Catch up

Oh dear, bit of a slump on the regular posting there - I could reel off a list of excuses about a dying laptop, constantly changing travel plans blah blah blah, but lets face it these things are a constant and the very reason I set up the blog to keep my focus on the creative. Less TV more creativity!

So moving on. I'm not entirely sure about posting what I have been up to knitting wise, as it's all gifts and the receiver won't see them for a few weeks yet. Seems I need to either create a spoiler alert system or be creating enough non-gift things at any time to keep up blogging! On this occasion I'm going to go with a personally sent spoiler alert.

I finally pieced together the cotton bolero I blocked a few weeks back.

Pattern; Blossom by Rowan. Yarn; Rowan Fine milk cotton

 

I decided to crochet a picot edging around it, rather than follow the pattern which has a knitted decorative edging sewn on. The original pattern also has a large knitted flower on the clasp - far too easy for a grump toddler to constantly pull at, I went for a cute simple button and loop instead. Really happy with how it turned out. I'm also really happy to have nearly used all my stash of Rowan Fine Milk Cotton - it's quite unforgiving to knit with, showing every fault in tension as the yarn has no give (as with all cottons), and splits very easily. I also found I had to knit tightly on very small needles to achieve the pattern tension.

Last Christmas I made laundry tags for all my hand knitted gifts, so I've started to develop that idea a bit further. I'm thinking there's something good to be done with the tension squares, but haven't figured that out yet. I had made the little sample of the pink knitting just to test the picot edging, it was just dumb luck that it fitted so nicely on the swing tag.

 

 

Then whipped up a batch of boy accessories, I do love knitting baby booties and hats, so satisfying to knit something from start to finish in an evening!

Pattern; Hat -'Striped Hat' Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino book 2,

Mary Janes by Lucie Sinkler, Slip ons Caroline De Hugo.

Yarn; Patons Dreamtime Fairytale 4ply

 

I came unstuck though when trying to finish the one ball of blue wool I had with some stripey socks, the blue ran out at the heel of the second sock - rats. So pulled them both back, halved the blue and knitted them two at a time to ensure they matched (why didn't I think of this the first time?)

Pattern; Stripey Socks by Debbie Bliss - Baby Cashmerino 2

Cardigan - Sirdar Patons Dreamtime Fairytale 4ply

 

Ta da, just a few less stripes and we got there. This cardigan and socks are supposed to be for the same age group, the socks look way too big to me, maybe just because they're flat?

Altogether though I think they make a nice little gift pile;

 

 

 Not a lot of activity on the art front lately to report. I spent an afternoon in the Leeds art library reading up on the History of Dogs in Art, and studying the eyes of different mammals - these are my sketch notes from that afternoon;

 

 

and a few folks from the Tiled Hall cafe when I stopped in for a coffee - 1 minute sketches.

 

Remember - less TV more creativity!