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Monday 26 August 2013

A very special Kitsch Stitch make

Hopefully you'll forgive the shortness of this blog post as my Handmade Monday project required quite a lot of work.

Peanut made his grand appearance at 41+1, on Thursday morning an hour after the midwife appeared. He was born in my childhood bedroom at my parents home and the labour was perfect. Just over an hour of contractions, no pain relief and totally relaxed. The midwives said it was a privilege to have been a part of it.


I'm absolutely smitten with him as are his big brother and sister. He's an eager beaver when it comes to feeding so for now, I have to concentrate on him and my other projects will have to be sidelined. 

When you've got this wee face to gaze at though it's hardly a sacrifice. 

Just because I can look at his two siblings, so in love with their new baby brother. 




Monday 19 August 2013

Softplay and crochet lessons

Well I'd hoped that this Handmade Monday I'd be introducing you to a handmade baby but at 40+4, Peanut is still incredibly comfy and showing no sign of making an appearance.  Despite contractions that have been happening on and off since Tuesday it seems that I'll be pregnant for a few more days at least.  Never mind, I won't be pregnant forever and I'll miss my bump once it's gone.

So, in an effort to keep both myself and the children occupied I've been filling our days with all sorts of activities, one of those that I enjoy as I get to sit down and drink decaffeinated lattes and crochet is a lovely softplay.

Earlier in the week I'd gone through a few stitches with her and we'd tried the Lionbrand Gecko that I tend to use as a teaching tool so now we went to softplay armed with a magazine she'd bought, a hook and some yarn and she picked it up so quickly I was incredibly proud.  I can't really explain the feeling I get when I teach people how to crochet or do other crafts, I'm proud of myself for being able to pass this skill on and so happy when the person finally clicks.  I suppose I get a bit of a big head really but crochet and crafting is such a big part of my life and gives me so much pleasure that knowing I've passed that onto someone else is a wonderful feeling.

Anyway, it didn't take long for her to click with the pattern and after we'd done the first square together.  The pattern is from this weeks months Simply Crochet which has some adorable patterns in it this month, it's the first time I've bought it but I'm definitely going to look at it again next month.


She'd purchased some lovely pink chunky yarn and fancied making this Sherbet Dip blanket by Nikki Trench who is a favourite designer of mine.  It's a really simple pattern that's incredibly similar to a granny square so it didn't take long for us to both finish our first squares.  


Although at first, it was a bit problematic as it's the first proper pattern she's followed so she needed a snazzy chart to help her count the stitches.  As you can see, drawing charts isn't my forte.


Mine and hers.  There is a little difference in size but her tension is very good. This was the only square I did, the rest is all her own work.


She tagged me in this picture on facebook yesterday to show her progress and I'm amazed.  She's absolutely addicted and I can't believe how many she's made in such a short space of time.  Would you believe this blanket is for Lily, her spaniel pup!  All of this effort and she's giving the blanket to a dog.  I've also introduced her to Ravelry and the amount of patterns she's liked means that she's now going to be busy every night for the next 20 years!


As a 'well done' gift I bought her some wool needles (I've always called them bodkins, does anyone else?) and some wool pins.  I'd mentioned that she'd need probably need some and she looked at me blankly so I thought I'd get her the ones that I tend to use by Pony. 


Earlier this week, she'd seen a Minion Hat I'd been making and said how much she loved the colour combination of bright yellow and blue, I couldn't give her the needles and pins (Oh, there goes an earworm!) without something to store them in so I whipped up a quick needle case.  

I had some scraps of this fabric and I thought it contrast well with some bright blue cotton.






 I replicated the flower and swirl as best I could, added some bobble edging and a felt inner et voila!  It was so easy I almost feel silly writing a pattern for it but I need to practice putting patterns on Ravelry so I think I might have a go with this one.  It certainly would have been a good starter project for Laura to have a go on as it's just rows and rows of double crochet then a circle.  If the baby doesn't make an arrival I'll definitely write up the pattern and put it here and on Ravelry.  

At the moment I'm finishing up an evil minion hat then I hope to have patterns and photo tutorials for that too.

If you're popping over here from Handmade Monday do say hello.