Before I had b1 and b2, I had so many plans for making quilts, baby clothes, mobiles, cloth nappies. My children were going to be top to toe in Pipsie made. Alas it was not to be. Horrid pregnancy and premie birth meant all of my energies were focused on keeping my little two alive, and not making cute bits and bobs as originally planned.

b1 and b2, the originals

But things have changed. Hooray! I (and Bruce) now have two superhuman balls of energy that only know quiet when being entertained by Almost Naked Animals (it’s a real TV show, although I don’t pretend to understand it, thank you ABC kids), reading (again this involves almost nakedness with Captain Underpants) or sleep, which when I think about it, also involves only underpants. I’m sensing a theme here…

Baby Blanket Work in Progress

So. One of my joys now is making baby blankets for the little beings of my dear friends. The original daisy shawls for b1 and b2 were made by me and my mother, Parjie, many years ago, and they are now realising their heirloom potential by being with their baby twin cousins. They will come back eventually, and maybe one day will warm the toes of grandchildren. In many, many, (plus 2) years to come, please and thank you b1 and b2.

Seconds after the final stitch was sewn!

The daisies themselves are very therapeutic to make. Set up on the couch with a pot of tea, Mad Men season 1 and Panda Wine, I can spend hours churning out daisies and batting away kitten paws. There are usually 500ish daisies made per shawl, which are then shipped off to Parjie for crocheted togetherness.

This shawl is for a much wanted and loved little boy. I started it not long after the announcement, however I managed to purchase only a third of the wool needed (I swear the balls of yarn looked bigger than they were, sneaky cardboard tubing and my inability to know much about wool…) and I was unable to match it when I realised my shortfall. 

So I got creative when it came back from Parjie, and have stitched it onto the softest flannel from Jiddies Patch, and bound the edges with a quilting fabric.

I am a little delighted with the results. It is beautifully soft, warm as a nana’s blanket, and the colours sit together well for a little boy. The project evolved as I got closer and closer to its finish. I didn’t think ahead, just gathering designing and gathering supplies as I went along. And in order to finish it, for the past week I have not been allowed to piece together my next dress pattern (the Alder dress by Grainline Studio) until the final stitch was sewn. Sometimes the only way for me to finish a project is to deny starting the next. 

I have another daisy shawl in the making. This time for a friend who has requested a nana blanket to warm her knees whilst perched on a wingback chair reading Scandi crime novels in the glow of the giraffe lamp light (you know who you are!).

Then I might make one for myself. Cream daisies with black crotchet, I think.

Curtsey, and keep warm!

Pips xxx

Wool from Woolsy Trading Post

Flannel and binding fabric from Jiddies Patch

Crotchet by Parjie

Daisies by Pips

Destruction by Panda Wine