Whoosh! January's over!

I really didn't intend there to be such a long gap between my last post and this one. OK, I know that Flo stepped in and told you about the needle felting, but I have actually had quite a productive month - I just haven't had the oomph to sit down and tell you all about it. As I'm back at the hospital next week for my IVIg infusions, I thought that I'd really better sit down and get it done. (That makes it sound like blogging is a real chore, but I promise you that it isn't.) Anyhow, let's get on with the crafting!

The first thing I have to show you is a sweet little crocheted cat. I used a really great pattern from A la Sacha (Ravelry link) who has designed some 'Onesiegurumi' crochet patterns (Ravelry link.) You crochet the limbs, ears and tail first and then attach them to the body and head of the cat as you crochet. I really love this because firstly they are more securely attached than if they were sewn on and also because I HATE sewing up toys. They are so fiddly! Just look at the little paws - they even have toe beans! The cat was made for the daughter of one of my rheumatology nurses who loves cats and has been called Apricot! I thought that Apricot might like a little blanket too, so I hooked up a ripple blanket following the pattern on Attic24. I used some James Brett baby marble yarn and did a round of double crochet and a picot stitch border. You can see that Flo was unimpressed as she thought it was too small for her! The cat was crocheted using different colours of Stylecraft Bambino yarn.

The second finished item is a jumper that I knitted for a friend. I used my own top-down jumper pattern which is available as a free download on the Stylecraft website here. I wanted to knit it in a plain colour and managed to knit the second size using less than five balls of Stylecraft's Softie yarn. I crocheted around the inside of the neck to stabilise it as I found that on my jumper, the ribbing had a tendency to stretch down a bit more than I wanted. I added a fun label to make the back of the jumper obvious - it really tickles me as I reckon that everything I knit has some of Flo's fur in it! Flo muscled in on the photoshoot of course! 

My third finished item is my Turtle Dove II sweater. I started this last September in a makealong with my Knit and Natter Instagram friends but it was put aside for gift knitting. Anyhow, it's finished now and is absolutely gorgeous. I used Drops Air yarn which is beautifully soft, light and cosy. I will definitely be using it for more garments in the future. I bought it when it was on sale last year from the Woolwarehouse. Even when it's not in the sale, it is a very reasonable price. The pattern is a free download from Espace Tricot and you can find it here. (Ravelry link) 

I've already cast on a new jumper and am pondering another one - I've got as far as finding the yarn in my stash so I reckon it's going to be getting cast on pretty soon too! Pop back again soon for an update. xxx