Courthouse Steps Blanket

Courthouse Steps Blanket

Pattern: Courthouse Steps Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Anchor Magicline. 12x 50g in Pink (1462) & 6.5 x 50g in Green (1478)
Needles: 4.5mm
Time taken to knit: 15th May 2010 to 2nd February 2012.
Size: 99cm x 96cm


Courthouse Steps Blanket

I started this blanket when I was in LOT of pain due to my
knee injury. I sent DH up into the loft to dig out the yarn as I thought the bright colours might cheer me up.


Courthouse Steps Blanket

I then came to a halt for a bit as I ran out of yarn but I managed to buy more of the pink and 2 Ravellers came to my rescue with the green.



Courthouse Steps Blanket

It's an easy pattern to follow which is just what I needed at the time as my brain was frazzled due to pain and all the strong painkillers I was on.



Courthouse Steps Blanket


It can be folded into fun shapes.


Courthouse Steps Blanket

I've given it to the baby daughter of a very good friend of mine. It arrived during a very cold spell and the night before her parents had decided to buy a bigger blanket as little one is very good at kicking her blankets off. Then the postman delivered this...


Courthouse Steps Blanket

I edged it with a garter stitch border with mitred corners and bound off with an applied i-cord.


detail of the mitred corners, i-cord bindoff and the 'wrong side'

I enjoyed making it but was also pleased to give it away as I associated it with being in pain. Hopefully it will well used and keep a certain baby girl nice and warm.

Pimp my vest...

I found a small hole recently on one of our duvet covers. Superking pure cotton duvet covers aren't cheap so I decided to repair it. As the duvet cover is a solid lilac colour I chose a scrap of a pretty purple floral fabric. Using the hearts die for my Accuquilt I applied bondaweb to the fabric before cutting the shapes out, ironed the shapes onto the duvet cover and then sewed around them with my sewing machine.


Purple hearts on a duvet cover

One heart covering the hole looked a bit lonely so I gave it some company. I wasn't that keen on the blanket stitch that the machine produced so continued but with hand sewing. :


Appliquéd hearts on short-sleeved baby vests

A friend of mine has a little baby girl which gave me a great excuse to buy some cheap white baby vests from a supermarket and raid my bag of fabric scraps.


Appliquéd hearts on long-sleeved baby vests

They have been very well received. After I'd sent them I found this blog post which has given me plenty of ideas for future gifts.

And just to demonstrate that there is also some knitting going on here's a photo of my latest project just before it was finished. It's currently blocking and I'll share more details when it's dry and photographed....


pile of garter stitch

Essential Tweed socks

Toe Up socks in Knit Picks Essential Tweed

Pattern: David's Toe Up Sock Cookbook
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential Tweed in Plum (now discontinued)
Needles: 2mm
Time taken to knit: 21st January 2011 to 2nd June 2011


Toe Up socks in Knit Picks Essential Tweed

The yarn was a present from my friend CL in Canada a few years ago. It's made a lovely dense fabric and is very soft after one wash. However I don't know how long the coloured flecks will last as they're very loosely combined with the yarn.



Toe Up socks in Knit Picks Essential Tweed

This pair were knitted toe up, two at a time. The feet and body of the socks are in 3x1 rib and the cuffs 2x2 rib as I like my socks to stay up. I decided to use a simple rib as the flecks would detract from a more complicated pattern.


Toe Up socks in Knit Picks Essential Tweed

Overall I'm pleased with them but would have liked them to be a bit longer.

A few knitted stitches

are being done here amongst the sewing.


Toe up, two at a time socks

This photo was taken at the weekend and they have grown since then. The yarn is Knit Picks 'Essential Tweed' in Plum which I think is discontinued now. It came from deep in my stash and was a present from my friend CL in Canada a few years ago. It's a lovely soft yarn but hopefully will be strong due to the 25% nylon content. I'm using 2mm needles for a nice dense fabric.

Some knitting for a change

My mojo deserted me for a while (again) but at last I have finished something:


Jacques Cousteau Hat for DH

Pattern: Jacques Cousteau Hat
Yarn: Wendy Mode DK in Denim shade 227
Needles: 3.5mm
Time taken to knit: November 8th 2010 to January 15th 2011


Jacques Cousteau Hat decrease

I made him another hat last winter and although nice to look at it wasn't deep enough for him as he wants to be able to protect his neck on early morning walks with the dogs and this fits the bill.

I've also cast on for something else:


Purple toes....

Stop Press

There is a knitted Finished Object in the blueadt house!

Washing and blocking needs to be carried out before photographic evidence can be provided but the rumour has been confirmed by a reputable source.

So in the meantime


Frankie says Relax.....

Drops Shawl

Drops Shawl in Noro Silk Garden Sock

Pattern: Drops Design 120-4 shawl in ”Delight” with lace pattern .
Yarn: 533g of Noro Silk Garden Sock in S269.
Needles: 3.75mm circular
Made for: Me
Size: I increased to 490 stitches before introducing the second lace section.
Time taken to knit: August 4th - November 14th 2010.


Drops Shawl in Noro Silk Garden Sock

This is my first Finished Object of the year which is shameful but I'm no longer on Tramadol so my mind is now free to concentrate on my knitting.


close up of lace pattern with center

I've loved this colourway for a long time and took a few weeks to find a pattern that did it justice. I wanted some lace but not enough that the pattern would be lost in busyness of the stripes. I think the garter stitch works perfectly with the rustic colours and texture of the yarn.


Close up of lace pattern with garter stitch


Another close up of lace


Miles of garter stitch


close up of the lace section again

I knitted the largest size as I wanted a warm shawl to wrap myself up in & that's what I've got!


It's so big I can wrap myself up in it!

Miles of garter stitch

I'm currently knitting a shawl in Noro Silk Garden Sock shade 269. I'd converted this colour for over a year and gave in last month during a trip to York when I visited Ramshambles. I chose the pattern very carefully as I didn't want something that was too busy for the neutral colour stripes and still wanted some patterning. I've got about another 50 rows before the first lace section......

Still here

In 3 days time it'll be 6 months since my accident. I have been discharged by the physio & am allowed to drive again which is great as I hated being dependant upon other people to ferry me around. However the physio thinks it'll take another 5 months or so until I'm back to normal. I have to use a walking stick which I HATE as without it I have a very pronounced limp. I feel very self-conscious either way so not good.

I'm desperate to get moving again and have set myself the task of investigating 'Sports Rehabilitation' next week but don't know if it's available on the NHS. My long suffering husband is still walking the dogs every morning and could really do with a day off/a lie in. I'm desperate to walk them but Oscar is lively and my balance isn't great.

Knitting wise I decided to make something very simple using colours that would cheer me up:


Courtyard Steps blanket

This photo was taken a few weeks ago and I'm much further on now. I stupidly bought only 4 balls of each colour. This wouldn't have even made it big enough for a toddler to use as a buggy blanket but 2 Raverlors were kind enough to help me out and I now have another 3 of the green. I'm still after a ball or two of the pink (Anchor Style Magicline 1462, dyelot 22726) if anyone has any spare.......

Knitting Update

Various projects have been started and finished and not shown here for a number of reasons: Some were Christmas presents, others because DH has been too busy to take photos and also because my mojo left the building. I've found my lifestyle change very hard to take in and just because I have a lot more time to knit because I can't walk, doesn't mean that I want to, does that make sense?


Lady Eleanor the Second

Pattern: Lady Eleanor.
Yarn: 400g of Noro Silk Garden in shade 264
Needles: 5mm circulars
Time taken to knit: August 10th 2008 - September 25th 2009

When she saw my Lady Eleanor a few years ago my Step-Mum LOVED it & wanted to 'borrow' it indefinitely.


Lady Eleanor shawl in Noro Silk Garden 264

So I made another for her.


DD having fun modelling the Lady Eleanor shawl

It took me such a long time to make as I associated it with pain having started it when I came out of hospital after surgery and wanted a familiar easy knit.


Lady Eleanor shawl

After the seeming disaster of my Noro Fake Isle Hat Arianwen saved the day with the use/loan of her wooden hat blocker.


Fake Isle Hat before blocking


Fake Isle Hat after blocking

I love it but unfortunately rarely get outside at the moment so haven't worn it yet. DD also loves it so I made another for her:


Fake Isle Hat

Pattern: Fake Isle Hat.
Yarn: 21g of Noro Kureyon in shade 159 and 36g of Cascade 220 in Jet
Needles: 2x 4mm circulars knitted in the round
Time taken to knit: December 26th 2009 - December 27th 2009


Fake Isle Hat

Lastly (for now) what seemed to take forever as it bored me to tears:


Baktus Scarf

Pattern: Baktus Scarf.
Yarn: 90g of Opal Silk Sock Yarn in shade 1121
Needles: 3.5mm
Time taken to knit: May 9th 2009 - December 28th 2009

This scarf took forever as I'd started it for a work colleague & then lost my job so it sat unfinished for a long time and I also found the pattern tedious to be honest. I finally made myself finish it just to get it out of the way and doesn't have a home yet.

So an update of my finished knits. Lots of other things have been started, abandoned & then then reluctantly picked up again but that's for another day.

Out with the old

Perhaps to be expected we didn't have the best Christmas or New Year celebrations.
2009 was a difficult year for our family on many levels most of which isn't to be shared here. 2008 was also hard on us so we could really do with a change this year....

Knitting is taking place but I've discovered that when it's one of the few things I can do it loses much of it's appeal. My husband is snowed with all the burdens that my injury has heaped on him, so for now you'll have to make do with a photo of a new WIP (taken with my phone) Thummbed mittens.

ETA 2/1/10 to add links

Noro Hats

Turn a Square Hat

Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood.
Yarn: 32g of Cascade 220 in Jet & 16g of Noro Kureyon in 70
Needles: 2x 4mm circulars & 2x 4.5mm circulars
Made for: My husband
Time taken to knit: 8th -10th November 2009


Turn a Square Hat

And now one for me:


Fake Isle Hat

Pattern: Fake Isle Hat.
Yarn: 39g of Cascade 220 in Jet & 26g of Noro Silk Garden in 232
Needles: 2x 4.5mm circulars
Time taken to knit: 6-9th November 2009


Fake Isle Hat

I reversed the colours as I wanted a subtlety coloured hat & the Silk Garden is the same I used for my Lady Eleanor.


Fake Isle Hat

I'm REALLY happy with the colour scheme but the hat doesn't fit me very well. It's not too bad on my daughter but I've got a lot of very thick hair so it lifts off my head & is too pointy! It'll be frogged soon....

19/11/9 A possible reprieve. My friend Arianwen has a hat blocker & is going to try & reshape it. Plus DD has announced that she likes it. She showed the photos to her friends & they all wanted the hat!

Crazy Color Fingerless Gloves

Crazy Color Fingerless Gloves

Pattern: Basic Fingerless Gloves.
Yarn: 29g of Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Crazy Color in Passion
Needles: 2x 40 cm 4mm circulars
Time taken to knit: January 20th 2009 - October 17th 2009



This was another project that got forgotten about but it shouldn't have taken more than a few days.



Now that the weather has turned colder I've taken to wearing them in the house before the fire is lit & often work in them.


Lyra helps with the photoshoot!


The excitement was too much!