Would you believe that, apparently, it's spring here in NZ? You wouldn't be able to tell, from the abundance of rain and clouds over the last few weeks - it does not put one into a spring-type mood at all!
At least it is a long weekend, the weather is supposed to cheer up, and i'm going to Auckland to see Andre Rieu live in concert!
Here is his website if you don't know anything about him. He is a brilliant violinist and leads the Johann Strauss orchestra - if your a fan of orchestras and opera I think you will really enjoy him. He tends to do something local to wherever he tours - in New York he accompanied the Harlem Gospel Choir (his concert at Radio City Music Hall is my all-time fave!), in Australia he lead 'Waltzing Matilda' - so it will be interesting to see what he picks up from New Zealand... i'm guessing Pokarekare Ana? Whatever he chooses, I bags dancing the Blue Danube in the aisle with my Dad (my mum and I are in competition for that one!).
Anyway, enough about my plans, I have some finished knitting to show you! On with the show...
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Baby Suprise Jacket
Yay its finished! It went suprisingly quick in the end, although I found myself referring to those helpful YouTube tutorials quite a bit. I chose to do the applied iCord edging, although only down the front and along the bottom, not around the neckline. I think the starry buttons finish it off quite nicely :)
Once I got started and figured out how the stitch marking worked, this pattern was really easy - loads of garter stitch, which I loved. It was fun to give it to various people, knitters and non-knitters, to try and fold it together before sewing it up! I'll be definately making another one of these, probably in proper wool rather than cheap acrylic. This one is going to no-one in particular, just for 'my bottom drawer' as they say. Here's the [Rav link] if you want to buy the pattern and give it a go yourself. Baby Beanie
This was borne out of a need to use up one very small purple ball of pure merino that i'd picked up on sale from somewhere. I love the feature on Ravelry where you can just put in what yarn you have and it comes out with all the patterns you can make from it! This is one that came out, and it was good to test me with using double pointed needles for the whole project for the first time - it took a while to get used to pulling the stitches tight at each end, and as a result I have a little laddering at different points, but its not overly obvious.
Here's the [Rav link] - its a free pattern, and easily adjustable for different sizes by using different weight yarns and different stitch counts. This one came out smaller than I was expecting, more preemie-size, and i'd like to give it a go in a heavier yarn. Again, this one has no home at this stage, I may end up giving to the preemie unit at the hospital, but my baby doll is enjoying it for the moment (she's tiny so I had to fold up the ribbing!)
In other news, I have also (finally!) finished my Buttony sweater! The ends are sewn in and the buttons are sewn on, it just needs a good blocking - i'd like to see if I can shrink it down a little, as its about one size too big... watch this space for photos when its done. I'm now working on a clapotis, and I swatched for the Central Park Hoodie last night! These are kind of obligatory patterns on Ravelry - most people have made either one or both - so i'm joining the band wagon.
~Happy knitting!~
