WIP: baby blanket - sample square #4

this is the fourth square sample i've crocheted working out a baby blanket pattern.  the yarn has not arrived yet, so keep in mind, these are not the final colours.

after i sewed two of these together as just to see what they would look like, i decided this large dot would be overwhelming on a baby blanket. in the final piece, i will keep the circle down to 4 inches and add another row on the outside border to keep the square the same size.

another concern i had was for the holes in the corners.  i'll be eliminating those in the finish. i don't want baby fingers or toes getting stuck!

FO: nigel, the nautilus

 

finally, nigel is complete!  

he now has over twice as the tentacles, a shorter head, a tighter curl and the additional triangle flap that rests over his eyes, giving him a devious look at certain angles!  this was a very fun and easy project.  the only reason it took so long to complete was a balled up schedule. however, he got my client's squeeze of approval tonight and i am very pleased!

 watch out!  nigel is giving you "the eye"!

WIP: nautie-alien!

still working on this one.

i followed the pattern, however, my "client" has requested a few changes:  a smaller head, a tighter curl, many more tentacles and big eyes on the sides.


if you take a look at the real deal, his suggestions are very good.

he should know!  the nautilus has long been near the top of his "favorite animal" list!

WIP: noah-keet

the "client" gave me feedback tonight and so far he likes the shape of first one on the left. i personally would like to add stripes, but since i am going for cute-cute, i might just keep it super simple.

i'll just save the back-of-the-head stripes for my own personal 'keet!

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noah looks like this dilute blue budgie.

First Forays into Stranded Knitting

trying out stranded colourwork by doing continental style knitting with the green yarn and english with the blue! actually, it is not hard at all. i watched eunny's demo and just had at it.

to keep my eye focused on one line of the pattern grid at a time, i cut a skinny window in a 3x5 note card and slide it down as i go . "crimson and clover" is the name of this pattern and i found it in vogue knitting stitchionary 3.

next time, i will try steeking to see how that works. :)

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also on the needles:

i accidentally cut a hole in some of my yarn while struggling to sew my nautie's head on his shell. argh. i'll need to tear out about 2 inches and re-knit, but i am really quite close to finishing him. (he has lots of tickly tentacles!)

i am also working on an amigurumi version of noah, our parakeet. unfortunately, the pattern i bought offline has not worked out to my satisfaction so far. i will need to tweak it--tweak it good!

i also learned how to do the tubular cast-on required by the fingerless glove pattern i mentioned a few posts ago. i used this video by interweave. i think i will start them tonight!

...

the waffle transfigured into an alligator

the previously posted waffle scarf was frogged due to pattern-inherent-edge-wonkiness. instead, i decided to use the same stitch lengthwise and so far, i am much more pleased! now the scarf looks a lot less like a big lumpy waffle and a lot more like...

(see! he's smiling! he likes it, too.)
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i also started another scarf experiment with some brilliant turquoise stash yarn. i used this same seed stitch crocheting a tawashi a few years ago and wondered if it would make a nice scarf. it is not very thick, so i decided double it up by making the stitch in the round.


it is about 9.5" wide and once i get it to a decent length, i will close up the ends. we'll see then if it needs some sort of end treatment--fringe or the like.

Hattish Goodness!

i love the colours of this yarn!

i actually had a few more rows on it earlier today, but after giving it a test drive this morning up on my big fat head, i decided i needed to make it fit a bit better and reworked it over lunch. even as thin and lacy as it is, it is really warm.

bring on those single digit temps!

sweater PWNage!

the hooded cardigan is finished!

i really like it. i think it has a nice overall boyishness. :)

purdy pearly grey buttons!

i confess, due to not-very-neat turning, my edges were not perfect enough to start the placket with ordinary single crochet stitches as per the instructions. instead, i ended up using a line of slip stitches along the edge to give me nice straight line on the front of the sweater. then, i worked single crochet all the way through the front layer and up through the front loops of the neatly done slip stitches. it isn't perfect, but i thought it was a pretty good save for a beginner...and it kind of gave the placket edges some oomph!

i sized up to a J hook and used worsted weight yarn instead of the hook and yarn weight recommended by the designer. that upped the size to 9 months easily (maybe even as big as 12 months.) i was shooting for something this kid can wear next winter and i think i pwn'd it!

oh, by the way, here are some nice measurement references i just found:
baby sizes and other assorted sizes including toddler

my version's final closed-button dimensions:

19” chest
11” length
10”from edge of neckline to end of sleeve
hood: front edge is 15” diameter and 8.5” deep