Eco-Emergency

Today I received a stark email from the new economics foundation entitle '100 months'. The message is this: we have 100 months to stop climate change.

Eeek.

A good reason to knit a hat...

I just saw this and wanted to share it. Save the Children are asking people to knit hats for newborns.

FOs & WIP: three hats and a jam sandwich

Maybe it was the eco-buzz that started it, but over the weekend I had the urge to cast on for another scrap hat. This one was requested by my brother sometime last winter, but other things (you know: socks... baby things...er, things) have been getting in the way. I've been in a bit of a knitting funk with it, and have found it hard to put down, despite having to do mildly inconvenient things like go to work and sleep. Anyhoo, I'm now onto the crown shaping and will soon be at the top. I think - but I'm not sure - that my brother wanted his hat to come with a lining, so that will follow. Here's a sneak preview...



And here are the 2 baby beanies I mentioned last time, now safely filed in the gift stash.


Whatever our failings in the gardening department, our raspberries are a huge success. Day after day we pick the ripe red jewels, thanking heaven that something is growing and ripening in this confusion of a summer.... the bean has developed quite a taste for fresh raspberry, and now hangs about at the top of the lawn hoping that someone will pick some for him. At not quite 18 months he hasnt quite got the requisite skill or discernment required for picking rasps himself - but he knows how to eat them.

Last week we were running out of freezer space, so 2kg of berries were 'preserved' in the traditional way: as raspberry jam. Yum.


Shhhh......Can you hear it? There's a jam sandwich calling me. Better go.

Eco-buzz

For some reason reading the ecologist and greenfutures always invokes a feeling of urgency and a need to do something that minute. It's an energising thing and I love the eco-buzz.

Recently I've found a few corners of the blogiverse that share in this need to take action. Wardrobe Refashion and Sew Green are just two that keep cropping up. Perhaps I should take the wardrobe refashion pledge? I'm not far off it really - I havent bought any new clothes for about a year, although I have been given some new things for birthdays & christmas (thanks mum!) . But I have bought plenty of charity shop things, and I turned a ripped pair of my jeans into a cool pair of toddler trousers for the bean. I've also been making a conscious effort to wear a greater variety of the clothes that I own already.

Last week I had to go to London for work, and travelled on the train (>4 hours in each direction, and I went down and back in one day!). On the way down I worked and on the way back I knitted. I managed to finish one baby beanie and get most of the way through another (brim to start of crown shaping). As the stash of baby hats was almost gone, I thought I would use up a few odds and ends of yarn. I'll post the pattern sometime...

FO: Polka dot cardigan and the interloping scarf

She's finished (finally). The polka dot cardigan (Rowan Babies) with no polka dots. Knitted for little Harper Hope born on June 9th. Welcome little one, and congratulations to mum and dad Pam & Dan!

I think it looks fairly gorgeous even without the polka dots. The trim is knitted in a stash busting oddment of Jaeger 4ply, and the rest is knitted in Rowan's organic cotton (DK weight). The buttons are vintage from the button box I inherited from my grandmother.

It took a lot longer than I planned. First, I ran out of yarn and had to buy an extra ball of Rowan's organic cotton. Then, I came to the sewing up bit. It just seemed to take ages, and there was a project burning a hole in my stash, so I'm afraid I allowed myself to be diverted by yet another Purl Scarf (from last-minute knitted gifts), aka the interloping scarf.

I love these scarves - I think this is the third one I've made. It's gone into the gift stash (or long range planning department as the yarn harlot would call it), although I'm tempted to nab it for myself. I used 2 balls of Patons Soho (closing down sale, £1 per ball I think), one ball of mystery DK yarn and half a ball of turquoise lace-weight mohair (both acquired from charity shop raids). I've got a bit of a thing for bluey-turquoisey colours.

Now that the tennis (Wimbledon) is in full swing, I need some knitting to keep my hands busy while I watch (come on Andy!!). I ought to pick up the lacy shrug again - it's aged 3-4, so it ought to be quick, but I've already ripped back one front because I got the pattern wrong (doh!).

Finally, today is my 3rd wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary my love.

FO: Irish moss socks

I've been wearing these socks for a couple of weeks now (not All the time... you know what I mean), and thought it was time to share with you. The pattern is the slip-up sock from Posh Yarn, and the yarn is from the Yarnyard ('olive' for the toe & cuff; 'grow' for the rest).

As usual I knitted a short leg - cos I like my socks that way - and reckon I have enough left over (from 2 50g skeins) to make another pair. Mods: I knit a plain k3 p3 rib at the top and couple of purl bands before getting into the pattern on the leg. I also finished the foot of the sock with a couple of purl bands before starting the toe decreases.

Because I started them in Ireland, I'm calling them my irish moss socks, it seems to fit somehow.

Hard as it was, once I finished these little beauties, I decided it was time to get on with Other Things. I picked up Deli again, and managed to finish the back (sleeves already knitted) over the weekend. I am pleased about this - with only the fronts to go (oh, and the endless knitted trim, but I'm overlooking that for now) it feels like progress, and it's good not to have something in the knitting basket which requires forensic examination to discover where you got to in the pattern when you last put it down.

Another (girl) baby is on the way - and should have arrived by now (c-section scheduled for Monday just gone) - so I cast on for the polka dot cardigan from Rowan babies. Only, there wont be any polka dots - it'll be plain and gorgeous anyway. [Just for the record, I made a lovely green and purple version about 3 years ago and didnt enjoy it much, although I like the shape and details. I hate intarsia and knitted it fair isle instead, which was okay, but still not v enjoyable]. I'm knitting with some Rowan organic cotton which I bought last week from a charity shop (50p for 2 balls) ... there was modest stash enhancement (all for £3).

This compounded the already overflowing stash situation, so on Friday evening I got it all out (that's a lot of wool, said my husband) and organised, tidied and put it away. The fabric which had been sharing stash space in this part of the house has been moved, and will have to find its own place to live. For now, the yarn can snuggle happily.

FO: Shopping bags

I think I mentioned last time that I've been on a bit of a sewing bee lately. I made some bags - like this:

I made three, but sent one off to help celebrate a friend's birthday before it got a chance to do any modelling. Another bag has since been sent (and arrived) in the States to assist with the carrying of small items belonging to the recently arrived baby Chloe (congratulations to mum and dad, Suzanne & David! Chloe also received one of the baby beanies from the stash). One bag remains, waiting for a use or a home to beckon.

I would have made more, but I ran out of webbing for the handles. There are more cut out waiting to be sewn. The fabric came from local charity shops, picked up for a song. You cant see (sack the photographer) but the bags are lined with a matching plain green fabric. I didnt follow any pattern in particular, just copied the dimensions of a well used cotton bag from the drawer and made it up as I went along.