Warm Woolen Mittens.....

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favourite things 

Poor LSO(my long suffering husband - for you first time readers) has been spending a extra ordinary amount of time in Aberdeen Scotland. Now I am not entirely sure how many of you have ever been to this beautiful city far up north in the hinterlands of Scotland..... I have, I went in March a few years ago to join him. Little Madame was only a wee thing( lol - notice the Scottish word) I was told that it wasn't that cold at that time of the year...... WHATEVER!!!!  As I walked out of the hotel with my baby in a pram an icy wind cut through me! It was the coldest thing I have ever felt! Little Baby Madame instantly started to cry, I turned myself and my pram around, went back to the hotel room and put every single item of clothing I had, on myself  and Little baby Madame. THEN went shopping for proper cold weather clothes. With out using real bad words I can only say it was cold, REALLY COLD! I vowed never to go back. Me and cold just don't go !  

 

 

Fast forward a few years and LSO is spending a vast amount of time there now! The last time he was there(December) He said that his hands were really  cold, now LSO is certainly not a glove man. However being as though I am a nice wife, well I try. I decided to knit him a pair of mittens.

  

I found a very convenient and easy  pattern in a magazine, (I forget which one) and got going. I chose a very chunky and masculine wool. The pattern was easy, and as I am not a great knitter, this was a good thing. Cast on then knit 2 , purl 2, until it was the perfect length.

Then make a thumb, it was a bit of a challenge and I am not entirely sure I got it right but  there was a thumb  where it was supposed to be!

 

Two mittens were done in 2 days, not only am I not a great knitter but being as I am left handed, I am also a very SLOW knitter.  I am sure if my mother knitted these they would have been done in an hour or two.

Sewed in the bits and pieces and Ta Dah...... Big Chunky Man Mittens (although the word mittens seems a bit odd for man clothing doesn't it?)(See what I mean about the odd looking thumbs)

 

I popped them in LSO's cupboard and his reaction was favourable. He seem mildly impressed! To his credit , they were packed into his bag when he left in February and he did say he wore them and that they were comfy and warm....... Do I believe him? I am just not  sure, any of my Scottish readers see a gorgeous man with MITTENS on? If you do, dont say anything, just take a picture and send it to me please! And please don't say nice MITTENS,you know how macho men can be..... xxx

Hot and Cold....

 

I find myself wanting to complain but know that many of you will be upset in the extreme because you will not like what I want to complain about - So at the risk of annoying you all...... it is HOT, cooking, frying, oven HOT! EXTREMELY, VERY HOT down here in the fishing village, we are talking 40 degrees of hotness! Bad grammar, I know, but I am trying very hard to express the heat .....  So anything to try and fool the mind into thinking it is cool!

 

And that brings me to my ramblings for today.... We were in our local bookstore a few days ago(trying to escape the heat) when I saw the cutest little give away on a knitting magazine... A teeny little polar bear and its mama! Little Madame and I oooo'ed and aaah'ed over it but the price was ridiculous! The magazine is imported and  dear! I cannot for the life of me understand why they are so very dear here,(they are also months old....) but in the end we decided to purchase it anyway....We simply could not resist the sweet little bear!

 

Chilly little Bear

So the pattern was really very easy and really very quick, I managed to knit it all up in about 30 minutes...

The body nearly done. The whole little body  is knitted in one piece....

The head and body  both finished and busy being sewed up.....

Stuffing the tiny little thing up....

The nearly finished bear.... can you see how small it is on Little Madame's hands!

Tail and ears the ears were 3 cast on stitches and then cast off - my kinda EASY!

Waiting for his little scarf....

All done! Eyes and nose on....

Now just to show you how really small and cute it is, we put it next to little
Lego girl.... It is TINY,  a perfect pet for the little Lego peeps

 It really is a very cute and sweet little project, Little Madame has also discovered that it fits perfectly with the Sylvanian peeps so this teeny tiny little bear has lots of homes and friends to be with.... Has he help to cool things down.... Maybe, because as I sit here typing away I can feel a cool breeze on my skin, the sky is heavy and dark with clouds and a fine drizzle is cooling everything down, here's hoping!  xxx

Cold Hands,Warm Heart...... Warm Hands

Cold Hands, Warm Heart, or so the saying goes......... and I thank the Good Lord above every day for the Warm Heart but those cold hands....... Ever since I can remember, my hands have  been cold. I was always  always tugging my jersey sleeves down, or sewing a loop in the cuff of my jerseys and sleeves to keep my hands warm! Even on the hottest days, I can elicit shrieks and screams from Little Madame if I plunge my hands onto her warm little tummy -  That little tummy is BLISS, for cold hands , actually double HAPPY BLISS!!

I have recently been noticing Funky little Mitteny Thingys, popping up in all the fashion magazines and decided to take a closer look, they looked really simple, and as SIMPLE is my favourite word I decided  to try and make some, and I am awfully pleased with the results of one Sunday afternoon...... Take a Look...... 

It really was very easy when I got down to it.. So instruction are:

 Ashley's Funky Little Mitteny Thingys

Knitting Needles size 5mm
1 Ball Elle Double Knit Chunky

1. Cast on 30 stitches
2. Knit 40 rows in plain (measure as you go as to how long you want your funky little mittens)
3. Cast off
4. Fold over so you have a tube
5. Measure about 4 rows from the top and sew it up, then put it on your hand, and measure what is comfy for your thumb and sew up again - you now have a gap for your thumb to pop through

I then decided they looked a bit plain..... So out came the Crochet hook.......




I made this up as I went and jotted it down, so as follows:

Crochet hook size 4

Join your yarn at the sewn up end of the tube, then "slipstich,single crochet, 3 trebles" and repeat 10 times. this will give you 10 neat cute little shells to edge your Funky Mitteny Things! So sweet and soooooo WARM!

Oh you can find the way to make the crochet stitches here

And so the problem of my cold hands is solved, now, of course Little Madame apparently NEEDS a pair too!


Work in Progress!

My FAVOURITE little basket in the world - waiting to begin a little pair of Funky Mitteny things xxx

PS: By the way my blanket problem is solved..... YAY! A baby blanket for a certain little baby boy in the UK is about to be started...... off to shop for yarn tommorow, (any excuse!)will show you as soon as I have it!

Spins and Needles

My one mission while in the United Kingdom was to find a yarn shop. I wanted to see the beautiful yarn I have been looking at since discovering my Mollie Makes bible! I have trawled the web sites of Rowan and Debbie Bliss and many many more....... I needed to see the wonderful colours and run my finger through balls of soft beautiful yarn! Of course this met with much eye rolling and pain filled looks from LSO, but if he loves me, he has to love the hooky-yarn-crazy- see-a-ball –of- wool -and –swoon me!!

Oh happy days!



Lovely Sarah





Sixteen Pounds!



My bits and bobs!

So imagine my delight when I found a sweet little shop in Lincoln called Callyco but alas this was a sewing shop(Which didn’t stop me from a prompt and happy purchase) As I was leaving the shop I asked if there was a yarn shop in town and to my utter joy there was one and very close too. So armed with a little map drawn on the back of my till slip I ventured forth......... A sort of treasure map for me, I had to giggle because my big” X marks the spot” moment was Tesco’s! And right opposite was SPINS AND NEEDLES, I politely asked my family if I could pop in and was told of course!                                                                          (I think they knew what a tantrum I would have thrown if the answer had been anything else!) I opened the door to find a very pretty trendy young woman madly crocheting, and was warmly greeted, I think she could sense the oncoming swoon, and she happily left me to browse. It wasn’t a big shop but within minutes I had an arm full of bits and bobs, gorgeous bamboo hooks, one with a funky little handle, a hook holder and some stitch markers- then I turned around and my eyes saw all the yarn, to quote my little madam ‘oh my giddy aunt!’ I have never seen such beautiful colours, every colour you could think of, matched up to perfection! I think LSO was feeling a bit poorly that day, because he suddenly blurted out, “you could buy some, I am sure it wouldn’t take up too much space” It was all the encouragement I needed and I immediately bought the most gorgeous group of sunset colours, I call then that because, as you can see in the picture below, they look like sunset...... Sarah, (said pretty trendy young lady) was so helpful and didn’t even mind little Madame touching and feeling! We chatted and she showed me all sorts of yarn, rabbit hair, goat’s hair and even one that cost 16 pounds per ball (gulp) I left feeling like the cat that got the cow, never mind the cream!!!!



Sunset Colours!





See what I mean -just perfect!

However........ Lying in our hotel bed that night I kept seeing another 2 beautiful colours, they would not leave me! They kept creeping in, and I even dreamt about them (don’t roll your eyes!) I had seen a beautiful pattern for wrist cuffs in Mollie Makes and knew that the Rialto lace yarn would be perfect..... So the next day I scuttled off back to Sarah’s shop and bought some!  Now I must highly recommend Spins and Needles, it is a gorgeous little shop with such character, but above all this Sarah was so patient and very help full, we chatted about South Africa, netball and she was very happy when little madam asked if she too could have some yarn, Sarah, found her the sweetest little balls! So if you feel so inclined she is on facebook –Spins and Needles, and loves visitors so if you are ever in the beautiful town of Lincoln, pop in and say hi! As to what I am going to crochet with my gorgeous sunset yarn....... I am thinking........ And at the moment still so entranced by the colours that I am just happy dreaming.......

Knitty bits

One of my earliest memories, is sitting at my mother’s feet, in my Aunt’s house listening to them talk while they furiously knitted!  I can still hear the sound of the knitting needles clackety-clicking. They would churn out school jerseys ,hats, baby clothes blankets and many more gorgeous items.... the school jersey were the warmest and the always a little too big!(“she will grow into it”) There were stripes,  blocks and raglan jerseys with different colour sleeves . Not an ounce of wool was ever wasted! My Mother knitted beautifully, and still does today, producing gorgeous Christmas presents for the whole family last year!

A sunny spot in the corner, perfect to knit



Polly Dolly

I was very interested in learning this beautiful art form from an early age but alas, I am a LEFTY!!! Oh horror of horrors! I spent many a long afternoon, trying my best to get it right but my tension was always off, stitches were dropped and no one could really teach me, until my mother hit on the very clever idea of me sitting in front of her and doing everything the opposite of what she was doing! Very soon I was clackety-clicking with them but not at the speed they could produce things. Knitting for me has always been a very slow process and to be truthful not my favourite thing....  I knitted a baby layette although I think it took me years!! I am not joking!(Am proud to say the little Madame did wear it) I find knitting patterns very hard to read and when they say continue for 40 cm I want to cry, knowing that it will take me hours and hours of very concentrated work, and Oh My Word, Heaven help me if I drop a stitch! (I simply pull it all out and start again)
Where am I going with all this boring waffle about knitting......... when little Madame came to me about 2 years ago and asked me to knit her a dolly that was in one of my beautiful books, I nearly had a heart attack!! “Wait for your Grandmother “ was my reply but Madame was having none of that and she kept on nagging......  So what’s a mom to do? I got some needles and set about knitting her the doll and clothes to fit it!  After many, many, maaaaannnnnyyyyy  telephone calls to my mother, I started to get the hang of the pattern and a Polly Dolly began to take shape! The sheer joy on my little madams face, spurred me on.....   I now enjoy knitting and have discovered many beautiful magazines that now include funky little project, one of the best being the British magazine Simply Knitting. I have yet to tackle anything big, and will still say that I love to crochet best of all! But ultimately I must thank my Mother, Aunt’s and all their friends for instilling in me at a very early age, the absolute love of wool,  beautiful knitted things, and the art of it all. I am sad to say that I think it is an art form that is dying out, I will however try very hard to pass the love I have for all things woolly onto my angel child!  As my mother did to me! Thank you Mom!

And her Dress



Little China Girls!



Halloween Mouse





Pretty Tea Cosy and some of my first crochet flowers

PS-the book that i got Polly Dolly's pattern from is called Knitted Toys Tales - Laura Long(Metz Press)