A Quilt for Sophia

Some of you may remember me starting to knit a baby cardigan back in February (see here) The project was prompted by one of my best friends announcing her second pregnancy. The cardigan is, surprise surprise still incomplete and the news at the end of June that the baby born to my friend is a gorgeous little girl didn't give me the required impetus to complete the job.

I wanted to make something really special for Sophia and had also started a new crochet blanket, but when I learned that I was going to meet Sophia sooner rather than later (the family live a few hours away from us) I knew that the crochet blanket wouldn't be ready in time.

After toying with the notion of sewing up a little dress, I shelved that idea for the future and decided to make a quilt. I have made quilts for babies in the past, but not 'properly', with bound edges.

After tackling those on the teddy bear sleeping bags I thought I could probably manage to reproduce the effect on a larger quilt.

I decided to make the quilt with a a selection of the lovely Aneela Hoey prints I have been stashing and had also used on teddy sleeping bags.

I didn't want to attempt anything too complicated patchwork-wise and spent some time doodling a few simple designs on paper before designing a layout I though would work well. I then had to work out a cutting diagram so that I would know which pieces to sew together in which order. I also devised a list of the various cuts needed.

The sewing itself was done in a bit of a frenzy over the weekend so I didn't really take any pictures during the process, I was just really enjoying the sewing. The piecing came together relatively simply, not much swearing required and then I chose to quilt using the 'stitch in the ditch' method, which is where you simply sew through all three layers (quilt top, batting/wadding and quilt back) following the lines of the patchwork.

In an ideal world, the quilt would be more quilted but I was worried about ruining what I had already done. I believe it is possible to send quilts off to clever people with specialised machines to achieve a traditional quilted finish so I might think about that for another time.

When I bound the sleeping bags, I cheated by using bought bias tape. I really wanted to use a contrasting edge on this quilt and did make my own binding, which I'm really pleased with. The only thing I wish I'd had more time for was the actual sewing of the binding itself. Ideally, it should have been hand stitched at the back but I knew that it would take me hours and I just didn't have the time.

(Also, while camping last week I managed to cut the end of my right index finger on some glass and it's still pretty sore so hand sewing would have been painful in more ways than one!)

The back of the quilt isn't the prettiest, but it is my first and I know it will stand up to lots of washing. I think machine-binding would get neater with practise.

Well, this morning I got to meet Sophia, now four weeks and two days old. She is very beautiful and was good enough to let me get some pictures of her on the quilt, so here she is.

While I am sewing, I do like to listen to music and often get fixated on a particular album. In my younger years (!) I think I was the wrong age to appreciate Kate Bush, but I have made a recent discovery of her and it was the album Hounds of Love that I had on repeat while making the quilt. For this reason, Sophia's quilt will actually be remembered by me as the 'Kate Bush Quilt'.

This week the house is a bit upside-down as we are doing more renovating and decorating, so the beautiful dining-cum-sewing room is out of action and there won't be many makes happening for a while, just my usual knitting and crochet but I'll keep you informed of any finished makes!

We're also hoping to do some more of this

And some more of this

 

But we'll see what the weather decides.

Thanks for reading,

Beth x

Ripple Baby Blanket - Finished!

I'm a little bit late with this post, I actually finished this blanket over a week ago, but what with all the festival prep I hadn't managed to take any pictures.

You might remember me starting this blanket (click here for the post about it) back in May. I was hoping to have it finished in time for Larmer Tree and the truly awful weather we've had over the last month has probably helped to achieve that aim. Because we had to cancel our camping holiday and instead had a last-minute holiday to Wales, I used the journey times to make good progress.

I still love the Rowan Handknit Cotton I used on this project, although I was a bit annoyed to discover halfway through a row that the white shade had a join in it which necessitated an extra two ends to be woven in, but hopefully you can't notice.

This time around I didn't knot the ends as I changed colours; I tied them loosely until I came to weave them in and then just made sure I wove the ends in under the crochet loops, being sure to change direction at least once and also to go through the strand of yarn a couple of times to really make the tail 'catch'.

Not knotting makes for a much smoother edge.

With this blanket I purposely made the beginning and end purple sections larger than the ripples in the main body of the blanket and finished off by doing a row of single crochet down each side and then two rows of trebles. I think I may have put more stitches down one side as the border doesn't lie perfectly flat, but I haven't pressed or blocked the blanket yet so that may address the problem.

So, here is the finished blanket in all it's glory, just in time for the festival.

Speaking of which, I really am upto my eyeballs in work so you won't be hearing from me for a few weeks now. I promise to take lots of pictures of the festival and do a big Larmer Tree post when I get back. Keep your fingers crossed that summer arrives just in time for me.

Thanks for stopping by,

Beth x

Hitching and Rippling

As predicted in my last post, I did cast on my Hitchhiker scarf over the weekend, which was easy, since the cast on row consists of only two stitches. The pattern is very clever really; you always increase on the toothless side (with a one row exception) which gives that edge the lovely curvy shape.

The pattern is worked in sets of eight rows, with one tooth being formed with every set. As you consistently increase by nine stitches in each set and only cast off five (the horizontal edge of the tooth) the scarf gradually grows outwards.

My mind is a strange world, and some things have to be ordered just so. In my said strange mind, it doesn't feel right to stop knitting until I have reached the end of a set of eight rows. This was fine when the rows were smaller, but I can see me having to have a word with myself soon to prevent myself from becoming chained to the spot until I finish a set.

Anyway, I digress. This was my progress as of yesterday. I was going great until somewhere around tooth ten, which was reached on Saturday night, whilst channel hopping and eating Malteasers (other choccies are available).

I was reminded of why I fell out with knitting. I don't possess the necessary skill to knit backwards or to retrieve dropped stitches and I usually end up having to pull the whole lot of the needles (apparently known as 'frogging' so I'm told) and starting again.

I was determined to rescue my mistake and did eventually succeed in picking up all those tiny little 4ply loops with an even teenier DPN and managed to make a good impression of a salvage job. Tooth ten looks a bit different than it's pointier brothers but nonetheless, it's staying.

I did manage to discipline myself enough to finish my zigzag baby blanket before casting on the Hitchhiker; I am really really pleased with how it looks and will be taking it with me to Larmer Tree. Thank you to everyone who has complimented me on it so far, it really means a lot.

In the end, I decided against my original plan of doing two rows of trebles along the long sides as I felt that my beginners luck in shaping the corners might not extend to a second row. Sometimes knowing when to stop can be an art form!

Since I managed to complete this project in under a month by utilising time that would normally be spent just sitting (on the bus, in the park, waiting for a train, watching rubbish TV with a bag of sweets) I decided that I should have enough time before the festival to hook up a sister blanket.

The pattern I decided on for this one is from Lucy of Attic24. You can view it here. I decided I would have to learn the mysterious tr2tog stitch and it turns out that it's really not that difficult, especially following Lucy's excellent instructions.

So here is what we have so far:

I'm using Rowan Handknit Cotton again, which I have really come to love working with, it seems to suit crocheting perfectly. This time I am using less colours, and dividing each colour strip with a half-stripe of a lovely crisp white.

I have done a thick wedge of the gorgeous mauvey-purple shade at the bottom, which I will repeat at the other end and the around the sides at the end. There is also a green shade to be added (the same one as the darker green of my first blanket).

This pattern will not be random like the first, but a repeat. I didn't consciously plan to used red, white and blue together in the design, but I think my aforementioned scrambled brain carries on blithely without me sometimes, and sometimes things work out all the better for that.

Next week we are camping in the New Forest and it has been pointed out to me that it might be unwise to take a crochet project that involves a beautiful white yarn to a place where cleanliness may be somewhat compromised. With this in mind I have decided to take my Granny Stripe to work on, and no doubt some other little portable bits of stitchery that are festival-bound.

I wish you all a lovely Bank Holiday weekend however you are celebrating (or not) the Jubilee and look forward to updating you on festival and non-festival progress again soon.

Thanks for stopping by,

Beth x

Knit and Natter

My nanny was a prolific knitter and you only had to mention on the phone that you needed something and it would arrive in the post a few days later. She taught me to knit when I was about seven or eight but over time I haven't progressed all that much.

My Mum knits now and then and my mother-in-law is also a fantastic knitter (as seen here). She is responsible for all the beautiful jumpers and cardigans my boys wear. Unfortunately she lives too far away for the times when I inevitably get stuck with a pattern, so this morning I went to my first ever Knit and Natter. It is held every Wednesday morning in my local wool shop (I can't quite bring myself to say yarn store, does that make me a typical Brit stick-in-the-mud?).

I have made a couple of baby jumpers and cardigans in the past, but never very elegantly. I am currently working on a cardi for a friend's baby and wanted it to be a little more refined, so knew I needed some expert help.

I am fine with the casting on and off, even some of the complicated patterns. My trouble is that I knit quite tightly, so when I come to the part of the pattern that says 'pick up and knit' I get a bit anxious because I can't do it very well.

The current cardi I'm doing  requires me to pick up and knit up the right front, along the back and down the left front all on a circular needle. A lovely lady called Sue from the group kindly showed me how to do it neatly, whilst bamboozling me with all sorts of instructions to ignore the pattern, change the ends and alter the rib. All very well meant but a little overwhelming.

Sue showed me how to pick up and knit, but she only used one needle and I couldn't grasp the technique myself. Eventually she offered to do it for me, which I readily agreed to as now I have a perfect join.

I managed to knit the next three rib rows without trouble, but now I have come to the buttonhole rows. As Sue deviated from the pattern and I'm not confident enough to freestyle buttonholes I think I might just get on with something else and take it back next week.

That being decided, I thought I would get some new wool to make a girls cardigan with, should said friends little one not be a boy.

Some Aran weight also fell into my basket - I want to make a knitted mug cosy from Mollie Makes.

The pattern uses moss stitch (knit one, purl one), which I have never attempted before and wouldn't want to do on a large scale but I think a mug cosy is about right for my talents.

For those of you visiting for sewing related chat, I do hope to be making a return to it next week, it is just that for now, knitting is suiting my temperament and circumstances. I find that if I try and sew when I don't feel like it, everything goes wrong, so sometimes it is better to wait. Just as well I'm not dependent on my livelihood for it! Does anyone else feel like that?

Thanks for stopping by,
Beth x