Back to crochet

I made yet another pinwheel for a colleague of mine who had become a first time grandmom. As you can see it has been kid tested :) I also made these two washcloths to go along with the blanket. With crochet, I always have to brush up my basics. But crochet is definitely faster than knitting. I chained on 20 sts and did double crochet throughout.

A baby changes everything!

Pattern: Joseph's Blankie of Many Colors from Mason Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Baby in Pink Poodle, Goldfish, Duckie, Sweet Pea, Aqua, Bluebell one skein each. [3.50 oz./100 g (170 yd/156 m)]
Needle: US #11 32 inch circulars.

I knit this for a very precious little baby. This blankie is an easy knit. I love anything that doesn't require a lot of finishing. This project is definitely easy. You just pick up sts and keep knitting till you are happy with the size. I used most of the yarn. A lot of prayer for sufficient yarn went into the sweet pea border that I knit all around. I really didn't want to have to go and buy another skein at the wee end. Thank God it got done with just a couple of inches of the yarn left.

Blanket

Pattern: Pinwheel Baby Blanket
Yarn: Lion Brand Jiffy in White 1/4 a skein, Caron Simply Soft in Soft Yellow less than 1 skein, Red Heart Worsted Weight in Light Blue 3/4 skein, Mainstays in Pale Blue 1/2 skein.
Needle: US #8 DPNs and 36 inch circulars.
Notions: 9+1 stitch markers to place after the yarnover in each section. Always keep one stitch marker in a different color from the rest, for the beginning of the round.

Back to the present

Here's the tree I was talking about. Majestic isn't it? And happy birthday to a friend of mine - S. God Bless you!

After all the detailing of my past projects. Its time to show you what I knit recently. I hadn't been knitting for a few months. You could attribute it to boredom. But then a friend of mine wanted to learn to knit. As though I owned the store I proudly took her around ACMoore and showed her the yarn. I dutifully taught her how to pick a yarn, what needle to use, how to make the knit stitch. Well we got that far and she has half a scarf to show for that. Teaching her really sparked something in me and I knit another pinwheel blanket for an expecting friend of mine. I was a little doubtful about the color combination after about 300 sts. But I had come too far to turn back. I was praying that it wouldn't look like an Italian flag. I kept telling myself that its a choice between gift or donate. If it looked not so great it will be donated, if it looked decent it will fulfill its original purpose. But I have to say it looked quite nice - maybe not baby colors but it is for a boy, so I guess its not too bad. So I shipped it off to my friend. She called to say that she liked it. If momma's happy, then everybody is happy.
Pattern: Pinwheel Baby Blanket
Yarn: Lion Brand Jiffy in White half a skein, Lion Brand Wool Ease in Cranberry 1.5 skeins, green yarn -brand unknown but color fantastic
Needle: US #8 DPNs and 36 inch circulars.
Notions: 9+1 stitch markers to place after the yarnover in each section. Always keep one stitch marker in a different color from the rest, for the beginning of the round.

I wanted to do a quick project with some Peaches 'n Creme yarn that I had. God has blessed me with a memory that serves me well. I remembered the baby kimono from Mason Dixon. This is what came out of my knitting. I got a little worried that the yarn may be insufficient so I went and got some red yarn as insurance. The 2 skeins of Fiesta ombre would have been sufficient. But I went ahead and added the red yarn for both sides of the front bottom. I think it kind of gives some definition to the variegated yarn. I still haven't blocked it or attached the ribbon. I will add a picture with the finished details soon. The beauty of this project, is the need for minimal finishing. All you have to do is sew up the side seams. I am not a fan of finishing, thats why its been over a month and I still haven't attached the ribbon. So for people like me, the fewer things to sew up= a happier knitter.

Pattern: One Piece Baby Kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Peaches 'n Creme 2 skeins Fiesta Ombre, little bit of Red.
Needle: US #6

Pinwheel Baby Blanket

Here is the pinwheel baby blanket that I knit for my very special little nephew. Blankets take forever to knit and this one would have too IF I had had an indefinite completion date. But this was needed to be knit in 14 days. I think I knit it in 8 of those 14 days and I averaged 5.5 hrs of knitting on the last 4 of those 8 days! I was praying that my hand wont pop out of its socket or something. From about 240 sts onwards it was a slow process and towards the end it got to a crawl. I stopped the increases at 450 stitches because I couldn't stand it anymore and it turned out that, had I gone further I wouldn't have had time to finish it. It was just 'in the knit of time' - if I say so myself.

The diameter was 42 inches, which was ample. I was almost tempted to keep it for myself, because the white Jiffy yarn and the cranberry Wool Ease yarn were originally meant for an adult afghan that I wanted to knit for myself. That never materialized, so soon the rest of the yarn will be transformed into a similar baby blanket. I am very very happy with this blanket, the knitting was frenzied but the outcome was 100% completely satisfying.

For more inspiration go to Flickr.

Pattern: Pinwheel Baby Blanket
Yarn: Lion Brand Jiffy in White 3 skeins, Lion Brand Wool Ease in Cranberry a little over a skein, a little bit of Hometrends/Style yarn from Walmart in Pale Blue.
Needle: US #8 DPNs and 36 inch circulars.
Notions: 9+1 stitch markers to place after the yarnover in each section. Always keep one stitch marker in a different color from the rest, for the beginning of the round.

Ladies and Gentlemen Presenting...............

Here are some more of my finished objects:

I knit these baby mittens for my cute little Su-boy. I used a pattern from a very old book I found at the library.I don't remember the name of the book - Knitting for the Family by Carolyn Carr
Yarn: Lion Brand Microspun in Lily White - 1 skein
Needles: Dont remember! Probably size 6 or 7


While hunting for yarn, I came across this pattern on the yarn label and I fell in love with it. Ok maybe I fell in love with the cute little baby wearing it. Come on who doesn't succumb to temptations that come in small bundles?
Pattern: Softee Baby Jacket. You can find it at Bernat.com but you have to register.
Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby in Prettiest Pink - 1 skein
Needles: U.S. #6



All the above hats are made using the same pattern - Gusto 10 Rolled Brim Hat. I have made several more using the same pattern because its a 2 hour quick and easy pattern!
Pattern: Gusto 10 Rolled Brim Hat
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick in Navy, Charcoal . Jiffy Thick & Quick in Ozarks.
Needles: U.S. #15, 16 inch circular.



Right now I am not in a position to talk about these blankets. I am traumatized by simplicity, boredom and hours and hours of garter. I hereby declare that I will NOT EVER reproduce this pattern. I have already done it too many times to mention. I made them for some very lovely moms-to-be.

Pattern: Easy Baby Blanket. I am sure this is a free pattern floating around somewhere, because it was a word of mouth pattern given to me, so I am going to give it to you anyway.

Cast on 5 sts.
Row1: K5
Row2: K 3, YO, knit to end.
Repeat Row2 till you get 144 sts or however many you want.
Just a hint to determine what size you want, at 144 sts you have completed half of your blanket.

K2, K2TOG, YO, K2TOG, Knit to end.

Repeat above row till you get to 7 sts.

K2, K2TOG, K2TOG, knit to end.

Bind off and gift to a tired yet grateful mom.

A similar one is available at the Lionbrand site. Its called Baby Love Diagonal Baby Blanket.
Yarn: Mainstays Crafts in Pale Blue and Baby Mint 10-12 oz., Red Heart Giant Multicolor in Girly Print - 1 skein
Needles: U.S. #11 circular


This was meant to be a new born hat. But the little one was too little for it at that time. He did wear it later on though.
Pattern: Who cares!!
Yarn: TLC Amore in Sand & Fantasy Yarns Cashmere Luxury Chunky 3/4 skein
Needles: No idea probably US 8 (I was trying to knit tight to get the gauge I wanted)