Finished Projects

Been working on lots of things lately - finishing off a blanket in lavender, purples and greens for a lovely lady who saw me working on the one I made for Marlene - and immediately said she would pay me to make one. I smiled very broadly, thanked her and said "yes please!"

I have been trying to get some baby things finished too. Our summer is about to start so thought some lightweight cotton tops and sunhats would be a great idea for newborns.


Aren't the little ballet slippers adorable? A friend found them in Creative Knitting magazine and gave the pattern to me!

I made this little set in Pink Patons Touch of Ice, with Bendigo Knitting Mills 100% Cotton 4ply in white.

The ribbon is some beautiful organza type knitting ribbon (?) well that's what I call it anyway - it was just right for this little set!

















Look at the cute little doggy buttons! This little white set is in Bendigo Woollen Mills 8 ply cotton. Comes in 200 gram balls for 9.50 ! Order online and postage is very cheap. If you have $30.00 or more in purchases, postage is free within Australia. Bargain or what?

Another in Bendigo Cotton. This is suitable for a little boy with a bell shaped sleeve rather than a frill. I made up the little tam - and the bootees
are Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.










Another girly one in the same colour would you believe as the boy set! It is actually mint green! I took both these pics in the same place a minute apart, wonder why the colour difference in the photo?
By the way - when using the 8 ply cotton I found a smaller needle works best - I went down to a 3.25 mm for making these. With the 4 ply, I used a 3mm and a 2.5mm!

The above sets were all made in a tweaked version of Leisure Arts #3202 Precious Layettes for Baby - Little Lamb


I sort of made up this little set - I wanted a sleeveless tank top for a baby - so did my tweaked version of a free pattern I found on Lion Brand's Site - just the front and back making it up as I went along. I knitted up the back, continued over the shoulders and made a buttoned yoke front, and then continued down the front. I crocheted the side seams together on the outside , and did a crochet trim round the armholes and round the neck and front openings, making a crochet button hole loop. The hat was a basic round hat with a decreased circular crown done on 2 circulars. Bendigo Cotton in White 4 ply - anonymous coloured cotton 4 ply (without a ball band)

Another free pattern off the internet - Lion Brand, I think. This is convertible for boy or girl, just undo the buttons and cross over to the other side. This is made in Bendigo Cotton 8 ply - I used 4mm(US 6) needles - if I make this pattern in Bendigo Cotton again I shall use a 3.5 or even a 3mm needle

I must say I do love working with this cotton though - so soft and so silky - and it is marvellous when using bamboo needles!


And speaking of Bamboo - I knitted my first garment in Bamboozle by Lincraft. It is 65% Bamboo, 30% Cotton and 5% Elastane. I love the way it knits, so super soft and sumptuous feel - BUT - it definitely slows my knitting down as it is made up of a gazillion little plies, not tightly twisted, so it does tend to split if I am not giving it my full attention! Which led to a bit of "tink"ing here and there - also when I weaved in the ends, I found the ends had a tendency to slip out again. Curses! I had a brainwave though - if I moisten the ends in craft glue - or as a friend suggested - egg white! - they will stay put. Either substance dries clear, and is impenetrable as an adhesive and will not dissolve in washing! But this inconvenience is really minor, because I fell in love with it - the finished article seemed heavy - like using pure silk! Hard to explain.By the way - bamboo needles tend to control it somewhat! But is it difficult to imagine what I made for my first experience using Bamboozle? A tiny BSJ , of course!

The Bamboozle is white and green. The deep yellow is Sullivan's Coton-A. The buttons are from Dave Rundel in Florida - you will find him ebay.com - his id is daverun

The Sullivan's Coton-A was a surprise too - I don't like Sullivan's yarns in the main - but this is the loveliest cotton - it is a 5 ply and is so soft and is a dream to knit with! And comes in some very nice bright colours.