Baby Wiebe jumper

Goodness, it's been a busy old week on the blog. From not posting for weeks, I've now posted 3 times in 1 week! I guess that's how it works with craft projects, sometimes everything just comes together all at once.



This little one has been finished for a while now, but I was waiting on Toni to have her baby before I posted it. Welcome to the world baby Isaac! You are going to be so loved.



The pattern was a free Ravelry link, you can see it over here. I messed up the sleeves a bit, they're supposed to be the same texture as the back, but I kept knitting it back to front. After taking them out for the third time, I just cut my losses and went for straight stocking stitch. That's what you get for trying to knit with a cold.



The yarn is just an acrylic DK, good for babies as it's machine washable and soft! I already had the yarn in my stash, as with the buttons, so all in all, this was a stash-bustin' make! Love them ♥

New house blanket

I just started this crochet granny square pattern I found on Ravelry, it's free to download and I thought it would be a good opportunity to stretch my crocheting muscles and finally learn to read a crochet pattern properly. I was a bit worried, especially after spending all my paypal funds on Donegal Aran tweed wool on ebay, that I wouldn't be able to work out the pattern and it would all be a waste, but it's actually super easy, I haven't had to use youtube once!



This is to replace Little Ugly Blanket, my first ever crochet project, since hopefully we'll be getting a puppy in the not-too-distant future (this summer hopefully, assuming I pass my exams and get a job!) and Little Ugly Blanket is destined for the dog's bed. He's old now and getting holes and pulled threads and lets face it, he's ugly. I can do better now, so I want something pretty and professional-looking for our new home!



I'm pleased with how this one is going so far, I can knock out a square in an episode of True Blood (we've worked our way through seasons 1 and 2 in about 2 weeks, that show is addictive!) so I think it will grow quite quickly. Just so long as its ready for our new home, the New Home Blanket!

Velvet hearts

Just a quickie today, I made a card for my friend Toni who had a baby a few days ago! I'm pretty certain she doesn't read my blog (and even if she does, I'm sure she's far too busy with baby Isaac to be reading just now!) but I don't want to spoil the surprise in case she does, so you'll have to wait and see what I made him!

In the meantime though, here's the card I made to pop in with the present. It's super simple, velvet hearts sewn onto card, but I like how it looks. I'll definitely be making more of these in the future!





It was loosely based on this lovely tutorial from A Beautiful Mess for how to make your own stationary set, but instead of plain rectangles, I wanted to experiment with shapes. I'll definitely be making some with rectangles though, I love it as an idea to show off a scrap of nice or sentimental fabric!

Source: abeautifulmess.typepad.com via Amy on Pinterest

Finished!

As promised, photos of the final Coraline cardigan! I'm really pleased with how this turned out and if it weren't for vet school, weddings and babies getting in the way, I reckon I could have had this done in a few months instead of the nearly 2 years it took!



I still love the yarn as well, I'd definitely use New Lanark wool again, the colour is lovely and it's really nice to work with. This colour goes with a lot of clothes in my wardrobe, which is nice. There's nothing more frustrating than spending hours making something that you then realise doesn't match anything else you own!



I love the honeycomb pattern around the yoke and even though the short rows were a bastard (mental note: read pattern carefully next time), I'm really pleased with how they've turned out. Turns out, knitting whilst watching Downton Abbey is not the best combination.



I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love this button. I think it came from some item of clothing Mum donated to my sewing stash, I used it on my camera case and I'm going to love it on this cardigan.



I'm all fired up for knitting clothing now! I've already picked out my next project, it's going to be a stash bust, using up some 4 ply Rod bought me at a car boot sale!

Almost finished item

It's been a long time coming, but the Coraline cardigan is almost finished! You can see my first post on it back in January 2011, and susequent work in progress posts in February (the body) and March (the sleeves). According to my Ravelry though, I first bought this pattern and wool back in October 2010! That's a long time coming indeed!



Well, it is currently blocking on my kitchen floor, though I'm getting impatient so I'm going to move it through to Tron's room, where it's a balmy 20 degrees C. I'm a bit worried that the wet towel will damage the wood floorboards, so some technical jiggery pokery involving bin bags might be in order. I want it to be ready this weekend so Andrew can take a photo of me wearing it so I can show it off to the world! In Ysolda's version she buttons it at the top but personally I think that looks a bit silly on me so I'm going to do one button just below the bust. People with little boobs need to do all they can to enhance and show them off, know what I'm sayin'?



By the by, this is what happens when you soak New Lanark wool in your white bathroom skin. Thank goodness it washed off, we might be moving over the summer and Andrew would not be pleased with me if I lost us the deposit by staining the sink. I've already stained the wood floor in the lounge when I attempted to make elderberry wine...

In other news, I'm in the process of shutting down my Etsy shop. As I've already discussed on here, I've not got the time or inclination to dedicate to the shop at the moment and once I (hopefully) graduate and (hopefully) get a job I'll be wanting to spend my free time crafting and thrifting for me and my friends and family, rather than for the shop. It's been fun over the last few years and has made me a fair few pennies for treats while I've been a student but I feel like it's naturally run its course. I wouldn't rule out doing it again in the future (with a proper camera this time!) but for the moment it's going to Etsy heaven. I've already deleted the facebook and twitter accounts, sold Veronica and in the process of ebaying the last items from the shop so soon it will be no more. If anyone of my 'real life' friends fancies anything from the shop, just have a looksie and let me know. Some of it I'll happily just give you, some I might be keeping myself, others I might want a few pounds for to cover my costs but either way, it'll be a bargain for you!