Saturday, November 7, 2009

A Belated Birthday Present To Me!










I bought these 2 books last week as a late birthday present to myself. I needed a pick me up and these were the perfect thing (and I did put some money aside for them each week). Anyhow back to the books - first up the Vintage Knits for Modern Babies. Oh my goodness, beautiful beautiful photos showing a lot of the actual projects, not just one picture as in some of those books and you wonder how they really look. Some of the projects even go up to 3 years of age but some are just up to 12 months. Lots of little hats, cardigans, mittens, 2 blankets which are gorgeous, toy bunnies, coathangers, a cape, a dress and a few other wonderful things. I have already started a matinee jacket out of it for a 1 year old's birthday next month so I should have it finished before then.
The next book - Easy Kids Knits by Claire Montgomerie who wrote Easy Baby Knits. Another wonderful discovery of patterns in this book. I love it so much and you know why - because it has patterns in it that fit a 10 year old (finally I say) and since Isabelle is around that size I have some new patterns that I can knit up for her. I do plan on knitting the hooded cardigan, the ribbed jacket with pockets and a beautiful 4 ply cabled sweater that is very vintage looking. I have started the swing cardigan already as you can see in the photo above in a deep red color. I also love the smock top too. The patterns are all listed on ravelry under their pattern section so I have marked a few to cast on eventually. There are also wonderful patterns for boys in this book too so if you want some ideas to knit up then grab a copy! I cant wait to start a few new projects already but I am going to try and knit up the first 2 I have mentioned first.
Oh and the little cats above are some wonderful discoveries I made at the Djerriwarrh Festival this morning. A friend of mine runs a stall around Melton and her friend had been making little flower pincushions, little kitties, little owls and monsters, and some teddies so I grabbed some. These 2 kitties were made of the softest felt and at $2 each I thought they were wonderful. Apparently she was trying to clear her stock as she made them over a period of 8 months when she had depression so I think it was wonderful to support her, having been through that horrible dark period myself. Okay off to do some knitting under the airconditioning as 31 degrees is a bit hot for me and tomorrow is going to be hotter! Happy weekend!!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy belated Birthday!
The other day I was looking at the Claire Montgomery book as well. It is also on my list of books I would like to get one day.
Great choice.

Beck said...

What gorgeous books Sue, they almost make me want to take up knitting! I love the look of the vintage one, what a sweet cover. Hope you keep cool tomorrow and knit up a storm! Happy, happy birthday to you, when was it? You kept that quiet! Take care xo

Anonymous said...

did i miss your birthday?? o_O

great looking books cant wait to see what you made from them!!

and such cute little kitties.

Thimbleanna said...

Those little kitties are cute as can be! Thanks for sharing the knitting books -- I love seeing what others are "reading" in the knitting world!

Charity said...

Happy Birthday! It looks like you chose some great books - you'll have lots of fun with them. :o)

Oiyi said...

We have the same taste in knitting books. I have the Vintage Baby one on my wishlist, but I haven't seen the Easy Kids Knits. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I will need to check that one out.

Lynne said...

Ooo! Please stop enabling me!! I already have several baby knit pattern books that I haven't knitted from!!

Kate said...

These books look like a great pick me up Sue. Good on you for looking after yourself and celebrating your birthday with something you love.I also get so excited to find pattern books with larger sizes in them.

Tania said...

The gift that keeps on giving. Just in case you needed further justification (you shouldn't)...

Tanya said...

Birthday presents to self are always great because you get that genuine 'just what I always wanted' feeling!
Love the knitted top in the previous post too.

Jodie said...

Happy Belated b'day Sue... Love the books and hope the heat wasn't too much for you today..

Take Care
Jodie :)

Ann said...

Happy Belated Birthday. Retail theraphy is always a good pick me up as I do it too.