Category Archives: finished projects

It might be a bit of a FO parade here over the coming week or so. Not having a pc meant that I couldn’t upload photos. Plus I’ve been working on a lot of quick knits, so they all stacked up a bit…

First off is Oscar’s monster choice from The Big Book of Knitted Monsters. The construction was similar to the Chunks; knitting a large round shape and then stuffing the body and head before sewing it shut. I especially like his huge flappy ears, which stop him looking like a green cottage loaf.

Really didn’t like the yarn, though. For a basic, bargainous acrylic I don’t go into using it expecting greatness, but it literally started fuzzing as soon as I cast on. I wouldn’t let it near anything I was making to wear because I’d end up looking like a giant fluffball. Worse is that I knitted Henry’s monster in the same yarn, so they’re both looking a bit bedraggled already. Meh. I will look elsewhere for future monster making when I want bright colours. On that note, if anyone reading has any recommendations for 100% acrylic yarns that stand up well to abuse of various kinds, please let me know and I will be eternally grateful!

As Penelope has made it safely across the pond to her new home, I can now write about her!

I think Rebecca Danger’s patterns would make even the most toy-phobic knitter want to fill their house with polyester stuffing and safety eyes. After knitting Wasabi, I bought several more of her patterns, including Penelope, but could never find a good reason to cast on until I spied the swap in the Danger Crafts Ravelry group, which gave me the perfect excuse.

The pattern is well-written and easy to follow. It does use Magic Loop, but I used such a chunky yarn that I knitted the body on a 40cm circ instead and then switched to dpns when the stitch count decreased at the top of the head. I also modified some of the pattern by casting on the full number of sts for the body instead of knitting the base flap first. I then picked up the base flap stitches in the contrasting colour along the cast on edge after completing the body. I found this worked better after trying and failing several times to get a neat cast on at the beginning and end of the row after knitting the flap first!

The yarn was really nice to knit with. It’s very soft, but didn’t go fuzzy or pill, even after washing and blocking. I don’t know how it would stand up to long-term wearing, but I may investigate this further with the DK version and some Rose-sized stuff.

I know blocking toys isn’t really necessary, but there was a point after knitting all the pieces and before stuffing where there was the opportunity to do so, so I did. The Monster Chunks, for example, are stuffed during the knitting process, so no blocking opportunity. But even on a toy it’s nice to even out all the stitches and see how the yarn looks after washing. And she smells extra nice, too.

I’d definitely knit this pattern again, but with so many monsters in the book to get through, it might be a while.

Ah, the wonders of a British springtime. Two days ago we were sweltering in shorts and t-shirts and having barbecues. Today it is grey, drizzling with rain and we are wearing vests again. My planned photoshoot with Rose wearing her new shrug has been put on hold, so it’s just a knitwear-on-the-table picture today.

The pattern was like all Knitting Pure & Simple designs: well-written, simple and it did the job. I did have an issue where I was a couple of stitches short before the lace edging, but looking back at the pattern I think I must have cast on too few stitches at the underarm after dividing for the sleeves. You’ll have to take my word that it fits Rose beautifully until the sun comes out again and I can get some more photos! It was also great to discover the the KP&S patterns are now available as downloads on Patternfish as it meant no waiting around for the pattern to arrive which is good if you are an impatient sort of person.

I greatly appreciated the comments on my last post about the yarn, too. I know it’s something so small and insignificant compared to finding knots in the yarn (of which there was one), or unspun sections (none of these) but yarn names are important. The right name can conjure up wonderful images and turn even a simple yarn into something desirable and luxurious. The wrong name can make you feel like you’re knitting with the yarn equivalent of a pot noodle.

But for all its pot noodleness, Kool Kotton is a nice yarn. It wasn’t as splitty as All Seasons Cotton, although there was a grand total of zero seaming to do, so it didn’t really have much of a test. It felt nice to knit with and blocked nicely. It’s just if it was called Angel’s Breath or Baby’s Cuddles, I’d probably enjoy it all the more.

It all started with me spotting this video on Ravelry… As Mr B commented when he saw me with a big bag of stuffing, “…but you don’t knit TOYS!” Well, some things are too cute not to make.

I knitted one for each small person in their preferred colours and one in random colours for Rose because she doesn’t care. Each one took barely an evening of knitting from start to finish which gives a great sense of achievement! The pattern is simple and well-written and involves minimal sewing which gets it an extra thumbs-up from me.

The eyes are from Craft Bits again; the same as I used for Wasabi but smaller (6mm).

Whether I’ll be motivated to create my own army of wee monsters remains to be seen, but I think this toy knitting lark is growing on me.

Firstly, does anyone else think that the nice people at DROPS have finally run out of pattern ideas for the Christmas calendar, based on today’s offering? Or maybe I am just completely out of touch, and everyone else in the world routinely decorates their dairy products…

But to more exciting things. My hat is done! Ironically, it’s been too cold to go outside and wear it, but I am all ready for the first signs of a thaw.

I think it’s a sign of my liking for this pattern that I happily knitted it all over again so soon after the previous one. It’s really well-written and I love the generous adjustable sizing so that with my giant noggin I could knit a wide and long hat that would cover my ears but still be big and baggy.

Although the yarn for this one isn’t as special as the yarn used for my first Beret, it does the pattern justice. Lots of crisp stitch definition and it is nicely soft and warm. I did find that it pilled when I used Cascade 220 for my Evangeline Armwarmers but it did see a lot more wear. Hopefully the yarn will behave when perched on my head out of the way.

I really need to block my Grandma’s shawl now. I got as far as threading the top with yarn last night, but with a poorly velcro baby, it’s hard to find hands-free time to pin it out. Tomorrow, I think, will have to be The Day.

This post is subtititled “why I still haven’t finished my hat”.

Last weekend Mr B suggested that maybe I could knit the boys some stockings to fill with sweets for Christmas day, quickly adding that he was only joking. But it was too late. I had seen a stocking pattern on Ysolda’s blog only a day or two previously and thought it was cute but I had no need to knit stockings. But now I eagerly raided my stash to find some suitably festive colours, printed off the pattern and made a start that afternoon.

It’s rare that anyone I know asks for handknits. I don’t count winter hats because they’re a given to keep brains warm this time of year. So I’m afraid that at the mere whiff of someone needing something woolly that I probably am far too over-eager.

The stockings were a breeze to knit up and grew pleasingly fast. However, I had never had a problem with a figure of eight cast on before. I’d done it about half a dozen times and was always happy with the results. But I just couldn’t get it to work this time, so I am now worshipping the true genius of Judy’s Magic Cast On, which worked first time and is completely and utterly invisible. I also changed the short-row heel in the pattern for my favourite one.

There was a gap in the i-cord cast off between the beginning and end and even after darning in the ends, it looked a bit unfinished. So I whipped up a couple of tiny pompoms and they cover up the mess and look rather jaunty at the same time. Repeat after me: it’s not a mistake, it’s a design feature.

I do love using up stash yarns, too. The red Cascade 220 has been in my stash ever since I used it for Oscar’s Later ‘Gator Mitts. I only needed 10g for those, so was holding on to it for future alligator mitts. And even now I have enough left over to knit a pair for Rose when she is bigger. I think, however, that I’d choose to either knit the stockings at a tighter tension next time, or use thicker yarn. I like the floppiness of the stockings, but stranding thin yarn on thick needles wasn’t fun and it’s not the best it could look. Love the choose your own adventure aspect of the lettering and motifs, though.

Now they just need to be filled with chocolate, if I can manage to resist eating it.

Some of you who have read this blog for a while might remember that last year I knitted Henry a Manchester United hat. He loved it and wore it last winter very happily. When all the wintery knits came back out of the cupboard a few weeks ago, he tried it on again and it still fitted.

However, the colder weather came and I noticed – in the way that I generally watch my poor children like a hawk to make sure that they aren’t going outside without being wrapped up in several layers – that he wasn’t wearing his hat. I reminded him and he put it on. Very reluctantly. “Hmmmm…” thought I.

That evening I broached the subject of hats. It seems that the Man U hat isn’t black enough and doesn’t have a brim. Both vital components for a hat at this moment, apparently. So because I’d rather spend time knitting a hat that he will wear than see him go outside without a hat on at all because the one he does have isn’t fashionable enough, I began the search for one that fitted his requirements.

I must add a tiny little pompom waving cheer for the new Ravelry search at this point. Within a minute we had narrowed down Henry’s requirements (brim, manly, possibly cabled but not that fussed, to fit a biggish head) and mine (worsted or aran-weight yarn for speed of knitting) and we had a selection of hats to choose from and he chose the first one on the page, Struan.

As at this point it was a Thursday evening, I had no black aran weight yarn in the house, and I really wanted to get the hat started asap, I forewent my usual hat yarn of choice and plumped for Rowan Pure Wool Aran because I knew that Alison at Lana Pura is brilliant at dispatching asap and the yarn would most likely arrive on the Saturday (which it did – this was before we got the snow). I also had to find some plastic canvas which I ordered from eBay at the same time and did get caught up in the snow and meant the hat was unfinished for another week, but that’s just my luck…

(Incidentally, though I chose a black yarn, “Noir” is actually a very dark grey. I used the same colour for the Skull Illusion Scarf, and am sure it was darker back then.)

The hat is worked from the top down which is a first for me. The pattern links to a knitted invisible cast on but I just couldn’t wrap my brain around it and I do think that Emily Ocker’s cast on is pretty damn perfect anyway, so I did that instead. It is an interesting and well-written pattern and the yarn was smooshy and delicious to knit with so it was a really pleasurable project. Having to wait a week to finish the brim was a pain, but eventually it was done.

And the verdict? “Cool”.

Amongst the random things that were lost when were burgled was Rose’s new Helena cardigan. I had left it in the back of the car, intending to retrieve it at some point… I imagine it was thrown in the rubbish somewhere. But more importantly, this left Rose one cardi short and with the colder weather definitely here to stay, I decided I had to do something about it pretty sharpish.

When Mr B brought me back four skeins of Lamb’s Pride Bulky in two different colours that didn’t really go together to make a four skein something, I’d planned vaguely to use it to knit scarves. It was possibly going to be a Willie, but it’s really a super bulky yarn and getting the pattern tension made a fairly stiff fabric. By knitting it at a more appropriate tension, I figured that I could possibly get a cardigan of some sort out of two skeins. Top down made perfect sense because it’s better to have a shorter body than to run out of yarn halfway up the armhole shaping.

Using Knitting From The Top for the maths and the Little Coffee Bean cardigan for the lovely neat armhole increases and collar, I set to work. The collar was knitted first and then after increasing for the sleeves and dividing, I knitted a couple of rows and then went straight on to the sleeves because I didn’t want them to end up too short. I added a few decreases, although ideally I would have started them earlier to make them closer-fitting.

The button bands were knitted as I went along, so I just made three buttonholes in what I figured was a nicely spaced out sort of fashion, and used the huge wooden buttons that I’d bought originally for the Little Coffee Bean cardigan. They fit perfectly with the chunkier yarn and I’m so glad I didn’t use them before.

The body was knitted last of all. I just kept going until I thought I’d better do some moss stitch for the edging and then, when the yarn was almost gone, I cast off with only a few yards to spare. The cardigan could be a little longer in the body by about an inch, but I am happy that a) I didn’t run out of yarn and b) Rose got a new cardigan in three days flat. Sadly, I couldn’t get her to smile for the camera, but I managed to get her to stand still long enough for a picture whilst she was distracted.

For the fifth year running, Mr B is getting a pair of socks under the tree. For the past couple of years I’ve thought it would be nice to give him a little box containing two or three pairs, but I’m either knitting like a maniac trying to get them finished in time, or I get them all done with weeks to spare but then can’t face starting another pair because I would be knitting like a maniac trying to get them finished. One year – the year when I magically turn into Super Organised Woman – I will start knitting his socks in September.

The pattern is an experiment in knitting longer-lasting socks. From reading various sources, I’ve concluded that I am probably knitting Mr B’s socks too loosely which is why they aren’t lasting very long (though his most recent pair are still hole-free!). So though it pained me, I went down to a 2mm needle and cast on 72 stitches to compensate. Yep, 72 stitches, 2mm needles and 28cm (about 11 inches) long in the foot. I used the short-row heel from the Priscilla’s Dream Socks pattern and then made up the toe decreases. I worried constantly whilst knitting the foot of the first sock that I was going to run out of yarn because it was just being eaten up on every round, but I had a smidgen left of each ball.

The yarn, BTW, is way back from this time last year. It’s not as pretty knitted up as the photo on the ball band promises, just random striping. That might be because of the stitch count, perhaps, but they’re good, manly colours. And I’ll be updating regularly on the socks’ longevity in a regular Sock Watch feature.

This morning I was thinking to myself “I must take a photo of my beret”. I’m woefully behind with recording my FOs and have about four or five to photograph. So I decided after trekking around the shops today buying Christmas presents that I’d come home and photograph my hat.

Except I no longer have a hat. Somewhere in town in must have fallen out of my bag and is probably being trampled underfoot by Christmas shoppers as I write. *weeps* I should know better than to have nice hats in Croydon, really, because five years ago I lost my lovely bear hat in similar circumstances. Not that I’m harbouring a grudge or anything, but I have decided that town eats hats and I will go there with a bare head next time.

My Brambles Beret was a lovely hat. The yarn is so soft and buttery and was special because Mr B brought it back from his trip to Seattle. And it fitted like a dream on my giant noggin and was warm. So please imagine a bluey-green cabled beret of beauty in the photo above. I will go and stash dive and prepare to knit myself another one.

The snow is slowly melting and there are signs that life is beginning to get back to normal. School has reopened and on the way back from dropping Oscar off (which took ages as very few people bothered to shovel the snow off the pavement in front of their houses and it was either walk at a snail’s pace or skid along the ice on the path), I saw a post van dropping off a huge pile of letters at the post office so am hoping that there might actually be a delivery today. (ETA: since I started typing, the post has been and there was one sodding letter and still nothing that I’m waiting for. *huffs*)

And Rose was snug in her Danish Earflap cap. I’ve wanted to knit something from Hats On! for ages but couldn’t persuade the boys to wear something a bit more exotic on their heads. Fortunately, Rose isn’t of an age where she can be fussy and I will make the most of it before she realises she can refuse to wear something.

This is possibly the warmest hat in the world. Aside from the stranding forming a double thickness of alpaca and lambswool, the earflaps are cleverly worked with short rows so they are double thickness as well. I knitted the smallest size because I didn’t fancy knitting thick yarn on skinny needles to get the correct tension and the end result is approximately 19 inches around which fits perfectly. The colour combination is purely a result of me stash-diving and realising I have very little aran-weight yarn. The contrast could be better, but it’s quite jaunty-looking.

It’s a great pattern and a really nice book in general, if you’re in the market for some headgear. I’d love to knit myself the hat the woman is wearing on the cover but I doubt I’d look as cute as Rose does in hers.

Much excitement today as both schools are closed because of the snow. It’s definitely a day for snuggling up with copious cups of tea and biscuits for dunking. For the adults in the house, at least. Henry and Oscar chose to go outside instead to slide about on the sledge that’s been in the garage for years and finally gets used, and throw snow at each other. They are far too mature to make snowmen now.

At least I don’t have to worry about cold heads. I knitted Oscar’s winter hat a few weeks ago and it’s finally being appreciated. He likes a beanie-style hat, but I didn’t fancy knitting yet another plain stocking stitch one as I’ve done for the past few years. Koolhaas is a lovely and very unisex pattern and as I had the magazine the pattern is in from way back in 2007 *is a hoarder* it was a pretty easy choice. Nothing much to say about the pattern – no errors other than my own because I missed out a line of the directions and had to rip back half a round. I followed the directions for the woman’s sizing, which fits perfectly. And means my babies are getting biggerer and biggerer.

Ideally I would have used Cygnet Wool Rich Aran for the hat, but it isn’t available in dark green, which is Oscar’s favourite colour. I thought the Patons yarn would be pretty much the same as the percentage of wool is very similar. However, it’s not as soft as the Cygnet yarn and it was a bit hard going on my fingers at times working all the cable twists on the hat. It softens up after washing and being covered in snow, but sadly I don’t think it’ll become a regular choice. The colour is perfect, though.

* * * * *

And it’s the 1st of December! Which means the Drops Christmas Calendar has opened again. This is the third year of me promising myself I’ll knit something from the calendar but like before, I suspect I won’t have the time. But Rose would look so adorable in today’s pattern. *sighs wistfully* *looks at Christmas knitting pile* *ignores cute pattern*

Why are FOs like buses around here? Nothing for days and then whoosh! Two projects in a week.

This was a quick and simple knit, though. I saw this hat in Baby Gap at the weekend and tried it on Rose who looked, naturally, adorable in it. But I don’t BUY hats, especially not knitted ones. (The website says it’s 100% cotton. I didn’t check the label in store, but think it’s more like a wool/acrylic blend from the feel – definitely too woolly to be cotton!) And so a challenge!

I whipped up the hat by measuring Rose’s head, multiplying that by my tension, knitting for a bit and then decreasing in a spirally sort of fashion. The nose and ears on the original hat are crocheted, but I fiddled a bit and came up with knitted versions, along with a wee i-cord tail. Add some dodgy embroidering, plonk it on a head and it’s a pig hat!

It’s perfect headwear for the school run now that the mornings are getting a bit nippy. And it makes me smile.

Because when you’ve half-unravelled one cardigan, it makes sense to start another entirely different one.

I rarely knit the same pattern twice because I find it boring, but I will make an exception for this pattern. It’s quick, interesting to knit and quick. And did I say it was quick? Though I lengthened the sleeves this time around, they’re still too short and I’m going to have to unpick them, I fear. Otherwise, it’s a perfect fit and very girly.

This is the first time I’ve used a yarn from Sublime. When the yarns first appeared, I was pretty underwhelmed by the overly pastel colour selection. Although there now seems to be a few stronger colours in the range, to be honest, I never would have used it if it wasn’t reduced (£2.30 per ball from The Black Sheep!). I don’t buy into the idea of paying for a luxury brand, quite literally. Yes, I infinitely prefer to use natural fibres over synthetics, but that doesn’t mean I need to sell a kidney in order to be able to afford the yarn to knit a sweater.

The buttons are from this blog post. I finally found a use for them and think they look rather splendid.

This is now officially The Week of Finished Projects. Last night I grafted together the toe stitches of the second sock and this pair – which have been OTN since March – were finally finished!

I’m still not sure about the short-row heel. It’s great not having to count rows and they’re quicker to execute. And knitting huge, plain socks becomes an almost Zen-like experience as I just sit and mindlessly knit rounds and rounds of stocking stitch with only a brief interruption for the heel and toe. But despite all the fancy yarn-overing, there are still holes in the heel and it doesn’t look as neat as I would like. (I opted to use my favourite basic wide toe for the socks rather than knit a short-row toe as well.) That may be something I just need to practise.

But the yarn is a different matter! I adore it! Despite being a wool/nylon blend, it’s almost silky to the touch and slips along the needles very pleasingly. I do hope the yarn wears well. Poor Mr B has only this pair of knitted socks now that doesn’t have holes in/has felted. Given my current output rate, it could be a while before he has another pair, so it would be nice if these lasted..!

And now after the simple stuff, we’re back to the fiddly lace! I finally managed to work out what to do with the leafy lace that was bugging me a few months back. I wanted to try to design a shawl that had a few different patterns in it for interest and that was fully adjustable. So a person can knit 3 of one chart, 27 of another and 19 of a third if they so choose. It was great fun to knit even if I did have a few head-scratching moments and even threw the whole thing in the corner at one point because I couldn’t work out what I needed to do. That’s where a nice plain sock that has been on the needles for a while comes in handy.

The yarn is Artist’s Palette Yarns Smoothie Sock, which is a lovely, sproingy yarn that is a delight to knit with and has blocked beautifully. I wanted a green yarn but in a lighter weight because everyone many people have skeins and skeins of sock yarn in their stashes and this is perfect. I should whisper in case there’s a mad rush, but the base yarn feels the same as *cough*Wollmeise*cough*. Just saying…

The pattern is now in the testing phase and should be ready in a couple of weeks. And I’m off to the calm and uncomplicatedness of more plain sock knitting.

Simplicity is often underrated. I love knitting something lacy and complex with lots of fiddly bits and having something wow at the end. But the beauty of a few stripes and some chunky buttons is also making me very happy.

This is just a really nice pattern to knit. There are a couple of versions of the pattern, and I chose the one with M1R and M1L for the raglan increases rather than eyelets and am so pleased with how they look. I’ll be stealing them for all raglans from now on as they’re practically invisible.

Lamb’s Pride Worsted is a dream to knit with. It is definitely on the hairy side because of the mohair content, but it washes up well and is deliciously soft. I had a bit of a panic near the end because I thought I might run out of the main colour. As it was, I had the tiniest amount left over, but it was a close thing. If you’re of a nervous disposition, I think using a yarn with a better yardage might be an option.

I knitted the largest – 12 month – size, and it’s on the large side at the moment. But making a head start on the winter knits is no bad thing. The buttons are the second lot I bought. They’re still on the large side and need squeezing through the holes, but aren’t quite so flashy. And I like the cup-shapedness of them; harder for the cardigan to wriggle undone than with flat buttons.

I’d really recommend this pattern for anyone looking for a cute baby knit. I like the pattern so much, I want to cast on for another one straight away!

It took me a long time to choose a pattern to knit for the Ravelry International Shawl Exchange. Having so many books of shawl patterns didn’t exactly help me narrow down my options and I did start and stop a couple of times with different designs that I couldn’t get into.

I did wonder at one point whether I’d ever find a pattern to knit and had visions of me knitting at midnight in an attempt to finish before the deadline Fortunately the wonderful Evelyn Clark came to my rescue again with another of her addictive patterns.

The first shawl I ever knitted (of which I don’t think there are any photos – will have to check) was her Flower Basket Shawl. That got me addicted to interested in top-down triangular shawls and they’re pretty much my go-to shawl style now whenever there is lace needed to be knit.

The Prairie Rose Lace Shawl has a slightly more involved pattern repeat which was just what I needed. Nothing complicated happening, but each row was a bit different and I never really memorised the pattern so it kept my interest.

I ended up knitting six pattern repeats. The pattern itself says four, but this makes for a much smaller shawl and I wanted to make something a bit bigger than a scarf. Because my shawl now has to travel to Australia, I decided not to carry on and knit more repeats and delay its arrival even more.

The only modification I did other than the extra repeats was to adjust the edging. The original pattern has a row of the leaves before the edging. I omitted this so that the edging is directly after a row of flowers. I personally prefer this as I think it matches the rest of the shawl’s pattern of leaves – flowers – leaves – flowers.

The yarn was delicious to knit with and blocks beautifully. It’s been in my stash for a long time waiting to be used and I think this pattern does it justice. I hope my swap partner agrees.

I managed to resist the poking urge and left the shawl overnight to dry thoroughly and then unpinned it with a flourish this morning.

I’m incredibly chuffed with how it turned out. I haven’t used such small needles for a shawl before and was excited to find out what would happen. The short answer being nothing much. It has blocked beautifully, is floaty and soft and I think the large areas of sticking stitch work well being knitted at a tighter tension without too many holes. The variegation of the yarn helps keep it interesting; something I think that Matilda could’ve done with, possibly…

Size-wise, it’s very much a shawlette, measuring just over 100cm by 55cm. Once I have helpers here I can take photos of it being worn rather than draped over the hedge! The pattern needs writing up now and charting so that will keep me busy for a while, and I still have some manly socks to finish!

Rose is a champion dribbler. The boys were dribbly in their own way, but she really takes drool to a whole new level. I wanted a more elegant solution than tying a muslin around her neck, but after a brief search on Ravelry, all the bibs tended to be huge squares of knitting, which I didn’t really want. Much like the fabric bibs available in the shops, when even the smallest, plainest ones look like she’s preparing for a three course dinner. So necessity being the mother of invention, I designed my own.

It’s just a simple triangle worked from the bottom up until it was wide enough, and an i-cord fastening. It’s the perfect size to mop up dribbles and being cotton should be splendidly absorbent. Ideally, I would have used dishcloth cotton if I’d had any to hand.

It was a majorly quick knit, so I plan to churn out a couple more with other cotton oddments I have, so that she’s a stylish baby without a wet patch around her neck.

This was a quick-ish project finished just before we went away and modelled “in action”. I wanted another sun hat for Rose alongside the Miss Dashwood I made last year, because one hat is obviously never enough!

The style is similar to Miss D, but with a lacy brim. It was a really nice pattern to knit. I followed it as written, but decreased down to three stitches at the top of the crown and then worked i-cord for a couple of inches to make a wee stem so that it looks a bit like the hat that Victoria Plum wore (showing my age with an obscure 1980s reference!).

The yarn has been in my stash for yonks. I bought twelve balls of it for a cotton cardigan that never materialised. It’s nice to knit with: pretty soft and a cost-effective sub for pricier worsted-weight cottons. Not sure why I thought I would ever wear an entire garment in such a cheery green, though, but it might do for something for Rose instead. Although she is already beginning to express a preference for red. The purple brainwashing clearly needs to be stepped up a notch.

My sister loves pugs, the real live, barking, squishy-faced sort. As she doesn’t have the room for a real one, I thought I’d make one for her instead. And this one has the advantage of needing no food and being fully housetrained to boot.

I confess don’t like knitting toys particularly. I like the idea of them more than the actual knitting of tiny pieces and stuffing and trying to get the face right, so the fact I finished this and enjoyed it is down to the brilliant pattern. It’s written in a very simple way with lots of photographs to show the placement of all appendages and I actually really enjoyed making him. Which is a good thing as I have two or three more of Rebecca’s patterns now as well. I think Rose needs a mum and baby monster duo, no?

Wasabi has pipe cleaners in his tail and ears so that he as a tiny curled pug tail like so:

and ears that can baroo? like a real dog’s, if he’s so inclined:

The pipecleaners, nose and eyes all came from Craftbits who have great service and I recommend them for all your pug-making requirements.

Both yarns were held double throughout to make a large-ish pug on biggish needles. I had the brown yarn in my stash, and splashed out on the extra fine merino because it was the perfect colour to match and has a nice sheen to it, a bit like a short and silky dog coat. If it was a baby toy, then I’d have just bought acrylic which can cope with drool. Though my sister may drool on Wasabi, I guess, if teh cuteness overtakes her.

After the high concentration needed for my last project, I felt like knitting something quick that didn’t involve anything too complicated.:-) I’ve been planning to knit this shrug for a while. I saw the previews for the Interweave Weekend magazine and just fell in love with it. It’s possibly one of the girliest things I’ve knitted for Rose so far!

The pattern is very simple, just a top-down raglan with no front, just the back and sleeves. The little cable detail is cute and very easy to do without a cable needle and I actually managed to get the whole back done in one evening and then spent days finishing the sleeves and edging.

If I’d bothered to read other people’s notes on Ravelry, I’d have seen that the yarn quantities for the pattern are highly over-estimated. I bought three balls of Rowan Pure Wool DK (from Lana Pura, who always give great service and free delivery which isn’t to be sniffed at) and used barely half of the second. I wonder if this is a cunning ploy to get me to increase my stash. But the leftovers will make a lovely hat next winter, so I’m not too grumpy.

Now this is done, the world is my oyster again and I just need to decide what on earth to knit first!