baby | Page 5

WIP Wednesday: It’s a Big One! (Well, so to speak…)

Well geez, posts have been thin on the ground around here, haven’t they?

But I have a very good reason, I promise. Ready?

I’m pregnant! My current WIP that’s taking up an awful lot of my time and attention is a baby boy or girl, due to be completed around the first week of July 2014. This is the first baby for me and my husband. We’re really excited (and I’ll be even more excited when the all-day “morning” sickness subsides, yuck).

You know what this means, right? Baby knits! (And possibly baby designs… but that’s a little further down the road.)

I whipped up these booties for our announcement post on Facebook:

They’re Saartje’s Booties (Ravelry link), which I’ve made for several other little ones… but it was a thrill to make them for my very own baby! I used some Madelinetosh Sport left over from my Put Together vest to make them nicely unisex.

We’re probably not going to find out the baby’s gender ahead of time, so I’ll be on the hunt for yarns and patterns that work for boys or girls. Any suggestions?

FO Friday: Baby Sophisticate

Gosh you guys, I was overwhelmed by the lovely comments on my last two sweaters. Way to give a gal a big head! I started designing because I had trouble finding simple designs that suited my figure, and it’s so gratifying to hear that other people appreciate them too.

So of course, today’s FO Friday post is someone else’s design, haha.

Remember how I said I was addicted to baby knits?

Ahem. They’re just so fast! And after finishing (mostly) a BIG secret design project that’s been giving me fits, I needed something quick.

(I don’t think the intended recipient of this little sweater reads my blog. But Laura, if you’re reading this, act surprised, okay?)

The specs:

Pattern: Baby Sophisticate (Ravelry link) by Linden Down. I modified the pattern quite a bit. One thing I love about designing is that it has given me the confidence to make extensive mods to existing patterns with confidence. I have my favorite techniques that I know work well, and I sub them in frequently when I’m not a fan of the technique given in the pattern.

That said, sometimes I like trying a new technique too! This is a top-down pattern, and it uses the backwards-loop cast on for the raglan increases (instead of the more usual kfb or M1 increases). I’d never considered doing them this way, and to be honest, they were a little fiddly to work, but I like the clean lines they made.

Yarn: Berroco Vintage in Indigo. I’ve used this yarn for a few baby knits now–it’s probably my favorite acrylic/wool blend. Soft, great depth of color, non-squeaky, and washes really well. I used one full skein and maybe a fifth of another.

Which brings me to my main modification: a very different gauge. The pattern specifies 15 sts over 4 inches with size US #8 needles, which I knew right off the bat I wasn’t going to get from anything thinner than a chunky yarn (and it would be pretty bulletproof on size 8s, at that). Most of the people who’ve posted FOs on Ravelry used worsted or Aran weight yarn and did modifications for gauge, too. Mine ended up being 4.5 sts/in on size 8s, which gave me a nice fabric.

Notes: I detailed all my modifications on my Rav project page, so I won’t repeat them here. One thing I wanted to mention, though, is a confession: I usually hate doing short rows. It’s not so much the wrapping and turning, but the picking up the wraps and making it look decent that gives me problems. This pattern has you pick up the wraps, so I was resigned to gritting my teeth and getting through it.

BUT, I learned on this project that you don’t have to pick up the wraps in garter stitch–they’re pretty much invisible anyway!

Can you find the wraps?

This immediately fills my mind with garter stitch-short row ideas.

And the pièce de résistance: robot buttons! I found out the parents-to-be are going with a robot theme for their little boy’s bedroom, so I found these from an Etsy seller. I think they’re perfect!

2012 Knitting Year In Review

I thought it might be fun to look back at my knitting progress this year, so I went through my Ravelry project pages and tallied it all up. And holy wow–I finished 27 projects this year. Nine of those were full-sized sweater designs.

That’s a lot of knitting, yo.

Anyway, I though it would be fun to show you a quick snapshot of the projects I finished this year:

Here are the self-designed sweaters (minus two that are secret designs for yarn companies–I can’t blog about those until they’re published next year):

Hats, all but one of which are my own design:
Other accessories (lace shawl design for a forthcoming book not shown):

And finally, small sweaters (two for my niece, one for the Christmas tree):

Think I can beat my own record in 2013?

FO Friday: Latte Baby Coat

Two FO Fridays in a row! Baby sweaters are addictive, yo.

Again, apologies for the non-modeled, craptastic blocking shot. My niece lives about 1500 miles away, so getting her to model the FO wasn’t really feasible.

The specs:

Pattern: Latte Baby Coat by Lisa Chemery (Ravelry link). I made the largest size (3T-4T). The pattern was well-written. It included tons of options, which makes for a slightly more cluttered pattern, but I always appreciate having choices.

Yarn: Cascade Eco+, 1 skein in Purple Jewel Heather. The pattern calls for 1.5 skeins for the hooded version in the largest size, but mine took only one, and I had a good sized ball left over. I did rip out my swatch, though–if I had kept a decent-sized swatch, I might have been closer to the end of the skein.

This yarn has been marinating in my stash for more than a year, and it was good to finally use some of it up. I usually avoid baby/toddler knits with non-superwash yarns, but since this is more of a coat anyway and likely won’t fit her next year, I’m not going to be terribly upset if it gets ruined. Plus it was really quick on #10 needles!

Notes: It turned out really cute! I was worried about rippling on the edge, so I bound off very tightly the first time… and then had to rip it out and re-do it when I realized her face wouldn’t fit into the tiny head opening. Doh. But I think I got the tension right the second time.

The balloon is something I’ve recently started using to block hoods. It works like a charm! No more flattened or weird-looking hoods.

When it’s dry, I’ll sew on buttons. I’ve got these neat Celtic knot ones in my button stash that should be perfect.

And it’s good that I’m done with baby knits… because a huge box of yarn just arrived for two commissioned designs that will be due in the new year. Unfortunately, they need to be kept secret, but I can tell you I’m about a fourth of the way through a gorgeous cabled pullover in one of my favorite colors. More on that later….

FO Friday: Sweet Peasy

Remember my baby sweater dilemma?

I decided to go with with Sweet Peasy for my niece’s Christmas present, because it had just the right blend of pretty detail and mindless stockinette. I’ve gotten rather, ahem, addicted to the show Castle lately (Nathan Fillion, witty humor, romance, and mystery–be still my heart!). I wanted a sweater I could make whilst being riveted to the TV.

(Apologies for the non-modeled picture… I don’t have a small person around to put it on, and modeled shots on dolls or stuffed animals freak me out a little, to be totally honest.)

The specs:

Pattern: Sweet Peasy by Heidi Kirrmaier (Ravelry link)

Yarn: Malabrigo Arroyo in Plomo, about 1.5 skeins. The yarn was really lovely to work with, as per usual with Malabrigo. I’m not a hundred percent happy with the way it striped up in the FO, to be honest… but it’s not too bad. I’m just a perfectionist. :-)

Notes: I raided my vintage button stash and came up with these textured dark green ones, which I think look neat with the grayish-purple.

I thought the pattern was fairly good. I’m something of a discerning customer, haha. The pattern tells you to knit the sleeves first and then pick up body stitches from the underarm. I did it in reverse (body first). I also picked up a few extra sts when joining the sleeves and decreased them on the first round, which closes gaps at the sides of the underarms nicely.

I also added a couple of rows to the garter stitch trim on the bands, since I noticed many of the FOs on Ravelry were curling. It seems to have addressed the problem nicely!

Of course, as soon as I finished this, I spotted another little kids’ pattern that I MUST MAKE… so the nieceling may be getting more than one sweater for Christmas. We shall see.

FO Friday: Ruffled Baby Hat

My last three FOs were secret design projects, and I’m currently working on three (!) large garment designs, so there hasn’t been much FO Friday action around here. But this week I actually have something to show off!

I whipped up a little baby hat for my friend’s impending new arrival (who might be making her grand appearance sometime today, it turns out! Glad I sent it last week… ).

It was sort of bizarre to knit from someone else’s pattern for the first time in… six months? Eight months?

Here are the specs:

Pattern: Ruffled Baby Hat (Ravelry link).

Yarn: Cascade Pacific, less than half a skein in color #32. I picked up two skeins of this newish wool/acrylic blend at a yarn store in northern California. It’s very, very soft and washable–I was impressed! Definitely one of the better acrylic blends I’ve used.

Needles: size US #7 (4.5 mm).

Notes: This hat knit up mega-fast, about 2 hrs from start to finish. I modified the pattern by adding an eyelet round a little bit above the ruffle–just a simple [k2, yo, k2tog] around. I’ve had the thin brown ribbon sitting around for years, and I think it looks great with the lavender.

The hat is SO TINY AND CUTE. It was a wrench to send it away, even though I have no kids (and won’t anytime in the near future). I just wanted it around to coo over every once in a while… there’s nothing wrong with that. I think. :-)

Pic with iPhone for scale (that’s a totally normal thing to do, right?):

Eeeeeeee!

My new pattern made Ravelry’s Top 20 hot right now list! First time!

And the more than 400 favorites in 24 hrs makes me very happy too :-)

New Pattern: Kari Baby Blanket

The baby blanket pattern is now up for sale! You can find it here.

It’s gotten a really nice response on Ravelry, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy :-)

Now I just have to keep the sample in pristine condition until the baby shower next month… hmmm. Some cat-proofing may be in order.

FO Friday: Kari’s Blanket

A little late for FO Friday, but here’s the finished baby blanket in all its glory:

I’m really, really happy with the way this turned out! Also, I’m delighted afresh with my new camera. These pictures were taken on the bed in my apartment, with limited light, but I don’t think you could ever tell.

I’m happy with the way the back looks post-blocking, too. It’s kind of a neat design in its own right:

The specs:

Pattern: My own. I’ll work on releasing this one (self-publish via Ravelry) as soon as the two Knit Picks sweaters are done. Hopefully within the next few weeks.

Yarn: Knit Picks Simply Cotton. The mama-to-be this is intended for wants organic clothes for baby, so this was perfect. Love the depth of the color, and it got even softer and smooshier with blocking.

Notes: I’m holding onto this FO until next month, when I’m throwing my bestie a baby shower. I can’t wait to give it to her…

This may be a contender for best picture I've ever taken.

TILT: Blocking

Thing I Love Today: the magic of blocking!

The baby blanket is done. I’ll have better pictures by Friday, but I thought a walk through my blocking process might be interesting.

I use these foam mats I bought at the hardware store to block everything. They were cheap and they do the job. The only problem is that they have some kind of magnetic attraction for one of my cats, so after two years they all look pretty much like this:

All four mats, with guilty cat for scale

Here’s the blanket as it came off the needles: crumpled and narrow. This pattern (my own) includes quite a bit of 1×1 ribbing, so this was to be expected.

Size before blocking: 22" by 32"

Then I measured carefully and spent waaay too much time using every pin I own to stretch it to size.

Kitty inspecting my work. She doesn't look impressed, does she?

I got a nifty new steam iron a few weeks ago. It does vertical steaming as well as horizontal, which is awesome for quick sweater touchups before photoshoots.