Halloween... part two

So, last year Patch requested a spooky party and with a gentle half term approaching I thought some apple bobbing and other Halloween type antics with a (small) group of five year olds would be fun! And it might have had just a little to do with these dreamy invites

Image from belleandboo.com

Patch requested a Bat Cat costume... Bat Cat the super cat, the super duper super hero cat - from Charlie and Lola. So sorry if you are now singing the song for the rest of the day. Hmmm what does the heroic Bat Cat wear?

Other than the obvious pants-over-trousers superhero must-have it would appear that Bat Cat wears some grey leggings and long sleeved top, knee high black socks and gloves, cat ears and a Mummy made mask, belt and cape. The mask and belt are based on patterns from, yet again, Emma Hardy's cute and easy costumes and for the cape I made a waistcoat-ish thing with an extended backpiece for the bat wings and a vampire-esque collar. Oh, and two elastic finger loops for optimal flapping. And yes, one loop is made from white elastic as I ran out of black but I'm trying not to notice that detail.

Is it a bird? No! Is it a plane? No! It's Bat Cat!

A spooky Halloween... finally!

Is mid-November too late for Halloween photographs? I suppose I could wait til next year, but by then I am likely to have forgotten these photographs altogether... I realised I have the past three Halloween makes to show, I do promise to try oh so hard to show them all this week and then we can all get on with festive preparations.

So, the first from two years ago, when Patch had to go to school as a wizard


I turned to Emma Hardy's cute and easy costumes for kids, which can always be trusted, and found a wizard costume. And copied it. As you can see, no changes at all. Oh, I did! I added yet more shiny stars to the wizard's cloak, and cheated by purchasing the hat. So, part two of Halloween makes maybe tomorrow...

The thank you dishcloth

I don't think a washing-up cloth is too odd for a thank you present... in fact there are times when a dishcloth would be a most suitable present - a thank you for a weekend stay maybe, or would most still prefer a bunch of flowers? Well, I would love a dishcloth!


This one was knitted with love to say thank you for a rather lovely copy of Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Knitting, a book given to me by dear Linda and Ems. To say thank you, I wanted to knit a little something from the book and so used the simple, plain dishcloth pattern as inspiration. It was knitted in Rico creative cotton aran in nature, and a row of Rowan handknit cotton in ice water, from the basket of I-really-must-use-the-wool-I-already-have. Two rows didn't really make much impact on the overflowing basket...

Actually, my wools are no longer sitting looking pretty in a basket as Miss Ethel was constantly helping herself to some rather expensive toys. I could have a basket full of balls of acrylic though as Miss Ethel shows absolutely no interest - cashmerino only for this kit!

Do hope you are enjoying washing the dishes Linda and Ems!

Oooo, and Halloween makes hopefully sometime soon... before Christmas!


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A why-did-I-leave-it-so-long oliver + s art smock

So sweet, so easy... no idea why it has taken me so long to make one!


This is the art smock from oliver + s little things to sew. The pattern instructions are as thorough as ever - I don't think I fiddled with them at all. Oh, I did use a few buttons to fasten the back rather than Velcro or snaps...

Fabrics both found in the pile - so a sweet make and just a slightly smaller chance of the fabric piles toppling. I love it! Parcelled together with Make with Maisy for lots of fun


Patch has asked for an art smock of his very own, something he invariably does as we are parcelling up a make for a friend. I got excited at the thought of using some of the superhero type kapow! fabric for the arms but sadly don't think I have enough left over from the car seat cushion, and it looks like it is now out of stock. Hmmmm...

Do hope you had a fun birthday Isabel! And another photograph of the art smock because they are so sweet


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Polly's crossover pinny

Such a sweet pattern... and oh so good if you are trying to use up some of the fabric from the many piles threatening to topple as you get to choose two!


Ooo, this photograph looks awful blurry, yet absolutely crystal clear before I uploaded it with Blogger. (Well, maybe not crystal as my photography skills are lacking, but oh so much better than the fuzziness I see before me). Help - anyone have any idea why this might be?

Hopefully you can see through the blurriness and observe that this is indeed a sweet pattern. It is Betty Kingston's crossover pinny and nappy cover pattern, made with a denim and a floral from the piles and this is the dearest part


A reversible pinny! The seams of the pinny are obviously all hidden away so a rather neat make, though I may use Lotta Jansdotter's bloomers pattern next time - used here - just for the added contrast binding. And the other thing I think I may do next time (because oh yes, there will be a next time just to warn any of my friends with suitably aged little ones) is to add some giant ric rac peeping out of the hem of the pinny... Wouldn't it look so sweet poking out from the denim?


The photograph above has reminded me that I top stitched the edges of the pinny, which isn't mentioned in the pattern, because I like the finish and also in the hope that even those teeny contrasting white stitches help to break up all the denim. Must remember the ric rac trim next time!

We lovingly parcelled the pinny up with a copy of


to wish dear Polly the happiest of first birthdays!

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Just the weather for a hot water bottle...

...and this makes me happy! Happy as I just love snuggling under an eiderdown with a hot water bottle, sometimes a magazine or book, or some knitting or crochet, or most happily with P watching a film or looking through a treasured Lego book. That is how we plan to spend this rainy weekend. But also this rainy, chilly autumnal weather makes me happy as Craig's Mum can use her newly knitted hot water bottle cover


I used a pattern found in Debbie Bliss' The Knitter's Year - an oh so easy pattern with no shaping involved as the drawstring neatly gathers at the top. The wool used is a Jarol heritage DK in airforce... Craig's Mum has a love of all things navy, I do hope airforce is sufficiently navy-ish! I did check with Mr R... actually, I do believe it was Mr R who spotted this wool in our local wool shop. I was dreamily squishing the delights of Debbie Bliss but decided that I maybe should allow Mr R to have some control over his mother's birthday present. Finished off with some ribbon from the tangled mess which is forever managing to burst out of the box I vainly hope to contain it in, selected by Patch.

We wrapped it up with some classic vintage novels and a box of local Suffolk tea. Happy birthday Linda, hope you had a lovely day!

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Birthday knits... and bunting

These knits were both made for late summer (well, late-ish) birthdays and will hopefully be keeping two heads snug this autumn





I used the calorimetry pattern again, with these revisions to make a smaller knit, though it still fits my (normal size I think) head. The lovely heather colour is a Debbie Bliss Blue Faced Leicester Aran with a button from the tin. A complete remake in fact of this one from February. The blue wool was from the basket... I think it may well be another Debbie Bliss - maybe a teal cashmerino aran? With a vintage mustard button from Great Gran's tin. I still haven't knitted my very own calorimetry, though I do have just the wool! I fancy a mustard version...

I spent a happy afternoon making bunting... until large blisters appeared from overuse of pinking shears. Ouch! I enthusiastically approached cutting the colourful triangles, and later realised that I had totally overestimated the number needed. Now I realise I could have calculated how many of each colour was needed at the start by dividing the desired length of bunting by the width of each triangle, and that this would indeed probably have saved my hands as I only used maybe a quarter of the triangles cut. Pink and purple bunting anyone?


I was told that strong pinks and purples would go well in Patch's little friend's bedroom and after surprisingly discovering an absence of these colours in my rather substantial fabric piles, I found the fabrics in a small shop in Felixstowe. They have a great range of cheery poly cotton mixes, which was just right for this project. Oh, other than a pink remnant I did have - seen to the left above with the batik like flowers - leftover from a wrap skirt made about fifteen years ago, originally from John Lewis I think.


So a happy birthday Anna, Lou and Sophie!

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