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!

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!

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.

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!

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...

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.

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.