New baby gift set

Baby shower

Now days with the advent of baby showers and reveal parties, I was think of a new all in one present.

My idea was a parcel of hand made items wrapped up in a muslin and tied with a ribbon, in two different sizes.

These will be make from double knit yard from #Woolwarehouse and #Dearmore and will be made from #JamesCBrett, #stylecraft, #Patons and #knitsirdar yarns.

I was going to add baby wipes, but with the government, trying to stop the usage of these I've decided to add cotton wool and baby lotion instead. 

Size one

buggy sized blanket either plain or patterned.

1 cardigan

1 pair of bootees

1 pair of mitts

1 hat

1 bib / bandana

1 teddy

1 taggy/knitted comforter 

1 muslin

2 nappies

Cotton wool and baby lotion

Size  two

buggy sized blanket either plain or patterned.

2 cardigans in different patterns

2 pairs of bootees

2 pairs of mitts 

2 hats

1 bib

1 bandana

1 teddy

1 taggy

1 comforter

1 muslin
4 nappies

Cotton wool and baby lotion

The colours I was thinking of were, white, pale blue, a darker blue, green, yellow, pink, lilac.

I was then thinking of selling these at craft fairs and I was also thinking of approaching bespoke baby and children's wear shops to see if I could rent a shelf or a portion of the shop to sell assorted and knitted baby items 

Super soft cardigan

This weeks make is a super soft white cardigan 16" chest with a square pattern, I made this using #Kingcole comfort double knit in white, its machine washable and can be tumbled on a cool setting.

This yarn is so super soft its feels like cotton wool and will be cozy against any new baby's delicate skin.

This cardigan also has 4 buttons and a v neck.  And there's enough yard left for a hat to keep babe toasty warm and maybe a pair of mittens too.

Taking a break from craft fairs

Taking a break!

Over the past 2 yrs I've been doing a craft fair each month except to January, August and December, so as you can imagine this plus working full time has left me exhausted.

Taking stock 

After doing 20 craft fairs with virtually only weeks in between I was rapidly running out of stock, and so I took them momentous decision to take a year off from craft fairs, as I was rushing to make new items and really not enjoying knitting anymore.

So I've been looking for inspiration on the internet, and also I decided to  look at what were my best sellers and redesign a few items and look at designing some new knitwear.

Having a large stock of yarn I wanted to make more colourful knitwear, and I've been looking at updating some of my patterns adding stripes and motifs, and using different stitches, I rather like the double rib as this makes a super cuddly jumper without the bulk of chunky yarn on little babies, and it's also stretchy for longer wear. !!

I particularly like autumn  colours, golds, oranges, reds, greens, purple so I'm thinking of making this one of my jumpers, with think stripes on each colour, at #Woolwarehouse they have a large supply of beautiful yards as well as buttons.

Looking through my stash of yarns I found some rainbow yarns I'd forgotten I had, these are  #Paton, and I've also found yarn from #Stylecraft and #knitsirdar, and my imagination took off at a fair sped, I could see lovely dresses, tops and legging for when those dark winter days need cheering up.

I also have a large range of pastel yarns from #JamesCBrett, #knitsirdar and #stylecraft, which I'm going to use to make lovely summery knitwear to match with the dresses I want to make, and I want to try hand and machine smocking. So watch this space.

Lockdown knitting

Working from home

Whilst the Covid19 lockdown has been on I've had to work from home.  (Shame) 

This gives me extra time in the evening as there has been no traveling involved and I get an extra few hours each night to knit.

So far I made 3 cardigans and 1 jumper using #James C Brett and #Stylecraft yarns both of which I purchased from #Woolwarehouse.

Two white cardigans, a grey cardigan and a pale blue jumper and this weeks work in progress is a yellow angle top 

Monday morning surprise

Today whilst working from home, I received and lovely surprise in the post, from my daughter's lovely mother in law, a large package of knitting patterns.

Now anyone who knows me knows I like nothing better than rummaging around local charity shops in the hope of finding knitting patterns, I particularly like the vintage patterns.

 I'm  really looking forward to making these very soon

Great Garnetts farmers market 

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I always look forward to doing these markets, they are the 2nd Saturday each month except January, August and December.  Julie the owner rally does a good job with the advertising and lots of people attend there are two barns each side of the yard, one is for the crafts and the other is for food and drink.

This is my stall.  

The Christmas one which is in November is always busy with the extra added bonus of live music and carols.

Wednesday Chat

I really enjoyed meeting little P on Saturday, she's so very sweet, and her mum is doing brilliantly!

I've nearly finished the dress now, I've just got to finish the hem, and I'll put some pictures up.

Debbie is doing a craft fair on Sunday, its at Mucking Wildlife Trust Centre, so if you are around, pop in and see her!  The Wildlife centre has just been redeveloped and the area around it is a haven for all sorts of wildlife.  The fair is 10 - 3.

A Big Step!

Well, we've finally taken the plunge and applied for a craft fair.  And we've been accepted!  I'm sooo excited about it, but at the same time, a little apprehensive.  It will be great to get out there and meet customers, but have we got enough items to sell!  I'm sure we will be ready by Feb and we are planning to have a few practice runs at designing our table.  We are hoping to be able to show for the first time a few new designs and products too!  So all in all, there's much work to be done.  We've got so many things to do and decide on, I'd better get going!

Tiny Baby Range

As the weather starts to turn more autumnal, we are pleased to starting putting our range of tiny baby clothes into our shop.  Our first items are three lovely matching sets of cardigans, mittens and hats, all for babies weighing approximately two to three pounds.  Please take a look at our shop http://sunshinebabycrafts.folksy.com for pictures and more details!