Colourful days

I broke my self made promise of a scrap or sew night Friday last night as the knitting needles called me to finish off Austy's little cable earflap hat that I've been wanting to make for a long while. I bought the varigated wool for a soaker or pair of longies from the knittery, as I love the colours even more than the purpley one I bought from them at the same time. But as the purple longies are no good (they are either too thin or the merino is too fine to keep him dry) this ball has been sitting unloved for a while, waiting to be made into something gorgeous. And the hat is the perfect project for it. Super soft and low pilling wool, to be shown off on a daily basis and keep my boy's head snuggly and warm. The earflaps are terrific as Austy doesn't like beanies over his ears so pulls them off but with this the flaps arent tight around his ears as they would be on a beanie and the ties keep it on his precious head. It wasn't hard to make, and the varigated wool made it lots of fun to knit. I think the cables would show up better on a plain though so have bought some wool to try again for a hat for Elizabeth as I have another hat set (with scarf and mitts) on the needles for Austy to match his snowsuit for our trip in August to Falls Creek.

What I SHOULD have been doing last night was working on this:

Austy's big boy bed quilt. It's coming along very slowly - triangles scare me but I love them all the same. I have been putting it off in favour of curling up on the couch with my knitting, but I think next week I will warm up the study during dinner so that by the time the boy is in bed it's a very inviting place to be. I just love all the boyish prints and last night saw a biplane bookshelf being made on Better Homes and Gardens, so am all set to grab the magazine next time I'm out and tell Austy's Dad he has a project!! It would go perfectly with his "planes, trains and automobiles" quilt (with a few trucks as well...)

And on a sader but very special project - I have committed myself to the Blankets of Love project. It is a quilting competition for a new fandangle sewing machine but also a charity. I'm not in it for the machine (anyone would know I have no chance as a beginner quilter) but the charity side as it touched my heart and reminded me of how special my nephew Aden's quilt became when he died of SIDS at 7 months old. He was wrapped in it when we all said our goodbyes as we waited for the police to come and take him, and then was draped over his baby blue coffin at the funeral, and now is a special reminder of him. The blankets of love quilts will be given to hospitals around Australia to be given to parents who have to go home without a baby, having lost their babies during birth or soon after. A very worthy project indeed.

The magazine running it had a few rules, one of them being that you use the fat quarter they send you for free as the main colour on the front. I got green (see top fabric below) and felt very uninspired, but after a trip to the big uilt shop today I am in love with the colours I have and now need to think up the perfect (but simple) design. I have some ideas but have to play with them a bit to suit the fabrics I chose. Here is my draft plan (the colours are way off because I was limited to Excel colours) and fabrics.