Little Bear

Little Bear is finished!

He was very quick to knit up (I finished him earlier in the week), and I knew what to expect after having done the bunny previously.

They are both Lovable Toys by Marion Edmonds from Last Minute Hand-Knitted Gifts. On both occasions I used Blue Sky Alpacas in Sportweight and the only modification I have made is to knit the entire thing in the round. I simply can't understand why anyone would want to seam each limb, when you can just use Magic Loop and knit the entire animal in the round. Granted, when I was first told about Magic Loop I got my knickers in a twist, panicked and promised I would never try it. However, I perservered and have been using the technique ever since.

Little Bear will make a great present for someone.

Now I know it looks like it's snowed here in Brook Green, but look closer...


It's just the blossom. This happens every March and it wows me every time. I'm guessing this is apple blossom because of the colour (possibly plum) but I'll never know because for some mysterious reason the trees in our street never fruit.

The pink cherry blossom hasn't appeared yet but it's in bud, and when that falls, we get a pink carpet lining the street (I'll show you when the time comes).

Weekend Progress

Curlicue's finally finished:

I really enjoyed it, and as my first experience of lace, it wasn't too difficult. However, it took a long time to knit up and I'm definitely having a break from lace for now! Here it is being blocked. It looks a bit wonky, but take it from me, that's just the camera angle. The colour is pure oatmeal:

As soon as I'd got that blocked, I whipped up a Ripples Beret in navy-blue (my own design) for my friend Jo. It also looks much better on that off!:

And I got started on a bear (from Lovable Toys in Last Minute Hand-knitted Gifts) to match the blanket, both of which are potentially for a friend of my friend Alex, but if she doesn't like it, I'll make her a different blanket.

I'll leave you with some Spring daffodils:

Stitch & Craft Show

Well, I took what I considered to be a well-earned day off yesterday and went to the show at Olympia. As I had suspected it wasn't heavy on the knitting (mostly sewing and paper-craft) but there were a few good yarn stalls, including, wait for it, one for a company that specialises in Possum yarn, yes real Possum! Apparently they're not endangered, practically vermin in New Zealand, and they've been killing off all the other semi-extinct species in the country, which justifies their use in yarn.

I managed to come away with a small selection of yarn, a home-dyeing sock kit (yes, I'll believe it when I see it too) and a large selection of ceramic buttons in all sorts of shapes and sizes. They're my favourite kind and hard to find, so I pick them up whenever I see them.

Curlicue is blocking so photos will follow when finished. Have you seen the latest Knitty?: I'm quite keen on Hanne and Topaz.

Look out for another post over the weekend xx

Spring Is In The Air

Brook Green Blossom.

Hi, Sorry I've been quite busy so no knitting shots this time, just everything else that's been going on in my life:

Birthday flowers: yellow roses, my all-time favourite, and the fragrance...

They were from my lovely hubby, who also gave me tickets to Springsteen in the Park in June. How excited am I?!

On Sunday my cousin Melissa and her husband Clinton came over for lunch so I made tasty roasted chicken legs with lemons and red onions and a made-up minted bread sauce which turned out really well. For pud I made this apple cake from the World Food Cafe 2 recipe book, which Ysolda had recommended. It was SCRUMMY! Thanks Ysolda, I'll be making this again for my parents when they visit in two weeks.

These are some thistles that my DMIL Wendy gave me, along with some white roses when I was in the throes of my chest infection (yes, I've still got it!). Being Scottish, I love thistles; the colours are incredible. It was really thoughtful of her; just what I needed to cheer myself up!

In knitting news, I've almost finished Curlicue in a lovely oatmeal colour, and will be blocking it this afternoon - photos to follow soon. I love the finished project, but now need a break from lace knitting - all those YO's make it easy to drop/add a stitch accidentally. I got the idea to make it from Amy.

Next up will be a matching bear for a friend of a friend (possibly my first ever commission!!!), and a beret for my friend Jo (another request whoo hoo!).

I'm off to finish the blanket xx

Spring is Sprung

Spring has arrived in Brook Green!

I had to photo something that I've recently finished knitting (but I can't show a photo of it here just yet) and have had in mind all week the perfect setting: Look at the crocuses that have sprung up on the green. I saw them poking out at the beginning of the week when I went past on the bus and by the time I got there today they were everywhere. It's still quite cold for 1st March though!