Booties, books and afghans

Well it has been a while but I have been busy crafting over Christmas. Topped off with colds and losing my voice, I think holiday times we all congregate close all the doors and just swap gifts and germs. How has this stopped me typing I hear you ask. I will think of a good excuse later..but in the mean time a Happy New Year to you all.

 I have just made three of the tiniest pairs of booties from a simple pattern for my good friends premature baby granddaughter weighing in at 4lb. The baby not the booties they are just little bits of fluffy wool and ribbon. I found the pattern here It is a simple easily adapted pattern and knitted in four ply on small needles 3.25mm.

First pair were stocking stitch with a rib cuff, then a pair stocking stitch again with a moss stitch cuff, I found it made the tiniest booties, I then went up to a 4mm needle and still casting on using the smallest size cast on, made as the pattern says in garter stitch main and a moss stitch cuff. I can recommend this free pattern for beginners and a quick knit to use up all those scraps of wool.

Talking of using up scraps of wool I made a baby blanket over Christmas for the fun of it. Crocheting granny circles into granny hexagons and the beauty of it is you join as you go so no tedious sewing up at the end.

Just treated myself to a new knitting book. Nicky Epstein's Knitting in Circles it arrived yesterday and I am working on my first circle, one from the back of the book of course. Start with the hard ones and work your way forward is my usual plan of attack! A fascinating book full of lovely patterns and ideas to use them. A nice variety of stitches and working too, not all circular needles. Nice to have a proper hardcover book as opposed to the posh paperback style that most craft books now come in. I used to buy two or three magazines a month but they are so costly and I usually only want one item of interest from them.

knitting Brioche by Nancy Marchant was a Christmas gift from John. I had wanted this book for a while, it kept me amused for days trying out new stitches and designs. Eventually managed to get a sample to look like the illustration, so now I am waiting for a special offer on her Craftsy class Explorations in Brioche Knitting I think it will fill in the gaps.The book is fine it is me that is the problem.....More on this later....Here is a link to the class on Craftsy