I have a new look!

I've spent a portion of the evening redoing my logos and headers, just to give it a little refresher! I'm hoping to add a few new things to the blog such as baking and drawing, to give a little variety to it.

So what do you think of the new look? Have you redone your blog recently?

W.I.P Honey Cowl

 

Did another hour or so of knitting on this lovely honey cowl yesterday. It's knitting up rather quickly which is nice. I'm wondering whether it was a better idea to have knitted the larger version as I did buy two balls of Monsoon, but perhaps I could make another one to give to a friend of a giveaway?

Yesterday I tried my hand at a little bit of baking, I didn't manage to take any pictures, but me and my other half fancied something sweet after dinner. I had a look at what we had in the cupboard and my ingredients consisted of flour, milk, butter, cinnamon sticks, maple syrup and eggs. I didn't even have any sugar! Luckily enough I was able to whip up some sugar free cookies with maple syrup, sprinkled with cinnamon. It did the job although the recipe was a little floury, I'll make some adjustments and post it here!

'Til next time!

Jess x

Cast On: Honey Cowl

Hello dear readers! I am sorry its been so long, we've had Christmas and New Years and I've moved my business premises so it's all been very hectic! But I hope you'll forgive me.

I have a few little projects on the go, firstly I have a very simple square blanket I knitted for my little sister. She's now 10 weeks old and it's not finished, I'm doing very badly! I thought having a simple garter stitch pattern would be fun as I could knit it and not worry about remembering pattern notes but its been a little tedious. 

So now I know for my projects:

Lace is good,

Cables are good,

Shaping is good!

So here's one I cast on yesterday. Its getting much colder here in the UK, and because I've been rubbish I havent knitted anything in the summer like you're meant to ready for the cold weather. I'll be hurriedly doing it now!

I perused my local yarn store and fondled all the balls (oo-er) I could get my hands on, but the colours in the gorgeous Monsoon by James C. Brett caught my eyes. I bought two, they're soft and wonderful and make my eyes happy.

Pattern wise I decided on the lovely Honey Cowl. It's one of the most popular patterns on Ravelry right now and I can see why! Not much to remember but an interesting pattern nonetheless to follow. I'm making the shorter version currently which will only use one ball, so I'll either make another one or maybe a matching hat? 

Anyway, here's my progress after a few hours. I am LOVING it. I've never tried a slip stitch pattern before and its really interesting. The gaps between the rows make little honeycomb shapes, which incidently I suppose the name of the pattern comes from!

Loving how this is knitting up! Colours changing gradually.

I suspect this may be a little itchy on the skin but a little wool wash should sort it right out!

Anyway I'm going to go right back at it! 

'Til next time.

Quick wedding WIP update 11th Oct

Got really true to life colours on this shot!

Wedding WIP September Update #2

Hello again! I have been stitching like a mad woman and tonight I present to you this washed out night-time image of my stitching! I forgot to get a picture in daylight but have tried to edit to show the colours correctly. I'm so happy I've gotten to the point where you can see my Mums face, its a little more motivating to show it coming together now!

Also, I have done a terrible silly thing. Notice that torn edge on the right side? I decided to "trim" the edges so I didn't have so much fabric hanging off the edge of my frame and instead sheared off most of it. I completely forgot to leave some for the frame and stretching!

So guys, have I ruined it? Could a professional printing place frame it with that much fabric there? I was planning on just the stitched area showing anyway. Oh well, thats a mistake I won't be making again!

I'll post some more progress in a couple of weeks :) I've been so busy working and doing other hobbies (drawing/video games etc.) I don't think I'll be updating this more than bi-monthly, but I will be updating and thats all that matters!

See you next time ladies and gents.

Wedding cross stitch WIP Update!

Hello ladies and gents! It's been a few weeks, but I thought I'd try and leave enough time to show a substantial update - and here it is!

So I've done the entire top 3 rows! I've parked my threads for the next (massive) page and will start it tomorrow when I have more natural light. I'm really pleased with how its going so far although it is slow! Should be able to see my dear mothers face soon :)

Also got these beautiful things in the post today from sewandso! (I highly recommend this company if you are from the UK like me!)

I adore these scissors, reminds me of one of those big black vintage sewing machines! They're nice and sharp and I don't have to 'saw' at the threads to cut them anymore.

This neat little thing is called a Needle Minder, it has a magnet attached to it, with another magnet that sits on the otherside of your fabric and holds it in place. When you're not using your needle you pop it on the needle minder and it'll keep it nice and safe for you! I have two kittens so making sure that a stray needle doesn't fall on the floor is my top priority, this helps a little for my anxieties!

So thats it for this update, hope to get a little more done soon as my due time is looming!
Thanks for looking!

Knitting and Cross stitch Progress in August

Its been a couple of weeks since my last post, I would show more frequently how I'm getting on, however I'm not the quickest! I don't want to inundate you all with daily posts of the few stitches I've managed to do here and there... so here's a more substantial update!

Now, I feel like the worst knitter in the world. If you're a knitter you may know how enjoyable knitting teeny clothes for newborn babies are and how satisfying it is to knit up pieces so quickly. I'm fighting a losing battle with my Suzette cardigan and stopped knitting at all for a few months (Hello cross stitch!) and didn't think there was any point doing baby stuff as noone in my family were close to having babies!

However my brain failed to notice that MY OWN MOTHER has had a bun in the oven for 6 MONTHS! 

Yeah, thats 6 entire months of lost knitting time, how many little baby booties and mittens is that?!

So I scoured my digital copies of The Knitter and found an adorable baby pattern called Little Vine (Ravelry link) 

I went out and spent a ludicrous amount (£11) on 2 gorgeous balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, because every baby needs cashmere in their life, even if it will be 12 weeks before they grow out of it.

Its knitting up so fast its awesome, although I'm used to doing adult clothes that take forever. Alas my camera has absolutely butchered the colour of this yarn. Its not this sickly red colour going on right now, its a gorgeous deep purple, like wine and mulberries. Here is the swatch from the Deramores site, it's much more accurate: Cashmerino in Plum

As always, I'm using my trusty Knitting Needs by Signature Needle Arts which are hands down my favourite knitting purchase ever. These are 3.5mm with the super sharp Stiletto tips (great for lace!)

The little vine pattern is easy to memorize and enjoyable to do. Nothing too taxing, a few YOs and SLKPs and the usual knit and purls!

Here's the back knitted up and the left front, just the right and arms left!

I've done lots more on my Wedding Cross Stitch, although it seems to take forever. I'm cutting time by using lots of needles with each colour so I'm not rethreading all the times, and using the parking method!

I took this photo this morning so you can see the colours better (hadn't stitched as much then) but I love doing the little greens, oranges and purples that pop up, and it all works so well together!

While I'm not sure that I'll get it done by December, in fact we all know that'll be a small miracle, I'm enjoying the process as I go, and I'm adding up a small collection of patterns I want to do once its finished!

(To see the wedding cross stitch progress in its entirety, click the wedding label down the right hand side of the blog, it will show all posts!)

'Til next time.