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

Hello again!

So long since I blogged, I really have missed you.   The long and short of it is I have been quite poorly for some weeks, firstly an infection in both eyes ... a real bummer since that meant no crochet work at all for what felt like ages! Then a throat infection set in for which I got an antibiotic .. yay I thought, a few days from now I should be feeling much better .. Ha! not.   I now find I am allergic to sulphur based meds, after all these years of not having a problem!  So I started over again with a penicillin based med, and and I am happy to say that I feel am beating the bug.

Some really exciting news now!  My son living in Guildford UK is getting married and I am flying from OR Tambo Johannesburg South Africa on Friday evening September 30th.  The nuptials take place on October 8th.   So I have been getting a capsule wardrobe together to take with me, and also an outfit for the wedding.  Since I am short and about 5kgs overweight, this has been no easy task.  I trolled Pinterest for hours, Mother of the Bride/Groom sites, the malls in my area, you name it, I trolled it!  During my cyber travelling, I came across some excellent fashion blogs aimed at the over 50's, the ladies all have varying but normal shapes, no stick insect thin bodies  ... here are some of my favourites ....

Fake Fabulous ... Samantha is short so that for me is a bonus.  She has a dash of the slightly quirky and fun!
Not Dressed as Lamb.. Catherine is an award winning fashion blogger and describes herself as 'eclectic, erring on the side of preppy-with-a-twist'!!
Style at a Certain Age ... Beth Djalali .. I love her chic style
Susan After 60 .... Susan Street .. a fabulous blog
50 is not old ... Tania has a great sense of colour and her accessories are OTT and fabulous.

I found these Dont's :  
Don't wear matchy-matchy jewellery .. now I am one to wear my little pearl bracelet with my pearl studs .. I feel that is not overdoing it .. maybe? perhaps?
Stop wearing boxy clothing
No head to toe pastels
No matching sets of anykind

Not sure I totally agree with all of them, but I am excited to know that if I wear my new black shoes and a turquoise clutch to the wedding, the look is OK.  Since exploring these blogs I must admit to looking at my 'too big' denims and thinking 'this is where I am going wrong to start with'.  So I have bought two new pairs, a black and a dark blue, slim leg but nice and stretchy, length to just on my ankles, I am amazed how I look by just changing the style of my denims .. I love them!


During the past weeks I completed an order for a poncho for my one grand-niece Tyla. There are a few similar styled patterns on the net, this is my adaptation, in Elle DK Duck Egg, quite pleased with the finished garment.  A simple concept, but a lot of puzzling out stitch counts and such.  I will be posting a complete pattern after I return from the UK in October.

Other little projects I have enjoyed are some pairs of gorgeous little baby shoes, many thanks to Hopeful Honey and One Dog Woof, and Pinterest for ideas.  These are the first shoes I have made that the soles match left and right .. many a shoe has been abandoned due to one sole bigger than the other, I just couldn't master it, until, with huge determination and concentration, I made these cute pairs.

I have been doing quite a bit of sewing too, and the one item I have been promising myself is a big pincushion that I could not loose, or not find quickly.  So I made up these two, the pink one for me and the bright colour one for my daughter.  Pattern idea comes from this lovely blog, not in English but with good pictures.

I will be away until mid October.  I am staying with very old and dear friends whom I can't wait to see and catch up with, you know the kind of friends I mean where you live far apart and when you get to reconnecting, it's as if you saw them last week, and nothing has changed, you almost pick up the conversation and carry on, those kind of old and dear friends.  We have been friends for going on 53 years!  So that part of my visit is also going to be wonderful, as is the main event. My son is marrying his dear Samantha, whom I have not yet met, and so looking forward to doing so.  She is Italian and beautiful and very kind and generous and good, what more could I want for my eldest!  So an exciting few weeks coming up, getting to know my soon to be new daughter in law, spending time with her and of course reconnecting with my beloved son, who I miss so much.  Also hoping to spend a day in London, and exploring the Surrey countryside as time and the weather allows!
Till mid October, I send much love and hugs and happiness to you all
Pat xxxxx

ps:  I would appreciate any comments and suggestions re crochet hooks in carry-on luggage .. I really do not like wooden or bamboo hooks, and am hoping I can use my KnitPro hook.