Monday 26 January 2009

Latest Finished Object....

This one has been a long time in the WIP pile ........ he arrived on Tuesday 20th January, at 21.10 in the evening, was hard work but worth it.


That'll be my new boy - Owen. One two three, Ahhhhh (and yes, he has a lot of hair).



He's got his Francis charmed, and I knit him a jumper.......


Pattern - my own, basic raglan cardigan, one row stripes, moss stitch button bands and collar, random assortment of buttons from my collection.

Size - 0 - 3 months (from a Debbie Bliss pattern), a bit big for now - he'll grow into it! 7" to underarm, 5.5" sleeve length, 9.5" total length, 19" round the chest.

Yarn - oops, didn't keep the ball bands, but acrylic/wool blend machine washable sportweight/dk. 1 ball in green and one in off white.
Gauge - 6.5 stitches and 8 rows per inch.
Comments - it's a good thing it's washable. Not the nicest softest wool ever, but practical and cheap and available in the shop in Inverness. There seems to be a lack of nice wool that is washable on the market, but I did go shopping in some of the internet sales and have bought some of various blends which I am going to be trying out. When I am a bit better organised, I'll get a cone or two of machine washable wool and try dyeing my own I think - it is so much more fun working with really nice coloured stuff.
He will have matching green booties as well as soon as they are done........


Tuesday 13 January 2009

Currently blocking.....

First off, being 41 weeks pregnant is not conducive to having lots of knitting mojo, or staying power. I keep starting things, frogging them after about 3 rows and then having another nap (and/or some more chocolate icecream). I am no longer enjoying pregnancy, I am sore bored and very very grumpy, but nothing seems to be happening.
I have managed to finish one project off though - my Winter Cottage Mittens (apologies for the photos, but the weather here has not been conducive to taking photos outside).
This lovely pattern was designed by the Lovely Dee at Poshyarn, and the colourway is Bonfire, but being me I made a few changes.
The most important of these was the addition of a gusset on the side of the mitten so that they would go round my large hands. The fit is great above the thumb, but there was no way that I was going to get them on if they had an afterthought thumb.
Then in order to make the gusset fit above the bottom pattern, I needed to add a few rows to the bottom of the main pattern - luckily it repeats twice so I just had to copy about 10 rows over. Then in order not to end up with very long mittens, I left out 10 rows of the ribbing.

The mittens are quite snug in these photos, but I have just got round to making a template (cardboard wrapped in clingfilm, sized to fit round my hand) and they are now soaking and waiting to be dried.
They are going to be lovely and warm though - just perfect for pushing a pram round town this winter. All I need now is a baby, so if you could all think labour inducing thoughts for me that would be much appreciated.