Work in Progress

These lovely misty mornings are back and with them some lovely daytime weather.  We've been stuck at home rather a lot (well, nothing new there then) with various M related problems so quite a lot of projects have received a bit of a boost. (Knitting gets most attention because it can be done anywhere. I'd like to sew more, but I can't hear M from the basement.)  None of these are quite finished - buttons needed here, more squares needing borders, more edging on a rug, but nearly. 

 I've six or so more squares done, but I've run out of cream for borders - they're nice and easy to knit in front of the TV and make satisfying dents in the stash, though I nearly always have to buy something to tie the colours together.

 The latest new arrival is another boy - born to nephew and wife in the Middle East.  (I liked this little kimono pattern - though I had to get the crochet hook out for the loops and border which I never enjoy.)  I'm hoping this will fit when they come back in the summer, though I'll also have to knit something for his big brother now.

 This is the first EZ surprise jacket I've knitted for about 20 years but it's quite fun the way it turns itself from a shapeless piece of knitting - or rather an oddly shaped piece of knitting into a neat little jacket - hope a girl is going to arrive next or I shall have surplus pink jackets.  I shall soon have enough rugs and jackets to sell a few, or donate them to the charity shop to sell.  So much of my stash came from my sister and isn't to my personal taste, so using it to knit into gifts and donations works quite well. I think I must have a clearout of stuff I'm never going to use - yet another trip to the charity shops needed.  I've already got a boot full of books that M's rejected.  Perhaps I'll open an internet shop and sell only baby things and rugs as that's what I mainly make.....  The border on this rug is tedious to do but I must grit my teeth and get on with it.

For fun, I bought this book - sometimes doodling and colouring is ideal when you want to give your brain a rest.  Husband thinks I'm regressing to childhood!

 I've certainly got enough coloured pencils and crayons needing using! 

end of round one..

A nice bundle of little things waiting to go in the post, and just a bit of a dent in my stash.  Excuse the photos, my camera is definitely on the blink - a real problem for an impecunious blogger!

Freeze Frame

It really is the most fabulous day here after yesterday's snow.  The sun is shining  there's a brilliant blue sky and the snow looks beautiful on the hills

 

  

and away into the distance - if I had a more powerful lens you could see Worcester cathedral which is just visible to the naked eye when the view is very clear (would be better if neighbour would cut his hedge at this level).  From the top of the house the view is even better. Click on the second photo for the best effect.

Hopefully, the sun will melt the snow on the drive quite quickly, but in the meantime I've got these to keep me busy with my baby sewing....

 

And these already finished waiting to be sent....

Had to prop the pinafore up to take photo which is why it looks as if straps and top aren't even. It's such lovely cosy material to work with - can't find anywhere to take a picture with better light, unfortunately.  As M would say - there's no light in this house!

Baby, baby

 

My daughter has two pregnant friends at the moment, one of whom is expecting twins, so I've been raiding the stash to try and get some things knitted.  The little wrap over sweater above is from a french pattern by Bouton D'or.  It comes in translation but this particular one had been a bit scrambled in the process - left and right  had been confused in several places and not consistently so it was a bit of a trial and error job.  

Having determined not to buy yarn, I now find buttons very much in short supply so will have to find a site that sells assorted buttons in bulk as those little cards have become horrendiously expensive, I think.

This little blue waistcoat is quite cute but uses 10-12 buttons depending on the size.  I thought it might be a useful garment to add an extra layer on top of a sleepsuit.

Unfortunately, time gained by not having to knit sleeves is lost again by having to knit front, neck and armhole borders containing buttonholes.  The blue yarn is some of my Australia bounty and knits as 4ply - I don't know its content but it's very soft and machine washes OK.

I'm now knitting a pink cardigan in another 4ply which I know is machine washable wool - hope one of the three babies is a girl!  Everyone we know who has had a baby in the last two years, has had a boy, so the pink cardi may have to wait with the little lavender pinafore I knitted a few months ago.  Found a grateful home for the sailor jumper though!

We've been plagued by technology this week.  Husband's laptop  has a broken screen which sometimes works and sometimes goes black so he has to link up to a monitor, my camera doesn't hold the charge in its battery for more than an hour, and the central heating needs an expensive powerflush - hate the end of January.....