Those of you who have sampled the delicious cakes in Tea Bags Full, may have wondered where these delights come from? Well, the homemade cakes are all made by a lovely lady called Leona. Yesterday when she popped in with a new selection of sweet treats she also brought along her latest knitting projects. As always we love to see what people have been up to with Black Sheep yarns. Not only does she make yummy cakes her knitting projects are very pretty too.

Leona has made two garments  for her grand daughter who lives in Canada – a cardigan and a top. The cardigan is knitted in Sirdar Flirt Dk, following a pattern from Sublime book 636 and the top in Sublime Baby Kapok DK. They are both to go with the super cute skirt that you can see on the photos. What a gorgeous gift to receive in the post!

A Craft Barn customer called Judi brought in this fantastic knitted cardigan in Sublime Chunky Merino Tweed. Judi is a member of the Witty Knitters group Maria (Black Sheep) also attends in Culcheth. This is a lovely jacket design with its fancy, cable edged collar. A small detail that adds an extra twist to a regular shawl collared cardigan. The pattern is from Sublime book 642, Judi has used shade cuckoo. Unfortunately we no longer have this shade in stock but there are still plenty of shades to choose from – take a look here.                                                

Here is the image from the pattern book 642, ‘Sorrel Jacket’. The pattern information is as follows:

To fit Bust:

32″ / actual size 33″………….9 balls
34″ / actual size 35½”…….10 balls
36″ / actual size 37″……….10 balls
38″ / actual size 39½”…….11 balls
40″ / actual size 41″………..11 balls
42″ / actual size 43¾”…….12 balls

Knitted on 8mm & 7mm Needles.

Yesterday we had a little visitor to the Craft Barn. Yvonne came in with her grandson Gabriel to show off his fab Debbie Bliss Blue Faced Leicester Aran cardigan, she had knitted for his christening. I had been looking forward to seeing the cardigan for a while as Yvonne had spoken so highly of her experience with the Debbie Bliss yarn. A nice change to have a real life model, a very cute one too.

After knitting baby Gabriel all sorts of different little cardigans, sweaters and blankets Yvonne realised that he was coming out in a rash when wearing certain items, coming to the conclusion that he is allergic to acrylic fibres. Whilst looking for a pure wool yarn in a plum shade Yvonne came across the Debbie Bliss Blue Faced Leicester Aran and decided this was the one. Although the pattern is actually a Sublime dk pattern (one knitted previously here), Yvonne took a chance and knitted a smaller size with the aran. On this occasion it has turned out fine and needed no tweaking. It can be a bit risky choosing a pattern which is a different thickness to the yarn and more often than not will result in a disappointing outcome, be warned we have all tried it at some point!

Whilst he was here Gabriel also kindly modelled two hats Yvonne has knitted in Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo dk (blue hat) and Sublime Oranic cotton dk (beige). The cardigan is from Sublime book 626 and Yvonne used a basic double knit baby hat pattern, adding her own designs for the hats.

A while back now you may remember seeing Sara’s knitted squares blanket in its early stages here on the blog. The blanket is now very much complete. I say a while back, I have just checked and can not believe it was actually February (read the post here). This is hard to believe, I feel like it was only yesterday we were looking at these staff projects. How time flies! The only problem is this means this was the last time I touched my crochet flowers. Oh dear! My problem is I just get carried away starting new projects and thinking of new projects which pushes things like my little flowers to one side. Something that happens to us all I would imagine.
Sara has learnt to crochet and finished many more projects since this time. Working here at the Black Sheep you do get distracted from projects by all of the fabulous wooliness we are surrounded by. Maybe Sara finishing her blanket could be a good incentive to all of us to get those UFO’s finished once and for all. Watch this space.

Sara’s knitted squares blanket is gorgeous. It will be the perfect ‘snuggle blanket’ just as Sara had originally planned. Below are photographs of her two daughters Scarlett and Madeline snuggling in the blanket.

All of the shades tone in with one and other a stunning mixture of various Sublime yarns. Including Baby Cashmere Merino Silk dk and Extra Fine Merino Wool dk, making the blanket so soft. The size of the blanket is incredible, Sara has been so patient sewing each square together. It will be a blanket cherished forever!

More exciting new projects to share with you today!

Yvonne has been knitting all sorts of bits and bobs for her newborn grandson Gabriel. She was so pleased with the arrival of a little boy in the family, giving her the chance to knit different things a change from girls clothes. Here are her latest finished projects.

A lovely snuggly blanket knitted in Sirdar Snowdrops chunky and a cute little cardigan knitted in Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Dk. The pattern for the cardigan is in book 626.

Yvonne crocheted the little tractor and added it on to the blanket – a creative finishing touch!

Sara has now completed her daughter Scarlett’s Egyptian Cotton Dk cardigan. This is a beautiful cardigan in a lovely, rich jewel shade (326). It seems that the cardigan has proved a hit with Scarlett, Sara said that she loves it and keeps on wanting to wear it!

This cute smock design is featured in the Sublime book 610 and is called ‘Little Red Smock’. A perfect summer cardigan.

The UFO’s are still coming in as we get closer to the finish line. This evening we will all be frantically knitting and in my case sewing up our UFO’s in the hope that we can make it to the finish in time for tonight’s deadline. I can’t believe it is the end of July already. It will soon be time for Winter knitting! Something I won’t get into now as I might not stop. Sooooo many new yarns and projects to talk about.

Sara has brought in her Sublime Extra Fine Merino Dk cardigan all finished and sewn up. It is very impressive the number of projects that she has managed to complete in time and Sara has assured me today the Sublime Egyptian Cotton Dk cardigan will be finished for tomorrow.

Maria has brought in a crocheted bag she had planned to finish for her holiday back in April. She is now very close to finishing and only needs to tie in some of the ends, add the lining and attach decorative buttons. Maria is then hoping the bag will make it on her September holiday! With only a day to go will she make it to the July finish line in time for the end of the Hook, Kni and Stitch – a – thon?

Maria has used a variety of double knitting yarns to crochet the bag.

Hopefully tomorrow’s blog post will feature all of the UFO’s the Black Sheep ladies (including myself) have promised to finish including – Lesley’s Big Softie cardigan, Sara’s Egyptian Cotton dk cardigan and my Pima Cotton dk cardigan. Good luck ladies!

With the Olympic games only just around the corner here at the Black Sheep the finish line is in sight with our Hook, Knit and Stitch – a – thon. I have more UFO projects to show you today. Including both finished and unfinished projects.  Sara has brought in another UFO – this time a lovely cardigan in Sublime Extra Fine Merino Wool dk (shade 304) which she is knitting for herself. The pattern for the cardigan is from ‘The Second Simply Organic Cotton Dk book’ (622). The handle of this yarn is so soft when knitted up and kind of bouncy. A really luxurious double knitting yarn. The part Sara is currently knitting is the second sleeve. As the main body of the cardigan is knitted as one piece all Sara needs to do then is sew in the sleeves to finish off.

Here is a photograph of my unfinished Rowan Pima Cotton dk cardigan. All of the pieces are finished in my tower of cardigan bits and pieces. It just needs sewing up, something I have been putting off for too long now. So hopefully by next week I will be able to show you a finished cardigan (fingers crossed!).

And finally…………….

My finished crocheted Rialto 4ply skirt! I am so pleased with the skirt and I am so glad that I did not give up on it completely. It does feel good to finish something, finally. I plan to buy an under skirt at the weekend then I will take another photograph of me in the skirt.

I have two more UFO’s to share with you today. Including my own Debbie Bliss Rialto 4ply skirt. This is a project I started way back in April – Easter to be exact (you can read the previous blog post here). Starting, as most projects do with good intentions. The exciting prospect of having a beautiful crocheted skirt for the summer months. It is now July, and if it wasn’t for the Hook, Knit and Stitch – a – thon this “piece” of crochet would definitely still be a “piece”, hiding away in my knitting bag with no hope of becoming a skirt.

Here is a photograph below. I have now finished both the front and back pieces. All I need to do to finish is sew up the sides and pick up the stitches to crochet the waist band. I am determined to get it finished in time!

The second UFO is Sara’s Sublime Egyptian Cotton Dk girl’s smock cardigan she is knitting for her daughter. The pattern is from Sublime book 610, girl’s ‘Little Red Smock’. At the moment she is knitting both sleeves at the same time, then the sewing up begins. The yarn is lovely and soft knitted up and the Peony is such a gorgeous colour. Keep an eye out for more updates………………

I have two more gorgeous projects to show you today. Sara who is the Marketing Director here at the Black Sheep is knitting two different projects at the moment for her two little girls.

The image below is what is going to be a blanket knitted in a variety of Sublime double knit yarns including Baby Cashmere Merino Silk Dk, Extra Fine Merino Dk and Baby Silk and Bamboo Dk. At the moment it is not actually a blanket, so we decided to lay out some of the many, many squares (there are 88 in total!!) to get a feel for how it is going to look when finished. Sara has joined 8 squares together in a row which will be the width of the blanket - 8 squares by 11 squares. As you can see from the photo each piece has been carefully tacked together then hand sewn with embroidery cotton so that the joins aren’t visible. This is a long process, but will be well worth it when finished. A lot of love and care has gone into this project.

Sara wanted to make a ‘snuggle blanket’ for her daughters. If they are not feeling too well they can cosy up in the blanket and snuggle. Something that she hopes they will remember in years to come like the crocheted blanket Sara had when she was a little girl. Her mum crocheted the blanket in granny squares, although the blanket became holey and worn over the years she still has one of the squares today. This in fact was her something old when she got married.

On to the next project ……….

Sara has chosen to knit this ‘Little Savannah’ Shrug from the Sublime book 632 in Sirdar Baby Bamboo Dk shade 156. This shade is curently on offer at just £1.69 a ball. The yarn looks great knitted up in this shade and has quite a luxurious feel. A cute summer cover up.