FOs part two

My second FO for this week was a little cardi for baby. Much as I'm supposed to be concentrating on Christmas presents and winter woollies for Cassie I do feel better now I've completed a 'proper' garment for baby, not just hats and socks.

There's not really a lot to say about this, the pattern is Little Coffee Bean Cardigan by Elizabeth Smith and is a really simple lovely little pattern. As ever I was less than enthusiastic about picking up stitches for the button band and I made a less than brilliant job of it, but I can live with it. The yarn is Drops Nepal, I ended up using 1 ball of the pink and about 1 1/2 of the blue. I'm a bit miffed that I bought extra of the pink when it turns out I had just enough in the stash but I'll definitely use it for something so I'm not too annoyed. The buttons are super cute and were actually in my Christmas stocking last year, good choice Santa!

 

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FOs part one

The leaves hat has been finished for a week now, but with drying time and me being too lazy to get a good picture of it I've actually managed to finish another whole project in the mean time. More about that tomorrow when it will be completely finished. For today I'll stick with the hat.

I'd had my doubts about whether it was going to be big enough right from the beginning and those doubts were not calmed once I'd got the hat off the needles. Not only was it not slouchy like it was supposed to be but the crown shaping made it completely unsuitable to be worn as a beanie. Refusing to panic until after blocking I threw it in the sink to soak and then impatiently waited while it dried. I'll admit I did try it on briefly while it was still damp and was happy that the bath seemed to have done the trick. Now it's dry it slouches adequately on my head, though not as much as I would like and I'm not sure how it would do on a bigger head than mine. My sister will be visiting later, so I shall try it on her normally proportioned noggin and make my decision then. I suspect I might end up keeping it for me and knitting something else for my SIL. It's not the end of the world as I have another pattern up my sleeve and I do love this hat enough to wear it myself.

So vital statistics for this project. The pattern is As The Leaves Begin to Fall by Eliza Jarvi and the yarn is Drops Alpaca which is lovely and soft. The pattern was pretty easy to follow and the chart was simple as there are two stitches in each repeat which stay the same on every row, so it's really easy to to work out where you are in the pattern without too much counting back. I'd quite happily knit this again.

 

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WIP: Leaves Hat

After my little colourwork hiatus, I'm back on it again. It's so funny how quickly I've become a bit addicted to it. I avoided it for such a long time and now I can't get enough. Luckily it's getting really quite chilly here now so the extra warmth that the stranding provides will be very welcome. My latest project is a hat for my SIL for Christmas. Probably. I keep having my doubts as to whether it will be the right size when I've finished. Only time will tell, but it's not the end of the world as I'm pretty sure it will fit on my puny head and I have no problem keeping it and knitting her something else. My aim is to finish this by the end of the weekend, it has seemed like slow going so far, most of my projects recently have been in at least DK weight and this is knitted with sport weight, but I think I'll make it. The pattern is As The Leaves Begin to Fall by Eliza Jarvi

 

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Two FOs

That's right, I'm really going for it at the moment! Cassie's Owl Mitts are finally dry and baby's Kilkenny hat took barely any time at all so that is done too.

The mittens turned out super cute even though I really didn't love the pattern. I felt like I had to translate it before I could even start and even some of the bits I thought did understand were a bit puzzling when I got to them, but what I ended up with is lovely so I can't really complain.

The pattern offers a few options with the construction of the mittens. I chose to do the two colour ribbing rather than solid, firstly because I think it looks better, but also to try out another new technique and improve my skills. This does sacrifice most of the elasticity at the wrist but I still love the way it looks. I decided not to bother with the slit at the palm. Cassie doesn't really need to get at her fingers while we're out and about, but that would be a good option for an older toddler. With hindsight I also could have left off the thumb for the same reason. They are very long for Cassie, unfortunately I can't get a good picture of her wearing them because she keeps waving her hands about, but hopefully that means they will last her for a while. She loves them and keeps asking me to put them on her so hopefully she'll actually keep them on when we go outside.

Pattern Convertible Owl Mittens by Rebecca Reveal, yarn Drops Nepal

Baby's hat was a much less of a problem. There's not much to say really, it was quick and easy, the pattern was clear and concise and the hat is really cute. I can't wait until there is a tiny baby head in it though because it looks a bit sad at the moment.

Again the pattern is Kilkenny by Woolly Wormhead and the yarn is Drops Lima. I did make just one change to the pattern, the icords were supposed to be purl icords but I tried that for about 4 rows before I decided that it wasn't working for me and plain old regular icord would have to do. I like it anyhow.

 

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Not a surprise then.

Not so long ago I posted a close up of a secret Christmas project for someone who might look in on this blog. Well it's not a secret anymore as my sister announced at lunch time today that she desperately needed some gloves and was going to have to go out and buy some. As a knitter and provider of woolly garments I couldn't just allow a perfectly good pair of Commuter Fingerless Mittens to sit unworn until Christmas Day while the intended recipient went out to spend money on an inferior alternative.

Luckily she was really happy to receive them and not at all bothered that I had ruined a Christmas surprise. She also thinks they are really cool so I'm patting myself on the back for a job well done. I had planned to wrap up the leftover yarn with the mitts so that Jess could knit herself a hat to go with them, but if I have the time I'll do that myself so that she gets something knitted on Christmas Day too. Aren't I a super dooper sister?!

The yarn is Rowan Kid Classic which is very fluffy and soft. The mitts were a really quick and simple knit and I'd definitely knit them again.

 

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New WIP

I finished Cassie's owl mittens right before I went to bed last night and woke up this morning with a spring in my step (well as much of one as the average 31 weeks pregnant lady can manage) knowing that I would get to cast on something new today. The mittens are currently drying so they'll get their own post hopefully tomorrow.

So what have I cast on for today? Well I have one planned Christmas gift left to knit so that really should be a priority, but it's more colourwork and I could do with a day or two off from charts. For that reason the winner is another hat for baby. A nice quick simple project, easy and instantly gratifying. Also watching the little basket I've set aside slowly filling up with woollies just for her reminds me that before we know it she'll be here. Predictably it's another hat from Wee Woolly Toppers, Kilkenny this time in cerise Drops Lima. At this rate baby will have the entire book of hats to choose from but I don't care, they're all so cute!

 

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Drive by blankie update

After giving myself a couple of days off from the owl mittens I've put in a bit of work on the star blanket for baby. I'm getting back on with the mittens again now, but it was hard to put the blanket down, I'm enjoying knitting it so much. I'm getting towards the ends of the first two balls of yarn now which means that I am roughly almost a third of the way through and the pattern is really beginning to show itself. It's kind of magical.

 

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WIP: Owl Mittens

The first of the owl mittens is mostly done, obviously it is lacking a thumb but it's nearly there. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to crack straight on with the thumb or whether I'll knit the second mitt first and then do both thumbs at the same time. I'm sort of putting it off a bit because it looks fiddly so I should probably just get on with it. However I'm putting the whole thing aside for today and concentrating on the baby's blanket. Cassie is still a bit fiery at the moment so I need to work on something I can easily pick up and put down. The poor thing has had snot pouring out of her nose for nearly a week now so I can't blame her for being cranky, I am very much looking forward to her feeling better though.

 

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FO: It's a secret

My secret Christmas present project I've been working on is done. I'm a bit bummed that I can't really share anything about it but I figure an extreme close up won't do any harm, so here you go.

So there you go, it's black and has at least one turquoise button, intriguing.

With that done, it's onwards and upwards so I'm casting on for Cassie's Convertible Owl Mittens. I'll be honest, I've had to read and re-read this pattern so many times before it made complete sense to me. This is probably nothing to do with the pattern and is most likely because I've never knit anything with a similar construction. Now I've got my head round it all it actually seems pretty straightforward, but I've annotated the chart with simple instructions in my own word which should clarify things if I start to get a bit foggy again. Now I just need to get Cassie to bed so that I can give these my undivided attention. She's having a 'difficult' day and I'm fairly sure arsey toddlers and stranded knitting do not mix.

 

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