I am really bad at this regular blogging thing.

I keep forgetting to blog and then taking very extended breaks from knitting.  I seem to go through phases where I knit every day for a month and then do absolutely nothing for 3 months.  I'll try to be better I swear.

I have started knitting my Christmas Presents - this year I want to knit each of my closest friends and family a personalised stocking.  I did a practice one and it took me about 3 days, it actually fits my foot as a pretty good slipper so I may knit another and just use them for foot cosies.  We'll see!


My mother has requested a stocking with sheep and snow on it so I'm going to rejig my Snowy Sheep Mittens and use it for her stocking.  It'll be the first one I'm going to do and will probably determine how complex the rest are going to be - hopefully I'll get through them all!  Getting the names right on the cuff will probably be the hardest thing for me to do because I can't seem to get them the right way around.  I'll just have to keep practising.

I found these super cute christmas-esque wine cosies!

I am in Christmas overload at the moment because normally I'd have nearly finished my Christmas shopping and I haven't even started.  This is the first year that I've actually attempted to knit presents for a lot of people so I just hope they go down well.  I really want to knit at least a few of these.  

They are wine bottle cosies with a draw string at the top.  They would be perfect additions to presents, especially to spruce up that wine bottle gift and they are so much nicer than the general bags that toy see so often.  I know these require a little bit more effort but in my opinion they are so much better.  I'd be delighted to receive one of these for Christmas!

The pattern is available here.  It is called Winecozy and is by Jennifer Carter.

It is knit on straight needles and is a great way to use up some of those scraps of wool in your stash!  You only need 50g of wool and some extra colours for embellishments.  

I, for one, cannot wait to try this!

Knit a Diamond Cable Headband!

This is  lovely little headband that you can utilise your beginners cable techniques on.  It only has 20 row of 24 stitches each so it shouldn't take you very long at all!  I knitted two of these in a few hours as a present for my mam.  This is knitted length wise so it does knit up very nicely.  It means if you want to add colour or stripes it would be easiest to do it vertically but I tend to keep it pretty plain because of the pretty cable design!

What you need:

Less than 50g of chunky or super chunky wool

10mm needles (US size 15)

Knitter's sewing needle

Pattern:

Cast on 24 stitches.

Row 1: K3, P1, K2, P4, K4, P4, K2, P1, K3
Row 2: K4, P2, K4, P4, K4, P2, K4
Row 3: K3, P1, K2, P4, Cable 4 Back, P4, K2, P1, K3
Row 4: K4, P2, K4, P4, K4, P2, K4
Row 5: K3, P1, Cable 3 Left(PKK), P2, Cable 3 Right(KKP), Cable 3 Left, P2, Cable 3 Right, P1, K3
Row 6: K5, P2, K2, P2, K2, P2, K2, P2, K5
Row 7: K3, P2, Cable 3 Left, Cable 3 Right, P2, Cable 3 Left, Cable 3 Right, P2, K3
Row 8: K6, P4, K4, P4, K6
Row 9: K3, P3, Cable 4 Back, P4, Cable 4 Back, P3, K3
Row 10: K6, P4, K4, P4, K6
Row 11: K3, P3, K4, P4, K4, P3, K3
Row 12: K6, P4, K4, P4, K6
Row 13: Repeat Row 9
Row 14: K6, P4, K4, P4, K6
Row 15: K3, P2, Cable 3 Right, Cable 3 Left , P2, Cable 3 Right, Cable 3 Left, P2, K3
Row 16: K5, P2, K2, P2, K2, P2, K2, P2,  K5
Row 17: K3, P1, Cable 3 right, P2, Cable 3 Left, Cable 3 Right, P2, Cable 3 Left, P1, K3
Row 18: K4, P2, K4, P4, K4, P2, K4
Row 19: K3, P1, K2, P4, Cable 4 Back, P4, K2, P1, K3
Row 20: K4, P2, K4, P4, K4, P2, K4

Cast off in pattern.

Now you've got another pretty piece to keep your head warm this winter!  (Sorry for the potato quality)

Happy Knitting!

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Knit your own little pumpkins just in time for Hallowe'en! (or Christmas Baubles!)

Hey!  Here's a really easy pattern to knit a ball.  It's knit flat so even better, no need to fish those pesky double pointed needles out.  I'm an lover of any thing that can be knit flat.  I find DP and circular needles so difficult to work with.

I used this pattern to knit cute little pumpkin decorations to hang up and give as gifts for fall and halloween!  It also works really well for Christmas decorations or gifts too.

What you need:
3.75mm needles
DK wool - less than 50g
Stuffing
Knitter's sewing needle

Terminology:
K - Knit
KFB - knit into front and back of stitch
K2tog - knit next two stitches together
SSK - Slip next two stitches onto needle, knit next stitch and pass slipped stitches back over knit stitch.

Pattern:

Cast on 8 stitches
R1 - KFB into all stitches - 16 stitches
R2 - P to end
R3 - K1, KFB; repeat to end - 24 stitches
R4 - P to end
R5 - K2, KFB; repeat to end - 32 stitches
R6 - P to end
R7 - K3, KFB; repeat to end - 40 stitches
R8 - P to end
R9 - K4, KFB; repeat to end - 48 stitches

Now, Knit 6 rows evenly, this is the prime place to add colour!

R16 - K1, SSK, K1; repeat to last two stitches, K2tog
R17 - P to end

Repeat these two rows until you have 16 stitches

Final Row - K2tog to end

Cut wool and sew seam, leave enough room to stuff.  Once stuffed sew up remaining seam.  

I sewed a cute little face on my pumpkin after I was done with the seam and then added green wool to hang it with!

Knitting a really simple reversible hat!

I was always knitting my hats from the same pattern, so when my friends and family wanted me to knit them a hat they were always getting the same and I wanted to spice things up.  For this pattern I use 10mm needles and chunky wool but sometimes, if i want different strands throughout I use three different strands of DK wool.  I knit this on straight needles, although you can use a circular needle if you don't want to knit a seam, I just cannot work with circular needles at all!  It's also a great way to use up left over wool!
I don't knit this based on a specific amount of rows because the wool can often end up knitting differently and I rarely swatch before I begin!  Feel free to comment if you need any advice but it really is pretty simple!

Time: Short
Effort: Easy
Size: One size, but you can add/remove stitches to suit.  It's pretty flexible.

What you need:

10mm needles (US size 15)
Two different coloured balls of chunky wool - 50g for rib, 100g for main body.
Scissors
Knitter's sewing needle

Terminology:
K- Knit
P - Purl
s2togkpo - slip the next two stitches one at a time onto the needle, knit the next stitch, pass the slipped stitches together over the last stitch.  This forms a leaning double decrease.
K2tog - Knit next two stitches together.


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