It has been a birthday weekend...

And if P has his way, it will be a birthday week, too! His reasoning is that his party isn't until this coming Saturday so the celebrations should continue through from birthday to party. I like his thinking. So, I made a cake for the birthday tea

We decorated and remembered other sweet birthdays

And made a birthday t

Hmmm, I do hope the t is clear enough in these photographs... I had planned to do the usual buy a basic t and then add number and initial in a viking fabric, as P has requested that this be a viking birthday. More specifically a How to Train your Dragon birthday. Luckily I was searching for a suitable fabric while Linda and Ems were staying as Linda had the brilliant suggestion of making dragon scale fabric - I hope I have done your thought justice, Linda! So following a lovely morning trip to Fabric Rehab last week I returned with fabric to make Hiccup's clothing (oh my!) and this lovely green felt. This is wool felt, so rather superior and thick, which has resulted in what looks like two felt coasters sewn on to a t-shirt but I loved the shade of green. And useful to have a multi-purpose t-shirt which P can whip off if we are ever in need of protecting our table from a particularly hot pot. 

I cut this lovely green felt into strips, with a scalloped edge along one side, and then stitched it back together by stitching along the scaly edge. I then cut out the shapes and edge stitched around them to attach them to the t.

Hiccup's clothing and helmet are also made, in preparation for Patch's viking friends to descend on Saturday. As yet no Toothless. Ethel -our kit - may just have to step in.

Happy birthday sweet P!

I do love moss stitch... And a Happy New Year!

We really did have a lovely Christmas time, followed by the best sort of days as Linda and Ems came to stay, then attempting some sort of routine as school started once more. And now I have a cold. Bum.

But I am certainly up to sorting out some photographs taken of things made, and this is the oldest. Made back in October for my Mum's birthday and yes, it is moss stitch. I really do love this stitch...

This is the silky muffler from Ros Badger's Simple Knitting. I'm sure I used some delicious Malabrigo worsted that I had been saving for just the right thing, and that happened to be Mum's birthday. Did I mention how much I like moss stitch?

A merry little Christmas

Hope yours was too!  We are still enjoying this christmas time... mornings spent in pyjamas, days spent building lego and playing, a muddy walk before coming back home to warm up and watch a film. Lovely.

There are a few makes to catch up with on here from before the festivities and also Christmas presents which have now all been unwrapped, but before christmas time is over I thought I would show some Christmassy bits.

Happy holidays!

Enjoying this first week of December...

It has been a nice gentle week, with a cosy feeling of preparing for the festivities. Gathering the bits for Patch's Christmas play costume, writing Christmas cards with the obligatory Christmas music... Mr R decided we should go to pretty Bury St Edmunds yesterday, so instead of finishing those Christmas cards we went and had a lovely day. A few presents bought and a festive coffee quietly reading a Christmas magazine. Most certainly feeling Christmassy.

There has also been the wrapping of twenty four Christmas stories

There are a few new additions this year as I felt P may not want to read Maisy's Christmas. Silly me... I still do, so why shouldn't P? So we have twenty four wrapped and a pile by the side of Maisy and Miffy. We have been having cosy cuddly times reading these after school, though the book to be unwrapped waits until bedtime.

A Christmas list has been thoughtfully written and amended over the past few weeks until it was time to write to Father Christmas 

Oh, and yes I made a Christmas pillowcase for P's bed... he was so excited to be going to bed on the first of December! Sweet. The quarter of a metre purchased wasn't quite enough for a pillowcase front so I dug around in the baskets and found the jolly spot. With some candy cane stripes for the back. I must get on and make the other Christmas pillowcase for when this one is in the wash... Ems, you will be so happy to hear - more Christmas gnomes! (Ems does not like gnomes). So just one more pic

An aviatrix hat for Baby Leo

Not sure when I came across this free pattern on Ravelry - Justine Turner's Aviatrix. It seems a little while ago, though not so long ago that I felt I could still get away with knitting one for P.  But happily I can knit one for Leo!  Not sure why I didn't use one of the baby bonnet patterns I've already used - both of which I loved - see here and here ,though in a way glad I didn't as I love this too.

Once I had worked out the layout of the pattern instructions, oh and how to successfully do short rows without gaping holes, this was a great knit. I used some dreamy Debbie Bliss Rialto 4-ply in teal  - hardly half a ball for this teeny newborn size, and a button from the never ending delight that is Great Gran's button tin. So sweet.

It was a spooky Halloween...

Is it a little late to be mentioning Halloween? Hmmm... but just in case you have the need to make a monster costume, I shall continue. Not that I made an entire monster costume, just the hands - so if you find yourself needing to make some monster hands, then do read on.

I found a bargain copy of  Kathy Sheldon and Amanda Carestio's  book Felt-o-ween just before Halloween and bought it for the one project really, though I may do one more. Possibly. So not full of projects to put on my must-make-one-of-those-now list,  but as it was a bargain price it seemed ok to purchase just for the monster hands. Great fun!

 I think I have been spoilt by lovely books which include full scale patterns, which this book doesn't. Not that it was too tricky to enlarge the pattern for a pair of hands. The monster hands are stuffed and then strapped over the child's hands, rather than worn like a pair of gloves. Does that make sense? I decided to cut the wrist straps in half and add Velcro to close them for a better fit, as suggested in the book, which does help on these skinny wrists. Just the thing for some trick and treating fun.

And I could not resist the crochet ghost in Simply Crochet...

Here are those monster hands in action, rather proudly (attempting) to point at the pumpkin made with Daddy. It is difficult to point when wearing oversized monster hands

The as I've forgotten to take any photographs of the Halloween make you'll have to make do with this post

I really thought I had taken a photograph of P's Halloween make. Oh well, hopefully the sun shall come out sometime this weekend and I really will take that photograph. So in the absence of anything spooky, here is the reliable birthday present make for P's friends. Again. Though at the request of friend's Mummy, as when I enquired as to possible presents this is what she suggested as he still loves last years version. Obviously this made me happy as I don't really know how these handmade presents are truly received by the child!

Happy birthday, Henry! 

Today is oh so gloomy and full of rain - just perfect as the postman has delivered a parcel of wool! I am trying some Drops merino - has anyone used it? Hoping for some lovely soft wool in the parcel so I can make a start on Christmas makes. My parents are visiting my sister in Holland next week and the plan is that they take Christmas presents with them, so I really must just sit and knit. And we are off to the cinema this afternoon - what a treaty day! Mum and Dad are collecting P from school, Mr R     is finishing off his work for the week,  so we are going to see Pride - along with the grannies of Woodbridge, because who else goes to the cinema on a Friday afternoon? Perfect rainy Friday activities.