baby blanket

New Pattern Release and FO Friday: Sweet Gemma

Whew, it’s been really dang busy around here (hence the lack of posts recently!). I’m hoping to get back on a regular blogging schedule soon, but in the meantime… I released a new pattern yesterday, woohoo!

Sweet Gemma should look familiar to regular readers of this blog—it’s only been about 6 months coming, haha:

Here are the specs:

Pattern: Sweet Gemma, available here on Ravelry for $5

Yarn: Malabrigo Rios in Aguas, 6 skeins. I was worried while designing/knitting the blanket that I would need 7, but it ended up being perfect with more than enough left over to crochet the blocks together.

To minimize color weirdness with the hand-dyed yarn, I knit one square with one skein, another square with a second skein, and then a third square alternating the leftovers of both of the previous skeins. I think it worked out really well!

Notes: The finished blanket is what I’d consider the perfect crib size, about 3ft square. And although it took me a while to finish, it was actually a very portable project. Each square is worked from the middle out, so it was easy to throw my current square into my purse or knitting bag.

I’m so delighted this pattern is out in the world—I hope you like it as much as I do!

Friday Roundup: We Have Blocking!

What I’m Knitting

The baby blanket is blocking, woohoo!

And let me just say that wet-blocking a blanket at 38.5 weeks pregnant is not for the faint of heart, yo. But I managed. I’m soooo happy to have the knitting and finishing done on this one. I only ended up using about 5.5 skeins of Malabrigo Rios, which is about what I’d use for a sweater, but somehow it seemed like so much more.

My little model should be along within the next few weeks, so expect modeled pictures sometime in the near future. :-)

What I’m Cooking

This week’s meal for a crowd was something I haven’t tried for a while: enchilada casserole (also known as Mexican lasagna). I tried a new recipe that came out really, really well! Pardon the craptastic phone picture, but trust me—it was delicious.

I also made some banana/oat/blueberry muffins. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of these.

What I’m Reading

I’m focusing on writing middle grade fiction right now (for roughly ages 8-12), so I’m trying to read some of the more popular MG books I’ve missed over the past few years. I started Princess Academy last night and am enjoying it so far! The setup is great.

Blog Week Day 1: A Day In The Life 5KCBWDAY1

Describe a day in the life of a project that you have made, or are in the process of making.

A month and a half ago, the idea to design a baby blanket for my in-utero son/daughter was born. It would be worked from the outside in (so the work went more and more quickly as it got closer to completion, rather than the other way around).

664 cast-on stitches and many hours of work later, this is what it looked like.

Imagine my surprise when, due to a discrepancy between the swatch and the actual blanket, it began to be clear that it was at least 8 inches longer per side than originally intended.

Oh well, it could always go on the baby’s toddler bed, right?

The blanket was stuffed in my largest project bed and placed by the sofa, in perfect position to be picked up during TV watching (mostly Castle, since the hubby and I were catching up on the latest seasons). It progressed sloooowllly, but it did progress.

Right about this point is where I decided I’d like some visual interest in the center (and honestly, a break from all that stockinette didn’t sound like a bad idea either). Cue ripping back five or six rounds and knitting another repeat of the border pattern:

Then it was a question of geometry. I tried continuing the every-other-round decreases in the very center, but I was heading for a “nipple” of epic proportions. So I ripped it back to the motif. Then I tried every round decreases in stockinette. This worked geometrically, but visually… it just wasn’t doing it. Rip again.

Cue some attempted interference:

After shooing the cat away, I finally hit on the solution: a reverse stockinette stitch center, with decreases every round. This worked perfectly and looked great! As of (very late) last night, the knitting is done. No pics yet, but they’ll be coming soon.

Now it’s just a matter of weaving in ends and blocking. The baby isn’t coming for two months, so surely I’ll have it done by then….

WIP Wednesday: Outside-In Baby Blanket

Remember how I said I was obsessed with baby knits these days?

I knew I wanted to design some kind of baby blanket for my kiddo, so I delved into my inspiration folder and came up with these two blanket-like ideas.

After a bunch of swatching, I found a stitch pattern I liked that was reminiscent of the swirls from the first pattern. I figured a “start at the middle and increase on four lines to the edges” construction would work well for the pattern, but there was just one problem.

I hate projects that start with very few stitches and increase out to a zillion at the edges.

I would so much rather slog through the loooong part at the beginning and then be rewarded with ever-increasing speed and progress as I go on. That way the initial burst of enthusiasm sustains me through the beginning, and the visible progress sustains me through the rest of the project. So I decided to design this blanket to be worked outside-in instead of the more traditional inside-out.

I swatched a corner, took a picture, put it in Photoshop, and played around a little:

That’s the general idea, anyway.