Legwarmies

I'm at the point in life where nearly everyone I know is having babies. So, I'm always looking for baby gift ideas. I've been excited to try out Legwarmies by Alana Dakos. I finally did and I love them!

I used some of the extra yarn to make a "Spring" Baby Headband to match...

...and still had enough yarn to make a pair for my 6 year old's Birthday. She was so excited to have a pair in time for crazy sock day at school.
(I might even have enough yarn left over for one more pair!)

"Mason" Cabled Baby Blanket

Whew, I’m glad to be done with this blanket. It’s been an extremely frustrating project. (but I did learn a lot!)
First of all, I ordered the yarn online for the first time. I didn’t love it. Even after researching a lot of projects made with this color, it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. You can tell by the pictures that it looks very different in different light settings. But I was making it for a baby due in June and I didn’t want to go through the hassle of returning and re-ordering and knitting a gift last minute… so I stuck with it. I really didn’t love knitting with this yarn either. It was splitty and I didn’t like the way it knit up. I choose the yarn based on other comments, and for washability, but I wish I’d used a blend or a washable wool.
I really wanted to make a simple stockinette blanket with cables down the sides but the curse of the stockinette curl haunted me. After several swatches I thought I’d be safe with a small garter stitch boarder that I could attach an I cord boarder to. At first it seemed to be working, but after I was a substantial way though the blanket, it became clear to me that the edges were going to curl… border or not.
I kept knitting anyway, hoping it would be fixable in the end. When I finished, I pretty much hated the blanket and told my husband to throw it out while I was at work. He asked, “Can’t you block it or something?” (Bless his heart, he's learning knitting terms!) I decided to give it a try, but I know acrylic doesn’t really block in the traditional sense, so I used an iron on steam setting and placed a cloth between the blanket and the iron and killed the border until it stayed flat. I've never killed anything before, but I have to say, I kind of liked it.
Done. And Done.

Selling My First Pattern!

The pattern for my "June" Reversible Cables Baby Blanket can be purchased through Ravelry. Just click HERE.

"Totem" Cabled Hat

I recently wrote up the pattern for this little newborn hat. I think I'll eventually make an adult sized one. I had fun playing around with several different cables. I. Love. Cables. In the end, the cables made me think of totem poles, hence the name.

Back view

Hats for the Nieces

I just finished making hats for my nieces, Abby and Lexie. I adjusted Grumperina's Odessa hat pattern to fit a 5 year old:

I love the look of this hat!

I adjusted Sofiya Cremin's Butterfly Hat pattern to fit a 7 year old.

I also added a few of the left over beads from the Odessa, because Maddie said that Abby would be sad if her hat wasn't as "pretty" as Lexie's. Apparently when you're a little girl, beads = pretty.

"Oliver" Jogless Stipes Hat

By: Amy Andersen

Never done jogless stripes before? Don’t worry, they are easy to do and written into the pattern for you.

Free Pattern

Materials Used:

3 different colored skeins (approximately 60 yards of each) of Plymouth Encore worsted weight yarn or worsted weight yarn of choice

1- 16 inch US #2 circular needle

1- 16 inch US #4 circular needle, or size needed to obtain gauge.

1- 24 inch (or longer) US #4 needle, for decreases done using magic loop method, or US #4 double point needles

1- Stitch marker

1- Tapestry needle

Size: Mens, approx. size 22-23'' head.

Gauge: 5.75 sts. per inch or 23 sts. and 33 rows per 4 square inches in stockinette stitch with size 4 needle.

Abbreviations:

K2tog = Knit two stitches together

SL1p= Slip one stitch purl-wise

Note: This hat is designed to covers ears completely, if you prefer a shorter hat, you could modify by doing one fewer repeat of rounds 9-14.

Pattern:

Using size 2 needle, CO: 114 in color #1, place marker and join in round

Rounds 1-8: K2, P1

Change to size 4 needle and color #2

Round 9: Knit round

Round 10: SL1p, knit remaining round

Rounds 11-14: Knit round

Change to color #3, Repeat rounds 9-14

Change to color #1, Repeat rounds 9-14

Change to color #2, Repeat rounds 9-14

Change to color #3, Repeat rounds 9-14

Change to color #1, Repeat rounds 9-13

Decreases: (Piece should measure approx. 5 ½ inches)

Round 1: K6, *K2tog, K10* (105 sts. remaining)

Round 2: Change to color #2, knit round

Round 3: SL1p, knit remainder of round

Round 4: K3, *K2tog, K9* K2tog, K1 (95 sts. remaining)

Rounds 5-6: Knit round

Round 7: K6, *K2tog, K8* K2tog, K7 (86 sts. remaining)

Round 8: Change to color #3 then knit round

Round 9: SL1p, knit remainder of round

Round 10: K4, *K2tog, K7* K1 (77 sts. remaining)

Round 11: Knit round

Round 12: K2, *K2tog, K6* K2tog, K1 (67 sts. remaining)

Round 13: Knit round

Round 14: Change to color #1, *K2tog, K5*, K2tog, K2 (57 sts. remaining)

Round 15: SL1p, knit remainder of round

Round 16: K2, *K2tog, K4*, K1 (48 sts. remaining)

Round 17: Knit round

Round 18: K1, *K2tog, K3* K2tog (38 sts. remaining)

Round 19: Knit round

Round 20: *K2tog* (19 sts. remaining)

Round 21: *K2tog*, knit last stitch of round together with first stitch of next round.

Round 22: *K2tog* until 6 sts. remain. Cut yarn leaving a tail. With tapestry needle, draw yarn through remaining 6 sts. Pull tight, knot. Weave in ends.

After knitting my husband some mittens (seen below), I had some yarn left over and he requested a hat to match, so this is what I came up with. On a side-note, his name isn’t Oliver, but the colors he chose reminded me of olives.

Used "Warmest Mittens" pattern by Kris Percival.

"June" Reversible Cables Baby Blanket

By: Amy Andersen


I designed this blanket because I love cables, but I don’t like there to be a “wrong side” of a blanket. So I made a reversible cables baby blanket.

It's currently in the testing phase, but I hope to have it up for sale soon!