Lavender Hemlock Ring Baby Blanket
Pattern: Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood (my rav link)
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in Color 2422 which is a lovely light lavender
Needles: 6mm Addi Turbo’s
Mods: I only went up to row 50 of the feather and fan chart as I did not want this blanket to be too large, it’s now the perfect baby blanket size, substantial enough to last into toddlers years but not so large that I’ll be fighting with it in the stroller and what not.
The color of this yarns is quite light, but the sunlight washes out the richness of the light lavender. The stroller I chose is a bright yellow and this light lavender color really compliments and doesn’t fight with the bright stroller and instead provides a soft complementary contrast. Really really happy with this blanket!
I chose not to do the fancy bind off because as I read from other ravelers often little fingers and toes get caught in the edging, also when dragged around as the baby gets older I could see the edges getting ragged so I decided to just do a basic bind off and I really like the look of it, very simple and pretty and it doesn’t compete with the beautiful feather and fan lace.
Pre-blocked
Just had to show the pre-blocked scrunched up blanket, it always amazes me how a simple soak and stretch makes the lovely wool and lace stand out and become the beautiful finished products!
Love, love, love this blanket and it was fast and easy to knit so it is on my list now for possible gifting ideas for future weddings and/or babies.
Summer is just flying by! I can’t believe that August is nearing the end and September will be here before we know it! This summer I decided to try something a little different from my usual knitting repertoire. Wool in hand has been a bit hard lately due to heat and swollen pregnancy fingers, so I decided since I was going to a baby shower for a lovely friend of mine that I would try my hand at quilting! Horray check it out!
Isn’t it cute? A snail quilt! The pattern is from Dare to Be Square Quilting by Boo Davis and I love her funky designs. I was amazed that I could do this, My Aunt and Grandmother are masters in the quilting and sewing arena so I’ve never dared to overstep into this arena because I’ve always felt it must be the hardest thing in the world. With my Aunt living across the country I had to brave this one on my own and voila! I completed a quilt and I think it’s pretty darn awesome if I do say so myself! For me the quilting and binding was the hardest part, it was finicky and frustrating and my table is not really designed as a quilting table so it was uncomfortable to work at over long periods of time and I couldn’t really stretch out my work. I had to use the floor at times which was horribly awkward being so pregnant, but I am really happy to have completed this project, I tried something new and loved doing it, and my friend, she seemed to really like it too so all in all a complete success!
So successful I picked up more fabric because now I want to make me one. I love this cute snail 
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31 Weeks Pregnant now! In the home stretch at this point and enjoying every moment even the uncomfortable parts 
Boysenberry Maile
Pattern: Maile Sweater by Nikki Van De Car (My Ravelry Link)
Yarn: Tough Love Sock in Boysenberry
Needles: 3.5mm Addi Turbo’s
Love this pattern, it’s just so pretty and has lovely details. I followed pattern pretty much as written, I did do the sleeves first to get them out of the way because I always stall on sleeves. Attaching the sleeves to the body was fiddly and not my favorite method but I’ve never attached sleeves to body from the bottom up before so I didn’t feel comfortable binding of stitches as I wasn’t really sure what I was doing. My one error was when adding the fourth button I wasn’t paying attention and cut the button band Oop 
So I had to sew together the fourth button hole just to keep it from unraveling. Used cute pink buttons and I think it looks just fine with three buttons rather then four. I’ll be more careful in the future before taking my scissors to my knitting.
The Maile was my fourth baby cardigan, this little girl is going to be spoiled! Regarding the Yarn, Tough Love Sock by Sweet Georgia is my all time favorite yarn. It is soft squishy and yet smooth at the same time. It really shows of my stitches and I absolutely love her colors, they are so vibrant and fun. I have some left overs of various colors of her yarns from different projects so I wanted to make another baby sweater using those!
This photo is closer to the true color of the yarn. It is a beautiful multi-hued deep purple, very fun for a baby girl.
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Currently I am trying to use up my stash and so on my needles right now I have started a baby blanket, just basic garter stitch striped using my various acrylic yarns that I have tucked away. I don’t have a great fondness for acrylic any longer as I’ve become a wool and cotton snob but I figure it will be good to use it up and it will make a really easy to clean stroller blanket as stroller blankets often end up doing floor time as babies kick them around.
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25 Weeks Pregnant, for sure looking pregnant now!
Canada Day Baby Cardigan
Pattern: Garter Yoke Baby Cardi by Jennifer Hoel (My Rav Link)
Yarn: Gourmet Crafter Yarn Gourmet Sock (Fallen Leaves) and Garnstudio Drops Alpaca (White)
Needles: Size 3.5mm (US 4) Addi Turbo
Canada Day Cardigan Close-up
I love the patriotic Canada Day colored stripes and the yarn is so squishy and soft. The addition of the alpaca at the yoke makes it extra special and fuzzy feeling. I love this pattern, it is beautiful simplicity. I made around a 6 - 12 month size so we’ll see one this little one gets here when it will fit. I’m hoping that by next year Canada Day she will be able to wear it. Or it would also make a great Christmas Cardigan. I have not yet added any clasps or zippers, I am still debating how I want the front to close. I’m in no rush since this baby isn’t even due until October so I have time to decide.
Canada Day Cardigan Alternate Close-up
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I am very excited to have started my 24th week of pregnancy! I’m 6 months along now and it seems to be going by very quickly. This past month has seen me knitting cardigan’s, three in total already and a fourth on the needles. I’ve also started to purge and re arrange our current furniture situation. I’m sure the 6 month will see even more household preparation. We really need to come up with some more ideas for organization. We have lots of little stuff just lying around that should have a home, but no homes have been created yet. All in time I’m sure.
My next knitting journey after all these cardigans is hopefully longies/pants and socks. Also for everyone celebrating the 4th of July today I hope you enjoy the festivities!
Lettuce Green Baby Cardi
Pattern: lilia[c]loud by Nadia Cretin-Lechenne (My Rav Link)
Needles: 3.5mm (US 4)
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace in Lettuce Colorway
I followed the pattern with only a few small changes. I did not decrease for the sleeves at the border because I liked them to be a little wider, and I only added 2 buttons rather then 3. Other then those changes everything is the same.
Lettuce Green Baby Cardi
I love this cardigan, it is feminine and dainty and the yarn is so soft and smooshy! The dark buttons add a little contrast without being too overwhelming. The pattern is really easy and intuitive to follow, I love the rounded garter yoke, it feels girly without being too much.
Teal Diamond Hoodie
Pattern: Jasper Diamond Hoodie by Kristen Rengren (My Rav Link)
Needles: 4.0mm (US 6)
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool in Teal
I followed the pattern to the letter with this one, it was my first time with set in sleeves and I wanted to make sure I followed all directions carefully. The only changes I made is with the yarn choice, I used worsted weight rather then DK and chose 4.0mm needles which gave me a pretty close gauge. I made the smallest size which with my yarn changes is actually closer to the 12 month size, but that is okay since this is for my soon to be born daughter who at around 1 year will be needing some warmer clothes as it will be fall. Very cute pattern and I love the addition of the pink buttons.
Teal Diamond Hoodie Closeup
Teal Diamond Hoodie Back View
My Husband and I have been blessed with a beautiful baby girl!
I am currently 20 weeks pregnant and so utterly happy right now! It has been such a delight to reach the half-way point and I am so looking forward to this beautiful girl joining us in October. She is our first and a very precious addition to our little family.
I have not yet begun alot of knitting for our sweetheart, I’ve had felt a desire to hold back until further along in the pregnancy and we wanted to find out boy or girl so that I could knit without everything being unisex. Now that I know we can add some delightfully girly notions to my knitting I am excited to get started, I’m just feeling at a loss of where to begin.
For now I just going to bask in my happiness and if anyone has any cute girl baby knit ideas please let me know.
I have a bunch of projects on the go right now but nothing is really getting done yet. Everything is almost there or just about there and then I get stalled and start something else. I’m on a mission to now start anything new until I get at least one of my projects finished. What’s on the go?
A knitted toy Elephant from the Itty Bitty Toys book, very cute if a little emaciated because I didn’t stuff the body enough, I just need to complete the legs, ears and tail and sew him together. Little stuff but fiddly.
A crochet blanket, basic one big granny square done in some stash Bernat Baby Softee that I had laying around, it’s in a really light yellow and would make a good baby shower gift for someone who is not of the knitting persuasion.
The Jasper Diamond Hoodie by Kirsten Rengren, I have the body finished I just need to do the arms and hood then block and sew together. I started my first arm but then had to rip it out because I made one mistake after another so I’ve put it on hold until maybe tomorrow I’ll try again. It’s the smallest baby size so it shouldn’t be too time consuming to finish once I put my mind to it, I just need to focus.
Amigurumi Knits: This book is one I want to purchase really soon, it is so adorable and I love the vegetable and sea creatures. This books has quite a few items on my I really want to knit list.
I want to knit the Octopus for a good friend of mine whose mother had knit her an octopus (a rather large one) as a child and that was her favorite toy and she said she looked so hilarious walking around with this huge tentacled creature trailing along behind her, I thought for Christmas coming up this would be the perfect gift to give her, something fun and a humorous homage to childhood.
Alright, now that I’ve made a list of my current projects on the go, and that isn’t including the Navy cardigan I have snoozing away in my knitting basket with the back finished but no front or sleeves done yet, maybe I can at least have one finished if not two by the end of the weekend. Pictures to come soon!
Pattern: Beagle by Norah Gaughan
Yarn: Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool, Color Oatmeal
Needles: 3.75mm and 4.50mm
Ravelry Link: Mykenai’s Oatmeal Beagle Sweater
It turned out beautifully, my brother is in love with it and has worn it quite often since my mother delivered it to him over Easter. I’m still waiting for pictures with him in the sweater but as you can see it is a very nice masculine sweater.
I found the pattern easy to follow, I don’t think I had exact gauge, I did a half assed swatch and I was really close except off a little with row gauge, so this made it an issue when doing the increases with the sleeves. Once I figured out my measurement’s I was able to whip the sleeves out with no issues. This was my first seamed sweater and it was some extra work at the end for sure but I really like the sturdiness of the seams, especially since this is an out door working guy’s sweater. I tried on the sweater really quick before sending it off and while being not very flattering for my shape it for sure had solid seaming and construction which I really like for a man’s sweater.
The yarn was a little splitty but otherwise nice to work with. It feels quite scratchy before a wash but once washed and blocked it felt much softer. I have 2 balls left over so I might start a sweater for my step dad with the left overs and then maybe just dye it with a nice natural brown once the sweater is done. Who knows. For now I am a bit between projects and having a hard time deciding what to do next.
For now, Happy May all!
Sleeves and body are finally done! I blocked the sleeves out and they are not just finally dry and tomorrow is my day off so I am going to try my hand at seaming the sleeves to the body and then closing everything up so that it looks like a sweater and not an oatmeal colored poncho! My final finishing moment will be picking up the stitches and adding ribbing for the collar. Hopefully I can get all that done tomorrow so that my brother will have a brand new sweater just in time for Easter! I think he believes I’ve forgotten his Christmas sweater, little does he know that I’ve been busting my butt trying to get it done in time for my mom to take it to him for the holiday. It’s a little late as a Christmas present but better late and completed properly then never, or finished quickly and not done well! Luckily I have amassed a disgusting amount of chocolate to do a little Easter Hunt for my lovely husband this weekend so I’m also going to put together a little bag of goodies with the sweater for my mom to take up to him, I think he’ll feel special and that’s always important. He lives about a 4-5 hour drive away in the interior so it’s hard to do the little every day special things like going out for brunch or doing movies or what not on a every day basis so it’s always nice to do something special when you can.
On other knitting notes I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with the fact that I’m almost finished this sweater and it has been all I’ve allowed myself to work on for the past little while so I’m not sure what to start next!
Anyone have any ideas for a cute a baby project with fingering weight yarn?
I’m feeling like I lost my knitting mojo. I finished the Slate Baby Blanket and just haven’t felt like picking up any more projects since. I basically have not knit anything throughout March, to me that is crazy. I’m feeling guilty that I haven’t finished the Christmas Sweater for my Brother yet. I know bad sister! But the first sleeve I started back in December had some issues with gauge and came out too short and wide, hey, I’ve never actually knit a separate sleeve before since I’ve never knit a seamed sweater before I figured I was bound to come to some sort of issue along the way, and what’s pulled me to a halt is the sleeves. So last weekend I decided to start a new sleeve all over again to just figure out where I went wrong, I got maybe 8 rows into the ribbing, put it down and haven’t picked it up again. I look at it sitting there on my coffee table going, “FINISH ME” but I’ve just lost my mojo!
I keep looking through Ravelry to try and inspire myself to knit something, or at least pick up my guilt ridden WIP but still nothing, I see things I like but when it comes to searching through my stash to start it, nope, no mojo. There has been alot going on this March so perhaps I need to cut myself some slack and just try to ignore my lack of knitting mojo, because I do know that it will come back eventually. Maybe I should think of it has a knitting holiday!
For two weeks recently my husband was back East, unfortunately his Grandfather passed away and he had to go out for the funeral and spend time with his family so I was left home alone for a while and feeling at odds, wishing I was with him and my knitting just not inspiring me I did pick up my cross stitch again. I got it from Mary Maxim about four years ago and I pick it up occasionally, work on it for a few weeks then it goes back in the cupboard until my next Cross Stitch adventure, one project can take me anywhere from 3 or so years to finish, this one is taking the longest ever, mainly because I got so hooked on knitting that I haven’t looked at my cross stitch in a very long time. It is a beautiful piece and I’m glad I remember it, a lovely scene of a mom and baby snow leopard. No pictures at the moment but I will make sure to take some soon. Eep! A photoless post!
Ah well, I hope all you knitterly people out there are enjoying much more knitting success then myself and maybe if you have a great project you think I should look at, let me know!