Tiny Grrlfriend Market Bag

 I already made one of these market bags for my mother. This one is for my mother-in-law. The pattern is available for free here. This time I used 2nd Time Cotton by Knit One Crochet Too. I also went with smaller needles, US size 6. Here is a tutorial on YouTube for the beginning that I found helpful.

I love it in it's tiny form. I'm sure I will be using this pattern many more times. Is there a pattern that you go back to again and again?

Eternal Summer Quilt

 A few years ago my other half had me make him a quilt. It was made of old U2 t-shirts and brushed cotton/flannel. It was a pain in the butt to make. The whole time I was doing it my son was begging me to make him one too, then little miss M wanted one as well. The kids ones were small and therefore much easier and funner to make. I swore off quilts after that though. That is until my sister, Miss C, said she wanted one. I laughed at the time and told her that even if I was going to make a quilt for her it would have to be a wedding or a 30th birthday present!. She told me it was her 30th in three years and smiled. So that thought stuck in the back of my mind until I saw this quilt over at the Purl Bee Blog. I thought of Miss C at once. It became my inspiration and I started to buy a quarter of a yard of fabric here and there. I ended up with 11 different fabrics. I then saw this quilt at the Retro Mummy Blog. I loved the look of this one too. I kind of combined the idea of both of them and came up with this design.

This is a picture of the quilt top, spread out on my bed. I didn't want to machine quilt it and I didn't really want to make binding, so I found this tutorial on the Cicada Daydream Blog. I went ahead and tied it with embroidery thread. Then folded the backing over to make a simple binding.

 Here it is drying out after I gave it a wash.

 And here it is on Miss C's bed looking very summery.

I had various problems a long the way making this quilt. I learnt that you get more fabric when you buy a quarter of a yard of fabric than you do if you buy a fat quarter. I ended up having to sew scraps of fabric together to make some of my squares. When my sewing machine stopped functioning properly, I discovered that you can put you needle in the wrong way! Ha, I felt pretty dumb when I found that out. The last thing I realized is even when you buy new safety pins to hold the quilt layers together, they can still leave rust marks on your fabric. So it didn't turn out to be perfect, but then if it did it wouldn't have been a true handmade gift! Happy 30th Miss C!

Knock yer socks off!

 Here is my second attempt at making socks. You'll remember the 'manly socks' I made for my other half for valentines. I wasn't totally happy with them. They were a little too slouchy, so I knew the pattern would never work for me. This pattern is from Susan B. Anderson's tutorial of how she makes socks. I bought a bunch of yarn from Knit Picks last month. This was the only skein I bought that was not on sale. I couldn't resist. I just fell in love with the colours. It's stroll hand painted sock yarn in 'Retro'. The only change I made to the pattern was to knit the cuff for seven inches instead of six. I love the pattern. I'm really happy with how well they fit, feel and look on my feet. I can't wait to knit another pair.

It's a Boy! It's a Girl!

The other week I was invited to a double baby shower for two ladies from my church who are due soon. One is having a boy and the other a girl. The great think about this baby shower was that they asked for recycled gifts. I got to get rid of a few baby item that are collecting dust around my house. I took the opportunity to make a couple of baby bibs for each of them also. I knit a baby bib for my sister last year, but I went with a different pattern this time. I came across this pattern for the Easy Stay-On Bib and I knew it was what I would make. I'm hoping they will work out for size and won't shrink too much when they are washed.

Hot Head!

 This is Meret.

I made it out of Berrocco Vintage for my sister Mrs. M's birthday. I've had this pattern in my Ravelry queue for quite sometime. I do love a beret, and my sister does love pink. I really couldn't go wrong. What I love about this pattern is that there are so many possibilities. I wanted mine to look like the picture with the pattern though, so I followed the directions to make it just that way. I found the pattern was nice and easy for me to understand. I didn't have to look anything up, so it made it a really quick and easy project. I needed it to get done fast because I had to take a two week break from knitting and so this was left until the very last minuet. It still arrived a day late. In true British fashion, they are going through a heat wave right now. It seems to always do this. As soon as school gets out for summer the temperature will drop and the rain will arrive. Don't say I didn't warn you.

 So Mrs. M. has put it safely away for now. She will be sure to enjoy it once the winter comes though.

Mums Arm Warmers/ Finger-less mitts

 My Mum payed us a visit in March and we had some fun knitting together in the evenings. We visited the Lancaster Quilt show and got inspired too. It made me a little sad that I don't get to knit with my Mum more often. She picked out some pretty pink cotton when we went to my local yarn shop. She plans on making a lovely lace shrug from this pattern.

 I decided to ask her what she would like for her birthday this year, and she requested some arm warmers. I showed her the ones I made for myself last year. She liked them, but pink is her favorite colour. So pink is what she got! I found some pink sock yarn with a little sparkle in it at AC Moore. I can't find the label to tell you the brand right now. I'll have to go on a hunt to put it up on Ravelry. And used up some leftover knitpicks superwash sock yarn in bare.

I cast on 52 sts in the mc and did a K2, K2 rib for eight rounds instead of the K1, P1 stated in the pattern. On the thumb, I picked up 5 stitches instead of 3 and went straight into K2, P2 for eight rows. I like the way they turned out. I don't think you can really go wrong with arm warmer/finger-less mitts. They are a fun accessory.

Two Who?

 I said there would be more cables in my future, well here they are. Quite different from the ones in my Hermione cable and eyelet hat. I hope you can see the cute owls on these hats I made for my little girls. The pattern is called Who and comes from here. I used Lion Brands Baby Wool in the colour Bouquet. It took three skeins to knit the two hats. I have seen a pattern for mittens with the same owl cable on them. I'd like to make them for them before winter comes around again.

I've been working on a gift for my Mum's birthday, so I'll be able to share that with you soon. But there is not much knitting going on for me right now because I'm suffering with some rather painful RSI right now. I'm hoping I'll get over it soon. It is something I have lived with on and off for over eight years now. I'm not willing to give up knitting though, so I'll just have to get through it:)