An Easter break from the norm…

Well, whaddayaknow…? It was a snake! Remember that French knitting my lovely boy was doing? Here’s what it became:

Arthur's finger-knitted snake
Arthur’s finger-knitted snake

snake2It’s been a bit slow on the creation front lately, what with having five children at home for the holidays. Actually, we had 8 as my oldest friend in the world came to stay with her brood. And we had lots of adventures, including taking them for their very first trip to Hadrian’s Wall. I am very happy to report that the-longest-winter-ever chose that particular day to cede at last to spring. It was nothing short of glorious:

Some of the brood at Hadrian's Wall
Some of the brood at Hadrian’s Wall

It was chilly enough when we set off, however, for some woolly knitwear and my dear friend’s littl’uns chose from my ever-expanding bag of home-made winter woollies – and very fetching they were, too <3

All hat and bottom lip
All hat and bottom lip
The Feisty Pixie
The Feisty Pixie

We were inundated with boys so we girls snuck off for a bit of learning to Finger Knit. We found a tutorial on YouTube, in which the now immortal words “Always start with the pinkie!”, once uttered have now become the mantra πŸ™‚

Girl time
Girl time

And, when we had said our fond farewells, my snake charmer decided to learn, too, and has taken finger knitting to an extreme sport level:

Extreme Finger Knitting
Extreme Finger Knitting

I’ve been plugging away at little Alice’s jacket, beginning to panic slightly that her mother’s reports suggest she may be too big for it by the time it’s finished… Eek! Unfortunately, my youngest has removed the needles from the stitches more times than I can remember. When this little thing is finished, I’ll be most relieved!

And finally, at a time when inspiration is somewhat lacking, I received a surprise present in the post from my lovely mother-in-law.

Surprise Gifts!
Surprise Gifts!

Must. Finish. Some. Before. Starting. More…!

Progress and Experimentation

I had the chance to catch up a bit with weaving ends and attaching squares to my granny square waistcoat this weekend. This is what it looks like now:

Granny Square Waistcoat
Granny Square Waistcoat
Granny Square Waistcoat
Granny Square Waistcoat

 

As you can see, I have made two ‘granny triangles’ to shape the top of the front a bit and it now meets around me, though I’m going to crochet a border around the whole thing when it’s finished, so meeting at the front isn’t too necessary.

I’ve had a couple of flashes of potential inspiration, too. Around the bottom of this completed part, I’m going to crochet the little squares you can see in the top picture, along with some the same size in a different colourway. This will form a sort of empire line belt. Then, below that ‘belt’, I’m going to add some squares I’ve already made in said different colourway, along with a couple of triangles at strategic points at the back, to make the ‘skirt’ of the waistcoat a little fuller. Does that make sense? It makes perfect sense in my head, but is quite possibly gobbledigook in the explaining… πŸ˜‰

The baby jacket is coming on, too. I have just finished the front right, and am onto the hood on that side.

Alice's Jacket
Alice’s Jacket

I have long hankered after those cute little stitch markers and finally got around to ordering some. As you can see, I used the old ‘tie a bit of old yarn around the stitch’ on the back of the jacket, but by the time I had started the right front, the markers had arrived. They are just the cutest little things – like teeny tiny nappy pins – and have brought me disproportionate pleasure πŸ™‚

And we’ve been painting eggs for a school competition. That is, I haven’t painted them at all, but three of my boys have. With… ahem… interesting and varied results πŸ˜‰

eggs

The one on the right, as you may well be able to tell, is a robot. The one on the left, I am reliably informed, is a Ninja… You can see it, can’t you? Go on… squint a bit… a bit more… and a leeeeeeeeeeetle bit more… see it now?

No. Thought not. πŸ™‚