C2C Baby Blanket

I have been totally digging Bernat Blanket ... especially when making quick baby blankets.

Mom's & Dad's tend to love using these - they are SO soft and snuggly and while I've been told multiple times that you 'ought not' to do double crochet or half double crochet for baby blankets??? I'm pretty sure the people who are worried about baby fingers getting caught aren't aware of how super chunky the Bernat Blanket yarn is.

Add that it's fully machine washer safe (just lay flat to dry) and it's a great go-to for babies and those who do their laundry.

I've been playing with different, yet very simple patterns... but I'm really enjoying this pattern I just tried out.

Quick and Easy Baby Blanket is exactly what it states it is. I finished this blanket in under 6 hours. I used about 2 1/2 of the large balls of the yarn (had some scraps) and I have always liked using 2 colors or 3 for baby blankets. I'm not a huge fan of pink, but at least it's not a pale one...

Gotta love quick, easy, and snuggly. I will probably make several more of these for the other babies coming along!

First FO for September

A baby hat... made in my 2-color brioche pattern with a cute pom-pom.

I'm working on fine-tuning the pattern directions to make them easier for new-to-brioche knitters. (still have a ways to go... everything is simplified until you get to the decreases, then all kinds of confusion ensues).

I started this Friday evening after work, knit on it a bit this morning and during the football game and finished it after supper. It's completely reversible right up and until you add the pom-pom, but it's just the finishing touch that was needed.

Scraps of yarn were used, just random balls of yarn I pulled out of the scrap bin. I'm planning to make several more of these so that I can finalize the pattern directions and get them posted.

Finished watch cap - FO's

I managed to finish off my watch cap before the end of July.

I normally leave it as being fully reversible, but I'd recently seen a photo of one of these with a big, poofy pompom on top.  I chickened out and settled on a medium sized one... but it still turned out pretty cute (or at least I think so).

It's ok, and it's cute... but I might try an over-sized pom next time.

May FOs

A few of my finished items from May...

These are my son's socks - little a... he's getting big enough that these take a little longer, his feet are now officially bigger than mine (and he doesn't turn 12 until next month).

These were made with variegated blue worsted weight acryclic - so more like slipper socks than socks, but he loves them and he's outgrowing the others... I might make him another pair in July. No pattern, just cast on x number of stitches, knit in ribbing for an inch or so, then heel flap and then off I'm running.

The Handbrake Cowl is a for-pay pattern on Ravelry, But a dear friend bought it for me as a gift as the proceeds from the sale of it go to a great cause and it's really not that expensive.  The yarn I used ended up coming out far more camoflaguing in color than it did... which surprised me as the yarn in skein didn't look like camo-colors, just shades of green... AND GO FIGURE, when I've tried to get camo-like look... it doesn't work... but knit with hand painted green yarn and ... blam... camo!

The yarn is Pomaire Multy  which is sadly discontinued. It was a bit splitty, but a REALLY nice cotton yarn and it's so hard to find good color options in non-wool items... the yarn was also a gift (another time) from the exact same person, so when I got the urge to work the cowl... I figured I totally needed to use some of the yarns she has given me over the years.  

I'm just not so sure that I'm a green fan, and it came out a bit 'boyish' with the camo appearance... but it's a longer cowl - which none of the men in my life would wear a long cowl as that's too 'girlish' for them. So, we'll donate it to charity... I might make another in the future as it was very enjoyable to knit.

These four 'odd ball' squares are for some photography I'm requesting - there's a stockinette square, a garter stitch square, some cables & lace and ... the handbrake cowl purl diaganol in the last one. The photographer has a macro lens and will do some close up pictures for me. I want to frame them for my walls.

And then a few of my charity hats for May... I started playing with holding yarn double and using up some scraps to try to do some gradiants... so far its been fun, quick and interesting... so definitely a good use of some scraps! No pattern, just cast on 60 stitches with yarn held double- knit ribbing for a few inches, then stockinette then sort out some decreases.... use the yarn ball until the color runs out or you're desparate for a change... I'll definitely be doing more of these next month.

September, only one week left

I've been a bit down and out.

There have been health issues.

I even went a whole month with only about ten minutes in total of knitting time (almost unheard of in my life).

But, I'm starting to get back on my feet.

In the meantime, my newest grandson has joined my family (there will be more baby pics with knitting).

And I'm going to be moving soon.

And classes are starting soon.

And I'm back to work in the office and everything (instead of just working from my bed in my pj's).

I'm keeping my knitting low-scale this term in HPKCHC to accommodate my life 'events'.

Mostly a couple of baby things, and lots of hats... and a medium-sized Order Mission which is my only big project right now.

Baby things - two burp rags (one double-knit, one knit in two pieces and seamed):

These were made after I noticed that the favorite knits my kids were using with the baby were the washcloths... and they had made an appearance because they kept running out of burp cloths. I was curious if a double-knit or double-layer would be useful. Since these have since been spotted in various locations after use - I'm thinking that they probably are being used pretty often.

I do think though - that I'll probably pick up a pack of cloth diapers for them for the purpose of more burp cloths.

And then there have been hats... lots of hats.... these are basically adult hats - some have been inspired by the golden pear pattern. EXCELLENT use of scraps... and I'm hoping to be down a 1000 yards or so for hats this month and again next month - maybe my stash pile won't be quite so overwhelming after I move (doubtful... but a girl can dream).

Charity hats the lot of them... though I may have to see shortly if there isn't a hat for Mr A (elder grandson) that might be on my to-do list.

And then, I almost forgot the socks I whipped up for little a (my youngest son). He's outgrown all his hand knit socks and all but the most recent couple of hoodies.... which means that he would really like more hand knits. His feet are as wide as mine, and almost as long. Since he loves the thick slipper socks as well as anything (and worsted weight is so much fast to knit anyway) - I whipped out a pair of slipper socks last week.

These were made using left over Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn in camouflage ombre print. I used the pattern from You're Putting Me On. I don't care much for the heel. He likes them a lot - so they must be more comfortable than I expected... but I'll probably go back to other toe-up heel patterns.


Since I needed  a short break from stockinette - I spent about an hour or two to make a wildlife nesting bed to donate to Blank Park Zoo (might send it off after making a couple more)... it took 3 strands of worsted yarn - super fast, super easy and I think it was just the break I needed.

I'm working on hats # 6 - 10 for my OWL - which will have a total of 32 hats before I'm done.

And I've cast on my Color Affection shawl - in cream and two shades of blue with Cobasi yarn. I'm hoping to have enough on the needles to show you in a week or so.

An itty bitty pile of itty bitty FO's

First off, the teeniest, tinyest little canary.

It's about two inches... sooo tiny. I made it with the Bluebird knitting pattern, made of course, with yellow yarn instead. This yarn is the leftovers from the incomplete Pikachu from last fall that I ran out of matching yarn on ... I've been using it up a bit here and there on various projects, frogging it as I work on the next item.  Hobby Lobby in the fluorescent yellow that I can't find in their stores nor website any longer. It's a heavy worsted, but I used tiny needles and it stayed nice and tiny. It probably took about 45 minutes to make from start to finish. I used crinkly plastic around the stuffing so that it makes a satisfying noise when grabbed... and I left a slight opening at the very bottom and have been periodically sticking a little catnip in... the cat is intrigued, but doesn't want me to see her playing with it (she's still working on haughty disdain).

Very fun to knit, and turned out really REALLY cute.

HPKCHC Note: This was a great turn-in for CoMC being 'yellow' which was one of the recommended colors for the class prompt. I also did it in honor of my pride, the canary creams as someone had suggested that we could make matching canaries to show pride unity.

And then I also whipped out a cute little ball rattle with the same leftovers...

 
This was made with a free online pattern - Baby Ball Rattle. To try to keep it 'noisy' and washing machine safe... I wrapped a couple of small jingle bells in a plastic pouch which was wrapped with fiberfill... and I'm hoping that means it can be filthy, yet tossed in the washer and dryer at will. Time will tell, I guess.

Again, a super quick project. Though the rapid increases and rapid decreases were a bit irritating and it wasn't my favorite project. However, not having any seams? That was a very good thing!

HPKCHC Note:  This was turned in for Divination... one of the prompts was to make something inspired by change. My brand new grandbaby who I don't expect to meet until this summer? Well, that seems like a big change that needed to be honored.

And lastly - a super cute Baby sweater (which ended up just HAVING TO HAVE a hat as well), because ... OMG the cute.

The photo is more in focus than you can tell from this shot... the green/white variegated and the white with shots of pale, colors is pretty light... and threw the camera for a little bit of a loop. The pattern is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts using discontinued yarn from Bernat yarns, specifically their Jacquard Jr's line. It's a sport weight yarn that does self-patterning with sections of variegated and stretches of stripes (as you can see by the sweater).  They do still carry the Baby Jacquard line which is more pastel yet... and tends to be true baby colors. But, I fell in love with the Junior line as it has a less baby-true palette and more bright colors.  I had purchased enough to make a small child sweater... And this sweater and hat didn't even use a full skein... so I am still trying to figure out what the next project this yarn is destined to become.

I made a slight mistake in placing the placket ... but it's a newborn sweater and honestly? with the baby due in August, it's unlikely to end up getting worn much, if at all. I figure though that cold air conditioning and/or a cool evening means that this way they have a sweater for the baby. If he/she never gets to wear it, well, then I can stress less about the mistake anyway.  It's great being able to pour a little love into a simple, cute project and it felt like this sweater practically knit itself. About the only things I would change (besides putting the placket in the right spot) is to use a more stretchy cast-on. I used the long-tail cast-on and the waist band and wrist cuffs are still a bit tight.

HPKCHC Note: Muggle Studies asked us to make items of clothing that Professor Quirrel might have worn during the times when he would have been a Muggle Studies professor. Well, wizards generally have a quite odd sense of clothing styles... and I did think about posing with the sweater on my head mock-turban style and the hat on my hands... but then I ended up stating that I simply practiced my reducto charm to shrink the items so that they would fit the new grand baby. No response yet from the professors, but I really don't expect one... they usually love little twists like that to help sell the project.

Another WIP whipped

Not the greatest photo, but I had to grab this quick while visiting my daughter-in-law since my phone (and only camera) died. I do have a web cam and tried that, only the shot was much worse. It's a pretty cute top. Not sure I needed as much 'flare' as there is at the hips, but I wanted some of the shaping... again, the pattern really calls for VERY slow color changes and long ranges before the next color and this yarn changed a bit faster, but I think it's still a cute way to use self-striping yarn in something not-quite striped. I'm sure I'll wear it in the spring and fall quite a bit as it does fit quite well.