Spring Knitting

I have some more projects to show you today.

I usually find there's just enough yarn left over after making a baby sweater to make a hat and socks or booties to match, so it seems unnatural to have a sweater all by itself. I'm catching up on these accessories.

On the right is a pair of booties to go with the Lemon Drop Cardigan. This is another free pattern by Carole Barenys, find it at Knitting On The Net and at Carole's Website where she also has a .pdf file. I think this bootie just might stay on. I can't wait to try a pair on my neighbor's newborn when she arrives. Can you imagine how the woman would feel, giving birth and then her neighbor wants to come over and play dress up with her baby all the time! ROFL

Here is a set of hat and socks to go with the Colorful Baby Top I made last month. I posted this photo and information about the yarn I used in my project database at Ravelry! and almost immediately I started getting messages asking about the pattern.

Pattern? I didn't use a pattern. I improvised them based on my experiences knitting baby hats and socks. They were easy to make and I'm so pleased with the way they turned out (so cute!).

So, I am writing up the pattern. I will be talking about pattern variations and sources of creative inspiration too. I'm writing it for beginners, because they have a lot of wonderful creative ability, they just don't know it yet.

Oh, if you haven't signed up to join Ravelry! yet, please go over there right now and do so. You don't know what you're missing. Ravelry is all about searchable databases. The first time you search for a pattern over there...you will thank me.

Here is an unusual small handbag I couldn't resist trying. The pattern is called 'My Ex' and it's a riot! The author held a contest and this was my entry. I have to say, after seeing the other entries, my version isn't bizarre enough to win the prize. You can see them here, under the category "My Ex is Full of Knit Contest Submissions".

My finished bag is about 6" tall and 4" in diameter. I used Shepherd Classic Wool for the face and Patons Classic Wool Merino for the hair, then I ran it twice through the washing machine to get the smoothly felted look on the face. Embellishments are from my personal jewelry collection. Yes, that's really my jewelry and no, it doesn't look like the sort of stuff I'd wear. Not lately, anyway.

Happy Easter

The kids are done bouncing off the walls and are passed out with candy comas napping, the ham is quietly baking and I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to knit.

Hope your family is having a pleasant holiday!

Colorful Baby Top

Earlier this month I picked up a copy of Itty-Bitty Nursery. It's full of lovely things, but I just had to try out the Cozy Boatneck Sweater pattern. The colors are so much fun, and I happen to have a supply of suitable wools on hand left over from the other colorful items I've been knitting lately. Here you can see the results of my efforts.

I find it so inspiring that I feel I simply must make baby hats and socks to go with it. I can play with different parts of the design and color combinations on a small scale that way.

The designs would be appropriate for charity items for afghans for Afghans too, and you know how much I love making useful stuff for charity.

The photo at left shows the front of the sweater and the photo at right shows the back. Don't you just love the asymmetrical coloring of the sleeves and the patches?

Yarns are all worsted wools: Patons Classic Wool Merino, Cascade 220 and Plymouth Galway.

I have to admit that I had some trouble with the pattern toward the end. I misread the stripe patterns for the sleeves and had to rip and reknit them. I think it would have been easier for me to follow a chart instead of textual directions. Otherwise, it was a pleasurable and quick knit, as a garter stitch project usually is.

You can download a free sample pattern (Flower Pacifier Clip) from the book in .pdf format here, from the author's website.

Lemon Drop Cardigan

I've seen quite a few free patterns for baby sweaters that are very popular on the internet and I've always meant to give them a try, but hadn't gotten around to any of them yet.

Until now.

This is the Seamless Yoked Cardigan by Carole Barenys, and you can find the pattern at Knitting On The Net or at Carole's website, where she also has a .pdf file available. I've used Lion Brand Baby Soft yarn in Lemon Drop. Isn't that a delightful name for a color? And it's such a nice one, soft without being too pale.

This is a nice little sweater pattern, with one exception-it doesn't tell you how long to make the sleeves. I referred to the Craft Yarn Council's Standards & Guidelines for Crochet And Knitting to figure it out. I followed the instructions for the smaller size, and gave it 6" sleeves.

Add this to the gift stash!

Artsquares

Here is a collection of dishcloths I've been working on for Larissa's art project. You can read about it here. Using natural undyed worsted-weight cotton yarn, I've made some of my favorites in a 6-inch size.

If you look closely, you'll notice that one of them is bigger than the rest; you can calculate your gauge all you like, but sometimes the item doesn't come out the size you intend. This isn't a problem when it comes to dishcloths, however, they are always useful no matter what size they turn out to be.

The patterns I used for these, starting upper left:

4-Corners Dishcloth; NYD'05 Dishcloth; Simple Weave Dishcloth from Leisure Arts #3122, Nifty Knit Dishcloths; eLoomanator’s Diagonal Dishcloth (available only on Ravelry! at the moment).

The due date for sending in these cloths is March 20, so I will be mailing these tomorrow to be sure they arrive on time.

Update: Here is Larissa's post. She received a total of 132 cloths. How very cool. See them all here (mine are numbers 78 through 81).

Busy February

It has been a really busy month. With little time to post lately, I have a backlog of finished projects to share. Better get to it then!

On the left is the blue Baby Surprise Jacket I've been working on, all finished with buttons and even a matching hat. This goes into my gift stash-that's my collection of finished items made for the fun of it and not for a particular person. Very handy for those last-minute shower invitations.

On the right is my finished February sweater set. One 140-gram ball of Lion Baby Soft made the sweater, bonnet and socks. How convenient is that?

Both of these sweater patterns are by Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Here is the group of wool baby hats and socks I'm donating to afghans for Afghans this month (photo, left). They are going out in the mail today. It was a lot of fun playing with color combinations and making something useful at the same time. So much more satisfying than swatches, don't you think? See my previous post here for pattern info.

On the right is another wool hat, this one for my youngest. Who can resist those dangling carrots? This pattern is in the book Knit Hats! which I found at my local library.

Finally, here's a group of child-sized washcloths. Once again I used Abigail's 4-Corners dishcloth pattern, altered to make a smaller sized cloth. Following the general procedure in the pattern, I cast on 12 stitches and short-row decreased down to 3 stitches for each quadrant.

I used a combination of ombred and solid colored worsted-weight cotton yarn for these. I picked an ombred yarn to set the color scheme then chose solids accordingly. I just love the stripey goodness!

I know I've done this before. Am I becoming predictable?

Baby Things

My new neighbor is expecting a baby girl next month, so I'm working on a gift. She is strictly a wash-and-wear person, so I investigated which inexpensive yarns are available at my local chain stores. It's been a long time since I last did any serious shopping for cheap baby yarn and what I found was rather different than the old stand-bys I'd expected.

Most of the things I found were yarns that are soft and drapey (I call them limp). I don't like these yarns, they don't have body and the finished garment looks sloppy. I tried to find good old baby pompadour, but even that has changed; it's thicker and squeakier, no longer that reasonable substitute for wool. In the end I chose to settle for Lion Brand Baby Soft. The colors are nice and the texture is close to what I expected, although I fear it may pill after a few washings. We shall see.

My neighbor is not fond of pink. In fact, she expressed her irritation at her husband for doing a bit of shopping on his own, where he chose several items in pink, the hated color. I tucked that bit of information away and held it close while shopping.

That's why I have chosen to use this lovely pistachio color for my gifts. I've finished a February Sweater (by Elizabeth Zimmermann) and am now working on a bonnet to match. I used US size 3 needles and the sweater turned out a good size. That is, it will fit a typical newborn with the cuffs turned back and will stretch to fit for a few months. It will also fit a larger-than-average newborn as well. It would be a shame for the baby to be born too big to wear that sweater that took a week to make, don't you think?

I also picked up a bit of fabric and some notions to match that green. That's a yard of flannel to make a receiving blanket and a yard of terrycloth to make a hooded towel; some buttons, thread and grosgrain ribbon for finishing. A quick trip through the serger and you have some items she will definitely use, even if she isn't impressed with the handknits.

Oh yes, sometimes the recipient is less than thrilled with the dorky, home-made stuff. In this case, I know she will love them because she misses her late grandmother who used to make all those wonderful things for the babies in the family. It will be a delightful surprise when I deliver the goods and she discovers that I am one of the crafty people who actually knows how to knit!