Monday, November 23, 2009

Even more cute babies in hats!


zoe-pumpkinhat1
Originally uploaded by knitswithasilentk
Wondering what to get for a knitter friend? Look no further than these awesome sheepy flannel sheets!

Here is the recipient of the pumpkin hat. It fits! She's approximately 4 months old now. She wears it beautifully.

Here's another silly photo:zoe-pumpkinhat3

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Continuing our parade of modeled knitwear...

I've had the fortune of getting lots of photographs of modeled knitwear that I've given away. Here's Tim S., the recipient of the Northwestern Football Hat and Booties. He's now 3 months old and the hat fits perfectly!

In this photo, I think he's shouting, "Go Cats!"

northwestern-football-hat-and-booties

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Another YABH in action!


Zoe M.
Originally uploaded by knitswithasilentk
Here is the sweet recipient of the Pumpkin Hat, when she was first born. She wore it home from the hospital and it became her mom's favorite hat.

I'm struggling with a name for my hat. I'm thinking of writing it up as a free pattern. I haven't had anyone ask for it, but I'm making so many I thought I'd write it up for my own edification.

I had been calling it "birth hat", as in put it on right at birth instead of the hospital-issued one. Trek dubbed it "Who Hat" but I want to avoid any copyright problems.

I want it to imply that it is for very young babies, just born. I have some ideas:
  • Natal

  • Soft Spot
What do you think? Do you have any name suggestions?

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

FO: YABH and Sweet Pea Shoes

A family friend is having a little girl in early December, and so I decided to make my signature "birth hat" (I guess I'm calling it Yet Another Baby Hat, or YABH, at the moment) in red with a little snowflake embroidered on it. Then Crazy Aunt Purl blogged about the cutest little Mary Jane booties, and I started searching Ravelry.

I found Baby Sweet Pea and I was done for. Paid, downloaded, and cast on. With about a week to finish, I thought I could make it.

I did. But I was weaving in the morning of the shower, whilst TLD was playing with his grandparents and great-aunt and uncle. I was going to finish the night before except TLD woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep in his crib. Actually, after an hour and a half, I put him down crying and went to finish the cast-off! That turned out to be fortuitous because The Sweetie watched TLD on the monitor and noticed he was grabbing his mouth. We double teamed him, gave him Tylenol, and he nursed and went to sleep beautifully. But I was shot and had to weave in the next morning.

Hat:
Pattern: My own, birth hat or Who hat or what have you. 1x1 ribbing with an I-cord knot at the top.
Needles: size 5, Addi turbo 12", Lantern Moon dpns.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, a tiny amount of KnitPicks Swish DK for the embroidery.

Booties:
Pattern: Baby Sweet Pea, by Bekah Knits
Needles: Size 1, Knit Picks 16" circular for the shoes, and Lantern Moon dpns.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, KnitPicks Swish DK for the socks and embroidery.

Notes: I used a tubular cast-on for the hat. It is definitely a much neater edging than the picot cast-on I used to use, so I'm sold on tubular. Next time I'm going to try KnitTech's tubular cast-on. The snowflake felt wonky but looks great from a distance.

For the shoes, my previous attempt at a Bekah Knits pattern turned out really big, so I took some insurance out and went down a needle size. The second shoe's embroidery was a little wonky too but I was in a hurry. I also was playing it fast and loose (as it were) using DK yarn for the socks, when it called for fingering, but my experience with the KP Swish DK was that it squished down quite a bit. The result is the ankles are nice and stretchy but I think small enough to hug a newborn's ankles, and the shoes are just around 4 to 4.5 inches, which is roomy but I think it'll work for an under 1-month-old. They'll look cute and they'll probably stay on, and after all it doesn't matter to me. They were a hit at the shower and that's all that matters to me. Well, I'd love to get a modeled photograph when the baby is born.

Here's a close-up of the shoes:

Sweet Pea Shoes

The grandmother-to-be exclaimed, "I want a pair for myself!" It's possible, given that the cashmerino comes in Aran weight....I'd have to improvise it myself, although I'd probably start with the Adult size Moc-a-soc to begin with. Hmmmm....But it will have to wait until I'm done with two Christmas stockings.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

YABH in action!


joey-hat1
Originally uploaded by knitswithasilentk
Here, at long last, is a modeled photo of Yet Another Baby Hat! This is my brand-new nephew (will have to come up with an appropriate screen name, as I anticipate more handknits for him) wearing the hat I made and and forgot to take a photo of.

Such beautiful eyes! Must be related to my own TLD.

My, my! Looks like the hat is getting a little small already!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

FO: NICU blanket for Kathy

Here it is, the NICU blanket for KathyB's "cookie sheet" blanket drive. She got 39 blankets!

Pattern: Official Son of Dish Rag Tag dishcloth pattern, only with 6 repeats (12 squares) instead of 4. Then it seemed like it was too wide to be 9" (it was) so I decided that I'd knit it to be 9" long, 4 repeats (8 squares). Turned out to be approximately 8 x 11.
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease, sportweight.
Needles: Size 7, KnitPicks Options.

I didn't even block it, just sent it out like this.

Here's my package for KathyB. I included a tchotchke: a solar-powered keychain that blinks her name!

Package for Kathy

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

FO: Dishcloth for Kathy


Dishrag for Kathy
Originally uploaded by knitswithasilentk
A while ago, KathyB over at Irisheyes knitting gave up dishcloth knitting and wanted to give her dishcloth cotton stash away. She had a lot of offers to knit a dishcloth for her, but no one else said they'd take her stash. It's mine!

In return, I knit Kathy a dishcloth. I chose my very favorite dishcloth pattern, and I selected from her ample supply of cotton a colorway that included brown, blue, and white. Brown for the dirt it cleans away, blue for the water, and white for the clean!

Pattern: Garterlac dishcloth (pdf) by Criminy Jickets
Needle: Size 7 KnitPicks Options
Yarn: Sugar 'n' Creme

Love it! I sent it along with the NICU blanket. Stay tuned....

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Dishrag Tag


Dishrag Tag
Originally uploaded by knitswithasilentk
Here is the lovely dishcloth that my teammate Beverly (IL) sent me. We love the marled green and white color! The Emergency Sock Knitting Kit included some folded scissors, stitch markers, a coil-less safety pin (I've heard of them but never actually seen one) and some other useful things. TLD went for the tin immediately so I took the loot out and let him play with the box for a while.

We've put the dishcloth to good use and it has so far escaped any injury- that yarn must be made of steel!

A great pattern and a really fun swap. Thanks again, Emily, for organizing this fun event!

Monday, November 2, 2009

FO: Pumpkin hat


Pumpkin hat
Originally uploaded by knitswithasilentk
A while ago, I made a hat for the new baby of a couple that The Sweetie once had as students. Two months later, the mom told me she was sad because her daughter was wearing their "favorite pink hat" probably for the last time, because it was getting too small.

I had to return such appreciation with another hat!

Pattern: Little Pumpkin, from Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan Anderson.
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy, "Flamingo Pie". I had most of a skein leftover from swapping out the pinkish colors for rainbow colors on the Paintbox sweater. The other colors for the leaf, the curl, and the stem, were also leftover from that sweater.
Needle: U.S. 7, probably my first needle and Bryspun DPNs.
Notes: I found someone had made the curly as an add-on on Ravelry, so I added it.

I love this hat! The yarn is a perfect color for all of the parts. I love the Dream in Color yarn and how rich the semi-solids look when knitted up. I'm going to have to make more of these (perhaps next year) and get more yarn for the stem and leaves.

I dropped it off but haven't yet gotten a modeled shot. I made the smallest size, which turned out kind of big (I usually end up with bigger than the size) but hopefully it can be worn this year with the brim turned up and next year with it turned down.