Baby Boy's Cardigan with Cables

Perhaps this little cardigan is a slightly odd shape, so I am hoping that its new owner will mould it to his own fit.  This was knitted for my latest great-nephew, who was born in late May, and my husband and I were his godparents at his christening last Saturday.

This turned out to be a project with elements I love and others that I hate.  I shall start with the minuses.  The decreasing method that I used for the raglan shoulders doesn't go particularly well with the cables and rib stitch.  I must remember not to use it again except with a plain stocking stitch.  Also the rib makes the whole cardigan seem narrower than it actually is.  Rib might be the perfect stitch for a slender young lady with a pleasing figure, but I'm not so sure it works particularly brilliantly on babies.  The sleeves look the ideal length for an outfit for a baby gibbon.

However, with the cuffs turned up they don't look too bad.  Now the cardigan has the look I was aiming for, a miniature version of an elderly gentleman's cardigan, ideal for an evening relaxing in an armchair with pipe and tartan slippers.

I love the colour of the buttons, a nice deep red to go with the edging.

As for the edging yarn itself, I absolutely love it.  There are shades of red, deep purplish pink, grey and turquoise.  I had slight misgivings at first, thinking it might look too girly with the pinks and reds...

… but there is enough blue and grey to tone it down into a more boyish mix.

Now I am wishing my husband could be persuaded to wear cardigans, but he's always been a jumper man.  Shame.  I would enjoy seeing an adult version in a grey-green tweedy fleck, complete with pockets for cough sweets.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 191 - Following the Lines

You can't really tell from the photo, but despite the heat, I have done a fair amount of quilting this week.  Treadling can be hot work in the summer, and suddenly we are in the midst of a scorcher.

A quick look at the back shows where I have been.  The curves and symmetry of this pattern are so beautiful.  This is going to be a square cushion.  There is enough fabric left over to make an oblong cushion afterwards.  It could be slow work.  This heat is set to last for while.

Here goes for Week 191

Many thanks to Andrée for linking up last week with her wholecloth quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and have a closer look.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.
  
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland and Brazil have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

A Picture for Sunday - Seed Head

Ready to fly on the next breeze... shame I don't know what the flower is.

PS.  Many thanks to Kerry, who hit the nail on the head with goat's beard, otherwise known as Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon.

Autumn Cardigan

Autumn will be here before we know it, and I have amazed myself by having a cardigan finished already for when the cooler weather comes.  It is version 2 of the winter cardigan I made a few months ago, and which turned out to be an absolute godsend when the blizzards came in March.

The mixture of yarns includes a pink flecked cotton and wool mix in place of the grey mohair that I used in the winter cardigan, so it should be just right for cool weather before winter sets in.

This time I thought ahead about the decreasing for the raglan shoulders and ended up with a much neater finish.  For the winter cardigan I made the pattern up as I went along, and the stitch didn't match when I had all the pieces on a circular needle.

The buttons are the same as on the last cardigan.  I liked them so much when I bought them that I came away with ten rather than just the five I needed at the time.

There is loads of the pink flecked yarn left over.  I am itching to make a summer cardigan for next year, but can't decide what colour to use with it.  I'm a bit bored of grey now.  Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 190 - Fabric and Faceplate Twins

Morris Bluebell is such a beautiful fabric.  I have been looking forward to starting this latest cushion, and today I got cracking with the quilting.  I was half dreading it, thinking I might get lost, as I did with the snakeskin design, but this pattern was far easier to follow.  There are only two colours, as opposed to four or five in the snakeskin fabric.

When I was taking the photos I noticed how similar the fabric design was to the faceplate on my sewing machine.  I wondered why the swirling leaves and flowers all felt so familiar.

Here goes for Week 190

Many thanks to Yanicka for linking up last week with her red, black and white quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and have a closer look.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.
  
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland and Brazil have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

A Picture for Sunday - Rosemary Beetle

New species pop up in this country from time.  This beetle was on a sage plant, and when I looked closely I saw it had beautiful blue-green and red-yellow iridescent stripes.  I would love to know which wag christened it the Fresh Prince of Bel Ladybirds.

Weaving In Tails

It has to be one of the most boring jobs ever, but at least it means I will have a brand new cardigan in a few days.  Most of the tails are already woven in and ready to snip off, but I like to leave that until the very end and snip them all off at once so it feels like a quick finish, which of course knitting never is.  I started this cardigan in early May, and it was the ideal project to keep me sane while we turned the house upside down for decorating.  It has been tricky getting sewing done, but knitting is an absolute tonic.  It grows every evening when you sit down and relax after a busy day.