I made my god-daughter a gardening tool bag for Christmas – I’d never made a bag before so it was a fairly improvised affair, guided by this excellent tutorial on Bijou Lovely.  I got her some mini tools as well, so cute.  Then realised at three she was possibly too young for them, but maybe she can put toys in the bag instead.

A big yellow cowl I knitted.  Largely based on this pattern but with a few alterations.  I used Rowan Big Wool, which is lovely and soft and FAT, and of course you make something like this so quickly.  It is one cosy scarf.

Knitting jumpers for my friends’ babies got a bit too time-consuming so I found this pattern on Ravelry (look up ‘Vanilla’).  It’s fun to make as there are no seams and it’s quite quick.  I think in the US it’s called a soaker (ugh), the baby wears it over their nappy.  Obviously making it in machine washable yarn is quite important….

My goddaughter Lana in her new pants.  They’re a bit big for her at the moment.

Some socks I knitted recently… The pattern is from The Gentle Art of Knitting by Jane Brocket and I used self-striping yarn, which is fun.  I enjoy it when something happens like a heel but not sure how patient I am when it comes to the long straight bits.

A sad tale – this is a little phone bag I knitted for my spanking new smartphone.  But alas it was lost in the pub.  So now my screen is slowly getting covered in little scratches.

When time allows over the last couple of months I’ve been knitting a cardigan for my lovely goddaughter Evie’s Christmas present.   I promise the art will return but in the meantime you have to put up with my various attempts at knitwear.

Here’s Evie doing the right thing and wearing it while I’m there.

Introducing my first attempt at knitting a piece of clothing, as opposed to accessories… this is a Sirdar pattern for a child of 6 – 12 months, and was a present for my friend Ness’s baby Samson.  If you look at the back you can see how many errors I had to fix but overall I’m pleased!  I really want to make a big one for me.

Here’s Sam in a maelstrom of stripes.

Hello – here’s a little bag I made my mother last week, for her to keep her iPod in.  The lovely blue fabric is from a piece of Liberty material I saw in the cut-offs basket in our local fabric shop.  This is my first attempt at a bag – it’s fun working out how to do the pull-ties and the lining.  She thought the ribbon/bead combination looked a bit like mistletoe..

It’s a whippet!  I’m told that I’ve managed to create a creature that doesn’t look like any one member of the animal kingdom.  I also think it has an air of the evil penguin in Wallace & Gromit about it.  I don’t care; as my first attempt at anything more than a hamster in amigurumi, I am proud.  Thanks to June Gilbank for the patterns.