Hat embellishment

After looking at my Pinterest (which I don't use nearly enough), I decided to finish off the girl's crochet hat with a large flower.  I chose this flamboyant but easy to make corsage from the Eweewe blog which I pinned a couple of years ago when I was looking to embellish a plain black bolero.

I used the pinky/fawn 4 ply from the hat and paired it with an oddment of acrylic variegated yarn that I found in my leftover yarn bag.  I made 16 petals rather than the 20 the pattern called for, and still ended up with a very large flower!  It's finished off with a sparkly button from the Scrapstore.

I would certainly use the flower pattern again, it was quick and easy to do and really stands out.

Finishing some WiPs

In 2015 I used up just over 11 kilos of yarn.  However, on Saturday I went through all of my cupboards and other hide-holes, and discovered that my stash currently weighs just over 20 kilos.  There is therefore an urgent need to get knitting and crocheting!

I have managed to finish a couple of items that were started last year.

This is one of the 3 jumpers that I had already started, and now that it is complete it counts as my first of twelve boy's jumpers for this year.

This was a preemie blanket that I kept to knit when I was on journeys in the car.  It is knitted in 4 ply on 3.75 needles.  The side edges looked a bit uneven, so I added a row of double crochet and then a shell border.  It looks much better with a border.

This was a very quick knit to use up some chunky yarn that I found remaindered in my local yarn shop.  We have been told by Operation Orphan that teenage boys like to have black beanies, so this one, knitted in 2x rib, should suit.  There is enough yarn to make at least 2 more in the 200 g that I bought.  That makes hat #2 of 52.

I also crocheted a girl's hat using some 100% wool that was donated.  I like the look of the hat, but can't decide how to finish it off.  I have a large, shiny button that would look good as an embellishment, or else I could make a flower or a bow.  I'm tending towards a large and colourful flower, but I'm still undecided.  

2016 makes....

I'm not really one to make new year's resolutions, because I either forget them or break them with monotonous regularity.  In terms of my knitting and crochet, I am always a bit of a gadfly, with several different items on the go at the same time:

• there is usually a preemie blanket being knitted on circulars (good for in the car when we go somewhere and my husband is driving.  Have you ever tried to retrieve a knitting needle from under the driver's seat while he is driving???).  
• there is always a small item (usually a baby hat) in the bag I take to the scrapstore, in case we get a quiet time when I can sit behind the counter and knit or crochet.  
• there is something with a fairly easy pattern that I can take to craft club on Monday nights - so much nattering goes on that I make mistakes with anything complex. 
• there is often something I have started as a result of a charity appeal with an urgent need for something - the butterflies I made last year fall into this category 
• then of course, there is something which has caught my eye, either a pattern or some yarn, that I must start immediately because it is the most important thing that needs to be done.  It can, of course, be superseded when another must do item catches my eye, thus becoming a wip.

New year is a good time to go through the stash and the wip bags and see what is there.  I found 2 boy's jumpers that I had started and put to one side - one of them I had completely forgotten about.  

This jumper is one that I made for one of my sons in the 1990s.  It requires a degree of concentration, plus remembering that I had started it in the first place!

This is one of my favourite go-to patterns; it is free to download from Ravelry here.  I took it to craft club last night because it falls into the 'easy' category.

This one falls into the "Oh my goodness, I love this pattern and must try it out immediately" group. The pattern was one of a stack that someone donated to the scrapstore, and I loved it.  You can see that the price of it was 10p, which means it probably dates from the early 1970s (why do they not date knitting patterns?)  It is done in double knit and has a cable and honeycomb pattern.   I had bought some Aldi yarn between Christmas and new year, so I cast on and plunged in. It will not be quick to knit, but I am enjoying it so much.

A Loving Hands member (Pat) who noted that fewer boys' garments are knitted than girls', suggested that she was going to consciously aim to knit boy's jumpers this year.  Several of us are joining her, and I am hoping that I will be able to knit 12 jumpers (I have a head start after all with 3 on the go!).  I also think that I can average a hat a week, so for 2016 I will aim to make 12 jumpers and 52 hats.  I have set up a page on this blog to post photos of what I achieve.   One hat completed to date - I wonder whether I will make it?

December's project completed

It took longer than I expected to join all of the squares into a blanket, but, after darning in untold numbers of ends, it is finished.

I have laid it on the guest room bed, and it measures 42 inches by 60 inches.  It weighs 1.2 kilos, so was an excellent stash-buster project.  I expect it will go to Operation Orphan's Keep a Child Warm project in the new year.

These are just some of the ends.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

December's project

I've mentioned before that, via Loving Hands, I was given a donation of yarn by a lady who lives near me.  A lot of the yarn was aran weight, with a high wool content.  At Loving Hands, were are having a "blanket challenge" at present, to see how many blankets we can produce before the clocks go forward in March.  I decided to use up a lot of the aran to make a crochet blanket.  I have made 35 squares, and here they are laid out on the living room floor.   Each square is 7 inches across, and I am aiming for a blanket that will be approximately single bed sized.

To bring the blanket together, I am using some cream aran to make the final round on each square, and using join as you go to link everything together.  I have made a start, but I think it will take most of today to finish the joining.

I am using a size 6.00 hook to join, which is 2 sizes larger than the one I used to make the squares.  There is some disparity in the size of the squares, depending on the yarn used, so I am hoping that this will give me a bit of flexibility to smooth out the differences.

Today I am home alone; both sons and daughter-in-law have returned to their own homes and my husband has gone to watch rugby at Twickenham, so I have the ideal opportunity to press on with the blanket.  There is Test Match cricket on the TV (England vs South Africa); it will be a good day!

Ladybird, Ladybird.....

I quite enjoy making ventilator bonnets as small projects in between bigger things.  I usually use 4 ply and knit them in pastel colours or white.  Then yesterday I saw a Facebook post from a NICU nurse asking whether it was possible to make animal or superhero ones.  I've made quite a few animal hats, but I'd never thought about embellishing vent bonnets. I can see that some parents would be happy to see their baby in a cheery, fun hat.   So last night I played around and came up with a first attempt at a ladybird hat for babies in ICUs.

I took inspiration from Repeat Crafter Me's crochet ladybug hat pattern, and made this:

And modelled by my very own childhood doll, Susan, who will turn 60 at Christmas!

I haven't got the eyes quite right, and on future versions I think I will make the spots larger.  But I am so pleased that I saw that Facebook post!

Gosh, I hadn't realised that I haven't posted anything at all in November!  It is a busy month, with both my and my husband's birthdays.  We've also had a visit from my niece and great-niece; Millie is a super toddler, but she left me with a cold which is lingering and lingering.

But enough of the excuses.  Drum roll please, for I have finished the other WIP I was working on, the aran cardigan.  I am so pleased with the finished article.  The yarn was donated to Loving Hands for charity use, and is 100% wool, so the cardigan will be super-warm for whoever receives it.  It will fit a 28 inch chest, so probably a 9-10 year old.  The picture below doesn't really convey the rich red of the yarn.  It is flecked with yellow and black and is really attractive.

The pattern was one of my Mum's, and offered the option of hood, collar or a simple neckband to finish off the neck.  I wasn't sure the I had enough yarn for the hood, so I opted for the collar.  It went on really easily and I'm very pleased with the overall finish.  A couple of weeks ago we received a large bag of toggles in the scrapstore.  I made a donation and took a few to act as the fasteners.

I have also done some other bits and pieces of knitting and crochet since I last posted on here; mostly they were preemie items, including hats, body warmers and a small blanket.