Spin Me A Yarn Basket

My dil, Katie, has started knitting again so for Christmas I made her a divided basket full of knitting goodies, just like the Knitter's Dream Basket I made for my daughter, Flicky, last Christmas.

Again, I used the Divided Basket pattern by Anna of Noodlehead and here's a list of the fabrics:
A cotton/linen fabric - the selvedge reads "made in Japan - Project: by Cotton"

Moda Linen Mochi dots - Teal and Boysenberry

Cotton + Steel Hatbox 4001-052 cotton canvas by Alexia Marcelle Abegg.

Outside pieces and handles.

Outside sections joined.

Lining and divide.

 

 

And a knitting basket should always be full of knitting notions

Thankfully, Katie's present has the Tatty seal of approval.

Katie made good use of her knitting basket during her stay with us over Christmas and set about making a scarf for my son Joe and by New Year he was wearing it on our trips out.

Aren't they both gorgeous?!!!  I'm missing them so much already now they're back in London.

Click the images below to read more about other Divided Baskets I've made.

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Clicking on a image will take you to through to the new page of crafty goodness :)

Handknit With Love

Remember this hat?

It's for my Grandson-to-be, Oliver, due in September and I posted about making the hat here.

This last weekend I finished up making a jumper to go with the hat.  

 

 It's from this book by Debbie Bliss - design it, knit it babies

Spoilt for choice I decided to make this simple square necked jumper.

I've used Adriafil Knitcol trends, superwash merino wool, colourway 57 - Botticelli Fancy again for the main - you might remember I bought this at Atelier Yarns on my last visit to San Francisco (you can read my post here) and the contrast is a leftover wool from my stash, Patons UK Double Knitting in light cream (no longer available). 

I'm still super in love with how the Adriafil Knitcol works up in a project - the Fair Isle/Jacquard style patterning created by the colour changes in the wool are fab and it's such fun to see how they work into the piece as you're creating the pattern.  I admit to starting both sleeves at the same point in the wool so the patterning is practically the same on each.

I've also given the jumper a go in the washing machine - yep that Merino wool is machine washable at 40 degrees and it came out looking and feeling just perfect, in fact all the pics in this post are taken post washing :D

Here's some pics of the details:

Side seam and my small label.

The back and that small label again.  I like the small details on this knit - the garter rib left unseamed is a great touch.

The square neckline is very easy to work and, as always, Debbie Bliss gives great instructions in a written pattern (I've always worked from written patterns not from charts as seems to be the trend these days).

Square neckline detail, with my large label and monkey buttons (also purchased on my last trip to San Fran at Britex Fabrics, you can read that post here).

I didn't think my pics were doing the jumper justice so, in the absence of yet-to-be Oliver I had to find another model.   Tatty and Watson are exactly the right size and, as you can see below, well up for the task but I thought better of it 

and went in search of another of my nest flown daughter, Flicky's, teddy bears.  

Having used Bedwyn Bear in two previous photo shoots,

here 

and here, 

I needed a much smaller bear this time around.

Step forward ... oh dear, I have to admit to not having a clue what this bear's called, but he performed admirably and I'm sure Flicky will be proud.

I think he looks pretty cute in his oversized jumper!

Some time in the Spring I'll be able to update this post with a pic of Oliver sporting his very own jumper and hat, and the thought of that makes me very happy.

These are for you Oliver, handknit with love by Grandma xxx


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Meeting, Chatting, Knitting and Stitching

Made time this week to knit something for my Grandson-to-be, Oliver, excited to finally get to use some of the wool I bought on my visit to Atelier Yarns in San Francisco.

Here's the pics of my progress along the way as seen on Instagram

Had it finished within 3 hours on Memorial Day - haven't knitted baby clothes for 20 years and I'd forgotten what a quick make they are.  Working on a matching sweater now but it'll take a little longer as life's kicked into 'super busy' mode again with deadlines, teaching and travel plans but we'll get there - a plane journey is just what I need to sit a while and knit :D

I have a handful of other pics to share too of people I've had the pleasure to meet over the last few weeks:

Sarah of Quilt Candy came to visit NYC

and look who's dropped in at work:

Novelist, Marie Bostwick (check out her latest book 'Apart At The Seams' - there's even a trip to The City Quilter, my LQS, in it) and Meg Cox, Quilt Alliance President (so looking forward to Quilter's Take Manhattan in September);

 Mary Fons of Papergirl and Quilty, QNNtv (Mary's just moved to NYC so hopefully we'll be seeing more of her in store and her new book Make + Love Quilts is beautiful);

and Kathy Doughty of Material Obsession (it's the second time I've met Kathy when she's been teaching at The City Quilter and one of these days I'll get to join in one of her fabulous classes myself - we fast realised that both trying to press the button while taking a selfie plays havoc with maintaining your photo smile and keeping the phone steady!).

For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my sidebar :D

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.