Hearts Baby Blanket

Just a quick post to show you that I have actually finished a WIP. A good friend of mine became a proud aunt. She has been through a lot and it was nice to see her so excited about something. She dotes on her new little nephew and I wanted to make something for him. He is not so new now (maybe 5 months old) as I took so long to finish this. Thankfully it is so big that he will still get good use out of it.

I used WI DK yarn which I have used for this pattern before. It has that cotton feel to it although it's acrylic. Lovely and soft. I picked out green and white as I thought it would be spring like (It was winter when I started this).

This will be the fourth time I have used this pattern. I barely glanced at it as a result. I think next time I will have to try something new. I think part of what took me so long wasn't just because I was so buys but because I was bored with it. Hopefully my friends sister will like it though. All the details of this pattern are on the post I did of the first of these blankets back in 2014.

Yet Another Blanket!

Sorry for the late reveal. Things have been mental of late. However, I don't want to let this blog go as I love the creative outlet and I like seeing what other people are up to. A few weeks ago my knitting group had a baby shower for one of our members, Aileen. I was sadly working and as I had just moved to the ward I didn't want to ask for a swap. So I had to miss it.

I was still able to send in a gift though. I once again made one of those hear blankets. This will make for the third time as I did two of these last year. I did one for Swati and one for Lisa.

As with the other two ladies Aileen wanted to wait to find out the sex of the baby. As I am not a fan of traditional baby colours this was a good thing for me. I chose this vibrant orange against the white. I love the way it stands out and I love the edging. I decided not to add a round of white to it as I wanted to keep the effect.

I never learn. It took me hours to sew in all those ends. I am definitely not going to do this pattern again. I think I will look out something different for next time (as I am more than sure that there will be a next time). Something maybe without ends.

I still enjoyed making it though and I am still happy with the end result. It is a pretty pattern. The last few times I used Eco essentials cotton. This time I used the Women's Institute 4ply yarn. It feels like a cotton and goes a lot further. It's maybe just a tiny smidge thinner but it really has a lovely sheen to it and there is far less splitting.

The baby shower theme this time was Valentines as it fell round about that day. You can see how the night went over at the Stitch 'n' Bitch blog thanks to my friend, Helen.

Stripey Father's Day Socks!

All my photo's have successfully loaded onto my virus free laptop so I can finally share the socks I knitted my dad. Normally I'm not bothered about the socks that I knit for him. He likes plain colours and they aren't the most exciting to knit. Especially since it involves so much more knitting than when I knit for someone like my sister (who likes FUN colours).

The plan this time was to knit him socks that were actually fun to knit. I was aiming for a nice cable but in the end I came to the realisation that it wasn't going to happen. I didn't have enough time to search out a pattern I liked, that was manly enough and that could be adapted for his ginormous feet. Actually that was the problem. I spent too much time searching which didn't leave enough time to knit them assuming that I did eventually find a pattern. So I then decided on stripes. As I have stated a number of times I love a stripe and so I enjoyed knitting them.

I chose muted colours since it was for my dad. I picked out an ivory and a nice charcoal grey. I did think that I would be a little bored with these colours but I actually like them. So much so that I have some yarn left and I am hoping that I might manage a pair for myself. Just don't tell my dad we will have matching socks or I will never hear the end of it. He might take it as a sign that we are similar and I can't have that.

 

The downside to knitting stripes is that it doesn't travel well at the start of each round. You can see the result of that in the above photo. I was fully aware that this would happen so made sure it was to the back of the sock. There is a way to solve it but as I said earlier time was not my friend. So the next stripey pair I knit (and there will be more) will be done so that this doesn't happen. I have the tips in a magazine. I just need to find the issue it was in. Wish me luck on that one.

As for the yarn itself, it would seem that I didn't take a photo of it. I was probably too eager to get started. However, I do have the same yarn in other colours and you can see it above. The ivory is the same but the bright pink is obviously for my pink loving sister. The yarn is by The Women's Institute and is sold exclusively to Hobbycraft. Obviously I went with the 4ply since I was knitting a plain sock. Having said that it is a little thicker than your average sock yarn and so I had to go down a sock size. It's lovely to knit with though and feels almost like a cotton. It's so soft. It can be a little splitty to work with but that's easily managed and the end result is worth it. It's also not a bad price for 100g. I recommend it.

Last Guilt Free Lazy Day.

This is my officially the last day I can be lazy without any sort of guilt creeping in for the next three months. I would be lying if I said that I hadn't been lazy for the last two weeks. Since I have a hard slog ahead between now and (hopefully) qualifying as a registered nurse I'm not going to feel bad about it. This afternoon I lazily drank some green tea and flicked through some magazine my mum's friend passed on. I enjoyed the peace and quiet although didn't get much inspiration from the mags.

I haven't been too lazy craft wise although I have no finishes to show for it. I ordered some more yarn for the second baby shower project. I am waiting on it to arrive. I had to order it as hobbycraft no longer stock it. They do however, stock a new range. The Women's Institute have brought out their own yarns which seem to be exclusive to Hobbycraft. On the plus side they are made here in the UK. I confess I have a fascination with the WI. They have a reputation for being filled with crafty women so of course it appeals to me. Not that I have read that much into it. It has been a distant fascination. Anyway, the yarn is a good price and there are quite a few varieties. I picked up a couple of the 4ply to put away for Christmas socks.

I realise that Christmas is still a long way in the future and should not even be mentioned. As this pair of socks is for my Gran's Christmas and they are taking me forever it's better to be prepared. Having said that I am loving knitting these. It doesn't look to tidy there but I have tried it on and it looks perfect (for a colour work beginner). The answer would seem to be blocking.

As a result I am having second sock syndrome with my Gran's birthday socks. I am convinced that they hate me. The pattern is boring and it's not really looking much like the photo in the book (until you put your hand in and then it has a mild resemblance). Everyone else seems to love them though. I took them to the knitting group and they were much admired. The fact that I was muttering over the ridiculous instruction on dividing stitches for the heel was ignored. I can say the first sock is done and the cuff of the second has been started. These are meant to be my knitting group project and already I am thinking of what I can take with me instead.

At home it's still project baby shower. I am pleased to say that one is almost completed and the other started. I need yarn reinforcements (hopefully this week) to get on with it. It's quite a nice project to work on despite all the ends that needed threading. The above to 2.5 episodes of Star Trek and 1.5 glasses of wine. And that's all you are getting out of me until it's handed over.

I did also spot some washi tape reduced in price which I couldn't walk away from. I need to get back to my filofax. It's feeling a little unloved the last few months. Oh, and giant paperclips. Can't say no to a giant paperclip.