Test knit: Addie Rose Skirt

I've been meaning to blog about this pattern for a while. Back in April I test knit the Addie Rose skirt pattern for Jessica Anderson. It's a sweet little skirt perfect for a little girl who loves to twirl, aka Miss S. Designed for sport weight yarn it covers 8 sizes for 12 months to 12 years. And if you would like to match your little girl Jessica also has this skirt in adult sizes - English Rose.

Size : 2 years

Yarn: approx 617 m Cascade Heritage 150 Solids, colourway 5607 red.

Yarn Along

Well it's Wednesday again, which means another yarn along post :)!

Himself has been away with work since Saturday so things have been a bit busier than usual for the last few days so knitting and reading time are limited. I'm still knitting on my Harvest Sweater. I've finished the body and I'm now onto the first sleeve. I'm also still reading A House in the Sunflowers by Ruth Silvestre. This morning while enjoying a cup of tea before doing the school pick up, I read my copy of the Spring/Summer issue of the Bioversity Ireland magazine that arrived yesterday. I've never read this magazine before but the proceeds of this particular issue are being donated to Special Olympics Ireland and it also has a great article on identifying ladybirds.

In case you missed my previous post I've a sale on in my Ravelry shop.

There's 20% off all my patterns. No coupon code required, the discount will be automatically applied at the checkout! I'm extending it until end of day May 28th (23.59 pm GMT). 

You can find my store here.

Birthday Sale!

It's my birthday on Monday and as a gift to you I'm having a sale in my Ravelry shop.

There's 20% off all my patterns. No coupon code required, the discount will be automatically applied at the checkout!

You can find my store here.

Nature Challenge

A week ago I was nominated by my cousin to take part in a nature challenge on Facebook.  I usually don't take part in these challenges but thus onemail appealed to me. The challenge was to take a photo of nature every day for 7 days and post it on Facebook. You then tag a friend to nominate them to take part. It was so nice seeing so many beautiful photos of the world around us (and that we often are too busy to see) popping up on my news feed every day. I really enjoyed taking part in the challenge. In the midst of cooking, cleaning, school runs, nursing, nappy changes and everything else involved in an average day of a mother of 3 very active kids it made me slow down for a few minutes to look around at all the nature gifts us. 

So I challenge you to slow down for a few minutes each day for the next week and take in all the beauty that surrounds us (even in the most unlikely places). Take a photo if you wish. Post it on social media and encourage others to do the same. Or keep the photo for yourself to enjoy as a reminder to slow down even it's only for a couple of minutes during the day.

Day 1: bee visiting the honeysuckle in my garden 

Day 2: early morning wishes

Day 3: waiting for my strawberries

Day 4: my Lily of the Valley is late this year but still smells as sweet

Day 5: raindrops on Rose leaves

Day 6: lilac bloom

Day 7: we have bumble bees nesting in one if our compost bins

And a bonus photo of daisies to brighten your day. 

Yarn Along Wednesday.

Wow these Wednesdays really seem to come around fast 😁!

So I'm still working on my test knit for Jessica. I'm a little behind (sorry Jessica!) but I'm hoping to catch up over the weekend. I'm really looking forward to finishing it so I can wear it as the yarn is so scrummy that I know it will be so cozy to wear.

I've finished Fallen and I've just started A House in the Sunflowers by Ruth Silvestre. Its the first in a trilogy of memoirs following their adventures buying and renovating a house in (very) rural south west France. I've only just started but already it's making me long for warm days in a foreign country! Even more so with the weather we're having at the moment. We went from glorious sunshine last week to battling hailstones taking clothes off the line this morning. Maybe, if we're really lucky, that sun we had last week wasn't the only summer we'll have in Ireland this year!

One highlight of the last week has been a dandelion wish slipped into the pocket of my bag...

... as payment for making a daisy chain crown for an almost 3 year old princess on our walk home from dropping her big brother to preschool. 

Yarn Along Wednesday

It's Wednesday again! So I've a quick post for yarn along. You can find a link to Ginny's Blog on the side bar. I'm trying hard to be a monogamous knitter at the moment. I've finished my cowl and the pattern, Spring Rising, has been published. Details can be found in my previous post. I'm now working on a test knit for Jessica Anderson. It's a very cute hooded sweater knit in sport weight yarn. I'm using Malabrigo Arroyo in the Borrajas colourway. I'm on to the waist shaping now. Again after I had to rip back 3 inches because I miss read the pattern - I really shouldn't knit when I'm tired!
I'm still reading and enjoying Fallen but I think I'll share the book I was reading to Miss S this morning. "The smartest giant in town" by Julia Donaldson is a bit of a favourite at the moment. Like all of her books it's very cleverly written and a superb fire hit with my kids. It also has a very nice message about the importance of being kind.

New Pattern : Spring Rising

I've just released a new cowl pattern.

Spring Rising is a cowl designed for DK yarn in two sizes. The small has a circumference of approx 52 cm while the larger size has a circumference of approx 130 cm and can be wrapped twice.

Yarn requirements:

Any DK weight yarn. Sample shown are knit in Debbie Bliss Rialto  DK (colourway 23014, pink) and Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK  (colourway 18011 Apple green). The cashmerino is now discontinued but a similar shade can be found in the Rialto line, 23009 apple would be closest.

Yardage: 

Small - 130 my approx

Large - 400 my approx

Gauge : 20 sts to 10cm on 4.5 mm needles.

Achieving correct gauge isn't essential but it will effect the amount of yarn you will require. 

The pattern is available in my Raveley store here or on Loveknitting.com here.

Yarn Along

A couple of the blogs I follow participate in a Yarn Along, where every Wednesday you share a photo of what you're knitting and what book you're reading. As I like to do both I thought I'd join in. I can't guarantee a post every Wednesday but I'll try.

Today I spent some time working on a new cowl design. I'm almost finished the longer version and hopefully I'll have the pattern released in the next couple of weeks.
I recently started "Fallen" by Lia Mills . It's this year's pick for the Dublin: One City, One Book Festival. An appropriate  choice given that it's the centenary of the 1916 Rising.
The story is centred around Kate Crilly, whose brother is killed in 1915 fighting for the British Army in WW1. The following year on her brothers anniversary Dublin is engulfed by he violence of the Easter rising and Kate finds herself torn by conflicting loyalties and emotions. It's one of the many Rising themed books released this year (and the last few months of 2015) to capitalise on the Rising centenary- to be expected I guess. I've read several of the nonfiction releases but this is the first from the fiction category. I'm enjoying it so far and would recommend it.

You can find Ginnys blog here and Jessica here.

Welcome Home Sweater

In February I test knit a cute little sweater for designer Andrea Sanchez. The pattern collection has now been released so I don't need to keep it secret anymore!

Knit in sport weight yarn it's sized from 3 to 24 months. It's knit from the bottom up, in the round until the chest. The chest and back are knit separately and then joined at the shoulders. Stitches are then picked up around the armhole and the sleeves are knit in the round. Just the type of knit I like - seamless!
It has a curved hem created using short rows. The seed stitch hem, cuffs and neckline are a nice feature too. The hem involved working several rows in stocking stitch followed by seed stitch. The stocking stitch portion was the folded under and joined to the live stitches by knit picking up stitches from the cast on edge together with the live stitches. This was a bit fiddly but once the first few stitches were done I got into the rhythm of it and found it easy enough. The cuffs and neckline were similar but this time the pattern called for the live stitches to be sewn down. I found this impossible to do loosely enough to be able to get it on over Mr C's head so after a couple of attempts I gave up and used Jenny's surprisingly stretchy bind off before turning the hem under and securing. 
The pattern runs a little small so I think I would knit a size larger than required to get a bit more growing room. Still the end result is adorable!

Pattern : Welcome Home Pullover by Andrea Sanchez
Yarn : Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (Colourway 340700)  - approx 112 g/ 280 m