Ho-ho-hoot!

These baby owls and their retro cabled friend found their way to a new home last Friday. Two of my good friends are having a baby in a few weeks. We decided to surprise the soon-to-be-mom and organized a small yet sweet and warm babyshower. Have any of you ever been to a babyshower? This was my first and I didn't actually know what to expect. But it really was cosy. We ate good food, talked about babies, played a few baby-themed games and then gave the mother some presents.

Pattern for the hat: I Heart Cables
Pattern for the mittens: UuuuHu!
Needles: 3 mm
Yarn: Falk by Dalegarn and Villainen by Kotikulta

Since I used a thinner yarn than was suggested in the pattern for the hat, I casted on for size "child". In the end, it did turn out a little too big for a baby, but then again, I'm sure it'll fit the little girl soon enough anyway. One thing I don't like is the earflaps. For some reason they just keep curling up even though I've tried blocking them and all. Perhaps I did something wrong?! :/

The pattern for the mittens is written in Norwegian, but that didn't stop me :) I casted on 44 stitches and worked a k2p2 -rib. Then I just followed the pattern as it was written (except for the UHU-part). And I just have to say: aren't they just soooo CUTE?! I'd like to have mittens like these too!! I mean, awww! <3

The mittens are attached to the cabled hat by an icord strap. This feature was actually someting the couple had asked me to do. The strap is removable since it's fastened with buttons (and with crochet buttonholes). This way they can always choose whether or not to use the whole set at once.

I hope they liked it. And that the babygirl will like it too! :)

Inspiration

The shadow of the lace shawl made a very beautiful pattern. I might use it for inspiration in school projects in the future.

Green lace and white pearls

My dear grandmother turned 85 years old this August and I wanted to make something special for her. After a lot of thinking I recalled that she always complains about her back and shoulders getting cold during the winter season, so is there really anything that would be more perfect for a gift than a shawl made out of 100% warm wool?

Pattern: Ethereal Triangular Shawl by Lakshmi Junega
Yarn: teetee Kamena, 100 g
Needles: 4 mm
In Ravelry

This time, I also tried something completely new: knitting with pearls. And even though it was a lot slower that just plain knitting, it wasn't hard at all. I'm sure I'll use this technique again sometime. ...once I've forgotten how annoyingly time-consuming it really was.

If you wan't to try it, here's a good tutorial. And another hint: don't add pearls to a project that has a deadline coming up too soon. I almost didn't finish this shawl in time for my grandmother birthday party. The night before I actually spent knitting and blocking until 2 a.m. But that's just the way it is sometimes when it comes to handicrafts, right? They tend to take up more of your time than you expect. And ok, I have to admit that I started this project a little bit too late too, only 2,5 weeks before the party... But I made it! :)

I really think it turned out great with the pearls and all (even though you can't see them that well in the pictures, I swear they looked much better in real life! :)) and I'm pretty sure my grandmother was pleased too.  <3

(Photos taken in the park of Mustion Linna)