Saturday, May 1, 2010

Hatched #2

More happy news, as my pal Kate (friend since I was three! That's a lot more years than I care to mention!) has had her second little girl. All is safe and well and I got to send off another project I'd been working on. For the new arrival I was a bit uninspired about making something, so I got this instead, because I've always thought they were kind of cool. However, I also thought the newly minted 'big sister' needed a treat, so I got a t-shirt, also from Green Baby, then cut out some letters from scrap fabric and ironed them onto interfacing:



I pinned them in place (ooh, fiddly! Many pricked fingers!):



I over-stitched the letters by hand, et voila!, personalised 'Ra-Ra! Big Sister!' t-shirt.


Excuse the mood lighting in the photos- cutting, ironing, pinning and stitching just don't mix with a nearly-two year old, so it was all done in a couple of evenings.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Spots and stripes




I love spots and stripes! My feet seem to be getting further away, but they've not changed shape with pregnancy so I decided they needed a treat- hence these little darlings from Cath Kidston.
My new spotty shoes are certainly helping me to deal with galloping heartburn, house-sale hassles and a grumpy little boy, as are the stripes on my completed baby blanket. The Liberty print binding worked out fine; I machine stitched on one side, found a couple of tutorials on YouTube to help me with the corners and hand stitched the other side to finish. I'm really happy with the result- Liberty lawn is so soft, which means the edge should be fine tucked under the owner's little chin and the loose garter stitch in aran-weight cotton has a really nice, breathable drape. I think I like the 'wrong' side as much as the 'right' but the way the binding looks I don't see why it can't be reversible. Now then, what next? Maybe that cardigan for me...

Monday, April 26, 2010

Breathe




Lots of people seemed to say last week was a long one for some reason, and ours was no exception. The weekend then seemed to go really fast, but nevertheless there have been some chances to just breathe. I have mixed feelings about finishing the knitting part of the blanket I'm working on. Although I'm enjoying the challenge of edging it in some leftover Liberty print cotton (I've even managed mitred corners! Thank you, YouTube!) I miss the calming effect of chugging across those garter stitch rows- breathe in, breathe out.
The farm on Sunday was full of Springtime- daffodils, newly mown lawn for P to drive a re-found tractor (one very careful owner 20 something years ago apparently!) on and lambs all over! Things are looking more hopeful that our little boy will have more space to run in at home soon, but in the meantime, isn't he lucky to have so much space when he goes to see Granny and Grandpa?