Soft wave baby mittens 

I do love making things for babies and got all carried away again because my friend is having twins. Unfortunately her babies won't need any woolly accessories as they shall land in Kuala Lumpur. I might have to knit them a fan instead :) 

My mumsy friends never tire of telling me that babies are wriggly little things that are forever shaking off their socks, hats, mits and the like. So when I was looking for a quick and cute pattern I was also looking for mittens that would stay on. Looking after little people is challenging enough as it is without the irritation of garments that keep falling off. I sourced a fab pattern that ticked all the boxes on Ravelry (where else?) called soft wave baby mittens from Sunnyknits:

I adore the little wavy cuffs - maximum cuteness achieved! I had some Merino leftovers just enough to make the mittens and a matching hat. The hat is a single colour variation on my striped baby hat and you can find the pattern here. 

Materials used:

• DROPS Baby Merino Extra Fine Off White (DK)
• Circular needles 3,5 mm

Here are my soft wave baby mittens. I'm sure some day in the near future a little person will come along who needs warm hands.  

Boom! Liebster Award. 

Thank you Miss Demeanour for nominating my little blog for the Liebster Award! I am VERY honoured indeed! 

So what is the Liebster Award? It is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Liebster is German and means sweetest, beloved, valued, endearing and welcome. How lovely! Blogging is about building a community and the Liebster Award is a great way to connect with other bloggers and help spread the word about newer blogs. 

The Rules:

1. Answer 11 questions from the person that nominated you
2. Give 11 random facts about yourself
3. Nominate and tag 11 newer blogs 
4. Tell them about it on their page
5. Make 11 questions for them to answer

Miss Demeanour's 11 questions for me:

1. Who would you get to play in the story of your life? 

That would have to be Christina Hendricks. Not because I look like her (I wish!) but because her fabulous sens of style in Mad Men is just absolutely mouthwatering. Hmmmm, maybe I just want her wardrobe.

2. Career wise what would your plan B be
I have quite a stressful job and I often dream of miraculously generating an ample income by doing what I love most - making things. I also fantasise about winning the lottery which would allow me to do same.

3. Say you found yourself in a Quantum Leap type rol which enabled you to jump to any event in history, what would you choose? 
I would be in the audience of this wonderful 1964 train track concert with the incredible Sister Rosetta Tharpe: 

4. If you were coming on stage what would be your walk on tune? 
Tina Turner's Nutbush City Limits - hands down. 

5. In Grease what character would you most like to play? 
Betty Rizzo because she is a bad girl with a soft spot and a fab outfit.

6. What skill would you most like to have? 
I wish I would feel as comfortable and confident with sewing as I do with knitting, but that is a long way away yet. 

7. If you could make an outfit from a movie what would you choose? 
I would very much like to make Betty Grable's famous bathing suit and I'll have her figure too while we're at it. 

8. Do you have a recipe for something that never disappoints if so can I have it?   
My mum's Dutch vegetable soup with meatballs. Lord only knows what secret ingredients she puts in there, but it tastes amazeballs. 

9. Can you recommend a good book you've read? 
My Antonia from Willa Cather. Published in 1918 but you'd never know it - I read it the whole thing in under two days. 

10. What's guaranteed to make you laugh? 
The Calvin and Hobbes comics get me every time. I recommend a minimum of one a day to keep one's sanity in life. 

11. If you could choose another name what would you go for?
Why, Betty of course! What's not to love? Betty Boop, Betty Grable, Betty Draper - need I go on?  


11 Random Facts about myself:

Ooeff. This is a toughy but I will give it a go.

1. I am a Dutchie! Only moved to Brighton about a year ago and have not regretted it for a single moment. 
2. I started to knit 'properly' about two years ago and I wish I discovered it sooner. 
3. My first project was a knitted fairisle Christmas ball. Perhaps a garter stitch scarf would have been more suitable. 
4. We do not own a tv but I am absolutely obsessed with watching Mad Men on my laptop. 
5. My boyfriend is a dedicated windsurfer and I hate wind as it messes up my hair.
6. I twirl my curls every morning when my hair is wet to get the ringlet effect.
7. Every month I write for an online music magazine about singles. Records that is, not people. 
8. When I do not have sunshine for more than a week I start to wilt. Literally.
9. I love spicy foods.
10. My favourite people are my family and my darling boyfriend called Toast. 
11. I am of the humble opinion that the English cannot make proper bread. 

Blogs I'd like to nominate for the Liebster Award:

I love these blogs and I have no way of knowing if they actually have under 200 followers or not. I would say some probably have a lot more than that and if not they most certainly should do. I haven't quite managed 11 blogs but am going for quality rather than quantity :)

1. The Vintage Pattern Files
2. Moral Fibres
3. What You Sow
4. It Takes Balls To Knit
5. And Then There Was Gwen
6. Marisa Findlay Photography
7. Forties Knitter

My 11 Question for YOU:

1. Which singer/band would you invite to sing at your wedding, if you could choose anyone?
2. Is there a moment in your life that you would like to 'rewind' and do over differently? 
3. What is your opinion on peanut butter and jam sandwiches? 
4. If you could be a car, which car would you be? 
5. What project have you always wanted to knit/crochet/sew but haven't plucked up the courage yet?
6. Can you juggle? 
7. What creative project are you most proud of at the moment? 
8. Have you ever done something heroic and if so, what? 
9. Are you a natural fibres kind of person or do you not mind a bit of acrylic? 
10. What is your most essential appliance?
11. Do you have an accent and if so, what is it?   

Striped Baby Hat

This hat fits a baby of 0 - 3 months old. The hat is knitted in the round using five double pointed needles, but can also be knitted on a circular needle if you prefer the magic loop technique. This is a basic pattern and leaves plenty of room to personalise to your liking. 

It is a lovely quick knit and a wonderful gift for a newborn. I used Drops Baby Merino as it is soft on delicate baby skin also machine washable. 

Copyright Knitty Galore 17.11.12

All rights reserved

You may make items to sell using this pattern, but you cannot redistribute or re-sell the pattern in any form.

Materials needed:

• DROPS Baby Merino: 1 ball Dark Grey, 1 ball Off White.
• 5 double pointed 3 mm needles
• Tapestry needle
• Scissors

Basic pattern for hat:

Cast on 84 stitches with Off White and divide over 4 needles, 21 stitches per needle. Because you are working in the round there is no need to purl each second row to achieve stocking stitch. Join for working in the round while taking care not to twist the stitches.

1^st to 5^th round: knit 1, purl 1

Join in Dark Grey.

6^th to 14^th round: knit

Join in Off White.

15^th and 16^th round: knit

Carry up Dark Grey and join in.

17^th to 25^th round: knit

Join in Off White.

26^th and 27^th round: knit

Carry up Dark Grey and join in.

28^th to 36^th round: knit

The work should now measure approx. 10 cm from top to bottom.

The Crown

Join in Off White.

37^th round: knit 5, knit 2 together until end of round (72)

38^th round: knit

Carry up Dark Grey and join in.

39^th round: knit 4, knit 2 together until end of round (60)

40^th round: knit

41^st round: knit 3, knit 2 together until end of round (48)

42^nd round: knit

43^rd round: knit 2, knit 2 together until end of round (36)

44^th round: knit

45^th round: knit 1, knit 2 together until end of round (24)

46^th round: knit

47^th round: knit 2 together until end of round (12)

48^th round: knit 2 together until end of round (6)

49^th round: knit 2 together until end of round (3)

Place the 3 remaining stitches on 1 double pointed needle and join in Off White.

Knit an icord of approx. 5 cm and bind off, leaving a longish tail. Knitting an icord is very simple but can seem complicated when following written instructions. The easiest way for learning to knit an icord is following a Youtube tutorial, of which there are many.

The loop

With the tapestry needle, insert the tail of the icord through the top of the crown and pull the tip slightly into the hat, making a neat little loop on the outside. Weave in the tail on the inside of the hat to secure the loop.

Weave in all ends and your Striped Baby Hat is finished!

Crochet: DIY Washable Cotton Wool Pads

Every so often I like to venture out and crochet a little. Especially when I find a lovely project such as this pattern here on Moral Fibres. These fluffy cotton wool pads are soft on the skin and perfect for removing make-up. I love it that they are washable and therefore more sustainable than pads you just throw away. They're a quick and easy crochet for yourself or for a cute little gift.  

I used up some leftover Twilley's Freedom Sincere Organic Cotton DK to make my pads and felt mighty sustainable about it. Somehow I couldn't quite get the 8 puff stitches in the middle as suggested by the pattern. I tried, but it just seemed too many to all fit next to each other. Also, I wanted my pads a bit bigger in circumference, so decided to go for less puff stitches per row but add a third row. This is how mine came out: 

Washing Instructions:

• If you want the pads to stay pristine, rub natural plant based soft soap on the stains and let sit for an hour before throwing in with your other whites. 
• Wash at 60 degrees C and let either dry naturally or tumble dry for extra fluff.

The pads will probably shrink a little, which makes it a good idea to make them slightly bigger than they need to be.

CRAFTY TUNE: Lady

Lady consists of two ladies who live and breathe soul. And every knitter needs some soul to put in every stitch. 'Money' is from their self titled debut album. 

VINTAGE WORK IN PROGRESS - Lacy Jumper

It's all about the vintage patterns at the moment. I am sure it will pass someday, but for now I am going to try and conquer them until my heart is content. 

My next victim is the Greenock Lacy Jumper. I purchased the pattern for just 1,50 GBP of the great www.fab40s.co.uk, somewhere here. I love it because it just looks so gorgeous and wearable, not to mention the fab neckline. Don't know about the cat and the hairdo though, might leave those out. 

Materials:

Yarn: Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Weight

Colourway: Shade 095

Needles: 3mm (ribbing) and 3,5mm circular needle (lace)

Knitting log:

14/4: Vintage pattern purchased from www.fab40s.co.ukfor 1,50 GBP.

14/4: Shetland wool (2 ply jumper weight) ordered from Jamieson & Smith. Hopefully the lovely shade of pink on the photo resembles the actual colour.

16/4: Yarn has arrived and the colour is lovely. The texture of the wool is VERY scratchy though. I’m a bit princess on the pea with what I like to wear next to my skin but I am going to give it a go. Knitted a swatch, washed it with shampoo and soaked it in conditioner which did soften the fabric. Then blocked.

19/4: The blocked swatch seems to indicate that the gauge of this yarn is pretty much the same as the original Greenock yarn (6,5 to 7 stitches to the inch on lace pattern). I have decided to go for the medium size.

20/4: Cast on 240 stitches on a circular needle to knit the bodice in the round as front and back are  the same until the armholes. I calculated 240 stitches because: 121 stitches x 2, but minus one stitch at the beginning of both front and back as I will not be seaming them together.

The yarn catches on itself like velcro while knitting with it. For that reason I have decided to replace the twisted rib with half moss stitch because it was hard to keep any momentum going while having to knit in the back of the stitch all the time.

CRAFTY TUNE: L.A. Salami

Lookman Adekunle Salami has quite a story behind his name (and what a name it is)! If you're ever not knitting, read it here.