Dragon Skin wrap

I'm making the Dragon Skin Wrap by Angela Hahn from the holiday issue of Interweave Knits.

I'm using Zara, which is a DK weight superwash merino yarn and a little lighter in weight than the Kollage called for in the pattern. I figured that a new mother would prefer a wrap she can toss in the washer. Plus, I'm a huge fan of Zara and of Filatura di Crosa in general - though I bet the wrap would be lovely in the Kollage.

The wrap is coming along nicely. It's so fascinating to watch the dragon "scales" develop and I'm happy that it's mostly self finishing. No fiddly bands to pick up after the fact.

Little Pumpkin

This is my first post. I knit up this cute hat for my 7 week old, Satya, this week for Halloween. It's from Susan B. Anderson's Itty-Bitty Hats. Come check out my blog to see pics of my babe!!

Allegra

www.fiddlestix.typepad.com

Striped baby sweater

Well, ok. My baby niece isn't really a baby-baby anymore -- she's almost one -- but that still counts, right?



I made this following Elizabeth Zimmerman's percentage sweater system, along with her directions for a round yoke sweater. It was a very simple little cardigan to knit, but I'm really digging the details, like the sleeves knit in the round with a jogless join. The button bands were knitted in using intarsia. I love intarsia. The way the two colors join together is just magic to me!

I also avoided cutting the yarn between stripes so I don't end up with a billion ends to weave. Instead, I traveled the yarn that was not in use up, tucking it behind the intarsia joins. It's invisible from the front, and there aren't huge loops of yarn sticking out for the baby to snag her fingers on.

And, of course, I love the buttons:



This was also a great project to use up leftover skeins. I had one skein of Paton's Classic Merino (the leafy green) and a skein and a half of Swish in Dublin colorway (the darker green). This used up all of the Paton's and a skein of Swish.

Knits for twins!

One of my blogger friends' husband just became a grandfather to fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, and I wanted to send them a little care package!

For the little boy, I designed a henley-type sweater. It was knit in the round with drop-shoulder sleeves, and split down the middle to make the neckline. The really plush, stretchy stitch pattern is Sailor's Rib from Barbara Walker's 2nd Treasury, and the sweater's knit in Caron Simply Soft:



For the little girl, a cardigan with a cute little collar, also designed by me (although I've seen a similar sweater in Vogue Knitting at one point). It's also in Caron Simply Soft, for machine washability, and also made using Barbara Walker's 2nd Treasury, but for the life of me, I can't remember which stitch pattern this is:



For the little feet, Saartje's bootie pattern (PDF), which I've been dying to make. These are a nice, easy knit, all in garter stitch, and the pattern is very clear and even illustrated! I had to change it a bit to accomodate my worsted-weight yarn (Swish), so I cast on 25 stitches and knit two fewer rows. I also shortened the straps by a few stitches.



For even yarn usage (I was using leftovers), I made the second pair in reverse:



And, finally, garter stitch hats to match the booties (no pattern here, either, but these were knit flat and then seamed):



I just got word today that my blogger-friend got the care package. I hope she likes it!

February in the Fall

After much research and ripping out, I successfully completed an EZ February sweater for my baby girl due in December! I thought the pretty white sweater would look nice beside some pretty white mums.



Many thanks to Ruth for her help with the construction. As always, more details on my blog!

The Perfect Ivory Baby Booties

This is a great little bootie pattern! Get more details here.

Viking Hat

It's a tough job being the child of a knitter... but someone has to do it...



Inspired by Alison yet again-- but I used a slightly different pattern: Baby Viking Hat

I'm trying to control the urge to make hats for Tali's entire daycare class. Way too much work for this full-time eye doc & mom, but oh what a group picture it would be :)

So tiny!

Here's our little man modeling his preemie sized hat (my pattern) and teeny, tiny Christine Booties (just over 2" long!). He's now 3 weeks old and a grand 6lbs, 14 oz. More pics here.

Introducing...

Our baby boy has finally arrived. He was 10 days late, born Oct. 10 and weighed in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces and 21.5 inches. A big boy! We're all laying low for a while.

Pumpkin Days

Pattern: Knitting Pure and Simple #214
Yarn: Tahki Cotton Classic, 3 balls

Lu

My Perfect Red Baby Booties

Here is my version of the "Perfect Baby Booties". You can get more information on my blog.

Retro striped tank finished !!

Thank you for kind comments on my previous post!! Because the climate has become cold, I keep on knitting seriously to increase
my baby's item.

I've finished Retro striped tank from Sirdar. I thought that Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK is smooth, soft, lustrous,has beautiful colours and turned to the baby knit very much.

However, will be it a season of wool hereafter?

More photos are on my blog.

Monking Around with the Pumpkin Hats

I decided that I had made the first pumpkin hat a little too small.

It didn't cover what his step-grandmother affectionately refers to as his "Ross Perot" ears.

So I made him another one at knitting group this week.
I also used two shades of green yarn on the stem this time. I think it makes it stand up better this way.
Here he is in pumpkin hat #2:

shielding himself from the flash bulbs of the Paparazzi

Knit with Chrystal Palace orange "Bunny Hop" washable yarn and two shades of green "Sugar 'n Cream" cotton.
Size 7 needles,
and my own pattern design.

Come visit us at the blog:

Http://sbfrogger.blogspot.com/

Yet another Itty Bitty Hat

This is the flower hat from the "Itty Bitty Hats" book, with a little twist. A friend named her baby girl Madalief, which in Dutch is a name for a very small daisy. I couldn't resist making a hat with a small daisy on top as a gift for the wee one. Sweet, no?

More Zimmermann!

The Baby Surprise Jacket is nearly complete. It actually fits the Mole pretty well. I am going to add a couple of rows to the sleeves to make them full length.

I did have some traveling decreases at the beginning, but I think it's fine the way it is.

My first Fo to this blog

Hannah Elizbeth

Oct 2, 2007

7:49 a.m.

6 lbs. 15 ounces

The love of my life is finally here and now I have a model to show off all the cute baby clothes I made for her on this blog. More detail will be on my blog at a later date. Thanks for looking!!

A Pumpkin for my Pumpkin

I designed, and started to knit, this pumpkin hat for the babe last night and finished making it today.


I doubled up the yarn and knit it with size 7 needles so I'd finish it in time for him to get a little use out of it before Halloween.

You can even get a sneak peak at his Halloween skeleton get up/This month's PJ's in the corner of the photo. I think the hat and the skeleton outfit will make a super cute combo. Until, of course, he spits up on it five minutes later.
Or maybe we'll just call that, "special effects."

More pictures on my blog:

http://sbfrogger.blogspot.com

Completed Project: Boat-Neck Baby Sweater

I completed my Boat-Neck Baby Sweater a few days ago. It only took me 7 days to knit and block, which is good for me! You can get more details on my blog.

mama knitted me something pink

or... when a pattern works!
I finished the ribbed jacket for my wee one just before her birth and right before our mountain holiday. Let me know how I really love this pattern as a knitter and as a newly mum.
First of all I can say how this pattern is easy to follow and quick to realize: a single piece (the body) sewed with the touch of the ribbed edging working directly on the main body (just simply picking up stitches). Not a lot of nasty and boring sewing, a shape that fits perfectly the baby and the simple and smart use of stockinette stitch. As a mum I suggest this pattern to mums and to everyone who wants to knit something useful and lovely: the jacket could be worn as a jumper in the grey and cold winter or as a jacket over a light sweater in the warm autumn. I appreciate the lack of numerous sewing, partly because I hate it, partly because the jacket is more comfortable for the babies. Then, if you want you could embellish the ribbing edging with a brooch, a button or ribbon, just to close it and cover tiny bellies!
Pattern: ribbed jacket from Special knits by Debbie Bliss (I found it in a copy of Quick & Crafty - April 2005)
Yarn: the original pattern requires Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran but instead of that I used less than 4 balls of Filatura di Crosa Zara Plus (shade 24). The gauge is the same, using a pair of 4.5 mm straight needles. The extrafine merino is the softenest I've ever used!

more knitting for babies!

Hey baby knitters! Just wanted to let you know about the premie project that knits hats and blankets for premature and sick babies in Iowa. They do great work and would love your help! Check out their volunteer page and blog for info on what you can do to send something soft and warm to a tiny baby.

If you know of other charities that collect and distribute knitted/crocheted items, please post about them. I can collect a list and put them in the sidebar.

Thanks for your generosity!

LEAF YOKE CARDIGAN finished !!

Hi, all.
I'm really looking forward to your babies photographs. All of your babies are really lovely.

By the way, I've finished my knits below.This is LEAF YOKE CARDIGAN from Nashua Handknits.

My baby is 8 months old, I knitted the size for 6 months with a little fat cotton yarn, and finished it up a little greatly.
And, I extended the sleeve so that it was dressed a little long.

More photos are on my blog.

Nothing better than growing into baby knits!

And the little one agrees! Just look at that smile. I can't believe she's almost 6 months old. My goodness, how the time flies! Considering how quickly she's growing and how little time I've had for knitting, if I knit a sweater for a six-year-old there's a good chance I'll finish before she outgrows it!!!

Blanket

Finally completed and ready to gift! See my blog for more details.

Zimmermann Bootees

The shaping is perfection, the construction unique and interesting to knit. These were super speedy. I particularly like the high ankle - babies' clothes ride up, especially when they have big cloth diapers like the Mole, and ride around in baby carriers. More photos and details of modifying the pattern for size and gauge on my blog.

A Tale of Two Sweaters

I knit two sweaters for the baby in the last two weeks.


They knit up so quickly! I had no idea they would be done so soon. I knit the first one in the 6-12 month size, thinking it would take a lot longer to knit than it did - but now it's done and it's huge on him - so I decided to knit the same pattern again ("Kai" from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms) with Olive Green Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton this time in the smaller size.

Here it is ready to wear:

And here it is being worn:

DAISY!

Hey there!!

I haven't done a whole ton of baby knitting of late but I did just finish Daisy:




More details at my blog. Congrats to the new mommies and grandparents!! yay!

laura