back on granny square train

After a good long year and change, I pulled out this project this week and finished the last 3 squares. I am connecting them up and considering how much of a border the blanket needs to pull it all together. 

WIP: 23/36 done

the baby has already beat me to the finish line!  d'oh!

i did get a bunch more squares done on my trip this weekend, where it occurred to me that this baby will have a blanket created in my office, at my home, late at night, at knitlunch, and while in the backseat of a rental car while traveling cross country. i even did one square in the dark, checking my stitches by holding up the square to the light of oncoming cars!

he may have beat me, but i'm still determined to come in a close second!

WIP: a quick dotdotdot blanket update

 

 13 of 36 squares finished so far.

i only get 3 squares from each little ball of white

so i ordered 10 more balls--just in case.

weedle wants me to change the colours to orange/black/white...and add rolly eyes.

WIP: final square design x 4

i redesigned my square pattern a little bit:  the circle is now about 3.5 inches in diameter and the the finished square is 5 inches. i deleted the large holes in the corner,  added diagonal ridges like the ridges in the circle. they are coming out more reliably now.

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!

yarnin' time!

it's autumn and autumn is yarnin' time!

i have a project mapped out, a deadline and yarns being shipped to me from knitpicks.  i even spent the evening working up a sample square. the piece is a baby shower gift, but, unfortunately, the shower is tomorrow afternoon. i hope to get it done before the baby arrives! 

i whipped a few fleece projects this summer. here is one of a pair of long fingerless gloves in dark orange. i built my own pattern by measuring my hand and arm.  they are wonderfully snug and toasty.

earlier, i tried my hand at quilting to design this minecraft-inspired pillow.  one side is a "creeper" and the other is a "slime".

i'll get a picture of that sample square up as soon as i can.  it's good to be back on the needles...or hook, in this case!

FO: final shots of the teensy sweaters

i've been taking a break from yarning to work on ideas for an upcoming crochet project, but in the meantime, i thought i would post my own photos of the last projects on violet's doll. the folk in the back are long time members of my office knitting group. we've been meeting every wednesday for about 6 years and most of us learned to knit from one of our coworkers. not everyone works on a project every week, but we meet regardless to catch up and chat!
 

note: the doll's dress was sewn by violet's unstoppably craftastic mom, robyn!

FO: teensy sweater #2!

voila!  i feel like this little sweater brought me all the way from beginner knitter to intermediate in one leap and i lurve how it came out.  the doll gets to try it on next week.  hopefully, it will not be too big or too wonky.

FO: teensy sweater #1!

this sweater came out great and it fits the american doll for which it was intended! i actually finished it quite a while ago, but i held out on finishing it until teensy sweater #2 was finished.  it is so soft and sweet, i wish it fit ME!

WIP: teensy sweater #1

my friend robyn asked if i could whip up two sweaters for her daughter's american doll.  i am using a crochet pattern she found and after trying out a couple of locally purchased yarns (one acrylic lace weight and one cotton sport weight), i ordered some knitpicks "comfy" (75% cotton/25%acrylic) in fingering weight.  the cotton blend gives really nice stitch definition on this lacy pattern and is such a pleasure to handle!  the yarn tests really helped me sort out the pattern and i think this will roll along nicely now.

i found a few more amazing little sweater patterns on ravelry that are knitted with cables.  i might try one of those, too!

FO: Mini-Witch Hat!

I created this tiny witch hat for my friend, Addreamy to wear at the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows, Pt. 2  I was very pleased that it came out as nice as it did. And yep, I made up the pattern myself but nope, I never bothered to write it down. Still I feel it is...

Gold Star Worthy!

alligator complete!

the waffle pattern took up a lot of yarn and made a very warm, squishy scarf! the final dimensions are 6" x 49.5". i am actually surprised it is only 6 inches wide, since at one point, i would have guessed it would have been about 9 inches wide, but the "squares" became more like rectangles under to the weight of the hanging scarf. i wonder if that would have been the case if i can stuck with the crosswise pattern. hmm...

regardless, i am pleased with the finished object and i think my mom, who lives in a wintery clime, will appreciated the heftiness very much...probably all the way into the month of may!

deliciously waffly thermal scarf

my mum asked me to make her a scarf and after i looked at a bunch of prospective patterns, the choice came down to the van ness scarf and lion brand's thermal scarf pattern. i first took a stab at the van ness using caron simply soft yarn, but the results seemed a bit more decorative than soft. i switched over to the other pattern and mmm! i like it. :) i think mum will like it too; the waffle squares are so soft and springy!

bonus: i get to use that front post double crochet stitch i just learned for the divine hat!

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

the hoodie in progress

this is the hooded baby cardigan i am working on. it was designed by mon petit violon, i wish i had used a lighter colour other than grey for the alternate colour, but hopefully, once the placket trim is down the front, i will be more satisified. i am about to add the hood now, so there is still quite a bit of stripey goodness to come. i would say i was about 2/3 of the way finished. not a hard pattern at all. stripes are definitely fun since they have that little "woohoo" feeling at the completion of every colour change.

even the solid bits have the wavy pattern.

double strap booties for hudson

eric's baby shower is friday and his boy is getting these double strap booties in colours borrowed from eric's artwork. both colours are from vanna white's collection and i especially like the grey marble. such a great nubbly yarn full of hairs and weirdness--just like eric!
this is actually my 4th completed pair of double straps. for nearly a whole month they stood almost finished--except for the buttons. i had to give them a long break after they made me rip them apart and redo the straps. but now, they are done and i am giving this pattern a rest.

my first real sweater!

here is the finished Cecily Cardigan! it was pretty easy to do, although you need to stay on top of counting better than i typically do. i had to tear out and redo several bits. nonetheless, it is my first ever sweater! i want to try this pattern again.

the shower is tuesday. i hope the mom makes it! she is looking quite done with pregnancy. :D

olive's cecily baby cardigan

my co-worker cube-neighbor gina is about 25 days from her due date and i am making the lovely cecily baby cardigan for her daughter-to-be (aka olive).gina has had a tough first pregnancy with gestational diabetes, high blood pressure and heavy swelling and i realized today that gina and i are now in a race to see who finishes first their "project" first! i did make some headway today: i stopped at hobby lobby and bought some pretty caron simply soft yarn in aqua mist, then crocheted up to row 5 on the yoke.

recent works

double strap baby booties for little augustus born this summer.

a tiramisu leithifold...uh, blanket for wee william!

and a pair of huffleshoes for baby quinn!