3 Coloured Jacket

I am making another little jacket with oddments. I am using the same pattern as the hooded one from my previous post but this time I think that it will just have a neckband. The pattern stitch is from an equally old pattern for a ladies jacket pattern. I call it fake fair isle.

It is simply one row in each of three colours all the way through. It looks like Fair Isle as every knit row is K1 then put the yarn to the front as if to purl but instead slip one stitch then put the yarn back and knit the next stitch. Every reverse row is simply purl, The next right side row the slip stitch goes where the knit stitch was and the knit stitch is where the slipped stitch of the previous row was. Slipping the stitches with the wool in front leaves a little bar. The alternating slip stitch Fair Isle effect comes from using the three colours, I have tried to go as close up as I can with the second photo to show you what I mean. I am using denim blue, pale blue and white.

I am trying to finish off the baby things as there is a possibility that I will meet up with my foster friend Sylvia's daughter on Saturday at the knit out at the Islington Mill Salford. If she is going to be there then I can give the bag of jackets to her as she goes to visit her Mum most weeks. Otherwise I will have to take a taxi up to Sylvia's to deliver them before they become too small for the baby who is growing fast. He is now almost 9lbs.

When my niece came yesterday she brought me 3 lovely almost new good label tops that she has got too slim to wear any more. One is from Monsoon and is in a sheer patterned teal coloured chiffon and has a beaded trim at the V neck and a matching vest in plain matching colour for underneath the sheer top. Very pretty. I thought that the tops wouldn't fit me as even when she put weight on she was still smaller than me. Luckily they are made of stretchy fabric and although one is a wee bit tight on the arms the other two fit really well. A welcome injection of colour to my wardrobe and something new for me to wear. Don't get me wrong I do have lots of clothes but most of them are from when I was working and are now too small. I am not getting rid of them as they are my normal size and hopefully once this knee business is over I will get back down to my normal size. My normal size is still plump but not as fat as I am now. I will never be skinny. I have not been skinny since my late 30's.

I haven't done much in the way of knitting or crochet as I have been nodding asleep on and off today for some reason. I think it's because the weather has turned cold and miserable. I am far livelier when the sun shines and it is warm. All I have to do is sit in my new armchair and recline it slightly and my eyes shut. I don't know what my neighbours are thinking about me always nodding in full view of passers by. I think maybe I should try sleeping in the chair as the moment once I get in bed at night I wake up and toss and turn for ages.

Time for a coffee and try to stay awake to do some more knitting on the foster babies jacket. I can't understand why it is taking me so long to knit it as it is on 6mm needles and is chunky wool.

More Books In The Post

The back of the pink baby cardigan is not from a pattern in one of my new books. In fact the pattern is so old that I first made it for my expected baby 41 yrs ago. When he turned out to be 9lbs 3 ozs at birth I gave it to my Auntie who gave birth to my cousin Susan a few weeks later as she was much smaller.In fact she finished up with a lot of first size cardigans that I had made as my son grew very rapidly and needed the next size up within a couple of weeks. At his first health clinic visit he weighed 11lbs 7ozs at 3 weeks old.No wonder he cried a lot - he was always hungry.

I am making it with some 3ply Hayfield baby wool that I had in stock and it is intended for the same newborn foster baby as the other two pink cardigans. I hope to have it finished by tomorrow.

My new books arrived from Amazon today. I ordered the Crochet In No Time by Melody Griffiths which was recommended to me by my friend June (Jolive on Ravelry) and although I have not really had time to give it a good browse, as it only arrived a half hour ago, at first glance there seems to be quite a few patterns in there that I will use. Thanks for the tip June. I am sure that I will be crocheting something from it very soon.

The Crochet Hat book by Candi Jensen has been on my wish list for quite a while. There seems to be quite a few that I will make. My only grumble is that there are only 15 hat patterns in the book but as I will make more than half of them then I suppose that I shouldn't grumble. It would be a good book for a beginner though as there are pages of explanations showing 'how to' with each hat. It is full of crochet tips, close up photos of the stitches and stitching up tips.

I will pick a few patterns from each book to photograph tomorrow when I have given each book a thorough browse.It doesn't matter that I now have a large library of crochet books I still get a flicker of excitement every time they arrive at my door. Most of the books that I choose give me pleasure. I just have a few books in my collection that I just know that I will never make anything from it. I still can't bear to part with them though.

I have recovered from my weekend with the two dogs. I went to bed last night at 10.30pm and didn't wake up until 7am which is unheard of for me. I had also had a nap in the afternoon yesterday so I think that I have caught up with my missed sleep. The only downside of that was that my crochet suffered and I barely did anything yesterday as I was so tired. I am going to try to catch up today.

More patterns from Crochet Baby Book

I have managed to work out the stitches to convert a short sleeve into a long sleeve and have finished the first one. Sorry Lynn (Lalltop) the sweater has a round neck even though it is more of a scooped neckline. I feel that I am on the last stretch now and hope to have the sweater finished over the weekend and then I can reward myself with some crochet.

As promised here are some more patterns from the Crochet for Babies book. There are so many patterns in the book and nearly all of them are so sweet but I can only post just a few on here. I wish that I could crochet with yarn that has a textured effect. I think that the bobble blanket by Mary Ann Sipes called Warm and Cuddly looks lovely made in Red Heart Baby Clouds chunky.

I love the Grandma's Double Delight by Elaine Bartlett as it is a granny square theme but is quite a close stitch instead of the usual openwork granny square that I am used to making. This blanket has less holes for a tiny baby to get it's fingers stuck in. I think the delicate colours chosen for this blanket look lovely.

I have skipped over a couple more lovely blankets to show you the Swirly Fringed Blanket by Karen Hay as I think that the edging is very unusual. More secure for babies even if they put the fringe in their mouths.

The Lil Lamb Cardigan and Hat by Darla Sims is too adorable for words. Once again though it is done in boucle chunky - this time Bernat baby chunky boucle. I think that the wool makes the jacket look like a little sheep and I don't think that it would look as nice in a plain wool. I always manage to get my hook tangled up in my stitches when I try to crochet anything boucle.

The Beach Baby Ensemble bikini by Mary Ann Sipes is lovely. I think that it is merely for sunbathing and play wear as anyone of my age group has vivid memories of wearing handmade swimwear that stretched out of all recognition once it got wet.

The Blue poncho is part of the same beach ensemble and it brings back memories of when I crocheted my baby a blue and white striped poncho all those years ago. They were very fashionable way back in the late 60's and I used to use it over his coat for an extra layer when he was in his pram. Often I would just tuck it around him when he was sleeping as he hated being wrapped up in shawls or blankets.

Today I have washed the bedding as it looks like a good drying day although the sun has gone in again this afternoon. I was going to Tesco for food shopping this afternoon but my eyes keep closing. I don't know whether it is my new mask that isn't working properly or just me but I can't keep my eyes open today. I will hopefully manage to do some shopping tomorrow. I will try the morning tomorrow when I am a bit more alert.