My new blog

Hello Mamas! It's been a while since any of us have blogged. I know we're all so busy living life that it's often hard to write about it too.

As part of my new and exciting career path I have set up a new blog Not Just Another Cupcake. It is still very much a work in progress. It's a bit of a tongue in cheek wink toward all those mums who start cupcake businesses. As a "home creator" I'll be writing about crafts, food, style, parenting, health and gardening. Additionally, with the purchase of our new house I'll share the transformation as we renovate and make it our family home.

I have transferred a number of the posts I have written on this blog only to fill it out a little. I'll also post on this blog too as it's a nice open letter to my friends across the pond.

Mama N xx

Three little bunnies

Happy Easter! I wanted to give homemade Easter baskets this year to Miss L, Master Q and Miss V so I decided to knit three little bunnies for my little ones. I took the bunny egg cosy pattern that Mama N recently knit and first adjusted it to make a stuffed bunny for Miss L.

Then I thought it would be fun to make bunny rattles for Miss V and Master Q.


All three bunnies were quick to knit. Each one took two days. It took me one day to knit up all the pieces and a second day to do the finishing work.

Yesterday Miss L and I colored eggs we bought at the farmer's market and baked butter cookies in the shape of bunnies and eggs. After Miss L's swim class first thing this morning we will have an Easter egg hunt around the house. Then my parents and great auntie will arrive for Easter brunch. I came up with a menu using all our farm-fresh vegetables and fruit from our CSA. I am serving an artisanal ham along with roasted local asparagus topped with pecorino and mashed local potatoes. And of course, deviled eggs made from our Easter eggs. My parents are bringing a cake which we will top with local strawberries.

I can't wait for Miss L to find her Easter basket when she wakes up!

Little bunny egg cosy

In response to Mama V's question this is the bunny egg cosy. I have been meaning to blog about it but where does time go? I have been doing a lot of knitting and sewing lately but can't post anything because it's all gift knits. When the various recipients have received their respective gifts I'll post because there are some really sweet things!

This bunny was the cutest knit I've done to date. I plan on making a full set with different coloured jumpers/sweaters. The next one will have a pink striped jumper and then a green one.

Most weekends we have boiled eggs with soldiers so these will be so cute on top. Master R loves his "hase" and wants to eat "ei" (two words he always says in German) every morning now.

PS. Note the floral oilcloth table cloth. Since I don't have a girl I've started filling our house with pretty girly things including tea sets, cake plates, table cloths, oven mitts and tea towels.

Bolinas cowl

My mom's birthday was last Friday and I decided that I wanted to knit something for her. She knit a beautiful hooded scarf for my birthday last year. She even dyed the white yarn for the trim in earl grey tea to create a softer white!

I decided a cowl would be something I could realistically finish in time and also something that she could wear a lot on her daily hikes along the coast in the fog. I found a nice pattern on Ravelry for a Dolores Park Cowl, which happens to be named after a park here in San Francisco. So I renamed it the Bolinas Cowl for my mom's quaint little hippie town in Marin.

The pattern is really simple so I wanted to find a unique yarn to make it look more textured and patterned. When I went to Atelier Yarn in my neighborhood I could hear Mama N's voice warning me not to pick out one of those multi-colored granny yarns that comes out looking like a frumpy country mouse knit. I hope Mama N will approve of the yarn I chose.

I knit the cowl each night while Miss V took her 2:00 am feed and slept. Master Q only interrupted to feed on a few occasions. Last Friday we packed all three children in the car and took a day trip out to Bolinas to spend my mom's birthday with her. It was a beautiful day - sunny and warm. We spent the day lounging on the deck while Miss L chased after my my mom's dog and watered the flowers with her little water pail.

Currently I am trying to knit three little bunnies for Easter. The twins' bunnies will have jingle bells stuffed inside to make them into rattles. I have been inspired by Mama N's absolutely adorable bunny egg warmer. I hope my bunnies will turn out as cute!

First finished object with 3 under 3

It feels absolutely wonderful to be blogging again after a very long hiatus. Thank you to Mama V for introducing my two bundles of joy who arrived in December - Master Q and Miss V.

Taking care of newborn twins and a very energetic two-year old, along with having to cope and address some serious medical concerns for Miss V, has not left me with much time to think about blogging or knitting or yoga or anything else that I enjoyed in my prior life.

However, about two weeks ago I started to think about a knitting project that I left unfinished while on bed rest. Last week I started taking notice of my knitting bag sitting in my closet. Then I decided to I take out my knitting bag. It sat on our bar for the rest of the week and I thought about knitting every time I passed by to go to the kitchen.

This week I actually started knitting again (inspired by a few emails from Mama J about her current knitting projects). I decided to start knitting during Miss V's early morning feed from 2 to 3am. It is one of the few times the whole house is quiet and I don't work with Miss V on her feeding therapy (I let her sleep through the feed so she gets her rest). The first night the only thing I accomplished was figuring out where I left off and what I was doing and by that time Master Q had awakened and was ready to feed.

The next night I knit two rows and I was hooked all over again, just like when we knit our first hat project with Mama N over a year ago. Knitting again has really made me feel rejuvenated. All week I couldn't wait to get back to my knitting. It was so nice to throw my mind into something else and I find knitting really helps calm and center me.

Today I finished knitting the Debbie Bliss Stripey Hat for Master Q. It felt so gratifying to accomplish something. Master Q really needed a hat too. He has outgrown all his newborn hats and all the infant hats are pink, which Mister T says will not do for Master Q.

It rained all day today, but in the late afternoon the storm ended and the sun and blue sky reappeared. I took Miss L and Master Q out in our new Phil & Ted's Sport double stroller and we walked over to our favorite neighborhood park near the Presidio. It was the perfect opportunity for Master Q to wear his new hat. In the photo above he is also wearing the lovely cardigan that Mama N knit for him. Miss L enjoyed jumping and splashing in all the puddles at the playground and Master Q hung out in the stroller bassinet.

I'm going to go now and search for new patterns on Ravelry. I'd love to knit a rattle for Miss V and I need to start working on a birthday present for my mom.

So happy to be back knitting and blogging with my dear mama friends!

Knitting injuries

Yes, yes have a little giggle. I have a couple of knitting injuries. First I have a rash on my finger from the wool I'm currently working with. I don't think it's an allergy, just from excessive wool rub! Second, I was experiencing pain in my forearm and shoulder. Mama LS if I was in NYC you could treat your first knitting injury. When this happens I know it's time to switch to crocheting and give my body a rest from the strenuous activity that is knitting. It was during one of these breaks that I crocheted this blanket for the MIL. I don't really think she likes it but I don't think she likes much that I do. She did ask for one though and I delivered. I also knitted her a pair of leg warmers in the same colour. I hope she gets some use out of them. I won't be knitting her the huge ski sweater she's requested though. It's just too much work when I'm not sure she'll ever wear it!

I'm currently working on one of the most exciting knitting projects I've undertaken. The front and back is finished as is 1.5 sleeves. I should be finished in a couple of weeks and can share the result with you. My only concern is that its too small. I've prewarned Mama J that she might receive a partially knitted sweater if its the case.

A scarflet for great auntie

This scarflet was a very quick knit. So quick that it could easily be knit in a day. I wanted to knit something for my great auntie's birthday, which she now shares with Miss L. This year she turned 89 and I was so happy that we were able to all celebrate together.

The pattern for this scarflet was very poorly written so I added a lot of notes on Ravelry to give more specific instructions so that the stitches match up properly.

I chose to knit it with some lavender yarn that I've had stashed away for years (from my initial knitting class on the upper westside five years ago) since purple is one of my great auntie's favorite colors. I decided that it needed a little more detail so I found a lovely mother of pearl button to sew on for decoration only.

Finished object: a ragdoll

I really enjoyed knitting this ragdoll for Miss L's second birthday. It is a Debbie Bliss pattern from the book Essential Knits from Kids. It was a quick knit and I have a lot of left over yarn to make more dolls. I actually spent more time on the finishing than the knitting. I felt like this project really helped me practice my finishing skills. I also enjoyed reading the finishing tips in the book. I took my time with everything and am really happy with how it turned out.

I decided to use yellow yarn for the doll's hair to match Miss L's and put a little bumblebee button on the back of the dress. Miss L is fascinated by bumblebees right now and we are going to have a bumblebee cake for her second birthday so I thought it would be a nice tie into the birthday bee theme.

I can't wait for Miss L to open this gift on her birthday. I think it has been my favorite knitting project so far.

Next up on the knitting queue are layette sets for the twins. One yellow and one green.

And still more finished gifts

As mentioned in a previous post I've been knitting so much for others that I forgot that my own poor son Master R doesn't have a hat or gloves for winter. After a little searching through Ravelry I found this free pattern for the Norwegian Earflap hat. I love the challenge of knitting this intarsia star pattern and yet the speed you can finish it since it's a small project.

After knitting Master R's hat I liked it so much that I made another one for a friend's little boy's 2nd birthday. I did it without a pompom. I personally like it with the pompom but wasn't sure about it - I'm always so insecure with my knitting and not sure that people will like it. That's why I've only just started gift knitting again. So what do you think? With or without pompom?

The final picture is the back of a coat I knitted. The pattern looks incredibly complex but it honestly just looks that way. When we moved back to London from New York in February I wanted to bring along one big project that would keep me going for the 12 weeks until our boxes arrived. This was the perfect project. It's all done in moss (seed) stitch (k1, p1) so it takes a while. And you do need to concentrate on getting the vines and flowers in the right place. I had finished it months ago except one sleeve which I finished just before Master T was born. I really do need to take some nice pictures of it though. The buttons are just beautiful

In hindsight I really wish that I'd done this in grey. I love wearing grey and don't enjoy purple so much. But I was really trying to get out of my grey rut where everything I was knitting myself was grey. I've given up now and will just knit in grey because then I know I'll wear it. So while this isn't technically a gift knit, I'll probably not wear it often and should really give it away. It's just about finding someone who does like purple handknitted coats.

Some completed gift knits

I had vowed never to knit a gift again following a bad experience. But since Mama J is a fellow knitter I decided it was a safe gift. Given how much Master A loves George I thought his brother would too so I made him a George the monkey. It's a great quick crochet project that is very cute! And believe it or not I actually ran out of the brown so I had to give him a tshirt and shorts.

Then I knitted up a vest for Master L. I love this pattern. It's normally done in thick yarn and is also a quick knit. Not wanting to leave out Master A, and because two boys look so cute in matching clothes, I also knitted him a vest. It's done on thicker yarn so was just as quick as the small one to complete. Actually it was quicker because I didn't put the grey around the sleeves. I didn't have the right yarn so left it off. It looks cute anyway. NB. The vests are the same navy but the lighting was different in each picture so one looks a bit washed out.

The top picture is Iggle Piggle a children's TV character here. Master R just loves the show and it's one show I don't mind him watching. If you saw the pics of me catching a bus to the hospital to give birth to Master T you'll see me crocheting this. It was my goal to give it to Master R when I left hospital as a little present. But I didn't quite get it finished in time. Unfortunately Master R showed zero attention to it. He's never liked any soft toys! Oh well, it looks cute on the chair in his room. Maybe Master T will like it.

The urge to finish

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with being in the final days of my pregnancy but I've had this sudden urge to finish all those projects I've had lying around - some for nearly a year. While it looks like I've been ultra-productive, in most cases it has been about putting in a couple of hours to just get the project finished. That's what I've been doing the past couple of weeks so I now have a few finished projects to share.


First is this dress. I bought the fabric about 3 months ago. The style is the same as a $1 dress I bought off ebay and wear and wear and wear. With the elastic top it was great to breast feed in and it is just so comfortable. I'm wearing the old dress literally to it's death. The idea was to make this one for summer. As the nights get longer and summer draws to a close I probably won't get much of a chance to wear it this year but it's a great dress anyway and was so simple to make!

The fabric comes with the elastic already sewn in the top. You just whip up the side seams, top and hem. Viola! Easy! The yellow, red and green stripes mean it will look great with red sandals and red cardigan.

Sorry about the picture. I had to use the self timer on the kitchen bench.

Sorry also for this picture. But nothing I could do would give this cardigan justice. It looks wonky here but it's not. I'll take a live shot once I fit into it again. It is a stunning design with lovely 3/4 length sleeves in the same lacy pattern and a scalloped edge. However, this was the most difficult knitting project I have ever undertaken! Only because the pattern was written so badly. It was almost as if they wanted you to fail from the outset. Just terrible. Mama J and Mama H, I promise I'll always help you with any knitting and crochet pattern you do EXCEPT this one!

Just a very basic blankie. Master R is such a little blankie boy (which I find very cute). But his wonderful 3Marthas blankie is in a sorry state. No matter how much I wash it I can't get out the ground in dirt. They don't make them anymore and I couldn't find one in blue and white on any of the US sites I searched so I thought I'd make one. The knitting was very simple but sewing the ribbon around wasn't so easy because my poor old machine didn't like sewing through the thickness of the wool. So I'm rather ashamed of my sewing and won't own up to it!

I was concerned that Master R would reject the replacement blankie but as soon as he saw it lying on the sofa he screamed for it and wouldn't let it go. Mission complete!

Last but my absolute favorite is this cabled hoody. I started it in October last year and had finished it by February but hadn't put in the zipper. I tried to get to the haberdashery store in NYC before I left but didn't get there. Finally yesterday I bought the zip and sewed it in. However, there is a big problem with this hoody. Those with a keen eye will see that there is a lighter strip of knitting around the waist line. I was furious - I ran out of yarn and went back to The Point and was assured it was the same dyelot. As you can see it was not. I've considered ripping it back but decided to just live with it in the end. It's a lesson that I should ALWAYS check the dyelot and NEVER knit if it's not the same. Mamas J and H - this is a great pattern for you. The yarn is beautiful and the fit is wonderful. It's a quick knit too because it's on big needles.

Now to get back to the sofa and finish some more outstanding projects.

Finished objects - for the bambino

After knitting so much for friends' kids, I was very excited to start knitting for the new baby. My goals pre-baby #2 were a kimono, learning to do a cable hat and learning to crochet. I knew I'd never want to take on anything that requires brain power for some time after the baby arrives.

The kimono went fairly smoothly as it was a simple, seamless pattern. I had problems finding more of a boyish pattern as many seemed very girly. The kimono came out a bit bigger than I hoped for- to be used for winter when the baby is about 3 months- but it should be fine.

My cable hat project was quite a pain. The process of cabling is quite easy- just removing a few stitches to a separate needle and knitting past and then picking them up. However, with 10 cables on this hat, and each cable alternated when twisting. I had to frog the hat several times. I even sent pics to Mama N thinking there was something I was doing wrong. I just was not paying close enough attention to the pattern and trying to zip through it. Oh well, at over eight months pregnant, concentration is not key. I finally finished the hat and actually decided to try it again for another friend who is due on my same due date.

As to the crochet, I attended a 2 part class and you may have seen my wimpy attempts at it in an earlier post. I practiced a bit over the past 2 weeks and am finally feeling a little more confident. Crochet is quite different from knitting but Mama N promises that I will like it and that it goes by quickly. She encouraged me to do the blanket I really wanted to do- a blanket she made with adorable sheep on it- even though I thought I should do something simpler. Luckily, my new yarn shop Lionbrand, has crochet doctor once a week and I'll probably take a private advanced lesson to learn increases, decreases, and some other stitches after the baby arrives. Hopefully, I won't be too embarassed to post the blanket one day.

Admitting defeat

Sometimes with any handicraft there is a point where you just have to admit that it's not working out. It's best to cut your losses and either start over or set it aside.

A certain mama amongst us is due with number 2 in just 6 weeks. I thought I'd be extra early and knit her something now. I saw this pure wool in Austria and snapped up a couple skeins of each in navy and orange - 2 skeins is normally enough for a newborn cardigan style top. I had read that this striped pattern was particularly yarn hungry so I bought extra thinking that I might have enough to do one for myself if I have a boy.

After knitting about half the jacket I realised I was going to run out of yarn - despite the pattern saying I had enough. Other knitters had complained about this on Ravelry. I also decided that the colours were probably a bit out there for this mama's tastes. I love orange and navy but it's not to everyone's taste. So I frogged it - a knitting term for rip it, rip it, rip it.

Second attempt was this all in one seamless baby kimono. Again the pattern said 100g of yarn was enough, this is exactly what I had. I knew from the beginning it was going to be close but was determined to keep knitting until it was finished or the yarn ran out. As you can see, the yarn ran out. NOOOO! Not twice?

Today I did a speedy trip with screaming Master R to my LYS (local yarn store for the non knitters) and picked up some yarn and have started something tried and true. This HAS to work or a certain mama will be getting a store bought gift.

Or maybe a gift voucher hahahaha!

Finished but ungifted gift knits

You can be forgiven for thinking that all I do is knit. I do actually look after a child, highly reliant partner and run a business too! I just squeeze in as much knitting as possible in the evenings when I don't have the brain power to do anything else.

These knits (and one crochet) are a little different. All but the top vest were started over a year ago and intended as gifts. For some reason they were never quite finished. Until today. While my darling Master R took a 4 hour nap I finished all four projects allowing me to cross them off my WIPS list. However, it's a bitter sweet completion because it reminds me of what a slack gift knitter I am.

The navy jumper (sweater) with the orange was intended as a gift for Mama V's Master K on his first birthday. I had finished all the knitting when I realised it was HUGE. It would fit a 5 year old. So I rushed to Borders and bought some books instead feeling really guilty that I couldn't provide a proper handknitted item.

The bunny blankie was intended as a gift for a friend who had her second baby in September. I actually knitted the whole thing while driving (I was a passenger obviously) from NYC to Philadelphia. But I never got around to stitching on the face until today. It will have to be a little snuggly for my baby now!

The crocheted bear/pig/monkey - can't remember what it's supposed to be - started life as a gift for an Australian friend (hence the green and gold Aussie colours) living in New York when she had her second baby. However this was the first thing I had ever crocheted and part of my learning process. As a result I was never happy with it. The arms and legs are all different sizes and the eyes look odd. Despite it's imperfections I stitched it together this afternoon and Mr M thought it was so cute and said baby 2 will love it. Not sure about that but it's too hideously made to give away!

The beautiful cabled vest at the top is my way of making it up to my friends. I started this on Saturday and already it was finished today. A wonderfully quick and impressive vest that will be wrapped and given to a friend's little boy on his second birthday next weekend. Of course I can see the imperfections, but I'm determined to overlook these and realise that it is a handknit and that's all part of the beauty.

I will wrap the vest and gift it next weekend.

An overlooked finished object

Most of my knitting is done for others. Generally for my darling Master R. But as I look through my Ravelry queue I've done a lot for myself but I'm just never happy with it. If it's not perfect I can't wear it. I'll be embarrassed to say that I made it and will have to tell anyone who comments on it how terrible it is and point out its every blemish. Perhaps I'm too hard on myself?

This cardigan however is different. I actually started it while on a terrible 8 hour bumper to bumper traffic jammed trip to Boston last summer. I managed to finish the back, front and start each of the sleeves before we arrived home and it was cast aside in favour of more wintery knits.

In desperate need of a white cardigan I resumed the project a couple of months ago. What struck me is the way my knitting had changed in a year. Where I had restarted the sleeves there was a clear line of distinction. The older knitting was looser and less uniform while my new knitting lovely and tight with all the stitches standing as they should. I nearly ripped back the old knitting and started again but then I thought that this is what makes a handknit unique and beautiful. Maybe I need a little imperfection?


I'm really happy with how this turned out. It's small enough and tight enough to look great over dresses and the fine cotton (all knitted on size US2 needles!!) the perfect weight for the British "summer". It's inspired me to do a bit more knitting for myself. I just need to get through all these gift knits first. Everyone, stop having babies please!

Beaten by a pip - here's my finished vest too

I feel a little sheepish posting this after Mama H! She just beat me to it though. I finished this last night and was going to post before going to bed but then cast on another project instead.

As Mama H said, the inspiration for this vest all started with Mama V's mother in law knitting one for the incredibly sweet Master K. Mama J then requested the pattern and started knitting it. She would have been the first finished but, despite much coaching from across the ocean, had some difficulty on the neck. I believe hers isn't quite there yet. Keep going though! You'll finish it.

As I say on my Ravelry page, this is terribly cheap but soft acrylic. The total cost of this vest was actually £1.25. But I wanted something that I could just throw on Master R when it was a touch chilly - which is often the case during a British summer - and not worry about curry stains. It also does very well in the washing machine, something I would NEVER do with wool - not even the machine washable stuff.

I'm quite pleased with mine. It's a touch big for Master R as you can see, and I accidentally over blocked it and it's a bit flat looking at the bottom. But one wash and it will be back to normal.

Please excuse the picture of my cheeky monkey who is still in his pjs and has breakfast all around his mouth!

Finished object: a little boy's blue vest

There has been quite a bit of talk in our knitting circle about little boys' vests lately. It all started with the darling vests that Mama V's mother-in-law knit for Master K. I was a little intimidated by the pattern that Mama V's mother-in-law passed along, so I went down to my local yarn shop Atelier and found a lovely pattern book. It called "little sweet peas" by Sirdar and contains 22 designs for babies, girls and boys from birth to 7 years.

I knit this vest for my cousin who just turned one. My cousin A had a baby, so I guess that does make him my cousin too, right? It just seems strange to refer to a one-year old as my cousin.

Everything was knitting beautifully. I knit both the front and back and shaped the neck, arms and shoulders. Then I ran into a terrible time with knitting the neck border. If you look close enough you will notice that the ribbing is correct on the left side but not correct on the right side! I was so disappointed, but I was running out of time. Late one night I got very upset that Mama N and Mama J did not live upstairs or across the street. But then I remember that Mama N told me that no project will be perfect (although I do think she would have made me rip the neck border out!).

I ended up finishing and blocking the vest at midnight on the day of the birthday party. Even with my glaring mistake, I was still happy with it and my cousin and my aunt were really pleased with it. I don't think they took a good enough look at it amidst all of the birthday gifts. I just keep telling myself it's the thought that counts. And it felt great to knit my first project since moving. I'm on to a couple of men's hats next for gifts, then a yellow sweater for Miss L.

Another finished object

I'm exhausted here so just a quick post to say that I actually finished something! Hurrah. This is my lovely new blanket, Sweet Lorraine Lace Throw (for those on Ravelry). I'm quite "hooked" on crochet at the moment and the speed that you can finish something spurs you on. It looks like a berry red in this picture but it's more of a deep blood red.

When I showed Mr M his comment was "It's not bright enough. I thought we were decorating this house with bright colours?". Ummm since when is red not bright? It's going to be part of a stack of blankets and cushions I plan to knit/crochet/sew and have in the hole that was once the fireplace until the owner unsympathetically covered it during renovation.

Now I'm going to sit on the sofa with my legs up and try not to fall asleep while knitting/crocheting something else. Just not sure what to start now. I'm not doing any baby things until I know what I'm having. So it's just knitting for the home and me!

Thank you mamas!

At my send off in February I was so surprised at the generosity of my wonderful mama friends - I received a rather large gift voucher to a yarn store in London! It's taken me a while to actually get to the store All the fun of the Fair (ATFOTF) but yesterday it was right near my dentist so I had to pop in.

I have to confess that yarn stores in the UK are nothing like the US. I'm really disappointed in general. Not at ATFOTF mind you - the lady who runs it is just lovely, they have a smallish range but make up for it with heart. I was just so spoilt with yarn.com, The Point (RIP) and all the other yarn stores I could click and shop or visit frequently.

It saddens me that I have all these ideas for projects and I can't knit/crochet them because I just can't get the yarns here. What am I going to do? I'll probably end up ordering from the US and paying the extraordinary shipping and duties.

However, I did see some beautiful yarns at ATFOTF and just need to plan some projects around the yarn rather than the other way around. I didn't walk away empty handed though. I saw this lovely Baby Doll Dress while searching for a crochet blanket/throw type pattern on Sunday night and thought it will be a great post baby dress - the top should be stretchy enough to pull down for feeds (or I'll put some buttons in it) and it's nice and forgiving around the tummy area for the few months it takes to get my belly down. I'll just get a nice slip to wear under it.

Although I have so many grey things and it makes me look like a dishrag, it's such an easy colour to accessorise and hopefully won't show up the dirt like a lighter colour - or puke for that matter. It will look fabulous with one of my many red pairs of shoes and a great scarf. I might even thread a red ribbon through the bodice. We'll see.

I started it today and am hoping that it's a quick crochet. I'll certainly show you the finished result but I probably won't be able to model it personally for a while - I'm HUGE!

Thanks again mamas and you really are missed...

A finished project - finally!

Moving, sorting, working and just living have taken up so much time that I've had very little time to do any knitting/crocheting recently. Luckily though having grown up with me crafting, Master R doesn't mind playing while I sit on the sofa watching and working away with my hook or needles. It's during this time that I get the most work done on my projects.

I actually bought this yarn about a year ago when a friend told us she was having a girl. But when I started work on this crocheted blanket I decided there was far to much work involved to give it away and I'd keep it for my girl - if I have one!

I'm so pleased with the result. I didn't do the vertical embroided stripes, just the red horizontal ones mainly because I didn't like the way it looks where you secure the threads to the edge. It looks too messy for my liking. It also looked exactly the same as a Burberry plaid and that's way to chav (British word of the month). All I need now is a baby girl. If not the next person to have a girl can have it since the way I'm feeling right now, there will only be two kiddies in our family.