Snuggypants

Speaking of sewing, I managed a little before F was born. These are some trousers for the new boy - snuggly and warm, made from a felted men's vest I got at the charity shop, using an Ottobre pattern. They were meant to have the intact bindings as cuffs, but I cut the pieces out wrongly. In the end they worked out fine though - they are a bit high-waisted, but that is useful for a cloth nappied baby in winter - everything is kept nice and warm. Also, the stripes in the gusset match at the back, but not the front. I still love them though - he feels a bit like a teddy bear in them!

New Year, New Things

So the new year bought us a new family member. He is wonderful and gorgeous, and I'm having a lovely time swapping him through the handknits both generously gifted by various talented folk and handed down from B.

Baby sewing

So it turns out that sewing for babies has all the benefits of knitting for babies (small projects, rapid satisfaction, minimal body shaping, able to indulge in all sorts of cuteness) and all the benefits of sewing (much quicker than knitting!). And thanks to Ottobre magazine I managed to finally sew something cute and wearable that fits (even over a big cloth nappy).



Pattern: Dala Hast dungarees, Spring 2009 Ottobre
Fabric: Petrol fine cord from Dots n Stripes and a little Amy Butler lovely spottiness (I think it is Full Moon dots from the Lotus collection).
I see some more of these on the horizon...! (PS check out my shoes! Yes, walking now!)

Celebrations!

Oh dear....I didn't realise it was so long since my last post! Anyway, time for some celebrations!

1. I got my registration to practice in the UK! After all these years.....

2. Thanks to this, I was offered (& have accepted) a promotion

3. I have only 2 more days at work until a whole week off with friends & family & food. And knitting.

4. Rage Against the Machine made it to the UK Christmas Number 1!!! I now have a few copies of Killing in the Name of, but really, can you ever have too many? Anyway, yay for rebellion.

5. I have the cutest baby ever. No, really, just look at that bum :)

There has been lots of knitting, sewing, baking, etc. Just not lots of time. Hopefully I'll do some catch-up blogging soon.

New Hat

Another lovely Drops pattern with yet another fantastic name - b16-13 Hat in 2 threads.

This is the second of these I have knit in the same yarn (leftovers from the cardigan I knit Mr B just before he was born in Drops Alpaca). The first was a present for the lovely, new Arlo - I hope it is keeping him cosy!

It is a lovely pattern, so quick to knit in the 2 strands, and it has earflaps with lovely cords on the bottom that tie it securely to his head so that it stays on for up to a minute at a time. He seriously hates having his hat on - unless you are out and there are better things to think about.

I still think this is seriously cute. There may even be more of these in my future.

My baby is sooooo sophisticated

I think I probably say this every time I knit a baby garment.....but I love this pattern! It is so very cute, and knits up in no time, thanks to aran yarn, 5mm needles and seamless construction. It is Baby Sophisticate in New Lanark Aran (I think it is the Donegal Silk Tweed in Cobalt - the lovely Esmerelda gifted this to me when she left these shores for sunnier climes). Its almost too small for him (doh!) but it fits for the moment, and its so quick and easy I'm tempted to get straight in there and make another!

I did EZ-style increases (back loop method) for the raglan increases (as advised by the pattern), and they look very nice. The hedgehog buttons (in case you can't identify them - it was hard to get B to sit still at this point!) are too cute! I have to admit - they aren't really sophisticated buttons but then, I don't really think that Mr B looks all that sophisticated in this. It might be the tweed...he looks like he should be sitting in a chesterfield by the fire with a snifter of his favourite tipple. But eminantly cute, nonetheless.

I'm back, baby...

......hopefully! I have been busy, as you may have guessed.

First, last November, something wonderful finished, and at the same time something so so so much better started:

Which has been fantastic. Its a serious work-in-progress, we are currently up to here:

which is pretty great.

I still haven't decided whether he will feature in this blog in pictorial form, so these might be the only pics you see. Or I might not be able to control my maternal pride :)

There has been much knitting, sewing, cooking, baking of cakes, and general craftiness. I might retrospectively blog about some of it, for I am pretty proud of some things. Having been at home with bubs for the last few months has given me headspace to think about such things more, and I feel like I have really made some progress technically with knitting. And I have taken up spinning (on a drop spindle) over the last few weeks. And I went to Ravelry day yesterday, and came back with a great haul of stuff, a love for my fellow knitter and a brain full of knit facts from the most ace Jared Flood (aka Brooklyn Tweed), who took a workshop I attended in the afternoon. So more on all that to follow!

If you are reading this, thanks for sticking around! Hopefully it won't be quite so long between posts again :)