The Restart

This is only my second YOP Uptdate since the project started in July, which I feel really bad about. But now things in my life are starting to calm down, normal blog service shall resume :)

In my first update I showed you the beginnings of the Tiny Tags hug. I'm pleased to tell you, that I finished it!

Once I got into it, I had a blast. The tags were easy to do once you got the hang of them and the hug worked up pretty fast. My Mum loved it so much, she asked if I could make her one for her French Press. I flicked through the Coffee Cozies book (also written by Alison Howard) but alas there was not one there. So, I designed my own! It took a lot longer than the Mug Hug, but it was still as much fun to knit. You can download the pattern for free on Ravelry!

I am made Stripes, which after On the Edge, is the easiest Hug out of the book. I used yarn from the yarn kit I got free with Issue #31 of Let's Get Crafting: Knit & Crochet Made Easy magazine.

I weaved the yarn ends in as I went, which is a lot quicker than leaving them to the very end. Which I'm sure you'll agree, takes the fun out of any project. As it was just plain Garter Stitch the Mug Hug knitted up very quickly.

As the work-in-progress, I attempted a lace pattern earlier this afternoon. Long story short, M.E brain fog caused me to make it about 3x too big, chose yarn which meant you couldn't see the pattern, and I kept messing up. I'm going to have a rest this evening and try again tomorrow. I'll keep you informed on my progress.

Now, I'm off to cuddle up on the sofa and prepare for the last round of Auditions of the UK X Factor. I have to say, I'm quite impressed with the panel this year, and the talent. But that's another post for another day. Have a great one!

For more Year of Projects post by bloggers from around the world, either type YOP11-12 into Google, head on over to Kerri's - the creator of this fine project -,or make your way to the Ravelry group Come Blog-a-Long.

A Year of Projects

Beautiful graphic by Sarah from Crafts from the Cwtch

A Year of Projects was started by the wonderful Keri over at When Did I Become a Knitter. As the name suggests, all those involved pick a certain amount of patterns either from a book, magazine or Ravelry queue that they believe they'll be able to knit in a year, and blog about the highs and lows of knitting a certain number of projects in a fixed amount of time. If you'd like to find out more, head on over to the group on Ravelry called Come Blog-a-Long, we'd love to have you join us!

It was a real struggle to choose my Year of Projects, as there are so many aspects to take into account. Time, Money, Skill, whether I'm up to learning a new craft (like crochet!) etc. It took me a while to decide whether to use a book or make my own list, but after encouragement from the lovely Tink, I decided to work my way through the book Mug Hugs by Alison Howard.

There are 30 gorgeous projects in the book, which means I need to do 2 and a half Mug Hugs every month. Here is the complete list (in no particular order)! (click each one to see what they look like)

1. Simple Snug
2. On the Edge
3. Stripes
4. Bits and Bobs
5. Moss
6. Fits any Size
7. Tiny Tags
8. Frothy Coffee
9. Waffle Weave
10. Sideways Cable
11. Herringbone Cable
12. Eyelets and Ribbon
13. Tutu Frilling
14. Ears of Corn
15. Butterflies
16. First Base
17. Random Rib
18. Mistake Rib
19. Daisy Stitch
20. Cream and Coffee
21. Bluebells
22. Tulips
23. Rainbow
24. Culture Smock
25. Getting Personal
26. With Love
27. Llama
28. Regular or Grande
29. Felted (never felted before, so that shall be interesting!)
30. Big Bucks

As I'm not going to need 30 Mug Hugs (although I'm sure my family will protest), every month or so I will have a give-away!

Check back next Sunday for my first YOP post, have a great weekend everyone!

C is for... Cables

I want to apologise for this post not being up on Monday. My life has been crazily busy the last couple of days. Been setting up websites, having sleepovers, being poorly and of course, knitting.

This week, is all about Cables. Soft, squishy, gorgeous cables. Big ones, small ones, I'll take them however they come. It had always been my goal to learn how to cable, and in May of this year I finally taught myself.

Learning to cable has opened so many knitted doors to me, its unbelievable. Cable hats, cable mittens, cable mug hugs, cable jumpers, the list could go on and on.

In this post, I thought I would share with you the patterns I really love, and that maybe one day, I'll be able to have a go at.

The first pattern I absolutely adore is Fetching by Cheryl Niamath. Fetching is a beautiful Fingerless Gloves pattern which was published in the Knitty.com Summer 2006 issue.

The second patten on my cable queue is the stunning Sixteen Cable Hat by Circé Belles Boucles. I don't normally like hats, but this one is gorgeous. As the patten calls for Aran weight yarn, it will not only be a stunner to look at but it will also be really warm to wear, making it great for the cold English winters.

I've always been into vest tops, but so far don't own any. My first vest top though, I have decided, is going to be hand-knitted by myself. There are so many gorgeous patterns out there, but to be honest, this has to be one of my all time favourites.

The pattern is Catriona by Debbie Bliss. The cables are simply divine in this pattern, and the red certainly shows them off brilliantly. The pattern is rated hard, but for the end result, it is definitely worth the effort.

I'm attempting my first pair of socks next week, and so I have been spending a lot of time looking at sock patterns. My favourite cable pait that I have found, is the uber funky Circle Socks by Anne Campbell. If and when I learn to knit these socks, I doubt I'll knit anything else.

So that is my, rather short, Learn Your ABC post for this week. Check back next week when 'D is for... Deadlines'. To check out more 'C' posts, click on the links in the Mr. Linky below! 

FO Friday: Running Late

I'm sorry I'm late to the party everyone - but I brought chips and dip!

This week I've stuck to small projects, as I've been busy writing, thrashing my mates at Mario Kart (20-1, who said girls were lame at driving?!) and being sick. Not that I'm giving you excuses or anything...

So this week I have four items to show you. Small, yes, but finished objects nonetheless.

The first is a pair of mittens for my friend Jo, who just had her first child, a beautiful baby girl called Emelia. I thought I would knit little Em her first Hat, Booties & Mittens. The two latter are done, and the hat is ready to be sewn up. So I will be able to give them to Jo on Sunday as planned, HURRAH!

Second, Third AND Fourth are mug hugs. Groan if you will, but I am practising knitting them, as hopefully in the summer I'll be able to start selling them! (Well, I need some income for my yarn addiction, don't I?)

The first one I'd like to show you is the cable mug hug I started last week. I finally finished on Wednesday, while watching Megamind for the upteenth time. I love it. It's so soft and squishy. And because the cables are so thick, it means the tea stays extra hot. Perfect.

My second mug hug is actually another trial run for the pattern I made, just to check it wasn't a fluke. Fortunately it worked out fine. If you would like to try the Simple Mug Hug out for yourself, you can download the pattern for free on Ravely. 

Lastly, is my favourite mug hug of all. It's called Spring Burst. It was initally made for my Mum, but as I write this I'm thinking of giving it to my older sister Sara. Hopefully Mum isn't too emotinally attached yet. This was again using my pattern, all I did was change the colour every 9 rows. 

The colours are so bright and happy, perfect to cheer you up in the morning!

Thought a contrasting button would work well - and it does!

So that's my post for today, hope you weren't too bored. Check back on Monday, where 'C is for... Cables'. Don't miss out!

Wip Wednesday: Busy, Busy, Busy!

This week is manic. And as usual its all self-imposed stress. Yesterday I brainstormed a million ideas for my blog, and have now decided on 4 new weekly post themes, which will mean that in a few weeks I will be blogging daily! Yikes! Heres a little title teaser, for my eventual blogging week:

ABC Monday, Tunes on Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, Thursday Chat, FO Friday, Speechless Saturday and finally, Dinner with the Knits (Which will be on Sunday!). 

So this weeks WIP post will be relatively short as I have to get a lot of posts written, very quickly! I hope you understand, but I promise you its all worth it :)

So this week I haven't had much done in the way of knitting, I'm still waiting to get the 3.25mm needles I need to finish the cable mug hug I've been working on, so at the moment thats hidden away in my knitting bag, waiting to see the light of day. I think we're off to Argos later this afternoon though, so hopefully I'll get it done in time for Friday! 

On my 5mm needles I have the purple baby hat I've been putting off for the past month.

The pattern is from the book Knitty Gritty: Knitting For The Absolute Beginner, and it is incredibly simple. It isn't knitting up as quick I'd like, but thats probably because I've been spending my time on planning rather than knitting. Shameless. I'm hoping to have the hat done by Saturday, so I can wrap it all up and give it away on Sunday. Well thats the plan, I doubt it will happen.

Last Friday I gave you a little teaser of the baby blanket I'm making for my sister. Here it is in all it's glory!

The pattern is from the book More Blankets and Throws, and it is incredibly simple! The Zig-Zag is made from just knit and purl, no confusing yo, k2tog, p2tog, nonsense! I'm using a light pink baby DK yarn, and it is nice and soft to work with. I've done 4 squares so far, and I reckon I'll need about 16 all together.

Fortunately the baby isn't due until September, so I have plenty of time to knit it :) I am thinking of lining the other side so that is lovely on soft on the skin on both sides, as sometimes the WS of blankets can be a bit rough. Luckily my Mum is a sewing whizz, so help is always at hand!

So that's my post for today, hope it wasn't too painful for ya! Check back on Friday to see some more finished projects I've been saving :D

WIP Wednesday: Being Lazy

I've been rather lazy this week, in the way of knitting. Normally whenever there is an opportunity to knit, I grasp it with both needles. This week though, I've been taking my precious knitting time and using it on menial things like TV and the Internet. 

Things are going to change though, starting right now. So here we go.

After finishing Katy's Hat, I found myself with a nice sized ball of the meadow green yarn. I sat staring at it for a while before the perfect pattern popped into my head.

Celtic Plait from the book Knitted Mug Hugs (Twenty to Make) - Perfect!

I did have some problems with the straight cable needle I was using, but once I had a couple of rows under my belt it started behaving itself. I was very dubious about how the pattern was going to work out, but after I'd done the first two repeats it was all understood. And you could say I was in love.

Cable is officially my favourite stitch!

Katy, after seeing the mug hug, also fell in love and claimed it as her own. Which I think is a lovely compliment. 

My second WIP is another gift, this time though for my niece Tilly. I've decided to make her a gift bag, full of things a 3 year old will love and need. 

After frogging the Cable Project Bag I was knitting (due to me using DK instead of Aran, and the fact I didn't like the colour) I found myself with 2 skeins of Wisteria Double Knit Special . So after flicking through my Knitty Gritty: Knitting For The Absolute Beginner book I decided to cast on the Zig-Zag Scarf.  (Before doing this I did cast on for my Mum's mittens, but when I was 3/4 through one I realised I was using DK instead of Aran, so the mittens weren't warm, so I had to frog it) 

It is an incredibly simple scarf, so I'm knitting it up quite quickly. And the colour reminds me of grapes. Yum.

I've done 63cm of the required 80, so I think I'll get it finished today :) 

That's my post for today, so go and check out the rest of the wonderful WIP Wednesday posts! 

FO Friday: Time for Tea!

Once again, I actually managed to finish something! In fact, I finished two projects! And I don't mean to pat myself on the back, but I think they turned out pretty well.

My family revolve around tea. When we need a solution for a problem, we drink a cup of tea. When we are depressed, we drink a cup of tea. When we're happy, we jump around the place then put the kettle on for a cup of tea. If we need a chat, first thing we do is head straight to the kitchen to, you guessed it, make a cup of tea.

So as you can see, tea plays a big role in this household. That is why I took it upon myself to solve the problem of 'tea gone cold'. For my first mug hug, I decided to use up some of that gorgeous turquoise I had left from the Baby Set I made last week.

I decided to use the Time for Tea pattern from the book Knitted Mug Hugs. 

I coped very well, seeing as it was my first time following a non-beginner pattern. I did get into a bit of a pickle with making the buttonhole, and ended up undoing the same 4 rows a total of 8 times. When I finally managed it it still didn't look right but I was so bored by that point I needed to get it over with before I stopped knitting altogether. 

My Mum loves it, she is even happier that she got to choose the button for it.I personally don't think it matches, but hey. She's the artist, not me.

My sister was extremely jealous of this mug hug, and repeatedly stole it for her own use, so I decided to make her one as well. She decided she wanted it striped, it needed to be thicker and it needed to be tighter. (I would have said no, but she is about 3 inches taller than me, and is a lot stronger. Case closed)

I had to change the pattern (and I will make a PDF of the pattern once I've had another shot of making it the same way, just to make sure that it works, nothing worse than a bad pattern!) but it didn't turn out half bad!

I'm quite pleased with how they've turned out. The only problem is though, that as soon as my Mum saw the pink & white mug hug, she immediately decided that she needed a striped one as well.

I don't think this is ever going to end!