Finished!

The cashmere blanket is finished! It was quite stressful given the price tag of the cashmere! I basically cut two 70 x 90cm pieces from the fabric and placed a thin layer of cotton batting in between. The blanket was then edged with a 1.5 inch satin border. I embroidered the baby's name and christening date on it in baby blue. Job done!

This week am I am mostly loving...

Cascade yarn and spring flowers!
I cannot believe that this week is my first encounter with Cascade yarn!! Of course, I had heard of it via Ravelry where it is the favourite yarn, but I had never tried it for myself. I have to say that this was a MAJOR oversight on my part as I am loving it! I am knitting a cardigan for my four year old with Cascade 220 in the flamingo pink colourway and the yarns is knitting up beautifully! Hopefully it will be a quick knit on 5.5mm needles so I should have to pictures to post soon.
This week I am also loving my vase of tulips - my favourite flowers, kindly provided by a very nice husband!

Christening Blanket

I am working on a lovely project at present, for a friend of a friend. It is a beautifully soft cashmere christening blanket. The cashmere is amazing!! The lady I'm sewing it for was given a few meters of cashmere several years ago whilst working for a fabric company. It was pretty much being thrown away as there were a few imperfections in the fabric - if there hadn't been it would have cost £300 a metre!! Understandably I nearly had a coronary when I was told this! Michelle didn't know what to do with the cashmere - until she had a baby!
The design is extremely simple - I always think less is more - two squares of cashmere separated by a very thin layer of cotton batting and trimmed with sating binding. The baby's name is embroidered in the bottom left corner. It is very nearly finished and I hope to post some pictures by the end of the week.

Baby Blanket

I've picked up my knitting needles again over the last couple of weeks. Several UFOs have been neglected for far too long - I seem to be a serial non-finisher of knitting projects! I've been so tired of late that I have been preferring to sit down and knit in the evenings rather than concentrating on my sewing. This blanket was made for my friend's baby girl, Daisy. The pattern is by Debbie Bliss and is found in her book 'Simply Baby'. I love this pattern so much that it tends to be my stock baby blanket one! I used some yarn from my stash - Cotton Cashmere - which is beautiful, but sadly discontinued. This project had been on my needles since September so I feel a great sense of achievement in finally completing it - now on to the next WIP. I'm ashamed to say that in my Ravelry notebook I have more WIPs than completed ones!

Stash

Why is it that in January I have an overwhelming urge to clean, tidy and organise? Yesterday afternoon I went through my fabrics and arranged them neatly in boxes. I found so many bundles I had forgotten about including this lovely one! This one came, at some point, from the lovely Buttonberry and is a collection of Freespirit fabrics. I'm not sure what to do with it yet, but giving the absolutely freezing weather, there is nothing else but to have another Craft Day!

Snippets

I love all fabrics by 'American Jane'! The four patch blocks above are from her 'Snippets' made from a jelly roll. I fell in love with the bright colours, the ditzy prints and especially the fabulous 'doll clothes' print! I am hoping this will become a quilt for my daughter Sophia. The pattern I am using is from the 'Jelly Roll Inspirations' book by Pam and Nicky Lintott, and basically involves placing the four patch blocks on-point. I really hope it works as I love the pattern and the fabric so much!

Joe's Quilt

This is the quilt I made for my nephew Joseph for his 1st birthday last week. I haven't mailed it yet - I don't think his parents know I have a blog so it's all right!! It is my attempt at a sort of stacked coin quilt. The fabric is all from the 'Sail Away' range by Henry Glass. I bought the fabric for the stacked coins as a teeny tiny strip roll from Creative Fabrics at the Malvern show. The borders and sashing are made in a complimentary fabfic from the 'Sail Away' range. The quilting was an experiment in free-motion quilting for me - I am very new to it so it is nowhere near perfect, but I absolutely loved doing it!