Friday 17 July 2015

Preparing for a break with a Friday finish.

I finally got it together and delivered 3 quilt tops to Sue Phillips of School House Quilting. I finished Isobel's bear paw top and then realized I did not have enough of my chosen fabric for the backing so I made a detour to Newent to buy what was left of the bolt, another 1¾ metres. I spent a frantic hour working out the best way to piece the back.

The other quilts were the Japanese +X quilt top which was finished ages ago and my English Country Garden appliqué quilt. I have asked Sue to baste the appliqué quilt and I will be quilting it with perle cottons.

So on to my Friday finish. Ta dah!!!!!


This is the Vintage smock frock coat for the new baby that Jenny is expecting In September. This is the 0-6 months size knitted in Drops baby alpaca/silk in the Powder colourway. It reminded me of ballet pink tights.

This is meant to be a sport weight yarn but I found it more like a 4ply (fingering) weight. The pattern is by Sublime yarns and was written for a 4ply yarn. I did knit a tension square at the start for once and the Drops was just right as a substitute. There were a few comments on Ravelry about the yarn. I noticed I had a similar problem to other knitters in that my stitches looked uneven- or should I say more uneven than usual! The short soak and blocking seems to be sorting that though. I soaked it for a short time with Eucalan in off-cold water. The label said 30° but I wanted to err on the safe side. I gave it a gentle swish and blotted the excess moisture on an a fluffy towel. The coat is exactly the right measurements without any pulling or pushing for once. I must say I love it.

I am taking a short break next week as we head to the beach at Walberswick in Suffolk for an old-fashioned English beach holiday with Sam and Lexie. I am looking forward to enjoying my grandchildren's company, paddling, catching the crabs by the bridge over the stream, eating fish and chips and ice-cream, going on Southwold Pier and all those things that make a proper holiday. I am praying that the sun shines for a few days.

Still collecting our fruit from the garden. I have been trying to get a few pounds of raspberries into the freezer before we go.


There should be another two or three trays tomorrow and then I suppose the squirrel will eat the rest while we are away.

I am linking up to Freshly Finished Friday and Wool on Sundays with the baby coat.
Also to On the Needles with Patchwork Times.
 Links in the right hand column.

Have a restful weekend and a great start to the school holidays here in the UK.

Catherine.

14 comments:

  1. Hope you have a lovely week away with the children, how lovely!
    I have just harvested my first - in this house and since the garden makeover - red currants, all 30 or so of them lol
    Mt strawberries are casting out runners so will pot them as they grow for next year and hope they sweeten up abit over time!
    Evie has gotten in to t he habit of arriving on Monday and waltzing out back to look for strawberries for her breakfast, there's generally been 3 or 4 each week for her. But. This week I hid 5 huge shop bought ones for her to find lol
    Funny you said the jacket colour reminded you of ballet tights, I immediately thought of the old fashioned ballet pumps too! It's so nice to see some of the 'vintage' patterns knitted up again, they were so much more practical and prettier most often, than the little cardigans that have been so fashionable of late.
    Have an ice cream for me will you? Lol

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  2. Your sweater is beautiful! I love the smocking design. Wonderful finish!

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  3. Such a gorgeous knit Catherine, there certainly aren't any uneven stitches there as far as I can see :)
    Hope the weather is good to you for your beach holiday.

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  4. That little sweater is adorable! Have a wonderful vacation.

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  5. Beautiful gift for your friend!!! It really is so lovely. I hope that you have a great time on your travels! xx

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  6. Its gorgeous and looks so soft! Also looks like a lot of work but well worth it!

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  7. Well done for finishing two quilt tops - a huge accomplishment! And that vintage smocked frock coat is gorgeous!!!

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  8. Cpongrats on all those finishes. The frock coat is adorable. I hope you are having a lovely holiday :)

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  9. Congratulations on all your finishes. The coat is abosolutely adorable. I'm sure your friend will treasure it so much. Gorgeous finish.

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  10. Hello, I've recently discovered your blog and am very much enjoying reading it. I am in the process of knitting the same smock frock coat in pale teal colour - it is such a sweet pattern. I've recently taken early retirement and quilt making is one of the projects on my list of things to do!

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  11. I'm looking for the pattern for that very coat--it is darling! Any help to point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

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    1. Hi Carolyn,
      http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/sublime-641-the-third-irresistibly-sublime-baby-4-ply-book
      The pattern is called Little Vintage Frockcoat by Sublime. The link is above but you might have to cut and paste. I really enjoyed knitting it and it looks fab on baby. If you look on Ravelry I have a finished photo on my project page. I am CathP53 on Ravelry

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  12. I know it has been a while since you posted this but still want to tell you how much I love this coat!
    Groetjes
    Annemieke

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