Oh no, not another Bunny Jumper!

It is hard to believe, but it is exactly a month to Christmas Day, I am sure you are all prepared - presents bought and wrapped and cards made and written awaiting posting.  I am still struggling to get the boxes and tags made for my Advent Calenders and all of the presents for them wrapped up, these are my current priority because I have to get them delivered this week ready before the end of the month.  I bought my Christmas card kits back in the summer but, despite all of my good intentions, I have not made any cards, so that will be my next project.

After that I must do something about our decorations, when do you put your decorations up?  Do you go OTT or do you just have a few special decorations?  I have a friend who only ever uses natures decorations, fresh holly, logs ... and perhaps a few candles.

Back in September I shared with you a navy and white bunny jumper and, at the time, I warned you that I did not think it would be the last time you would see that pattern.  This pattern has become something of a favourite in my family and here it is again, this time in petrol blue and white (honest, it is a different jumper).

This lovely Fair Isle pattern is by Emu, number 8776A, and is made in double knit.  The bunnies on the front have gorgeous knitted pompom tails - the bunnies on the back have flat tails so the do not dig in the back of the wearer.

Some time ago I made this jumper for one of my nieces, I had not been knitting very long at that time and the pattern represented a massive challenge to me, but it was worth all of the frustration.  Back then I did not put my knitting on my blog and the only photo I have of that jumper is this one, which her mother sent to me of my niece wearing it (apologies for the poor quality). 

I hope you have a great week.

Dionne

Red Nordic Style Sweater

I need to check, but I think this is the last of the red cardigans and jumpers that I have been making for my little niece to wear to pre-school.

Once again I found myself getting low on red yarn, so I reverted to that old trick of mixing in another colour .... and just as well, I literally had only a few yards of red left when I had finished this jumper.

The pattern I used was Styecraft #4910 and I made up the white stripe design as I went, of course, matching the design on the back with the front.

I hope you have enjoyed my rush of red.  I am looking forward to making something in another colour.


Dionne

Dolls Pram Blankets

Last year one of my closest friends bought her granddaughter a little dolls pram for Christmas.  I was asked if I could make a couple of blankets for it.  Which I did, but I totally forgot to share them after Christmas, so here they are now.

I used the same crochet stitch for both blankets but made different boarders to give the blankets a different look.

I made the red one a little longer and turned down the top edge, tucked some lace from my stash under the fold and added some tiny rosebuds.  The white one I gave a very simple fringe - an oldie but a goodie!


Dionne

Say it with Roses

I have another of those kit cards to share with you today.

I made this card from the bits I had left over after making a wedding anniversary card.  As I did not have any one in particular in mind when I made it I kept this simple so it could be used for an anniversary or an engagement etc.

I purchased the kit from C&C many years ago and, whilst I cannot be sure, I think it was by Kanban.  The only things not in the kit were the flat backed gems and the glue.

Dionne

Five Little Ladybirds

More red cardigans today.  Once again I have made both the 'V' necked cardigan and the round necked cardigan from my vintage Stylecraft pattern, number 4909.

I thought it might be fun (and possibly useful) to try and make each of these plain cardigans look slightly different.  With this 'V' necked cardigan I bought some fun ladybird buttons, they are really lovely.

I always think that my photographs of the cardigans and jumpers I make do not do them justice, my photographic skills leave a lot to be desired.  So I thought I would try using a model for the next one, unfortunately, I think this may well be the worse of two evils.  My little niece's brother acted as my model but, as you can see, this round necked jumper swamped him!

You may recall that when I made the previous 'pair' of cardigans using this pattern, I put pockets on the 'V' necked one.  So, this time, I put the pockets on this round necked one.

I hope you have a great weekend.


Dionne

Scottie Dogs

Surprise!  I am back with yet another red cardigan.

Once again I found that I was rapidly running out of red yarn and I was not sure I had enough to make another cardigan with what remained.  My solution was to mix in a little of something else, I trawled through my patterns and found this little sweetie with Scottie Dogs on the front.

At the end of the day, I am not sure it actually saved me very much red yarn but it does make a lovely cardigan.  Sadly, this is another one which turned out a little on the large side, so it may be a few months before my niece gets to wear.

You could not have failed to have noticed the change in colour of the yarn in these close ups.  In reality, these are the truer colour.   I think the camera flash is so intensive, it has lightened the colour of the first photograph.

The pattern is a VERY old Sidar, Snuggly one #3236.  I hope my niece likes it as much as her Auntie Dionne does.


Dionne

Here's my Heart

I recently needed a quick anniversary card, so I raided my stash of ancient kit cards and came up with this.

Whilst I had the impression that the original designer intended this sheet to be for a Valentine card I felt that it made the perfect anniversary card.  Simple but stylish.

If my memory serves me right, the kit was made by Kanban, all I needed to add was some white card, ribbon and flat backed gems.


Dionne

Fancy Red Cardigan

I still have a long way to go with posting all of the red cardigans and jumpers I have been making for my little niece.  This is one of my failures.

I got a little fed up with knitting the same pattern over and over, so I thought I would jazz things up a bit with this rather lovely lacy design. After all, the uniform is not compulsory, so I though I might get away with it.

I made it in the same size as the other bits and bobs I have been making for her, the trouble is, this one came out huge.  I don't think it will fit her the year after next!

I suppose she will have something to keep her warm in her old age but, in the meantime, I am going to have to make another cardigan for pre-school.

Dionne

Little Red Jumper

I am afraid that you will be seeing red for quite some time as I post all of the cardigans and jumpers I have been making for my youngest niece.

I replenished my stock of red yarn twice whilst I was working on these tops and every time I was unable to get the same yarn as the type I had been working with.  Knitters will instantly see my dilemma, but in case you do not knit, I shall attempt to explain.  The shades between different brands varies considerably, in fact the shade often varies between one pack (or what is known as a Dye Lot) to another.  Therefore, it is very unwise to try to use two different types of yarn in the one garment.

After I had finished the cardigan before I made this jumper, I could see that I was getting low on red yarn, and I did not think I had enough to make another cardigan, so I decided to make a jumper as it used slightly less yarn.  To my surprise it really was so much easier and quicker to make than a cardigan .... the bands for the buttons are not my favourite things to make.

The pattern I used was Styecraft #4910.  There is opening in this pattern, just a very stretchy neck!

I hope you have a great week.


Dionne

Birthday Girl

I was recently tidying my crafting space and came across several boxes of kit cards.  They have probably been stacked in that corner for something like ten years.  About that time I joined a design team and stopped using kit cards.  It seems such a waste to leave them in the corner, so I pulled a handful of sheets out and made a couple of cards.

I have these sheets so long I cannot really remember where I got them from but , if I had to guess, I would probably say that I bought them from C&C .... or QVC.

After pressing out the components from the sheet, and putting my design together, I added some flat backed gems, ribbon and a sentiment from my stash.  Quick and easy to make - and the person I sent it to actually argued with me because she was convinced that it was a shop bought card.  Sometimes I wonder why I bother!

Dionne

Seeing Red!

A pinch and a punch, it's the first of the month!

A few weeks ago I posted that I was not going to be blogging for a few weeks, I wanted to reassure my friends that there was nothing wrong, I was just going to be very busy for a while.  I now have a brief time, between finishing that project and starting all those Christmas ones that I really need to get on with, to tell you what I have been up to.

First, a very little background.  Regular visitors will know that I have a small niece who I often talk about.  This time last year her mum received a letter offering her a place at the local pre-school, we were quite surprized about this because she had only recently had her second birthday.  However, her mum was reassured that it was not an error and, after a conference, everyone involved agreed that my little niece was ready for pre-school and she joined the class at the start of the New Year ... and she loved it.

The pre-school does not have a compulsory uniform policy and no one in the class my niece joined wore the uniform.  After the summer break her class mates went up, but, because of her age, my little niece was kept back.  To her mum's horror all of the new class arrived on the first day wearing the uniform.  That afternoon she rushed to the shops but, unfortunately, the local shops had already sold out of the uniform in my nieces size.  Whilst her mum set about altering the dresses she had managed to find, she contacted me to asked if I could make her some red cardigans.

I was worried that the weather was already turning quite cold but I did not know how many cardigans she would need so I asked around and most people thought that five cardigans would be a good number - taking into account how messy three year olds tend to be and the problems of washing and drying woolies at this time of year.  Here are the first two.

For quickness, I chose a plain patterned cardigan and made one of both the round necked design and the 'V' neck cardigan.  The pattern is a vintage Stylecraft one, number 4909.

This pattern has an option for pockets, so I added pockets to the 'V' neck cardigan.  (When I gave these two cardigans to my niece, I suggested that she could keep her hankie in her pockets but she insisted that she was going to keep rocks in them!)  I finished this cardigan with five fish eye red buttons.

I kept the round necked cardigan plain - no rocks for this one.  Both cardigans were made in double knit and this one was finished with half a dozen shank buttons.

It's been quite a marathon making all of these red cardigans in just over a month, and not everything went exactly as planned.  But more about that another day.

Dionne