Fuchsia and White Baby Blanket - Margaret Power

Fuchsia & White 

Baby Blanket  

Following up from my Daffodil inspired baby blanket, I decided to do a new design which is simple but yet is still very cute and made from a fantastic blend of yarn called Flutterby Chunky by James Brett. This yarn is so soft and warm it was lovely to work with. I Incorporated a fuchsia pink ribbon just to give it an extra bit of cuteness.  

I edged the outer part of the blanket in an acrylic yarn I had around the house, always great to have cheaper yarns especially for smaller stitching jobs like edging.

I don't know what it is about this time of year but lots of baby's are expected in the spring to summer months so I have a perfect gift ready to go should anyone give some good news.

The stitching is basic doubles which are a closer stitch giving this warm yarn a lovely thickness. Mostly, some of the blankets I make are for decorative purposes like an over blanket on a basket or pram. But this yarn is so cuddly its a perfect blanket to have as a main one. The yarn is dense and thick and the softness is really lovely. There is two stitch details in the blanket, the fold down top has a wider more loose stitch which gives a nice texture and adds interest to the design.  

As you may know from my last blanket I love to do a matching hat which I also did in this yarn. I added some crochet flowers to the front and a pom pom which is very in at the moment in crochet and knitting. I crocheted a tighter stitch in the center of the hat so as to act like an elastic to keep the hat on leaving the top and end in a looser stitch. 

For this blanket I used:

100g ball of Flutterby in white

fuchsia acrylic yarn (cheapy)

30cm Fuchsia pink ribbon  

I have lots of projects coming soon which I will be adding to the thewoolshop.ie blog so stay tuned for more lovely creations.

Regards,

Mag  

Daffodil Day 2015 & Spring Inspired baby blanket by Margaret Power

Daffodil Day 2015

Supporting Ireland's Longest running charity

Free pattern

Daffodil Day is the biggest and longest running fundraising day for the Irish Cancer Society, Ireland’s national cancer charity. On Daffodil Day thousands of volunteers around Ireland sell daffodil pins and flowers (on streets, in businesses, homes and shopping centres) to raise money for the Society’s free, nationwide services for those with, and affected by, cancer in Ireland.

Enjoy this free pattern from Sirdar & thewoolshop.ie 

 ''Support Daffodil day 2015''

 

Click on the Pattern to view Larger image 

Spring Baby Blanket

''inspired by Daffodil Pattern from the woolshop.ie and Sirdar''

I was very intrigued by the free pattern for daffodil day 2015. This is a great cause and also a lovely pattern. I am not a knitter by any means I never took to it as I find it goes on forever and time is something I don't have with all my other crafts I have popping out of my head. 

I started crochet when I was 12 in primary school I knew it was something I would always do throughout my life. When my son was born I took advantage of crocheting baby wear and blankets, some elaborate designs to quite simple but still beautiful patterns.

Crochet is a fast craft, I can crochet a blanket in no time at all while watching the TV or just relaxing in a quite room. I find it so nice to start a project from choosing the materials to the design. Unfortunitly I am a crochet crafter who never learned about graphing patterns or putting them on paper all my ideas are in my head and I work always from my mind. Its something I should start learning to do but I have been going years now without problems so I'll continue as I go.

I use colours and designes based on the time of the year and what exactly I'm crocheting it for. In this case, I wanted to work around a crochet design based on the daffodil day pattern, which took me to the spring time baby blanket I came up with. How lovely it was to design a very in season blanket and raise awareness at the same time. I mostly used the visual of the pattern to crochet my own daffodils as you can see in the pictures.

I also made a hat to match, I love the old style baby bonnets and hats with the woven ribbons like I had as a baby.

I choose the same yellows in the pattern from Sirdar hayfield bonusDK. For the main parts of the blanket I used a cheap and cheerful acrylic yarn I had lots of in a store box. It was interesting to use because it had a sparkle strand running through it ,for some reason it symblised springtime so much more.

I hope you enjoyed reading and taking a look at my crafting of this blanket and hat set, perhaps you will be inspired to create something that not only is beautiful but will raise awareness and support an excellent charity as we have all been touched somehow by cancer.

Regards,

Mags 

Daffodil Day 2015:  www.cancer.ie

Sirdar Faroe Cushion (Modified Pattern) - Carrie from Ireland

Hi Everyone,

There's snow on the mountains, the washing is horizontal on the line with thanks from the gale off the sea and I am smiling. Why? Because the Postman has been here and laying on my doormat is the yarn for my new project from thewoolshop.ie. I wanted to make a bag with the super Sirdar Faroe yarn - it has such a great colour mix. The pattern is Sirdar Faroe Chunky 7105 .....But.....while sitting and casting on the stitches, I found myself trying to make my lower back comfortable and perhaps the bag will become a cushion. (Himself, thinks I already have enough cushioning).

Sirdar Faroe chunky, an incredibly soft yarn with a cotton and wool mixture.
This multi coloured yarn is self patterning, bringing the plainest of patterns to life.
Sirdar Faroe will knit to any chunky pattern on 6.5mm needles.

Here is the finished cushion, which is simply the best for when I am sitting knitting or crocheting. Fits perfectly into that area that other cushions do not. Mind you I haven't had too much use of it as 'himself' has found it more than useful at the back of his neck for a snooze. The filling was a cushion pad...cost just €2.80 so with the yarn this was so inexpensive and just what I wanted. The yarn is great to knit with and the colour mix is hard to beat...I think this would make a super Autumn sweater - why not comment and share your ideas?

Regards, 

Carrie/Ireland

Rescue Greyhound Snoods - Jenny Davis

Hi from one of your regular knitters,

I thought you might be interested in my knitting project. First of all, an introduction. I currently spend a lot of time in Spain and thought I'd try my hand at knitting again - after a break of 35+ years! To start with, I borrowed some needles and someone gave me some spare wool. I thought I'd try something small for charity, so I started knitting little jumpers for rescued penguins - but that's another story. I quickly ran out of wool and as I didn't know of a local wool shop, I hunted on the Internet and soon came across 'thewoolshop.ie' giving me efficient and speedy wool deliveries to Spain.

In the meantime, I found another animal charity that I could knit for - Erin Hounds. I've always loved dogs and when I realised there were so many lovely Greyhounds looking for coats to keep them warm, I was hooked! Erin Hounds is a charity that rescues, rehabilitates and re-homes sighthounds such as Greyhounds, Lurchers and Salukis from the Republic of Ireland. Thousands of sighthounds suffer due to massive overbreeding, irresponsible ownership, failure to enforce animal welfare legislation and a lack of awareness of their suitability as pets.

The Erin Hound charity rescuers operate in the Galway area in Ireland. Hounds needing Erin's help include young Greyhounds deemed unsuitable for racing, ex racers and hare coursers surrendered to pounds to be euthanised usually at around four years of age, plus bitches discarded after producing repeated litters.

I'm so pleased to have found 'thewoolshop.ie' and that wool from Ireland is helping such an excellent charity. I've included photos of Greyhounds wearing hand knitted coats made by volunteers. Rescued Greyhound Jack is kindly modelling a coat I've made. The final picture shows snoods I've knitted to give Greyhounds extra warmth in the winter months.

Greyhounds make fantastic pets, so don't forget, if you are considering a new addition to your family, you may wish to contact either Erin Hounds or your local Greyhound rescue centre.
If anyone wishes to donate to Erin Hounds they can do so via PayPal on the charity’s website www.erinhounds.co.uk.

Knitted Rabbit

Knitted Rabbit by our friend Nick. I could not help myself. I enhanced the picture a little.

From: Marie

Sent: Friday, March 15, 2013 12:40 PM

Subject: Feedback:)

 

Fresh off the needles from one of your free patterns

Looks great Marie. Knitting club members will get another free pattern next month.

Lana's Project

Lana wrote:

Hello Bernadette & Niall:  I am definitely comfortable having you use recycled boxes & cartons to send me my orders, as long as they are clean & sturdy. 

 LOVE the Tivoli and I am attaching a picture of my half finished 'hoodie' sweater I'm making for a newborn great (or is it grand?) nephew.  I'm using the Brush for the turtles back.  the sweater has a full length zipper all the way up to the top of the hood, so it's really easy to put on, zip up, and take off.  The toy turtle will be about 12 inches with the same colors.  Isn't it cute?  This is one of my first 'challenges' in making a design & changing colors.  It's really great working with the Tivoli & my daughter just loves the tweed, shine, & softness too.

Hope you both are doing well. 
Lana Schelich. Missouri

Aiko in Japan.

Sent a picture of start of her project. Aiko bought some Tivoli Yarn from www.thewoolshop.ie in December,