Day trip and update

Took my son to Blackpool Sea Life Center today, trust me to go the day there's loads of snow, felt like a blizzard, hurt as it hit my face...little man stayed in his bubble (rain cover) so nice and dry but my coat's still dripping...after the snow came heavy rain...oh what a day lol

Hard to see but this was in the crazy snow when it had calmed a little so I could get my phone out lol the famous Tower :)

The train ride home, watching the rain...more likely just loving being on a train lol
I went as I wanted a Merlin annual pass (last day of the big January sale) and could have had it posted if I didn't want a disabled pass and carer card (as they need to see evidence of disability and the carer card needs to be issued at the same time which you can't apply for online). Ahh well, little man had fun running round and the staff were really good with him, especially hats off to a team leader called Tom, top guy and really sweet to play with us for a little bit.
My son loves ducks, first he wanted a Kwazi plush but saw some ducks and swapped...as if we don't have enough spread between mine and my mums house lol but ahh well...he does so love to have lots of the same things.
Since home I've done a little knitting on the Totoro hat for my friends gift exchange but not half way through yet, but it will be done in time.
Hope you all are getting all you want done, Happy crafting!

Teeny cat for my niece

My sis wanted me to make my niece a nice little cat stuffed toy, she can play with it or use it as her teddies toy lol

Used scrap yellow and lilac DK yarn with 2.5mm needles so stitches are nice and tight but struggled to get the scale on a smaller version.
Happy crafting!

Herberts new friend that is staying lol

So the second cat I made is being gifted to my friend Lorraine who said she wants some...I'm not making her loads but she can have that one lol
So I made a new second cat to stay at home, so cute :) although I haven't decided on a name yet.

This one is smaller and have gone back to crochet arms as well as legs, the tail is still an i-cord. Chunky yarn with 5mm needles and hook, stuffed a little more than the previous two, so a little fatter than the others :)
After saying my friend could have this my sis said my niece would love a tiny one, so I'm now making one on 2.5mm needles (not cool lol) which is taking a while to grow as you may have guessed lol but she can play with it or use it as a toy for her many teddys and build a bears to play with lol
The temperature is dropping so hope you're all working on nice warm projects :)
My grandma has asked me to make a hat to match a cardigan she made for my cousins bump to be baby :) so need to make that, and a Totoro hat for my friend, the yarn is at least now bought lol so much to do, so little time!
Happy crafting!

Herbert has a friend

I made another little cat, this one was done with chunky left over scraps of yarn so grew quickly on 5mm DPNs and crochet hook. Yellow toadstool button eyes, these are a little weird but I was just using what I had on hand and these were there, so I thought 'why not?' lol On this one the legs are flat crochet strips and the arms and tail are both i-cords (using the same method as in the last post).

 Not though of a name for this one yet other than Herberts friend lol

Rather cute :) If used smooth buttons (like Coraline eyes in the film) these could be nice little childrens toys. Not sure about these pointy buttons for children lol or could use safety eyes too (but I am a button fan lol).
Happy crafting!

Wellie bag and Cat toy

I often have to carry my sons wellies around as he likes shoes (or just socks on) inside and wellies on while in the pram if it's throwing it down...though his feet get very warm in wellies with his double DK knit socks so they come off quickly when he's had enough lol so basically the story is I often have either shoes or wellies in a bag under the pram and am sick of them ripping and getting muddy and not being reusable...so I've made a wellie bag out of an old towel :) it's super basic but it'll do the job (I hope lol) and it's recycling an old household item that would have other wise ended up the bin eventually.

I folded the towel at top and bottom and sewn it to make space for the draw sting (I used ribbon but this may get changed as a little thick). Then I folded the towel length ways and sew down both sides with straight stitch (and zig zag stictch on inner edge for back up strength and support), pulled the ribbon through the top and presto, one finished wellie bag lol Now it doesn't matter how dirty it gets, it's washable :)

I've also finished the little toy I was making :) it became a cat, and I have the name Herbert in my head so maybe that'll be it's name lol

The body was knitted in the round (as stated on my previous post), I have then crocheted flat limbs on the bottom for legs and picked up some of the side stitches and crocheted in them for arms. I then made an i-cord using this method (how to knit an i-cord) from YouTube to be the tail. I had previously avoided i-cords as I always thought I had to crochet them (and I was scared of dropping the stitches) or use a peg doll (which I hate as it's basically casting off every round and that's one of the worst things of knitting lol) But when I found this video I knew I could do it and so I gave it a go. You can see the tail a little better on the back image below (sorry it's a little blurry I think my camera is on it's last legs).

And just coz I felt a little silly I got a cute pic of baby Amy (a locally hand made doll, not by me lol) and Herbert the cat lol

I think they look super cute. The cat is very basic but actually took a little longer than I expected. Am pretty happy with the finished toy though the stitches I picked up for the arms are a little loose.
I've done another half inch on the cream scarf, though that's only 5 rows or so (which is just over an hour and a half of knitting), can't wait to finish this project for sure lol
I've borrowed a knit pro crochet hook off my friend to see if the grip makes crocheting a little more comfortable again :) I'll review what I think of it once I've made something, gotta be soon as she's round again on Thursday so will give it her back then.
Happy crafting!

Update

I seem to have been a bit rubbish at crafting lately, only been doing a small amount a day so don't have much progress...
I finished the crochet hat for my son, he's not as keen on it as his bright multi-coloured hat (that was from his left over socks), this one is brown and beige so less fun apparently lol but he tried it on and it fits. I seem to be struggling with crochet hats right now, I haven't kept doing them so the skill is trying to abandon me, need more practice again but I'm enjoying knitting a lot more now that I can do it without being in agony. I decided I preferred crochet because I wasn't in as much pain but now I've learnt to knit with DPNs and circs I'm in now where near the same amount of pain...and I don't get as bored with my projects as they seem to grow quicker (in most cases lol) straight needles make my joints ache sooner and so I now have loads and I don't like them lol

I cast on a little animal toy thing lol and I've done the body and head, trying to decide if I need to add arms and legs or a tail or something, or leave it as is...not sure yet. It's kinda cute though :) knitting on DPNs in the round, ears stitched flat at cast off edge and star eyes added, stuffed and crocheted closed at cast on edge. Weaved same yarn through and pulled to bring in the neck shape and added some yarn as a scarf/bow or whatever so not so bare looking.

I've done some work on the cream scarf, it's now 4" wide and 340 stitches long lol I get bored of it quickly and it'd kinda awkward to knit sometimes but it's growing (very) slowly but surely lol
Don't think I've worked on anything else, though I have been asked to make a Totoro hat for someone. 
Happy crafting!

Turtle shell and hat

A friend of mine from collage owns her own photography studio, she asked me to make a green hat and a turtle shell for newborn (0-2 weeks) photo shoots...here is the outcome:

I finished the shell first, I crocheted 7 hexagons and then joined them together (rather than joining as I went). It was a bit fiddly I have to admit but I am happy with the finished product.

Then I started crocheting the hat, I wasn't happy with it, so I frogged it and cast on knitting with 4mm needles (DPNs). I used the Baby Sheep hat pattern for sizing and think this should be ok, it's just over 12" with a little stretch *fingers crossed it fits all the babies heads* lol
(I like the yarn, though it is hand wash.)
Look forward to seeing professional images of it in use :)
I've also done an 8" square for Knit A Square charity, a bit of the double chunky shawl and a couple rows of the cream scarf that seems to never grow lol
Happy crafting!

World hat day...a day late!

Yesterday was world hat day...who knew..? lol So it may be a bit late but I thought I'd share some nice hat patterns :)
Aspen Ice hat is nice, the purl stitches seem to twist around the hat, I've made this one in super chunky rather than chunky and it looks really good, it can be done as a beanie or slouch hat :) It's a free pattern from Liat Gat on ravelry or her website KNITfreedom.
Barley hat is a design by Tin Can Knits (it's one of their free patterns) and is two thirds purl to one third knit and you decide how you want it to sit, it can be a beanie or slouch hat and looks nice as both.
Cable Twist Beanie is a fitted hat (free) design by Sarah over at Babylonglegs yarns. It's cable all the way up, and though I have not yet made this hat, when I am more confident with cables it's one I'd like to try :)
Little Snowflake hat  is a super cute baby knit for the cold months, it's a paid for pattern from ravelry but it includes instructions for the cardigan and mitts too. Again I haven't made this pattern yet but it does look very nice, love the bold red and white, but it could be made in any colours of your choice. I think this design is great for boys and girls alike.
Basic Crochet hat  is a really basic crochet beanie style hat (free pattern, written in pattern description), it can be made more funky by doing colour changes but if you've never crocheted in the round this hat will let you practice how.
A good tip for working out the sizing for a crochet hat is:
head circumference / 3.142 = size of circle to crochet increases to before working stitches without increasing
Eg. 22" / 3.142 = 7.001" (this is the size of circle to crochet, measure form edge to edge) the same principle works for measuring in cm too.
There are loads of hat patterns are like but these one's are fairly basic, only concentrating on one new skill to learn if you can make basic hats but want to try something new. Aspen Ice gives you a go at yarn overs, Barley at keeping track of a knit panel, Cable Twist at trying cables and Little Snowflake has colour work.
I'm also going to include some of my fave geeky hat patterns if you're a fan girl (or boy) and would like something from one of your fave films :) This time we'll go crochet to knit patterns...I have to admit I haven't actually made any of these yet but I do love the designs :)
Crochet Ron Weasley Animal Crackers hat (free download) want to look like one of the most famous gingers of this generation..? Why not have a go at this hat, inspired by the one worn in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Ron Weasley while eating animal crackers, he gets a lion (you tube video clip).
La Push Baby hat is a beanie style hat that is a free design based on the hat worn by Bella Swan in Twilight on her visit to La Push beach.
Angela Webers La Push hat (free download) fancy a hat from Twilight but not so obvious as the main girl herself, why not try this cable hat based on Angela Webers character, it's subtle and only a mega fan would know.
Eclipse Green Striped hat based on Bella Swans hat as she is carried by Jacob in Eclipse, this hat can be geeky but who can tell, maybe you just like stripes. It's a free download and being knit in aran (worsted) yarn it should grow pretty quickly.
Godrics Hollow hat is a free ravelry pattern based on the hat worn by Hermione Granger in The Deathly Hallows part 1, this pattern I actually attempted a couple of times and had to frog it :( The stitch used was just so tight that it hurt my wrists too much and so I had to give it up as a not made for me pattern. Really nice and subtle fan girl hat, that could even be given as gifts and people wouldn't need to know you're a Harry Potter nerd :)
Hermione Hearts Ron hat is a cable with lace knit hat (free download). It isn't from one of the films but instead is someones interpretation form reading on of the books. I love this design, the only reason I haven't made it yet is because it's made using 2.75mm and 3.25mm needles. I love the cables and the lace sections, though I would be nervous keeping track as I can easily get lost but this is a stunning pattern for any girl or lady, and who needs to be a Harry Potter fan with such a stunning design to can be for all :)
That is my list of fave hats for the moment...I have to admit I go through phases of certain styles etc. but these are all beanie or slouch style hats (except Godrics Hollow which seems more of a tam) as they are easy for shaping and they are my fave style as pretty much everyone has one they wear.

I've cast on another Offhand Lace shawl, this one in double chunky (instead of chunky) with 12mm (instead of 10mm) needles. I'm hoping this one will be for my mum as she hinted when I made my secret santa she'd like a shawl, and if she doesn't like it I'm sure I can find someone who'll like it :)
I've been making a basic crochet hat for my son out of scraps, I'm nearly done, if he'll let me try it on his head and it fits I just need to weave in the ends, if it needs some more length I'll do a couple more rounds then weave in the ends and it'll be ready :)
Happy crafting!

New crafty books

I got a book token for my birthday :) so been spending, plus I treated myself to some books on offer :)
The first is 100 Snowflakes to Crochet. I'd seen it a while ago and was interested but didn't have the funds at the time, so it was the perfect opportunity to buy it with my birthday token :)

I've had a little go at one of the snowflakes (Noreaster III) but I ran out of yarn as I was about to start the last round (I was just using scrap while out of the house)...looks kinda like a flower for now lol

I will make some more though, may use some to decorate the 8" KAS charity blanket squares. Which I finally picked up again (after a bit of a break), I'm just over half way through a rather random colour changed one in aran scraps.
I also got some books on offer, the first being Knitted Farm Animals, think some of these would be nice for baby gifts :) If I get round to them lol and I know my friend will love the cow pattern lol

The last knitting related one is Crafty Creatures, yet another Jane Bull book for my collection lol I know it's for kids but I find some of the ideas really cute. Not all the projects are knitted, some use felt and other materials. I think as my little man gets older some of the projects may be nice for use to make :) and I know my niece would love this book :)

I also bought Craft Techniques and Projects from W.H Smiths for the bargain price of £5, go grab it while it's still on offer :) This book has lots of different craft ideas such as bead work, glass work and soap crafts...bits of everything.
I have far too many crafty things I'd like to make, but as always I will upload my projects as and when I get them done :)
Happy crafting!

My first Hexagon

An old collage friend of mine is now a professional photographer, she and her sister own their own studio White Door Photography in Blackburn.
I've been asked to make an accessories for the new baby (0-2 weeks) shoots, a turtle shell and hat. The hat is easy enough to make just small, the shell would involve making 7 hexagons (which I've never made before), and attaching them together into a basic shell shape.
I've figured out how to make a basic hexagon (practiced in beige), the problem is finding the right colour of yarn. It needs to be a kind of sage green, my local yarn store does dark greens or baby mint greens in DK but only does a sage type green in the 400g balls of aran - obviously I don't need that much yarn for this small project, so not sure what we're going to do.
However, that part doesn't matter for the blog, I just wanted to show my first hexagon (sorry the ends aren't weaved in). So there would be one of these in the middle, with one attached to either side. Preferably in sage green with brown edges :) cute!

Happy crafting! :)

Caped Crusader Fingerless Mitts

Lovely Babylonglegs radiance aran yarn :) Only used 50g of a skein so cost works out at £5 (would be plus p+p but I collected it from her at Yarndale in September :)

I used the stretchy yarn over cast off to make the fit better, pushing a pram around every day I need plenty of space and comfort. I used this cast off for both the thumb and the fingers so no tightness and hindrance to movement for pram pushing and toddler carrying etc.

I would really recommend this yarn to anyone who isn't allergic to merino :) so easy to knit with, and being aran it grew super quick :)
Pattern now for sale on ravelry for 89p Sarah Gamson designs. The PDF contains pattern in sock (2mm), DK (3mm) and aran (4mm) weight yarns for size 6" to 6.5" wrist.
Happy crafting! :)

70 Beautiful Knits + Caped Crusader

My delivery arrived :D and I'm very happy. The book (or rather thick magazine) is a collection of some of the best patterns from Knit Now magazine. They are separated out into sections: Accessories (this includes shawls, wraps, socks, hats, mitts and cardigans etc.), Knits for your home (such as cushions, and coasters), and Adorable baby makes (this section has lovely baby/toddler cardigans, jumpers, dresses and toys).

(sorry for the awful cover picture)

There are so many things I'd love to make form this one book, some I don't yet have the confidence for as they involve lace knitting (something I've never really done other than the odd yarn over, k2tog patterns etc so these patterns are a little advanced for me, in places at least). There are also some advanced and beginner cables (think I'll stick to beginner level yet lol). The patterns I really wanted with this are:
Bramble Fern set (sweater, hat and mitts)
Little Hipster set (cardigan and hat)
Gamer socks
Tsymon cowl
Passing Places cowl/wrap
Wuthering Heights shawl
These are just my favourites, there are so many more nice once too. Bramble fern was designed by the lovely Joeli Caparco who I've mentioned before, she's the designer of the super cute Foxy Loxy set I've mentioned before.
I'd just been given an old copy of Knit Now magazine with the Passing Places cowl in it but nice to be able to write on one and keep one nice and clean :)
The goodie bag it came with included:
3x 25g balls of yarn
A needle gauge
Point protectors
Yarn information card
4mm and 6mm crochet hooks
2x cable needles
4mm knitting needles (straight)
2.5mm DPNs (set of 4)
10x yarn bobbins
A shawl pin

The yarn converter card I find really useful, and it's small enough to fit in my notions pouch. A needle gauge can always come in handy, though this one will have to stay at home as it's a little wide for my notions pouch. Having spare cable needles is handy, can keep a set in my notions pouch to carry round and a set at home for starting new projects. I've never used yarn bobbins so will have to ask my friend what these are good for. Spare crochet hooks are handy for picking up dropped stitches (if you don't actually crochet, though I can use them for both). I don't often use straight needles any more, I find they irritate my joint problems quicker than circulars or DPNs so these may go to a friend, or maybe my niece who has an interest in knitting :) The DPNs are a nice touch with the book containing a few sock patterns, though being a set of 4 you have to use 3 with stitches on and 1 as working needle (this is how I use DPNs though some people prefer to have 4 needles with stitches on and a 5th as the working needle so it would have been nice to have a set of 5 - especially as Knit Pro sell their DPNs in sets of 6 so you have a spare in the event of one being lost I presume). The yarn can be used for small toys or making something multi-coloured for a baby as you get 75g total.
Overall I'm really happy with the bag (you don't actually get a bag, it comes in a big padded envelope) and think it's good value for money (especially as most of the patterns if sold individually are at least £3 each).
(To buy your very own goodie bag just go to More Mags to see all the other goodies they have as well.)

I've finally wound a skein of my Caped Crusader Babylonglegs radiance aran yarn into 2 balls to make myself some fingerless mitts (my own pattern, I keep amending it for sock weight, DK and aran weight yarns lol it has a lot of writing on the paper in lots of places lol).

Love the colours of this dye lot, blues, greens, greys and yellows. The yarn itself is soft and nicely spun, it doesn't split as I knit with it and is just a joy to use (I want so much more lol). It's 100% merino wool and recommends 4.5mm-5mm needles (I'm using 4mm for my fingerless mitts to add thickness and warmth for the cold winter days to come). The only down side to this yarn is that it is hand wash only, that's not too bad for me but if I made anything for little man he's a tendency to dribble, spill, and wipe things on himself, as well as strip off and throw clothing on floor or even across the room (not looking where it may land), so not really toddler friendly for my particular boy but be good for babies who don't really get messy apart form the odd sicky day etc. I'd love to buy loads of this but would need to decide what to make with it :) and so many nice colours to choose from, you can see some of her dye lots here.
The fingerless mitts shouldn't take long, they're growing really quickly, may even get a picture up tongiht, if not probably tomorrow :)
Happy crafting! :) sorry this post ended up so very long lol

Brown Milo

Finished my sons Milo :)
Did the giant cable for the panel, the stitches are looking a little better but still seem to get a little gap between the change from knit to purl stitches and that's with trying to tighten them doing the trick to tighten 1st purl stitch from Knit Purl Hunter.
Also did the stretchy yarn over bind off (from Knit Freedom) to help with getting it on and off. I unfortunately forgot to change to the 3.75mm needles for the bottom garter stitch section so it's a little loose (done with the 4mm needles as for the body).

It fits him ok and he looks really cute in brown :)
My cousin liked the green baby Milo with owl cable :)
Happy crafting! :)

Leaves and some plans

Been to my craft group today, was very good, I've missed everyone, and cheekily asked if anyone can pick me up from my sons therapy so I can go again next week (usually I have what I call waiting around Wednesday while he's in, as by the time I've walked home I've hardly any time before I'm setting off back and in the miserable weather I really don't want to be doing that, so I sit in a waiting room for 2.5 hours and knit or read and eat lol).
There's a local project asking for knit or crocheted leaves, I found out about it at my local knit and natter group, so I've made a few :) Think it's for some sort of enchanted forest thing but not 100% I'll try to remember to ask Melinda when we next meet :)

Made using scraps of yarn I crocheted these very basic leaves from Crochet: Step by Step. I'll probably make a few more out of random coloured scraps as and when I have a few minutes to spare. They don't take long to make, you chain then work up the stem, do one side of the leaf then work in the back of the stitches to work down the other side of the leaf. I've left the tails on as I wasn't sure if they were needed to hang them up or not, if not I'll weave in the ends. They could do with flattening but only did them today and I'm lazy lol

I know I need to get on with the cream scarf, I keep shouting at myself but just can't get motivated to knit in such long, straight lines...I know it's bad of me :)

My sons brown Milo is coming along well :) my cables aren't great, but I'm trying, which is something that this time last year I'd have avoided like the plague lol

That's all I have on the needles at the moment. I'd like to wind my Caped Crusader aran skeins into balls so I can start my fingerless mitts but just haven't gotten round to it yet, I'd also like to do some more charity 8" squares for Knit-a-Square soon, my friend has done one to send off too with her scraps :)

Happy crafting! :)

Baby vest_yellow

I've a friend (as well as a cousin) expecting. She can knit herself but thought I'd make one of these adorable Milo vests (size 3 months, approx 16" chest) for her bump to be baby :) she's having a girl as far as the scan shows :) She's decided on pinks, purples, yellows, creams etc. so I used some yellow from my stash, afraid I have no idea how long I've had it but yarn is tivoli DK yarn (according to the internet it's been discontinued). I'm not sure if it was bought or gifted if am honest but it was good for this project, easy to use and took a bit over half the ball. I chose the giant cables pattern for the front instead of the owl.

Loving knitting these, am also on a brown one for my son (21" chest) and doing the giant cable too, was going to use the owl but thought this one is a bit easier for me to do and really need to practice keeping my stitches tight when switch between knit and purl stitches.
Hope my friend likes it :) My cousin is meant to be coming for the little green in the week :) hope she likes hers to :)
Happy crafting!

How annoying are iPads..? + what I didn't need lol

My son has an iPad 2, I'm trying to back it up to iCloud so that I can update the software, so that I can see if VLC videos will transfer to it and play on the iPad whilst he doesn't have WiFi access...annoying! Let's hope I get it sorted for him lol
On another note, today I bought more yarn (which I don't need lol), brown DK so I can make my son another vest, hopefully with the owl cable :)
I also ordered this Knit Now goodie bag, which again I didn't need lol in fact I have some cable needles, crochet hooks and knitting needles both straight and DPNs lol but this book has some gorgeous patterns in, I was tempted when it was in my local Tesco and am now glad I didn't buy it  (otherwise I'd have missed the offer). I love the Bramble Fern Sweater which was designed by a lovely lady I know Joeli Caparco. The design also has a hat and mitts that go with it, though she doesn't yet have the copyright back for them so are not for individual sale yet. I'm not sure if the back issue of Knit Now is available for them, but if not this book should have the whole set in it :)
I also got one of her patterns in a baby knitting book from ASDA, the Cheesy Toppe Bloomer Loaf set.
And on that note I'm off :) will post any new works when I start them :) have done another three rows on the cream scarf (taking sooo long, but I'll finish it eventually).
Happy crafting!

Surprise knit photo

Forgot to post a photo of the completed, and now given surprise knit :)

As you can see they were hand warmers or as I call these ones fingerless mitts :) Made for my friend Lariath with Babylonglegs 100% merino sock yarn in the Yoda colour way :)
(If she's feeling nice she may post a photo of her wearing them in the comments :) Hope she likes them as much as I do, even my mum tried stealing these lo)
Love Babylonglegs yarns so much, just with this hadn't needed 2mm needles. Her sock yarn does recommend  2-3mm needles but I'm a slack knitter so tried 2.5mm and was too loose so needed the 2mm, though even with 2mm it's be too loose to knit actual socks, I'd need to go to a 1.75mm or 1.5mm and my hands and joints really couldn't take that :) the other sock yarn I bought from her will probably become more of these (or held double for something), though the semi precious I ordered ages ago has always been intended to be a shawl for myself :)

Baby vest finished :)

It took two days of a lot of knitting but I cast of the Milo today :) (pattern linked in previous post).
I did the The Stretchy Yarnover Bind-Off so it has plenty of give :) (tutorial linked).

I admit I made a couple small mistakes, but I'm comfortable giving it to my cousin for the baby :)
It's really hard to see the cable owl design :( just coz the yarn dark so photographing it is difficult, but I assure you it is super cute and I love it :)
I made size 3 months which is 16" chest (the bottom is slightly wider due to the stretchy cast off) but the main body is 16" around. Mine is slightly shorter than the pattern advices as I ran out of yarn. That is why I only did one cable rather than a repeat as I knew I'd run out of yarn. With the cable repeated it would have been longer as there would also be the garter stitch bottom (though that would be shorter than I did lol).
If this or the little fuchsia were knitted longer they could in fact make baby dresses which would be rather cute :)
Happy crafting :)

Baby vest started

You may have recently seen my lilangelsg2_little fuchsia vest that I made for my 3 year old. I loved this, it's small and fairly simple to make, designed by Adeline Too and I'd love to make more.
There is another vest design, very similar by Georgie Hallam and even though it's really similar I wanted it too lol This design is called the Milo and I'm working on one is size 3 months for my cousins baby. She's due in May and isn't sure if having a boy or girl so has decided she wants to get green things so they're neutral. My Milo is the owl version and in dark green (left over from my sons vest, plus a little extra left over from the jumper I knit him previously), it should fit from around August/September so the weather should have cooled enough for it to be useful lol
The design comes with multiple cable options for the strip down the front, which I think is a really good idea :) There are xo's, hearts, traditional twist cables, owl etc. The construction for both vests is very similar, they are both top down on circular needles, they use different increases to get the shoulder shaping, they use different under arm construction, the body is basically the same except one has a cable panel (this could of course be knit in stocking stitch if you wanted it plain), and both have the garter stitch brim at the bottom. I've liked knitting both and will probably make more of each depending on if knitting for a fitted or looser look. The little fuchsia design is more puffed as you decrease at the base of the top, this makes it a little more feminine if done in the right colours. It also has the small leaf option for at the bottom of the top. In hind site I probably should have started with the milo as it's unlikely I'd have needed both designs if I'd bought that one first. I like both designs but the milo comes with more variant options. Though I will still uses both I thought it best to point this out to anyone wishing to make their own vests for people.

 

My owl cable is hard to see as the green is dark, but I assure you it looks super cute. I've only done one set of the cable pattern as for such a small size rather than make the top super long I'll just add a little more garter stitch to the bottom. Obviously for bigger sizes the cable pattern would be repeated. It's fairly simple to do though I had to keep count of what row of the chart I was on.
I'm on the garter stitch bottom so should be finished either today or tomorrow :) baby clothes knit up so much faster lol and so small, like knitting for a doll lol
Happy crafting :)