this is my tie top, I've been working on this for ages but I would just pick it up now and then but I've decided to make the commitment to work on it a bit each week, so hopefully one day i will actually wear it. To give you an idea of its journey so far click here.

So that's it for me today. I'm off for some lunch, then Angus and I are going on a play date. I'll catch up with Tamis and everyone tonight.
I will also be linking this post with the following blogs
Wednesday - Show off your stuff party
                     Yarn along
Thursday - Our creative spaces
                

Sunny Wip Wednesday!!

Happy sunny Wednesday!

I hope the weather is as nice with you all as it is here! It has been beautiful here the last couple of days! I'm posting a bit later than normal today as I've spent most of the day out in the garden, reading and knitting, it has been lovely. The husband and I are just back from a nice walk and an ice-cream! I love the way the sunshine lifts your mood!

Right so onto the wips, I'm pleased to say I am one wip less than last week as I'm pretty much done with Neve's knitting and hopefully will have it ready to show on Friday!

First wip - Baby

As you can see growing nicely and all set for summer!

Second wip - Baby blanket
I haven't done as much on this as I'd hoped as I've been trying to get Neve's knitting finished. However I am pleased with the progress and as I said last week its really nice to just pick up and knit, I do love garter stitch and super soft yarn!

Third wip - Circular
I'm really disappointed about this one as after being so excited about getting to grips with circular knitting last week I went to cast on and realised I didn't have the size needle I needed and when I went to my lys they didn't have it either, boo hiss! But they have ordered me one, which will hopefully be here by the weekend so I will be able to cast on then! Yay!

Books
I finished last weeks book and it was ok, I wasn't too happy with the ending but overall it was ok.
This week though I have started a new book and I am loving it. It's called "Company of Liars" and its by Karen Maitland.

Its about the plague when it first comes to England and an unlikely group of people who are forced to travel together to try and out run the spreading plague. I'm only a little way in but already the characters are appealing and the story has me hooked!

So what are you reading and knitting?

Well I'm off to visit Tamis and see what everyone else is up to!
I will also be linking this post with the following blogs
Wednesday - Show off your stuff party
                     Yarn along
Thursday - Our creative spaces
                 Delightfully inspiring Thursday
                 Creative Juice Thursday

Wip Wednesday #26

Well its Wednesday again, I thought pregnancy was supposed to make time go slower but for me the weeks are just whizzing by. I seem to have jinxed myself as well as I said last week I was feeling much better and this week I've been feeling rubbish. I was at the doctor this morning and I have a viral infection and have been signed off work for a week. Going to keep this post as short as I can due to feeling pretty rubbish.

First Wip - Baby
We had our 20 week scan on Monday and baby is growing very nicely and all healthy. The husband and I are so pleased! It was also lovely to see our little baby again and we found out that we are having a boy! 
Here's a wee photo

Second Wip -Neve's knitting
I am finally making some progress with this as you can see from the photo below the body is done and the hood and I have started the first sleeve. Unfortunately I think wee Neve is going to be too big for it now so I will have to find another little girl to give it to and I will have to knit Neve something else. I am glad to be nearing the end with this one though, it not be a difficult knit at all just life has got in the way of knitting and this has been dragging on for ages.

Third Wip - Baby blanket
This is the first thing I have started knitting for our baby and I'm loving it! My lovely friend Ellen gave me the wool and the pattern as a baby bump present! Is lovely wool to work with and a nice easy knit so I don't have to think too hard about it, which is perfect just now!

Oh sorry about the bad quality photo's I used my iphone as I couldn't find my camera.

Books
At the moment I am reading lots of pregnancy books and loads of new parent/new baby books (any recommendations greatly received!) so not done a lot of novel reading but I'm in the middle of one just now called "Sex and Stravinsky" by Barbara Trapido. Its just got to a really good bit so I think I will have it finished soon. This is the second Barbara Trapido book I've read and I would definitely read more, I think she is quite funny and like her style of writing.

That's it for me today, I'm off to visit Tamis and see what everyone else is up to!
I will also be linking this post with the following blogs
Wednesday - Show off your stuff party
                     Yarn along
Thursday - Our creative spaces
                 Delightfully inspiring Thursday
                 Creative Juice Thursday