Knitting bug

I wanted to make something special for my baby Nephew (who's due any day now!) and my sister said she would love it if I could knit her a blanket, so I set about learning how to. Luckily my mum knows how to knit, Im more of a visual learner so having someone show me how to, rather than trying to work it out from a book was really helpful for me and so once I had chosen the wool, and bought the needles, mum cast on for me and taught me how to knit and purl. After knitting for a few weeks, I had to put the knitting away so I could focus on Christmas crafts, but once Christmas bits were finished, I picked the knitting back up and a couple of nights ago, the blanket was finished! I had no idea how to cast off, and it was at a time where I couldnt go to mums to have her show me how, so with the help of Youtube, I managed to work it out and it was so much easier than I though it would be!



Im more proud of this than I am of anything I have created so far, I was practically dancing around the room when it was finished :-)



Its not perfect, its a little gappy in a few places, and I knitted when I purled, or purled when I should have knitted a coule of times meaning the pattern went off a little, but I think it adds to the charm...doesnt it?




The same night I finished the blanket, I saw on facebook a link for a Leap year blanket project, where you knit a square everyday, resulting in a lovely hand knitted blanket at the end of the year! I decided to join thinking that this could be a great way for my confidence to grow and hopefully learn a few techniques along the way! When I started the blanket, my mum cast on for me, so to start my first square, I had to go back to Youtube and learn how to do this, and again, I picked it up fairly easily and I thought it would be a lovely way to use up the last bit of wool I had leftover from the baby blanket



Im going to give pattern reading a go soon, I have allsorts of things Id love to make but I dont want to get too ahead of myself

If you would like to know more about the Leap year blanket or fancy joining in, here is the link :-)
The Leap Year Blanket

Happy New Year

Im feeling excited about the new year, no resolutions as such, but lots Id like to achieve and I love the feeling of a fresh start that comes with a new year, plus Im about to become an Auntie for the first time :-) We spent the first day of 2012 at a very soggy park and farm, it was nice to have a walk and blow off some cobwebs despite the rain



We stopped to say hello to the Highland cows













Spot of tractor driving





said hello to the turkeys



and then a bit of construction







Even wet sand gets everywhere!



After all that, the rain was really getting too much, so we headed home for a big roast dinner :-)

Wishing you all the best for 2012