Blissed out

Ruby

 This project has been such a treat - I love the yarn (Rowan Luxury Cotton and which I found for a bargain price) in such a fantastic colour. The patter is called Ruby from Kim Hargreaves Breeze book.  It was really, super duper, easy peasy to knit - lovely for those evenings I wanted to relax with a glass of wine and not have to concentrate too much.

It fits well, feels nice to wear and has enough little details to make it feel stylish and that bit 'different'.  I love it and can see myself wearing it lots - and believe me, I can't say that about everything I make for myself!

 

This month is a strange one - I'm back to work next week after a year off - I can't believe it's gone so quickly and although mentally I'm ready for a new challenge, I'm going to miss being with Maya every day.

I know I've been incredibly lucky to be able to afford to take all of this time off - financially it's been tight and we relied on savings and a lot of support from our parents.  I'm so glad I've had the time - so John & I have managed 4 nights out together in a year!  But we've had lots of lovely nights in so who cares?

 

Financially things still look uncertain - I'm going back to my job 3 days per week - partly so that I can still spend time with the kids and partly in an attempt to keep my job in the longer term - I work in the public sector and we're under enormous pressure to make savings and justify our existence.  the new coalition government are intent on cutting budgets in a way that seems brutal to me.  I'll attempt to keep my political views clear of this blog - anyone following me on twitter will be well aware of what they are already!  But the future at the moment isn't looking bright for a lot of families like mine.

But when it all gets too much I just put my head down & knit - It never fails to help.

Lois Daykin Love Part Two

This was one of the last things I completed before having Maya (I can't believe it's almost 8 months ago now - scary!) It's from the gorgeous Lois Daykin Baby Knits book which is one of my favourite baby knitting books of recent years.  It was a challenge to get my head around the cables but I actually really enjoyed knitting it in the end - it was nice to be able to concentrate on something but not too challenging to cause tears and cursing!

It's knitted in Sirdar Baby Bamboo which I really like - very soft and drapey. It's still a bit big for Maya but it's going to look lovely with a summer dress if the weather ever improves.

Stash Building Splurges

I've had a knitting splurge of late - I just couldn't resist two new Kim Hargreaves pattern books.

Misty is just gorgeous - full of really wearable designs in beautiful muted colours.  I'm totally smitten by Sage - which I thought would be a stretch of my knitting brain - all those cables and fanciness.  But I've started it and it's actually more or less a 4 row pattern repeat - not too taxing at all.  I'm feeling rather smug with myself - at least for now!  Definitely not one to do with a glass of wine on a Friday evening though!

So for those nights when I'm feeling in the mood for something requiring concentration I'm also tackling Ruby from Kim's other new book - Breeze. 

 

This book is totally gorgeous too.  Lots of relaxed cotton knits - perfect for spring and summer.

 

I recently seriously increased my stash.  I've never really gone for the coveting yarn before - it seemed far too extravagant, plus I've been sticking to baby knits for so long that I didn't really need many more than a ball or 3 for most patterns. Listening to my knitting group friends they all talked about their stashes and any visit to Ravelry tended to make me feel a bit inadequate in the stash department. 

But that was before I discovered Black Sheep Wools in Culcheth which has a fantastic warehouse selling yarn at ridiculously cheap prices (online prices are pretty good too.) I managed to get 16 balls of Rowan Luxury Cotton DK for £1.50 per ball and some Louisa Harding Kashmir Dk for around £2.00 per ball.  

Plus some lovely soft Mirasol naturally dyed cotton for the Sage pattern in a nice soft green which was also £1.50 per ball (knits beautifully too.)

So my stash pile has grown immensely already - I've got it all in a basket by where I sit and it makes me so happy seeing all the colours mingling together in there.  Yarn as art and home decoration - lovely.

Lois Daykin Love

I'm in love with Lois Daykin's baby Knits book.  It's by Rowan (don't you just love them?) and there are so many scrummy patterns in there. They're a bit different too without being so novel you'd get that 'oh it's....different' comments that let you know it's just a bit tooooooo different for most people's tastes! The patterns are easy to follow too - always a plus when you've not long had a baby and feel like you've no brain cells left.

I've made this sloppy crossover cardigan for Maya, again using Sirdar's baby bamboo.  Its lovely to knit with and drapes beautifully.  It's still a bit big for her but I can't wait until the weather gets warmer and she can wear it over a lovely summer dress.

I'm feeling so much more adventurous with my knitting at the moment - look at me doing cables and everything. 

Better Than Any Spa

life with a young baby is hectic.  Some days I'm lucky if I get a shower before tea time.  Far too many meals seem to resolve around quick to grab items like toast.  By the end of the day I'm usually tired and a wee bit frazzled.  I'm loving every minute of it!

But I've found the perfect antidote.  I've joined a knitting group.  It's the most relaxing, chilled out thing I've ever done.  I love it. 

It's at the local wool shop and I've been meaning to join for ages but just never got around to it.  But Cole's Stepmum persuaded me to go with her and I'm so glad she did.  There's no pressure to have deep and meaningful conversations with anyone, we just chat about this and that and nothing in particular.  And we knit.  Something happens to the energy of a room when there's a group of people knitting.  It's just ... Zen.

Some of the people there are relative novices and some are super duper experts always on hand to demonstrate a technique or help out.  But mostly it's just sitting and knitting and chewing the fat.  it's lovely. 

 

Here's the first thing I've knitted for Maya since she was born.  I was really proud of it - particularly as it's fairisle so took a fair amount of concentration - concentration that I wasn't sure I still had.  Maya loves it.  My Mum's called her Polly - as it's a girl (wearing a dress) she couldn't call it Peter so Polly was the female alternative.  We just call her Rabbit - and Maya doesn't care - she just finds her very tasty!

made something at last

Ok, I know I've been ridiculously quiet.  In fact, over the past 3 months I've barely managed more than a handful of posts.  And I've felt guilty about it (silly, pointless emotion I know but you can't shake that catholic upbringing!) but it just really was about all I could manage.

But during this quiet time I have been making something at least.  I've had the idea for this cardigan in mind for over a year now - it just took me an age to get around to making it.  I love the basic shape of this cardigan - it's taken from Rowan magazine no 41 which I've made before and knew suited me.

The pattern's pretty easy to do and has a lovely, relaxed yet fitted shape to it with a little scalloped crochet edge.

I wanted to do a prettied up version with little beaded flowers adorning it so came up with this:

It's sort of inspired by a sweater I'd seen in anthropologie when I was in New York a while back (seems like yesterday but actually about 18 months ago - Noooo!) and it took me a while to come up with flowers that I was happy with in both shape and colour.
 

I'm semi happy with it now - I'm still not 100% on the colours but they were the closest I could find to the one's I had in my head when I dreamed it up. 

I like the beads though and I think I'll get plenty of wear out of it when the weather warms up a bit - it's still lambswood and angora weather here although we did get a hint of spring yesterday which always makes me feel so optimistic and happy.

More posts coming in the near future - I'm coming out of my hiatus (with good explanation to follow) and I can feel my creative juices returning.  Thanks for bearing with me.
Jo x

Louisa Harding Marguerite

It feels like ages since I completed a knitting project. I think I knitted so much in the run up to Christmas that I think I was suffering from Knitting Fatigue!  But I'm back on the horse and finally finished my Louisa Harding Marguerite cardigan from her Gathering Roses Accessories collection. 

It's made from Impression Yarn which is a mohair mix.  Although the colors are beautiful (the woman's a genius when it comes to color combinations in my humble opinion) but the only thing is it's pretty itchy.  So after a day of fidgeting and scratching, I decided the only sensible thing to do was to line it with an old long sleeved T-shirt.  It worked a treat and I've managed to wear it all day without one scratch.
I used some vintage green buttons I'd bought on ebay which look lovely and the little pink flowers add a cute girly touch.

Baby it's cold outside

I think I forgot to post a picture of the scarf I made for myself over Christmas (or did it just get lost in all of the Christmas knitting,baking, buying and sewing?  probably!)  Anyway, we've had a real cold snap this past week so I've been wearing it a lot and am mighty grateful for it.

I love the colors which are all muted and very vintage, (Louisa Harding again - the woman's a genius when it comes to color combinations) and because it's an angora mix (kimono angora) its very soft a warm.  Yum!

Christmas Scarf - a bit late oops!

I finished the scarf to match Diane's hat and gloves on Boxing day - and I'm really pleased with it. I decided to do the body of the scarf in Angora because, whilst the color-ways of the Impression yarn are so beautiful, it is a little itchy and I don't think it would be that comfortable on the neck. So as a compromised I've edged it in the impression just to tie the set together.

In another round of socializing yesterday (Oh, please let me have a day to relax before going back to work!) Diane and her kids came round to help us to eat the seemingly endless amounts of food we have left! I gave here the scarf and she was really pleased with it. I was glad the colors worked and the lace pattern on the ends seemed to give it a bit of extra prettiness. Christmas knitting is finally over! I loved giving the hand made presents (well to those who appreciated them! There was one person who didn't seem impressed to have something home made - she gave me a look of 'couldn't you have bought something?') but you can't please everyone!

knitting with ribbon yarns

One of the lovely things about knitting is the variety of yarns on offer. I am a big fan of using ribbon yarn, but I know that some people are a little unsure of how to use it. there are some schools of thought that say you should ensure that ribbon yarn is worked flat so that it doesn't twist - my approach is that life is far too short! I've had great success using Louisa Harding Kimono ribbon and Sari Ribbon.

Both of these garments are taken from Louisa Harding's Gathering Roses collection. The sweater is knitted in the most beautifully soft angora with a ribbon sleeve edge, neckline and bottom band. The contrast between the two yarns is, in my opinion, what makes the sweater so special. The color combinations are eye catching - and it's SO warm (in fact, a bit too much in a heated office).

The little jacket is knitted in Kimono Ribbon with a Sari Ribbon Edge. The sari ribbon is wider than the pencil slim kimono ribbon and glittery so is very glam. Ribbon yarns can add a lovely texture either are the main yarn of the garment, or as a flourish or edging. I've found the allowing the yarn to twist natually as you knit it creates colour and texture combinations that add richness and give a more natural, organic feel to the knitting.

It's all about personal preference - if it's going to drive you mad that the stitches aren't uniform then by all means spend the time making sure the yarn doesn't twist. In terms of needles, I've found that slippier ones like metal or plastic work best as the ribbon yarns often have a slight 'roughness' to them that can snag on bamboo or wooden needles. Above all, don't be afraid of ribbon yarns. Experiment and find one that suits you and your style of knitting. Remember - there are no Knitting Police - if you like it, stick with it!