This Blonde Knits (& Crochets!)

FO: Sock Yarn Pram Blanket

maryheather — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:06:06 +0000

People always say that when you have kids the time goes by so fast and BOY ARE THEY RIGHT!! Today MY BABY is 12 weeks old. I honestly feel like we were just bringing her home yesterday (although some days it feels like a lifetime ago as well). Time is a tricky thing!! So imagine my shock (and horror!) when I realized that I had knit nary a stitch in over 3 months!! My baby did not arrive until 11 days after her due date, and by that point knitting was not on the top of my ‘to-do’ list. That mainly consisted of worrying that I would be pregnant forever and dreading the inevitable – having to be induced.

After she arrived, my hormones and baby haze did not really allow for much concentration on other things. If I had ‘free time’ I spent it sleeping!! Thankfully, we are starting to get adjusted around here, so I was able to pick up my needles and finish a project that I had hoped to finish before she was born. Six months after starting it, I am happy to have completed the sock yarn pram blanket!!

I am SOOO happy to have finally completed this!! I used size 6 needles and lots of different scrap amounts of sock yarn and completed about 45 repeats of the 4 row pattern. It measures approximately 29″ x 32″ – the perfect size for draping over her carseat or stroller. (Not that we need a wool blanket in Mississippi right now!) It really was a VERY quick knit. Once I picked it back up, it only took me about 3 days of knitting when I could (3o minutes to an hour, here and there) to complete about 20 or so repeats. Fortunately, I had been weaving in ends as I went along (for the most part) so that was not such a daunting task at the end.

Huge thanks to Michelle for sending me some of her left over sock yarn!! I am not a sock knitter, so the few projects that I have made that used sock yarn would NOT have made a complete blanket. She was a lifesaver for this project!!

A New World

maryheather — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:14:54 +0000

2 months ago I met this little girl

and nothing has been the same since!!

Some Christmas Knitting

maryheather — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:40:32 +0000

I have to admit that I did not do a lot of knitting for the holidays this past year – you are supposed to have more energy in your 2nd trimester (which I did) but that did not mean that I had any more FOCUS!! Therefore, Christmas gifts hand knit by me, were few and far between!! This dishtowel and 2 hot pad set was sent down to Debby in Key West – b/c really, they don’t exactly need hats and scarves down there!!

Dishtowel pattern is a free pattern from Lion Brand, Cottontail Dishtowel and the hot pads are ALSO a free pattern from Crochet Today! magazine, Your Nana’s Potholders. These were all very satisfying projects that were finished quickly!! The backs of the potholders worked up a little looser then I would have liked, thereby making them a little ‘puffy’ when they were attached together. I would not use them as proper potholders for this reason, but they will make great hotpads!!

Yarn used: Bernat handicrafter cotton in Soft Yellow, Lily Sugar N Cream in Ecru and Soft Teal. 4.5 mm hook

More to come!

Baby Bear goes to her new home

maryheather — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:03:25 +0000

It’s always nice to give someone a knitted gift that they really appreciate!

FO 6/52: Baby Bear

maryheather — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:08:27 +0000

I **finally** have a finished object to show off. I cannot even begin to tell you how behind I have gotten! Happily, this is a Christmas gift that I can get crossed off of my list AND blog about. This cute little bear is going to be for my new little cousin, Addy, who was born this past February.

The pattern is from the book, Itty – Bitty Toys, and I used just a little over 1/2 skein of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Happy Valley. Since my gauge is SO LOOSE, I used 2.5 mm needles – I always have a problem with my knit toys being so stretchy and therefore hard to stuff, so I really have to go down a couple of needle sizes from what most patterns recommend.

This was a relatively quick knit until I got to the feet – so fiddly and boring!! The legs and feet are worked in 2 pieces and then the foot is sewn onto the leg. It ends up with a cute result, but not very fun to actually perform. I kept on putting off finishing it up, but I finally bit the bullet, and just did it!! I have so few FOs to show off right now, it felt good to actually finish something even if I didn’t not enjoy the final finishing process!!

I am still plugging away on all of my weekly projects (I started #13 on Saturday) – still currently working on a lot of stuff that I can’t blog about until things are given to the intended recipient, but quite frankly, I’d have to finish something before I could do either…

FO 5/52: Scalloped Potholders

maryheather — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:08:23 +0000

I have to say, this is one pattern that I am REALLY happy with!! (If you are interested in making your own potholders, you can find the pattern HERE.)

Yarn used is Sugar N Cream confectionary colors in Cupcake, Cinnamon, and Pistachio.

I started out using a 4.0 mm for the Pistachio & Cinnamon potholder. However, when I went to join them together and sc around the outside I quickly decided that for any subsequent potholders made, I would move up to a 4.5 mm hook. I did this for the other 2 and while they are only marginally bigger, the fabric produced was much easier to work with – especially when working the FPDC. My hands thanked me!

These definitely pass the “hot pan out of the oven” test as they are super thick, and I am dying over my color combinations! I LOVE THEM!! Definitely turned out much better than expected.

You can expect to see this pattern again for gifts. I don’t know anybody that wouldn’t benefit from a nice potholder!

Christmas in July

maryheather — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:08:22 +0000

How is it already July!?! Time is moving on, so that means MORE projects to announce! I am going to take a different approach this month, as I am labeling July ‘ Christmas in July’! I am going to work diligently to get a lot of Christmas presents under my belt and out of the way so that when October, November, and December roll around I am not scrambling to get those last minute gifts accomplished. Will it work? We’ll see!!

Since I will be working on some items that can’t be shown on my blog until after they are gifted, what I am working on will be relatively secretive. However, when I can post my FOs I definitely will!!

To keep everybody relatively satisfied until my next FO post, I will leave you with some Nine-Patch Dishcloths that I recently completed.

Even though these produce about 20 ends to weave in, they are quickly becoming my favorite dishcloth pattern!! Such a great way to use up those small bits and scraps of left over dishcloth cotton! Definitely recommended!!

FO 3/52: Emmaline!!!!

maryheather — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:24:06 +0000

Well, I thought that it just could NOT be done, but in fact, I was wrong! I have knit a sweater THAT FITS!!!!

I have to admit that I am a little bit nervous about actually wearing it *somewhere* since I read so many stories about other sweaters that stretch out into an unrecognizable mess. :( Right now I am still living off of the high of actually completing something that didn’t end up in the garbage can!!

The only modifications I made are these, I had to knit for 3.5″ for the bodice instead of the 2″ the pattern called for. I was a bit surprised by this actually b/c my chest is very short and thusly, I have cleavage when I wear a scoop neck t-shirt. I am SO GLAD that I took the time to try the sweater on before just blindly following the pattern!! Since I had to knit for an additional 1.5″ at the bodice, I only had to complete 12.5″ underneath the bodice to achieve the proper length. I did this by only knitting 7 rounds during the last knit section, this section called for 12 rounds.

4 skeins of Araucania Nature Cotton was JUST enough to make the Small, leaving me a small amount of leftovers.

The only gripe I have about this knit is that the top is a little baggier than I would prefer and the back sort of puffs out when I stand up straight. Fortunately, or not, I typically have horrible posture so this probably won’t factor into being an issue. The waist increases and decreases worked for me, but I can see where a lot wouldn’t like them. I am pear shaped, therefore my waist is not typically a problem area for me. I did, however, stop and try it on after the first set of decreases to make sure that it wasn’t going to be too tight. It is definitely snug, but not **tight**. I can see where if you carry any extra weight in your stomach you’d want to do something differently there.

I did not knit a gauge swatch for this pattern; instead I used my Anthropologie Inspired Capelet as my swatch and knew that with size 11 needles I was going to end up with a really LOOSE sweater. Something I did not want. I opted for the next size down, 10 1/2. If those had been too tight, I was going to have to break down and order some 7.00 mm tips from KnitPicks.

Now that I’ve completed a successful sweater I really feel like a knitter! I am feeling much more confident and ready to take on other sweater and garment patterns!

52in52weeks: Week 5

maryheather — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:36:58 +0000

It’s hard to believe, but it’s time to announce ANOTHER week’s project!!

This week, the focus is going to be on potholders! Since we’ve just moved into a new house, I have been wanting to make lots of household things – potholders being one of them. Our current potholders are ugly and ragged, to say the least, so I am hoping to make 3 potholders using the Scalloped potholder pattern. I am ready for some new, cute potholders!!

***Emmaline is finished! Check back later this week for details on that project. It’s definitely a winner!

FO 2/52: A New Sock Monkey

maryheather — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:44:56 +0000

I have been VERY busy over the last week and I have a lot of stuff to show off this week!! I meant to post about Week 2′s project before now, but it just didn’t work out that I was able, so I am here now! This is a 2-for-1 post.

Before I got so organized doing 52in52weeks I was waffling around all over the place!! I had been wanting to make a couple of stuffies for 2 little girls I know, but could not decide on a good pattern for the oldest girl. Finally I did - A New Sock Monkey from Itty Bitty Toys. I had already chosen (and made) a pattern from that book, Wrap Me Up Puppies, for her sister.

For the monkey, the pattern calls for fingering weight self-striping yarn. I only have 1 skein of self striping yarn, which is fingering, but my gauge is also so much looser so I decided to order some Felici Self Striping Sport from Knit Picks and try it out for this pattern. I really loved it!!

I went with the color, Garden Gate. I am pretty sure there aren’t any monkeys out there in nature sporting this color scheme, but for a little 3 year old girl, I think it works out just fine! I used 3 mm needles and ended up with a monkey that is about 7.5″ when seated. I was hoping that I would be able to make 2 monkeys from this 1 skein, however I ended up using about 2/3 it. What will I do with the remaining?? I guess that is a question for another day!!

For the baby sister that loves Puppy Dogs, I opted for the Wrap Me Up Puppies.

For this project I used Bernat Satin Solids in Camel – leftover in my stash from the throw that I made my grandmother ages ago- for the puppy, and a combination of Hobby Lobby I love this Cotton in Aqua and Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Sunflower for the blanket. Another good use of stash yarn!!

Both patterns are super easy, the monkey is a little bit fiddly when working on the arms/hands/thumb, but nothing unmanageable.

Monkey and Puppy all ready to go to their new home!!!