Hi,

Here I am again - at last!!   It seems time is running away, and so much blogging time is spent knitting!!

First things first, I completed the projects I blogged about last time, the Springtime Bandit Shawl and Leo's Christmas Sweater. 

Here they are are:-

This pattern is free on Ravelry and is really quite an easy knit.  I would recommend anyone to have a go, even beginner-knitters.  Here is another picture of the shawl being worn 'bandit-style':-

  Now to Leo's Christmas Sweater, which he incidentally never wore at Christmas:-

Leo is now 8 months old and a real cutie-pie, as you can see.  The pattern was Sirdar 1681- another easy pleasing knit.  I am now in the process of making him a hat to match, as I still have some yarn left over. This will of course appear on this blog when I have finished it.

Now to my work(s) in progress:-

First:-

Litchfield Mittens + Hat (Twistcollective)
These are being knitted from a lovely yarn purchased from an indie dyer called Sheena’s Etsy shop. I appears to be kettle-dyed and is very soft because of it Alpaca constituent. The colour is to die for. I am planning to make the hat as well, as I am rather pleased with how the first mitt has turned out…
At one point the pattern asks you to do a few short rows around the thumb gusset, but as I wasn’t quite sure how to do these, I just left them out - I don’t think it was to the detriment of the mitten, and it looks just as good without!

and then:-

Bitty Boy Bump

I was inspired to knit this pattern by Paula of the Knittingpipeline podcast. She used superbulky yarn, so I thought it would be a fast knit, which it is. I never thought I would ever use acrylic yarn, however, I am pleasantly surprised at the consistency of Hayfield Bonus Chunky. It feels lovely and soft and doesn’t have the nasty sheen and sqeakiness that we are so used to from acrylic yarn. As there was no suitable superbulky yarn to be found at Hobbycraft, I am using two strands of the Hayfield held together. The whole cardi is knit in one piece with no seaming and was nearly finished in one evening - however, I hit upon a problem when I came to the sleeves. The pattern asks you to use size 10mm DPNs for the sleeves, and I ask you, who possess such a thing? Are they even made? In the end I used the biggest size I had - size 6 and kitted loosely - and I think it is working out ok.

I am also working on several other bits and pieces, but I think I will blog about those when they are nearer completion.

The next thing to start will be the Damask KAL, hosted by Martine from the IMAKE podcast.  There is a thread for this on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/imake-podcast/1986105/1-25.

Am all set now. Pattern purchased and printed off, as well as Chloe’s Top Ten Tips (http://sparklyshoesarefaster.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/damask-kal/) . A bit scared though, as this looks by far to be the most complicated pattern I have ever attempted. The yarn I will be using - a precious skein of Wollmeise - has been waiting in my stash for over a year for a very special project, and I think this is it !!!