For a little princess....................................

Everyone around me had either just had babies or is about to have babies in the next 6 months. This is providing ample knitting opportunities and I am already planning projects. But here is one little jumper that I knitted over the summer for my friends little girl which I have to say I just love. I will be knitting another one of these in a larger size for my own niece.





I love this yarn too. It is Rooster Almerino DK which I bought earlier in the year and it just knits up wonderfully. There is going to be a lot more of this yarn available very soon too at Laughing Hens. Why not come and pop by the stand on the Sunday at Ally Pally as guess what, I am helping out there.

There is something so satisfying about knitting for little ones, I think for me after the other projects I was knitting over the summer the ability to finish it in such a short time really was the motivation. I really like this design too and would love to see and adult sweater with this construction. As always my new knitpicks came into their own when it came to picking up all the stitches around the neck.

Ravelympics. Crossing the finishing line and reaching the podium..............

Ok so I made it. In fact I finished a lot sooner but lack of internet access while away on holiday meant I was unable to post straight away.
So here is my finished entry for the baby dressage as part of team socktopus.......

Oh baby, baby..................................

Ok there have been a lot of births this year to both family,friends and colleagues so Baby knitting has been high on the agenda throughout the year. I have to say I love it and having something small and quick on the needles is a delight. The problem is not being able to post until I have given the gifts so that it doesn't spoil the suprise.

Recent knits include the Cabled Cashmere blanket.......







I have also bought the following kit to knit up for a friends little boy....





It's knitted in a lovely green and blue Sea wool, the same yarn I knitted the SeaVines Vest in back at Easter. This is going to be a holiday knit and part of my enrty to the Ravalympics as part of Team Socktopus. More details once I have cast on at the opening ceremony.

I also have a little short sleeved pink cardi cast on but I haven't got any pictures of that yet. I have already completed the back and need to whip up the two fronts at knitting group on Sunday evening.

Baby baby...........

OK so I mentioned the earlier baby boom, so the past couple of weeks I have been getting myself fully prepared for the arrivals. This involved earlier knitting of hats and bootees but my next mission was for something more substantial. So while venturing up to Iknit to pick up my umbrella swift I also picked up the two sublime baby books for their baby merino cashmere silk DK. (Thats a bit of a mouthful.)I was only supposed to be getting one but I couldn't make a decision so ended up buying them both.



Don't they just look gorgeous. I was really pleased with the number of totally knittable designs in here although most jumpers / cardigans take 3 balls for the very smallest size. I guess that's why I ended up getting both in the end as I felt that it covered everything I could possibly want for a newborn. (There are a couple of girls tops that only take two 50g balls.)

Anyway baby number one arrived nearly 3 weeks ago now - shade blue and shade pink is on her way as mummy went in for her induction yesterday. So time to finally commit to the first design that I was going to knit


I decided on the Vintage Car Jacket but in blue.



I took the finished article around on Wednesday and it was very gratefully received.





I have also being knitting ahead for my new niece. I chose this design to knit for her so that I could use two balls of the RYC cashsoft that I bought at Getknitted in January.



This has also now been finished and a suitable button selected from one of my LYS.



I am really pleased with the way both the sublime and the Cashsoft knitted up and the fact that I could substitute yarns quite sucessfully on this occaision. This has not always been the case! I still haven't fully committed to swatching and I know I should. I also have to mention how I loved knitting these up on my gorgeous Lantern moon needles which you can just pick out in some of the photos. These were real luxury knits.

I would love to knit something for myself in the Sublime but I think the amount of yarn that I would need for something substantial would be very costly. I am sure it would be fantastic to wear and feel so soft next to the skin.

One interesting point though is that the baby sublime and the adult is exactly the same in yarn content with the merino, silk and cashmere it is just that the labels are different and the baby is in subtle pastel shades. The adult shades are slightly stronger in colour.

Baby boom........................

Ok there is definately something in the water or someone needs to remove that chair from the staff room as wee little sprogs are popping out left right and centre. Plus there are also family members also about to drop. Having been there, done that, got the t-shirt and had it vomitted on I feel I have some experience to offer, but not today you will be relieved to here. This has put a certain slant on recent knitting projects and knitting purchases. Therefore I have photos to show like this:





and this

I do like to make sure I am organised and have all eventualities covered.

However I did manage to squeeze in this on Saturday at Getknitted.....


.....be it a look a like combination of the above. Maybe it's just baby envy!

I also managed to get one of these...



They are definately not for anything baby at all and are purely selfish and indulgent purchases. I just couldn't resist the softness and the colours of the Fyberspates. Now all I have to do is decide what to knit them into.