indieknits

Baby Picchu

On Saturday I completed a Baby Picchu for my little Emms!

Pattern: Baby Picchu by the Berroco Design Team
Yarn Used: Less than 2 skeins of Fyberspates Aran BFL in Purple

Love the pattern, love the yarn. This little cardigan looks so sophisticated! I especially love the ribbing at the neckline. The yarn is super soft, and I have enough left to make a little hat too.

New Projects

I've got the luxury of 4 days off work so have done quite a lot of knitting in the last 24 hours!

I've cast on a Baby Picchu using some gorgeous Fyberspates aranweight BFL...

...finished one of my Undulating Ribs socks...

...and cast on a Zetor Scarf using my Saffran Wolllmeise. I was a little worried that I might not have enough yardage for the Norwegian Woods Scarf, so have decided to put that pattern on ice for now. I lost my knitting mojo a couple of months ago but it is definitely back in full force now!!

I won a prize!

Ali from Tripping Yarns recently took part in the Oxfam Trailwalker 2009 and held a prize draw to raise money. I won a beautiful needlecase, handmade by Jen at Where's Woolly!

I am seriously impressed with her sewing skills. It is so well made.

 

Here's a shot of the inside. As you can see she also included some stitch markers (also handmade by Jen!) and Knit Picks DPNs - my fave needles.

 

It's not too late to donate to the cause - just head over Team Geek's Just Giving page. She and her team did such a great job that day.

Also, the other day I arrived home to the best postcard ever! A handknitted one sent by my Secret Pal!

  

Such a great idea. It made me smile lots.

ETA: I'm such a donut! My SP also sent me a lovely bath bomb!! I forgot to take a picture of it, but trust me it was gorgeous. I really enjoyed that soak in the tub!

22 week scan

I had my 22 week scan yesterday! Check her out - she looks like she has a cheeky grin on her face!

Also had an hour and a half wait for ten minutes with a midwife (!!!) who said that everything is perfect. Yay!

My mum visited this weekend and bought us a load of baby things!! We hit Oxford Street nice and early, we only visited Mothercare and John Lewis but it was enough to whack me out for the whole weekend. She bought a gorgeous moses basket (along with a stand, mattress and sheets), a baby monitor, bath, bouncy chair, changing mat and a handy bag for me to store essentials when we're out and about. Thanks mum!!

Shawl planning...I love it.

I collected my skein of Wollmeise from the post office yesterday morning and knew that it had to become a shawl:

 

I always like to knit shawls with my Wollmeise 100% Merino - Any sock yarn without nylon tends to wear out pretty quickly on my feet. Getting my hands on Wollmeise is always such a result that I couldn't bear to throw the socks out after 6 months.

After lots of pattern hunting, I stumbled upon the Norwegian Woods Scarf over at Yuvee's blog and just like Yuvee, fell instantly in love. I just need to check the yardage and make sure I have enough! Otherwise this will be knitted with a laceweight in my stash...

Thank Goodness

I have finally finished The Most Boring Socks In The World!!! Seriously, that is the last time I knit plain stockinette stitch socks.

They were worth it though, because they look lovely:

Pattern: No pattern followed
Yarn Used: Noro Kureyon Sock in shade S40

Next up: Undulating Rib Socks in Natural Dye Studio BFL, and something lacey in Wollmeise.

Secret Pal Package!

Yesterday I received a package from my Secret Pal! She cleverly knew that I had just moved into a flat with a garden, and sent me some plants to get me started!

 

Included in the package was a Moneyplant, an Easter Cactus, oregano, mint, thyme and chives!

Thank you Secret Pal!

Booties!

Knitting booties whilst you're pregnant is such a cliche! haha. But why resist when there are so many gorgeous patterns about?

Pattern: Saartje's Bootees by Saartje de Bruijn

Yarn Used: Knit Picks Gloss in Concorde Grape

Our Little Wriggler

By pure fluke I caught the tail end of the Wollmeise update this morning, so have a skein of Safran 100% Superwash heading my way :) I did actually attempt to catch the Mama Blue update last night at 2am. I relied on my pregnancy bladder to wake me up and it was almost spot on - I woke up at 2:20am but the shop was already sold out!

We think we have settled on a name for baby - Emma. It's classic, short, and works well with our surname. Little Emms is doing very well! She wriggles around quite a lot whilst I'm at work, and in the evenings when I'm relaxing on the sofa. She's our little wriggler :) The doppler works really well and we love listening to her every day. We've also got her room looking more like a baby's room instead of a charity shop/junk room. The cot is assembled, the mattress has been ordered and all her clothes are in the drawers.

:)

Secret Pal Questionnaire

Here's my Secret Pal questionnaire!! SP, I hope this covers everything but please let me know if you need any more info!

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I love most natural fibres, with the exception of mohair and angora - I find mohair too itchy and angora too shreddy! (unless I just haven't used the right yarns?). Favourites are merino, cashmere and silk.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? Currently I have my circulars shoved in a drawer, and my straights in vases.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I've been knitting for about 5 years now (I think!) and consider myself intermediate. I taught myself using Debbie Stoller's Stitch N Bitch book.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? I have an Amazon wishlist here.

5. What's your favorite scent? Oooh... there are lots! Probably easier to say what I don't particularly like - not mad on vanilla or anything too floral.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I definitely have a sweet tooth - especially since I became pregnant! I love pretty much all chocolate and all candy :)

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I have tried my hand at other crafts, but right now I am only knitting. I think my head can only handle one craft at the moment!

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I love lots of different types of music. My husband has LOTS and is always telling me which albums I need to add to my iPod!

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? I am open to most colours, but don't like anything too neon for instance nothing that's BRIGHT orange, yellow or green (if that makes sense!). I tend to lean towards reds and purples, as well as subtle blues and greens. I like colours that look really natural too.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I am married and expecting my first baby on 2nd December. No pets!

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? I love wearing hats and scarves in the winter, but can't stand ponchos!

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Mostly socks and lace shawls/scaves, although I do like to take on the odd garment now and again.

13. What are you knitting right now? Boring stockinette stitch socks!! There is also lots of baby knitting in the pipeline.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? YES! I love handmade gifts.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? If I'm knitting socks I prefer to use DPNs (Knit Pro nickel ones), for lace I like to use Knit Pro interchangeables (nickel again), and for garments I use straights (bamboo) or my Knit Pro interchangeables, depending on the project.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes, I have both.

17. How old is your oldest UFO? My boring stockinette stitch socks!! I started them about a month ago.

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe? I love Christmas :)

19. Is there anything that you collect? Besides yarn? Heehee. No, nothing else!

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I'd really like to get my hands on Sock Innovation by Cookie A, Wollmeise Molly (I always miss the updates these days!) or any Mama Blue yarn. I used to subscribe to Interweave Kntis but didn't renew because I am seriously lacking in storage space!

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Not right now - I will learn Magic Loop one day!! I have the booklets but just haven't got round to it yet.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? I love knitting socks and am a size UK 7.

23. When is your birthday? 26th May (the big 3-0 next year!)

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID? YES! I am a Ravelry addict and my username is indieknits.