Owl Love You Forever

I needed a quick little baby gift set, so that I could wing it on it's way up North... enter the "Hoot Cardigan" by Brenna Kotar.



I had almost a whole skein of the Berroco Vintage Breezeway left over from the Breezeway wrap, and since it is soft and machine washable (and Blue!), I thought it would be perfect.  However, after only a couple rows into the pattern, I started noticing some problems.  I thought I would write down all my notes in case I want to make another someday.

This pattern really is hard to understand as written, in my opinion… which is really a shame, because it is so cute.

• This pattern calls for you to cast on with an I-Cord cast on… very simple, and has a nice, finished look. However, in the I-cord cast on you should only cast on one additional stitch rather than two, in order to have your stitch count come out accurately in the end.
• Row 2 should have 4 “kf&b before and after every marker”. (Pattern only has you doing this 3 times instead of 4).
• You need to remember to work the owl cable pattern on the WS rows. This isn’t mentioned in the pattern.
• I used the "cabling without a cable needle" method as described by grumperina, which really makes those little owls a piece of cake!

Sleeves:

• Pattern says to knit sleeves until they are 0.5” short of desired length (but no mention of actual length/per size). I was making the newborn size, and off the internet, this corresponds to 4” as measured from the underarm.
• Also, I didn’t like that there wasn’t any arm shaping here, so this is what I did - Using magic loop, pick up all held stitches on scrap yarn, plus 7 under the arm (5 cast on stitches, plus 1 additional stitch on either side of these stitches to close any gaps. I put a marker in the center of these stitches to mark where I was going to decrease.)
• I did a decrease row as follows: Knit to 2 sts before marker, ssk, pass marker, k2tog (decreasing the sleeve by 2 stitches). I repeated this decrease row every 6 stitches, a total of 4 times. Then I added 2 rows of garter stitch, binding off purl-wise on a knit row so the bind off blended into the garter stitch cuff. 

I also decided to add on this darling little owl cabled hat, Aly's Owls by Diana Dzendzeluk and some worsted weight socks Ribbed Far-Away Baby Socks by Amber Ward (I love the look of booties... but they never seem to stay on, and thus aren't very practical in my opinion!)

Here is the finished set after some steam blocking the make the little owls pop!

Roses for K

Well, after being stuck on shawls and scarves for quite a while, I had to knit up another little baby cardigan using Cardigan Rose by Abi Taylor



My local yarn store had these little lovelies in the 40% off bin .... and I knew they would be perfect :)

I did a gauge swatch with size 4's as suggested, but just like always, I ended up getting gauge with size 3 needles (I ALWAYS have to go down one size…I just need to remember that! at 5.5 st/in).

Also, I had to rip-out the "one row buttonhole" approximately 8 times (the first time, I had to rip back about 5 rows, because I knew something was wrong with it, but forged ahead in happy oblivion anyway). However, after EIGHT attempts, I finally figured out the in-row buttonhole… I ALMOST gave up and just did a k2tog, yo buttonhole, but I looked the pattern up on Ravelry, and 100 other people had successfully used the pattern, and their buttonholes looked great, so I knew there must be a way (maybe my pride wouldn't let me give up, lol! It literally took me about 2 hours.. isn't that pathetic?)

This is a nice size in the 18 mo version… and should fit her till at least 24 months.  However, after I cast off this little sweater, I decided it needed a little feminine touch, so I added a crochet row of ch-loops in the BO edge of the hem and sleeve cuffs as follows:

• 1 sc in first st, *ch 4, skip over 1 st, 1 sc in the next st and repeat from * to end

The buttons are Vintage La Mode, that I picked up from the fabric store.  And to finish it off, I wet blocked, and then when almost dry, I steam-blocked to help with the acrylic portion of the yarn… ended up very soft, with a wonderful drape. I think we will be getting a lot of use out of this little sweater!

 

Lovely Breezeway

I wanted to try a crescent shaped shawl, and came upon this little gem (FREE!) on Ravelry, "All About Love" by Sylvia Bo Bilvia.

However, I couldn't afford a very expensive luxury yarn (like Madeline Tosh.... which is what I would have LOVED to knit it out of, lol), especially since this particular shawl calls for a worsted weight (which means you need 2 skeins to get the yardage..)  Soooo, I decided to try Berroco Vintage (50% Acrylic  40% Wool 10% Nylon), and I went with the color "Breezeway".

This really was a quick little knit.  You start with the lace portion on the bottom, and then use a series of short rows to shape the shawl.  After a soak, and blocking overnight, I was left with this beauty:

So... my verdict?… love the color, but I am not happy with the yarn choice. It just didn’t block out the way I wanted, and I guess I’ll have to chalk it up to the wool/acrylic blend.  Don’t get me wrong…. perfectly wearable, and very lovely, but not the drape I was looking for, and even though it has a very stretchy bind off and a garter band… there is still some tendency for it to curl at the top.

As for the pattern.. very nice! I love the lace edging, and it was a easy pattern to memorize (and intuitive as well). The pattern also comes with directions on how to block your finished object, which were handy (but did contain some profanity).

Simple Shawl

Suprise.... a new shawl.  I read a post on Ravelry about finding your first shawl pattern to knit (for beginners), and one thread said,  "Good Luck!  Once you finish your first shawl, you will be hooked!"  And I have to agree!

I wanted to make something a little bigger than a shawlette this time though, and so I settled on LaLa's simple shawl by Laura Linneman, a free pattern on Ravelry.



and Patons Lace in Sachet

When I had only done 4 repeats of the pattern, it was almost as big as the shawlettes I had been making… and I decided just to keep going until I ran out of yarn.  The Paton’s Lace is very pretty.. nice color changes, and a lovely little mohair halo (but, this of course means that it is VERY DIFFICULT to tink any of those mistakes!!)  Even though it has a high acrylic content, I still really like this yarn. Very warm, and quite pretty.

I was a little concerned about how this would block, since it is mostly acrylic, but it was just fine (soak in cool water, spin with the salad spinner, and pinned out on the livingroom carpet). Lovely.

I decided to add a row of glass beads towards the bottom of the shawl (crochet hook method), and I ended up using all but a couple of yards of this yarn. I also went with a stretchy bind off (K2, put tip of left needle through the front of these 2 sts, knit them together, k1; rep from until you only have 1 st left on right needle, break yarn and draw through last st.)

These last two shots are modeled by my lovely daughter, since the intended recipient won't be getting it until mother's day (shhhhhhhh!)

Sunrise Beaded Oaklet (Prayer Shawl)

I came across this gorgeous hand-dyed sock yarn on the 2012 Rose City Yarn Crawl (Merino Superwash/Tencel 50/50) by Alexandra's Crafts out of Silverton, OR. 

The perfect colors to knit up a shawl for a close friend of mine who is expecting a new little one.  I just made my first shawl, my beaded Holden, and I wanted to try another simple shawl, with a bit of lace.  I finally settled on the Oaklet Shawl by Megan Goodacre

It looked perfect... stockinette body, with a touch of lace that I could bead up at the end.  My swatch gauge was 23 st/4 in = 5.75 on size 5 needles, and I happily started out knitting the pattern. 
I knit the first few rows of this shawl, and then frogged it, because I decided to use a garter stitch tab at the start to give it a little more stability. First, I cast on 3 stitches and then knitted 6 rows (garter stitch). After the last row (without turning) I rotated the work 90 degrees, and then picked up 3 stitches along the side in each of the three garter row bumps, then three stitches along the bottom edge. This made 9 stitches total on my needle, and then I started with Row 1 of the pattern.

I also added some size 6/0 seed beads (orange, peach, pink mix) to give it a little sparkle, (per Studio June’s oaklet) on row 10 (stitches 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32 and 36) - which puts a bead on the purl row inbetween the yarn overs, and on row 18 (stitches 16, 24, 32) - which does an offset bead from the original beading). I used the crochet hook method (worked well) - This shawl took almost the entire skein of yarn (I was starting to worry!)

Here is my lovely dd, modeling for me once again:

Since this is a gift for a friend of mine who is expecting a new baby, I also made up a gift tag on photoshop to attach with care instructions/fiber information (as well as some extra yarn for snags, etc). I decided to use it as a prayer shawl, since the pattern wasn’t too complex - so I was able to pray for my friend and her upcoming little one while I worked on it… I love the idea of her wearing it, with all of those thoughts tucked around her shoulders!

Here is a page of labels I made up, in case you need one for one of your own projects.

Little Smocked Frock

While on the Oregon Coast Quilt Run 101 this year, I came across this book:

I've been eyeing it for some time now... especially for these booties!  But that's not what ultimately convinced me to buy it. 



The store down in Crescent City, A Perfect Yarn, had this little smocked dress on display... and I was hooked!



But, I couldn't afford to get the book.. AND the two skeins of Cascade Quattro the pattern called for.. so I settled for the book and two skeins of Washable Ewe from Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller

Here's the knitty-gritty:  Gauge: 5 st/in with size 6 platinum needles (6.5 rows/in), and I cast on 144 stitches for the 24 mo size.  This pattern starts from the bottom up, so after rows and rows of boring stockinette, I finally got into the good stuff at the bodice.  The smocking stitch was suprisingly easy (to knit, and to memorize the stitch pattern).. and this yarn feels just like Cascade 220.

Following the pattern, nine inches was WAY TOO LONG for the straps for my little munchkin (like.. 3 inches too long)… Seven inches would have been plenty. With nine inch straps, the bodice hung around her belly-button. Also, even though I made the button holes, I ended up sewing the buttons on - through the strap - to help keep them on. The straps are stretchy enough that it is easy to get the dress on (I also left the extra strap material inside the dress, so I can alter the strap length as she grows )

With only a  teeny little bit of yarn left from my 2 skeins…I give you.... the darling little smocked dress :)

A Colorful Array

You can NEVER have too many handknit sweaters for your little one (or at least... that's what I keep reassuring myself, lol!)  And so (you guessed it), K will be sporting a brand new, colorful little cotton sweater for the rest of the rainy season.  I used the Array pattern by Helen Rose.

I had been browsing the previous projects, and knew that I wanted to make one in turqouise with rainbow stripes, based off another knitter's Array sweater on Ravelry... and I wanted to use the soft as butter Comfy Worsted from KnitPicks (love that stuff!) with its 75% Pima Cotton, 25% Acrylic fiber....

But... what to use for the stripes?  Originally I had picked out several colors of the Comfy Worsted to complement the Marlin color above... but when they arrived, they just weren't as vibrant (read RAINBOWY)  as I had been hoping for.  What's a mommy to do?  Break into the Knit Picks Felici Sock Yarn, of course!

Yes... it's sock yarn.. and Yes.. I had to pick and choose which sections to use for the color work (and hold it double to get the right weight).. but PERFECT COLORS!  And... if I had just gone that route in the FIRST PLACE it would have been much more economical (all of your contrast colors in one little ball of sock yarn... I have to remember this!)

Anyway... here you go!  TAH-DAH!  The finished sweater (complete with colorful, mismatched buttons) in a 24 month size.

And here's a shot of my colorwork on the inside (so you can see how I carried the yarn).