Showing posts with label gift. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gift. Show all posts

Monday, August 8, 2016

Little Sister Baby Dress (2016 FO #4)

As I sat down to write this post, I logged into Ravelry so I could check how many FOs I've posted this year. According to Ravelry, I have only completed four things so far this year... oops! I've made a ton of stuff, big and small, and simply neglected to write about it and, in many cases, even to photograph it!

To begin the catch-up process, I'm starting with a little FO. As I wrote here, before moving I sorted out all of my yarn and projects. In theory, this should make finding yarn and knitting following moving easier. In practice, however, due to how things were packed and the order in which they were moved, in the two weeks after moving where we were sorting through boxes and deciding where to put things, I only had easy access to one of boxes - the box of 4ply. As I wrote here, I wasn't very happy with the baby blanket I knit for a blanket for a friend whose baby is due in September. So, I thought I'd take the opportunity presented to me by pure necessity and whip up a little baby something out of the Cleckheaton Merino Bambino I have had marinating in my stash for about eight years. Sometimes the universe tells you you are onto a good thing, and about 10 minutes after I decided to do this I checked my Feedly and saw a new post from Olivia at Dreaming all the Time where she talks about knitting a variety of patterns for her niece, including the Little Sisters Dress, and I was thusly inspired to cast on for one straightaway. Two weeks later, the dress was done.

       

Six weeks after that, I finally got around to sewing on the (adorable) buttons and the dress was finally ready to be photographed. 

Ravelry tells me that this pattern has been made over 5,100 times and there is not really very much I can say here that hasn't been said before. It is simple, easy and very cute. I spiralled two colours of the yarn on the body to avoid pooling and instead ended up with a funky flying saucer colour repeat. If I did it again I would omit the buttons, as they are just for effect and I am lazy (although, who doesn't love an opportunity to add itty bitty buzzy bees?). The Cleckheaton Merino Bambino is delightful to work with, as always, and I hope the baby-to-be gets lots of wear out of this adorable little garment.

One down, seven FOs to go!

Monday, April 27, 2015

Baby Gift 1: Teeny tiny booties and a hat (2015 Fos #5 & #6)

Today's post, like the things it features within it, is bite sized. I present here the perfect Tier 2 friend baby gift.

First up, Fleegle's seamless version of Saartje's famous bootie.


So cute!


Paired with a Mandie Harrington swirl hat (88 stitches, 2.75mm needles).


This hat looked alarmingly tiny when I cast off... 


..but fortunately relaxed during blocking to look of appropriately matching size with the booties.


Took about 25g of yarn (Knit One, Crochet Too left over from a Baby Surprise Jacket) and one week relaxed knitting to get done. Paired with a lovely soft Country Road cashmere blend washable baby blanket and a nice card, this is an excellent gift for a new bub on its entry to the world. (I just hope the parents-to-be think so too!)

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Merry Christmas! 2014 FO #4: I Heart Socks Socks

Last Wednesday's shocking discovery I have more than eight pairs of socks on the go at the moment shamed me into finally pulling out a darning needle and finishing the pair of socks that were 99% done.


I cast these on before Christmas so I could have easy, stress-free knitting and they were a delight to knit. They without a doubt helped through the too-many stressful situations that my December involves.


The body of the sock is in Opal Circus, with the ribbing in Opal Rainforest and the toes in Opal Petticoat left over from socks I finished in 2009. I cannot believe there are scraps of wool that I have been holding on to for five years! Possible hoarding problem? Oh well - they obviously come in useful at times.


The recipient was pretty chuffed to have a nice new pair of socks, especially since the Christmas socks I promised him didn't quite get done on time…

Six pairs of socks to go!



Friday, December 20, 2013

2013 FO #17: Advance Australia Fair socks

I can honestly not believe it is the second-last Friday in 2013. Where has the year gone? I feel like I have so much 2013 left in me to live!!


These socks were actually finished way back in July for my dad's birthday, but the man is an international traveller and I never managed to organise it so that the socks and he were in the same place in the same time. Last weekend I trapped him with the promise of editorial assistance and homemade brownies and finally managed to gift him the present that was ready to be given so long ago. 


They fit perfectly and he seemed to like them. They were knitted in Patonyle (colourway 3333) so I was happy to make them because knitting with Patonyle is a dream - it's so soft - so all in all, a massive (if very delayed) success.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

FO Friday: Little Pretty Pinky Bookmark (2012 FO#3)

One of the things I like most about being bi-craftual is having the skills and ability to make something that's suitable for almost any situation. A friend getting married? Knit her a shawl. Someone you love having a baby? How about some itty bitt shoes and mittens, or a warm, soft and cuddly blanket. A birthday for a second-tier friend? Buy them a book (Seriously. Handmade gifts are time consuming, often made from expensive materials and, in addition to the physical created object, are a gift of the time, thought and love of the creator. Don't waste those special things on someone who is not super special to you.)

Need to send an overseas friend an 'I'm thinking of you' birthday gift? A cute pretty pinky bookmark does the trick:

 
The pattern is Crochetroo's eternally popular fan bookmark with some unintended modifications. Because I am too lazy to take the four seconds it takes to google the pattern so I made it largely from memory, I forgot to attach the fans properly so they kind of flap around a bit.  I figure for a bookmark that shouldn't really matter - it'll be squashed by the pages anyway! The yarn is Twilleys of Stanford Twenty (colour way R6) which feels like plastic, so should be perfect for the functionality of this gift.

I'm pretty happy with this effort and (as an extra bonus) there's no extra postage cost for including this with my card. Win win win.