Knitting Olympics 2014

The winter Olympics in Sochi kick off this afternoon and I have a little knitting planned. Baby Norgi, this has been in my queue for several years now and I think it's finally time to tackle it. It's colourwork again, but this time I'm upping the stakes as this pattern features steeking!

I've been stash raiding for the yarn for this and have come up with Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in Sweet Pea and Pining 4 Ewe and Malabrigo Sock in Lettuce.

Having a closer look at the pattern I noticed that I'm short of the Sweet Pea that I need for the background. So, I'm going to cast on and keep my fingers crossed that someone on Ravelry will be destashing a skein!

I'm off to look for some needles as I've got just over an hour and a half until the opening ceremony starts. (As you can see I'm SO prepared for this)

When Life Gives You Lemons.....

make lemonade. Or when you accidentally felt your new hand knit socks that you only got to wear twice .....

make a sock monkey!

This little fellow will be off to his new home next week. I hope they like him.

Antipodean February Baby Sweater

Pattern: February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Yarn: Sundara sock yarn in Charcoal over Blue Lagoon

Needles: 3.75mm circular

Cast on: February 2012

Cast off: March 2012

A friend saw the green February baby sweater that I made and was disappointed to find out that it had gone to someone else. I had did a lot of travelling this year and as this is a perfect travel knit I decided to make another.

This was cast on on the runway at Heathrow and cast off in Paihia, New Zealand.

The little buttons came from the button jar at home, and quite possibly from something I wore as a child.

I think if I make this again I might try a different lace pattern just to mix it up a bit. 

Baby Yours

Look some one made me a cardi!

Pattern: Baby Yours by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Yarn: Socks that Rock mediumweight in Ghillie Dhu

Needles: 3.5mm bamboo 

Cast On: July 2011

Cast Off: December 2011

This is the companion pattern to Baby Mine. Where as the Baby Mine has delicate lacy detail on the sleeves and body - perfect for a little girl - Baby Yours has chunky cables and lovely off centre buttons.

Hey, look at me, aren't I cute in my cardi?

When my friend announced that she was expecting I knew this was the perfect knit for her. And with a Scottish dad the yarn - Ghillie Dhu - that I had purchased with the pattern was perfect too. Ghillie Dhu is an off white, it has the lightest hint of green to it in a delicately variegated yarn.

The pattern is really sweet. A nice boxy little boy cardigan with a great cable on the front and moss stitch borders and sleeves. I love the interest of the a-symetric buttons allowing for the wide cable motif on the front.

Look, here's my man an C & A pose.

I went for nice chunky wooden buttons for this knit. Again, these were from John Lewis and chosen for this cardigan.

Dude, enough with the photos already. I know I'm cute but seriously!

Mmm, cosy cardi xx

Baby Mine

Pattern: Baby Mine by Stephanie Pearl-McFee

Yarn: Socks that Rock medium weight in Lauma

Needles: 3.5mm bamboo DPN's and 3.5mm Addi lace circulars

Cast on: November 2011

Cast off: May 2012

I purchased the pattern and yarn for this in November 2008, just after it was released. I also bought the pattern and yarn for Baby Yours. The intention was to knit Baby Yours for a forthcoming baby of unknown sex and Baby Mine for the older sister. Then as is often the way, life happened and the yarn dropped to the bottom of the stash.

I added the two patterns to the 11 in 11 list as I really wanted to make them. I figured that babies the right size would come along to claim them once I'd completed them.

It was a good pattern to knit, easy to follow, and I'm really pleased with the finished cardigan. I did have to knit the sleeves twice as I picked up a different size needle for the body, and found I preferred the look of the body to that of the sleeves. So, I ripped back and re knit the sleeves - a happy accident as I think the finished item is better for the size smaller needle.

I chose some contrasting grey buttons from John Lewis which I think finished off this cute knit nicely.

My Big Fat Baby Blanket

Pattern: Square Shawl from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitters Almanac
Yarn: Rowan Little Big Wool (507 Brown), Rowan Big Wool (043 Forest)
Needles: 10mm Addi Circulars
Cast on: November 2011
Cast off: November 2011

This is a little pram/cot sized version of my Big Fat Bed Blanket (hence the name). I used a couple of balls of pale brown that were left over from my blanket and bought a ball of green for the edging to make it up to a sensible size.

The edge is in moss stitch to help to keep the blanket flat. As the yarn for the edge is thicker it has a bit of a ripple to it which I quite like. I like the colour combination too, perfect for the little bruiser that it has gone to.

11 in 11 Update

Well, it's been quiet around here lately. I've been blogging sporadically here and knitting has been happening which I'll try and get onto the blog. But first 11 in 11. As I'm sure you've guessed from the silence at the end of 2011 I didn't manage to complete all of the planned projects. I've continued with the list into this year so a quick round up is in order.

Baby Surprise Jacket #1 Finished, blogged and delivered.

Tiny Tea Leaves #2 Finished, blogged and delivered.

Poppy #3 Finished, blogged, still waiting for a home.

February Baby Sweater #4 Finished, blogged and sent to a new home, complete with matching socks.

Baby Yours #5 Finished, blogged and delivered to this little chap. 

Kusha Kusha #6 Knitting finished, blocked, still needs the ends weaving in.

Alhambra #7 Still on the needles with zero progress.

Pomatomus #8 Waiting to be pulled out and reknit - tension too loose. 

Baby Mine #9 Finished, delivered but still to be blogged.

Girasole #10 Finished, waiting to be blogged.

Anemoi #11 Still waiting to be started.

As I did so well on last years challenge I decided not to set one for myself this year. I'm still trying to use stash yarns and the remaining 11 in 11 projects are still on the knitting list and hopefully might be finished by the end of 2012!