Christmas and Everything After

Wow.  That was a long and unplanned absence.  As in most houses with small children (and most probably most houses without) things have been busy busy busy.  I have been super busy knitting, baking, planning, shopping, wrapping and generally "keeping going" as I find winter really hard work.  I have come to the conclusion that I most probably suffer from SAD, and really feel the need to hide and hibernate through the winter months.  Obviously this would never be possible, especially with my little Etsy shop as the run up to Christmas has meant a lot of knitting.

Anyway, I did "keep going" and got all my orders sent out, all my gifts bought and wrapped and all the Christmassy food cooked, served and eaten.  My head is now busy planning and gathering ideas and inspirations as to what to knit for spring and summer.  I want to focus on children's things, along with a few adult items thrown in, but I am also thinking about creating things for the home...any ideas?  I have a few but they are still only in the whizzing around head stage at the moment!

I'll leave you with some photos, here are just a few of my knitty bits from the last few weeks...

And here are some pictures of the some of the other bits and pieces we have been doing...

Snowy villages with plenty of glitter of course!

A very proud Mr T with a decoration he sewed all by himself.

A lego version of Mr Man and I having a brew in our own camper van.

The tree with a very crooked angel

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, what are your plans for the new year? :)

How to knit thumbless mittens - Tommy No-Thumb

I have been quiet on here, things have been really hectic in real life with a big list of custom orders, the usual Christmas preparations and DIY and house sorting projects (my oven has broken, my kitchen is half way through being decorated, my loft is half way through being sorted etc etc!!).

Anyway in my absence I have designed a baby mitten pattern.  Its a basic scratch style mitten, ie one with no thumb.  I have named it Tommy No-Thumb after the nursery rhyme song Tommy Thumb.  It is far from being rocket science but it is my first go at sharing my own pattern so be gentle!

You will need

DK wool (not much, newborn hands are tiny).  I used my old favourite Adriafil knitcol

3.25mm double pointed needles

An hour or so, they are quick knits

For 0-3 month size (mitten length not inc cuff 3 inches or 8 cm, with cuff its 4.75 " or 12cm)

Cast on 30 stitches and join in the round being careful not to twist.
Knit 12 rows of k1p1 ribbing
Knit 20 rows of plain knitting

Start decreasing for the top

Row 33 (Knit 2, knit 2 tog) repeat all the way round.
Row 34 Knit all stitches
Row 35 (Knit 1, knit 2 tog) repeat all the way round
Row 36 Knit all stitches
Row 37 (Knit 2 tog) repeat all the way round.  This should leave you with 8 stitches.

Cut yarn leaving longish tail, thread needle through all the stitches and take of the needle, secure and weave in ends.

Make a second one!

You could then icord a cord to join the pair together so your baby doesn't loose them, (or crochet or plait a cord) but please be careful as cords can be a hazard to babies.

Feel free to use my pattern for your own use or to sell for charity.  If you want to knit them to sell for personal gain please contact me first, thank you.  I would love to see any mittens you knit from it, feel free to post up your links!

Here is the link to the Ravelry project page.