Cosy Jacket

A warm shawl collared jacket in fisherman's rib with a square bobble hat to match.

Yarn is Stylecraft Bellissima shade purple passion with a touch of mustard to contrast. 

The pattern is King Cole 4121 but I altered the texture for the cardigan.

Up up and away

My favourite fabric shop is Dots n Stripes run by Nicole who specialises in unusual prints often from Europe.

I bought a piece of waffle Cotton Jersey with the most delightful print of hot air balloons.

Perfect for a pair of rompers for Jesse

A birthday bear

When I posted pictures of Jesse's bear my sister non too subtly hinted she would like one for her upcoming 60th birthday. So here he is. 

The birthday is Christmas eve so although I've written about the bear 🐻  in November I won't post until the new year!

Polar hoodie for Joel

A few years ago I bought a wonderful organic cotton jersey panel with polar bears, penguins and snow.

The images are quite large so at the time any garment for Joel would have cut the beautiful pictures so I held onto the material until the day Joel was tall enough to be able to wear the panel whole.

The time has come so I have used our favourite pattern and made Joel a winter hoodie.

A fleecy all in one

Jesse has to do the school walk with his big brother and it is getting chilly so I've made him a fleecy all one suit to keep him warm.

I used a Minikrea snuggle pattern and a bright dinosaur material.

European patterns usually have to be traced off and you add your own seam allowance. 

The instructions are sparse but manageable. 

Sadly the fleece frayed the plush badly so I overlocked every piece before sewing up.

I used my popper gadget so no buttonholes 

I'm quite happy with the result even if the material was a pain to sew. It is quite thick and fleecy so was a challenge for my machines.

A bear for Jesse

I am not a toy maker! 

However when I say this delightful knitted pattern for fig bear by Pat Alinejad designs I fell in love.

So I bought the pattern and printed it out  then sent off for one of the recommended yarns.

Pat also recommended a chunky plain yarn for feet and inner ears

The pattern is extremely well laid out with very good instructions. The fluffy yarn is a pain to see where you are up to and difficult to sew up.

Pat's instructions on making  up very cleverly use plain yarns.

My bear has taken about two weeks to knit  mainly because I needed good daylight to see where I was putting my needle.

About three days for sewing up and stuffing.

I used child safe eyes but decided to sew the nose which looks decidedly chewable!

So here he is

Very cute, really soft and so cuddly.

The pattern also includes a basic tiny jumper pattern with Christmas motifs. 

My bear is getting a green jumper with a heart.

 All finished ready for Santa and snuggles  

Pumpkins!

I decided to make my own pumpkins to display over the autumn season.

After a good search on the Internet I chose a crochet pattern by Bella Coco who has wonderful tutorials on YouTube. 

I used Stylecraft  chunky yarn which is a grade thicker year she recommends and probably made my job harder, definitely slower. Aran eeight would have been much easier to crochet smoothly and quickly.

Never mind, I love the larger size and robustness.