Posts Tagged ‘baby’
Babies, babies, and more babies
It’s been a while since my last update, but I am still knitting! I have done lots and lots of doll dresses (which I still love doing, even after 20+ of them), and lately I’ve been making baby sweaters. A few months ago, I found out that three of my friends at work are expecting! So of course I had to take the opportunity to take on some knitting projects.
The first cardi is the popular February Baby Sweater for M. She loved it and got a little verklempt at her baby shower. :) I used Gedifra Extra Soft Merino in a pale pink. It really is so very soft and perfect for a baby! The shank buttons are vintage. M’s colors are pink and brown. She had her baby girl on 9/10/11!
The 2nd cardi is also a February Baby Sweater. I think this brings the total to 8 of all the Feb Baby Sweaters I’ve made. I swear everyone loves them, and thankfully I’m not sick of them yet! It’s for my friend Y who is having a baby boy. Y loves white and so I kept everything classy white, from the yarn (Gedifra Extra Soft Merino again, I love it) to the shank buttons. I decided to play with the pattern a bit to make a little collar. I think it turned out nice.
And last but not least, I made a fun cardigan for my friend J who is also expecting a baby boy. J likes stripes so I took the opportunity to practice knitting with two colors. I had forgotten how fun it was!
The yarn I used are Classic Elite Yarns Classic One Fifty in Blue Sky, with Gedifra Extra Soft Merino in White. The pattern is “Little Coffee Bean” which is available for free on Ravelry. It’s a seamless sweater knitted from the top down, and the button band is picked up along the front and knitted on after. I used plain white 5/8″ buttons but added a little splash of color with bright orange thread!
I knitted the last two sweaters in 2 weeks, which is a record time for me. I just wanted to see if I could do it! It felt like cramming for finals 8-)
Phew. After these, I think I’m going to continue finishing some projects I’ve had laying around that are for myself. Then it’s time to start thinking about holiday knitting! This year has gone by so fast.
Presto Chango!
Yes, I am knee-deep in baby sweaters! I’m just knitting them one after another and happily doing so. I think this is the 5th(?) baby sweater I’ve made this year. It just gives me so much joy and satisfaction to be able to give something special that I’ve made by hand.
This was a new pattern I decided to try, Presto Chango (I know it’s “change-oh” but I keep wanting to say “chang-go“!) by Valerie Wallis, published at Jimmy Bean’s Wool. It’s a FREE pattern by the way! Such a nice and quick knit, and the leaf pattern in the front is so delicate and so pretty.
I took the liberty of improvising a hat to go with the sweater – just did leaf panels in multiples of 16, then decreased in multiples of 8. Easy and fun!
The yarn used is di.Vé Zenith in Mariner’s Green, and I found THE perfect bright red vintage buttons to go with them at one of my frequent flea marketing trips. These two bright colors are meant to be together. :)
I’m currently knitting another Presto Chango, but in a much muted color. Hope it turns out just as cute as this one!
Vintage Baby Knits
I love vintage-style knitting and often come across vintage patterns when I go thrifting and flea-marketing. Imagine my excitement when I read about a new book that’s all about vintage baby knits!
Vintage Baby Knits
One look at the beautiful photos and I was in love. As someone who loves knitting for babies, I can’t wait to get my hands on the book and start some new baby knit projects for my friends and their little ones!
March Baby Sweater
Finished my third February Baby Sweater tonight. I used 2 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere that were given to me by Caroline (thanks!) and I love how it knits up – substantial and warm, with a subtle sheen. This is my first baby item that isn’t knitted in a “baby” color yarn and I really like how it turned out. I hope the mommy (and baby) I’m sending it to will like it.
After doing this pattern three times, I feel confident with the gull pattern (love it!) so it’s time to move on to my next project. I’m going to knit something for myself and hopefully have it be ready for Spring!
Pattern from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac
February Baby Set
All together now... awwwww.
Now that I’m pretty comfortable with the gull pattern from the sweater and the gradual decreasing needed with the hat, I’m probably going to make a few more sets to give away. There have been so many babies arriving in my circle of friends that I feel like a baby sweater factory, but hey, the more practice the better :)
February Baby Sweater
Mobile phone photo
EZ’s pattern took some getting used to – the way it is written is not like any pattern I’ve learned, there is a lot left open for interpretation. Plus I’m not very good at doing lace – it always takes me at least a few runs before finally “getting” any lace pattern.
This was my first EZ garment, and I have to say she is quite a writer. She is such a funny lady, and I love how much of a wool snob she is. That said, I bet she wouldn’t approve of the Berroco Comfort I’m using here, but it’s for good practice. I don’t know about the babies around EZ, but most of my friends would probably not let their precious babies wear wool in fear of allergies. Whatever happened to the good ole days when babies actually wore wool?
February Baby Sweater in progress
After a few days, it started to take its shape, but not without hiccups. I could totally see what I did wrong here too!
Here is the completed February Baby Sweater, complete with dark lilac buttons. It kind of looks cute in its own wonky sort of way. Another great learning experience! Now that I know what to do the next one will be much improved.
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Pattern from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac
Sweater Factory
Together makes three
Ah yes. Baby(sweater) fever has been running rampant here at my crafting headquarters even though it’s been a very, very warm summer. Someone on Ravelry saw this photo and sent me a message asking if I knitted these for triplets. Haha! I even made little hats to match every single one of these, and now two of them have gone to new homes. Hopefully will do their jobs and keep two beautiful baby girls warm and cozy this winter. The green set is supposed to be for my little niece this Christmas. I haven’t seen her in a while (long story), but I hope it will fit her.
Having knitted three baby-sized cardigans had given me courage and confidence to follow and decipher knitting patterns. I actually got really brave and made something for… myself!
Me in the finished Rusted Root
Tada! I present my very first adult-sized sweater!
Okay, so it’s probably not obvious to anyone else, but I made a ton of boo-boos while knitting this. It’s not even really my color, either – I only bought the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece because they were $2 a skein at the swapmeet (they’re normally $6-7 a skein at frou-frou yarn shops). I figured at $2, that’s cheaper than the cheapest quality acrylic yarn at the local mega-mart. There’s no pressure if i mess it up, right?
After taking it apart a gazillion times, many nights of watching Heroes, Good Eats, Iron Chef, No Reservations, Bizarre Food, Fringe & Mad Men (my new favorite show), I finally finished my very first sweater. I almost always give my knitting away, and now I finally have a knitted garment for myself. For my first adult-sized sweater, it turned out a lot better than I thought. I learned so much from this project – I feel more confident about knitting and using patterns now. It was definitely a great learning experience to work it from start to finish. After nearly five years of knitting I am so dang proud of myself that I might just wear this out in public.
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The details
Pattern: Rusted Root
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Tea Rose
Needles: KnitPicks Options in sz 6 and sz 4