A jacket for me. Nancy by Debbie Bliss from Rowan Magazine 29. Am about halfway up the back.

I’ve also listed a few bits on ebay today, some kidsilk haze, cream chunky print and pale apricot baby cashmerino. Check it out!

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Harvey
Rowan Studio 1 - Sarah Hatton
Rowanspun Aran 5 skeins 972 Hardy
5mm rosewood pins

With all the carry on of postal strikes we’ve had here in the UK, this finally made it’s journey to Mum, so I can post the details.

I got the pattern from my aunt after I fell in love with her chocolate brown version. The pattern is really easy and the basketweave stitch is so effective. The only modifications I made were to make it longer in the body by about 2 inches (25″ in length) and shortened the sleeves slightly.

I was so lucky with the buttons, they really work. However, I think I would put three on the outside. I prefer the look of an odd number. All in all a very successful garment - interesting and simple but most of all, Mum loves it.

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Baby Sling
60″ fabric from IKEA
small amount of charcoal embroidery thread

I get so excited when friends have their babies, too excited, in fact. I was due to see a dear friend today and already had a big bag of practical bits, a teething toy and clementine’s kimono….but decided that just wasn’t enough. So, I whipped this sling up while Coco was snoozing.

The pattern was pretty straightforward. I’m not very good at working from notes, I’m a visual person, but I worked it all out in the end. I lined it but didn’t add any interlining because his mummy will mostly be using it indoors. A small amount of handstitching, mainly so she can remember which is the outside and which is the inside and it was done. Wish I’d made one for myself…..next time, eh?

I may even make a small one for Coco to carry about any number of her menagerie!

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Pattern L from here.
Fabric - quilting cotton picked up a couple of years ago (it may even be a christmas fabric)

I love the simplicity of this. It was quick to make, although it managed to take me almost a week to finish it. It’s a bit big for Coco at the moment but come the spring, it should be perfect. Perhaps if I’d used shorter elastic at the neck, it may be better but it’ll be nice to have it waiting in the wardrobe for a sunny spring day.

Think I’ll make some linen pants to match.

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Noo also gave me a bag of the most fabulous japanese fabrics from her trip out there last year. There’s a metre of each of these…..now what to do with them. I need some inspiration to strike!

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I met up with the delightful Noo and despite both having head colds we blitzed the show - 3.5 hours it took to get around everything. We knew what we wanted to see and skipped past all the things of little or no interest.

I found the graduate showcase excellent this year and the exhibits by Helene Soubeyran were fabulous. She compresses fabric with resin then has them cut into pieces like the ones you see below. These were in the foyer, but there seemed to be a very strict no photography rule on most of the exhibits inside, so I didn’t take any more.

I took a few shots of this handknitted Noah’s ark set. Not quite sure which stand it was on now because we were moving around at a reasonable pace. Anyway, I thought it was something my daughter would ooh and aah at when I showed her the photos. It did make us laugh.

My spoils were sock yarn this year. Some wool/ramie from Knitshop in a charcoal grey for a jacket for the wee one and three balls of some german Schoppel Wolle in Admiral ombre in greens & pinks and some Admiral bedruckt

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Shawl-collared jacket - Debbie Bliss
Baby Knits for Beginners
12-18 month size
5mm rosewood pins
200g Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran shade 603 pale pink

This absolutely flew off the needles and I needed it to as autumn is coming to London! The Cashmerino Aran really suited the rosewood needles and was a sheer delight to work with. I modified the rib because I wanted something a bit more interesting. This is a K2, P2 offset rib - really simple and effective. I also added an extra inch to the sleeve length and proabably should’ve added two because it’s the right length for her now at 15 months. The intention was for her to grow into it! She seems to be having a bit of a growth spurt, particularly in height, so I guess arms grow too, right?!

The shawl collar was really easy, some ribbed short rows and it was done. It could even take having another 4-5 rows as it doesn’t seem to sit completely in half at the back but I could tack it down if I really wanted it to look perfect.
Four metal buttons from John Lewis sewn on and she’s wearing it to playgroup today!

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I adore these buttons. They’re the most stylish things I’ve found for some time. Purchased in Liberty on a glorious Saturday afternoon pottering about with both my treasures. I’m lucky to have a husband who will induldge me in a trip to town and Coco was very good. She seemed to enjoy popping in and out of all the fabric shops on Berwick St. A trip that probably would have taken me a couple of hours took all day but we survived it well. Lunch at Wagamama although we toyed with the idea of our favourite Lexington St restaurant and decided against it. Didn’t think a buggy parked out front was quite right!

They’re for this jacket. More anon.

(BTW - This was all of three weeks ago. I’ll try and be more punctual in future)

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