Miaou

WIP being Works In Progress! I seem to have a lot of things on the go but nothing much finished at the moment.

First up is a lovely wrap cardigan, designed by Stephanie Japel. I was given the yarn as a gift and it is coming together nicely; I just have the final tie to do. However, that final tie is about 12″ wide and 45″ long! The ties go right around the body and tie at the front. It is going to need some serious blocking I think but I am pleased with how it is going.

Second up is a fab little toy elephant. The yarn was another gift in fabulous rainbow colours - I can’t wait to see how he turns out! And he is miiiiiiiine, all mine - my kids can keep their hands off! In this pic I have only made one and a half legs (!); it’s a bit further on now but I’m still only about half way through.

Next is something I am toying with; it may or may not become something I follow through! But I would like a blanket for my very own and found a lovely simple but effective crochet pattern:

And yes, I know I said I wouldn’t do any more crochet projects for a while … but I’m a sucker for punishment And just in case you are wondering how they will tesselate, I need to add a border to each one to make them into hexagons!

And finally, since starting this post and coming back to it, I have an FP (finished project) to show you! A little knitted kimono as a gift for a work colleague of my husband’s.  The colours are a bit wishy-washy but it’s all I had to hand in girl shades! It was fun to make and I hope she likes it.

I had two balls of slightly differing peach coloured yarn, and not enough of either to make the kimono, so I alternated the two shades, which gives the pale colour a little depth:

The crocheted bows were in the pattern but I used a contrasting colour and added a crocheted edging to tie it all in.

Hopefully my next post will contain some more finished items!

At last! My rainbow fish blanket is complete. I started it at the beginning of January and finished it a few days ago, so not bad going really. Here it is in all its glory:

I knitted an equal number of fish in each colour, half in a dark shade and half in lighter colours. I knew how I wanted to lay them out and spent quite a bit of time laying them out on the floor until I was happy with the arrangement. I then labelled them all (and didn’t have any sticky labels so this entailed 196 little bits of paper and 196 little bits of sellotape!!) with a column and row number, then bundled them in rows. It took me about an hour to sew a row of fish together and attach it to the row below, and there are 25 rows, so that’s quite a bit of time! However I was so excited about the finished project that I was very motivated to finish.

I then set to with a 6mm crochet hook (yes, I know what I said about crochet in my last post, but this kind of crochet I can handle!) and created a wavy edging with some turquoise yarn to suggest the sea. Four rounds of crochet later I was satisfied and handed over the finished blanket to my delighted daughter Eilish. (I have hopes that her bed might look as neat as this a little more more often, but they are not high )!

I think I am done with fish for now (there was a LOT of sewing up to do!) but it was a really enjoyable project and I can see myself making another one in the future.

The knitting has ended - 196 fish later …

Let the sewing up begin!!

Whilst I have been under the weather these last couple of months, I haven’t really felt much like doing anything. However occasionally I felt like doing a bit of simple knitting, so I picked the Fish Afghan as a project. Each fish takes about 30-40 minutes to make and the pattern was easy to memorise, so it was easy to do in little bitesize chunks. I find knitting is a great way to “zone out” and relax, so it seemed like the ideal pastime. I decided to make it in cheerful rainbow colours to lift my spirits. Here’s my first few:

Apologies for the blurry photo!

I soon discovered that, although quick and easy to make, these fish were actually quite small. Therefore I would need quite a lot in order to make a blanket big enough to cover a bed (Eilish having begged for the finished blanket). 198 of them in fact. Here’s me about two-thirds of the way through:

I have still got about 40 to make, and am just starting to get a little tired of making fish. Then of course I have to sew them all together. Argh. What have I started?? I think the end result will be worth it though.

Ah, a lot of things to share!

Firstly, a big thank you to Margy at Hmm Designs who sent me this fab turtle! I won the giveaway on her 150th post and she very kindly made me this lovely little stuffie.

Thank you Margy! The kids are very keen to have it but I’m keeping this for my very own

Next up, I have finished my stole! I hope the recipient likes it. I’m pleased with the way it has come out, and I have commissions for two more. I really enjoyed doing it - embroidery and applique are mediums I feel very comfortable with - so am looking forward to doing the next two.

And finally, my cork army has been growing … I went to my local wine bar and they very kindly gave me a bag full of corks with the promise of more in a couple of weeks! So I have been busy, look!

And finally - a confession. I was going to have a giveaway for my 100th post. Only I’ve just checked and um, I’m on post 101 now. Oops. Hopefully a giveaway will follow soon - I have an idea of what I am going to offer, just need to find the time to make it now!!

Well, there is the song, of course - that always brings a smile to my face - but here are some images that cheer me up too!

I love love love rainbow colours - the brighter the better. These pictures make my heart sing. I hope you like them too.

Giant Multi-coloured Button Necklace by Itsalovelycake

Colourful files by Marie Eve K.A.

Big-hearted Rainbow - a Beaded Suncatcher by Sneddonia

Waldorf Stars by Pictures by Ann

Rainbow Scarf by Chelly-Egg

Close-up knitting by C Gail Designs