Crocus for Birdie

Birdie, being member of a vegan family, is not a wool bearing child. I've searched high and low for a natural plant fiber yarn with the same - or almost the same - qualities as those of wool. It has not been easy. So far I've bought only cotton and a bamboo blend. Here's my contribution in 100% cotton - say hello to Crocus by Helga Isager.

Instead of using the original yarn I used Safran from Drops (raspberry red) and Alba (lime green) on 3.5 mm needles. I chose a size 2 years because Birdie is already 7 months old and the only sizes available by Helga Isager are 6 month, 2 years and 3 years (a bit odd, if you ask me). I had to recalculate everything since my gauge was way off. But I'm okay with that - I love it when I figure it out anyway :)

Latte Baby Sweater

I finished my cotton baby sweater. It's a cute design, no doubt, but if you don't enjoy weaving in ends and sewing hems, this is probably not the baby sweater for you ;)

Cotton 8/4, needle size 3.0 mm, size newborn.

Crocheting

I have lot of yarn in my stash, and I have decided to use up yarn that has been lying around for a long time before I'm 'allowed' to buy new yarn :) Lises baby girl, Ella, was next in line for a little handmade something.

I used up all my blue cotton - in fact I had to add extra stribes in purple when I ran out of blue yarn near the end. I even tried to find another ball from the same dye lot, but that wasn't possible. I like the stripes, though. They make the cardigan more girly, I think :)

Birdie Bitten

Two weeks ago Birdie Bitten entered this world. We went by her house to see her with our own eyes; she was wonderful. I knew her parents hadn't bought a lot of baby stuff for her, so I made as much baby clothes I could - I only had a couple of weeks because so many of our other friends had babies too and they all deserved a little something on their arrival.

Birdie Bitten's parents aren't set on particular colours, so I just dug in the stash and grabbed what was there. I avoided wool since this is a vegan family and thus animal fibres aren't their first choise. Instead I rely on banana, soy, cotton, acrylics, etc.

Here is what I managed to finish in time for Birdie Bitten's first birthday:

Yarn: Cheval Blanc Mimosa, dark and light blue. Needlesize: 4.0 mm.

Yarn: Cheval Blanc Mimosa, beige and dark grey. Needlesize: 4.0 mm.

A scrap of bright pink yarn that has been lying around for quite some time. I never actually paid anything for this yarn - I was given to me during a knitting lesson at the local museum. Just saying... With the baby pink owl button I think it turned out very cute. And Birdie Bitten's dad noticed it, pointed and smiled. Succes.

A mix of cotton yarns...

The two bibs and baby cap were the only things I went out and bought new yarn for - organic baby cotton suitable for spring/summer clothes. I found the pattern for the bibs here, and the pattern for the baby caps here.

Rib vest

I came across this lovely yarn from Gepard called cottonwool (half of each, hence the name). Our friends' baby, Tristan, deserved a little something to keep him warm during these very cold winter days (-19 C a few weeks ago... brrrrr!), so Merry Christmas, Tristan :)

Super soft and a perfect fit :)

Kitchen Towel

I had a significant amount of cotton yarn (if you take into consideration that I rarely knit with cotten that is). In an attempt to get rid of at least some of it I crocheted this kitchen towel. I really like the result; there was no pattern, no detailed plan - but it turned out to be a very useful towel.

Summer Tweed Vest

I found this lovely Rowan Summer Tweed in Guildford in July. Unfortunately there were only two skeins left, so I decided not to buy it. Then we went 'home' to Leamington Spa and there in the Web of Wool they had plenty. And I must say: what a brilliant shop! Can't wait to go back. Four skeins for me and six skeins for Lise - her birthday was coming up just around the corner. I got her the deep red version because I know how much she loves reds and purples.

As soon as I got back to the B&B I began knitting.
I don't have a pattern for this one - I just see this summer vest in my mind, and I'll take it from there. It involves a lot of frogging which is perfectly okay.


The yarn is so soft: cotton and silk, the perfect summer blend :)

Summer Cardigan update

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To knit something larger than a baby sock on needles 2.5 mm takes forever! I don't mind, though. If I weren't knitting this cardigan, well, it would be something else: knitting versus knitting equals knitting :)

This is how far I've come on the cardigan.

Owl Socks

These socks gave me hell! The first one was done in a matter of days - the other one took a month! The second and very stubborn sock just wouldn't let me have it my way. If you count the times I have been forced to frog it and then re-knit it, I must have knit this [insert appropriate adjectives of your own choice](!!!) sock a zillion times! Never ever have I knit anything that made me spew out that many very very unladylike words - but believe me, this pair of evil socks deserves every syllable!

And to Beth, who wanted these socks in the first place: sorry it took a freaking eternity! Fortunately, you'll love them way more than I do ;)


Specs!

Pattern: Owl Knee-Socks dullegriet.wordpress.com
Yarn: Marks & Kattens, ECO babybomull - 100% ecological cotton, undyed
Skeins: almost 1 pr. sock
Needles: 3.00
Start to finish: ... let's not go there!
For: Beth, but I fear that it's too late, since she needed them for her final exam at the design school in Kolding - poor thing.

Summer Cardigan

Hint: cotton on needles 2.5 mm. This project calls for a lot of patience - I have no idea why I have taken this on! I fear that this summer project will be finish in, say, November. I'll keep knitting as if it's still possible to finish it while it's still warm.

Ready to go

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I'll wrap it up nicely and give the lot away tomorrow - Lea's father is one of my colleagues, so unfortunately I won't get to see Lea - or Lea's mother - when I hand it over. I'll go bug them all some other time :)



The baby cap was the 'little extra', you know :)

Specs!
Pattern: ravelry once again proofed to be a good friend
Yarn: Hjertegarn, 50% cotton and 50% acrylic - so soft
Skeins: close to 1
Needles: 3.00
Start to finish: dunno - it took about a week or so.... in May.... this year
For: Lea

A red cardigan for Lea

...±.±.±.±.±.±.±.±.±...


The cardigan is done. I'm not completely satisfied with the outcome. In spite of the fact that I made sure all the yarn came from the same dye lot, the cardigan looks as if I had made an attempt to ignore dye lot numbers as much as possible! Not good. I'll give it to Lea anyway - she probably won't mind. It's for a 1.5/2-year-old, which means that she will be too small or the cardigan will be too big. Either way, the two of them will fit each other at some point :)

Specs!
Pattern: a pattern with no name from 'Strik til de små', vol. 8.
Yarn: idena Cotton Lux
Skeins: 4.5
Needles: 3.0 I think
Start to finish: May 5 to May 18
For: Lea (I'm one of her godmothers, that's why)

Lea's blouse - progress

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I've been rather focused on the cardigan for Lea. Two reasons: 1) I want her to have it soon because the weather is nice and warm, and she'll need something cool to wear, and 2) At the SSS meeting next Wednesday I'll need a garment that hasn't yet been sewed together. Fandango-Sys is showing everyone how to sew and give the knitted pieces a perfect finish.

I think I'm around one third into the project, maybe a little more than that. Here it is...

Lea's blouse

ÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅÅ

Lea who's the daughter of a friend, deserves a summer blouse and I have decided to make it for her. Her mother, Jani, likes red a lot, and since I have nothing against red, well, so be it.... red :)

I thought it was worth making a swatch - beaming red, right?