And I’m freeeeee…. freeSTYLING

After my emotional crappiness in the early hours of the morning, I wanted to share something positive, something that made me feel good about myself, that made me feel not-crap.

I spent the morning knitting.  Literally 8.20am-1pm I was knitting like a… well, something that knits really intensely.  The end result was a Milo for my cousin’s baby due in February.  More specifically, it is a Milo that included a little freestyling!  Yeap.  Me.  The person who must follow a pattern, who must follow a recipe, who must do something exactly how she is told to… I freestyled.

Okay, so I didn’t freestyle a hell of a lot, in fact, it was only one row that was different from the pattern… but I love that it worked!  I did a row of eyelets so I could lace through some ribbon to be tied in a bow at the front.  Being that I haven’t had babies for a long time now, it may turn out that ribbon is a pure and simple pain in the ass with a baby, in which case I am sure my cousin will use her brain and remove the ribbon!

Was nice to do something that left me feeling accomplished today.

My latest knitting accomplishments

Just wanted to share some of my latest (finished) knitting projects!
click on the links to be taken to the patterns on Ravelry

Cheer Up (Kelly Brooker/Pekapeka)

Asterism (Janina Kallio)

That Cheeky Kea (Kelly Brooker/Pekapeka)

Quaintly (Kelly Brooker/Pekapeka)

Rainbow Trout (Kelly Brooker/Pekapeka)

Orbit (Janina Kallio)

Milo (with quilted lattice stitch body) (Georgie Hallam)

Another Milo, this time in the Wanganui rugby team colours, for Gabrielle’s teacher’s baby!

#MiloMay2015 progress report

May, as well as being the month of my daddy’s birthday, is the month of the Milo!

No, I am not referring to the hot drink, I am referring to the utterly gorgeous 0m-4y size knitted vest, designed by TikkiKnits.  I have been wanting to knit it since I began knitting, but always looked at the pattern and thought it’d be too hard.  Well, I decided to bite the bullet and knit one.  It went surprisingly well… so well that I began a second almost as soon as I’d finished the first!  Number two is finished and after a break of a couple of days, I am thinking it might be time to start number three!

I have probably spent more time knitting than I should have – and less time on my school work – but it’s been a form of mental health break for me.  The sense of accomplishment when I finish one, or when I successfully do one of the skills that has scared me off doing it before, it’s amazing.  I don’t feel quite so useless when I look at my completed Milo, and it felt great today to gift the second one to Gabrielle’s teacher, to give to her newborn nephew!

I am yet to do a version with a cable pattern on it, but will definitely be doing one… perhaps for number four, because I think number three is going to have a variegated wool body, and the cable just gets lost in busy wool!

Here are my two completed Milos

If you are interested in the pattern you can get it here on Ravelry!

The mad (crochet) hatter…

After doing a couple of big (for me) projects lately I decided to take a break and make some baby hats.  Not only are they damn cute, they are also a good way to get almost instant gratification – half an hour after starting they are done – and that sense of accomplishment sets in.  So far I have only made newborn size hats along with a couple of preemie size and I think I might try and sell them.  People always need woolen hats for newborns and really, who can resist a cute little hat!

I have only done one style of hat so far (using granny stitch) but think I will branch out soon.  I am thinking about donating some preemie size hats to the NICU at the local hospital…   after knowing what friends of mine have recently been through with preemies, I want to be able to help in some tiny way.  I have a feeling making newborn and preemie hats is a way to make up for the fact that I won’t be having anymore babies… I can’t snuggle with a tiny baby, but I can make a hat for one!