Book Review #1 One-Skein Wonders for Babies by Judith Durant

This was originally post on my other blog Nayu's Reading Corner yesterday, but I thought you'd like to see it as it's a knitting and crochet book! 

 September 2015, Storey Publishing, 288 pages, Ebook, Review copy 

Summary from Storey Publishing

This irresistible collection offers 101 original knitting projects for babies and toddlers — each using just a single skein of yarn! From mittens and hats to tees, sweaters, hoodies, pants, dresses, socks, and bootees, you’ll find the perfect wearable for every child and every occasion. You’ll also discover beautiful bibs, blankets, and sleep sacks, plus adorable stuffed toys, blanket buddies, and more. These beautiful projects were contributed by designers and crafters around the world, and each comes with complete step-by-step instructions and a photograph of the finished piece.

Nayu's thoughts

Sometimes knitters have an odd ball of yarn which isn't enough to make a big project, but a smaller one is needed. That's where this book is useful! The range of projects is extensive, including accessories, clothes, blankets, and of course baby items which as a smaller product suit using 1 skein.

Tada!

Here's what I did, a cute baby bootie! I didn't note down the pattern name because I thought I'd still be able to access it when I wrote the review. Unfortunately I've gone into the program and unlike novels apparently there was an expiry date so I no longer have this wonderful book. I will look to buy it in the future! 

The instructions are easy to use with large pictures so I had a good idea of what the finished product looked like. The ribbed effect meant I knitted the equivalent of two socks in one, so it took a fair amount of time to do. I'm not sure I'd use this particular pattern again, but I would look at some of the more complex patterns in the future.  

Nayu's Craft Time #88 Craft & chocolate mania

Can you guess what this is?

Ta-da! It's my secret project!

Whew, what a week! It was crazy busy in the lead up to Sunday's birthday event. The strawberry cross stitch tablecloth went down well...

Milk chocolate truffles with chocolate outer layer and sprinkles

...as did the various chocolate treats! 

These milk chocolate truffles with chocolate shell and cute butterfly fluttered into open mouths

I crashed out Monday and Tuesday, strictly only watching DVDs and reading. I ventured back into craft yesterday with knitted baby booties. I thought I was going to finish one, but the technique required was super hard, and time consuming. Since I'm trying to use patterns that are fairly simple to make I gave up and started trying a different pattern. So far, so good! 

Today I was busy writing up reviews for Nayu's Reading Corner - I hope to be on top of them by next Wednesday. Tonight I'm watching anime with no craft as I've ended up being busy all day so need to rest before bed. 

Tomorrow is a bit busy with getting ready to meet up with a friend on Saturday (we meet once a year), more on that tomorrow ^o^

Nayu's Craft Time #86 Busy!

What am I doing here? Can't quite say...

I've yet to finish the baby bootie I started the other day - I've been busy doing secret mission stuff, and in between that resting. Going to be busy until the end of next week but am determined to fit craft in when I can! I promise my secret mission work will be worth the wait. ^o^

Nayu's Craft Time #70 Small milestone achieved! + Update

Whoohoo! Picture source

Thank you! As I logged on today to write this post which was (and still is) about my latest work, I saw just over 100 of you visited here yesterday! Thank you ever so much - it's fantastic to see so many of you enjoying my site!

So far today craft wise I spent a fun hour watching The Great British Bake Off while adding a few rows to this blanket. 

Slowly she grows...

There were moments that I paused because the on-screen action was captivating when baking creations both went right and went a bit wonky. 

Prior to that, in fact straight after breakfast I (finally) added a chocolate layer/coating to my truffles! I also added a few squiggles of decoration. 

They are setting in the fridge now, will take a neater photo for tomorrow's post.

I'm really enjoying making them. They are super easy, having a new mini saucepan makes it even easier to both pour from and dip in. For tomorrow's truffles I will experiment with flavour, possibly peppermint, lemon, orange, and salt - not all in the same truffle! That would be a bit too strange for my tastes. 

I'll also do alternate dipping: white chocolate centre with milk chocolate coating, and milk chocolate centre with white chocolate coating. I also would like to try using sprinkles before the coating sets to make them super pretty. They are tasty, and I haven't eaten too many either! I made sure to wash my hands before doing crochet as the yarn probably wouldn't appreciated a few specks of chocolate as much as I do. 

It's time to get some lunch, then relax with anime. I'm going to work a bit more on the baby bootie from yesterday, as well as read and work on my novel. My days are wonderfully full! 

Nayu's Craft Time #57 Baby Booties Book Mania!

Similar to my lunch today

 Ah, another great day. I'm having a minor change in how I schedule my days, and I'm currently trialing doing most of my book review for Nayu's Reading Corner on a Friday, plus emails so I have more time during each day to do craft and writing related work. I did have lunch with a friend today, which was yummy. Ordinarily I try to avoid going out 2 days in a row, since I need time to recover as fatigue features heavily in my life as part of my medical condition, but since I wasn't driving today & it was close to home I went for it!The brie, cranberry and vegetarian stuffing panini was delicious! 

I'd totally planned to continue review when I got back, but - and I have to say this happens every single time I know I should stop and not blog for the rest of the day - key websites simply are too busy for me to use them. Guess the universe is saying I need a break! I promise I'll rest soon - got a few personal emails I must write, then it's finishing up sorting knitting needles which I started yesterday (the ones which I need a needle sizing tool to check the sizes), figuring out which baby bootie pattern to start & then starting them. 

I am pleased to say that the book above and below this sentence are the ones I've chosen to keep from my bootie book buying mission (it has the same initials as this post's title, BBBM!) 

The booties are mega cute, you're going to love them with the embellishments I'll be adding. They're so tiny! Most are knitted, I think a few are crochet, but that doesn't matter - I'll make them all the same! I've ordered a nice selection of buttons to make them extra pretty. Booties are coming very soon! (I promise I'm not doing a weird pact of putting an exclamation mark at the end of every other sentence, it's just happening that way.)