Some more things made in the summer break

 Above is a baby blanket that took quite a while to make.  Mainly because I had two or three projects going at once rather than me knitting slowly.
I'm very pleased with how it looks and the colour is much better in real life than in the photo.  The yarn is a variegated acrylic yarn from Aldi.  It is much softer than I expected and will stand up to being thrown in the washing machine, which is imperative for a baby blanket.

And the hats on the blanket?
Well, they are from Itty Bitty Hats, again. The blue and pink ones are the same, only different colours, made in Mochi Plus yarn which is a dream to knit with.  The stripey hat is called Candy Cane in the book, and I made it in red and white 100% cotton.

The blanket and two of the hats have homes in the future, and I dare say the third hat will be homed fairly soon.

More baby cardigans and my first ever socks

 First there's a stripey boys jumper.  I love the neck on this as it fastens on both sides with a couple of buttons.  Getting a wriggly bay's head through a jumper neck is not everyone's idea of fun.  This would look good in any colour stripe I suppose, and I might make one in girly stripes. No home for this one yet.

 The above bolero cardigan just asked to be knitted as soon as I got the magazine with it in.  I've given this to my great niece Amelia. I love the edging, which is a knitted lace type edging as opposed to the more usual rib bands.

 This ballet top has no home as yet either.  It was a quick knit as it is entirely garter stitch.

Last, but not least.  The first ever pair of socks. They should be with their owner by now as I posted them last Monday. I hope he likes them.

So that's what has been taking me all month!

I have just finished a jumper or my special friend, and a random baby blanket. The jumper is knitted in Stylecraft Signature Chunky. A beautiful yarn to work with, but due to it's loose spun nature, it can be difficult to cast on with and sew up with For both I had to keep stopping to re-spin the yarn to prevent breakages. But as I say the finished garment is beautifully soft and light. The colour, in case it hasn't photographed well is an olive-ish green with brown flecks.
The baby blanket is from the Baby and Toddler special that was given away with the last issue of Simply Knitting. The next issue being due out tomorrow. I did find one fault with the pattern though, and that was that they said the wool used came in 200g balls, it doesn't, they are 100g balls, and you use less than a quarter of the third 100g ball. I am going to e-mail them about this. Oh, and the yarn used for the blanket is called Magi-knit and it does work up as shown. The blanket is knitted in squares, no more than 21 sts wide/ time, each square is then shaped by decreasing at the centre, down to one stitch, then you pick up stitches along one edge of the just worked square, and casting on the rest, for the first row. After the blanket is 10 squares wide, or how ever many wide you want it, you cast off and start the next row starting on top of the first square worked. I think the method of working makes it an ideal project when you don't have much time to spare, as each square takes around 15- 30 minutes depending on how fast you knit, so you could just work one square/day if that is all you had time for.

Recent finishes and a WIP

I have now finished Oliver's jumper, it is a little longer than the pattern states, as Oliver is quite tall, so needs the extra length.
I have also made a hat from Itty Bitty Hats for a colleague at work who is expecting a baby very soon.
There is also a photo of my current WIP. It's design 83 from UKHKA. The picture on the pattern looks like a bramble stitch, but is actually a woven stitch, using C4F and C4B one after the other on right side rows, the wrong side rows being purl. It is creating quite a firm fabric.