Thursday, October 29, 2009

More Baby Knitting

I finished the knitting for co-worker baby #2.  It took me some time to pick out patterns, but I finally ended up with the pixie hat from Crystal Palace.  What's not to love about a baby in a pointy hat? 

Pattern:  Pixie Hat (ravelry link)
Yarn:  King Cole Merino Blend (white) and Sandnes Garn Smart (lime)
Mods:  Adapted for DK weight yarn by casting on less stitches.  Didn't knit and sew on the bottom border.  Instead, I picked up stitches along the back and front (2 stitches per knit section and 1 per purl section) and did a seed stitch edging (6 rows at the back, 4 along the front).  (I can't take credit for the seed stitch border idea ... I saw lots of examples on Ravelry that inspired me).  The ties I made by casting on 75 stitches then immediately casting them off using a p2tog cast-off.


The booties are the same as for baby #1.  I wanted to make them in green, but one skein wouldn't stretch that far.  In fact, I only have a little left from each skein after making the hat and booties.


Yarn: King Cole Merino Blend (white) and Sandnes Garn Smart (lime)
Mods: Adapted for DK weight yarn.


This was my first time using the magic loop method - hello, where have I been?  Talk about simple, no dpn's all over the place and best of all, no ladders.  I can't wait to try this with a pair of socks.


All pictures are pre-blocked, so they should look even sweeter once I give them a nice soaking.


I think I'll take a break before tackling baby #3's knitting.  Something for myself maybe.  A skein of malabrigo sock I picked up is calling my name ...

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Just because ... I wanted to join the vignette party

I'm joining Donna's Vignette Party over at Funky Junk Interiors.







Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special



These are just a few gatherings I have around the house.  


The first is my new coffee table tray. I've never had anything on here because the trunk is also our liquor cabinet. We rarely use it, but it's awkward to offer a guest a drink and then make them wait while we unload a bunch of stuff off the top. So I found this tray at Home Sense (love) and now I can just pick up the whole shebang if I need to get into it.




I recently redid my mantle.  It is very narrow so decorating it is always a challenge.  I repainted the candle tray a few weeks ago (it used to be cranberry) and added the numbers.  I added the little white pumpkins today, which is the extent of fall/Halloween decorating in my house.

























This vignette sits atop my hallway shelf thing we got from a friend.  I can't give a full shot of this beautiful piece because it's a mess.  I live with teenagers, enough said.






This is a little grouping of cream and sugar dishes that all belonged to my grandparents.  They are on the bottom shelf of my dining room plate rack.





For some really great inspiration head over the Funky Junk Interiors to see the rest of the party goers.


(my apologies if the text is small with huge spaces in between - blogger is being mean to me.)




Friday, October 23, 2009

Just because ... everyone is pregnant at Dave's work!

Well, not everyone, but five people are expecting babies and there are under 20 people in the department. When he told me about the first one, I was so excited to have an excuse to do some baby knitting. Enter the blanket ...





This one is basically my design, inspired by many others. All told the yarn cost about $75 and I was thinking, hmmm, that's a bit steep for a co-worker.


Then ... we heard about baby #2. Okay, I can whip up another blanket, but this time I'll use cheaper yarn. Still don't have a picture of it, but it's Serenity. No problem, except although it's superwash, it HAS to be blocked to look right. Hmmm, what if the mom doesn't want to block it. So now I'm starting to doubt the whole baby blanket thing.


Then ... we heard about babies 3, 4 and 5. Yes FIVE. That's it, no blankets. So, at the last minute I'm scrambling to knit booties and hats, because these babies are on their way.


First, I knit up a pair of blue steps. This pattern is brilliant!  Using a figure eight cast on is tricky, but totally worth not having to seam up the bottom.  And half-brioche stitch ... love it.







To go with them, I used the Sweet Baby Cap pattern. 










They have been delivered to the parents and baby #1 has arrived. (it's a boy, as expected).  











More on baby #2 knitting next post ........