Wednesday, April 13th, 2011...8:44 am

Buttoning down
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Well, the first quarter of 2011 has been packed full of make and do, primarily because people are spawning like crazy frogs. I am literally surrounded (admittedly, not right now) with pregnant ladies, and new babies mean compulsory crafting. The most significant of these imminent arrivals (to me) is Button*, the soon-to-be baby girl belonging to Spike’s godparents and my very best friend.

This past Sunday, I hosted a baby shower for my friend and I finally got to hand over my gifts and can therefore blog about them with abandon. First up was a sweet trouser and cardigan set.

Button Set

The trousers are the Quick Change Trousers from Anna Maria Horner’s Handmade Beginnings. They are reversible, which is great – so practical. I love the cheery Liberty fabrics I used. The sweater is the Kumfy Schlüttli (excellent name) knitted with Amy Butler’s Belle Organic for Rowan. The buttons are vintage. I knitted the smallest size so that it could be worn straightaway, before the weather gets too warm, but Button is turning out to be a big Button (she is due in two weeks and weighed 6lbs a month ago!), so I’m hoping that it gets at least a week’s wear(!) I would say, as written, the pattern comes up quite small. The smallest size would be perfect for a small newborn.

The shower attendees and I also set ourselves a bit of a challenge. We decided to make a summer quilt (inspired by this one), with each of us making a quarter of the quilt. I was the only one who had made a quilt before (and mine was pretty basic) and one of us hadn’t sewn with a machine since GCSE days, so it’s amazing it ever got made. Unfortunately, I only have terrible pictures of it. I’ll try and get some better ones.

Button Quilt

A blurry close up of my wonky log cabin square.

Button Quilt

We used Anna Maria Horner cotton voile and folksy flannel. The cotton voile is fine and silky like Liberty tana lawn, but seems to have a lower thread count than the latter. My guess is that it won’t wear as well as tana lawn. The flannel is gorgeous.

All we need now is a Button!

Today, I received a consignment of Patricia Roberts Fine Cotton. Oh my goodness! The colours! The sheen! I can’t wait to start knitting with it. But what?

* A cute in utero name (I approve of the crafty connotation). However, it doesn’t trump the name given to all those in utero on my father’s side of the family, i.e. Sid. Is that not the most unlikely name for a burgeoning human being?!

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