Baby Blanket for Lil' Pup

Friends of ours were expecting a very welcome baby whom they nicknamed "lil' pup" due to their respective love of otters and wolves. So my partner picked out an unusual colorway for a baby blanket to look more like an island surrounded by water.

Yarn: Cotton Kings Sultan Deluxe in 17 Mojave Azurite

Yarn Supplier: Hobbii Yarns

Pattern: Tusindfryd Baby Blanket by Sys Fredens

I hadn't been able to find good photos of this pattern laid out flat (potentially a red flag in a pattern) but by reading through the pattern it seemed like it should work. The result at least in my gauge, which tends to be relatively short, wide stiches, were these graceful curving lines of the eyelets, which you just needed to organically spiral out from the center to let the edges lie as expected. I was actually very charmed.

FO: Honey Bee Blanket

When I first saw the Honey Bee Blanket pattern, I thought it was so cute that I really wanted to make it, despite not having a clear plan on who I would give it to. The recommended yarn was new to me, but the soft cotton blend seems like it will wash really well and be great for little ones and/or messy lives.

Pattern: Honey Bee Blanket by Gaynor Edwards

Yarn: Scheepjes Stone Washed

Seriously, look how cute this detail is?

I was glad to have been this one, but the comments I had read were NOT kidding about the completely unreasonable amount of weaving in of ends. That last part was a slog, but I am still happy to have made it. No need to do a second though.

From the comments on Ravelry, I was also aware that there were some errors in the original pattern. At this point, errata are up, but I did not have any significant trouble in fudging/figuring things out based on what made sense.

My only major complaint about the pattern is that because it is so open ended about the mixed color blocks, I was not sure about exactly how much I would need. I just went with the recommended amounts, but still have a bunch of leftovers.

Baby Bear Hat

A couple of years ago, I bought 2 skeins of the beautifully soft and luxurious Cascade Cloud 9 at Webs. This hat is super cute, even if a handwash material is super impractical for a baby. For how cute and soft it is, I am totally ok if it only gets one wear. I included minor modification thoughts at the end of this post.

This was the pattern where I finally accepted that I need to avoid angora containing yarns. (There is another angora project post en queue for the other skein.) Having said that, this little hat only took 19g, and I still have 31g left. Would you like the rest of this skein? Leave a comment with your contact info and I will draw a name next week.

Pattern: Baby Bear Hat by Gilda Knits (free Ravelry download)

Yarn: Cascade Cloud 9 (discontinued)

Yarn Supplier: WEBS

Needles: US 9 / 5.5 mm

I only had one minor quibble with the directions, as the instructions ask you to pick up "in the round" but then the following instructions are flat for garter stitch. I suspect the designer just wanted the stitches picked up one per "bar" but picking up on both sides does produce less forward bias, which I liked. So I modified the pattern by making the ears actually in the round, but I think knitting the "front" and "back" side stitches together in the first row would have given the neutral bias similarly.

Playing Catch Up

With one of my toughest semesters completed, I am taking this time as the year winds down to catch up on documenting my crafting and tidying my spaces. Today I went through a giant pile of WIPs, yarn to-be-entered into Ravelry, and hibernating projects to figure out where things were.

In the process I found this project that just needed ends woven in.

Hook: C/2.75 mm

Yarn: Mind's Eye Yarns Merino/Tencel (discontinued) - March '08 Sock Club colorway

Yarn Supplier:  Mind's Eye Yarns

This newborn hat was ad-libbed. It is top-down with faux ribbing using crochet through front/back posts. Cute! Little! Instant gratification!

Posted via Blogaway

Cabled Baby Sweater

Remember that charming young man, I was privileged to meet this past Spring? Well I am very excited to get to see him for the holidays, and given that he still had not received much in terms of handknits just for him, one was overdue. Alas it may be too small. Why do babies grow so fast?!

Yarn: Järbo Garn Raggi Multi in color 1548

Yarn Supplier: Mind's Eye Yarns

Needles: US 9 / 5.5 mm

Pattern:  Pembroke Vest by Kirsten Kapur (free pattern)

And now for a gratuitous picture of the buttons on top of the left shoulder. Because seriously, babies have giant heads, and it is just easier to dress them that way.

This ended up taking just over one skein of yarn. (I may have cursed a bit when I realized. Fortunately I was able to acquire more.) Given the yarn is a bit heavier than the recommended, I am hopeful that this still might fit briefly, but if not the fact that it is machine wash and dry makes it easy to pass on to someone else.

Baby Turkey Hat

Long long ago, in the ancient times (2007 or so) at the very beginning of my experiences with Ravelry I came across the pattern for a baby hat that looked like a turkey. I became overwhelmed with a great desire to make this hat, but it is not the sort of thing that everyone would appreciate it.

So it was with great glee this year that I read on a friend's Google+ post that she wished her child had a turkey hat. I quickly contacted her, and a plan was made.

Pattern: Jive Turkey Baby Hat by sewgeeky (free Raverly download)

Yarn: Berroco Vintage™ (5101 white) & Plymouth Yarn Encore Worsted (0175 Jewel Gold)

Yarn Supplier: Windsor Button (since closed)

Needles: US 6 - 4.0 mm and US 8 - 5.0 mm

Modifications: Somewhere at some point I saw a version in which the knitter had added purl bumps to simulate the texture of the turkey skin. I loved this idea and made up a spacing that worked for my gauge.

Many thanks for giving me a reason to make this super fun project. (And seriously is that child not one of the most adorable you have ever seen, with or without the hat? He can totally make it work.)

Note: The white in this hat was left over from a bunch of other fun projects including the Icelandic Fish Hat and Iris the Ibis. The "golden brown roasted turkey" color, on the other hand, I totally bought new for this project, because it just had to be that perfect shade.

Do you have any patterns that have been on your want-to-knit list forever that you just couldn't think of a reason to make? I had previously mentioned that the Dead or Alive Fish Hat had been like that for me, but if I had to come up with another one it would likely be the Viking or Dwarven Beard. Apparently I have a thing for silly hats.

Presto Chango

As previously mentioned in the post about the Nottingham hat post, a dear friend was having her first child this year. I knew immediately that I wanted to make her a baby sweater. This was made a little less of a no-brainer since we did not know the gender of the baby, but I wasn't too worried. This baby is fortunately to have parents who aren't super hung up on cultural gender expectations.

So I poke around at Ravelry, and I found this fantastic sweater idea. Not only does it work around that whole baby-mess thing (the fronts are replaceable so you can use a different one if it gets wet or dirty), it also lets whoever is dressing the baby have the option of changing what it looked like.

Pattern: Presto Chango by Valerie Wallis (free pattern)

Yarn: Adrienne Vittadini Dianna in color 183

Yarn Supplier: Lettuce Knits (appears closed)

Needles: US 8 - 5.0 mm & US 9 - 5.5 mm

There was fierce button debate, as to color choices that might sway the audience one way or another regarding expected gender, but I love the sour apple green ones that I went with in the end. They even make the sweater color seem more reasonable.

The complete sweater picture here is shown with a panel that uses the cable from a dna helix scarf (free pattern). Baby science!

This panel was the original one that came with the pattern. I like the leaf-like motif, and I think it would be fine on either gender. I figured if anyone was bothered by it for a boy they could always just not use it though.

I not only did this quick stockinette panel, but on the way to Maine I knit a final cabled panel (not shown) that coordinated with the Nottingham hat. Why did I not remember to take a quick photo?!

Anyways, the hat and baby sweater were well received. In fact this well-loved baby is apparently being born into a creative and crafty community. I was really impressed by the skill and breadth of techniques seen in the gifts at the baby shower, from knitting and crochet to quilting and needle point.

Nottingham

A very dear friend of mine who lives in Maine was gracious enough to invite us to her baby shower. I have known her for many years, and it is amazing that she now has this longed for child.

Yarn: Adrienne Vittadini Dianna (discontinued)

Yarn Supplier: Lettuce Knits in Richmond Virginia (closed?)

Pattern: Nottingham by Melissa Mall (free pattern)

Needles: US 8 - 5.0 mm

Modifications: I lengthened the cable section by half again the chart, and then immediately started the decreases. Otherwise, this was surprisingly knit to pattern! It was a very pleasant knit with a great stretchy product, and I am absolutely thinking of using this pattern again for future community babies.

For those thinking of doing this modification, please note that I tend to have a relatively dense row gauge generally compared with many knitters. As such I may have been able to complete half again the chart, where for others this may result in the hat being too long by the time you could start the decreases.

Since the parents were not finding out the gender of the baby until the delivery, gifts were requested in a gender neutral color. Fortunately I had a bunch of this yarn from when the Chiquita had selected it many years ago as travel yarn for me.

Doing a quick search to link to the shop's website reveals that the website is no longer there. Yet another yarn shop disappearance?

Welcome Baby J!

It has been really crazy here between the Spring semester coming to a close and everything else. An amazing part of that everything else was my newest nephew, Mr J, who I had hinted about previously and was born last weekend.

The above picture was taken by my sister, who clearly has a lot of love for the subject and and an excellent sense of composition and light.

Grey Steps - Baby Booties

Despite all the blog content recently, there actually has been some knitting going on. There are a number of babies expected among my family and friends recently, so I have been on the lookout for great baby patterns. (Got any great recommendations for boys? I am not huge on dressing children along gender lines, but I recognize that people do often have preferences in this regard.)

In my poking around on Ravelry, I was super excited to find this baby booties pattern as a great gender neutral pattern *that I think might even stay on little feet for more than 20 seconds*. Crazy! The pattern has half brioche stitch around, with garter stitch soles, resulting in a lovely thick, squishy fabric with good elasticity.

 

Yarn: Jaeger Matchmaker Merino DK

Yarn Supplier: WEBS

Needles: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm

Pattern: Blue Steps - Baby Booties by Regina Willer

Modifications: none! (well other than using a DK weight...)

Oh winter, why do you make it so hard to manage to find decent light for knit photography? In trying to make sure this shot got in before we lost the light, I totally missed that the cuff of of one was not quite lying flat. The cuffs are the same length, I promise!

I did the soles with a magic cast on, since I was already comfortable with it. The whole pattern is super clever though, and in the end that meant no seaming and only two ends to weave in. Nifty! They were a really fun, quick knit, and by the time I finished the first one I had memorized the pattern for the most part. And the result is super cute. I think this may become my new standby pattern for this sort of thing.

Meanwhile I have been flipping through my library looking for more baby boy acceptable knits. Anyone got some great suggestions to point me in the direction of?

Another Baby Girl BSJ

It seems to be a baby year. These sorts of things go in cycles. One of the latest arrivals that we are awaiting is my to-be newest neice. My brother and his wife have gone through so much hoping for a baby, that she is highly anticipated.

The baby shower was several weeks ago, but I have just not been able to pull myself together enough to put a post together. So with out further ado another BSJ:

Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Needles: US Size 10 / 6.0

Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in Dusty Purple & many leftovers (see below)

As with the last BSJ I made, I put this one together with a sewn seam rather than a crocheted one. That has definitely become my preference for putting together this pattern.

This is the third time I have made this pattern. (The first two can be found here and here.) As always it never fails to delight me with its cleverness, plus the finished garter stitch fabric is super smooshy and awesome. There is good reason this pattern is so renown. I have to admit that I like the stripy ones more though, both aesthetically and for their stash busting.

This sweater had a bunch of leftover yarns from previous projects. The grey yarn was leftover from a wedding afghan I made for one of my brothers. (That was not the same one who is having the baby. His wedding afghan was this one). The minor stripes are leftover from another BSJ which I had made for one of my other nieces.

After giving the leftovers to a friend who I am re-teaching how to crochet, my stash is feeling much better, and I am fairly pleased with myself. I think I may end up re-focusing on using up stash for a while.

Red Gauge Square

It seems that all of a sudden there are a ton of babies on the way among my friends. It is funny how those sorts of things go in waves. So I have been working on a baby sweater in red, in honor of Project Spectrum, and since red is a fantastic gender neutral color.

Look I did a gauge swatch and everything!

Fortunately I am fairly well along on this project, but I am still a bit dubious about whether I will able to eke out the finish before the end of the month. Any one feel like taking odds?

Blue Bunny

With more of the leftovers from the Betty Lou Lace cardigan I made this really adorable little guy.

Pattern: Knitted Bunny by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer
Yarn: Rowan 4 Ply Cotton in color 129, Aegean
Yarn Supplier: Wild and Wooly in Lexington, MA
Needles: US 2 / 2.75 mm

Modification: Cast on 45 sts instead of 35. Ears done in stockinette and picked up and knit directly

The best thing about this pattern is that it can be done with literally any yarn at all as long as the needles are changed accordingly and/or with any number of stitches, as long as it produces a square. The results will just make a differently sized bunny. Super adorable!

Red Cabled Baby Hat

Red can be a super challenging color to photograph (thank you new housemate!), but I love it for baby boys even more than the "traditional" blue. And this yarn is just right for the little boy in Texas it is intended for. It is made from a 50-50 blend of cotton and soy fiber, which was a new yarn for me. It is very soft and comes in great colors, from brights to softer tones.

Pattern: Cabled Baby Hat by Melanie Hoffman
Size: 0-3 months
Yarn: Queensland Collection Bebe Cotsoy
Yarn Supplier: Mind's Eye Yarns
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm

Modifications: I shortened ribbing by half and then completely made up my own decreases so that they would look more in pattern than the original. This was a free pattern, which can be accessed on the designer's blog (pattern linked directly, above) and is also available as a free Ravelry download.

Just a reminder! My birthday giveaway ends tomorrow at midnight EST. So if you would like to enter, comment on that post.

Betty Lou Lace Cardigan

This summer the birthdays of my two nieces are coming up, to-be ages 1 and 3 respectively. So I wanted to have something handknit for the youngest, since has tended to get a lot of hand-me-downs from her sister. I wanted to make something just for her.

Pattern: Betty Lou Lace Cardigan by Kristen Rengren
Pattern Source: Vintage Baby Knits
Size: 12-18 months
Yarn: Rowan 4 Ply Cotton in color 129, Aegean
Yarn Supplier: Wild and Wooly in Lexington, MA
Needles: US 2 / 2.75 mm
Modification: omitted pom poms, made tie on the left

The original pattern had pom poms on the ends of the ties, which are absolutely adorable. I just couldn't convince myself that they would hold up well in cotton with frequent machine washing, so I skipped them.

I have been wanting to make something from this book from the moment I started seeing it reviewed on-line. Seriously, it is full of amazingly cute patterns for both girls and boys, but then I have always had a fondness for vintage patterns. And this book makes it super easy, since everything has already been translated into modern knitting terminology and needle sizes.

I adore this pattern, but it seems to run big. The sleeves are meant to be about 3/4 length based on the pictures on the model, which seems about right when looking at the stretchiness of the cuff, the lengths and circumferences. Due to the tied-closed construction though, you could use it on a younger child and let them grow into it. This last point is really excellent, because although I made the 12-18 month size and the gauge is correct, it could almost fit my older niece!

Stripey Sweater

Salvbard has been traveling a lot more often to China for business. During a recent trip, he called me very excited as one of his Chinese coworkers' wives there was expecting a son. Could I make something? Sure, I love making baby stuff. I am always at a bit of a loss of what to make for baby boys, though. After flipping through a couple of baby pattern books on the shelf though, I had a plan.

Pattern: Nautical/Matelot Jacket by Lesley Stanfield
Pattern Source: Adorable Crochet for Babies and Toddlers
Hook: D / 3.25 mm
Yarn: a bunch of stash leftover fingering weight
Button Supplier: Windsor Button
Modification: stripes in different colors, hdc rather than sc

I absentmindedly changed the whole sweater to half double crochets rather than single crochets when converting from British abbreviations to the American ones. I really liked the finished fabric though, which is not as stiff as it would have been in the sc. (I believe the pattern described it as "sturdy.") Since the hdc is taller, that meant a little extra math to make sure that the deccreases happened at the right frequency.

I really like the concept of this sweater, but the proportions are really, really weird. After it was done, I looked up the measurements for different sizes, and the chest circumference is really huge, while the widest point of the sleeve is a little smaller than I would like in something like crochet which is less stretchy. Also the pattern has you seam the sleeves so that the cuff must be rolled up. This is fine (though I wish I had realized for the selection of color sequence), but it never tells you how long the finished-folded-back sleeve should be nor how long the cuff should be. Annoying! Fortunately the Craft Yarn Council of America has that information online here.

The pattern calls for this pattern to be a simple, classic two-color affair. For whatever reason the idea of doing it in all different colors sort of tickled my fancy though. Plus it makes it a great use for all those little bits of leftover sock yarn that you might not have enough to do much else with. The result was a lot more fun than it had any right to be.

Also the buttons on this sweater make me absurdly happy. I couldn't find 5 that matched that I liked for this sweater in the giant box of buttons at Windsor Button, but I like the whimsy of all different ones.

Final verdict: cute concept, but I would go with different proportions next time.

Mitered Baby Hat

This was another hat from the Hat Madness challenge. The major technique people seemed to be employing were to focus on super bulky hats, often crocheted for greater speed. Sometimes I just have to be contrary though, and this is case it expressed itself in a hat knit in sock yarn with 22 ends due to the 10 mitered squares around the edge.

Pattern: Jewel by Sockpixie (free)
Yarn: Patons Kroy sock yarn
Needles: US Size 3s / 3.25 mm

Modifications: I worked the body of the hat in just one yarn since I feared that any more of the bright yellow, misleadingly named 'mellow yellow', might burn out parental and pediatric retinas. Also I worked the deceases differently, mostly out of absentmindedness, since it made sense to me that since there were 10 miters that there would be 10 sets of decreases... I was wrong, but it looks ok. (Please do not mind the wear bump on the left side of the hat in this picture. Apparently I had tugged at it or something before the picture, and didn't notice it looked weird.)

Errata: If you cast on 16 sts for the first miter, and then each subsequent miter had you knit 20 sts miters that would be weird. Take your pick of 16 or 18, but I think you will be happier with just picking one. Given the hat body is done with 90 sts total, I recommend you use 18 per miter.

I have been really wanting to make this pattern since Julie of Knitpickin' made one
Seriously, how awesome is this pattern? AND it is free. AND it is a great way to use leftover bits of sock yarn. That is all win, people. I will definately be making this pattern again.

Day 2: An Inspirational Pattern

When it comes to knitting that I aspire to there is no question as to what the topic would be for me: Latvian knitting.

I haven't done a whole lot of colorwork knitting. So far, I have no fairisle finished projects, although all my Slytherin bag has been missing for years now is technically the lining. And the poi gloves I made weren't fairisle, but rather a sort of an adhoc intasia.

A while back my mom got me both a copy of Latvian Mittens: Traditional Designs & Techniques and Latvian Dreams: Knitting Patterns from Weaving Charts to encourage my knitting interest in our heritage. I would really love to make several pairs of mittens, although to date I have only finished one wee baby mitten.


That is right, not even a proper pair. (Sorry sis!)

If I was to be completely honest, I might admit to the fact that I think some of the patterns in Latvian Dreams really are just that to me. The scale just puts them out of reach for me though. Geez, I can't even manage a second baby mitten...

Tufts baby hat

Along with the baby socks, I also made a matching baby hat:

Pattern: Baby Hat by Sandi Rosner
Pattern Source: Not Just Socks
Size: 6 months
Yarn: Mind's Eye Yarns Merino/Tencel
Yarn Supplier: Mind's Eye Yarns
Needles: US 2 / 2.75 mm

Modifications: skipped rolled stockinette edge and included a 2X2 rib at bottom of hat

Again, I do not like the rolled edge with ribbing,so I skipped it. The result is super cute though, and the garter rib is fabulous for hand dyed stripey yarn as it visually breaks up where exactly the color changes.

Tufts baby socks

In addition to the 3 pairs of adult pairs of socks I made for Soctoberfest, I also finished this one pair of baby socks. These were super fast, cute, and at only ~80 yards of fingering weight, they are a great use for leftover bits of sock yarn.

Pattern: Booties by Sansi Rosner
Pattern Source: Not Just Socks
Size: 6 months
Yarn: Mind's Eye Yarns Merino/Tencel
Yarn Supplier: Mind's Eye Yarns
Needles: US 2 / 2.75mm

After I graduated, I asked Lucy if she could dye some sock yarn in the colors of Tufts University. The result has been sitting in my stash, waiting for just the right idea. The length of the color repeats looked just perfect for baby items.

So I took out my copy of Not Just Socks to check out the coordinating items for the baby sweater in there. (You may remember the smores sweater I made with that pattern.)

I made the same modification to these socks where I skipped the rolled edge, which I just can not bring myself to like if followed immediately by ribbing. Instead I jumped right into the garter ribbing. Besides the fact that these are really socks, not booties, I have no other real complaints about the pattern. They are cute and unisex. You could lean one way or another with color choice, but the pattern is just right either way.