Tippy toe, tippy toe

I will make no grand gesture of a return this time but will try to slink back quietly.

I bring pictures of knitting. A birthday shawl for my Mum

That was greatly appreciated.

A Christmas Gnome that I donated to a school fair.....my mantelpiece looks bare without him so I may have to knit another!

The shawl was a fantastically easy pattern from Simply Knitting magazine. A four row repeat with 3 of the rows being knit or purl and just one row to shape the waves. I loved knitting it! I used this yarn and had enough left over to knit some rather nice gloves.....pictures of those will wait for another post

The gnome is of course an Alan Dart classic. I had to make the beard silver as he was to be sold on the 'silver' table at the school Christmas fair. I am pleased to say he found a good home very quickly.

Right, time for a cuppa and a peruse of my new Yarn Forward magazine before the little man awakes!

Genesis

A new beginning is needed after such a long absence!

What can I say but life took over. Since my last post such a lot has happened, the most significant being the arrival of this little fellow.

Oscar arrived on the 17th of April and is such a wonderful little man.

There is much crafting to be blogged about, especially as I have been making use of my sewing machine. A lovely christmas present from my dear hubby. For now though this is me just getting back into the blogging of things!

Sunshine on a rainy day!

January in Britain seems to last forever.....it's grey and rainy, Christmas is over and pay day seems a long way off. There isn't anything to look forward too......until a parcel arrives! I love parcels and there's nothing like a parcel of wool to lift the spirits! I was waiting for some better light to take pictures but like that's going to happen any time soon!!

So thank you Christabel of the lovely Rhubarb Supreme. My first give away win was fantastic!

I now have the perfect excuse to try knitting some socks!I'm quite excited actually. My Mum, a seasoned sock knitter is coming to visit soon so I may wait so that I have some guidance....I'd hate to waste the beautiful wool! Watch this space though.....I'll keep tabs on the sock progress!

I haven't spent all of January moping. I have actually been knitting away. My dearest Sister is about to give birth to No 2. I can't resist a good ole baby cardigan!



Looks like Shrek and Binka can't resist them either!



Come on little nephew....you can come out now, your cardigan awaits!!

After finishing the cardigan I was about to start a couple of other presents for birthdays coming up when Imogen sidled over and said 'Mummy.......knit something for me, Pleeeeeease!' After a heart melting look I was unable to resist and spent the next half an hour looking through every knitted toy book I own. She settled on the brown haired doll from one of my birthday gift books, she was very insistent about the brown hair. She proved to be a quick and easy knit. The next day I'd got this far.......




The day after that 'baby Imogen' was with us. I did suggest other girls names but my girl decided that her name was best!!

New Year New Knitting!

Happy New Year everyone!
Well with the advent calendar behind me (can't quite believe it)I can't help my mind wondering to this years knitting projects.....actually I'm thinking Christmas presents. The Sirdar Bigga in moss stitch was so scrummy and soft that I'm thinking scarves...predictable yes, but very useful plus with the added bonus of being quick and easy to knit.
After getting such gorgeous knitted toy books for my birthday I quite fancy making a few for nieces and nephews. Hmmmmm, if I start spreading the cost of yarn now I could probably afford it!Oooo If only I could buy it all now, I love buying wool.

I leave you with a picture of what happens if I don't hide my knitting after I've finished with it!

Knitting goodies

First of all thank you all for the birthday wishes!I had a great day.....we took Imogen to the cinema for the first time and watched Enchanted, it was great!

Now onto the goodies!!!!My lovely family treated me to these lovely books




Now I'm the first to admit my photography skills are not the best....I apologise. In fact I never realised just how bad my photos were until I stared blogging but I'm sure you get the gist!

The advent decorations are nearly finished.....I know I know. I'm cutting it a bit fine but I just have a little santa to knit now-hurrah! I really hope I'm knitting an heirloom here, it's taken long enough!

Talking of heirlooms I found one today and gave it a polish

This was my Grandpa's. When I was little I used to look forward to trips upto Scotland so much and Grandpa's sweetie dish was part of that. He always had this on the table next to his chair and I loved sneeking sweets out of it! I found it today and thought just for Christmas it might be nice to get it out and use it!It's lovely seeing it again......of course I had to fill it with sweets.

Here's to happy memories

Hark the herald......

Introducing my favourite little decoration so far....I love this wee angel, she's so sweet!I can't wait to see Imogen's face when she sees this one.

The bag is also complete!Hurrah, Christmas presents are done and finished.Ok so I only made one but you've got to start small with these things!

I'm rather excited as it's my birthday in a few days and I have a sneaky suspicion that my family have been buying off my amazon wish list which consists of erm....... knitting books and craft books and more craft books!!!I'll be sure to share all the crafty goodness with you folks!

On the first day of Advent

I bring you ...........

The Advent Calander!Ta dah.

This was a joint project with my Mother in Law, she was knitting the pockets and the backing while I did the decorations. In the middle of November she suddenly needed to have an emergency eye operation so the last few weeks have seen me knit, knit knitting and then assembling the calender......phew, I'm so glad it's finished.

Here are a few more of the decorations.

Here we have a bell, christmas pudding, lantern, christmas tree and candy cane among other things. All this is an Alan Dart pattern. I love it, especially the decorations. I'll definitely be knitting some more for friends and family, just not this year!!

Also hot off the needles is my Mother's Christmas present


This will be a bag when it's all put together. I thought the green fabric would make a really nice lining for it. I LOVED knitting this. I don't know what it was but the combination of the Sirdar Bigga wool, Brittany needles, and the moss stitch was just so satisfying. Plus it was a quick grower which is always nice!
It's really beginning to feel seasonal now!After my Christmas meal out with all my other 'Mum' friends tonight I shall really be feeling in the mood.

Happy Advent Everyone