Thursday, December 22, 2011

Baby T-Shirt

Two posts in a week?  CRAZY!

Here is a baby t-shirt I made for my nephew.  It's the Tiddlywinks pattern/kit from knitpicks (link to ravelry pattern, since it's not available on knitpicks anymore).  I made the matching sweater, but being the terrible blogger that I am, I gave it to my brother and sister-in-law and nephew  before taking a picture of it.





The close ups:


Now I just have to put it in the mail!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Another Hat!

Alternate Title: Worst Blogger Ever finally takes a picture of something

Last week, the new edition of Knitty was published (www.knitty.com) and I instantly fell in love with Escargot. I frantically finished all the Christmas knitting I had so I could make this hat.  I was seriously swooning over this pattern for several days while I forced myself to finish what I had to get done.

But I got to start (and finish) this last week, and I'm even more in love with it now that I'm done.  I didn't have time to buy fancy yarn for this, so I just used Bernat Satin.  It's plenty soft and warm.

And here's a little close up of the shell on the side:
I have full intentions of wearing this hat until it falls apart!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Baby Blanket!

I'm going to be an Auntie!  YAY!  For my little nephew (due in September), I have made this adorable blanket.  I am so happy with how it turned out.

The pattern is a checkerboard of seed stitch and cabled "owls" in Lion Brand Cotton-Ease Cherry yarn.  I really enjoy the yarn (even though I had to go get more yarn twice because I ran out), and I think it will be great for a baby.  It's soft and machine-washable (double bonus). 

Note to self: seed stitch + cables makes for a really, really intensive and time-consuming blanket.  But totally worth it, in my opinion.

Here is the whole blanket (measures 35 inches x 36 inches).  Sorry it's kind of hard to see!



And here is a little detail of the Owl cable pattern.



The baby shower is in a week, and I'm so excited to give this to my brother and SIL for their little guy on the way.  I really think they are going to love it.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

More Hats :)

So I'm pretty much a terrible blogger.  It's been, oh, 2 months since I last posted anything.  But I guess it's been about 2 months since I finished anything...

Ok, so that's not totally true.  I made a 5 1/2 hr crochet blanket for a co-worker who has lung cancer.  Only, I forgot to take a picture of it.  Oops!

My coworker recently had to shave her head and she asked me if I would make her a hat in cotton for the spring. I was so touched that she asked me to make her a hat, I made her 2!
The first hat is foliage from knitty.  It was my first experience with lace, and I'm happy to say that while I had to frog it once, I finished the second time around with no issues.  I really like lace and am very happy with how it turned out!



The second hat is called Mod Cables Hat I found on Ravelry.  I didn't follow the instructions exactly, as I left off the last 6 rows of the pattern, and I think this was probably a mistake.  It's a *touch* to short, but my coworker is very petite (and I'm told I have a big head :P ) so it might work out just fine.


I can't wait to give them to her!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Alpaca Hat

When we bought the alpaca yarn for my husbands scarf, I couldn't pass up a hank for myself!  I made this hat from Ravelry.  If you aren't a member of Ravelry yet, you should join!  It's free and a great place to find patterns and reviews of books, yarns, and tools.

The only thing I changes was switching the cables so they alternated under-over-under-over instead of one side always being on top.


I love this hat!  It is so soft.  The only thing I don't like is that its not quite long enough.  I will probably try to add in a ribbed layer sometime soon...

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Alpaca Scarf

My husbands grandmother gave us some money for Christmas.  With it we went to a yarn store and bought some baby alpaca (the color is "chocolate caramel twist").  I made this cable scarf for my husband.



I couldn't find a great pattern, so I took a few and combined them into this one.

Pattern:
Cast On 38 stitches
Row 1: K2, P2, K2, P2, K6, P2, K2, P2, K2, P2, K6, P2, K2, P2, K2
Row 2: P2, K2, P2, K2, P6, K2, P2, K2, P2, K2, P6, K2, P2, K2, P2
Row 3: Repeat row 1
Row 4: Repeat row 2
Row 5: K2, P2, K2, P2, Slip 3 stitches onto cable needle and hold in front.  Knit next three stitches.  Knit 3 stitches off cable needle.  P2, K2, P2, K2, P2, Slip 3 stitches onto cable needle and hold in back.  Knit next three stitches.  Knit 3 stitches off cable needle, P2, K2, P2, K2.
Row 6: Repeat row 2.

Repeat rows 1-6 until the scarf is as long as you wish (or, in my case, until you run out of yarn).  Cast off all stitches.  Weave in ends.  Block tightly. 



With alpaca, I stretched and pinned the scarf onto the blocking mats dry, and then sprayed the yarn with a squirt bottle until very wet.  I let it dry about a week to be safe.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Kindle Cover

I was so excited to unwrap the Kindle I got for my birthday!  I've been wanting one, but hadn't been able to push "buy", and now I don't have to.  I quickly went shopping for a cover.  But I could not decide which one I wanted, and I wasn't sure any of them were exactly what I was looking for.  What better way to get exactly what I want than to make it myself?  So that's exactly what I did.

I usually work from pre-made patterns, but decided to give pattern making a try here, and I'm very happy with the result of my efforts.

First, I found the basket-weave stitch pattern in 400 Knitting Stitches (Amazon link).  Then I made a gauge swatch with the pattern and used it to make my pattern.

Materials:
#9 needles - double pointed or circular (I used 29-in circular with magic loop) or to obtain gauge
Vanna's Choice Olive & Vanna's Baby Sweet Pea (or colors of your choice)
Button

Gauge: 5 stitches per inch in basket-weave pattern (rounds 1-12 of pattern)

Pattern:
In Olive, CO 48 Stitches.  Join in round
Round 1 & 2: knit
Round 3-6: *K2, P4* repeat to end
Round 7 & 8: knit
Round 9-12: *P3, K2, P1* repeat to end
Repeat rounds 1 - 12 again
Repeat rounds 1-7
Switch colors to Sweet Pea and repeat rounds 8-12, 1-7.
Switch colors back to Olive and continue until round 7 again.
Cast off 24 stitches.  Knit remaining stitches.

Flap:
Row 1: *K1, P2, K3* repeat to end
Row 2: *P3, K2, P1* repeat to end
Row 3&4: Repeat rows 1&2
Row 5: K
Row 6: P10, Cast off next 4, P last 10
Row 7: K2, P4, K2, P2, cast on 4 using backward loop method.  P4, K2, P4
Row 8: *K4, P2* repeat to end
Row 9&10Repeat rows 7&8
Row 11: K
Cast Off

Finish by weaving in ends, sewing up the bottom, and attaching the button.

Keep your Kindle safe with this cozy cover.