Two More Little Cardigans

Extra cute for a baby girl, this is the same size as the V neck version I made in blues and beige.  It travelled with us on our trip away, so all I had to do when we came home last week was cut off all the tails.

As always, I enjoyed seeing how the colours would turn out.  It will look great teamed up with dark pink or purple leggings.

I even managed to find buttons similar to those on the V neck cardigan, but in lavender and pink.

This cardy travelled with us too.  It is in the next size larger, and definitely in the right colours for a baby that is busy crawling and getting grubby on the floor.

I was worried that the bright orange, yellow and green random yarn would look a bit loud.  I'm sure the designer based the colours on fluorescent highlighters.  Once it was matched with a dark green fleck it toned down and started looking a bit drab.

Once these amazing moss green buttons were on, though, the whole colour scheme fell into place.

Finally I am ready to start posting the instructions for these cardies.  Stage 1 is going up this week!

If you want to get ready and start rummaging for wool, any soft yarn in a double knitting weight will be ideal. Three 50 gram balls should be enough.  The knitting needles are UK old size 10 / 3.25mm / US size 3.  For the long rows when I put all the pieces onto one needle for the raglan shaping, or for going round the V neck, I use two circular needles for the length. 

If you really want to play with colour, try combining one random yarn with a fleck.  The green cardigan is made with Sirdar Snuggly Rascal in Bean Bag and Sirdar Dapple in Enchanted Forest.

Or you can use two randoms and a fleck for the ribbing.  The baby girl's jacket above is made in Sirdar Snuggly Crofter in Maypole (the colours are a little more muted in real life than in the photo), Sirdar Snuggly Rascal in Playtime, and Stylecraft Batik DK in Violet.

Keen knitters beware - all these beautiful colours to experiment with are seriously addictive.

A Picture for Sunday - Snoozing Cat

Viewed from across the garden, this stone cat looked so realistic - a little larger than life perhaps, but the pose is perfect.  He is one of nine cats to be found in the garden at Belfast Castle, which we visited on Wednesday.  Two are mosaics, one is topiary, and this is my favourite of the sculptures.

A Picture for Sunday - Violet Rose

A very unusual colour for a rose.  I have seen pictures of violet roses before, but until this week I had never seen one.  I really can't make up my mind whether or not I like it.  Perhaps we should have a vote, and I will go along with the majority view.

Update 7th July
The score stands at 4 - 1, so I shall do my best to like it.  It just seems a shade too sombre.

Holiday Stitching

Having tried bamboo needles and hated them, I had to find a way to take my knitting on holiday without having to worry about knitting needles.  So here is the latest little baby jacket, all finished except for the seams.  If my bodkin is picked up on the X ray machine at the airport it won't be too much of a tragedy.  If, however, I were to have a pair of metal knitting needles confiscated, especially with knitting on them, then I fear there would be an international incident.

I couldn't resist sewing the buttons on in advance.  When I sew this little jacket up it will seem like a magically quick finish. 

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 235 - Machine Maintenance

Once in a while, in other words not often enough, I remember to clean and oil my machine.  When I took off the needle plate I was slightly horrified.  Every time I change the bobbin I poke a needle sideways under the plate and fish out the fluff, but the stuff further underneath stays there until I get round to taking the needle plate off.

This interesting little mat of rubbish took on the shape of a dolly waving to the camera.

After getting the fluff out I gave the machine a generous oiling, and will now leave it for a couple of days with strategically place kitchen towel to catch the drips.

I own up.  I'm not in a quilting frame of mind this summer.  Too much going on...  So glad that I have the linky so I can see what everyone else is doing!

Here goes for week 235:-

Many thanks to Margarita for linking up last time with her beautiful deer.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more.

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

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 - Midsummer Sunset

How I would love to see another sunset like this!  This photo was taken in June 2015.  At the moment were are having very cloudy days., so I was glad I came across this photo to remind myself of what could happen when the skies eventually clear.

Increasing Stitches in Fisherman's Rib

When increasing stitches when knitting in fisherman's rib, this is the method I like best.

The increases are made on a right side row, where the knit stitches are worked in the usual way, and all the purl stitches are slipped, with the yarn at the front of the work.

When increasing at the beginning of a row, to keep the edges neat, the first stitch is slipped, the second stitch is a knit stitch, and then the increase is made.  The yarn that stretches between the second and third stitches is picked up...

… and in this picture can be seen on the right hand needle...

… then the left hand needle is passed through the front of the picked up stitch, and it is worked as a knit stitch through the back of the stitch.

Here you can see the increased stitch on the right hand needle.

Now the yarn is brought forward and the next stitch is slipped purlwise to continue the rest of the row.

To increase at the end of the row, when three stitches remain, bring the yarn forward and slip the purl stitch.

Next, the yarn between the stitches is picked up, and the increase made in the same way as shown at the beginning of the row.

Then the last two stitches are both knitted.

With the extra stitch at each end of the row, this means that there are two knit stitches side by side on a right side row, and two purl stiches on a wrong side row, until the next increase needs to be made.
 

The next time it is straightforward.  The yarn between the two knit stitches is picked up in exactly the same way as shown above, and knitted through the back of the stitch.

On the next row the new stitch means that fisherman's rib can be worked as normal.