Contemporary Irish Knits by Carol Feller

This past October, I had the pleasure of talking with Carol Feller while she was at Vibes & Scribes in Cork City to show knitted work from her book, Contemporary Irish Knits. We discussed her designs as well as the importance of appreciating Irish yarn dyers, such as those she featured in her book. Here are some of the photos I snapped while there. You can read all about Carol’s day, her take on contemporary Irish knitwear, and more in her blog post about the trunk show event.

Contemporary Irish Knits by Carol Feller is available from amazon.com and .amazon.co.uk as well as locally from Vibes & Scribes and other discerning booksellers.

Posting this was delayed because at the time I was entering my eighth month of pregnancy and life has kept me quite busy since that day. 

 

Admiring Free Quilt Patterns

Ro Gregg’s Rose Garden Tea Quilt and Lisa Christensen’s Make Mine Pink, Please! Quilt.

I’ll post more lovely free patterns in the future (aiming for Fridays to inspire weekend projects!). So please come back often to see what new free pattern I’ve found to drool over!

This feature is carried over from my other blog which was focused on the one-off Pink Auction fundraiser for Action Breast Cancer.

Best Baby Projects to Knit or Sew

As a new mother, I have a new perspective on knitting and sewing projects. With that in mind, I am writing up a quick post with links to the best projects for a new baby. I wish I had known this before because I would have just made these for my friends who were expecting instead of buying pairs of cashmere booties or silver cups. Sure, those are nice gifts, but if you have a friend who is willing to knit or sew something for you, forget store-bought because handmade trumps all! Here are my top picks for most practical handmade baby gifts linking to the related blog post or pattern (photos included!):

Burp Cloths

Classic Baby Hats or a Fair Isle one like the whale watch or the R2D2 one I made for my nephew

Kanoko Pants – the smallest size of these fit my baby from birth through nine weeks (11 lbs)

Baby blanket – I’ve made a few, like one for Kate, one for Daniel, and the very well-loved one I made for Miller. I also sewed a quilt for Sophie but haven’t written a post about it yet.

Cardigan – So many patterns but for something classic, go with the Iceling by Carol Feller for something classic and gender neutral. Of course, if you want a challenge, opt for Carol Feller’s Rossbeg Cardigan (Shown below in orange. It has cabling!) or Baby Surprise by Elizabeth Zimmerman for a challenge (shown below on my son, knitted by @WrapNTurn). The Rossbeg Pattern is from Carol Feller’s book, Contemporary Irish Knits, which is available from: www.amazon.com and www.amazon.co.uk.

Appliquéd bib and/or onesie, like this fishy-themed set or separate fish bibs I made for Charley and Coy.

Of course, here are posts I wrote about baby gifts you may also find helpful or interesting (instead of copying and pasting them here, I’m just including the links):

Handmade Baby Gifts (January 2011)

Gift Ideas to Give Baby & New Parents (October 2011)