Sophisticated Baby

The Sophisticated Baby Jacket Pattern is now available! It's just £4 to buy and comes written for Aran or DK yarn, sizes 0-24 months

Just one image

Of my lovely first ever carded batt (and the fibre I blended it from)

green + yellow = greenish yellow

More to come in the following days/weeks/months, I promise

Change is on the Carder...

(sorry about the poor pun in the title)

Work is still hard. There’s a lot of change which is difficult for everyone involved. Because hubby and I both work for the same company it feels that much worse, because we’re both subject to these changes.


I’m finding it okay, though there’s a lot of new stuff for me to do. I like things to be interesting and I like to be busy, so I’m enjoying that aspect of things. But it’s unstable at the moment, we don’t know whether the projects I’m working on will continue, and though the decision on that is due soon, it’s not soon enough for my preference.

However, I have just purchased a new toy: a drum carder. I’ve never used one before, but hopefully it’s not too hard. I have quite a lot of reasonably short-staple fleece that needs preparing, and I am not a fan of hand carders. Like with my spinning wheel, I’ve got a good deal by buying second hand. I’m itching to play with it! of course, I still haven’t sorted out my craft room (a task which is required more frequently than I would like) so I’m probably going to have to be a bit creative with where I play with it to begin with. It should motivate me to sort out the craft room at the weekend though.

I’m quite excited about the prospect of carding the fleece I have, but also about the prospect of blending some of my fibres. I have a lot of alpaca, lots of fleece types, I have some Masham X which might benefit from being carded (or not, it’s a longish staple so it might be better combed…)

The proofs of the photos from hubby’s family photo session came through yesterday, and they’re pretty good. As with all these things I’m sure we all like different photos. (Which reminds me, I have to seek some advice about our wedding album) maybe I’ll share some of them later.

There’s really nothing much going on right now though, I haven’t even finished any knitting or crochet since I last posted. I’ll share some of the carding once I have some.

Oh, I’m looking forward to tonight’s episode of “The Great British Sewing Bee”. It was interesting last week, and I felt a little bit inspired. In fact, I have been inspired to make costumes for an up-coming party hubs and I are going to. Hubby was going to be wearing a costume we already owned, but sadly we seem to have thrown it out in the last move, so I’m going to have a go a re-making it! All I need is the fabric, a tidy craft room (there’s incentive 2) and a little bit of time! The party is in just under a month, and we’re away for our anniversary the week before the party, so it’ll need to be finished before the 27th when my sister is visiting. So that gives me two weekends, I think, to get it done! Eep! Still, I know what I need, I know approximately the plan of attack (as I’ve made it before) and I have new skills that I did not have previously. I also plan to make my costume, but other than the skirt part, I think I’ll have to buy rather than make (tights for example!) I’m not going to share my plan just yet; you’ll have to wait for the party photos!

bien

Work is pretty weird at the moment. There have been some significant changes in the department that have made things interesting to say the least. This has meant that my crafting has been a real respite for me, and also the games consoles!

So, I’ve been doing plenty of crafting of one sort or another which I need to catch you up on. Hubby has taken on the making of the rug, which is fun. He’s doing a really good job and he’s only made one mistake which was easily fixed!

Anyway, on with my crafting…

I finished spinning the other single for this yarn, and then plied them. It’s lovely and soft, though I don’t know what it might be.



And then I spun and chain-plied this one, it’s about 220yds, so not a lot of yarn, but possibly enough for a hat or neck-warmer, or striped with something plainer it could be something else.



I also finished the baby jacket I designed. I need to take a better photo, but this one will do for now. It needs blocking, as you can see.



And I made another Sweet Norwegian Baby Cap. I love it, they’re so cute. They’ve become my go-to item for leftover sock yarn. (I’m making some baby socks to match this one, but they’re not much fun to knit so they keep getting left alone while I do other fun things!



We’re going away this weekend to visit hubby’s family in Cambridgeshire and have some family photos taken as well. I’m thinking about asking for a couple of individual shots and certainly some of hubby and me together. We got some lovely ones last time, so all being well we can repeat that experience.

I’m also looking forward to seeing one of my oldest friends again. We’re going out for dinner and drinks, which should be lovely.

And, when I’m not out for dinner or having my photo taken, I will be working on this shawl.



I want to finish it by the 28th April, which will be the end of this round of Nerd Wars. If I am successful then I will have completed the dissertation challenge for the first time. Whether crocheting a simple shawl in three months is really that impressive is another question, but I will be proud of it in any case.

I've been away!

The stash down is going well. Better than the diet, actually! Once I completed those socks for hubby, there was some yarn left. As luck would have it, I needed something to knit in the car on the way to the airport (more on that shortly) so I cast on for another cute baby hat. I love this hat pattern! (I’ve actually completed but not photographed another one)

Pattern: Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap
Yarn: Leftover sock yarn.
Needle: 2.5mm and 3mm
Modifications: Instead of a crochet chain or i-cord, I have omitted the cord under the chin
Verdict: So cute! I still love it!

While we were away I mostly worked on a crochet shawl – since crochet hooks are okay on the plane. (that said, I bet I’d be able to sneak small wooden needles onto the plane too, but I haven’t had the courage to try yet!) but it’s less-than-half finished. (it’s also a Nerd Wars Dissertation for team Browncoat – yep, I couldn’t resist playing again!)

So, where were we away to? Well, I’m glad you asked. We spent a fortnight in a place called Taba Heights, up on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt.
The weather was warm, the food was good, and we had a very relaxing two weeks. Mostly, we snorkelled, and when we weren’t snorkelling we were relaxing on the beach, or in the pool. We even played a round of mini golf. All round, it was great.

The view from the rear of the hotel

Overlooking the golf course at the side of the hotel

Enjoying the sunshine in the hotel gardens

The beautiful lagoon view

Relaxing with my crochet shawl on the beach
(it was so warm I even sat in the shade sometimes!)

This man rode up and down the beach on his camel
waiting for someone to ask for a ride.
We didn't ask - I didn't enjoy my last camel ride!

And since then? Well, it’s been hard getting back into work. I’ve been involved in a reasonably interesting but taxing project. I’m enjoying it but it means I’m quite tired of an evening!

We did take the time to do a spot of gardening. There’s a thin patch of dirt in front of the front wall at my house, and it’s been a source of annoyance to me since we moved in. It was full of weeds and there was nothing nice in it. So, we set to. I’ve used some interesting Pinterest pins about gardening to achieve this, and I really hope that it works properly.

More, more, more!

Tada!

At last!

It’s taken me a while, but I’ve finally finished my cabled sweater.



Pattern: Folklore Cables and Twists by Sublime Yarns
Yarn: Sublime Yarns Chunky Merino Tweed – dusky pink (0240 Dilly)
Needle: 5mm and 6mm
Modifications: I picked up the cast on and knitted 2 inches of ribbing at the bottom of the sweater. I knit the sleeves two at a time, and I reversed the cables on one sleeve.
Verdict: I’m pleased! I knitted the smallest size and even though I got gauge, it’s still a bit looser than I would usually go for in a jumper. However, that’s pretty fashionable right now!

I started it in October, and if I’d concentrated on knitting the sweater rather than the other knitting, and if I hadn’t lost my knitting mojo as a result of changes at work, it might have been finished sooner. But, it’s here now just in time for the snow. So I can’t complain. It’s been nice to knit, the yarn really helps as it’s so soft and springy, a delight to work with. It is a little splitty in places due to being a single ply, but the softness makes up for it!

The question is: what next?

I’ve been considering my position with Nerd Wars. At the end of December I thought I wouldn’t sign up for the new tournament. Then I watched Firefly and Serenity, and I thought maybe I could spend a tournament with the Browncoats. But then I would need to change my Patrick Stewart ravatar, and I’m not sure I’m prepared to do that yet. So maybe I’ll stay in Space Alliance.

So, I think I’m going to play again, I can’t imagine not. I’m not going to do a dissertation because I just don’t get on with them – maybe eventually I will go back to it.

I’m finishing up some socks for Hubby, which should be done before the end of the month, and there’s still the rug I’ve been designing. And some spinning that I started back during the Olympics!

I do have plans for my holiday crafting though, some nice crochet – pretty and portable, and also something I can take on the plane.