Zarah's Cotton Candy Swirl Set

Quite a late update from me today, but I've finally been able to steal away some time to show you all this weeks FOs!

So, this week is all about the baby knit. I've not only been knitting them, I've been thinking up new designs too, which I can't wait to work on. Due to me being very up and down with my M.E this week, I've been working on very simple knits. My first project was the Basic Baby Hat by Heather Tucker. Now, this pattern calls for DK yarn & 4mm needles, but as my friend has just had a baby girl I decided to use my leftovers of Yummy Worsted in Cotton Candy Swirl by (the awesome) Candy Skein. As I was using worsted I dropped to 3.75mm needles, although in retrospect perhaps I should have used  3.5mm DPNs.

The project was lovely and simple, and the pattern was perfect :) I knitted the newborn size, although I believe it is more towards the 6 month size. Enough chat though, here it is!

I love the starfish decrease!

I thought I'd give baby Zarah a pair of mittens as well, so I chose the pattern Fast Baby Mittens by Lucy H. Lee. I used some pink DK Rizzle found in the bottom of her drawer, I am hazarding a guess that it is Stylecraft Special DK in Fondant, but don't hold me to that. The mittens didn't knit up as fast as I'd like, but that might be due to the fact I was knitting at a snail's pace. When I did finish though, I added an i-cord to keep them both together.

Next time I knit this pattern (and I will I assure you) I will make a longer i-cord, but other than that I wouldn't change a thing! :)

I've set aside baby Jack's footie set the moment, as my Knit Pro Spectra Flair tips arrived today so I am finaaaaaaaaaally able to get some work on the Seven Seas Blanket. But I will be taking the hat with me when I go away next weekend (allll by myself - so excited!) so I should get it finished then! :)

For now though, head on over to Tami's to check out more FOs for this week! I hope you all have a lovely weekend x

2 New Patterns & a Scent Pillow!

This week I have not one, not two, but three FOs to share with you! Lets get started...

My first FO is the Doodle Mitts I designed for Rizzle. This design was done completely at random, when I casted on I had no idea what I was going to make and by the end I had a cable mitten.

Rizzle loves the new design, and I'm pleased someone does as I'm not a big fan of them myself. I released the design earlier this morning, so head on over to the Ravelry Pattern page to find more about these mittens!

My second pattern is a hair band entitled 'Twisted Sister'. I was completely stuck for pattern names, but Thea, from Lady Bug Hill Farm blog, managed to save the day! Thank you again Thea :)

Twisted Sister is a simple 4 row cable pattern... without the need for cable needles! The eyelet cables are made by slipping and passing over stitches. Making it a great pattern if you're new to knitting! Head on over to the Ravelry pattern page to get hold of the free pattern!

Me modelling 'Twisted Sister'.

Late last year, when I was still in the process of being a beginner, I knitted a scent pillow from the book Knitty Gritty: Knitting for the Absolute Beginner by Aneeta Patel. I put it in my knitting basket, then another year zooms by and and it is still sat there, unfinished. I was clearing out my knitting bags and baskets when I came across it, and decided it was time to finally finish it! 

I sewed up the sides, then stuffed it with toy stuffing. I then soaked the stuffing in Lavender drops (really didn't mean to put that much lavender in there!) and finished sewing up the little pillow. 

Sewing up the scent pillow gave me a new pattern design, if the idea worked it would mean the scent pillow wouldn't need sewing up. So, I hope it does! 

My First Cowl!

I'm so pleased it is finally Friday, I've had a really difficult week and have been looking forward to settling in front of the telly with my knitting and a cocktail all week. I have also been looking forward to showing you my cowl! I casted this on in favour of a beanie I was knitting, and I'm really pleased I did.

I've never knitted a cowl before, but have seen them around the blogosphere a few times lately so thought I might as well give it a go. I found the pattern, Horseshoe Lace Cowl by Sashka Macievich, and instantly fell head over heals for it. I had ordered a skein of Stylecraft Life DK in Melon from Deramores a little while ago, but had no idea what to make with it. This seemed like the perfect yarn for the pattern so I cast on.

As I told you on Wednesday, I struggle following lace charts so I 'translate' them into written form. This pattern was really simple and I was able to remember it pretty well, making it the perfect TV knit. Rizzle and I sat and watched The Paradise, three and half episodes later I was finished! :) (each episode is an hour long)

I really enjoyed knitting this, and can see myself using this as a quick gift knit in the future.

Rizzle kindly modelled the cowl for me, as I'm scared of cracking your computer screen, I look that awful at the moment.

So, here is the finished article in all its glory!

As you can see in the final photograph it still curls, despite having a garter border top and bottom. I'm thinking of sewing the hem back, like I'm going to do to my Origami Cowl, to make it sit straight. If that fails to work I'll have to block it, but I'll have to google how to do that as I have no clue whatsoever!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend, mine is to be filled with friends, yarn and lots of TV!

PS,

I am releasing my first baby blanket pattern tomorrow, inspired by my gorgeous niece, so please come check it out :)

The Tiger that Came to Tea

Today ladies & jellybeans, I have something very different to share with you. Today, I bring you Marmalade!!

I don't think I need words for this post. I'm going to let the pictures do the talking.

And I don't mean to boast... but it's deeeelicious!!! :D If you want to make your own, this is the recipe we used. Highly recommend it. It's cheaper than buying all that marmalade, is lots of fun, and really easy to make!

I've finished Daisy's cardigan, and can't wait to show you all. But, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until Sunday!

For now though, head on over to FO Friday at Tami's Amis & Other Creations, Fibre Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder and Creative Friday at Natural Surburbia!

Have a fab weekend!! x

Suffering from Glove Love!

I finished the Irish Hiking Armwarmers yesterday, Mum was incredibly chuffed with them. And so was I, actually. Really pleased that I managed to conquer the DPNs, now I can move onto socks and monsters and other awesome things.

I do have one request, though. I've been looking at sock patterns on Raverly, and I'm really not sure which is the most beginner friendly. If any of you have a moment, would you have a look through them and possibly send me a message (or leave a comment on this post) telling me which one I should have a go at? I would be eternally grateful! 

I uploaded a picture of the Emanelle gloves I did a while ago, onto FaceBook the other day and my older sister left this comment:

WANT ONE PLEASE SIS!! two would be better though! xxxmwahxxx

So, I set to work on her pair. I couldn't find a pattern I preferred over Emanelle, so I just stuck with the same pattern but in a different colour!

I chose James C. Brett Top Value DK in Turquoise, the same yarn I used for my By the Sea French Press cover. It is really good value for money, for two skeins (612 yards/559 metres) I paid £3.58 on Deramores. It knits really well and the colours are lovely. As you can tell, I can't sing its praises loud enough!!

Only took me a day to knit Tamsin's gloves up, I really liked how they turned out. I might even have to knit myself another pair in the same colour!

So as you can see, the glove love is bordering on obsessive. But, I'm enjoying it.

Right now I've cast on for Daisy's Tuck Stitch Helmet, hoping to get some work done on that over the weekend. More about that on Sunday, though!

©Wikipedia

So, I hope you all have a lovely weekend and that the weather picks up! Grey and cloudy here in the UK at the moment, but we have seen Snowdrops starting to open which means Spring is here - hooray!

Head on over to these wonderful blogs for more Friday Fun!

FO Friday at Tami's Amis and Other Creations
Fibre Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia

Charlotte, Can You Beat the Cube?!

© Copyright ITV

For any of you who haven't seen the ITV Gameshow the Cube, I'll give you a quick summary. Contestants are put inside a giant cube and asked to preform deceivingly simple tasks in return for big wads of cash.

No one has ever beaten the Cube, so I thought it was time that I gave it a bash.

Now, the Cube I am attempting to conquer isn't glass panelled and fitted with slow-motion cameras. I haven't got Philip Schofield to explain things to me, and I don't have large amounts of cash to act as an incentive for me to finish.

The Cube I am attempting to beat isn't even a Cube, it's a rectangle. A small wooden rectangle, filled with colourful squishy yarn.

I sat and watched, green with envy,  Kerri over at When Did I Become a Knitter, defeat her amazing stash and get it into a lovely organised fashion. So, I decided to take on the rectangularcubething and join the ranks of knitters who have defeated the enemy that is the un-tidy, IAlwaysSeemToTripOverIt, stash.

The first task was to take all the yarn out of the metaphorical cube, and lay it on my floor in a big heap. Like so.

After getting it all out (which wasn't as easy as it looked, mark one of the Cube, deceivingly simple tasks) I put all the yarns knotted together into a pile, to try and sort it out. After looking at it, I honestly didn't want to carry on. I simply wanted to pop it all back in the rectangularcubething, and be done with it. 

But I carried on anyway.

Like Kerri, I wanted to have all my yarn logged and photographed into Ravelry, but I' still waiting for that to happen. I did though, after a day or so, manage to get my yarns untangled, sorted and popped into zip-lock bags!

I managed to un-earth the yarn vomit from months past. Even now, it still sends shivers down my spine.

I started my battle against the Cube a few months ago, and am still yet to defeat it. But, I have managed to get my stash a little tidier, and when we finish doing-up my room I'll be able to resume the fight against a tidier stash.

So even though this technically isn't a FO, go check out what other knitters and crocheters (with clean & tidy stashes) from around the world managed to finish this week.

FO Friday: Washcloths, Washcloths, and look! More Washcloths!

As you will probably know, last week I started my new washcloth addiction. I don't know why it took me so long to find washcloths, but I'm very happy that I finally did. I haven't felt like doing much knitting during the past two weeks so having these little guys (oh gosh, I'm starting to refer to them as people now, I really need to get a life!) around to pick up and knit is very handy. And enjoyable.

My first ever washcloth, was knitted using the famous pattern Grandmother's Favourite. There isn't much point on me telling you how lovely the pattern is, as I think the 4,973 projects on Ravelry say it all. (And no, I didn't count. I'm not that obsessed. Yet...) I used Craft Cotton in Ecru by V & A Products Ltd, which is an 100% Cotton, Aran weight yarn. The yarn is nice to work with, it doesn't split easily like other cotton yarns I've tried (what am I saying? The only other cotton yarn I've tried is Sugar N Cream!). The only critism I have for this yarn, is not of the yarn itself but the packaging! On the ball band it doesn't tell you how many grams there are and also the yardage/meterage of the yarn. 

Back to the washcloth. 

I really enjoyed knitting it, the pattern is lovely and I'm quite pleased with the end result. (I say 'quite' as I'm pretty, no, definitely sure I messed up the last part of the cloth.)

The moment this was cast off, I cast on my second washcloth. This time round I decided to use the Waffle Knit Dishcloth pattern by Debbie Andriulli. For this cloth I decided to use Lily Sugar'N Cream Stripes: Pinky, as I was knitting this for my niece (who is in a constant need for washcloths apparently - yay!) I thought I better use a colour she loves, which turns out to be pink and thus Sugar'N Cream was chosen.

I really enjoyed knitting this cloth, the yarn pooled great and fortunately (after a confirmation from RugbyMad) you can't see the little mistakes I've made in the cloth. When I was casting off the cloth, I impulsively decided to make a loop so you can hang it up in the shower etc, which I think I've done right, I'll find out soon enough. 

Mum loved it - she reckons it would make a nice blanket square. Katy loved it too, even commissioning me to make her one exactly the same. 

The last thing I have to share with you is a photograph...

Yes that's right, Keith and his friend Minion came to pay me a visit! I say 'pay a visit', they actually snook into the house to watched Tangled on our big telly. As you can tell from Keith's expression he was shocked when he found out that Mother Gothel wasn't really Rapunzel's mother.

For more FO Friday fun, head on over to Tami's, Natural Suburbia and Wisdom Begins in Wonder, have a lovely weekend!! 

FO Friday: Candy Bobble

Last week I started my own Coffee Cozie pattern, once I got into it, it was great fun to knit :) It took a few days to knit due to me being incredibly busy, but I did manage to finish it, and may I say I don't think it looks half bad!

The pattern is called Candy Bobble, and you can now download the pattern on Ravelry for free! I now have three patterns available for download on my Ravelry account, so don't forget to pop over and have a peek! 

I don't have any other FO's to share with you I'm afraid! I did manage to pop into my LYS today, going in for more pink yarn for the baby blanket I'm making, but I ended up coming out with King Cole Galaxy DK, Stylecraft Baby DK, V&A Craft Cotton, sewing box kit and emboridery thread for my sister!

So much for self-control!

I have no idea what I'm going to do with the Galaxy, (which is gorgeous, and soooo soft!) but I'm thinking of making a dishcloth with the Craft Cotton.

Now I will love you and leave you, for more FO Friday fun, head on over to Tami's, Natural Suburbia, and Wisdom Begins in Wonder!

Have a great weekend!

FO Friday: Weaving with Waffles

When I started my attempt at Year of Projects, I made the Waffle Weave hug (that is the photo from the book, hear the story on Sunday!), I enjoyed knitting it so much I decided to make myself another. When half way through, I came up with the idea that instead of making it a Mug Hug, why don't I just sew up the sides and call it a phone cover? 

The pattern is made by slipping stitches, and once you get the hang of it, it is oodles of fun! Does get a little messy because you are knitting with two balls of yarn, but as long as you don't get the yarn caught around your feet and fall flat on your face like I did, everything is fine! 

My second FO for this week, is a bit of surprise actually. To both me and you. I started this project waaaaay back, like two days ago. That's right, I finished my Bright and Bold Cable Bag!! 

I loved, loved, loved making this bag. I used Sugar 'N Cream Stripes: Modern, and it was an absolute dream to work with. It was lovely to have soft cotton running through my fingers, rather than the rough acrylic I'm used to. It pooled beautifully, not completely perfect but almost. Even the handles looked great, despite being in different colours (although in my opinion it adds some handmade charm). It knitted up really quickly, was easy to sew up (and that is by my standards, so for you it would be a breeze) and looks great! (Again, in my opinion!)

I am definitely going to make a mini one for my niece in Sugar N Cream Stripes: Pinky, another item to add to her ever growing goodie bag! (Which I really must get a start on, I only have a month now to get that all done!)

In other, not so big yet incredibly boring, news I had my 50th post yesterday! I'm also 3 followers away from hitting the big 60! Chuffed? I think so.

So now, while I go and take the Pizza out of the oven and completely stuff my face, head on over to Tami's place for some Linky Party fun! 

FO Friday: Aneeta Patel Fever!

As I eagerly await Mr.Postman to deliver my soft and squishy parcel, here are my Finished Objects of the week! Alright so I'm cheating, I didn't finish them this week, they were finished about 2 weeks ago when I fled the blogging scene.

Enough with the chit chat, here they are! (The pictures are really bad today, sorry. Camera was being a naughty boy)

First up is a pair of Liquorice Alsorts Baby Mitts. The pattern is by Aneeta Patel, although she just does plain mittens, I decided to spice it up my doing two! They don't look that great in the photograph, but they are very cute in real life.

Next up is another pair of mitts from the same pattern, but this time in plain red! 

I decided to make a matching pair of booties! The pattern is by Aneeta Patel, and she has the pattern for free here if you'd like to give it a bash! I decided to do the last few rows in stocking stitch, for a cute rolled edge! 

And the last FO from when I was sick with Aneeta Patel fever is my Phone Cover, which she calls a Phone Home. Although I like to call it my iTee! I'm not that pleased with it, but it does what its meant to so I can't really complain.

Want to thank you all for the lovely comments you left me on Wednesday, I'm very pleased so many people share the Moss Stitch love! I did finish my headband, but if you want to see that one and others I've been working on, you'll have to pop over on Monday, when H is for... Headbands! I'll be posting again tomorrow with a brand new meme I'm taking part in, so don't forget to come and pay a visit!

For now though, go get your weekly FO fix over at Tami's Amis!