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Sunday 21 April 2013

Crafting for a new arrival

My friend has recently had a baby boy. As soon as I found out what she was having I had to start thinking of what to make as a gift for the new arrival. I had made her first baby a little matinee coat and a pair of bootees so I decided to go along the same lines for this baby.
 

How cute are these bunny bootees?! They were from a free pattern in the Daily Mail a month or so ago. And as soon as I saw them I knew they were the perfect ones to make. They were pretty quick to knit up and only had a back seam to sew up. But I did have to look up some of the terminology used as they were new to me- luckily the internet came to the rescue!


This is the jumper I chose to knit for him. I don't like to make the newborn sizes of clothes as they aren't small enough for long enough to get much wear out of them. So I made this is 6-9 months so it will be ready for him over autumn and winter. It is a Debbie Bliss pattern and was really easy to follow and quick to knit- which is good as I tend to get bored with doing rows and rows of the same stitches!


I couldn't leave his big sister out with not gifts. So I made her a little badge so everyone knows that she is proud of her baby brother!


I also made her a doll/teddy carrier for carrying around her toys. I saw a picture on pinterest and was hoping it would take me to a tutorial but it was just a review of a pattern for one in a book so I had to wing how to construct one but I am pretty impressed with the results. It had to have a dinosaur pocket on the front because is obsessed with dinosaurs and pockets!!

I do love making things for babies and children. Just need to convince some more friends they want to have a baby so I can craft some more tiny things!!

Friday 5 April 2013

Easter


I know Easter was nearly a whole week ago now but I still have the remnants in my kitchen waiting to be consumed!

I couldn't afford chocolate eggs for everyone so I knitted little chicks from a Jean Greenhowe pattern I spotted on Ravelry which can be found here and brought some creme eggs to sit inside them. I didn't have and googly eyes so just had to stitch some on but I think they still look pretty cute. And they decorated the table nicely.


I also decided to try my hand at some proper easter baking. I picked up Paul Hollywoods 'How to Bake' a month or so ago and decided to make Hot Cross buns and Simnel cake using his recipes in the book. And then luckily both were made on the Great British Bake off easter special so I got some extra tips on how to knead the dough etc! I haven't made bread since school (except in a bread maker) so was really pleased with how these turned out- they look like actual Hot Cross buns that you would buy in a shop and tasted better I'd say!!


And my simnel cake (although never really tasted one before) also tasted very yummy! But I love marzipan so it wouldn't take much to please me! I even made the marzipan myself- I thought it would be so tricky and thats why people just buy it but it really wasn't and took less time to make than it would to drive to the shops and buy a block.

A very nice easter all round made even better by the fact that I had Easter Monday off work!! I am going to make it a tradition to make hot cross buns every year now I think and I enjoyed making them a lot so will try out different breads between now and then.

Hope you all had a lovely easter and did anyone craft or bake things?