FO: Rainbow socks & baby hats

Finally, here are my lovely rainbow socks, knit with yarn from Natalie at the Yarnyard. They are just ordinary, plain jane top-down socks. I knit them quite short in the leg because I like them that way (and in the hope I might make my skein stretch to two pairs). Given the loveliness of the yarn I didnt think I needed to choose a fancy pattern. I love the mini rainbows that appeared magically underneath each heel.

I've also been busy in a frenzy of baby knitting. So frenzied that I sent two items without taking any photographs. One was a pair of 'tranquil' bootees from the Rowan babies book, sent to Australia to celebrate the birth of Charlotte. Congratulations to mum and dad, Angela and Damien. The other item was a small hat destined for baby Elizabeth, born on Good Friday, to Susan and Simon. Mum Susan deserves an extra special congratulatory mention for managing to avoid a c-section by persuading her midwives to let her have one last push. Well done you.

Inspired by the smallness and quickness of those items, I motored on with a couple more baby hats for my gift stash. We know of at least 3 more babies due this year to friends (and countless others to work colleagues and friends of friends). Another hat is on the needles.


This is just a made up baby beanie pattern, which can be knit flat or in the round. The stripey version was made following grumperina's instructions for stripey socks, and worked fabulously as a means of using up some oddments from my stash of baby 4 ply. I started with three colours - green, white and very pale green (it's very, very pale). Just as I got to the shaping for the top, the very pale green ran out, which is why the stripes change here.

accepting the challenge

There are more FOs to blog, but today is about something rather more serious. Before Easter, I was at a conference in Belfast. One of the keynote speakers was Jonathan Porritt. He was an engaging speaker, and someone I have set a lot of store by over the years. The main thrust of his message was this - the implication of the recent IPCC (inter governmental panel on climate change) report is this: in order to limit climate change to a rise of 2 degrees celsius, we need to shift to a low-carbon economy within 15 years or so. You'd have to be quite old for that timescale to seem beyond your years. 15 years is soon. Really soon.

I've been reflecting on Jonathan Porritt's words since then. What does a low-carbon economy look like? What can I do in my personal and professional life to help bring it about? Can I shift my life to a low carbon existence?

Leaving aside my professional contribution, I am thinking about the other choices I make. Knitting and crafting can fit well into a low-carbon life, as they offer the opportunity to make bespoke garments (more likely to be used, looked after and given a long-life), to mend and repair existing garments/items; to recycle and reuse yarn and fabric. There are some other choices to be made for a low-carbon world - using natural rather than synthetic fibres (wool, cotton and other animal/vegetable fibres are intrinsically low carbon compared to synthetic yarns which originate from petrochemical sources); local and organic yarns where available (local just to reduce yarn miles and organic because this system does not rely on petrochemical inputs such as inorganic fertilisers and pesticides). Oh yes, and using up the stash. I think there is a lot to be said for that - making do with what we already have. I'm sure there are other things too.

What would you add?

FO: Dolly (3-6 months)

Here she is in all her glory. Dolly (3-6 months) from Jaeger book JB29 by Martin Storey.

It's a lovely pattern, although the finishing is a bit of a faff, because the neck trim is knitted separately and has to be sewn onto the neckline... (and you have to cast on 300 stitches to start it).




No mods worth mentioning. I used 2 balls of RYC cashsoft 4ply and not much to spare. It's a lovely yarn for babies because it's seriously soft and can be machine washed. As a mum myself, I know that handwash stuff is fine in theory, but really, why make things harder than they need to be when there's yarn like this available? I hope baby Bella approves. I knitted the second size rather than the first, because Bella was a well rounded 8lb 8oz when born and to she'll probably be thinking about wearing outfits (rather than just babygros) when she's big enough to wear this. [Edited to add: I hear that Bella slipped into her new cardigan on the day that it arrived! The girl obviously has a highly developed sense of style...]


I'm very pleased with the way things turned out because these were odd balls of yarn. Together they looked slightly different in colour - but knitted up you really can't tell them apart. (Dont worry I took the necessary precautions).


What's the weather like where you are? The UK is being bashed by gales at the moment - as we're on the East side it's not too bad, but in Scotland this windy weather seems to have been going on for months. When it's sunny it's good for drying the washing, but you do have to use LOTS of pegs! Today the sun is alternating with lashing rain, beating a drum on the window of the study where I'm sitting. Outside, I can see the trees in the street, whipping their bare branches in a frenzied jig.

FO: Baby Tunic

Little Kirsty should have received her tunic top by now, although I expect it'll be a little while before she wears it, as 1. She's a tiny weeny thing, only 5lb 7oz at birth and 2. it's still summer time where she lives. I hope she likes it.

The front is flowery.

The back is stripey.

It's designed to be easy to put on (wide sleeves, stretchy neck, soft rolled cuffs and collar). Previous versions have proved popular with new mums (I even made one for the bean - and put it on him often. It went to the frog pond tho' but that's another story).

There seem to be babies everywhere at the moment. Another has arrived amongst our circle of friends: Isabella Rose born Weds Feb 27th at home in a birth pool after an efficient 3 hour labour. Huge congratulations to Rachel, Gavin and big brother Thomas! I am especially pleased because Rachel was influenced by the homebirth experience I had with the bean (see here for his birth story) and she did it herself with some style. 3 hours?! Way to go girl!

And in blogland, everyone's at it: Woolly Wormhead, Mind of Winter, Stash, Knit, Repeat (and I could go on...)

Anyway, not wanting to waste a minute, I parcelled up some super cute booties which I knit in 2006 and cast on the Dolly cardigan from Jaeger Handknits book JB29. It's sooooo pretty, and almost finished, so another FO is about to be born.

Wagon? What wagon?

Yesterday I took the bean to Handknit to see what was left of this fine shop before it closes down. It's still got lovely yarn and lovely pattern books & magazines. Just not very many.

I bought this:

oh, and some yarn. Yes, I know I know I was supposed to be on a yarn diet... well rules is made to be broken, and it's not every week that your localest yarn shop closes down!

the stash was enhanced by a moderate 7 balls of miscellaneous 4 ply mostly destined to become baby sweaters and tanks. I think almost half of the people we know are expecting babies this year, and the other half had babies last year, so there is great capacity for baby knitting.

I'm making progress with Kirsty's tunic top. As predicted there are stripes...

and the main colour is blue. It's very pale blue, and I've knitted some petals to go on the front to make it girly. Both lots of yarn came from charity shops and are 4 ply of unknown (synthetic) origin. The multi-coloured yarn was 25p and has thus far yielded at least one baby hat and stripes for another tunic top. It cant go on much longer!

As usual I've dispensed with as much sewing as possible with this project. The shoulder seams were done with a 3 needle cast off, and I have just picked up the stiches for the arms and am knitting down to the cuff. I've just got to finish the second sleeve (almost at the cuff now) and then can steam, seam and finish.

FO: Hipknits Socks

Yesterday I finished my second pair of socks. Knitted with yarn from Hipknits I adapted the Opal pattern I used for the Christmas socks with lots of k2 p2 rib. They fit better than the Christmas socks and they look soooo much nicer.

I like them a lot. I can see sock knitting becoming a theme this year. On Friday I took the socks to work and knitted through my lunch break (whilst reading The Ecologist. If you're going to multi-task it might as well be worthwhile). For the first time I appreciated the smallness of sock dpns and the fact that I could slip them into my bag without having to make room or risk skewering myself on stray needle tips.

Today I finished the Bob tank I have been knitting for the bean. I finished it a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't got round to sewing up and finishing off. I'm not wild about it - the neck gapes slightly and it looks as though I forgot to use the correct needles for the neck and arm bands. I dont think I did, but you know what it's like when you've got a sock thing going on - other knitting is just a distraction while you think about socks, socks, socks.... Hmmmm, do I seem obsessed to you?

As soon as I finished with the tank top I cast on for a new baby sweater. It's for little Kirsty who arrived in the world on Burn's Night - welcome to you! (And congratulations to mum and dad, Fiona & Jason). I'm making a new variation on my tried and tested baby tunic which I have knit several (million) times and always seems to go down well. I did make one for the bean, but the yarn I used for neck, cuffs and stripes felted in the wash and - in the end - made it impossible to get said garment over the bean's head. I frogged the usable yarn and will reincarnate this into something else in due course. Kirsty's will probably feature some stripes too (I love stripey things). Watch this space.

FO: Christmas socks (again)

Here are the christmas socks in all their glory.


They are a bit slouchy, but I guess that's one of the wonderful things about sock knitting - you can custom fit. I'm already planning some modifications with the next pair. However, given the rules for knitting in 2008, this could be some way off. After finishing the peg bag the other day, I did allow myself to cast on a small project for the bean (Bob tank top from Rowan babies). I'm knitting it plain as I have some cream coloured cotton yarn in my stash, and 2008 knitting rules mean No New Yarn.

I'm not one of those knitters that can only have one thing on the go - I need some choice! So, I'm trying to limit myself, and the Bob tank plus amendments to my husband's Celt (Rowan magazine no.??) are the current contenders. I'm just making the arms of the Celt a bit longer - he said it was perfect and then asked for longer sleeves. I've done one already, but the charcoal yarn is hard to work with in the evenings, so I need afternoon light to get the other sleeve started. I have got two other WIPs: both cardigans for me, and despite being 90% finished with one of these projects I have decided to frog it and start again with a different pattern. This will be the second time I have frogged this particular yarn... perhaps that's something I need to think about.

Talking of the yarn diet. I did sooooooooooooooo well the other day - I am both proud and sad that I managed to resist. Hanks and hanks of Noro, half price.... it did take me about 10 minutes to decide not to buy it. I am still torn. (sigh).