More wintry pom-pom hats...

Still having far too much fun with the pom-pom maker. So thought I should make hats to go with the pom-poms

Ooo, and matching cowls too to keep those little wintry necks snug. 

The pattern for the hats is the Chili Pepper hat from Spud & Chloe with added pom-pom. Of course.  The navy hat is knitted in the oh-so-soft Millamia dreamy wool, using midnight and claret. The grey was from the wool basket, left over from making these Minion goggles, a still surprise to me snug James C Brett DK. The blue hat used up the rest of the grey, and also the leftovers from making  Minion dungarees, and yet more lovely Millamia in scarlet.

The pattern for the cowls is the Uno Cowl from Millamia's Bright Young Things. With some stretchy blocking they happily fit two nine year olds,  not just the toddler mentioned in the pattern. Hope your Auntie knits are keeping you snug this winter, Reuben and Casper!

And causing great excitement yesterday was the loss of Patch's first tooth. Swallowed along with his brioche. Patch was a little concerned about lack of tooth so wrote a covering note to place in the little pot for the tooth fairy, and we gave him Mater because until we get used to these adult teeth he reminds us just a little of his favourite tow truck... So thank you for the sweet pot Goodmums Linda and Ems - finally put to use!

Some winter makes

... some of which may have been Christmas presents, but as it is almost the end of January it seems a little late to be mentioning festive makes. So winter knits they are!

This though was made before Christmas and was an excuse to use my newly purchased larger size pom-pom maker

A new hat for Patch. As this was a must knit now hat it was a search through the basket to see what I can use... the green was leftover from the lining of a tea cosy knitted for Mum and Dad, and the white and red wool are unknowns I was given. I know I followed a pattern but cannot remember what. Oh my, this was only November. Maybe the hats for everyone from purl bee? I think the pattern was in the round but as I only had appropriate needles for flat knitting I did it that way. Gosh, I know I did knit this hat. But not much else. And had fun making a large pom-pom. I was oh so tempted to buy the extra large size pom-pom maker but Mr R wondered if it may be too much of a statement pom-pom. And this is quite large, and uses a lot of wool...

A lovely snug hat, which doesn't really help as I couldn't knit again as I know neither the pattern nor wool. Hopefully I shall remember more for the next make!

Our merry little Christmas... hope yours was too

Some festive bits dotted around our house, before it gets too late to share!

Another pair of quick change trousers... and it's beginning to look a bit like Christmas

Talking to a friend about the oh so dreamy quick change trouser pattern reminded me that I had made another pair

The quick change trouser pattern is in Anna Maria Horner's handmade beginnings, and this pair were even quicker as I limited my fabric choice this time! See Jude's cheery pair here.

The main fabric is a soft denim, with an even softer blue gingham flannel for lining. All the fabrics were from the pile so no longer sure where they came from... And the sweetest bit about this pattern is the  view from the back

I made these up in the 12-18 months for a soon to be one year old (who is now most certainly a one year old, and has been for a few months, it has just taken me an age to add these photographs). That is just to say that the sizing seems just right with this pattern. Hope you had a fun first birthday, Albie!

And the Christmas part? Well, after the excitement of opening the advent calendar started on Sunday, followed by a trip to London to see the lights and Christmas displays and Patch's first visit to the magic of Hamley's, and arriving at school on Monday morn to find the classroom transformed... Patch is now oh so keen to make our home all Christmassy. I do feel rather festive after wrapping up Patch's twenty four Christmas books for his advent book pile this weekend, and possibly a Starbuck's red cup helped! Maybe we shall go and choose our Christmas tree soon...

And finally, this year's Halloween make...

Hmmm... not sure this can really be called a make. It most certainly can be called a success though as   Patch chooses to wear it all the time

Apart from the stripey t, I wanted to use bits I already had hence the pirate-y Batman. I straight stitched the edges rather than zig zag as I like the thought of a little fraying. I am trying to embrace Patch's newfound fondness of superheroes! 

And now on to Christmas making. I feel as if I should be listening to some festive crooners as I stitch and knit, curled up with a blanket and kit, to imbue some festive cheer into each make - but maybe too much for November?

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...