~Easter Chicks~

I've been knitting these chicks for a few weeks now in preparation for Easter.

They're the one that hide a Creme Egg inside. A free pattern and tutorial for them can be found on Susan's blog Evie's Gran.
I've used leftovers of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in various colours as well as yellow.  These ones are also sat on yummy Lindt mini-eggs too, and are for the small folk in our family.

I'm taking this clutch of chicks to work this week to hopefully sell to my lovely colleagues.

I especially love the little beige one desperately peeping over the  yellow chick 2nd from the right.
Come on Spring weather, where are you? With snow about here in Yorkshire again, I'm tempted to make them all a woolly scarf.

~Thrify Handknitted Pressies & Tea Cosy Pattern~

I thought I'd do a 'Ta Da' post for this titchy tea cosy I've knitted for my sister-in-law's birthday at the end of March. It fits snugly on it's teapot-for-one which I found on my vintage travels.  How come I always love (and want to keep) the things I knit for other people?!?
This project has been knitted from my wool stash of odds, ends and the never-even-started projects. Having done a bit of blog reading tonight,  I would wholeheartedly like to join Tina at Tea and Woolly Socks in her No More Buying Yarn Stash Busting Campaign.
So here's the tea cosy...

It's a made-up pattern; the main body is knitted in Louisa Harding Fleuris, colour Meteor - a 70% Bamboo 30% Wool yarn. Using your stash makes you choose colour combinations that maybe you wouldn't normally, if you get my meaning.  I think that it is a good thing. 

The pattern; I knit this in chunky wool on 6mm needles.

The main body basketweave pattern was done in 2 halves by casting on 40sts, or a multiple of 4 sts, 

Row 1 Cable 4 fwd to end

Row 2 Purl 

Row 3 K2, then Cable 4 back to last 2 sts, K2

Row 4 Purl

Then for shaping I just make it up as I go along. Usually it's K2 tog across the knit rows only, then draw remaining stitches up. The roses hide this bit anyway! The roses and leaves are from the tea cosy book I have posted about before, Really Wild Tea Cosies by Loani Prior.

~World Book Day~

A quick post to celebrate World Book Day.
As I'm 43 I didn't dress up as The Gruffalo, Horrid Henry or Where's Wally, but I just wanted to share my latest good read with you.
I got this book as a birthday present last month - The Fault In Our Stars by John Green.

It was published last year, so forgive me if you've read it already.  My finger isn't on the pulse of what's hot in fiction; I rely on accidentally finding good books or else am loaned them by friends.
This book is so wonderfully well-written, clever, funny...and so sad yet uplifting that I had several proper crying episodes.
If you fancy it, a review can be found online here.    To be recommended.