Halloween update!

Today we had so much fun carving our pumpkins into Halloween lanterns. Ever since she saw a picture of one on the internet, Millie has wanted to make a puking pumpkin. I don't know why but it captured her imagination in a big way. This afternoon she carefully carved the beautiful pumpkin that we purchased in the week from Willows Farm and staged it dramatically on our doorstep. Good job, I think! It was such a laugh taking pictures of our handiwork and we even managed to get derek to pose as a scary pumpkin headed man. Millie had a go too, but she looked kind of cute.
This blog is supposed to be about my knitting and crochet adventures, so here is a picture of a work in progress. I recently picked up my Crochet By Numbers pattern again after a long break. It seems to be working up a bit more quickly now that I have got the hang of tying on the new colours as I go along. I am not going to reveal the subject of my picture until it is finished.

Getting Colder

The weather has got much colder recently, but surely that is just a very good recent to dig out your fabulous woolly hats and scarves. And perhaps knit some more...
Millie and I are modelling some really furry, warm scarves that I whipped up from the Jaeger Fur frogged from my terrible fur coat effort of last Winter. The pattern was free on the Red Heart website - very simple garter stitch with a slit to pull the end through. I made the first scarf on Thursday night at knitting club and then another at work today - they are seriously quick. On 8mm needles with just 13 stitches to a row, it is possible to finish one in less than 2 hours. I haven't decided yet whether to go for a matching hat. There is plenty of yarn left to play with.
Keeping Millie's toes warm are these great little slipper boots. The pattern is the "Hexagon Boot Slippers" by Priscilla Hewitt - another great design that I got from Ravelry. I made a pair last year and they turned out brilliantly. For some reason these ones have turned out a bit smaller so Millie gets them. I plan to make another pair using a 5mm rather than a 4mm hook in an attempt to cover my own toes stylishly.
This rather hilarious fish hat is not really intended to be worn for warmth - it is more of a fashion statement! I plan to give this as a Christmas gift and am sure that it will get a good reception. Meanwhile, my Hubby kindly modelled it for me. It's a pattern by Christine Grant called the "Something Fishy Fish Beanie" If I made it again I would use a stiffer yarn as the acrylic crepe dk that I chose for this version is rather floppy. I don't like to buy very expensive yarn for hats that probably won't get a lot of wear.

I have been thinking of starting up my Etsy shop again and have been experimenting with some Irish Crochet motifs. The plan is to make some crochet jewelry. So far I am quite pleased with my efforts - this little flower brooch will probably be my first listing.Hope to have more of these to show in my next post.

Little things...

Over the last couple of weeks I have been making smaller items. Some for gifts and some just to try out interesting looking patterns. I have been wanting to try these pretty crochet necklace patterns for a while now and found the perfect yarn in my stash when I was looking for some wool to make mittens with. This delicate one is called the Spring Flowers Neck Piece by Angela Best. It is a free pattern that I found on Ravelry.
I was very pleased with the way that this turned out so I looked around for similar patterns and came up with Flower Necklace Motifs by Elizabeth Lowe. It took an evening to make up the motifs and then another to join them together. Next time I will join as I go along to save time and effort. The yarn was another charity shop purchase, so the cost was almost nothing.
Baby hats are a real pleasure to make - maximum cuteness for minimum effort. These two were from Itty Bitty Hats, which is a lovely book by Susan B. Anderson. I used some Sirdar Snuggly dk from my stash. It is perfect for baby hats as it is very soft and is machine washable. Both hats are for Baby Benjamin who arrived one month early and is apparently very tiny.
Last Saturday I went to Mavis in Bushey, my LYS. They have some fabulous Katia yarns in stock and I just had to treat myself to 2 balls of Memory, despite vowing to use only stash yarn in the foreseeable future. The plan was to knit up some sort of cosy cowl for myself. I made up the pattern as I went along. It's just a simple stocking stitch tube with a ring of eyelets threaded with an icord drawstring. I love the soft, colourful yarn and am pleased with the cowl.
Found this free pattern for Coraline Mittens on Ravelry and just had to make them for Millie. she is a big fan of the strange , creepy, animated film "Coraline". I have finished the first mitten with the cat on it and have started the second which will feature a mouse and button key motif. They look quite cute so far and I am enjoying knitting mittens. There are several more interesting designs in my pattern file that I can't wait to try.
I recently recently crocheted a pair of Persuasion Fingerless Gloves, another pattern that I spotted on Ravelry, and gave them away before I had a chance to photograph them. I liked the design despite the pattern having a lot of errors and the fit being not very good. I have started another pair but got got distracted by other projects. The second mitten will get done sometime soon. Probably. Meanwhile, progress is slow on the Endless Knitted Cardi Wrap. I can't wait to finish this garment as I think it looks great - it is just so boring to knit. I have seen a new version of this design in broomstick crochet which looks like it would be more interesting to make. Perhaps I shall give that a go next.