Some baby items

Recently I've got back to my knitting needles and made a few new creations for our mini Manley. Now I know she's a she then I can make more girlie bits and also some smaller bits for the summer months. The first item I decided to make was a cream hoodie to go with her going home outfit, she doesn't really have any outside coats for the early months so a few cardis will come in handy. 

I chose quite a simple pattern in Double Knit wool, so it's not too thick but warm enough.

The selected pattern.

As always I closely followed the pattern and it was a simple design. I made the 5 pieces required. 

Five pieces made and ready to sew together

A close up of the pattern

 These pieces were then sewn together and I used some wooden effect buttons to complete the look. Overall I'm very pleased with this item and it's been packed in the hospital bag ready to be worn by mini Manley on her way home from hospital. 

Finished hoodie

As well as this hoodie, I have also made a little purple cardi that is meant to go with mini Manley's dresses, again the early size. 

The finished product

Again this is a very simple Sirdar pattern and just requires sewing pieces together once completed. The wool is again double knit and designed so it produces this fair isle effect from just one ball of wool. It looks complicated but this is just a basic stocking stitch. 

 I made a small mistake where the buttonhole is concerned so we improvised, my sister crocheted a little chain that I then sewed in making a button hoop. 

Button hoop, a crocheted chain

Overall I'm very pleased with both cardis and am busy working on the next two. One is pretty much finished but requires my sister's magic hands to finish the flowers, the other I only started today. 

Flopsy the Bunny and a little of Monty

 Whilst I've been ill baking has been the last thing on my mind, however, in November my Nephew was born. I decided that I could use this blog to not only show my baking but also any little projects that I've made for the mini Manley or my family. 

I've had a project ongoing for a few months of a little monkey that I wanted to knit for him and give as a present so I thought, eek, I had better get on with that!! So I picked up my knitting needles and got back into knitting again to complete it. The pattern, Sirdar 1342, consisted of making lots of different pieces and then sewing them together. It felt like there were so many pieces and I was worried I would never be able to work out how it all went together, however, that bit was remarkably easy. Here is a picture of Monty the Monkey. 

Monty the Monkey

I don't want to go into much detail about Monty because I didn't take many photos of him and he's a bit hard to see. However, at the same time as getting that pattern I also purchased one of my own for our little M&M so after I'd finished Monty I got on with making Flopsy the Bunny, Sirdar 1243. I have to thank my husband for taking these photos for me and it's actually the first time I've seen them so I'm having a little chuckle as I write!!  

Flopsy the Bunny having a lounge in bed!!

 Flopsy was much easier to make than Monty as she had far fewer pieces. the body was just one complete piece as was the the head and legs. The arms and ears consisted of a front and back piece, so again very simple. Monty on the other had, for just the leg, a top foot, bottom foot, top leg and bottom leg. His head was even worse, it has 2 sides, plus 2 muzzle pieces, plus a face and a back. I was impressed with how Flopsy's feet/legs were made as I couldn't see when I started how it was all going to be one piece but with some increase stitches in the right places it formed a lovely little bootie. 

Flopsy's top half

 Flopsy was really easy to put together, Monty took me a day of combining pieces, whereas Flopsy took me just a couple of hours. The hardest part was making sure that the stuffing was even so she was a nice round ball rather than a strange shaped rabbit!! 

And back, such a cute tail!!

 Her tail has to be my favourite part of her as it's so small and fluffy. 

Flopsy Face Detail

To finish her off I sewed on the face details, again very simple. 

The pattern talks you through every step and is very easy to follow. I would recommend using the wool they suggest, Sirdar Snuggly Snowflake, because it is really soft and perfect for this kind of project. The wool, however, does make things more difficult as it is hard to see the previous stitches in detail and very difficult to pick up dropped stitches so use it carefully. 

Overall I'm really pleased with both Monty and Flopsy, Flopsy was definitely the easier of the two patterns to make and also my favourite. My sister has a dog pattern which she will be making at some stage so maybe she'll let us know how that one goes.