Alice Jean

Thank you so much Lyndsay-Jane for sending me a lovely package! It is obvious you did put a lot of thought in it and did some research. This yarn, these colours. Aren't they beautiful! Two hanks of Blue Sky dyed cotton and one Manos del Uruguay. Soft, so soft! A knitter can never have too much bags. This one is gorgeous and already in use. Along with it a tin of Knitters Little Helper hand balm. Very useful. My favourite coffee: Cafedirect Machu Picchu Peru. Came with a instructions to make cold brewed coffee. I'll try that soon. Two Yarn Forward magazines. No, I don't have them already! The Bobbi Bear pattern is so cute! And here the group shot Thanks again, you have been a brilliant partner.

A few things in life I love are coffee, yarn and swaps. So the Caffeine Swap is my thing for sure! This morning I received my parcel from Vicky and she outdid herself! I love everything in it. The presentation was perfect The colours are just lovely and the yarn - Handmaiden Silk Cashmere Amethyst - is so soft, I keep petting it. Helping hands... More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. I've already seen some amazing patterns. The 'Silvestri' mug is gorgeous, I love that bird! You're also looking at Counter Culture Dolok Sanggul Sumatra coffee, Choice Earl Grey with lavender blossoms and Trader Joe's Espresso chocolates. And here the whole thing together. I feel truly spoiled. Vicky, thanks so much!

Easy download here . Lizzie’s Babyborn Soaker . Fits a Babyborn doll of 43 cm. Materials needed 30 gram Blue Faced Leicester Aran weight 167 metre/100 grams Circular needle 4.5mm/ 40 cm For the legs: 4 DPN’s/ 4.5mm or circular needle 4.5 mm) 60 mm (or more) if you’re planning magic loop. Stitch marker Darning needle Optional: stitch holder Explanation slip slip knit Slip one stitch, then slip the next. Insert left needle into the front loops of the slipped stitches and knit them together from this position (through the back loops). Knitting the soaker Cast on 52 stitches. Place marker as beginning of round. First round: Knit 2, Purl 2 Repeat this the next 6 rounds Next round: Knit all stitches for one round. Working short row Knit 10, turn, Slip 1 Purl 19, turn Slip 1, Knit 18, Slip next stitch to right needle, p...

In the mail this week a lovely set of stitch markers. Ladybirds, so well chosen. Thanks so much Lieke , in the mean time I managed to take them out of the dolls house and to put them in my knitting bag. And because I am one of the participants in the Vintage Socks swap it occurred to me it could be a benefit to order the book . And I am glad I did, it is full of beautiful sock patterns. I also tried out to dye with Indigo. Before I believed it was a very difficult dye to use, now I know better. Dyeing with Indigo is pretty easy to do and a bit magical. In the vat the wool (and dye) are a greenish yellow, the horrid shade of this colour. As soon as the wool comes out of the vat and is exposed to the air, the colour changes into blue. The large skein is a Scottish Highland pure new wool, the smaller skein is 75% BFL/ 25% nylon.

If you find anything in this pattern that needs clarification or is incorrect, please don't hesitate to let me know! Lyonesse , semi cabled socks, aka faux cabled socks. The idea of the pattern is not mine, I found this stitch in The New Knitting Stitches Library by Lesley Stanfield. The only thing I did was 'building' a sock around it. These socks are worked toe up on a circular needle, the ‘magic loop’ technique. Directions are written for one sock. Materials 1 circular needle 2.5 mm, 60 cm. If you are planning two socks at the same time you should use a needle of 100 cm at least. 100 gram sock yarn. I used 100% Blue Faced sock wool (tension/ gauge about 28 stitches), but any fingering weight sock yarn would be fine. Tapestry needle. Abbreviations K = Knit P = Purl YO = Yarn Over SSK = Slip 1 stitch knitwise, slip 1 stitch purlwise, knit these 2 stitches together K2Tog = Knit 2 stitches together P2Tog = Purl 2 stitches together Sl = Slip stitch W = Wrap stitch Toe Cast o...

Okay, I knew from the start the socks would not be very original when I decided to use a stitch pattern I found in the New Library of Knitting stitches (by Lesley Stanfield). I thought it would be fun to write down every time what I had done while knitting the socks (I did them both at the same time on one circular) and to publish the pattern when they were finished. It took me some time, I started knitting them somewhere in August and only yesterday they were finished. Not that I am a slow knitter, but I had to work on more projects. When I was not half way with these socks, I saw a post on her blog, picturing a pair of 'Snake River' socks which were very alike! Unfortunately the link to the pattern did not work at the time, so I was not sure it was exactly the same. I decided just to proceed, working out the pattern while knitting the socks. Today I have tried the link again and yes, it worked. And yes again, the same pattern was used. It does not state where the pattern c...

I assumed the Beatrix socks would be easy to knit on the go as there is only a pattern in the back of the leg. Not entirely true. The pattern is not hard to follow, but is worked over 29 stitches, without any obvious repeating. So I had to pay attention to my knitting while doing the pattern, not always easy with a demanding toddler and two teens around. But the result is still neat. The used yarn is ' September ' of Fyberspates , 50% merino and 50% tencel. Needle size 2.5 mm. And these sock are also made during the holiday with leftover BFL sock yarn. Little Victorian Lace socks.

We live in a rural village. There is not much to do, sometimes the local news bulletin mentions a crime committed, things as set fire to a 'for sale' sign, troublesome people removed from the cricket field etc. The bus is running only once in an hour, no service after 6 pm and on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Of course there is no superstore, but we do have a nice few local shops. One of them is the charity shop. Doortje loves it for the toys, I like it to browse for books. Today was our lucky day. Maybe you remember how she took the ladybug-beads from a earlier post . Now she has found herself a bag full of those insects. This does not mean I got back the beads. She is very happy with her new treasure and told everyone she has 'some more ladybugs'. They live happily together in her dolls house. And I found another knitted toys book! These pictures will give a good impression: Now I need to find some time to knit some of those cute toys. Maybe instead of blogging about kni...

Darcy is a very good friend of mine. Although we have never met each other in real life and there is a lot of distance between us (she is in California, I am in the Northwest of England), she feels like a sister to me. We email a lot, almost every day, about all kind of things. Because she is recovering now from some major surgeries, I felt I had to make her something. She told me once she loves greens and Elfine , so it was not difficult to decide what it would be. The wool I used is 75% BFL/25% nylon superwash sock wool, kettle dyed by myself. It was the first time I knitted with this wool. It is very soft, has however a slightly tendency of splitting.

Knitting socks for a little 3 year old girl is not very easy. I don't mean the pattern is complicated and the girl is very happy she will have a pair of hand knitted socks soon. The thing is that she insists to try them on after every 3 rows or so. And she likes the feel of the socks in progress, so she doesn't want to take them off immediately. Actually it is best to knit socks for her when she is not around. But I managed to finish them. The fit is a bit tight in due of the lace and bobble technique. It is good to know only one hank of 100 gram Opal is enough for a pair of woman socks size 5 (EU 38) and a pair of toddler socks size 7 (EU 24). What my next project will be? Recently I have joined three knit-a-long groups. Yes, call me crazy. The only thing I did so far is print out the patterns of what I should do this time. I started on Mystery Stole-3 . Every blog reader knows there is much ado about this. I don't know if I will end this project. I'm not a scarf pers...

Also a gift for a new born baby, together with a bar of organic baby soap. With fabric paint baby's name is written on the other side of the mitten. Easy to knit, all in the round, with two threads together of DK weight cotton. This is how: Cast on 48 stitches, (or a multiple of six) leaving a long tail on a 30 cm 4 mm circular needle. Knit in the round 2 rows garter stitch. Place stitch marker between the first and last stitch. Then start the pattern: row 1: * k3, p1, k1, p1 * repeat from * row 2: * k3, p3 * repeat from * row 3: * k3, p1, k1, p1 * repeat from * row 4: knit all stitches row 5: * p1, k1, p1, k3 * repeat from * row 6: * p3, k3 * repeat from * row 7: * p1, k1, p1, k3 * repeat from * row 8: knit all stitches Repeat these 8 rows until the desired length. Graft stitches together. Strap at bottom: crochet 10 stitches and fasten of the end of yarn. And two more mice will leave this home soon ;-).

The cat is a cuddling toy, only the head is stuffed. I made this as a birth present, but as I am terribly behind with making those, the baby is almost a toddler :). The mouse is for her big brother. I have browsed Internet for a good pattern, but could not find one. In the end I decided it would save me time to start knitting and designing the pattern myself meanwhile. So I started well, wrote down what I did after almost every row. When the body was knitted I was not content with it, it was too big for my purpose and the knitting itself was too loose and therefor ugly. I used needle size 4 mm, as recommended at the label of the yarn. I frogged the whole thing and started again with needle size 3 mm. And forgot to write down anything while knitting. I did afterwards and I hope it will make any sense. I am absolute rubbish in following patterns myself. I have tried to put it down as clear as it can be, but I will fully understand if you don't catch it :). Please feel free to let me ...