Bedtime Bear

Presenting .... : Bedtime Bear! Made for a work colleagues 1 year old little girl.
Pattern: Simply Knitting Magazine, Issue 13 April
Yarn: GGH Amelie [now discontinued, but still available at Loop]
Skills learned: First time making a knitted toy and embroidering onto knitted fabric.
Modifications: None - had to knit blind as I had no idea how it was going to become a bear until nearly sewing up time.

An added label on her bum!

I wanted it to look like the old-fashioned style bears, but with the more modern yarn, and I hope she loves it.

Family knits

I was home in Elgin at the weekend and got to chatting with my mum about knitting and one thing led to another and doll's clothes, our baby clothes, knitting magazines etc. got pulled out of the attic. There is so much to blog about that this is post 1 of 2!

Above is a cardigan my dad knitted for me when I was born [pic of me in it below]. It's blue not because they were expecting/hoping for a boy, but because blue would look OK on a girl, but pink maybe not so much on a boy.

My mum helped by casting on and off, and seaming the sleeves, but other than that this is all my dad's work!

This was knitted by my great-granny for a doll - although there are pictures of me in it. A doll!! Look at the work in it - I could never give so much for little girl's doll, and I took a lot of photos of it - Fair Isle is next on my list, so I was entranced by this stunning cardigan.

Reverse photos ...

This pink shawl was knitted by my granny for my mum when she was a baby - it was cream then. My mum dyed it pink and it was passed down a generation to me when I was a baby. It was knitted in Brora wool [and I think the cardi above was too]

detailed shot ...

[There were many many more photos, however they didn't come out as well as I'd hoped.]

Finally a pic of me at the Osprey Centre at Abernethy where I saw a baby Osprey [sadly it has died since] and it's parents feeding it. So I got an Osprey cuddly toy from the boy [with real Osprey sounds when you press it's belly - I didn't whilst there - but the cat fairly got a shock when I let it screech in the house]

There was a point where one of the staff exclaimed that the dad was coming back to feed the chick with a big fish in his mouth, and the birdwatchers stampeded in a flock to all available binoculars and telescopes. I figured a similar event would happen were someone to shout that free silk laceweight was available outside during one of our Knit n' Stitch meets!

Cotton Crochet Market Bag

Finished!
Pattern: Free - Bernat Cotton Crochet Market Market
Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton 3 balls
Skills learnt: All of it - brand new to crochet.
Modifications: The strap originally went the other way, but I felt tote-style made it lie better - it just felt twisted the other way [see pattern link]

I'll be taking this with me to Japan as it expands and therefore can fit lots of yarn.
Not an awful lot else to say really... I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

A new angle

Encouraged by K1 Yarns and Sarah, the boy and I visited the Lighthouse this weekend for the Scottish Show/Six Cities exhibition. There were lots of cool things to look at and think about - in particular someone's suggestion to improve the entrance to the Mitchell Library by covering over the gaping motorway hole with a lovely flat green space. So simple, but such a lovely idea. He wrote to the relevant authorities but no answer as yet ...

Anyways, we climbed alot of circular stairway steps to get the top of the Lighthouse tower - I had to be persuaded, and had I not been wearing my pedomoeter the boy probably wouldn't have got me up there [no pedometer = wasted steps].

It's amazing how a different perspective can shed a whole new light on a place [click for giant pics];

The Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art [spiky pointy roof]

The formidable Gorbals Towers


How did they get there to tag this?


A lovely roof garden - bet they love all the people staring at them from the Lighthouse tower - especially those that take photos ... In the distance; Glasgow tower blocks.


Just liked the perspective of this one.


I loved the colours and perspective of this shot.

And back to all things knitty; I have fallen in love with Elann's Pinwheel sweater [free pattern here]. I have a few balls of Wool of the Andes from various swaps, Canadian friends' kind mum's, etc., and I think that I can put these together with a few balls of Elann's yarn to make this. I'm thinking browns, springy greens, golden yellows and pale cream. There's even a knit-a-long for this, although it seems fairly quiet.


I can't believe it's been a year since I finished the baby blanket for my boss's little girl - she is 1 on 2nd July, so I have bought the yarn for this Bedtime Teddy. A pattern from Simply Knitting Issue 13. It'll be my first toy, and if it goes well, probably a staple pattern for future baby presents.


Crochet is going well - I'm onto a mesh bag for Japan - it's for cramming all the yarn I plan to buy in, so it is expandable. Clever, no? Made with Bernat Handicrafter Cotton, free pattern here.

And a final kitty watching the birds shot. I'm currently addicted to Springwatch and I think we may have baby blue tits any day now. Mum and Dad Blue Tit have been hauling food back to what I hope is a nest full of babies for quite a while now. The boy is so happy that I love watching the birds - I've long mocked him for this hobby, without realising how cool it is to watch wee birds having dust baths, and feeding their fluffy babies. Wish we had more blue tits and less boring brown sparrows though.