Good Morrow

Today is Noor's Tudor school trip. The costume has been ready for a while.
We had to hang a cup from her belt, so she can have a drink while she does her 'chores'.
She also needed a little purse, once at Kentwell she will exchange some money for Tudor money and she can spend it there. But she has to be aware that there are a lot of pick pockets around (they give it back to the children).
She tucked her purse under her apron for safe keeping.

This is Noor and her classmates getting onto the coach.
Very authentic with the backpack and trainers.
Shame about the bad weather today.
Knitting has been done here as well.
Air is just missing a sleeve and collar. I will not knit the fake pocket flaps.
I managed to buy matching buttons while meeting Louisa on Tuesday.

Louisa Harding came to Chingford

Yesterday morning was very busy morning in our local yarn shop; JJ. Wool and Crafts.
Louisa Harding came and had a talk.
She talked about how she designs and how she got her own yarn collection. She also explained how she became a knitwear designer. She spoke about her years with Rowan and Jaeger.
I have had her first designer collection book since it first came out together with her yarn. I have always wanted to knit the fair isle cardigan, but somehow just had it on my list of: one day, I'll knit. Our local yarn shop now has all the yarn for it. I am sure I'll visit soon again.

I also bought Louisa's new book: Modern classics. There are a lot of patterns in there that I can see myself knit, either with her yarn or something from stash. Having our own good local yarn shop has not been good for reducing my stash. I seem to just buy yarn and knit with it straightaway.

Knitting on Air and more

Knitting Air the cardigan is a breeze. I really enjoy the pattern and Rowan Calmer is a great yarn to knit with.
Also a pattern with a knitted on button border is always a bonus. I like knitting the cables. It feels right to knit them looking wrong. So far the left front and the back are done.
Just over three more weeks for the baby to arrive enough time to finish Air.
Other news:
We have stairs to go up into our loft since Friday.
It was the first time for me to actually see our new bedroom in person.
I had to get somebody to take photos for me.
Now I could go up and take them myself.
I love our new stairs.
Soon there will be a banister.





Here is a view of our window in our new dormer, looking out over the back gardens.

This is to the front of the house with two roof windows. The one in the corner is our escape hatch.





Perry the cat also came upstairs to have a first look around. But before he looked around he had (had to!) roll around the floor and cover himself in plaster dust. Now he has gone for a nap, still covered in dust. Why?
Hopefully we will be moving in our loft soon. Then we can redecorate our old bedroom and turn it into the nursery.

Baby Bolero the III.

This is the third and final bolero. This time in the smallest size 3-6 months. Again knitted in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and using the same pattern from Debbie's Simply Baby book. I am glad I knitted the smallest one last. That way I felt like I finished this in no time at all.
The only project on the needles was the Baby Bear Cardigan. I must admit I have not knit on that one for a while. The reason was, I needed the Addi needles for something else.
Finishing the Baby Bolero has freed up my 4 and 4.5 mm Addi's. Time to use them for something new. I loved knitting the Blanket with Rowan Calmer and I have always liked the Air pattern from the very first Rowan Calmer book. My friend Johanne has knitted Air and she wore it so much, she has already had to retire her Air.
My ultimate goal is to finish this before Baby comes!

Louisa Harding is coming

Our local yarn shop J.J. Wool and Crafts has invited the designer Louisa Harding to come in and show off her yarn and books.
It is all happening here in Chingford, North East London.
The event is on Tuesday June 19. at 9 - 11 am.
Any other knitters out there interested in coming.
A few days ago, I bought some Regia Cotton sock yarn in our yarn shop. Voila, a pair of socks. I used my old and tested cuff down method.
I feel well enough to sit and knit all day, but I feel to bulky to move around much.
Perry in the meantime has started to do strange things.
First he ran into the garden and attacked the garden hose, then he ran inside and covered underneath the sofa blanket.
Shame he forgot to pack his tail inside as well.

The magic of three

Three finished objects in one weekend.
Not bad, I must admit I am very happy with myself.
Once I started knitting the missing cuffs on the baby bolero, there was no stopping. The bolero pattern is from the Simply Baby book by Debbie Bliss. The one here has been knitted in size 12 - 18 months.
It is for my niece, she is now 7 months old. I hope she will wear it during Autumn and Winter.
Noor has another new pair of socks. She wears the socks to sleep. I wash her socks in the washing machine, but on a special wool programme. I hope the Koigu KPPPM yarn will stand up to it.
I used my normal cuff down sock pattern with the short row shaped heel.

The Mason- Dixon baby blanket is also done. The whole border took a bit more than one ball of Rowan Calmer. In total I used nearly 13 balls of yarn.
I hope that our new baby will have many years with this blankie.