Where are they now?

Whatever happened to Katherine's Baby Blanket? I chose this because it was my first large project. I starting knitting it March 2008 using this pattern. I used some really cheap sport weight acrylic yarn from Lidl and I had plans to back it with fleece or flannel, once it was finished I decided not too and the blanket remained as it was.
I used it alot for Katherine when she was a baby. It washed nicely, always looked really bright and clean but eventually we stopped using it. I'm not sure why. I did get it out ready for Pippa but it doesn't feel so good now. It is bobbled and feels squeaky and to be honest I am not even sure where it is now, perhaps in the airing cupboard........
I love it though, and I am still really proud of the fact I finished such a big project especially as I am such a slow knitter!

Tidy Mind, Tidy Stitches

By nature, I am neat, methodical and sometimes a little controlling when it comes to the space around me. However, over the years and with the addition of four children and lots of animals my standards have slipped somewhat. This is rather obvious when you see the photographs of the current state of my stash! This is not all of it either - I got bored editing and uploading photographs! So here goes..........

The unit in the dining room, complete with my Highly Impractical Cushion until it finds somewhere to live and my new Drops Design yarn.
New balls of Stylecraft Special DK, sitting in a Sainsbury's bag on the side in the dining room because they won't fit in the cupboard.
A collection of Kool Kotton and Calico stuffed in a Cath Kidston bag under my desk in the office, again because they won't fit in my cupboard. Are you seeing the theme here!
The cupboard of doom...........
A corner of the dining room table, with my books and my hooks!
And finally, the neat and order side of me creeps out once in a while and you get this happening......
I'm looking forward to reading lots of other blogs today to see how other people organise their stash as a few tips wouldn't go a miss don't you think?

I have to give Ravelry a mention at this point. I've been a member on Rav for almost three years now and I truly believe it is one of the best websites I have ever used. I love the way everything interlinks on a project, I love the organisation of it all and as a source of knowledge it is outstanding. My Ravelry Projects Page is nice and neat and tidy, I'm glad to say, unlike my stash!


Thank you to everyone who has been visiting my blog over the last few days, I'm trying to look at as many as I can and leave comments as I know how much people like that.

Skill and 1UP

This time last year, I was about 4 months pregnant with baby no 4. I had knitted Katherine a large white blanket when I was pregnant with her and so it felt like the right thing to do to knit a blanket for this baby too. We like surprises so we didn't know if we were on team blue or team pink so I played safe and opted for white. I used some yarn I had in my stash (Sirdar Calico) and this pattern to make a small baby blanket for the bump. So simple and easy, just knit and purl and a little bit of counting. It took me until May to finish, but it was well used when bump arrived in early August.

This is a typical example of my knitting - very neat but safe. No changes of colour and no seams if at all possible. I joked often to my OH that all I would ever knit was hats (I can cope with the one seam on a hat!). I hold me needles in a way that would make most people gasp in horror. I clutch the wool in my fist and drop everything to throw the yarn in an exaggerated fashion! I am not a good knitter, but can produce (after a very long time) a decent piece of knitting!

At the end of January this year I finally succumbed and checked out Attic24 after seeing a few people mention it. I devoured her blog, every last little bit of it. I sat myself down in front of my PC with some balls of yarn from my scrap bag and a hook I happened to have in my knitting box and I learnt how to crochet. This granny square was my first piece and how proud was I? It actually looked (almost) like how it was supposed to!

And then there was the Ripples, oh how I love the Ripples and so the next day I did this! Don't you just love the mix of yarn, aran acrylic, followed by DK acrylic followed by DK cotton! I had a passion for variegated yarns for my knitting so my stash was very lacking in plain colours.
And then I made this, following Lucy's Birdie Decoration tutorial
My next project was a Lucy bag but not in typical Lucy colours. I had ordered two packs of Attic24 yarn and really couldn't afford to buy anymore while I waited for them to arrive. I was so impatient though and trotted off to my local yarn store and bought two balls of cotton DK in green and red to match the colours of my dining room. The bag is still in progress. I had almost finished it when the urge to use the brighter colours of the Stylecraft could not be ignored any longer! I decided last week to finish the bag before starting anything else but I decided to make new handles and flowers and I'm still working on them now. I'm really hoping I can get it finished this week though. And who would have thought this time last year I could do this........

A Tale of Two Yarns

Thanks to some lovely people on a forum I use for telling me about the 2nd annual knitting and crochet blog week. Today's prompt is A Tale of Two yarns. Now firstly, I'm not what I would consider a yarnie. I don't lust after a stash of Noro, I mostly buy readily available and readily affordable yarn - my enjoyment is in the finished article not how fashionable or expensive the yarn is that I have used. So based on that my first yarn has to be Stylecraft Special DK. I fell in love with Lucy of Attic24's work just this year and obviously an Attic24 Stylecraft pack was ordered very quickly! So far I have used the pack to make Baby Pips Granny Stripe Blanket, Pretty Jar Jacket and Bright Granny Square Cushion - All of these projects have been finished in the last couple of weeks and I've loved every second of working on them. For an acrylic yarn, Stylecraft Special DK is soft and the colours are just so vibrant it's an absolute joy to pick what colour to use next.

I've just ordered my second pack of Lucy's colours and my next project is to be a Ripple Blanket for my oldest daughter. Pippa's Granny Stripe was random colours so my plan for the Ripple is to use the colours in order and this is the order I have picked.
I've also got this lot stashed away to make George a blanket. I think he wants Ripples too!
The other yarn I am going to pick is Drops Design Safran - my first delivery of this arrived at the weekend and it's yummy! This is a 100% cotton yarn and the colours are very rich and vibrant. It's quite a fine yarn and comes in the cutest little balls! My plan for this is a Flowers in the Snow - inspired by Naomi. I think it's going to take a while though! I've got a couple more colours on the way to add to this little pile too.

2KCBWDAY1

My Highly Impractical but Very Pretty Cushion!

So I wanted to make a cushion and decided to use all of the Attic24 Stylecraft colours to make a large Granny Square. I used the colours one way for one side and reversed them for the other but made sure they would both end with Saffron so I could use the Saffron to crochet them together. I've literally done a row of DC all the way round with the cushion inner inside, which should be fun when it comes to washing it - hence the highly impractical title. It's very pretty though, it's just a shame it doesn't have a home yet. I would like to get a chair to go in our newly arranged dining room and when I do it can live on there. For now it is living on the side so that the cats don't get it dirty. So here it is - I can't decide which side I like the best.......

Imogen in particular, is very keen for me to start on a blanket for her but I decided to finish my bag first. Earlir in the week I decided to take off the handles I had already sewn on and dow different flowers. BUT I managed to cut the bag in the process, not to worry though as I have tied it off and I can hide it with the new flowers. I've got two flowers done and one of the handles, but my handle is all curly wurly. I'm going to try wet-blocking it but I'm not very hopeful as it's mercerised cotton but I will report back. I'm hoping to get it all done and dusted by the end of the weekend and then I can start Imogen's blanket. I think I might do a ripple.....

Pretty Jar Jacket

A very quick post as I need to go and finish making tea for all the hungry children, but I wanted to post some photographs of my pretty jar jacket I made the other day. It looks delightful with these flowers in that were a bargain from Ikea. It's sitting in the dining room at the moment, next to my new primroses, my pile of crochet books and another small jar filled with my crochet hooks.


I've got another couple of projects underway but I'll share those another day when I have more time.

Blocking Sucess

So, the potographs are terrible but anyway! The Summer Garden Granny Square I started was really getting on my nerves. My colours were awful and the whole thing was out of shape, but I couldn't bring myself just to discard it. I quickly added a border to it yesterday and decided to give steam blocking a try. It started out like this - you can see how distorted it is.

So I pinned it out on a towel and used the rug beneath to help hold the pins. I then plugged in the iron and waited for the steam. I gently hovered over it giving the steam button a boost ever few seconds. It didn't take long and by the time I had chased the older children upto bed I took the pins out. It had stayed in shape and had gone all floppy - a sucess! Obviously it hasn't improved the colours but Imogen was very happy to have it for her teddies.

I gave Pippa's Granny Stripe a quick blast this morning as the borders were curling inwards and that looks loads better too. It also feels less bulky and more floppy too.

I'm working on another Granny Square with safer colour combinations which I am hoping to turn into a cushion and I think I need to start on a gift for Mother's Day too. When is that? I don't even know which is shocking for a Mum of four really don't you think?

Playing with Colour

So after the delight at finishing my Granny Stripe Blanket I couldn't wait to get started on something else, so I thought I would have another go at doing a Summer Garden Granny Square. And I decided just to keep going........ I don't like it, I don't like the way I have done the colours so I am going to do a few more rounds, add a border and it will be gifted to the girls for their toy bed.
To try and restore my faith in colours I made a sample card for the Attic24 Stylecraft colours as I have quite a few other colours in the pile now and I want to be able to pick the colours out easily for future projects.
And when I had done the sample card I arranged the balls nicely on the side!
I've also done this sample card for a blanket for George. Hopefully I will be able to order these colours at the end of the month and I can start on this.
Talking of the end of the month I have arranged my first Keeping in Touch day so I can ease gently back into being a working Mum again. I've got a couple of weeks to build up a supply of milk for Daddy to use and also I need to try and get Pippa to drink from a bottle as previous attempts have been a disaster. On a positive note I will be finishing work at 6.15 in the morning so will be home hopefully before she needs her first feed of the day. I hope my uniform still fits!

My Granny Stripe Ta-Dah!

I am shamelessly pinching my reveal title from Lucy but I think that will be okay. My Granny Stripe blanket is finally finished. I've loved every moment of working on this. From the satisfaction of doing the first row into my dangling row of chains, to picking out the next colour, to working on the border. I've even enjoyed stitching the ends in as I went. It's so deliciously bright and happy and it makes me smile everytime I look at it as I think to myself 'I did that!'

So some photographs, there's rather alot..........






Baby Pippa likes it too........
I was going to be good, really good and finish my bag but it's still exactly where I left it and I have already started something else. Today I must be good though and catch up on the washing and ironing that a family of six make otherwise we will have nothing to wear!