WIP Wednesday #33

I've mentioned these in other posts but not really explained them.

I bought this book with a Christmas voucher from one of the children in my class. There are LOADS of scrummy baby patterns in there that I've ear marked for making this year (and a few I've palmed off on my mum)

 

 

This was one of my favourites. It's a pretty simple pattern that is just stocking stitch but it looks so scrummy and cuddly.

I decided to use the Sirdar Snuggly DK I've used before for baby blankets (having been stung by using Tiny tots that was listed as a baby yarn but was horrid). I'd hoped to make it in cream but there wasnt the stock available so I'm using Pearly Green (304)

And this is the progress so far.

Slow basically.

But I'm also working on this:

It's a plain basket stitch blanket made from Stylecraft Baby DK in Baby Cream (1245).

I'm hoping to whip it up pretty quickly to be used as a pram blanket. I've made it a little wider than those I've made in the past and will just make it as long as the 200g ball will allow me.


That's it for now. But you know, like I say, this ISNT going to turn into a baby blog. Honest. Any other projects I'm half way thro have taken a MASSIVE back seat tho.

Thanks for popping by but dont forget to pop over to Tamis, Ginny's and Kristine's to see what other fab things everyone is whipping up.

Have a good week. I'll be posting my 5th Week of Happy tomorrow so please drop by.
Nicky
x

 

 

FO Friday.

I actually have 2 FOs. One from this week and one from a while back but I never got it photographed and blogged so I might save that one for another day.

You might remember that in the dim and distant past I started on a Wingspan. You can find it here with the yarn info (luckily as I've now lost the band :( ).

Well, I finally got it finished. Purely because I needed the needle it was on to start another project. (wouldn't that stop startitis??? if you only had one set of needles for everything you knitted??? you'd HAVE to finish each project before you started another one....... if only!)

And this is the result.

The bottom 2 show the actually colours more accurately but I included the top one too as it's a brighter picture.

I'm really quite pleased with it. I think I mentioned this before but I'm considering frogging the socks I started EVEN LONGER ago and making a red one too.
You know what, I've just looked, I havent blogged about the socks, and therefore not worked on them, since JUNE 2011!!!! they need to be frogged! I dont really fancy knitting socks anyway and am FAR more likely to use a scarf than socks....... I see their fate is sealed! Bye bye socks.

Pop over to Tamis to see lots of other lovely yarny FOs. And pop back here next Friday as I'll try to post about my other FO and I might have even finished my Elephant (all the knitting is done, it's just the stitching together that needs to be done now, eugh isnt that BORING???)

Have a fab weekend everyone.
Nicky
xxx

52 Weeks of Happy 4/52

Lots has made me happy this week.

1) Not the snow so much as it took me over 4 hours to do the 15 miles home from work on Friday. (I had to do a huge detour to avoid some of the insane hills round here as cars werent getting up or down them. I have never been on such a stressful or scary journey in my life. I will NEVER do it again.) Or even playing in it as my hubby has me under you're-pregnant-dont-even-think-of-going-out-and-slipping-over house arrest. But the views from my bedroom window have been fantastic.

2) Starting some knitting projects for my baby. I've loved making things for friends' babies but this is different. I dont want this to turn into a baby blog but I'm sure you know that babies and pregnancy take up your EVERY thought and action. I'm working on a simple blanket I can use in the buggy or car seat and a 'Hooded Carrying Bag' from The Ultimate Book of Baby Knits by Debbie Bliss.

3) A Christmas present that got sent back for a different size arrived this week. You have to watch Big Bang Theory to know what Bazinga! is but by chance hubby bought this for me and I bought him a matching tshirt. I love it and it hides my big fat pregnant tummy!

4) My new boiler! It has taken over a week and resulted in a few nights at my mum's and dust EVERYWHERE. But we now have a fully installed and working brand new boiler. My house is the lovely cosy sanctuary it used to be again and trust me, in this weather I couldnt be happier!

In other news, hubby got home from Hong Kong on Friday, just before the AWFUL snow fall :)
And a good friend of our has given us a load of baby stuff she's finished with including a gorgeous moses basket and Baby Bjorn (have you seen how expensive they are new?!?!?!)

So all in all, a very good Week Of Happy :)

I hope you've all had a happy week too
Nicky
x

52 Weeks of Happy 3/52

My hubby is still away so this week has been a bit of a struggle. Pathetic I know but I hate it when he's away. He's been gone a fortnight now but he's back tomorrow!!! :)

Despite that, here are my 4 happy moments of the week. There have been some, honest. It's not all doom and gloom.

1) This order arrived from Deramores at the weekend. I CAN NOT wait to get started on a massive granny blanket with it. I'm thinking something along the lines of Lucy's Big Blanket over at Attic24.
Hmmmm. Time will tell. I need to prioritise.

2) I am half way to being a mummy today! Yep, I'm 20 weeks pregnant. This was our 12 week scan.

3) It was my birthday yesterday. A subdued affair due to number 2 but some lovely pressies and cards. These arrived from my hubby who is currrently away on business in Hong Kong.

4) My elephant.
It's NEARLY there. There are so many seams to sew (and boy they are fiddly).

52 Weeks of Happy 2/52

This week has seen some changes round here.
I started back at work yesterday and my hubby is in Hong Kong again on business. :(

But I seem to have nearly failed at just the second Week of Happy.
Rubbish.

I have completely failed to take any photos at all during the week and have just had to rush round talking these photos in rubbish light. I think I need to charge up my little digital compact and carry that around with me all the time instead of relying on the SLR that is just completly impractical for everyday lugging about.

I can TELL you about 4 things that have made me happy but I dont have 4 photos. FAIL!!!

1. Lovely friends offering to cook me dinner while my hubby is away so that I dont have to eat these all week:

2. Clearing out the spare room.
(yes, that is a dinosaur eating a Stormtrooper)

3. Treating myself to a haircut, eyebrow wax and getting the car cleaned (it's the little things)
(I dont have a photo of this, but really, do you need to see any of these???)


4. This gorgeous little earring stand was made by my dad's best bud. A bespoke piece made specially for me. I LOVE it.

(I'm also a little happier with my photos thanks to Jacquie's post. Still a long way to go tho!)

I hope you have all had 4 moment of happy this week
Nicky
xxx

FO Friday

ok ok ok, I finished these too late for Christmas but they are a FO nonetheless and as my FO posts are so rare I wanted to include them somewhere. They took a lot of time and I'm quite proud of them so here they are........

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are just simple shapes cut out of felt using my Lakeland cookie cutters as templates with buttons and ribbon sewn on them then sewn together using blanket stitch and stuffed with polyester toy stuffing. Simple but effective I think.

 

I made 4 of the larger hearts and 2 of the smaller ones and 2 more Christmas trees to add to the collection I made last year (or perhaps the year before?!?!) If you look closely to the picture above you can just make out the 6 hearts (last year's are hanging on some twigs elsewhere) and the 3 trees. There are also 2 gingerbread people and a snowman from last year and a gorgeous little elf that my colleague gave me for Christmas and a crocheted santa that I got as my Secret Santa present at work this year. Lots of lovely handcrafted goodness on the Christmas tree in the Norman household. :)


Dont forget to pop over to Tami's to catch up with some other (maybe slightly more relevant to January) FOs.

52 Weeks of Happy- 1/52

Wow. Aren't I posting a lot at the moment??? Can you tell that it's still the school holidays and I'm not back at work yet???

I am loving having unlimited blogging time (I say unlimited, I'm kidding myself. I have SO much to do before the new term starts, I have lessons to plan, a whole term of Guide meetings to organise, Guide accounts to sort out, blah blah blah :(  but where would the fun be in that??? so here I am :) )

I've done a lot of surfing round blogs and it's that time of year when everyone is starting new threads and there have been a few that have caught my eye. I've been following Jacquie at Bunny Mummy's blog for a while. I love her bright photography (that is really something i need to work on this year) and her colourful crochet. She posted on Thursday about a post she'd read over at Jen's blog Little Birdie  about her idea of 52 Weeks of Happy. And then I saw this post on Yarn Round Hook who also produces some pretty incredible crochet and whose Christmas star design I took into school just before Christmas. It kept the children quiet for ages. I owe her BIG time!

So here is the idea (cribbed slightly from Little Birdie's explanation) Every Tuesday you post 4 things from the previous week that have made you happy. Simple.

I know it's not Tuesday but I dont want to start on week 2. So here are my 4 things from this week:

 

 

 

 

 

1) My Christmas tree and my handmade decorations. I'm enjoying them for as long as I can!

2) Lovely daffodils that my mum bought me yesterday. Makes me feel that Spring is on its way!

3) My fingernails. Ok, I know this sounds crazy but I hate it when my nails are all short and broken. They are lovely and long at the moment and I love them. (It wont last!)

4) My delivery of baby yarn and knitting books. I can't wait to get going with it when I've finished my elephant. (you can see more about that here and here)

So that's it. Next week it will be shorter and even more simple. Promise.

Enjoy your week and I hope you find some simple happiness along the way.
Nicky x

13 for '13

In cruising around some of the WIP posts from the various linky parties I hooked up with on Wednesday, I stumbled across this blog and more specifically, this post. Now obviously you're going to pop over and read it but to save you going now I can tell you that it links to this Ravelry group called 13 13's in 2013.

I quote:
'What is 13 13’s by 2013?
13 13’s in 2013 is a group for people who like to use up their stash, organize their projects and yarn and love to do the 13 different items/challenges 13 times.'

(at the bottom of the Ravelry page it says this: 'Please make one thread for your 13 13’s in 2013 that you update as you need to.' Can anyone explain what this means..... one thread....? Does it just mean a label???  ETA: I've just worked out what this means, it means at the bottom of the group page on Ravelry, you start your own thread. Genius.)


And I quite liked the idea of this. Well, I like the idea of 13 things in 2013, not 13 of each of them SO much, as I struggle to finish 1 of most things so I think it needs some careful consideration before committing forever for all to see in blogland.

But I joined the group anyway and I started thinking...............

If you read my last post you'll see that I'm making an elephant so maybe 13 stuffed animals??
I'd quite like to set myself the target of actually reading 13 books this year. I get the impression I'm going to have a lot of sleepless nights ahead of me and I find that reading from the Kindle app on my phone or iPad helps me get back to sleep so maybe 13 books???
13 items of baby clothing???
13 nights of undisturbed sleep would be nice ;)

mmmmmm

so many options.

And then I came across this blog and this post which talks about loving your library of craft books and patterns and making 13 things from them in 2013. I figured that as I'd just bought 3 new knitting books I really should try this challenge too. Somehow, after a little more clicking (you know when you have too many tabs open and you just keep clicking on links and then you can't remember how you got there in the first place?!?!? yep??? that was me!) I found this group on Ravelry which also talks about making 13 projects from 13 books. So I joined that too!

I thought this would be an easier challenge than the first, but that also it could be PART of the first! :) GENIUS!

So so far I reckon I have:

1. 13 knitted stuffed toys
2. 13 books read
3. 13 knitted items of baby clothing
4. 13 projects from 13 books
5. 13 more stockings for my advent garland (I need to make another 17 so 13 will do for now)

hmmmmm I think I need to go away and think some more. I'm not being lazy, I just want to be realistic and actually achieve the goals I've set myself. It's going to be a busy year so there's no point setting myself targets that are just going to depress me everytime I remember how far away from achieving them I am.


If any of you are still reading, thank you for bearing with me in a rather rambling pictureless post. You are FAB!

New Year, New Knitting, New News

Welcome to 2013. Happy New Year!!!!

Did you all have crazy parties and late nights? Ours was a rather sober affair mainly because.........


I'm 17 weeks pregnant!!!!

So my biggest WIP project for the year involves baking a baby.
(no it's not twins, we just dont know what it is so I thought I'd have a pink one and a blue one)

It's our first so we're starting from scratch. We have nothing and very little space for a baby so the Christmas holidays have involved attempting to clear out the spare room (who knew I had so much yarn!), buying a 'travel system' (Apparently they aren't called buggies or pushchairs anymore) and generally a lot of taking it easy and moaning about all my aches and pains.

So that's what all those knitting books were about. I figured it was time I stopped with my pointless xmas knitting and started making something I would actually use or need. I've been through the books and picked out a few things I fancy. It's quite exciting to think that I'm finally knitting something for my own baby not someone else's. 

I ordered a tonne of baby wool from Deramores yesterday (they have 15% off baby yarn until the 4th!!) and when the wool arrives I'll post about my plans for it but in the mean time I've started on this.........

 

 

 

I started on it last night - I told you it was a sober affair. We went to good friends of ours and just chilled out in front of the telly. Don't you just love those friends whose house you can turn up at with your knitting and they wont be offended!

I've got this far.......

It's a front and back, a base and 2 hind legs - of course ;) - and I'm just starting on a fore leg. I can't wait to get this little beastie finished and ready for our baby.


And of course, this will come in handy at some point too. You can read more about it here

That's it for now, UP is on tv and I've never seen it so I'm trying to take it in a blog at the same time - I'm not a great multi tasker.

I'm hooking up with the usual Wednesday link parties (tomorrow when they go live) so pop over to Tami's , Kristine's, Ginny's or Sue's . I have some FO's to post about on Friday so please pop back at the end of the week and if the wool arrives sooner than that I'll update you on my baby knitting plans.

Happy New Year lovely peeps. xxx