Woolapalooza Sheep Festival at Airfield

I wanted to try make the most of the long weekend, so yesterday our little family packed up the car & headed over to Airfield in Dundrum.  We haven't been there since major refurbishments have taken place. The entrance is now much larger & within easy walking distance of the Balally Luas stop, and the new buildings are beautiful, using impressively large wooden beams for support. Of course, I forgot to get photos of all of that, but you really just want to see the sheep. 

Woolapalooza Sheep Festival offered us the chance to see sheep shearing... (spot the impressive handspun jumper that I suspect was made from Jacob based on the colours).

 And sheep dog trials. 

We had a good wander around the grounds & spotted these 2 day old piglets curled up with their mamma - they look so cosy!

We also got to see some lambs frolicking in the fields while we wandered along the woodland paths.  

There were also knitting, felting, spinning and weaving displays, but the small human's need for a nap was of more importance than this mammy's want to see craft displays. We also missed the speed knitting competition, and I really want to know who won & how fast they knit!

Sewing FO - sun hat

I present to you a 'vintage' baby sun-bonnet. It was mine as a baby, and I'm reasonably sure that my dolls wore it too. It's now coming in useful for my own Small Human in the glorious sunny weather we have had recently. 

But it's always useful to have more than one. I used the original bonnet as a template, & whipped up a second one in some leftover camouflage fabric. It just took an hour or two. Of course, I had to add just a little hint of girlie, with some pink gingham ribbon around the outside...

and some pink gingham lining on the inside. 

She even keeps it on sometimes, as she seems to realise the wide brim keeps the sun out of her eyes. 

The other half has been referring to this hat as 'Little Soldier on the Prairie' - seems accurate!
I intend to make another one or two in plainer fabrics, so that they will go with any outfit we might have on her. I've recently been watching 'The Great British Sewing Bee' so have found it strangely exciting and satisfying to whip up something useful & wearable in one evening.

Baby garments (or Lessons in Swatching part 2)

I spent most of the month of March knitting two cardigans for the small human. Being rather small, these garments should not have taken so long to knit, only I chose to ignore the swatching process. 

It seems that my tension, and therefore my stitch gauge has somehow changed all of a sudden. I was a slightly loose knitter & almost always got gauge using a needle one size smaller than recommend in the pattern.

Pattern: Harvest by Tin Can Knits

Yarn: Rico Essentials Soft Merino Aran

Button: From my mother's button jar. 

This cardigan had about 3 false starts. 

It began as a more complicated pattern, but I was in the mood for a simpler piece of knitting. 

I first started to knit the pattern as written; then chose to re-knit several times to avoid staggered stitches at the neckline, and when I realised the garment would be too small. 

I checked my gauge somewhere along the knit & realised it was tighter than required by the pattern. I did like the resulting fabric though, and knit the 2-4 years size in that tighter gauge to suit my 12 month old. I'm happy with the resulting garment, and it's written up in adult sizes too! 

Pattern; Mini Manu from Kate Davies

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.

Buttons: from Hickey's 

It appears that I am a slow learner. 

After finishing the Harvest cardigan, I cast on for a Mini-Manu. I knit the body up to the underarms. I knit the sleeves. I joined the sleeves to the body & knit a few more rows. All this time I was ignoring the niggling voice in my head, saying that the cardigan looked a little small. After about a week or so of churning out the knitting, I finally took out a tape measure. I measured the small human's chest & told myself that once the i-cord edging was added that the cardigan should fit her. And I continued to knit. 

I then measured a dress I would like this cardigan to fit over, and finally, I measured out ten centimetres of knitting & checked my stitch gauge. Whoops! Too small.

I started again, using a larger needle, & treating one sleeve as a swatch. This time I got gauge. I also chose to knit a bigger size, as these small humans have a habit of growing.

The cardigan fits, with a little room for growing. 

I omitted the crumbcatchers pockets, and omitted the gathered effect of the sleeves by casting on the number of stitches required after increases listed in the pattern. I've been turning up the sleeves of most of her cardigans until she grows into them, particularly at mealtimes.

I haven't since checked my gauge against my previous standard. Most knitting these moments happens when I am on standby, waiting for the small human to wake from her naps, so perhaps I'm not quite as relaxed about it. 

I also wonder if we'll be sending her to gymnastics when she's a little older, as she seems to have perfected the splits. 

Lessons in Swatching

I realise that I have written very little about knitting lately. This is largely due to the fact that most of my knitting time has been spent working up swatches, experimenting with colour & pattern.

Now that I've settled on colour it's time to do some calculations, only I forgot to write down which sized needle I used.... Oops.

The lesson here is to always write things down because;
1. I will not remember the needle size and
2. I will probably put the needle back in the needle case before I get around to measuring it.

Teasing

Today I visited Newbridge Farm. It's Spring (of course), so there were prancing kid goats, suckling calves and curled up lambs to see. 

While walking around the grounds that surround the farm I spotted something....

Wool. I was tempted to gather it up for spinning, but considering the bulk of my fibre stash...
Perhaps some birds will have a lovely snug nest this year?

Very Simple Baby Mitts

The small human has been growing quite a bit (as they do), and my usual trick of pulling cardigan or jacket sleeves down over her hands when out & about isn't quite keeping her hands warm anymore. 

I decided to whip up a pair of mittens for her. These took 2 (short) evenings to make. 

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran - about 58 metres

Size: These mittens fit my 11 month old, with a little room for growing. Her wrist measures 11 cm. 

Needles: 4mm circular needle long enough for magic loop  (or DPNs if you prefer)

Gauge: 20 st per 10 cm in stocking stitch

Other bits: crochet hook, for the string; darning needle for grafting & weaving in the ends

Instructions:
CO 28 stitches fairly loosely.
Join for working in the round taking care not to twist the stitches.
Work in K2, P2 ribbing for 8 cm.
Work in stocking stitch for 8 cm.

Ensure stitches are distributed evenly between two halves of your 'magic loop'; they should be split into 2 groups of 14 stitches.
Decrease round: *K1, SSK, K to 3 st before end of needle, K2tog, K1* repeat.
Continue this decrease round until there are 12 stitches remaining.
Using the darning needle, graft together the live stitches at the top of the mitten.
Weave in ends.
Knit second mitten in same manner.

Crochet a chain of about 55 cm. The chain should be long enough to stretch from mitten cuff to mitten cuff, across the child's back. It's best to check the child or their clothes where possible; if in doubt, make it longer than necessary, as excess can always be knotted out of the way until they grow into it.
Join chain to the cuff of each mitten either with crochet hook or darning needle.

I had thought she would complain about having her hands covered when out & about (she loves to poke at anything within reach), but she seems happy enough to chew on the mitts.
I intend to make another pair, as all the chewing tends to make them soggy*

*I know, wool stays warm when wet, but putting wet mittens back on to her hands is a line I'm not going to cross ... for now. 

Handspun cowl

Over the past month I have turned some lovely fluff into yarn...

and that yarn into a cowl.

The fibre was hand dyed organic merino tops, from LHogan. To try get a lovely soft & fluffy yarn, I hand-carded dyed tops into small batts; the resulting yarn is 2-ply and knits up as a DK weight. I cast on 110 stitches, and knit in the round until I had what seemed like a useful length for keeping necks warm. 

This cowl will be in the post to its new owner in the coming days. I'm sure she won't feel the need to take daft photos while modelling it.