It’s finished and I’m delighted. I hope the mum to whom it will be gifted is just as happy. :)

I really like how this all came together, and I’m so happy that I decided to do this one seamlessly, it made such a difference in the finishing to only have to kitchener the hood and a couple stitches under each arm and weaving in a few ends.

In all, it didn’t take that long if I had been working on it religiously, but given the amount of spinning I’ve been doing that obviously wasn’t the case. It’s a great little pattern and I’d recommend it, especially if you aren’t sure that you have enough yarn for the hood. :)

Fibre: Superwash BFL custom dyed by Wildcraft
Yarn: 3ply worsted spun 14WPI, approximately heavy fingering weight
Pattern: Daisy by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee via Knitty (Ravel it!)
Size: Approximately 6 to 12 months (22.5” finished)
Needles: 3.5mm
Mods: made it seamless
My Ravelry project page for this item: Handspun Daisy

If I were to do it all over again, I’d love to do it on needles one size smaller, but I was so paranoid about running out of wool I didn’t. I got a lovely fabric with the 3.5mm which will drape nicely without being too airy.

I hope you like it Claire. :)

I’m in the middle of a knitting emergency (among other things), but I finally remembered to take a photo of stuff! :)

A few months ago I requested a few custom dyed braids of superwash BFL in a gothy red colourway.

The idea was to spin it up into a 3ply yarn to make a baby cardigan for my husband’s work collegue as per my husband’s request.

The yarn was spun on my Kromski Symphony on 10:1 with a total of 450 metres. I love the look of 3ply, but sometimes I dislike it’s yarn eating capability. The fact that I spun it worsted and kept some back for some 2ply didn’t help.

I had originally intended to make a Cardigan for Merry (Rav link) with an option of a stand up collar instead of a hood, but soon into the knitting I realized that it wasn’t going to happen. There just wasn’t enough yarn.

I decided to go back to an old favourite, Daisy (Rav link) which is a basic raglan cardigan with a hood. Kinda like Cardigan for Merry but without the fancy turned hem and yarn eating cable. And I’m making progress.

In fact, I’m up to the armholes on the body and a sleeve and probably at the least photogenic part of the entire process. As for the pattern, I’ve modified the sleeves to be knit in the round and joined to the body at the underarm and the whole raglan area is being knit as one piece. Basically it cuts out having to seam the sleeve and up the raglan decreases and leaves me with only a couple of stitches to graft under each arm. In other words, barely any finishing, and that’s my kind of garment. :)

I’m hoping to get this done very soon as I was given some incorrect information as to the baby’s due date. I was under the impression that this baby was due in mid-July, however the baby is actually due in 3 weeks and I really would like to get it to her before she leaves on maternity leave.

Now to cast on the second sleeve.

My allergies have flared up and thus there is no lace knitting today…

… so we are knitting little people clothing! :)

I’ve currently working on a little spring cardi as D is in desperate need of one for daily playground excursions. I bought some Patons Washed Haze DK at Kemps in Sunderland for 49p a ball with the intention of making a little lace number for the little girl. After a failed attempt at another cardigan (mostly due to pattern errors and me not following my instincts) I cast on for the Eyelet Yoke Cardigan via Lion Brand.

It’s a nice little cardigan and very straight forward, which is probably for the best since I’m changing up a bunch of things including the gauge (I’m using a DK rather than an Aran) and knitting it seamlessly (since I usually don’t do seams I don’t need to). I’m about the attach the second sleeve into the body to work the yoke, so it is going quite quickly, too.

I’ve reworked all the number both for the stitches and the rows for a 25” finished chest, which is in between the 1 and 2 year old size. I want something loose enough to be comfortable but not oversized. With any luck she’ll be able to wear it next year, albeit with three-quarter sleeves.

I was a bit uncertain about the yarn, but for 49p a ball, I was willing to give it a chance. I’ve been pleasantly surprised. I had to go down a needle size to 3.75mm to get a nice fabric. Funnily enough it got me gauge as well, something that floors me as I’m a tight knitter and usually have to go up a needle size. However, the swatch grew slightly and came out exactly to the gauge on the ball band, and it has a nice hand and drape. It knits an awful lot like Rowan All Seasons Cotton, something that shouldn’t surprise me as the content and construction are almost identical, although I’m quite certain I already hear the Rowan fans sharpening their pitchforks for saying so. Conveniently it also comes in Aran weight and thus might be a good substitute for Lion Brand Cotton Ease which is hard to come by in the UK. It’s a shame I didn’t get the Aran since it would have meant a lot less pattern modifications.

So it goes.

...or at least a stellated dodecahedron.

I’ve been busy for the last while, mostly with the wee one. She’s growing so quickly, changing so quickly and now starting to move around quite quickly. I’ve even keeping up on my photo a day (with only a couple minor exceptions) although the photos aren’t always getting downloaded that day, let alone getting them posted on flickr and on the blog. Everyday I keep meaning to post… it just isn’t happening. I think I’ll be playing things by ear for a while.

However, I have been busy knitting. My latest finished object is a toy for my little girl, a stellated dodecahedron made in various colours of wool complete with a few jingle bells inside.

The pattern is Celestine by Norah Gaughan and it’s a great little pattern. Best of all it’s seamless. You start with one little five sided point:

Then you pick up and cast on for the adjacent point, knit, repeat:

(By the way that photo was taken at 10pm… still plenty of light. Love summer.)

and repeat:

until you have 11 sides. Stuff. Knit final side. Presto! Baby toy:

I found the pattern very intuitive and a fun, quick knit. Best of all the wee one loves it.

Pattern:
Celestine by Norah Gaughan via Berroco ( Ravel it! )
Yarn: Oddments of Paton UK Diploma Gold DK
Needles: 2.75mm double points
Mods: none

I’m heading to Woolfest tomorrow. There will be photos. And shopping. And photos of shopping. Whether or not they get posted tomorrow will depend on what time we get home.

Dr. Daddy reading to his little girl… and hiding from the camera.

The wee one loves her books. She’s even learning to turn the pages. (I know that’s probably a fluke, but she’s done it on at least a dozen times and as her mum I thinks it’s cute so therefore she’s learning to turn pages, okay?) Sometimes she’ll even read along with us… in 4 month old baby babble.

One of my favourite finished objects of late, the Baby Surprise Jacket. Love this thing. My intention was to make this so that the wee one can wear it to her daddy’s congregation and I wasn’t too sure if the sleeves would still be long enough by then so I lengthened the sleeves, but knit them with two less stitches to form mini cuffs. I think it’s cute.

I really love the way the yarn works up in this pattern. I can really see myself doing another in some handspun.

Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by EZ (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Twilley’s of Stamford Freedom Spirit
Needles: 4.5mm
Finished size: 18” chest
Mods: lengthened the sleeves

This will actually be the first page (for now) of my pregnancy album because it just seems fitting.

Because I need another album on the go… at least this will be a very finite album. :)

I really wanted to do a pregnancy album, not necessarily to document everything week by week (because I’m not that organzined) but just the random highlights and things I want to remember. And really, every pregnancy album needs a pee stick layout. ;)