Simple Shawl

Couldn't think of a match for brainless so just went for simple :-) Was gifted 5 skeins of this yarn and wasn't sure what I'd do with it... the wrapper had directions for a "Prayer Shawl" but that wasn't exactly me... I did go with the shawl idea though. It seems like pointy wraps are all the rage now so I thought that would add some interest to mine... I cast 60 st onto size 10 needles like the wrapper directions said but instead of their super simple knitting the whole thing I k2, k2tog... of course this turned out not quite right when I got to the end of my row but I just adjusted and k the last one. After a while I realized that I now had only 59 st on my needles, but oh well, this is supposed to be simple so I didn't let it bother me :-) I followed this pattern for the first skein. After switching to skein #2 I went with knitting all around so that the whole thing wouldn't be too off-kilter. I'm about finished with skein #2 and I will move the current work onto a pair of circs while I begin the whole process again with skein's 3 & 4. Then I will take the unworked stitches from the knitted only parts and cast them off together for a nice seam (hopefully!). I shall keep you posted!

Pink Camo Socks

Finished these up pretty quick, just a few evening per sock once I got the pattern worked out. I maybe used up half the yarn I used so I might knit up a second pair either longer on the leg or with a little pattern to them... not sure yet. I didn't really use an existing pattern because I couldn't find a toe-up one that was sized for kids, so I glanced at the pattern I used to make my own socks (refer to March post) and went from there. These fit an 8 year old girl, size 12 shoes.

Using size 3 dpns, start with 2 needles, plus your working needle:
Magic 8 CO 20 (10 per needle)
Knit 1 row
Repeat the following two rows until you have 40 stitches (20 per needle)
1)kfb, k until 1 st, kfb
2)knit
Move stitches around so you now have stitches on 3 needles and work with the 4th
Continue knitting around until you have completed 45 rows or approximately 5 inches from cast-on
You will now begin to short row the heel using just 20 stitches
1)Turn the work, p to the last st, *slip as if to p, move yarn to the back, move st back to the L needle, move yarn back to the front
2)Turn the work, k to the last st, *slip as if to p, move yarn to the front, move st back to the L needle, move yarn back to the back
*=wrapping the stitch
Repeat these two rows until you have 6 st unworked, then begin long rowing the heel
1)Turn the work, p to 1st wrapped st, p the st and the wrap, wrap* the next stitch
2)Turn the work, k to 1st wrapped st, k the st and the wrap, wrap* the next stitch
Continue these two rows until all the wrapped stitches are worked, your heel is finished and you will now join back up with the other stitches
k for one row
k1, p1 for 14 rows, BO on row 15

Stay-put Baby Blanket-Finished

Another baby project is finished! I am really happy with this one :-)

I left off with 26 rows on my last post about this... I ended up stopping the cable pattern at 106 rows, which was about 14 1/2 inches long. I refered back to the Nocte for decreasing. I had to make some alterations due to the number I'd cast on along with other little things that I wanted to look differently.

Rows 107-111 K1, P1 around.

R112 K7, K2tog, and repeat

R113 K2tog, K38, and repeat

R114 K6, K2tog, ending with K6

R115 Knit

R116 K5, K2tog, ending with K6

R117 Knit

R118 K4, K2tog

R119 Knit

R120 K3, K2tog

R121 Knit

R122 K2, K2tog

R123 Knit

R124 K1, K2tog

I decided I wanted more of a seam look so I ended here and did a 3 needle bind out after turning the piece inside out. One could continue with R125 Knit and R126 K2tog all around and then weave a long tail through the remaining stitches, pull tight, knot and weave the end in.

I can't wait to find out how well it really fits a baby! Got a couple more months for that... but in a few weeks, I'll find out if my knitted items will be well received by the mom-to-be :-)

Stay-put Baby Blanket

Yes, yet another baby item... this is the big one! I wanted to make something that followed the idea of my favorite kind of baby pj's, the baby "bag". Instead of legs, which can be difficult to get a squirmy little baby into, the bottom was just a bag so the baby would keep warm but still have room to kick.

I found one pattern that was closest to my idea, called Nocte, on ravelry. I wanted something more eye catching and decided cables would do the trick. I also didn't feel that the sizing was quite right, at least not with the yarn I ended up using.

I cast on 80 st with Lion Brand Yarns Pound of Love in Pastel Green (unknown baby sex) and followed Nocte in using k1, p1 on size 7 dpns for 8 rows.
Row 9 *k7, kfb, *repeat
Row 10 k
Row 11 *k11, c4b, *repeat
Row 12-14 k
Row 15 k3, c4f, *k11, c4f, *repeat, end with k8
Row 16-18 k

Repeat rows 11-18.

In the picture above I've ended with row 26, so I've got plenty more to go... I'm thinking the length should be around 12-15 inches, but I'll wait and see how it's looking. I'm still a little concerned that the waist isn't large enough, but from all the baby patterns I've read, it should be ok. I guess 4 years is long enough to forget how small a newborn really can be!

Baby Booties

Still knitting baby stuff for the cousins... on to booties. These are a quick knit, don't take much yarn, and they're cute! Another pattern found on ravelry... I'll post a link later along with the bib. And probably more pics :-)

Bibs!

Loving these bibs! They have a cable along the side which then makes up the neck strap... these are #2 and #3, blue is for my cousin having her 4th (a boy) and the other is multi-colored for my cousin have her 1st (unknown). I also did a seafoam one for my cousin having her 1st but I don't have it with me anymore... I could make these all day long! I found the pattern on ravelry.com and will post it later when I have more time and when I have more pics :-)

Floppy Beige Bucket

Well, this one turned out different than I'd imagined! I found the pattern on ravelry.com for a "bucket" hat but my yarn seemed quite a bit thinner than in the pattern, so instead of CO96, I did 156. After completing the brim (which is twice what you see, it is turned under) I came to realize this might be a little too big... so I started to correct. I k8, k2tog 12 times after knitting 3 rows, about 4 times. I then knit until the "body" of the hat was about 4 inches, at which point I started the decreases for the top. Around there I noticed my correction didn't help much but to make this look like a pancake! My fix was to take a piece of yarn and string it through where the brim meets the body and pull. I took it in to where it fit snuggly and then, voila! Added a little flower from my mother's day card and it's not too shabby... it's just more like a floppy sunhat now :-)

You can find the original pattern by going to the make1yarns website.