With Valentines Day in mind ...

Here is my next project. (Trying to get ready for Valentines Day in time for once, rather than leaving it to the last minute!)

See the pattern for this pretty heart mug cozy on Kristen TenDyke's webpage here.

Hopefully pictures of my own cosies will follow soon ...

Using up stash

Christmas is a good time to try to use up some of the yarn stash - especially those little bits of left-over yarn, which is never enough for anything much ...

I love knitting Elizabeth Zimmerman's surprise jacket and with its stripey pattern it is a great jacket for using up the odd bits of yarn!


With the first jacket I really did use up my bits of yarn as they appeared - although I tried to keep the stripes relatively even.















My second jacket is going to be a little bit more formal. I used beige as a background with even stripes, mostly in blues and greens.




Plenty more stash to use up ... but at least I have made a start!

Advent calendar

I made this mittens Advent calendar just in time for our Christmas fair. just before the first Advent Sunday.
thank you to Sarah for buying it! :)

Baby shoes

Thanks to Audrey Wilson on Ravelry I have made these adorable little baby shoes.

Made from scraps of yarn in DK on needles size 3 1/2, they fit a newborn. Two tiny buttons are also required.

I knitted them sitting in the car (as a passenger, of course!) on our family trip to North Wales. They took no time to make!

Cuddles

At the moment I am knitting again for Cuddles, a UK based charity which knits tiny garments and small blankets for still-born babies and which supplies gowns, blankets and wraps to maternity units all over the UK.

Here my latest blanket (knitted in 4 ply), with another on the go.

Edit: The second blanket is now finished. It is larger in size with a pattern around the edge.

Baby set pattern

My Baby Set pattern has been checked and proof-read and is now up for sale on my Ravelry page.

The pattern is for a hat/beanie, a pair of booties and a pair of mittens, designed to fit a 0-3 month old baby.

Newborn baby mittens

Here is a free pattern for mittens in a newborn size:

Material: DK yarn, remnants

Needles: 3 ½ mm/ US 4/UK 9

Abbreviations:

K = knit

P = purl

stst = stocking stitch

k2tog = knit 2 together

sl1k1 = slip 1 stitch, knit 1 stitch

psso = pass slipped stitch over the knitted stitch

Mittens (Make 2)

Cast on 28 sts. Rib K1, P1 for 14 rows.

Then knit in stst for 16 rows.

Reduce for top:

17^th row: K2, sl1k1, psso, K7, k2tog, K2, sl1k1, psso, K7, k2tog, K2 (= 24 sts)

All reverse rows: purl

19^th row: K2, sl1k1, psso, K5, k2tog, K2, sl1k1, psso, K5, k2tog, K2 (= 20 sts)

21^st row: K2, sl1k1, psso, K3, k2tog, K2, sl1k1, psso, K3, k2tog, K2 (= 16 sts)

Cast of and close seam. Darn in all remaining ends.

The pattern of a full set of hat, bootees and mittens is for sale on my Ravelry page. Check it out here!