FO Friday Tree skirt!!!

Ta dah!!



I finished it on Boxing day (Wednesday) evening apart from a few final ends to weave in. I've just finished doing those and now here it is :-D



I am so, so, soooo pleased with it. Definitely a labour of love to use all those colours. I wanted to make sure the ends were really secure so I sewed each one individually rather than just crocheting over them. This skirt is going to LAST lol



I love how cosy it makes the Christmas tree look, like it's cuddled up under a blanket



Ravelry link here. Very simple pattern, just time consuming to make!

More FO Friday posts at Tami's Amis

WIP Wednesday Granny tree skirt

I finally finished the squares around 9pm yesterday. This morning I have sewed them into groups of three and now I just need to sew them to the inner circle. I think it might take me a while, this thing is HUGE!



I joined the squares together just using simple slip stitch. I'm hoping I'll be able to do the same for the two circles. I'll need to pay attention though as there are 10 treble clusters on the outer circle to join to 8 treble clusters on the inner one. I've used a bunch of safety pins to keep each section in place.

I think for now I'll sit and admire it for a bit and then make a proper start once I've had my lunch ;-)

For more WIP Wednesday posts please visit Tami's Amis

Last minute crochet

Trying to get my crochet tree skirt finished, I'm halfway through the 11th square out of 12. I've got loads of ends to weave in and I need to sew them all together but I'm hoping I can get it done by Boxing day ;-)



Merry Christmas to everyone reading this who celebrates it and Happy Holidays to those who don't!

FO Wrist warmers

I finished these a while back but because they were for a swap I didn't want to post photos until after my swappee received them. However she has and she guessed I was the sender so now I can show you them



Bit blurry but this photo shows the yarn colour the best. It's Sheila's sock yarn by Fyberspates in their Cherry colourway.



The radiating rib starts on the palm side and then joins up at the back. Very straight forward to knit but a lovely effect. Plus the ribbing means that it fits a range of hand/arm sizes. Perfect for gifting, provided you leave enough time to knit them up ;-)

Pattern is Marywarmers by Lisa Reeve and is a free one on Ravelry. It took less than a skein of yarn to make both wrist warmers.

WIP Wednesday

Not sure where my time is going at the moment but it feels like I'm getting nothing done but don't have the time to do things either. Very strange! Last week of school this week and then it's the Christmas holidays. I think the children are looking forward to a rest and I'm certainly looking forward to not having to do the school run in the cold and rain and maybe having some more crafting time if my OH can keep them entertained for a bit!

I've almost finished my last Christmas jumper. I need to weave in the ends, knit and sew on a pocket and then give it a quick wash and block. Shouldn't take too long as long as I get my backside in gear ;-)



I've not really worked much on my granny tree skirt. I've done a fourth square (out of 12) but not woven in the ends yet. I think because I have to plan out the colour order I'm not feeling as spontaneous when I'm working on it. I guess I need to stop making excuses and just get on with it lol



Someone asked me how I chose the colours for my granny tree skirt so I thought I'd show you:



The mirror was made by my Mum using a cardboard frame with paper mache, bright coloured emulsion paint, buckets of sequins, mirror card and goodness knows what else! I love it, and I love the colours in it. Our Christmas tree stands right next to the mirror so I used the colours in it as my inspiration for the colours in my tree skirt :-)


For more WIP Wednesday posts visit Tami's Amis

WIP Wednesday - Christmas jumper #2

Happy Wednesday folks! Only 2 and a bit days until the weekend lol. We've all been passing around a cold in my house so looking forward to having a chance to chill out and recover at the weekend. Plus with school, pre-school and toddler group all having various Christmas events, it's quite busy this time of year.

Speaking of Christmas, today I want to share with you the last knitted gift I'm making for my children. All 4 of them are getting something hand-knitted for Christmas day and this one is for my youngest son. Older readers might recognise that I made my eldest son a hoody using the same yarn and pattern. I'm trying to make this one a bit different for him though



It's hoodless, has cabled raglan increases and a garter stitch hem instead of a split hem done in moss stitch. I'm also going to add a kangeroo pocket to it as well.

I cast off the hem yesterday but it's a little tighter that I'd like so I think I'll undo it and use a stretchier cast off. It's baggy enough he can wear it but I'm just not completely happy with it.

That's it from me for today, thank you for visiting my blog. I'm going to my eldest two children's Christmas performance this afternoon which I'm very much looking forward to :-)

For more WIP Wednesday posts please check out Tami's Amis

FO Friday

Another semi-cheating Friday post from me. I've finished a few more granny squares for my tree skirt:

I'm really pleased with how the colours all seem to go together. I hoped they would when I chose them but it's always a relief to see them crocheted (or indeed knitted) together!


I've also finished my MKAL jumper so once I've blocked it I'll be able to post photos next week. Am now knitting a quick Little Hoodlum jumper for my little boy as he's the only one at the moment who isn't getting something knitted for Christmas. He's been so sweet asking me all the time if I've started a jumper for him that I couldn't not make him something :-)

 For more FO Friday posts please check out Tami's Amis

WIP Thursday?

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Originally uploaded by evel_lin

I've almost finished the last sleeve of my MKAL jumper! It's looking great and fits really well too when I got my son to try it on the other day.

Hopefully I'll be able to show you photos of the FO soon :-)

For more WIP posts check out Tami's Amis

Cheating FO Friday

It's not technically finished as it's part of a bigger project, and I haven't woven the ends in but thought I'd show it anyway. This is the first square of my granny tree skirt
 

I'm really pleased with how this one has turned out. You can see it's slightly wedge shaped, basically the bottom row has no ch1 space between each cluster where as the other three sides do. And the top two corners are ch2 rather than ch1. It's not much but it's enough to gradually shape it.

Here's a quick shot of where it will be going:


One down, 11 to go :-) I'm aiming to complete one per day. I'm being good and weaving in all the ends before I start on the next one.

That's it from me for today. For more FO Friday posts please check out Tami's Amis

I'm BAAACK!

Feel so bad for neglecting my blog lately. It's been killing my knitting mojo actually because I couldn't show you what I was up to. So, where am I craft-wise?

The fingerless gloves are finished apart from a couple of ends to weave in and blocking, going to do that this afternoon/evening.

The MKAL jumper is close to completion, I'm halfway down the first sleeve and really pleased with how it looks. Loving it :-)

My scrappy granny squares blanket has gained 3 squares but I've put them somewhere and can't remember where! Might show them off on Friday if I can locate them!

I've started another project, it's crocheted, it's in some extremely bright colours and it's for Christmas...



Can you tell what it is yet? What if I zoom out a bit?



It's a granny square Christmas tree skirt :-D Although I've not yet done the squares which will go round the edge. And they're not actually squares, more kind of wedge shaped. Ahem!

Here's the pattern I'm using: Granny Tree Skirt although I came up with my own combination of garish colours. We don't have a tasteful, perfectly co-ordinated designer tree in our house at Christmas. We refer to our tree as a "tarty tree" and this tree skirt is going to go just perfectly :-D So excited by it!


Thanks for reading, hopefully I'll be back to blogging regularly again now. For more WIP Wednesday posts please check out Tami's Amis

Sherlock

I'm finding it so frustrating not being able to show you pictures of the things I'm working on. I almost considered casting on a third project but I really need to get these two finished so I'll have to wait *sigh*. I'm behind on the MKAL at the moment but it shouldn't take me too long to catch up. I want to do the slightly more complicated option than just stockinette so that will probably slow me down again lol. It will make my son happy though :-)

My fingerless mittens are getting there. I'm doing the increases for the thumb now and think I have around 6 rounds to go before I put those stitches on hold and do the last little bit to the fingers. I'm really pleased with how they're looking, I hope my swappee likes them too!

Today I'm going to leave you with a couple of photos of the newest member of our household. Sherlock is a syrian hamster and although it's only been 13 days since we brought him home he's very much a part of our routine lol. In the mornings the children come downstairs into the lounge to watch tv and to see what he's been up to overnight. After school they construct lego mazes and puzzles for him and then before they go to bed they take it in turns to give him some tasty treats and a quick cuddle :-)





Hopefully I'll be back soon with something knitted/crocheted to show you!

E x

Wrist Warmers Swap

I mentioned a little while ago about taking part in a wrist warmers swap. I'm still knitting my first one although only about an inch left to go! They are using fingering weight yarn too so it's not that I've been completely bone idle ;-)

However, my Swappee has been very busy and this morning I received a gorgeous pair of wrist warmers


 

Such a beautiful colour and I love the cable! The picot edging round the fingers really finishes it off too :-)

This wasn't all I received from my Swappee, I also got a beautiful handmade card...



 AND some owl buttons! Aren't they cute?



I have no idea what these buttons are going to go on but it's definitely going to have to be a special project.

Thank you so much Swappee!!!

Mystery KAL

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Originally uploaded by evel_lin

I got the first clue for the Anadiomena mystery KAL on Thursday. Just a short clue this time but already I'm getting excited. The ribbing at the sides of the knitting will be the sleeves and the tiny triangle at the bottom is going to become the back :-o Very strange!

Yarn was dyed by my 5 year old son using food colours. We were hoping for more of a purpley blue but the red dye didn't absorb at all so instead we have a pretty semi solid blue instead. Looks nice though and I'm enjoying the subtle colour change as I knit it up :-)

Next clue arrives tomorrow, can't wait!

FO Friday

I've got a couple of FO's to show you today. One of them you've seen before, my Pixie sweater, I promised a modelled shot so here it is :-)



My poor girl with her gappy teeth lol. The Tooth Fairy has been very busy in our house lately!


The main FO for today however is my Bloom dress. I made the largest size using some worsted weight yarn and it's going to be my youngest little girl's Christmas outfit



I'm really pleased with it, the yarn has knitted up so beautifully but you can still see the lace pattern as well. Plus it fits my 18 month old as a long dress and my nearly 7 year old as a long top so it's destined to get a lot of use! Just what I wanted for my Precious Yarn ;-)



*sigh* I love it :-)

Ravelry link here. For more FO Friday posts check out Tami's Amis

Late WIP Wednesday

Halloween, half term and a Toddler group to run. Been a bit busy today to say the least! And I don't even have a decent WIP photo to show you :-(



Here is my Owl's sweater, I've done all the shaping increases and decreases and am now knitting until it's 19 inches long before I start the arms. I tried it on a few nights ago and it should fit fine which was a bit of a relief! Bottom up is scary lol. I'm almost certainly going to have to buy another ball of yarn for it at some point though because I'm making a longer than average size and want long sleeves too. However the yarn is acrylic so hopefully the dyelots won't be too different :-S

I do have another WIP at the moment but I can't show it to you. I'm taking part in a wrist warmers swap, my yarn arrived yesterday. It's already on the needles although it's probably going to be a while before it's finished as it's fingering weight yarn and I haven't got a lot of spare time at the moment. Swap deadline is for the end of November which I'm hoping to meet!

I'm also going to be taking part in the Anadiomena mystery KAL in November too so I expect my Owls are going to be rather neglected for a while. Still, it's fun to be busy :-)

Happy Halloween!



More WIP Wednesday posts are at Tami's Amis

Silent Sunday

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Originally uploaded by evel_lin

FO Modern Pixie Sweater

Absolutely love this sweater! Such a quick knit and it looks so warm and cosy to wear. Not got a modelled shot just yet as my daughter is at school and it's only just dried from blocking. However here it is :-)


How funky is this pooling!


And a snuggly warm collar :-)



I'll edit this post in a bit when my daughter gets home and can model for me. I can't decide yet if I want to make the belt or not, I have a feeling I will spend most of my time re-tying it for her or finding it used as a skipping rope or something!

Pattern is Modern Pixie Sweater by Elena Nodel and yarn is from Wharfedale Woolworks in the Anemonies colourway.

For more FO Friday posts check out Tami's Amis

WIP Wednesday

Bit of a late post today, didn't get round to scheduling one yesterday and with now running a Toddler group Wednesday mornings things are rather busy! Anyways, here is what I've been up to :-)

First a few more granny squares. Can you spot the teeny toes belonging to my "helper"?



Still need to weave in the ends, I''m going to do them in batches and 10 squares feels like a good amount for a batch. Oh but there are only 9 unfinished squares up there? Well here's number 10 :-)



The colours feel a bit Christmassy to me. Or is that just wishful thinking? I've got 48 squares now, still aiming for 84 but will see how it looks once I start joining them together.

I'm still working on my Bloom dress, halfway through the last lace repeat now and then it's just the border to go.




I finished my Modern Pixie sweater yesterday but it's not been blocked yet so you'll have to wait a while for photos. I'm pleased with how it came out and it was such a fun fast knit. Mainly because it doesn't really have any sleeves!

Sam at Pretty Mades and I had been chatting about the Owls sweater that we were both planning on knitting soon and we're now doing a kind of informal KAL. Sam has chosen a beautiful yellow colour for her version, it's going to look really yummy. I've chosen to be a bit boring in comparison and I'm using some grey yarn. Spot the toes again :-p



I'm a little concerned it's not going to fit right. I much prefer knitting top down so I can try it on as I go, especially as I have a long torso. Still at least with it being in bulky yarn it will be a quick knit :-) I am going to be playing a bit of yardage chicken possibly as I misunderstood the measurements given for sizes and though it was by chest measurement rather than by bust. My boobs aren't that big though so only gone up one size! If it doesn't fit then I'll either sell it or frog it and buy another ball of yarn. It will be fun to knit whatever happens.

For more WIP Wednesday posts then please check out Tami's Amis 

Happy Monday

So I've been a bit absent lately, mainly due to my wrist being sore. I ended up going to the doctor who said I'd hurt a nerve in my elbow (the one you hurt when you bash your "funny bone") and that I needed to keep it as straight as possible and to rest it, which I've been doing. It's got a lot better although I find that if I knit or crochet too long it starts to ache so I'm only doing it in short bursts. As a result I don't really have much to show you at the moment. I've done another 10 squares for my granny square blanket but need to weave in the ends so I'll take photos of those later. I've also started a new project:



This photo was taken on Friday and I've made quite a lot of progress since then. It's going to be a Modern Pixie Sweater, another gorgeous pattern by Elena Nodel and such a quick knit. The large needles, thick yarn and lots of stockinette means it's just perfect for some mindless knitting. Fab :-)

The yarn photo I posted yesterday is destined to be another Elena Nodel pattern. In November she is running another mystery KAL and this time I'm going to be knitting for my 5 year old son. He even helped dye the yarn with me using food colouring and a slow cooker, great fun! I find hanging it up in the shower to dry works best at the moment as any drips don't matter and it's out of reach of naughty little hands ;-)


The other big thing going on in my life at the moment is that I've inherited a toddler group! Basically the former leader had had enough and I was the only person who wanted to take it over. She asked me at the start of the meeting if I wanted it and at the end she announced it was her last day. For her own reasons, which I''m not going to go into because I would find it hard to be diplomatic, she has decided not to do a proper handover so I've been thrown in the deep end a little! I'm finding my feet though and feeling very positive about getting more people involved in the group and improving it's reputation so we attract lots of new mums. I enjoy being creative, organising and being in charge so this should be just perfect lol!!

Silent Sunday

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Originally uploaded by evel_lin

Moaning Monday

Feeling a bit put out at the moment. I seem to have injured my left wrist (I'm left handed). Not sure how I did it but it started hurting last weekend and continued aching through the following week if I knitted or crocheted for too long. This weekend just gone I tried resting it but it hasn't really got any better so I'm on a bit of a self imposed crafting ban for now :-(

Sitting down without some yarn and needles feels very lazy and un-productive :-(

I have a few granny squares to show off today that I'm particularly pleased with and I've finished the Saffron cardigan so will try to show that off on Friday.

First square was "designed" by my eldest. She spotted the purple yarn for her cardigan in my scrap stash and after declaring how much she liked it (which is good as she's getting a cardigan made with it!) she came up with this combination:



I decided to play around with ombres a bit. First a purple square...



And then a blue :-)



I'm up to 40 squares now although progress has obviously stopped for a bit. Fingers crossed my wrist starts co-operating again soon!

FO Friday- Milo vest #3

Another brief post today. Just wanted to show a photo of my finished Milo vest



The yarn is Freedom Spirit by Twilleys of Stamford and whilst it's probably a little busy to show the cable off fully I think it's lovely. My little boy loves his "circles and kisses" jumper, it's taken me a week to get it off him to wash and block! Fab pattern and I've no doubt I'll be making more of these lovely vests again :-)

For more FO's check out Tami's Amis

WIP Wednesday

I'm genuinely surprised it's Wednesday already, this week seems to be speeding past! Crafting-wise I don't feel like I've got much done. This is my own fault because I've got 3 projects on the go whereas normally I'm pretty monogamous. So, first up here's my Saffron cardigan:



As you can see, it's not really that different from Monday. Sleeves are a bit boring to knit so I've not done much work on them. Think I need to spend an evening with it in front of a good film :-)

My next WIP is my Bloom dress. I've finished the first lace pattern although you can't see too clearly on this picture. I was a little worried the yarn would be too busy to notice the lace but I think it will look ok. I love the funky pooling in the bodice section



My final WIP is the one I'm most enjoying creating, although not to much weaving in all the ends! I've been making granny squares out of some left over yarn with a view to joining them all together with a navy border and making a blanket. Here are my completed ones so far, I took this picture last night which is why some of the ends aren't woven in



There's a bit of a mixture of styles but I figured as it's a scrappy blanket that doesn't really matter! I'm aiming to make 84 squares for a 7 x 12 blanket and then I'll see how it looks. I've completed 21 squares and have another 7 to finish weaving the ends in. I love how fast they are to work up. Great fun!



I'll hopefully be back on Friday to show off my finished Milo vest that I have finally wrestled off Eli. For more WIP Wednesday posts please check out Tami's Amis

Making Monday

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Originally uploaded by evel_lin

I've finally finished the ruffle! Took a while to do and aages to cast off but looks ok I think. I tried it on my 5 year old son to check the sizing and it's a little tighter than I'd have liked but should fit my daughter fine. I got all of this knitting done from just one ball of yarn, not bad! Think I'll do long sleeves and then the rest of the yarn can go into my scrappy granny squares ;-)

FO Friday Granny Stripe Blanket

Just a quick post today I'm afraid but here is my finished blanket along with it's very happy recipient



It also doubles up as a way of scaring his big sister ;-)



I tried to get a shot of it on his bed but he insisted on being in those photos too...



I tried going for a different angle and look what happened! Another one appeared!



(incidentally I can't believe I hadn't noticed before how similar these two have become!)

Well, I did try to show off my blanket but as you can see it's already very well loved and being used every night to keep my little boy warm. A successful project I think!

I am rather missing crochet though. I'm "Cold Sheeping" this month but I think after that I will get a few yarns and cast something new on. I have made some granny squares using the teeny balls of yarn left over from doing the border on this blanket but they were finished so quickly they didn't really satisfy my urge lol.

Thanks for reading, for more FO Friday posts check out Tami's Amis