stash busting Paulie

So I’ve finally finished my stash busting Paulie cardigan and I love it!

Well, it is minus buttons but that can wait until the perfect buttons show their face, and a lack of buttons has never stopped me wearing anything in the past!

I decided to do this project to use up a chunk of my left over sock yarn as well as having a new summer cardigan!
I gathered together a bunch of colours that I thought worked well together a basically worked the colours until they ran out,
you can see in the pictures the change in colour stripes as I went along but as I kept to a strick colour pattern I think it works.
Using the same three colours for the thinner stripes helped keep the pattern together.
I decided to do rib cuffs and bottom band as I personally prefer the rib to the garter stitch for the way it sits but I kept the garter stitch for the collar section.

I really wanted it to include a hood so I worked a bunch more short rows in garter stitch after the collar until I go my desired shape!

I think it will be well worn and my stash is tidy and organised with will a few remaining left overs to work those little baby booties and socks that are akways needed at short notice!

The best thing is that whenever I wear it I can look at the different yarn colours and fibres and think about the projects I made originally!!!!!!!

darling buds

Due to a delayed spring, the garden plants have been a bit slow this year however it was a relief today so see some lovely new buds and flowers on my favourite plants!!!

From the Lilac through the Honeysuckle to the Raspberry, there is life yet in what were weather battered pot plants!

I just had to grab a few photos and share!!!!!

I just hope the lovely weather keeps up into May so I can introduce my chillies, tomatoes and peppers!!
Fingers crossed!!!

Made By Loumms

Unfortunately me and Emmms have been a bit quiet over at our Etsy shop’s Made By Loumms and Loumms Makes More for a while due to other (not so crafty and fun) duties however we have re-listed a bunch of stock!!!!!

At Made By Loumms we have some really cute Socky Wristers,

Our sturdy and dependable Sock Perfect Button bags,

And a lone Sweater Perfect Button bag,

We have also re-listed our Apron Bags at Loumms Makes More with 25% discount!!

Once the new year begins we hope to have a lot more time to spend on making loads of new stock for both shops!!!!

yarn that makes the heart jump

Oh wow!!

I just opened the new Fybrespates news letter to be greeted by possibly the two most incredible colourways of Scrumptious yet!!

Jens Green in DK

And

Charcoal in Chunky!!!

Perfection

it’s chutney time – again

It’s chutney time again people!!!

I love this time of year, planning out all the Xmas gifts and goodies! One of my favourite parts is making Xmas Chutney.

I save chutney making to only once a year as if I made it any more than that I would be the size of my house due to over consumption of cheese and crackers!
It’s nice to know that for two weeks of the year, me and my love can sit on the living room floor with a tray full of cheese, meats, crackers, red wine and spicy fruit chutney!

I made a slight alteration to my recipe from last year, I added more chilli!!
We are on a crazy chilli kick at the moment and it had to be done!

I used red tomatoes instead of red and green and unfortunately they were bought from the grocers as my crop this year failed miserably :( I’ve put that down to the move as I dont think my veggies liked it too much.

I also added ground cloves, nutmeg and cider vinegar and the dried fruit was mixed rather than just sultana.

Anyway, my chutney is made, jarred and labeled and sitting waiting for the third week of December!

Roll on Christmas!!!

warm up for winter

Walking home from the cinema yesterday it hit me just how cold it is getting.

On Saturday night we were in the garden BBQ-ing some Beer Soaked Bratwurst and it was pretty warm as I only needed a cardi however suddenly it has decided to become icy!!

I really love an icy, snowy winter but now that I don’t have any soil or grassy area in the garden and everything I grow is in pots there becomes a much higher risk of the roots of my plants freezing in the winter months.

As I would normally dig holes in my soil and put my pots inside them to keep them snug I knew I needed another method, so I’ve been planning for a few months in preparation for the frost in the garden by collecting as much bubble wrap as possible.

This morning I went out and put my most vulnerable plants in the mini greenhouses (the chilli, the blueberry, the pond plants and the rush) and wrapped the remaining small potted plants in the bubble wrap.

Look at my lovely Chrysanthemum in bloom!!

There were plenty of new leaves on the ground so I gathered them up and placed a light layer over the soil of each pot too to keep in any heat and hopefully the leaves will decompose and collect the frost and not the soil directly. This method is pretty much taken from my old garden where I left all the fallen leaves on top of my plants over winter!!

I really hope that my trellis plants survive (clematis, honeysuckle and vines) as they are very delicate when in pots and they were doing soooooo well. I really need some good coverage next year to deter the crazy dog!!

Fingers crossed I’ve wrapped it all up warm enough I should maybe knit them little plant hats!!

little knitting

With everything that has been going in with the move, the DIY, unpacking, the paperwork and all of the dull boring things that go along with changing address I’ve not had a lot of chance to knit anything or begin any new projects so when I realised that me and my love had a weekend free to ourselves I took the opportunity to cast on a gorgeous little baby vest top that I’ve had in my Ravelry queue.

It is the Stripy StashBuster Baby vest by Sheryl Greenfield and it was a quick pleasurable knit!

I didn’t even mind sewing in all of my colours!

I went for a 70′s style colour pallet using the left overs from Emmm’s Wedding Lamp and a purple merino I found in my scraps drawer.

What a cute little top! And it’s got me back knitting which was the main thing!

I’m now continuing on with the tie I was knitting as a thank you gift for a friend before the crazy-mad-new-flat-buying-craziness’ started!
This is made using the left overs from my other wedding lamp!

It’s going to be a long ongoing project but it’s fun to knit and is slowly but surely shaping up nicely!

Loumms Race For Life

On 1st July, Loumms and Lou’s mam Phil will be running the Race for Life 5K at Blackheath London.

We have all been training hard since the beginning of the year pounding the streets of South East London and Cumbria in preparation for the day.

We have a web page set up to receive donations towards the cancer charity Race For Life however we will also be giving 25% of any sales of our goodies between now and 30th june at madebyloumms to our sponsorship page.

If you would like to leave a message of encouragement with your order, to go beside your donation on our page, please add it to your order message.

We will use your etsy name as your donation name.

We would also love any support on the day so if you can, pop down and cheer us on!

peanut-butter chocolate cupcakes soothe everything

When life’s being a jerk, sometimes the best medicine is a Peanut-butter Chocolate Cupcake.

 

mmmm, yarn

WARNING: Potentially stash-enhancing images ahead! Not recommended for anyone yarn-dieting!*

As some of you will know, Sweet Clement has been on hiatus since March and while I know it’s only temporary, this morning I found myself sighing, ‘Man, I miss Pippa’s yarn.’

It really does feel like she dyes specifically for me. Her colours are exactly my taste: lush, deep, rich tones that seem to pop and fizz luxuriously in the light. The base yarns are precisely what I want to knit with, too: soft, well-plied smooshiness whatever the blend.

Knitting from one’s stash is a noble endeavour and a worthy New Year’s resolution. HOWEVER, when that stash of Sweet Clement begins to get dangerously depleted, I start to yearn for a bit more Pippa. (At this point I realise I’m beginning to sound a bit like John Oliver on The Bugle lusting over Pippa Middleton’s backside: ‘Oh… oh, Pippa…’, except for me it’s ‘Oh… oh, Pippa’s yarn…’)

This morning, in an effort to stave off the last of my Sweet Clement, I went onto Etsy to see what else might catch my eye.

Travelknitter’s heavenly Summer Cloud is a lovely blend of British Bluefaced Leicester and silk.

Watercolours and Lace’s Golden Sunflower is 100% BLF, this time richly variegated.

Jelliebean’s Damsun just makes me so happy! Gorgeously rich 100% BFL.

Brick Wall Yarn’s Baffle in Graceful Descent is another 100% BFL (I’m sensing a trend…) in sunny, almost stripy hues.

Countess Ablaze’s incredible Delight is a basic 75-25 wool/nylon, but what colour!

Countess Ablaze won my search for a new yarn to play with hands down. Every time I clicked on a thumbnail, it turned out to be another amazing Countess Ablaze. ‘Ablaze’ really is right! The colours are just spectacular. I had enormous trouble choosing just one.

I’ve been mostly knitting garments lately and perhaps as a result, I’ve got such a craving for some lace. I’m thinking Countess Ablaze’s merino/silk Evergreen or cashmere/merino Radioactive Raspberry Jam will be perfect for a delicate, if radiant shawlette.

*Made by Loumms does not accept responsibility for any purchases made as a result of exposure to these pictures. Made by Loumms does, however, apologise if they are all out of stock by the time you get to them.