Daygown pattern

I got this in the mail today, it was a recent ebay purchase. I just love old fashioned baby clothes and saw this and couldn't resist.  (the photo is not clear but you will get the idea).

I love that on the pattern it has a lovely scripted writing, so old fashioned. The date on the front of the pattern says copyright 1980.  it feels older to me than that, but then I grew up in the 80s and they still feel like yesterday so I am not going to count how many years ago it really was LOL!!

So i will not cut out this page but will trace it onto some butcher paper.  I am looking forward to having a play with this and have some material that will be perfect.
I have been asked to put some smocked dresses etc into a local art show that is being held as a fund raising exercise. items are for sale and the committee are only asking for a 5% comission which is more than reasonable, so maybe i can whip up one or two of these and put them in along with a bishop or two and a couple of smocked dresses that I already have. I have also cut out a christening gown to enter, we will see how much of my planning will actually happen!

Just before I go i want to share with you the chocolate birthday cake my youngest son made for me last week. He made it from scratch with no help from me, only a quick conference with his brother on one or two things.  It turned out very well and was very yummy!

finishes...

Wow, two finishes in as many days. Gloves are done, I finished them yesterday and wore them to work today. very soft and lovely and warm. Here they are modelled by my eldest; for the barest minimum time possible before they were pulled off!LOL!!

I am really happy with them. I wear them bunched down near my wrists more. They just look colourful and the stripes don't really matter.
I have sat tonight after dinner and made up the two redwork panels into a simple bag. The whole point of doing this was to point people's attention to this fabric in the shop, and I think this will achieve that.  It is a good way of showing people what they can do with these fairly plain panels.

I did not choose the fabric, I would have gone for the darker fabric as the main one (which happens to be the lining).  But other people seem determined to get me out of my "boring" use of colour so I am happy to go along with it (besides when the boss says she likes this; it is what gets done!!!). And you know, I seem to find that  coming out of my comfort zone usually does yield good results, this bag is a good example I think.  i would not have used this check fabric in a million years, and is far removed from all the florals etc that i was looking at.  It has turned out really well and I can't wait to take it into work tomorrow.

redwork

I have been working on these for a few weeks; shouldn't have taken that long really but I have been knitting in between. i finished the second panel this afternoon:

We got a bolt of fabric at my work not so long ago that has a number of printed panels on it; i think twelve pictures to a panel.  They are all vintage type ones of children playing at something or another.  So we decided to sew along the printed lines and then they will be made up into a library bag.   You can still see the lines that go around the border, they will be covered with piping (at least that is my plan). i do love piping, it is quick, easy and gives anything such a lift.
So now all i have to do is find a nice red fabric that will match. We had a bit of a quick look at work the other day and couldn't find a red that looked nice.  Like everything, not all reds are the same! I am sure we will find something that looks good. We certainly have enough fabric at work so we should come up with something. Maybe a different colour, who knows. I will have a look on thursday when I am at work next and then hopefully it will be done over the weekend.

fishy hat 2.0

So here it is, the second fish hat.

As often happens; the colour isn't quite right in the photo; the darker green is a bright more vibrant that what it would appear here.  My boss wanted an orange one so orange she got.
I can see my double pointed needle technique requires more work. The socks were the first time I had used them so I guess I still need to perfect my technique; you can see the spiral lines where I have changed from one needle to another (I read a great tip that suggests knitting the first couple of stitches from the next  needle before starting the empty needle - does that make sense?). Anyway, i have ended up with a spiral pattern on the beanie where it was too tight on my joins; I am a little annoyed as my son's hat didn't do it, and it is this one that is in the shop; and in the front window no less!  I am not sure it fits in with all the beautiful things we have in our window LOL!!  It does make me laugh to see it there.

Now I am determined to get my second fingerless glove done. I am halfway through the second one, it really does knit up quickly. And I am loving watching the colours change as the ball gets used. And so soft! It is a sock wool, called Katia Darling.  We have quite  a few yarns from Katia in the shop now.

I have some very nice acrylic that i want to make another feather and fan scarf with, but not a lacy one this time; one that is in an eight ply and hopefully wont catch on everything.  It will be more useable I hope. The alpaca one is gorgeous and I do love it but it is a little impractical.  It will be worn on special occasions.

Today I am home with my son who has a cold; not a bad one but he is home, and hopefully back at school tomorrow. it is a good opportunity for me to rest too as my dizzy spells have come back this week thanks to a nasty prank last week where a child from the high school called to tell me my son had been hit by a car; real funny prank that. He hadn't and is fine (except for his cold) but the stress of it has aggravated my Meniere's Disease.  I will be fine and feel better than i did but i think rest is the order of the day.
I believe two children have been suspended for three days over the prank that they thought was so funny they did it to nearly a dozen people.  I wonder if they would think it so funny if I gave them the medical bills I am going to have to pay as I try to get it under control again. And the lost wages as I very nearly had to leave work the other day as I couldn't stand straight for the dizziness.
Oh well, what is done is done. Now I just have to get better I guess and wait for the next episode.  being a relatively new condition for me, it is all a wait and see journey.

So today is a good day to get more of my glove done. I really do like it, I should show you how it looks; I decided not to have the stripes in the same place and just go with the wool as it came off the new ball, and I am happy with it. One glove will be more blue and the other will have more red. I can't wait to wear them, I am getting quite excited at the thought now.  And it is so very cold here so they will keep my hands nice and warm.

Perfect for the frosty days. My grandmother used to comment on how warm my hands always were; not so these last few days!! we had a heavy frost this morning, luckily some trees that we have had trouble getting established are covered. They nearly died last winter and they have just recently looked like they were going to survive so we will hopefully nurse them through this winter and they will be happier and healthier next year.
Stay warm everyone!!