Good grief it fits...

I hardly dare believe it but I have finished my Atelier and it fits! Yay, so excited and so pleased. It's not that I'm unable to knit a cardigan, but lately I seem to have been singularly unable to knit one that fits me properly. Having finally listened to lots of advice about measuring myself carefully and realising that I'm actually considerably smaller than I thought I was (particularly in the bust area :( ) and also doing as I'm damn well told and knitting swatches, it's worked! Phew...

The pattern was so enjoyable, interesting construction, plenty to keep you moving on, yet lots of mindless stocking stitch to watch TV by. With a slight unintentional variation to the pattern, ie I picked up more stitches for each front than I was instructed to meant that I ended up with the xs size to start with but with s size fronts. Hey ho it looks good still.

I just love the way the fronts look.

Getting decent pictures that really show a project is a tricky one for me, as my 17 yr old son thinks I'm a complete twit and refuses to photograph me and he's the only other person in the house at the moment. I intended to get a pal to do some at knit night last night but as I hadn't been for a while there was just so much catching up to do, so of course it went right out of my head!

I've literally been wearing this all week. It's comfortable, warm and a great length, one happy lady :)

Notice the nice flowery background? My new cotton lawn fabric ready for me to dive in to a simple dress project. Well simple to others maybe, but I'm feeling a bit nervous! I'll keep you posted.....

I'm linking up with Tami for FO Friday, with Linda for Creative Friday and with Wonderwhygal for Fiber Friday. Check out all those other great projects. 

Have a great weekend x

Bunnies and books...

A couple of years ago I knitted two Bunny Blanket Buddies for a friend's new baby and her slightly older brother. They were knit in Rowan Bamboo Tape which whilst to me was and is an awkward tape yarn, it is in fact lovely and soft for a baby cuddly toy. These bunnies went down a storm and became both in turn the constant companion of little Isobel. The family subsequently moved back to their native New Zealand and it's always wonderful to see their latest exploits and news on Facebook especially when Izzy is still carting around bunny. She's two now and absolutely gorgeous like her big brother, but I noticed an appeal last week on Facebook from her Dad and I quote...

"Dear Codicote friends, can someone please ask Tracy Rogers to help....rabbit (2 of 2) is on his last legs (not that he had legs to start with). Prospect of Isobel without rabbit is daunting..... "

How sweet! Of course I immediately sent a message back saying ok two balls of said yarn left which means two bunnies can be made. One now done and the other is two thirds through, so my challenge is to get them both ready to be posted off on Thursday to make the long journey to the other side of the world. Ah makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to provide a cuddle blanket for a little one growing up in this world :)

I finished 'Private' by James Patterson this week and although I made it to the end, enjoyable it was not. Didn't like the writing style, far to formulaic as i've said before and frankly I expected more from an author with that much practise, anyway you live and learn, moving on this week I'm reading 'Started Early, Took My Dog' by Kate Atkinson. I've read her previous Jackson Brodie novels and really enjoyed them, so I'm looking forward to getting my teeth into this one. Hop on over to Tami's place for lots of other WIP Wednesdays and to Ginny's place for crafting and great reads.

Routine service madam!

I'd already decided that before I use my new sewing machine a full service was in order. After all the poor old girl is nearly as old as me and as I said before a bit of sewing machine oil to the knees would be most grateful.

So, armed with the original manual and various maintenance instructions I'd found on the 'Tinternet' I decided to start my servicing. Honestly my Dad would be proud of me, screwdrivers, oils and brushes at the ready. It felt a bit scary dismantling the main body of the machine, but I was determined to remove all the fluff, lint and dust accumulated over many years before I started oiling. It's in remarkably good condition and my goodness it's a solid heavy thing, even just turning it over was a bit of a challenge!

So I carefully followed my instructions, found all the little places where the oil should go and did my service. 

 Before I started

 Revealing the top of the machine

 After almost giving myself a hernia lifting the machine up!

Phew, it felt quite scary, but I'm so pleased with myself. I threaded her up and tested the stitch and she goes like a dream. I set a challenge and I achieved it, one happy lady here :)