A Child's Cabled Hooded Jacket - My Next Project

Deciding what to knit next is very exciting and can never be rushed. There are so many patterns and wonderful yarns available that a choice is never easy. However, despite always searching online for new patterns and yarn to add to my collection, I am showing restraint for the rest of the year (smile) and will choose from the pile of patterns I all ready have and yarn from my stash.

This is my next project: a lovely cabled jacket in double knitting (8 ply). The pattern is from the UK Hand Knitting Association and I will be using King Cole Pricewise Double Knitting in a lovely shade of blue (#143 Surf).

Picot-edged Child's Bolero

I love how this little girl's bolero turned out, especially the picot edging which was so simple to do. The yarn used was King Cole's Pricewise Double Knitting in shade #378 Fallow, 100 gm balls of 290 metres each and 100% acrylic. Not as soft as I would have liked, but still soft enough for baby garments.

The pattern used was also from King Cole: pattern #2980. Stocking stitch with decorative holes, it was simple and quick to knit. Being a loose knitter, to get the correct tension I changed the needle sizes to 3.75 mm (9) and 3.00 mm (11).

Sewing up the garment was difficult as it tended to curl. So I decided to block, something I very rarely do. It solved the problem and allowed me to neatly sew the sleeve and side seams without a struggle. For those of you not familiar with blocking: you wet the garment or pieces, remove the excess water and pin flat. I blocked the bolero pieces on a thick towel using long glass-headed dressmakers' pins and left it to dry overnight.

Sorry, not a great image, but I think good enough for you to get the idea of blocking. Blocking is a great technique and is gaining in popularity. Read about it here.

Little Boy Blue Baby Matinee Coat

Along with my groceries I picked up a couple of balls of this lovely blue yarn at my local supermarket for the bargain price of $3.83 per ball. It is Koala Myrtle 8 ply 100% acrylic yarn 100 gm (297 metres) in Little Boy Blue (#540/TY8601.06). This is a soft yarn and knitted up very well.

The supermarket had four colours only of the nine available: White, Little Boy Blue, Flame Red and Mid Grey. Jet Black, Vanilla, Nautical Blue, Orchid Pink and Pansy Purple are the other colours.

The baby matinee coat is an "easy knit design" from the UK Hand Knitting Association's range for Baby Double Knitting (pattern UKHKA 2). The simple lace pattern was easy to follow and the garment was quick to knit: a great weekend project.

The UK Hand Knitting Association have some lovely pattens on their site. You can check them out here. I have a few in my pattern stash and am looking forward to knitting them.

Adding to My Yarn Stash

A recent order added these lovely yarn colours to my stash: all double knitting, as that is my favourite ply, and acrylics from Sirdar and King Cole. The colours are a variety of blues, pinks, lilacs and pale green.

Hugs and Hearts - Crocheted Baby Afghan

I crocheted this in Panda Magnum Soft 8 ply in white (#4600), rose (#4602) and tree frog (#4420). This yarn is 100% acrylic and comes in 100 gm balls/189 metres. The result was a lovely soft and snuggly blanket. One complaint I did have about this yarn was the discrepancy with the thickness. The tree frog yarn was thicker than the white and rose, which made the green hearts bulky, but on the whole I was happy with the outcome.

The pattern was from The Big Book of Baby Afghans from Leisure Arts (USA). There are 29 designs for 10 ply and 8 ply yarn. This pattern was marked "easy+" and it was. I had no difficulty following the instructions. This is the first crochet pattern I have tried from the USA and  I didn't know that United States and International crochet terminology differ, but all this is explained in the "General Instructions" pages at the back of the book, along with other useful information.

I really enjoyed crocheting the "Hugs and Hearts" blanket and have bookmarked some of the other designs for future projects.

Dollymix - Aptly Named Yarn for Knitting Dolls

I love the colours in the Dollymix range of double knitting yarn from King Cole. If you need small amounts of yarn and, like me,  don't have any left over from completed projects or in colours you don't usually knit with, these 25 gm balls are ideal. Each ball is 73 metres, 100% acrylic and knits at the standard tension for double knitting yarn on 4 mm needles. The colour choice is excellent with over 30 available.

I purchased a selection of colours for two projects, Emily and Buttons the Clown, found in Jean Greenhowe's Traditional Favourites knitted doll book.

This will be my second attempt at Emily. The wool I used previously was of poor quality and half way through knitting the dress the result was so stiff and wouldn't drape nicely that I abandoned the project. Jean Greenhowe's designs are delightful and to knit them in an inferior yarn would not do them justice. Now, with all these lovely colours, I'm excited at the prospect of knitting Emily again and, of course, Buttons.

Knit or Crochet a Poppy for the Anzac Centenary 2015

I was searching for inspiration for my first blog post when I came across the 5000 Poppies website.

The call has gone out to crafters to contribute to this project. Over 100,000 poppies are needed for a display to commemorate the Anzac Centenary, 2014 to 2018.

The poppies will be "planted" in Federation Square, Melbourne, for Anzac Day, 2015, as a tribute to Australian servicemen and women, not just those who served in the First World War, but all those who have served over the last 100 years. This will be an awesome sight.

To be included in this display, poppies are required by 15 March 2015. With over three months before the deadline, there is still plenty of time to contribute to this worthy project. All the details are on the website.