Sew Darn Crafty - Red, White or Blue

 Here is my first entry for Sew Darn Crafty's blog hop. I have made several of these chunky knit hats and they are perfect for keeping little heads super warm when its chilly out there. Size mentioned will fit a 1yr old.

 Size needle - 7mm
 Wool - Anything chunky or three strands of dk knitted together.

 Pattern;
 Cast on 34 stitchs
 Knit every row for 7 rows. This creates your ribbed rim.
 Starting with a purl row, work in stocking stitch (K a row, P a row) untill the piece is about 5 inchs.
Next row (RS) K1 *K2tog, K1* repeat till last stitch K1
Purl all stitchs
K1 *K1, K2tog, K1* repeat till last stitch K1
Purl all stitchs
K1, *K2tog* untill last stitch K1 (10 stitchs on needle)
Cut yarn with long tail, thread tail through remaining stitchs.
Use remaining tail to join seam.

Bits and pieces

  I finished this little ladybird a few minutes ago. DD has become a bit obsessed with ladybirds lately and spot them everywhere we go. When I spotted a free knitting pattern for one online I just had to make it up for her. I knitted all the pieces during her nap yesterday and sewed it up during todays.

 What do you think of this cupboard? OH spotted it in a local charity shop for just £55. Its really heavy and sturdy and just perfect for DD and bumps bedroom. Plenty of storage for all their clothes and bedding with some to spare!!

 It fits just perfectly behind their door so it doesn't take up any playing room! He has such a great eye for things like this. I love it, though I am tempted to decorate each of the drawer fronts and make it really jazzy.

 

 And finally I've added a page to this blog to keep all DD homeschooling stuff together. Please have a looksie if you want, I'm hoping it will grow and cover all her lessons on the course we are trying.
x x x

Photo's of my day

  Our Veggie plants are growing well, and look pretty healthy to me. Having almost owned them for a week I am very pleased they haven't turned brown and crispy.

  OH had a quiet morning in the shop so used his free time to sort out this lovely photo frame and surprised me with it when he got home. It is just perfect for the TV table and has made me smile each time I glance at it. He also had a game come in the shop that I've been desperate to play with ages!!! I am such a spoilt wifey.

And I have finished the pom pon scarf I was knitting for SIL's birthday. I just need to wrap it up and pop it with her card ready for sending. I hope she likes it :)
 I have also been trying my first challenge from the second week of Finding Fun, but feel it deserves it's own post so will blog that in just a mo after my dinner.

 x x x

Free Pom pon jumper pattern and reveal

2x 200gm balls of Rico Pom-pon in Spearmint. Fits age 2-3

 Here it is, my experimental Pom-pon jumper for DD. Sadly I finished sewing to late this evening to try it on her, but no way am I waking a sleeping toddler lol. All in all I am pretty happy with the result although my sewing skills leave a lot to be desired.
 It's made of 4 separate pieces.
2x 28 pom-pon by 24 rows.
2x 28 pom-pon by 32 rows.

 By sewing the smaller panels and the larger panels together in the way pictured below and folding the piece in half, you will make a very simple modular jumper.

I overlapped the smaller pieces onto the larger by 10 pom-pons. This gave me a nice even square neck with plenty of room for a toddler to pop their head in and out. The edges are really easy to sew up evenly and neatly as each row is nice a chunky, and the sewing stitches are hiding between the pom-pons.

 I realise this pattern is badly written up but I will review it tomorrow once I have had some much needed sleep. If you don't understand something just pop me a comment and I will get back to you ASAP.

x x x

DD's dress reveal.

 Ta dah! Forgive the lateness of the post, I finished sewing it up and promptly nodded off lol. All I need to do is press it into shape tomorrow and it ready for DD to enjoy. I will try and take a snap of her in it shortly. I loved the pattern and sewing it together was easy as pie even for my shocking needlework skills. Can definitely see more of these being made in the future.
x x x

Dinner is prepared.

Well here it is readers. I can't say it looks to fantastic before cooking, but it does smell beautifully mouthwatering. I've wrapped it up in tinfoil and popped it in the oven, so I just need to turn it on an hour before hubby comes home from work. I think 3 hours cooking is a bit excessive and I'm wondering if it shows the efficiency of cookers in the 60's. So I have pretty much cooked the meat and am planning on giving it an hour to cook.
And here a peek at my winter knitting project. This one long strip is almost the length of a double bed. It was intended for DD's bed but when I measured it I was already way over length. And I do have a huuuuuggggeeeee stash of wool that needs using up. Hopefully I will soon be able to get onto strip two.

I'm hoping to post again later and show you a photo of have my dinner experiment went. Catch you laters.
x x x

A HUGE project for winter

I spotted this knitted rug on a random crafty blog a little while ago and has it stashed in my bookmarks for ages. I have lots and lots of wool in all sorts of colors that needs using up. Most of it I don't have enough of to make jumpers and larger projects from, but this idea could be perfect! I don't need a rug though so I might make a slightly bigger one for DD's toddler bed.
I think it would keep her super warm and cozy at night, and it would be really easy to replace a damaged "strand" and replace it.
Wish me luck :)

A few handmade knits.

I am a huge huge fan of just about any crafts I can get my hands stuck into. Even more of a fan if they can produce something beautiful that makes me a saving or stops me from spending all together. A high favorite on the list is knitting. There is something magical about making....

a lovely pair of warm socks.....

......... to a softy toy elephant for a friend.

Really the possibility's are endless so why not try a new skill, pick up some needles and wool, and go wild.