Simple Hat

To complete the Simple Shoes and Mittens set I made last weekend I whipped up a “Simple Hat.” Like the booties and mittens this was also a quick knit. I did have to start over once because my math was off and the hat turned out a little too big for a newborn. With the completion of this set, my pile of baby knits for my friend is growing…. multiplying!

I’ve been in a little slump with what I want to knit next now that I’ve finished the Horde Scarf . I did put in a Knitpicks order last week though so I can start on a few fingerless mittens that I owe some people. I also have a few Saartje’s Bootees I need to make too. I guess there are things I have to work on….

Oh, there’s also the Benny the Monkey I promised to my nephews cousin. It was so cute how he asked his grandma to buy him one and the look on his face when she told him that it wasn’t bought from the store! I felt so bad that I told him I’d make one for his upcoming birthday. The only shame is that I was happy to be able to use up some of my leftover yarns for the monkey. Looks like I’ll have to buy more and make a little monkey family. Hehe.

For the Horde!

In early February I posted about a World of Warcraft scarf that I saw on Ravelry. I wanted the “FOR THE HORDE” to be readable regardless of which side was showing, which meant I would have to figure out how to double knit using two different patterns on each side. I searched high and low for a tutorial but all I could find were ones on regular double knitting. At first I thought maybe I needed to use 4 strands of yarn, two for each side since the pattern would be different, but scratched that idea because that would be a mess waiting to happen.

Then I thought well maybe I could use just two strands and follow the color charts. Using the colors as needed leaving the unused color floating along in between the layers. I gave that a go and it wasn’t pretty. There were spots where the unused color showed and stitches were all over the place, too tight here, too loose there.

I ditched that thought and CO for the scarf anyway and figured I’d sort it out when I got to the lettering. The first half of the scarf (with the Horde symbol) would be regular double knit anyway.

Along the way I discovered fallingblox.com and learned that my attempt had been the right one and that I just needed some practice and needed to make sure the unused color was pulled snug before using it again. After a few practice swatches I was ready to go back to the scarf.

The result? Not so shabby! Take a look…

Side A:

Side B:

No action shots but hope to take some soon.

Of course some of the letters were regular double knit (the O, H, E and D’s) but it took a few tries to get the R’s!

In hindsight I probably would have reworked the horde symbol so that it was taller and skinnier. The chart I used looked right but because the rows are shorter then the stitches I got a smushed look. I also think I would have made slanting on the “R” one stitch thicker as well.

Click here for the Horde symbol chart.

I think eventually I’ll make a Horde hat with the leftover yarn… but that’ll be for next winter! (I’m all Horded out)

Measurements: About 66 inches long and 5 inches wide (at the request of my husband.)
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino , 1.5 balls each red and black.

Simple Baby Knits

Ever since seeing these Simple Shoes from Uniform Studio I’ve wanted to make a pair. The main draw for me was the size 10.5 needles and worsted weight yarn! Bonus points as well for being seamless.

I did attempt the pattern awhile back and failed miserably to comprehend the wrap and turn instructions and eventually gave up. The RPG’er in me thought, “Must level up my skills!” and I went on to work on other things for awhile. I decided it was time to try again this weekend and am glad I gave it another shot!

They worked up quickly once the wrap and turn clicked. I think what threw me off last time was the use of “needle 1”, “needle 2”, “needle 3” and “needle 4.” They’re pretty small, probably fit for newborn to 3 months? I’ve already started thinking about how to add more stitches to make larger sizes.

The booties by themselves are pretty darn cute but I thought matching mittens would rock. So instead of looking for already made patterns I went ahead and created one of my own. (Hope I haven’t ripped anyone off!)

The bottom are meant to fold over like the booties to help reinforce the ribbing to stay on. Plus it gives the pair a matchy matchy feeling with the folds. I hope they fit babies! The full pattern is below and I’ll be adding it soon to the patterns page.

Oh also the colors a little off in the pictures. It was a little too sunny this morning when I took these. They’re a nice deep red color, good for boys or girls.

Chunky Baby Mitts

Measurements
Height: 5 inches (unfolded)
Opening: 2.75 inches
Wrist: 2.5 inches
Widest part of hand: 2.75 inches

Using size 10.5 needle, co 18 loosely.
Divide evenly between 3 needles (6 sts per needle.)
Knit 6 rows

Wrist shaping:
K2tg, *k3, k2tg* end k1
*k1, p1* for 3 rows
Kftb, *k3, kftb* k1
Knit 10 rows

Top decreasing:
*k2, k2tog*, end k2
Knit 1 row
*k1, k2tog*, end k2
Knit 1 row
Cut yarn and thread through remaining sts 2x
Wave in ends.

Lucky Baby

My cousin just moved back home from California this past week with her newish (4 month) old baby and husband. In anticipation of some of the new baby boys in my family I had made Mister Bear. I thought he would make a nice homecoming gift for the little one.

After making my first pair of Saarjte’s Booties I couldn’t resist making another right away. These whipped up much faster since I was already familiar with the pattern. I also made them in the larger size since I wanted to make sure they would fit. The buttons match one of the twisted strands in the bottom half of the bootie.

They’re so darling! His mom just loved them and said they would fit him soon.

And for comparison, the small sized next to the big sized.

Yarn: Sugar’n Cream Solids and Twists
Needles: Size 3 dpn’s.
Pattern: Saartje’s Booties

Color Me Blue

I love how the color turned out in the pictures. It’s a gloomy day so I wasn’t sure how it would look. The blue looks much more vibrant then in RL.

Some issues:

• The sleeve seams. Because you CO and BO on the sleeves it makes for lumpy edges and doesn’t seem gentile enough for a baby.
• The pickup and CO for the ribbed wasn’t the right number. It’s probably due to the fact that I used the large needles throughout the whole thing (ribbed is suppose to be on one size smaller) because I didn’t want it to pull too much on the front bottom.
• I dislike how the bottom curled because it’s ss so I did a double crochet edge to keep it flat.
• I didn’t know where to put the button. I hope it’s not too high!

Like most other baby things it was pretty fast to knit. I did the 3-6 month size but am thinking it might be too small.  About half way through I remembered that my cousin would be coming home this weekend and I think I’ll bring this to try on  her baby who is about 4 months. If it fits it is going home with him!

I have more than enough yarn  left over and plan to CO for  some hat and booties.

Pattern: Ribbed Baby Jacket from Debbie Bliss

Yarn: Sugar’n Cream Solids

Previous Posts: Baby Time

Saartje’s Bootees

I was on a mission to use up all the purple Lion Brand Cotton yarn from the EZ February Sweater and whipped up these Saartje’s Booties. They’re unbelievably tiny and hopefully fit a newborn!

The soles were made flat and then I joined it to make in the round to avoid having many ends to weave in for the straps. It made it so much easier to finish! Basically I just CO for one side, worked the 20 or so on the needles and CO for the other side.

I also took the advice of one Ravelry member and used this technique for the button holes. It feel it gives it a finished look. Although it can be hard to get the button holes to match in size. I wish I had better buttons but these in my stash fit perfectly and I didn’t want to detract from the cuteness of the booties.

After finishing these I can see why there are almost 1500 of these listed as FO’s on Ravelry! I’m sure I’ll be adding to that number. These are definitely great for a quick and easy baby gift.

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton and Sugar’n Cream
Needles: Size 3 dpn’s.
Pattern: Saartje’s Booties

Balthezar Vest

While I really like how the vest turned out but the pattern leaves much to be desired. It is vary vague and leaves a lot up to the knitter. I made the medium since I didn’t want it to be too huggy. (Following the Twinkle sizing I should make small.)

The eyelets were mentioned but it didn’t talk about how many rows to carry it through. I went until the split of the arms from the back. I counted the ones in the picture and it’s 9 (mine turned out to be 11), but it can also be a sizing issue.

Another issue was with the back. The pattern mentions working until 25 inches and then BO for the shoulders but that would make it too long for the front overall. I ended up starting the BO at about 21 inches and only doing 3 decreases on each side

The neck border was written wrong. It should be in K1, P1 rib.

There’s a few more that you can find here. She also talks more about the pattern.

Mods:

– I was running short on yarn and only did about 3 rows on the neck band and only did half cap sleeves using short rows

– Used Size 19 needles for everything but the neckband and sleeve caps. My friend has made this and recommended using the size 19 needles for the bottom rib to make it more stretchy.

– Yarn. I quadrupled Caron one pounder that I had in my stash. I used the whole ball save a yard or two of end clippings.

Pros:

– I love the color! (I think the picture with the black shirt is the most accurate)

– It doesn’t feel too chunky. ie. I don’t feel like a marshmallow!

Cons:

– I can’t decide which shirt to wear with it. I thought taking pictures of various shirts would help but it’s gotten me even more confused. I am leaning towards the pink cowl/turtle neck one, but I think it washes out the purple color a little.

Help a girl out? Which look do you prefer?

Too cute for words

Elizabeth Zimmermann. I kept seeing her name everywhere and didn’t quite understand. Until I saw BrooklynTweeds gorgeous February Sweater. As usual his FO’s are amazing and the photos make them look very professional!

Anyway, after seeing that I went to the library and tracked down Knitters Almanac. I was a bit surprised at the way the book read. I guess I was expecting a pattern book but it’s more of a building block book. I’ll admit that I was a bit impatient and didn’t want to do any actual reading/learning so I jumped right to the February pattern. In hindsight it would have been a good idea to read. It would have made the pattern deciphering a lot more quicker but eventually I figured it out. And here you have it.

Overall it was a lot of fun to work on. The lace pattern gave me some trouble at first but after a few repeats I was able to memorize it. Not much I would change except for the time I brought this to my knitting get together. Not an easy thing to work on while chit chatting! I might try just two buttons at the top or an i-cord closure for after the yolk.

A close up of the crochet covered buttons. The ones I had were plain white and didn’t complete the look. I had some left over sport weight in dark purple that worked well. I’d never covered buttons before so it was an interesting feat. I’m sure there are tutorials out there but I’d rather spend my time figuring it out then searching. (read: lazy!)

I can see this sweater with many different variations of lace/size/length. Although this was the perfect size as I used just one ball of Lion Brand Cotton.

Double Trouble Cables

Being both photographer and model is hard. You’d think that after taking a dozen or so there’d be a better picture then this, but there isn’t. I either look sleepy, drugged up or blurry. I suppose I could have waited until I had better pictures but I couldn’t wait to show this one off.

A few weeks ago I saw a girl in a cable and ribbed hat with a mini pom-pom and a brim. Everything I like in a hat. A pattern had been forming in my head since then but I wasn’t quite ready to make it (other things on the needles you see). But after attempting to make the Urchin Beret from Twinkles Weekend Knits and having it be too small I desperately wanted a new hat and decided it was time… even though the yarn color didn’t match any of my current scarves. (This winter I decided it was time to go matchy matchy for scarves and hats.) I love how it turned out. The sheen of the yarn adds a little fabulousness to it and I think I might have to make a matching scarf.

I think it looks like the one I saw, except for that one was probably knit on smaller needles since the cables were more defined. When I make this again I’ll probably go down a needle size too. It fits me, but I like my hats a bit more snug. I’m going to try to find time this weekend to write up a pattern (and get better pictures!)

Nimbus Sweater

Ta-da! My first FO from Twinkles Weekend Knits.

Rather then only doubling the yarn for the neck and making it full length, I decided to go with the funnel neck look that Omiru talked about last week. Since I’m “not blessed with a long swan neck” I thought the shorter wider funnel as suggested would be my fashion statement for this winter.

I really like the shaping although if when I make it again I’d make it a few inches longer since the bottom edge curls up. The yarn is definitely lacking in luster and since it was from my stash (a frogged sweater to be exact and quite cheap in the first place) it was a bit cut up and I had to weave in quite a few ends. Someday I hope to be able to splurge and use Twinkle yarn. I can imagine how beautiful it would look.

I would also probably make the large since I’m not too fond of the way it stretches, which its supposed to do but it makes me feel as if it’s too small! Also, somehow my sleeves turned out to be quarter length rather then full like the girl in the photo’s. (Maybe she has short arms?!)

There’s a small errata that I found. Under BODY, RND 5 should read: Knit across front stitches to the marker, slip marker, k3, k2tg, yo, k13 (15,17), yo, ssk, k3.

I was also confused about the neck piece. I followed the instructions and ended up with the wrong side out. I thought it gave the neck some character so I didn’t bother trying to figure out the error, but I think if you go the opposite way it will work (pickup the sleeve, back, sleeve, front).