Sarah Youde

Ta Dahhhhhh! Chambourcin Sweater

I finished knitting my new Jumper using the Chambourcin pattern purchased on Ravelry.

I love it.  I love the fact that it is knitted in 4 ply yarn because I really do prefer wearing thinner jumpers layered with a t-shirt. 

Making this jumper was a revalation because, although I have been knitting for over 30 years. I have never felt the necessity to block anything before.  I don't know why because I have knitted lace but I think the advent of the internet and all the information available to us now without the need to purchase books means that we can all improve our skills and learn new things.  Anyway, blocking is amazing!  I knitted this sweater using cheap yarn (Stylecraft 4 ply) because my thoughts were that, generally, when you buy a sweater in the shops it is made of acrylic yarn.  Don't get me wrong, I am aware you can spend a fortune and buy tops that are wool but I don't tend to want to part with that much money all the time and I have just bought a beautiful jumper from Cult and even that was 100% acrylic!

The Stylecraft yarn knitted up beautifully and blocking wasn't a problem I just pinned it out with some t-pins (from ebay) on some cheap rubber playmats (£5 in Tesco) to the required dimensions whilst it was dry and then gently steamed it with the iron (without touching the fabric) and allowed it to dry.  It was perfect and so easy.  I actually put of doing it for a few days because I was worried but, seriously, it was so easy to do.  If you haven't tried blocking before, do it - it makes such a difference.

I love the hood!  Although, just when you think you have finished you need to pick up over 300 stitches around the neck and back and then knit a further 16 inches of lace for the hood.  A bit depressing!

Having said all this about the acrylic yarn I love this jumper so much that when I have some money to spare I really would like to knit this is some beautiful wool in a very pretty colour!

 

Peerieflooers Hat

Ravelry is a pain, it really is because you innocently go onto the website to have a nice little browse around with a cup of coffee and end up seeing hundreds of beautiful projects that you just have to knit or crochet right NOW!

One of the projects I have seen is the Peerieflooers hat, it is just so gorgeous!  It reminds of those beautiful (expensive) hats you see in department stores, the hats I put on my head and think I really need this!  I am so excited to find this pattern and, of course, I had to cast on immediately.

It is a joy to knit and really satisfying to see the beautiful Rowan wool knit up into Kate Davies gorgeous creation.

There are matching mittens too.  Oh dear, I may have accidentally added the chart for the mittens to my library already.

Seeing me knitting this Mark has asked for me to make him a hat.  I nearly fell of my chair that he wants me to make him something but I am also really looking forward to another trip to Ravelry to search out the perfect beanie (or whatever) for him :)

Fingerless Gloves - Very Fetching

Over at Ravelry I am constantly seeing these gloves called 'Fetching' from the Knitty.com website.  I really wanted to make these (and about 100 other projects on Ravelry) and I sat down to do them a couple of weeks ago.

They are a really quick knit (or would have been had I not had to order an extra ball of yarn to finish them!) and are so cosy.  I can't wait to wear them.

I used Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran and it took just over 1 skein to complete them.  The colour is called cucumber and is about the same colour as the walls of my craft room which is probably my favourite colour :)  The above picture is a bit washed out as I took it in bad light, the picture below sows the colour a little better.

The ends of these gloves curled very badly when they were knitted but after blocking they are perfect :)

More Smashing Pages

I do so love working in my smash book!  It is quite freeing to think that this doesn't have to be perfect.  It's not perfect, it's smooshed but I love it and it is the perfect place to add all the bits and bobs you pick up whilst on holiday.

This page has all our tickets on it.  They are strategically attached with the odd staple so that if I ever wish to have a proper look at them they can be easily removed.

The opposing page tells the story of how Amy lost her first tooth on our first full day in the Magic Kingdom.  I like the big Mickey on the page which I cut from one of the numerous leaflets I picked up whilst in Orlando.  I would have preferred Tinkerbell on that page but I couldn't find a big picture of her in my stuff.  I may need to take a trip to a travel agent for a couple of brochures ;)

This page is all about meeting mickey.  I have used a sticker given to us in the Magic Kingdom and a clothing tag.  My scraps box is getting a good work out in this Smash book, it may even deplete a little bit!

Last Month

I went to the crop at Just Tracey's and did a little bit of papercrafting amongst all the chatting.  Just one layout though.  Obviously, it was Florida photographs - I really must get on and do more of them but I just don't seem to be getting into my craft room lately!  I think I am going to do what my friend Jo does and earmark one night a week as my 'crafting night' and retire to my room and hide!

The layout uses some pictures from the fabulous parades at the Magic Kingdom with some American Crafts papers by Amy Tangerine.

I am trying to keep my Disney layouts quite flat and most with probably err on the simpler side but even so I have cut the Amy Tangerine paper into strips and layered them either side of the photographs, the cloud and sun are layered together on 3d foam but the flowers cut from the patterned paper are glued directly onto the background before being doodled around to add some interest. 

I added some yellow bakers twine to the right edge as it is thin and doesn't add too much bulk.

I also added a few pages to my Smash book, I will share those tomorrow.

San Francisco Purse

A while ago I was browsing on Pinterest and, like so often happens, I saw something that I just had to make.  It was the San Francisco Crochet purse and I thought it would be a perfect little extra for Charlotte on her birthday so I bought the pattern straight away...

...and made it :)

I used some of my stash of Rowan Handknit Cotton for this bag and specifically ordered the pretty beads from eBay to finish it off.  I now seem to have a nice little collection of these pretty plastic and wooden beads so I am prepared for further cuteness should the appropriate pattern turn up.

The beads are sewn on once all the pieces of the bag are put together.  The pattern doesn't tell you what to do, it just says 'decorate it to your fantasy'.  Lovely!

It is so cute.

Actually, I had better give it to Charlotte tonight because I hid it away before her birthday and totally forgot to give it to her!

Birthdays in the house!

We had two birthdays in the house last week.  Charlotte was nine on Tuesday and Mark also had a birthday on Thursday.

On Saturday Charlotte had a birthday party at home and it was great. Bex from Dazzling Pamper Parties came and took over for a couple of hours bringing a huge pink massage table and lots of nail varnish, make-up and glittery tattoos.  We started the party an hour before Bex turned up so that we could do a pass the parcel and get the eating part out of the way before she arrived. The girls had a fabulous time and Mark and I didn't have to do anything. Next time I have Bex to do a party I will make sure my knitting is in the craft room so I can relax while she is here :)  It was the easiest party ever and all the girls were so well behaved!  Charlotte also had her friend to stay on Friday and Saturday night so it felt like we had an extra child for a couple of days.

On Mark's birthday we went out for lunch to B-Bar in the Barbican Theatre in Plymouth.  It is a Thai Noodle bar and their Thai Green Curry is delicious.  It is our new favourite place to eat and the entertainment is great!

Homely Stuff

What no blogging! Well you know what I am like when the kids are on holiday , ever so slightly distracted from my routine!

We have been busy doing 'house-y' stuff though. Last year we managed to save £9,000 to go to Disneyland so we thought that this year we would any spare money to do nice things to the house and I am loving it.

So far we have done the girls bedroom and had wardrobes built in our room. We also bought a new bed and finally got some nice curtains in our room. Our room is almost finished, I just need to make a couple of canvasses and get a dressing table and rug and it will be done, but you can't buy it all at once can you?

Mark is painting the kitchen for me this weekend. Do you remember this post from 2008 when I was lamenting the fact that he was painting over my beloved red walls? Well, now he is painting them back red for me (it only took 4 years of nagging!). Insert a little happy dance here.

On a side note:  clicking on that link to the kitchen in red was quite a shock.  Where you see the TV on the side is now the door to my craft room and we also have wooden floors throughout the hall, kitchen and craft room which are not there in the picture!  It is surprising what a difference four years can make! The poster is still on the wall though :)

We have also bought lots of bits and bobs this year like a nice mantle clock, a canvas for the lounge and a rug. I have also got my looooong sought after Dualit toaster and kettle.

Our most recent conversations concern the back garden which is really just a yard. We are going to tidy it up a bit and get some pots for plants and a nice little table that we can have a sunshiney coffee at in more pleasant surroundings. I can't wait, I don't want posh, just a little cottage-y retreat which for me is just perfect!

Sport Relief

On Sunday we went up on to Plymouth Hoe for Mark, Ben and Charlotte to run the Sport Relief mile.  Actually they ran 3 miles, the kids worked incredibly hard and ran their race in 28 minutes!

They were so proud of themselves and we were so very proud of their achievement :)

Didn't they do well?

Floral iPhone Wallpaper

The pictures in Thursday's post are so pretty, don't you think?  I did too!

I set the large pink rose image as my iPhone wallpaper and it looks so lovely (especially as I have a pink snap on cover on the phone. 

I thought you may like to have it too.  Just click below to download the full size image.  The picture on the previous blog post has been optimised for the web so it won't look as nice if you just save that one :)

I change my wallpaper on my phone all the time but this one will probably be on there for a while because I love it!