Water Lilies Baby Blanket

I recently knitted this baby blanket for a new arrival.

It was quite time-consuming to knit.  It was knitted in various different balls of double knitting yarn which was 100% acrylic so it will be easy to wash. 

It is really a smaller version of the English Adventure Throw that I knitted previously.  I am calling it Water Lilies because it consists of large flat circular shapes – some of which are pale pink like water lilies.

I originally intended to add an edge all around the blanket – but in the end I just added an edge to the shapes that didn’t have one.

As well as the blanket I also knitted this little jacket – using my usual baby jacket pattern which I have used many times before.

It is a simple design and ideal for boys or girls.  Because of its simplicity – it is ideal for very patterned or multi-coloured yarn like this.

Noro Kureyon Odd Ball Throw

 

I love Noro Kureyon.  I know I have said this before – but it is one of my all-time favourite yarns.  Last time I wrote about knitting for a friend at work – but I have also been encouraging another friend to learn to knit.  She told me that her mother wanted to get back into knitting and she thought she would have a go as well.  I said I would supply her with the basics – needles and yarn.  I went home and when through all my accessible stash to see what might be suitable.

For her first project – a scarf – she chose some Colinette Prism and she told me she enjoyed the process of knitting it.  When she had finished she decided to make another scarf – for this I gave her some Noro Kureyon which I had intended to use for a jumper – but it had never got knitted.

I noticed that I have got a lot of odd bits of Kureyon – bits that very few other people would bother with – bits that could not be donated to a charity shop.  I decided to knit some of them!  I used the same sort of design as the previous throw that I knitted – simple garter stitch squares using two shades of Kureyon.   I used less stitches for each square – only 41 (20 + 1 + 20).  This was because I was using odd bits of yarn.  It is much easier to use up bits when knitting smaller squares.   I will eventually be knitting a throw with squares the size of a postage stamp!

I worked the squares in strips - across the throw – again this was due to the restrictions of the yarn – roughly if you have 2 full balls you can produce a strip which is the right width for a throw.  When I had finished knitting all the strips I organized them in a way that I thought looked best and sewed them together – adding an edging in a shade I had more of than any other.

When I say that each square/strip contains 2 shades used alternately – sometimes this was 2 whole balls and at other times it was bits of similar colours that might originally have come from other shades. 

I am pleased with the end result.  I think I might give it to the friend who caused me to knit it.  It is a bit too bright for many people but as she is an artist – she might appreciate it.

While I was knitting I was producing yet more odd bits and these made me think about knitting a cardigan in a similar way.

Odd Ball Birthday Throw

I haven’t written anything for ages - in fact I hadn't realised how long it was. I haven’t really done much knitting this year but in the last few weeks I have started again.  I have had breaks before – even for as long as a couple of years but not since I started writing a knitting blog!

Last year a friend of mine at work gave me 3 balls of yarn for my birthday.  It is very easy to buy me a present because I love odd balls of yarn.   I thought I would knit the yarn and give it back to her on her birthday in April.

During the winter I started knitting.  I used the balls that I had been given and combined them with some of the odd balls that I had left over from when I knitted tea cosies.  I decided to choose blues and pinks because these are the colours that my friend likes.    However when I gave it to her – I said that if she hated it – I didn’t want her to feel that she had to keep it – she should find someone who did like it and give it to them.  Anyway I think she does like it.

With the cost of heating being very high – I think having a throw on the sofa or in the case of knitters – knitting a throw (covering your lap) could be very popular this winter.  I was lucky this year – knitting a throw when it was chilly – I normally have to do it when it is hot.

The pattern is very simple.  All the squares are knitted in double knitting on 5mm needles and garter stitch is used throughout.  Each square is made up of 61 stitches – with the first decrease in the centre of the second row – which becomes the right side.

I did get this throw finished by the end of April and I took photos before I wrapped it up – but I have failed to write about it until now.   During May I did continue knitting using up some more of my stash.

Happy 8th Birthday Maud Tabron Blog

I am very conscious that I have not done much knitting at all this year.  I started a jumper in January but I have not knitted any more of it than when I last wrote a post.   However today it the anniversary of me starting to write this blog - so I thought I would write something about a piece of knitting that is very important to me although I didn't knit it myself.

This is a throw - which at the time was called a patchwork quilt - that was knitted for me in the 1970s by my maternal grandmother Rebecca Wade.  This is the lady who taught me to knit - I would not be writing this blog if it wasn't for her.

Until this week I had not seen this throw for about 30 years.  In my memory it was blue and white.  I was surprised at how many other colours are in it.  It has threads hanging off it, holes, darns, curly edges and it has been very eccentrically knitted - but I still love it!  My grandmother was just using up all the odd bits of yarn that she had.  When I do that - I try to organize it in some way - but she hasn't - some of it is blocks of one colour - but in other sections it looks as if she has just pulled out the next colour and knitted with that.  

Grandma has used crochet to make some of the shapes fit together and has done a crocheted edge.  I don't remember ever seeing her crochet.  My other grandma preferred crochet to knitting.  

Now I have found this throw again - I think I am going to put in on my sofa so that I see it every day. I can see its imperfections but I don't care about them because Grandma knitted it for me. You can see where I got my love of knitting quilts and throws.  I am currently working on one as another present for a friend.   More about that next time.

Hakea

I have not done much knitting so far this year.  I treated myself to some Noro yarn as a Christmas present.  It is called Ito - col 12 and is 100% wool.   

I ordered it from Laughing Hens and when it arrived - my first thought was that it wasn't very brightly coloured.  However I then remembered why I had ordered it.  I saw the design called Hakea in the Noro Knitting magazine issue 19. The original design was knitted using a plain natural sheep colour.  The yarn was not available but this Ito was - so I thought a fairly dull shade would be equivalent.  

The design is very textured so you would not want something which was distracting.  I haven't got very far yet.  I have just knitted the back up to the first pattern change.  

Catastrophe Throw - Finished Version

It has been weeks since I have written anything on this blog.  I have been knitting the Catastrophe Throw and have just got it finished in time for Christmas.  It still needs to be blocked and the edges are not how I would like them to be - but I have run out of time.  

I had intended to write something about each strip of knitting or about particular blocks but I haven't got around to it.  Almost every block contains a least one cat and those that don't have a whole cat -  have a tail or dirty paw prints.  The whole throw must have hundreds of cats on it.

No two blocks are the same but some are the same design knitted in different colourways - as shown below

I particularly liked this "outline" design of a cat licking its paw because it was easy to knit - but also because the ladies I have knitted the throw for are professional cleaners.  There are other subtle references to their lives which makes the design more personal.  

Even the repetition of the word "meow" is appropriate as they were telling me only the other day - that one of their cats is constantly "meowing".  

I hope I can get back to writing this blog more regularly but I intend to start 2022 by working on my family tree.  

Catastrophe Throw

At this time of the year I am normally looking for Christmas presents.  I often try to buy something with a cat on it for some friends of mine who love the furry creatures.  It is hard to find something new that they haven’t got – so I decided that I would knit them one of my throws.

I have lots of books of patterns – including designs that have cats on them – so I have collected together some of them and added a few ideas of my own.   I spent ages thinking and not enough time knitting – but I think I am sorted now – and I can just get on with the knitting.

I am using Rowan Pure Wool Superwash Worsted in various colours – but I have tried to pick – “cat colours” and a few contrast colours that my friends like – particularly blues and burgundy.    I think I am using 5.5 mm needles – I am actually not sure – but it doesn’t matter as long as I keep using the same circular needle to knit the whole throw.

I thought about knitting individual squares – but I remembered how much I dislike sewing squares together – so I have decided to knit 6 strips of 6 squares.  This means that I have to pay attention to the placement of the colours – so the same colour is not used in 2 adjoining squares (or squares that will be adjoining when the strips are sewn together).  I am also trying to spread out the colours across the throw – so that the design looks balanced.

The first square come from the book Cat Knits by Marna Gilligan.  It is a repeat pattern which is used in the book on hats and a jumper.  

The second square I invented but it was inspired by a design in the book Cats Knits by Melinda Coss.  

The third square comes from The Sasha Kagan Sweater Book. 

The fourth square is inspired by a design in Melinda Coss’s book.

And the fifth square is largely copied from Nicky Epstein’s book Knitting Block by Block.

I have knitted many more squares but I haven’t photographed them yet.  I will try to show you more of this throw later in the month.  I have decided to call it “Catastrophe” – let’s hope it doesn’t turn out to be one!