Just Enough Space For Me To Eat

I used to have a dining room with a round table and space for 4 chairs. Now I have 3 chairs (one got broken) and just enough space for me to put my plate. After I have moved the baby jacket of course.

When my table isn't being used to display or block my latest project that is. This will be my version of Baby It's Cold Outside, a free pattern from Ravelry, when it is finished off. Yes it's finally happened. My friend Sylvia, the foster mum, has got a newborn girl. I am so excited to have a girl to crochet for but I still have to fit in my work for my online store as well so I am going to be busy. The white box holds my filing system for baby patterns. Another box holds the partially finished baby crochet sets.  It's bad enough having one messy room but my front room was turning into a crochet jumble as well. I like to have one room where chaos doesn't reign although it can never be completely tidy as I crochet in there whilst I watch the TV in the evenings. One project and a basket in there looks OK to me.

My one bit of organization. My buttons are mostly sorted into the same colour in boxes making it easier to find a certain button.The boxes behind the blue double sided boxes contain my rosebuds, motifs, trimmings and bows

One of the knitting machines has got buried under the yarn. The good thing though is that now it is so easy to move the laundry bags around and also to see what is in there. This, of course, is not my full stash. This is just the new stash accumulated for my baby crochet. The rest is still in the stash bedroom. The calor gas fire is my emergency heating as I only have gas central heating and if anything goes wrong with my boiler then I have no heat. Fortunately I haven't had to use it this year.

The baby cardigans have now dried from blocking. I used a pattern by Heather from Just Crochet for this jacket but the hat, which has turned out a bit big, was adapted from another pattern.

After I had finished crocheting the back I realized that I had been reading the pattern wrong. It was that day when I wasn't concentrating as I kept falling asleep. I decided that even though it wasn't the stitch that Heather had designed I quite liked my version so I carried on until I had finished the jacket. I made this one for my neighbour Julie's sister's baby boy to be. I decided that the other jacket that I knitted would be far too small for a full term baby and another of the foster Mums has just got a brand new baby boy who weighs less than 5 lbs so it will fit him better,

I will send this for the baby girl although she will have to grow into it. I started it long before I knew it would be a girl and only finished it off once she was here. I think that the pattern is a Peter Pan one but I have filed it away now (bragging because I now have a labelled filing system for my most regularly used baby patterns!) so I will have to find it again to post the number on Ravelry later.

I haven't done much of anything so far today. I crocheted a matching hat to match the cream baby jacket but I still have to sew the buttons and trimmings onto the jacket so hopefully photos of that tomorrow. This jacket will also be too big for the foster baby yet but she will grow into it very soon.

Fingers Crossed For A Girl

I am still busy crocheting baby things. These two jackets are not for my store. The blue jacket is for my neighbour's sister's baby boy due in July. The yarn is James C Brett Marble Baby DK. The pattern is a  bit of a mix. It started off as one pattern and true to form it evolved into another as I didn't like crocheting the stitch that was on the pattern.

I started the pink random bolero a while ago but never finished it off. The yarn appears to be one of those pearlized yarns but as it had no label I cannot say for sure what it is. I finished it off as my friend Sylvia has heard that there maybe another foster baby on it's way to her and the rumour is that it is a little girl. Fingers crossed. Last time she was told that it was a girl she got a boy as per usual. Any way I finished off the bolero just in case. The trouble with foster babies is I never know what size they will be until they arrive. Sometimes they are very tiny and sometimes full term.

My little black cat visitor is acting like she lives here now. This morning because I was in the front room I didn't see her at the patio door. She came around the front jumped onto a really narrow windowsill and banged on the glass with her paw to be let in. She has had some dinner and is now fast asleep somewhere. She will emerge when she is fed up and wants to go home again.

Today I was going to call up the village for some bread and visit the bank but the nice weather has disappeared and it keeps raining on and off. Ah well I will find something from the freezer for my dinner tonight instead.

As promised more photos from the baby knitting book. I am not sure if they will all fit on but I will see how it goes.

Nice basic little cardigan.

This makes a little boy look all grown up.

I love this little dress although I don't think that I would fancy knitting those ruffles. Too many stitches for me !

Another of the lovely pram rugs in this book.

Sweet little hat with an elf style top.

A very useful hooded top. Sorry about the lousy photo.

A very grown up looking aran sweater.

Unusual style block pram rug.

Not sure about these colours but I do like the style and the striped sleeves.

Such a pretty detail on the baby slippers.

Jacket with a lace panel up the fronts.

Another version of the log cabin blanket.

This would be lovely for a family party or wedding. Comfier for a little one than a real suit.

A very usefully shaped jacket. Simple but effective.

Nice grown up jacket for a little one. I would not have chosen lime green for a boy but some how it works.

A very useful hat with ear flaps and ties to keep ears warm in the winter.

I adore these little shoes especially in the bright colours.

A cupcake hat. The last pattern in the book. 60 patterns and every one of them is very knittable. Looking forward to having the time the start something from the book very soon.

Coffee time, 60 minute makeover on the TV and some more baby crochet. That's my plans for the afternoon unless the weather brightens up and I can go out on my scooter to the shops. .

Flat Pack Wrangling

We have all bought things that come in flat pack. I know that it's economical as far as postage is concerned but I do get so sick of having to assemble it myself and finish up with a somewhat rickety piece of furniture as in the shoe/hat/scarf rack that I bought recently. Now it is filled it has developed a lean to one side. I am sure this would not have happened had it come ready assembled.

Today's wrangle is small compared to the shoe rack but just as frustrating.

As you can see today it is cardboard storage boxes that are defeating me! They have instructions saying fold side A and then fold C and D. They do have diagrams but it would have been easier if they had labelled the sides A,B,C and D on the flat pack for the mentally bewildered such as me! Just when I breathed a sigh of relief when I completed one box I then realized that I still had a lid to assemble. There are 10 of these little beauties but they are only going to get assembled as and when needed.

Back to some more photos from the baby knit book from a couple of days ago. I don't have much else to show you as although I have finished the crocheting on a blue baby outfit it isn't stitched up so will go into this box of unfinished WIP. I will have one day when I will sew on all the trimmings and buttons.

I love bright colours for a baby blanket.

Useful hats with ear flaps to keep out the chill.

Another of my favourite patterns from the book. The addition of the cotton lace as a trim is really pretty.

This is the cover jacket. It looks fairly straight forward using different stitches as texture.

Fair isle hat.

This is a practical dungaree set as it has poppers for easy changing of wet nappies.

I just love this little hedgehog blanket. Shades of grey seem to the latest colours for babies.

The little hat has hearts knitted in over each ear.

Whatever this creature is ( crocodile or alligator) it's body goes around the body and the tail is mid back.

Another unusually shaped pram blanket.

This would make a nice Christmas jacket.

This is a pretty little sun dress that could turn into a winter outfit with a change of colour and a long sleeved T shirt underneath.

There are still lots more photos from this same book that I will post on my blog on a daily basis.

All my unfinished baby things will fit into one of these storage boxes and I am going to use another one for storing folders of the crochet patterns that I am using at the moment.

The postman has just arrived and brought me 3 rolls of ribbon. It isn't baby ribbon but the balloon or florist ribbon that I am going to use to wrap up the finished outfits ready for posting. It is very narrow and can be curled over a pair of scissors to make twirls. I do think that presentation is important when trying to sell things.

The sun has been glorious this morning but now it has gone all heavy as though there will be a thunderstorm later.

I should really go and do some food shopping as my friend Sylvia might be coming for a visit tomorrow. Hopefully she will let me know early and I can zoom up to the shops tomorrow before she arrives. When I visit her she makes me my dinner. I will be in M&S seeing what meals deals they have on offer as cooking isn't one of my strong points lately. I used to cook all the time when I had a family to cook for but years of living on my own have made me very lazy.

Coffee time and back to the crochet again. Yesterday evening I had one of my 'falling asleep at the drop of a hat' evenings, yet when I got into bed I could not fall asleep for ages. I don't know what is wrong with me. I can guarantee that at some stage this afternoon I will be sleeping in the recliner chair. I think that it is my sleep apnea. I can go from feeling a little bit sleepy to gone to the world in 0-3 seconds! I only sleep for about 10 minutes and feel really spaced out and have a dull headache when I wake up. I can do this over and over again all through the afternoon and evening. It's getting very annoying especially when I am finding it so hard to drop off in bed at night..

More photos

I have a lot of things planned for today. Nothing exciting, just chores unfortunately. I got up bright and early so I thought that I would post a few more photos from the 60 Quick baby knits today. I don't have much else to write about this morning except to say that the sun is shining on and off. Unfortunately more off than on ! Once I get stuck into doing things I tend to forget to write my blog so with nothing to write about yet it is short and sweet today with lots of photos. .

Not sure about the leg warmers but the hat is really cute.

Nice bright colours for a blanket.

Love this one.

Although the bird does look rather like a blue duck I still find this charming.

Unsure about the unusual shape of this baby blanket.

Bright and cheerful baby socks.

A nice basic cardigan pattern where the top in knitted as a yoke so no seaming together at the raglans.

Unusual striped hat. I like the different pattern of stripes.

One of my least favourite designs. Whilst I think that the flower idea is lovely all of that colour stranding makes it rather thick and little baby fingers can get trapped in the strands on the wrong side of the cardigan.

Once again not keen on the leg warmers but the jacket is rather sweet.

Cute little cushion.

Traditional aran style sweater.

Mitts with strings so that they don't get lost.

There are still loads more photos from this book to post. As I mentioned yesterday it is really good value for money in my opinion.

Time for breakfast now and as it is a Sunday it's traditional English breakfast for me with no thoughts of a diet. Bacon, eggs, grilled tomatoes and potato cakes today. I do look forward to a traditional breakfast although I don't cook one every Sunday.

More photos from the book tomorrow. Enjoy your Sunday.