In which I've finished something

Hello!

I thought I'd do a bit of a 'where I'm at' post today.  Craft-wise, I've been doing more spinning than knitting over the last few days and will show you the results if I'm happy with them!!

On the knitting and crochet front, I've joined in the One Bag-Along (or is it 1Bag) on the Phoenix forum and have used some pinky-purple Patons DK cotton that's been knitted a bit then frogged a couple of times (I'm not that keen on it and am sure I only bought it because it was a Very Good Bargain).  I've used the Attic24 crochet bag pattern, but have done a slightly different stitch on the body of the bag.  I'd nearly done one strap when I had a look at it and realised that my foundation chain was too tight, so have frogged it and will re-do it with a bit more care this time.  I forgot to take a photo earlier so will make a mental note to do a show and tell on that next time.

In the entry before last, I mentioned a Kemps order.  Well, that arrived and I cast on for the Little Peacocks cropped, short-sleeved cardigan that afternoon.  It only took me just over a week in total.  I'm pleased with the way it's come out:

I pressed it under a damp cloth, but haven't wet-blocked it and think I'm going to use a skinny needle to even out some of the fans as well.

The yarn is Patons Linen Touch and was £1.29 per 50g ball.  It's the Coral colour.

Here's a pic (exposure's horrible I'm afraid) of the stitch pattern:







Best of all, the Tuesday after I'd started knitting the cardigan, I went to the new Asda supermarket in Dovercourt, which is 10-12 miles away from my house.  It was the second time I'd been in there since it opened and I hadn't looked at the clothing department on my first visit.  I was pleasantly surprised because it's not one of those humungous hypermarkets, but a decent size for a smallish town.  The clothing part of the store was much bigger than I was expecting and whilst I was looking through the aisles, on the lookout for school trousers for DD1, I spotted a floral dress.  The Asda website lists it as a 'tea dress'.  It reaches just below her knees, has a lined skirt and short sleeves and... well, here's a picture with the cardigan over the top:

The colour of the poppies on the dress match the colour of the cardigan.  As you can see, that dress was put into my shopping trolley pretty smartish.  It's cotton, has a cotton-lined skirt - and cost £6 (DD1's 11).  It makes a nice addition to her summer wardrobe (although the weather's a bit grey and bleurgh today) and will be a good outfit for her holiday with grandparents in August.

I've also swatched for the Deco cardigan.  My tension's slight out - the pattern says 26 sts per 4", but I'm getting slightly over 25, but if I knit the 36" size, that'll give me a bit of ease.  I'm reluctant to go down a needle size as a. it'll make the fabric too firm and b. I'm getting row tension.  The pattern suggests a heavy 4-ply, sport-weight or lighter DK yarn and I've gone for Wendy Mode (the other Kemps purchase) in scarlet red.  I'm resisting the temptation to cast on the cardigan though as I've got what seem to be a never-ending pair of socks on the needles and also a blanket.  This one:

It's the Shale Baby Blanket by Jared Flood.  Written for worsted/aran weight yarn, I'm using Cygnet Kiddies 100% acrylic DK in yellow (I wonder if I'll be kicked off the Brooklyn Tweed group on Ravelry!!!) so have done an extra two pattern repeats.  

The pattern looks much more complicated than it is as the feather & fan and eyelet 'cable' are done every fourth row and the other three rows are just 'knit the knits; purl the purls' rows.  It'll be about 80cm wide when it's finished and given a light press and I'm just over halfway through as I've got four 100g balls of the yarn and started the third one a couple of days ago.

I suppose I'd better stop thinking about crafting stuff and get back into Mum mode now, otherwise I'll have two hungry children on my hands. 

Until next time, take care :)