Who?

WHO?

I hope that you can see that the design here is owls.

My sister's youngest daughter just had a baby boy. This is my sister's first grandchild and the first great grandchild for our parents. Pretty exciting stuff!  I made up this cute owl vest and matching hat and just got them mailed off.  The yarn I used is King Cole brand "Authentic Cotton Mix DK" and the color way is "Sahara".  I found both of the patterns on Ravelry (both are free).  

The link for the hat pattern called "Who?" can be found HERE.

The link for the vest pattern called "Owl Baby Vest" can be hound HERE.

I did add some small buttons for eyes on one of the owls in the hat and one of the owls in the vest. I do worry about babies and choking so I sewed those buttons on like my life depended up on it. I kind of like the look with just some of the owls having button eyes sewn on.  I am really behind showing you my latest finished objects.  More "show and tell" very soon!

Little Coffee Bean Sweater: For Grant's Baby Boy

Not too long ago, a guy at work (Grant) saw me giving my friend, DeeDee, a hat for her little girl, Emma.  It was a small version of my Alternating Cables Cap in Berroco Comfort DK in "rosebud". Sweet!

Grant looked at me sort of longingly and said... "You know, I have a little girl too and my wife and I are having a baby boy in May..."

So I made this sweet little cardigan for Grant's baby boy.  I already have a hat made for Grant's little girl, who I understand is about 3 years old. 

The pattern I used for Grant's baby boy is "Little Coffee Bean"; a FREE pattern I have been wanting to make for quite some time.  It's a bit more work than some of the other "knit from the top down" baby sweaters I've made, yet it's knitting up rather quickly since the pattern calls for worsted weight yarn. 

I am used Berroco Comfort in tan and blue.  I love this cozy color combination. 

This pattern can be made for a boy or a girl.... with or without stripes. Endless possibilities really.  There are over 2,000 Little Coffee Bean sweaters on Ravelry... so many cute sweaters!  I love the inspiration I get from Ravely.

The pattern can be found HERE on Ravelry.  I like a lot of designs by this young designer, Elizabeth Smith.  Her design shop is called "The Brown Stitch Designs".  Here's a LINK to all of her patterns on Ravelry.  

Puerperium #2

Not too terribly long ago, I ventured into the store called Tuesday Morning.  I go in there because I know... sometimes... they have yarn.  Seriously, this place is a train wreck and it has the most random assortment to "stuff" all over the store and you never quite know what you'll find... pots and pans, cosmetics, luggage, small appliances, clothing, yarn... no rhyme or reason... just "stuff".  "Stuff" at discounted prices I guess...


But... like I said... I go in there to see if they have yarn and because, if they have yarn, the prices are good.

I found a shelf or two with yarn and the balls and skeins were sort of unraveling all over the place, but over an aisle or two... mixed in with some dog toys (seriously!)... I found a shopping cart with some yarn.  Araucania yarn... not sure if I had heard of it before or not.  Two skeins of colorful variegated cotton, two skeins of a greenish-jade-emerald-sort-of-color of fingering weight yarn, and one skein of fingering weight yarn in a colorway I am calling "tennis ball yellowish-green".  I bought it all plus a ball of yarn from two aisles over in a colorway called "Seattle". Yep, I like Seattle a LOT and the colors in the yarn did remind me of Seattle... so there you go. 

One of the variegated cotton skeins was knit up into a baby sweater called "Puerperium".  I made a long- sleeved version and nearly ran out of yarn. This week I made a sort-sleeved version.  Isn't it sweet? I may have enough yarn to make some baby booties, but I've not gotten around to that yet.

The Puerperium pattern is free on Ravelry. The link is HERE.

A larger version of the pattern (not free) is available HERE.

Both are very popular patterns.

I can see myself knitting this pattern a lot in the future.  It's such a great baby shower gift!

I still don't know how to pronounce Puerperium but my curiousity got the best of me;

I had to "Google" the definition.  Now I know.

1. The state of a woman during childbirth or immediately thereafter.

2. The approximate six-week period lasting from childbirth to the return of normal uterine size.

Lavender Leaves: A sweet sweater for Baby Grace Anne

I bought enough of this lovely lavender yarn (Cascade 220 Superwash) to make a sweater for myself a few years back but I am not much of a sweater knitter. I actually started to make a sweater called Pismo but frogged it. The shaping made me fret and the notion of sewing all the pieces together in the end made me sweat... and knitting is supposed to be FUN... so I am using this pretty yarn for other smaller projects.

I have been eyeing this pretty baby girl sweater pattern called "Autumn Leaves" for awhile now.  The pattern can be found HERE on a blog called What to Knit When You're Expecting.  I was about to cast it on the other day but found another version which was a modified version of the original.  The modified version can be found HERE on a blog called Natural State Knitting.  I liked the modified version just a tad better for a few reasons.

• I liked that the modified version called for only two buttons at the neck of the sweater instead of a long row of buttons all the way down the the waist area of the sweater.  Sweaters knit from the top down tend to want to swing open at the bottom and if you put buttons all the way down, sometimes it just tugs and looks unattractive.  I think three buttons would also be very nice; I kind of wish my sweater had a third button. 
• With the original version, I saw a number of comments (on Ravelry) about folks feeling the need to alter the sleeves (perhaps there were not enough stitches?) and from what I could tell, the lady at Natural State Knitting had altered the sleeves a bit which took the guess work out for me.
• Also, the modified version eliminates some of the seed or purl stitches around the tips of the leaves and I think the modified version has a nice, clean, crisp look as a result.

I am very glad I tried the modified version.  I think it's a very sweet looking sweater.  I actually made this sweater because I found a cute hat pattern with a leaf/flower petal motif and I wanted to make a sweater to match the hat!  Now... I just need to make the hat... (see pattern HERE).

For Calvin's Hats...

Can you imagine a baby so small that this hat would fit?
The hats are modeled on eggs.
With the advances of medical technology, babies born too soon and so small are often surviving and thriving and it really is miraculous...

But some times, despite the most heroic efforts, some are born too soon and too small to live. 
That is why Calvin's Hats was created.  You can read more about Calvin's Hats by clicking HERE. 

When I first noticed this group on the Internet, it touched my heart and I made a goalfor myself to make a dozen hats... a dozen very tiny hats.

I just wanted to share them with you and encourage you to check out Calvin's Hats if you are interested in learning more.  www.calvinshats.com

Chasing Rainbows Blankie

At long last, this blanket project is done.  I started this in May 2011 and it was my intent to use up all of the Plymouth Encore worsted weight yarn in my stash (all in baby colors).  I kept picking this up to work on it and then quickly put it away; the pattern got boring and each round just took longer and longer.  Yesterday at my knitting group, I just grabbed the white yarn and cast off.  This proved to be a big mistake since the piece wants to roll something awful along the edges. I washed and blocked the blanket yesterday but blocking did not help the rolling. I spent a few hours today adding a crochet border and it still rolls quite a bit. I am a tad disappointed but I am over it.  It's done.  I am not touching it anymore.  I need to mail it off with another blanket completed long ago.  This will go to the Denver Children's Hospital (Denver, Colorado). 

Pink Star Baby Afghan

One of my goals for the year was to make a baby blanket for a group I found on Ravelry called "Granny Squares for NICU."  The group link can be found by clicking HERE.  The group's founder, Sherry, collects granny squares and puts them all together to make blankets for babies in the Neo-natal Intensive Care Units (NICU) in two Little Rock, Arkansas hospitals.  When I first contacted the group founder, I did not have the right yarn to make squares for her blankets so I decided to make one blanket myself.  This is how the Sherry descibes the goals of the group on Ravelry:

We lost out sweet grandson. He weighed only 13 ounces. He was so very tiny, so precious.
The NICU staff wrapped him in a small crocheted blanket for us to spend a few moments with him.  Being a crocheter myself, I was touched that someone took the time to create such a unique blanket for our little angel. Right then I decided I wanted to be that type of person too. I wanted to start making blankets and donating them to the NICU and that’s what I did.  I use 4”, 6” or 8” granny squares in pastel colors, join them together and donate them. I use pastels but any color scheme will work. Its an easy way to use up leftover yarn.  I will also gladly accept 16 x 16 inch or larger finished blankets, preemie or newborn hats and baby washcloths.  I donate them to UAMS NICU in Little Rock, Arkansas and Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas.
I would love for you to join us and start giving of your time to bring some comfort to a precious little one and their family.

Here's my contribution.  The pattern link can be found HERE.  I used soft pink Bernat Baby Softee yarn primarily.  I realized the contrasting stripes are really essential to make the design "pop" so I added some white stripes with some sport weight Red Heart yarn I had on hand.  The pink yarn is so soft and floppy (not in a bad way) so the addition of the white contrasting stripes gave the blanket a bit more structure.  On the edges, I used some ridiculously soft and squishy fluffy white Plymouth brand "Oh My" yarn (a recent splurge).  This "Oh My" stuff feels like the softest terry cloth robe... a little unconventional for the edge of a blanket but I am glad I used it. 

Seasons Greetings...

For "Operation Holiday Stockings" in 2011.

For "Caps for Good"
(caps for small birth weight babies in developing countries).

Just for fun! 
My mom sent me this cute mini-sock blocker kit with pattern for Christmas.  What a fun project.  I whipped up this little stocking in one sitting after a busy Christmas day. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Day as well. 
Happy Knitting!

Mandee's Top-Down Baby Jacket is Complete!

Mandee's Baby Jacket is complete.  Goodness, I struggled with finishing the second sleeve at my Thursday afternoon knitting group today!  I do need to find three cute little buttons to truely be done.  I am going to make a matching hat with some of the same eyelet detail. I had considered making the Upside Down Daisy Hat by Susan B. Anderson, but right now I am not too keen on making all the petals and sewing them on... lazy!  I also have so many projects going on right now, I just want to make a quick and simpler hat so this project is done.  I have so many other things I want to get to.  Hobbies should not be quite so overwhelming!

Mandee's Top-Down Baby Jacket

So busy knitting this weekend... not much time for blogging. I found out last week a gal I know at work is expecting. Time for a baby sweater!  I already learned... IT'S A GIRL! and she will be named "Mandee" (she'll be joining big sisters Carlee and Aubree... cute, huh?).  I am also planning to make a hat with this great pale green yarn (I hope I have enough yarn?).  The yarn and pattern are both from Plymouth Brand (Encore Worsted Weight yarn - part wool and part acrylic).  I was lucky to get a copy of the pattern at my local yarn shop, but when I searched for the pattern on Ravelry, I found it's not a free pattern. Sorry.  Here's the link if you are interested.  I did make this pattern once before in lavender. I really do love this pattern.  The first time I made this pattern, I followed it to a "T" (knit the neck and sweater top first, then knit the sleeves, then knit the bottom of the sweater, and then sew the seams in the sleeves). This time around, I knit the bottom of the sweater first and am now knitting the sleeves in the round so there will be virtually no sewing in this sweater... yay for that! (I don't like sewing!)

On a very sad note... I learned Thursday that my local yarn shop is closing.  I am feeling so blue about that... I'll post more about that another day. 

Berry Baby Hat

Took this photo on my dryer... not a great back drop, but it's the place in my house with the only south facing window... I like the natural light there.

I found this cute pattern for a "Berry Baby Hat" on http://www.ravelry.com/. I just recently signed up for Ravelry and I really enjoy looking at everyone's projects on there... the free patterns are great! For this hat, I used left over Cascade 220 yarn from my Great American Afghan. I am enjoying making a few quick knit projects before I dive head first into my Great American ARAN Afghan. More about that tomorrow...

Yarn for a baby sweater for a baby boy

This is the yarn I bought to make a sweater for a baby boy. My neighbor's granddaughter, Sara, is expecting a baby boy. I plan to make the sweater pictured below, but in the blue version I plan to add cables down the fronts and down the sleeves. I will also add buttons and button holes. This is the same pattern a few posts back made in a pretty soft pink. Sarah baby sat for us years ago!

Yarn for a baby sweater for a baby girl

My mother-in-law's friend's daughter is expecting in December... this lime green looks like a great color for a girl. I plan to make the sweater pictured below with the lime yarn... I love this pattern! It's another knit-from-the-top-down pattern.

Emma's Hand Knit Things

Emma has quite a hand knit wardrobe. First is the baby kimono, a Lion Brand pattern found at http://www.lionbrand.com/.


This is another pattern from Lion Brand. This one is knit from the top down. I love this pattern and have made at least four or five baby sweaters using this very same pattern.



This is actually the first sweater I ever completed. It's another Lion Brand pattern. This one is in garter stitch and I am especially fond of the pocket welts. I almost skipped that part since I was intimidated, but I am glad I perservered!

A sweet hat for Emma!

Emma is the recipient of most of my knitted baby things. She was born in late August 2009, and is as cute as can be! When I went to visit her today I couldn't arrive empty handed so I gave her this hat. I was hesistant to give this hat away because I thought it might be a bit goofy looking, but it looks so much cuter on Emma's sweet little head! It's a shame to cover up her gorgeous dark brown hair, but the nights are getting cooler as autumn approaches, so hopefully this hat will come in handy. I found the pattern on http://www.susanbanderson.com/. She makes a lot of adorable things for babies!

Baby sweater in progress!

I have too many projects in the works. This is a baby sweater (for a one year old approximately). The pattern is from Bernat and the yoke is made out of Baby Jacquard. The lower body and the sleeves will all be knit in just lavendar. The yoke has a picot edge which is a new technique to me. My mom started this pattern (all in Baby Jacquard) when I was visiting my folks in Oregon. She gave me the idea of just using the Jacquard for the yoke and it was such a great idea, I just had to try it! Both sides are not perfect matches, but the Fair Isle fake out is a cool effect! I call the Baby Jacquard "magic yarn"!