Great Grandchild's Shawl.
i have finished my very first circular lace baby shawl. the yarn is Sirdar Snuggly 4ply from Mad About Ewe in Nanaimo. i used E.Z.'s Pi pattern from her book- Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac. i searched for lace patterns whose stitch count would work within the stitch count of the Pi pattern. i started with Emily Ocker's cast on and changed lace patterns after every increase. my favourite pattern is the last one. i found it on a Sirdar twinset design pattern. the shawl was washed and blocked and i took it to Show and Tell at the WCKG's meeting on Tuesday February 6th. it will be in my luggage when i fly to Alberta next week and delivered to my grandson Cody and his partner Renee in readiness for their baby's birth in early March.

Babies Have Arrived.

my last two posts featured projects for babies expected in Wales. the babies have arrived. my cousinn Lee and his wife Gaby welcomed Logan on February 7th and my cousin Rebekah and her partner Dave welcomed Mason today February 12th. today is also my grandson Kurtis's b'day and my daughter -in -law, Liz's b'day.

here's the second baby blanket. this one is for my cousin Rebekah in England. the main pattern is by Laura Aylor. she made an afgan using Koreyon yarn which i saw displayed on the Knitty.com site. i used Patons Astra to knit this blanket. the edging is a pattern called Shingles from Nicky Epstein's 'Knitted Embellishments'. the afgan is made up of squares which are then sewn together. i'm most excited by 'interesting' designs and stitches so i loved working the short rows in the squares. i thought the Shingles design would hilight the colors best but once i got started i soon realised what a lot of work lay ahead. however the construction of each small shingle: the combining together and adding a second row with 3 needle bind off and attaching the finished 'shingles' to the main part with 3 needle bind off was truly a stimulating experience. when i wasn't working on this piece i was knitting my first circular shawl - see previous post. this 'mindless' knitting was a happy change of pace. this blanket is also on its way to England.

this is Ethan's sweater. Ethan is the son of my cousins Lee and Gaby and he lives in Wales. he will have a baby brother very soon and in my last post i showed pics of his brother' s shawl. i knitted the sweater with Patons Astra. the pattern is from Patons Kids Knits which i have had for a l o n g time. many years ago i knitted the same pattern for a grandson and i also knitted other patterns from this book for my grandchildren. it has been well used.

knitter at work!
here i am stretching out the baby shawl. this is the first circular shawl i've made. i followed EZ's instructions from her book Knitters Almanac. i used Emily Ockers cast on and away i went. i knitted round and round and added some blue stripes because the unborn child is a boy. when i came to the edging i took EZ's advice again and knitted the edging onto the shawl. i chose Saw-Tooth Points from Nicky Epsteins' Knitted Embellishments. EZ says that it seems to take forever to knit the edging on and she is right! however, once done there's no sewing on so well worth the effort. my first attempt at pinning out didn't satisfy me as i couldn't get an even stretch. after much measuring with a tape measure and repinning i had it just about passable. this experience had me thinking about improvements for my next shawl. i have decided to buy gingham material. draw the required circle onto the fabric and then pin. i'm sure i have "unvented" something. :-))
this shawl is now heading to Wales where my cousin Gaby awaits the birth of her second son.

this is Quinn Alexander's blanket. i used Sirdar Tropicana cotton effect 4ply. the fish, boats and waves designs shown are my own design.

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

this is Quinn Alexander Wuetherick Bradshaw.

December 11 2006.
our baby is here. my husband maurice welcomed his first grandchild into the world today. his eldest son mike and his partner andrea gave birth to a boy at 1pm. they haven't settled on a name yet but they like Quinn Alexander [and so do i. :-))] the baby arrived earlier than expected and i'm still working on his blanket. i have to have it finished soon as we're visiting them in vancouver on thursday. pics to follow soon.

it's ages since i blogged but the Fall brought Stitchery Guild meetings and socials; singing with the Senior Songsters; playing bridge on the computer with friends and dog sitting. i also managed to knit this outfit for our neighbour's daughter meghan who turned one in October. i bought the Sirdar pattern and yarn at Uptown Yarns in Courtenay in September. once the gift was finished i picked up the skirt and finished that too. i previously mentioned that i thought i wouldn't have enough yarn and i'd thought about how i'd cope. it turned out that i was skinny enough, thanks to my ongoing weightloss program, to omit a panel. it meant that 6 rows of garter stitch lay next to 6 rows of garter stitch but it looks alright. as my Nanna always said - no one will stop a galloping horse to see it!! i used Patons Classic wool merino in black, which seemed thicker than the burgundy merino, to knit the waistband. i also added a border around the lower edge using the same black. i did this as the edge was curling. the skirt in the photo didn't look like it was curling and i wondered about blocking but i'm allergic to my ironing board. :-))
do other knitters find that different colors in the same yarn can feel thicker? i am now working on a baby blanket for the grandson due in December. i am using Sirdar Tropicana cotton effect 4ply in cream and blue and when working the fairisle the blue seems thicker than the cream. does anyone have the answer? my first 3 patterns were of waves, boats and fish and i was going to repeat them until the blanket was long enough. however, i made so many errors while knitting the fish that i decided i'd never finish the blanket in time so i designed some more fairisle patterns and after 5 different ones i knit the waves, boats and fish again. i had trouble again with the fish and ripped back but then discovered that i'd placed the boats incorrectly. i wasn't about to rip back the boats so i paid very careful attention to the first fish and completed the patterning without further ripping. as i worked i thought about the Yarn Harlot who tells in her books how she writes to designers whose patterns foil her. as i'm the designer i only have myself to blame. :-))
the dog we are babysitting goes home next Tuesday and then i'll take some pics of UFO's and the skirt.

this is the final sweater. i made this one for my uncle allen's 80th birthday. he already has a teddy which i made for him when he turned 75. all he has to do is switch sweaters. my husband suggested that he give his 75 sweater to his wife, shirley, as she is that age now!
i am presently making a skirt using sirdar merino which has been in my stash since before 1980. i thought i had about 22 balls of this yarn as i'd originally intended it for a sweater for my welsh husband. i cast on excitedly and have been working on it every day since. then i thought i should find all the yarn and horrors! i could only find 8 balls. now, i'm losing weight but i don't think i'm going to be that petite for a long while. after i'd knit 4 balls i measured the waist against me and hoped and prayed. just in case though, i have been thinking how i could make it fit. it's a gored skirt knit sideways and i'm pondering whether to work the remaining gores in black - which will contrast the burgundy. then i was thinking i could add a burgundy flower if there was enough of that colour left - and put black beads on it!! and to think i used to religiously knit the designers pattern. freedom at last! it's a great feeling.

oops! i found this photo after i'd published the previous blog. you can see the duck better on this one.

this is the bunny i made for my aunt irene. i used the same pattern as the teddy [see previous blog] but i tried a different kind of yarn. i used a brushed instead of a furry. the only snag is that the brushed texture doesn't hide the yarn that you tie around the limbs to accentuate them. the sweater will hide them though. i used beads for the eyes and nose and liked the effect. my aunt likes birds/ducks and geese. she likes to feed them. i'm always on the lookout for duck related knickknacks to buy for her. the back of the sweater shows her age and the front has a duck that i copied from the one that appears on my computer to tell me i have mail. he was lots of fun to sketch and embroider.

this project was knit for my Uncle Ray in Wales. the teddy is from a pattern i purchased in Oswego, NY State many years ago. the pattern's designer is Idle Hours, FL. and the instructions are for a cat, teddy and bunny. i started to make these toys as gifts for family birthdays. the toys are made with any furry yarn. i designed the sweaters using yarn from my stash and swiss darned, [aka duplicate stitch,] the recipients age onto the sweater. the first ones were knit when members of my family in wales turned 75 and 80. when my Uncle Ray turned 80 last year, we had recently moved to vancouver island and were busy with renovations and my knitting patterns were tucked away in a box. this year i am more organised and was able to make Ray a belated gift. his sweater reads 8T1 as his age this year is 81. pics of more sweaters and a bunny will be featured on my next blog.

it's been a long time since i last blogged but i have done lots of knitting whilst travelling around lovely vancouver island. these dog coats were one of my projects. my sister asked if i would make them for her friends' chihuahuas. she gave me a sample coat which was way too big for the little dogs and i used it as a guide. the yarn is wool from my stash. some of it is Peer Gynt DK. the coats were taken home to Wales by my cousin Jill who was here on a visit and my sister has notified me that the coats fit well. in the future i'd like to make larger coats for our friends' dogs.