Knitting and Crochet - such a lot done since December!

Still finding the odd teddy and bunny to dress in a little sweater of indigenous people's flag colours... these are pre-loved toys, washed and sanitised and given a hand made new sweater.. they go to aboriginal children who are, for one reason or another, being taken into care.. Another area the Knitting for Brisbane's Needy ladies are involved in..

 

 Christmas 2013, Knitting for Brisbane's Needy was asked to make 1000 crocheted Mini Christmas Stockings - we did manage to meet this total. I also made some Knitted Christmas Puddings



 I bought packets of brightly foil wrapped toffees to put inside them.

 They were given out to homeless people at various Christmas dinners given to the needy around Christmas time. Job well done, KFBN!!

The Christmas pudding pattern is my own - contact me if you would like a copy!

 I have gradually been making all my Christmas tree decorations in crochet  - these little snowflakes were just some of the ones I have made over the last months before Christmas., I have also been making crocheted thread covers for all the silver baubles I can find..   all the tree is now covered in white and silver ...

 

The little confection above is Rindy's Raglan - with short sleeves - in cotton. Reminds me of ice cream cones in summer....

Another favourite of mine for a quick knit is the Garter Yoke Baby Cardigan by Jennifer Hoel  - another free pattern available on Ravelry  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/garter-yoke-baby-cardi - aren't the pencil buttons sweet?

 

I love this little sweater! It is called Cadence and Hue and is available to buy on Ravelry here's the link - I loved this  in chocolate brown and mint green - yes peppermint chocolate came to mind immediately!

My friend Rosie in Arizona loved this one so much she asked me to make four more - in different sizes, for her four great grandsons...

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cadence-and-hue

So these were the START of my knitting for 2014!

They all came out so well  !  Rosie just emailed me - they arrived today 17th Feb - which is amazing - not even 10 working days to USA - well done Australia Post...for a change...

This little Baby jacket - is called Baby Girl in Red - and is a free pattern on Ravelry - however the designer is Italian, and while she had the pattern in English available , it doesn't seem to be there any more - I wrote to her and got a link to the English version which I shall now post here...
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4TxN6DjD-7rUlVFVEtkM3JEWUk/edit?pli=1

This pattern is SO easy - and a delight to make...

 

 Little Ripple Baby Blanket - Cathy Waldron's 'Rainbow Baby Blanket' - free pattern available on Ravelry

I made it to go with a sweet little crochet Hoody - Lion Brand's 'Four Colour Hoody' also a free pattern - and yes there are four colours - I did the back in pale blue!

This was made as a Crochet Along on the Babysweaters Group on Yahoo - I had the honour of being asked to be a moderator on this lovely group - I've been a member since about 2005


I put the loveliest little Rocking Horse buttons on it - they came from a seller on ebay.com.au 'Spikecraft' a.k.a Muriel Parsons - she has the best buttons at reasonable prices...

This little jacket and booties were made, like most of everything I make, for Knitting for Brisbane's Needy

The jacket is Suzanne's Matinee Jacket - only available to members of Babysweaters Group on Yahoo Groups

The booties I found on Ravelry - what did we do before Ravelry??? They are Mary, Mary Booties by Gillie Parsons - a free pattern.

I loved making the booties - it is a very easy pattern to follow and the results look so professional - not like some booties I have made in the past..

Next - a sweet little fun fur beret - I made this pattern up - just using DK (8 ply to us Aussies) and Moda Vera Jazz from Spotlight -

 The little jacket is the pattern I call Yvette's Easy Baby Sweater -I have been making it for ages but never got around to writing up the pattern- this time I kept notes - so as soon as I can decipher what I wrote - I shall have to do another test knit if I can't read it - I shall publish it on Ravelry along with some of my other designs.. it is a very quick pattern - this one used Red Heart Super Saver - colour Monet - which I have had in my stash for a while.. the cuffs and bands were done in Panda Disco - a very useful yarn which I still have a fair bit of - it is discontinued and has been for some time - pity because it had some lovely bright colours in the range.

 

 

 This knitted hoody was also done as part of Babysweaters Knit A Long - yes we had a Knit a Long and Crochet a Long running simultaneously in November last year - the pattern was Easy Baby Cardigan by Diane Soucy - http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/easy-baby-cardigan



 
 
 
 

 I used a lovely yarn that I bought from Knitters Paradise ebay store on ebay.com (US) - it is mill ends but I think comes from Spinrite - which took over Bernat and Caron and US Patons earlier last year. It is a DK yarn (8 ply) but a bit thinner than normal - I used, from memory, 3.5 mm needles - it is a beautiful watermelon pink - very nice to knit with...

Digressing - if you haven't bought mill ends of yarn before - it is well worth while - even though I pay horrendous postage to obtain it from Brian Wertmann (Knitters Paradise store owner on ebay.com USA) it is still reasonably priced - and of course it is unobtainable here in OZ - he used to carry a lot of  Red Heart Yarn - but now has Caron, and some Bernat and a lot of cotton like Sugar and Cream - and of course, this new yarn which I suspect is from Spinrite - if you check out the Yarnspirations website (*which is for Bernat, Caron and Patons yarns, USA) you can see some of the Spinrite yarns and this particular pink one appears to be one of theirs...

Anyhow - for this little hoody - I added stitches for  button and buttonhole bands instead of the knitted ties used by the designer - much better IMHO... top down of course - so NO sewing up - I hate sewing up with a passion and seldom do it nowadays unless it is a pattern I love (an old favourite, say) which I will do because I enjoy the pattern so much.

Talking of Knit a Longs - we are currently conducting one on Babysweaters - for a baby sweater of course - the choices were for two FREE designs and two PURCHASED designs - so if you don't want to buy a pattern  you don't have to. Membership on Babysweaters is by invitation only - we run a Knit a Long/Crochet a Long every three months , by membership choice . There is plenty of time to join in and also plenty of time to  make the sweater as we aren't having another Knit a Long until May. The free patterns chosen were Rindy's Raglan ( available only to members of the Babysweaters group) and Silver Cardigan by Kristina Temin http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/silver-cardigan

The two purchased patterns chosen were Elizabeth Zimmermann's Babysweater on Two Needles (February) a.k.a the February Baby Sweater (available from Schoolhouse Press http://www.schoolhousepress.com/
or from Elizabeth Zimmermann's book 'Knitter's Almanac')
and the  Milo Vest  by Georgie Hallam - available to buy on Ravelry  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/milo-3

Ok - back to the knitting and crochet - this lovely baby shawl is a thread doily pattern , done in a lovely soft yarn that has a slight sparkle to it. A friend of my daughter's put a vintage hand crocheted baby shawl in her front loading washing machine - and all the nap/fluffy part came off, leaving her with a bundle of crocheted string.....

She asked if I could reproduce the original - but after putting it in the too hard basket for a couple of months I realised it couldn't be done - I would have had to laboriously count every row and work out the stitches used...

Any way, I had done this before, used a doily pattern for a baby shawl - so decided this particular pattern was close enough to what it might have looked like pre disaster....the pattern I used was the Cluster Pineapple Doily - from the Annie's Attic publication 'The Ultimate Book of Pineapples'

I think it came out rather well......

I haven't heard back to know whether it was satisfactory yet, though...

 

 

 

These pullovers are becoming a standby for me for charity knitting - the size ranges from toddler to 10 years old. I have made a few of these now for Knitting for Brisbane's Needy - the pattern is the Texo Pullover by Anjali M - http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/texo-pullover - the original pattern has a kangaroo pouch pocket - but I have yet to make one with this feature !

 

The reason I like it so much is of course that it is knit top down - and can be made  using odd balls of yarn. It is a fast knit - and comes in very handy when asked for an emergency lot of kids sweaters at short notice, which of course KFBN takes in its stride...

 

As  you can see , the pattern lends itself to a bit of embellishment too -  I did a little bit of fairisle colour work on the green and white one.. these all go to Aunty Gwen's Project for Outback Aboriginal Kids....



 
Next, two  crochet hats made from leftover yarn from the two pullovers -how's that for thrift? The one on the left is a slouchy hat -  both made up on the spot as I went along..


And finally, a plateful of Divine cupcakes!  The pattern is Divine Cupcakes by Maiya Becker http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/divine-cupcakes

These were made by request of my friend Gail Grunske - the lady who made the amazing chair cover that I posted on my blog about a couple of months or so back! She is putting the chair on display for the Arts and Crafts Trail in Crow's Nest (near Toowoomba) in April, and wants a table with a plate of cupcakes beside the chair  and a bright knitted or crocheted rug thrown over the chair....
Very easy to make, it is a great pattern because there is no sewing up - they are all made in one piece....and of course, wonderful for using up small scraps of yarn!

I have more knitting on the needles, and crochet on the hook and a couple of garments awaiting buttons and to be photographed - see you in my next instalment!