A precious new arrival

This has been a joyous and somewhat emotional year so far!

My precious and long-awaited granddaughter decided to join us early. She was born at 25 1/2 weeks at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham Portsmouth in late August.  Early on a Monday morning, my son phoned me and whispered in a wibbly wobbly voice "she's here Mom, she's here". On a happy note, our little miracle is making wonderful progress.  She is now at a hospital closer to home in Guildford, a month has passed and I am a Granny-in-Love! I see photos of her almost every day, dear Samantha her mom has been so kind in that respect. Living in South Africa means I am so very far away.  

I had started two baby blankets, and was in the planning stages of what cardi's and jerseys to make ... suddenly, Skylar Alessia decided to come out and play, and I was propelled into a jersey making, sock knitting, hat crocheting frenzy! 

Jerseys, jackets, socks and hats galore are soon to be on their way, in readiness for her homecoming in December. Here is what I have made so far:

This is a super-quick blanket pattern called 6-Day Kid Blanket, from 

Betty McKnit

 A firm favourite now, the C2C Gingham Blanket, all the info on how to make this super pattern can be found on The Patchwork Heart Blog

 I made this simple Granny Square blanket some time ago,

Turquoise is Skylar's mom Sam's favourite colour!

 So very sweet, so very quick .. Bitty Baby Booties from 

smallfriendly.com

 A Jester hat new-born size, pattern info at carewear.org

and two pairs of teeny socks, following the First Size Sock pattern

 on Winwick Mom Sockalong Face Book Page, it's in the Files 

 And another pair!

I loved making this cardi.. its called Hundreds, designer is Kelly van Niekerk,

PekaPeka Design Studio.  She has some lovely patterns, both free and paid,

look for her on Ravelry

 Such a fun little garment, pattern is free, called All-in-One Baby Top from Marianna's

Lazy Daisy Days.

 I have made this beautiful cardi so many times, the pattern

book has lost its cover I think its at lease twenty years old.

Every baby that has been born into my family has had one of these.

The yoke is delicately detailed, as it gathers in towards the neckline ... 

I am thinking perhaps I will post the pattern, taking no credit, I would love

to share it!

 Another favourite, Zooty Owl's Quick and Easy Baby Cardigan, so easy to make,

I added pretty turquoise buttons with little white flowers in the centre.

I am quite particular when selecting buttons for my projects,

it's important to choose just the right buttons!

 Isn't this too sweet? I had yarn over from the Granny Square blanket

pictured above, just enough to make up my dear friend Zelna Olivier's

Newborn Baby Body Warmer.  Pattern can be found on her Ravelry page.

 Another Quick and Easy Baby Cardigan from Zooty Owl, paired with

my Layla-lu Baby Beanie, pattern on the blog. This time I added a 

cheeky pompom!

    And finally, two little premmie/newborn jackets.  The pattern is called

Nessa's Sweater and can be found on kimations.blogspot.com.  I especially like

the picot detail on all the edging.

The hat is my Layla-lu beanie pattern

 

This version is made with plain sleeves, and 'ombre' buttons ...

hahaha .. in other words a very pale pink one at the top, pale pink one 

in the middle and a pink one at the bottom!!

I work on a rather old laptop, which I might add still does what I need just fine, BUT oh my word the photo editing apps on our new smart phones/notebooks etc are just too amazing, hence the higgledy piggledy array of different photo styles .. please excuse the mish mash!

An aside if I may ... just googled Higgledy Piggledy, do you know this poem by Ogden Nash?

"Higgledly piggledy, my black hen,

She lays eggs for gentlemen.

Gentlemen come every day

To count what my black hen doth lay.

If perchance she lays too many,

They fine my hen a pretty penny;

If perchance she fails to lay,

The gentlemen a bonus pay"

It's quite long and does not have anything to do with a pig!  When Skylar Alessia is introduced to social media, as I am sure her mommy will want to show to the world her beautiful miracle baby, I will post a picture or two.

Have a most wonderful day,

love to you all Pat xxxxxxxxxxxxx