Progress shot

The Rowan Wool Cotton is becoming a blanket for E. I'm following the Hearts and Stars Blanket pattern from Adorable Knits for Tots--I just subbed the yarn. And skipped the stars part because my little princess likes "pink hearts, no stars, just hearts." :-)

I had never felt or seen the wool cotton, so it was a blind choice. I think it is working really well! The yarn is very soft. A bit hard on my hands because it's 50% cotton, but that's more me than anything. It's definitely a softer cotton than I've used before--I just don't like knitting with cotton at all.



I'm not sure how big this blanket will be since I'm working at a tighter gauge than the pattern calls for and I swapped out yarns. I have 10 balls of the wool cotton and the pattern calls for 14 of the Rowan Handknit Cotton DK. I'm hoping to get 5 squares wide and at least 5 high, maybe six--the pattern calls for 7 high so I might be a little shy.

Once this blankie is done, my oldest has requested one in a pirate theme. I can't quite get specifics out of him so I can design one, but I think we might end up skipping it altogether. Attention span, ya know? Time will tell.

Next up... Any guesses?

It's pink, it's girly, and it's big...



I'll at least have some progress shots soon. I've decided to scrap the bear toy and booties that were to be part of the gift set. I'm hoping to have the last element of the gift set done this week, so pictures will be posted then.

BSJ #2

This one in Lion Brand Baby Soft cream color on size 7 Knit Picks Options circular needles at a gauge of 5spi. A little loose for my liking, but it's still nice. I also don't care too much for the color... or lack thereof. I might try another bsj in a solid color, but not cream or white. I like the color changes with variegated and hand painted much better!

I do like these little buttons, though. I think they're pretty gender neutral and have a little pazazz, but not too much. What the heck.



This one will be part of a gift set for our Pediatrician who is expecting #3 in May-ish. They aren't finding out until d-day what the gender is, so my hands are kinda tied.

More to come soon... like booties and maybe a bear toy!

Duck and Gift Set

Here is the completed duck toy:



The duck toy was made following a pattern from the Knitted Toys book by Fiona McTague using Red Heart Sport in yellow and pumpkin on size 3 needles. I used the entire skein of yellow and about half, maybe a bit less of the pumpkin. He's a little wonky, but I like 'im!

And here is the set together:



Bunny Buddy following the Lion Brand pattern using Bernat Cottontots in Blue Berry color, Baby Surprise Jacket and Stay On Booties using Bernat Softee Baby in His Jeans Ombre color, and the duck as described above. I hope the recipient likes this stuff as much as I do! I like the theme idea--duck buttons on the jacket, duck toy, duck bag, etc. I'm planning a similar one in a bear theme for an acquaintance who's not finding out the gender of the baby-to-be until D-Day.

Baby Surprise Jacket & Booties

It took only 3 days to finish the Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern for the Baby Surprise Jacket and I loved it!!! I can't wait to make more of them... They just look so cool and the way they transform into a little almost seamless cardigan is so neat! I finished this several days ago but didn't buy the buttons until this past weekend, then I couldn't get a good picture, then I got lazy... I've decided to just post the not-completely-finished picture I do have, so here you go:



And a close-up of the buttons: (not yet sewn on in this photo)



I used Bernat Softee Baby in His Jeans Ombre for both patterns. The booties are called Stay On Booties from the Knitting for Baby book by Melanie Falick. All told, it took one entire ball of this yarn, but I did have to dip into a second because I'm paranoid. If you were a better gauge of seaming needs and could knit booties better than I, you'd probably get away with one ball and have inches to spare. (~333 yards)

Used size 5 Knit Picks Options needles with a 24" cable. I like these needles pretty well. They're easy to work with, though for some reason I've had a lot of trouble with the needles unscrewing. I'd much prefer Addis, but they cost about a zillion dollars for all the different lengths, so the KP's will do just fine until I'm rich.

Keep your eyes peeled for the duck toy to coordinate (and complete) the little gift pack. Lots and Lots and Lots of seaming involved, so maybe another day or two. He sure is cute, though.

Central Park Hoodie

I finished seaming the Central Park Hoodie made for a friend's daughter last night, but wanted to wait until this morning when the sun was out to take a picture of it. You'll probably notice that the cables flatten out toward the neck, but that's only because the hoodie is too small for my broad shoulders... When the hoodie's laying flat, it's just as it should be!



Pattern from KnitScene, Special Issue, Fall 2006
Yarn: Wool Ease Blue Mist (multiple dye lots, hence the 'stripe') ~6 balls?
Needles: 8 addi turbos and knit pick options
Modifications: knit body in one big piece to avoid side seams, extended the hood about 2" more than pattern called for, and picked up all the front edge ribbing in one big piece instead of two sections.

Started January 18, 2007 and Finished February 4, 2007

Next project in the works is a baby surprise jacket in Bernat softee baby yarn... sneak preview:

Bunny Buddies 1 & 2

I have a handful of friends or acquaintances who are expecting babies in May, June, and July, so I'm working on little gift packs for them all... First up are two bunny buddies. The pattern for these can be found on Lion Brand's website, but I don't like the yarn called for, so I subbed Bernat Cottontots. I've also made these using Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton, and while it was certainly nice, I didn't think it was nicer enough to pay over $9 for a skein of the stuff when I can buy a ball of Cottontots for a third or less of the cost and make at least 2, maybe squeeze a third buddy from that single ball. Cost effective and just as soft, in my book, anyway.

So here are #1 and #2 for 2007 in Sweet Cream:


and Blue Berry:



I hope to be back soon with completed photos of the CPH, wonky stripe and all!