Another stash-busting project done! This time, a rainbow Olivia Cardigan from the pattern by Nikki Van De Car. I'm making good progress on my yarn stash, one by one picking out the yarns that have been saved for a rainy day and turning them into something else more practical.


This yarn was another find from Thimbles on my last holiday to Cape Town. It lost its yarn label on the way home but I suspect it has a high acrylic content so I steam-blocked the bejeebers out of it and that worked brilliantly. It took 100 grams for the entire cardigan (with a tiny amount left to spare). I love it that baby and toddler garments take so little, and that they finish so quickly. Such a great sense of triumph at the end.


So. This pattern. I think the yoke/sleeve construction is sheer genius (although why you don't pick up the stitches for the underarm as you knit I have no idea - definitely going to do that next time instead of sewing up afterwards!). Easy, quick, simple. Stands up to baby antics as she clambers over toys and under tables to test the cardigan's mettle.


The lace, well that's another story entirely. I've knit a lot of lace and used a lot of charts. I've done lace scarves, cardigans, jumpers, and blankets. So why oh why couldn't I get Van Der Car's lace pattern to work?! Each time I progressed to the next row, my stitch count was out. I counted and recounted my stitches before and after each row. I marked off each lace repeat with stitch markers. Maybe I'm just a visual person and I need a chart. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. Either way, after my third (third!) attempt at the lace pattern, I ripped it right back, chucked it out, and replaced the entire body with the lace repeat from the Hey, Teach! cardigan which I love. Done, and done.


With this size (18-24m), I had to do a band of five plain stitches on either side of the button band to get the lace repeat to fit neatly. I quite like the way it looks.

The Olivia Cardigan pattern comes from the book What to Knit: The Toddler Years which I got out of the library. Of course, as luck would have it, someone requested the book so I had to get the whole cardigan done and cast off before returning it in two weeks. I knit the 18-24 month size so it worked up really quickly and I made it just in time, casting off the night before the book was due back.


This cardigan's neckline is much too big for Isla, but that's not surprising as it is the next size up for her. I didn't want to knit her actual size in case I didn't get it finished in time; there's nothing more disappointing than making something that ends up taking longer than expected and being far too small to be any good. I speak from experience.


She likes the buttons. Priorities.

It's freezing here. Like, right down into your bones kind of cold. In the mornings, the windows are frosted up and there is a thick sheet of ice on the cars outside. Even the grass is frozen.

It's days like these that make me want to hibernate indoors, drinking mugs of hot tea and knit-knit-knitting along to make socks, mittens and other warm things. It's so tempting to just ignore responsibilities like work and cleaning in favour of things like the clickety-clack of your needles. Still, an hour of knitting in the evenings is such a lovely thing to look forward to.


I've finished Isla's Milo Vest which is a marvellous thing (ravelled here). It is snugly warm, easy to make, and uses up a surprisingly little amount of yarn. This was a stash-busting project and I used up some leftover yarn from this project. I had 100g of yarn to get through and now have about 40g leftover which I was really surprised about (I was convinced it would use all of it), so will need to use this up somewhere else.


I like that the vest is easy and comfortable, and doesn't restrict a toddler's movements at all because the arms are free. I also like that it is warm and cosy, and moves easily through daily movements: climbing on furniture, crawling into small spaces, swinging in the park and snuggling on the couch.


I chose to do the heart cable on the front, but I'm sorry I didn't do a chunkier cable or a stranded knitted pattern. It's far too delicate for this vest in the tweed-like yarn I've chosen... although I think it would look lovely in a contrasting colour or with some kind of felt applique.

It has started to warm up today... but I think we are all going to need an army of vests to make it through the next few months!

I particularly love this hat. It's a chunky knit that works up really quickly, and left plenty of yarn over for making up a matching gift for Jack's twin sister.

Again, back to the Purl Soho from one of their fantastic patterns: this time, it was Super Soft Merino Hats for Everyone. I tried out a new yarn - The Women's Institute Soft and Chunky which is a 30% acrylic 70% merino blend. Should be wonderfully warm and easy to wash.

Flower Girl Purse for Annabelle (Ravelled here)


This was a really quick and fun crochet project, made for Annabelle, Jack's twin. I use the leftover yarn from his hat to make a matching purse that would be perfect for carrying around little sweets, clips, stones or other treasures a two year old might find.

I used this pattern to make the flower and added a leaf and crocheted flower centre to make it stand out a bit. Very cute. Isla was impressed with this one.

Mittens for Isla (Raveled here)

... because I can't really knit up a selection of gifts and neglect little Isla can I?


I used the last little bit of my very favourite yarn to make these mittens using the Another Pair of Mittens pattern. I joined them together with a knitted i-cord because I'm certain that these would soon part ways if they were loose.


She was impressed. After trying on, they got wrapped and put under the tree. Isla loves opening up presents so I've wrapped up a few silly things - not least of all these essential-for-winter mittens that she's already seen. There are fruit sweets, dummies, biscuits...

After all, it's all about the unwrapping, isn't it?

I know, I know.

A new project.


But, you see. My Charcoal Holden Shawlette is blocked and ready to go to its new home.


And I'm having some serious knitting lace withdrawals.

What else can I do on the trains? What else can I do when I'm early for meetings?

This weekend, I had a bit of a catch up. I had Saturday all to myself, so I disconnected the internet and finished blocking the Charcoal Holden Shawlette.


Blocking is really satisfying. I do it old school, by arranging the garment in the desired shape/ dimensions, and then pinning it in place and spraying it with water. Once dry, it's blocked. You can also use a steam iron, but I find that the "old school" method helps the fibres to relax more and they stay like that indefinitely, perfect for a picot binding or lace detail. The steam iron is good for straightening out jumpers, or shaped knits, and rolling hems.


I also finished off this little knitted lamb (pattern available on Ravelry, for free) and sewed him all together. I embroidered his eyes as this is meant for a baby, and safety eyes are a no-go for very little people. I knitted it using Sirdar Snowflake DK which is super soft and fluffy - you can't even tell that it is knitted fabric. The face and feet are all knitted in scrap Tivoli Tweed yarn I had leftover from a previous project. Cute.

And what would a catch-up Saturday be without a bit of baking? I baked jam buns from a good old fashioned 1950s Good Housekeeping recipe.


Jam Buns, before they went into the oven. Unfortunately, the kettle was on when they came out. Ahem. And then they seem to just disappear out of the jar. There are elves, I'm sure of it. I'll make another batch this week and post an after photo.

I also made honeycomb (hokey pokey) using Nigella's recipe which I'm really impressed with; who knew it could be so easy?

It suddenly hit me this morning that the Christmas market is next week AND I haven't finished my making. Also, family is visiting this week, I have a million things that need to go in the oven for the eight people I'm having over on Friday to celebrate Chanukah, and I completely forgot that it is my wedding anniversary tomorrow.

Oh dear.

Thank goodness for positive thinking and an endless supply of tea.

I have been doing a little bit of knitting.

Okay - a lot of knitting. I've knitted jumpers, booties, baby cardigans and have even started knitting a lamb. I like to think of it as my winter sport. Brr. As I've been terrible with taking photographs and sharing all things knitty, I've decided to start with the most current: this is on my needles today. I have only five VERY long rows left to knit.

I took this project with me to Wales in an attempt to get it finished (it's going to be a gift, and has been on the go for a long while), and made excellent progress in the cold nights and hours of driving time.


It is a Holden Shawlette, a small scarf-like wrap with a lace detail border. Very good for winter, methinks.

This is my second H.S. (the first was knit in a lovely olive colour, for my friend Anne). I've used the same yarn - a beautiful Araucania Ranco Solid - but this time in charcoal. It's a thin 4-ply yarn with lots of subtle variations in grey tones throughout.. The yarn has been discontinued, so it's really a bit of a treasure.

This week has had lots of ups and downs, but we're very nearly at Friday already which is a good thing. Work can wait over the weekend. This is my new mantra, it's rather liberating for someone used to working 8 - 8, 7 days a week! But, all things in moderation. Even chocolate. And knitting.

This isn't the first time I've found myself writing about cephalopods, or chuckling about the built-in autocorrect who has tried twice to correct cephalopods to hydrocephalus.


He's still a knit-in-progress, but is very nearly full-sized. A few more rows, and I'll be narrowing down the mantle and adding fins. And then done.

His eyes arrived this week; they could - and should be bigger - but they were the biggest I could find with a bit of colour in them. At 24mm across, they're a good size. I love the soft blue and wouldn't trade them in for bigger white ones.

The weather-lady said that there'd be showers and thunderstorms this weekend. She fibbed. England is still a fair isle, full of sunshine and gentle breezes. Flowers are wilting. People are suntanning. Women are walking around in strapless dresses, soaking up the sunshine as if we were in Caribbean or else on the summery shores of Cape Town. This is the summer of 2013.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the first publication of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It only follows that this year should be all-things Jane Austen-y. Even knitting.