I should slap my own wrists, I keep slacking on the updates - it's a good job I don't have more followers to be honest because they'd be disappointed with the lack of reading material on here! :)
My intentions was to update you on each block as it progressed but since I have just finished my 18th square last night and am half way through sewing up my 3rd block I suppose I'd better do this all in one go!
Here's the first block I made and sewed up:
I was really pleased with it although I struggled with the filling - it's so hard to find sponge that's the right shape and size and has the right 'squeezability' to it for baby blocks - I tried upholsterers but their sponge was too good a quality and I struggled to squeeze most once they were cut to 5" cubes so then I decided on car sponges, but they're too small so I had to cut them into smaller pieces and build a cube from them (this is what the blocks are stuffed with in these first pictures). But even though they looked pretty good, as soon as I showed them to one person and they squeezed them, all the little blocks became dislodged inside, despite the fact that I had actually sewn them together to stop them moving!
So back to the drawing board - I decided, mainly due to impatience and irritability, to just plump for the toy stuffing which I already had in from the monkeys I made in an earlier post (incidentally, why is it monkeys for plural rather than monkies??)
I'm really please with the stuffing for 'squeezability', however it does tend to make them look a little rounded rather than cubes - you'll see this when I post my completed photo of the 3 blocks once my last ones sewn up - maybe you can come up with a better suggestion?
The other bonus for using toy stuffing is that I can insert a bell/rattle more easily and it make noise when shaken. My first and second blocks are just plain stuffing but my third has a bell in the middle. I'm not sure for the rest, I would like to do one with scrunchy plastic sound then maybe another bell and a few more plain (there will be 8 blocks in total) - my mum suggested a squeaker in one but you'd have to squeeze the block right in to get to the little squeaker in the middle so might not work........hmm.
Anyway, I digress - when I was half was through the second block I came across a tutorial video when browsing one lunch that showed how to knit fairisle two handed (this wasn't an issue for me as I taught myself to knit really and don't hold the needles or yarn correctly at all - I've tried since to teach myself to speed up my knitting however I always fall back into my quirky way where I seem to use my whole arm to wind the yarn around!). I'm really trying to stick to this method now as it means I can knit both left and right handed holding the yarn correctly but I still seem to be adapting the technique so I can knit it my quirky way.
So once I'd watched the video a few times I decided I would use this for the remaining squares I would knit - it means that you don't get those irritating yarns stretching across the back of your work because you weave them in as you knit - this will be great for when I tackle something a little larger with fairisle such as a jumber or Christmas stocking so you have a neat back!
Here's what the 'F' square looked like mid-knit on the reverse:
You can see at the bottom of the square (to the right) I did the first couple of pattern rows with the yarn stretched, but then the rest are using the new method - I was so excited when it worked that I took this photo!
So after all that, here are the 6 squares to make up my second cube:
And here are 5 of the squares for my 3rd cube:
I didn't get a photo of the 6th square as I only finished it last night and immediately started sewing up the block so the next photo I add will be of the 3 blocks together which I'll be giving to my niece, although it may be a while until she can play with them as she's only 6 weeks on Friday! :)
Speaking of which, I didn't ever get around to announcing her birth on my blog so here it is - welcome to the world Isobel Victoria Douglas!
I am one proud auntie - I already have a beautiful little nephew on my husband's side who is at such an amazing age where his development astounds you every time you see him, he will be 2 in a few weeks, I can't believe how time has flown! And now I have a gorgeous little niece to complete the set - here is my first photo with her:
Well, that's it until next time folks!
Love Mrs K
xxx
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