For a Little Pumpkin

There must've been something in the water or the air in Western Pennsylvania this past spring, because it seems like everyone is having babies, among them some good friends of ours, who are expecting a little girl about 3 1/2 weeks after Rainbow is due to arrive. Naturally, though I've been plenty busy knitting for my own kid, I had to whip up something in wool for this little one. After seeing this post on Lolly's blog, I knew exactly what I wanted to knit.

These projects were not only adorable and fast to knit, but they were good stash busters as well. The orange yarn was leftover from the felted pumpkin bag I made a few years ago, and the green is the same yarn I used for my Central Park Hoodie. Here are the details:

Pattern: Berry Baby Hat by Michele Sabatier (PDF link)
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool in color 7824 (orange) and Cascade 220 Heathers in color 9461 (green)
Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) Knit Picks Options, magic looped
Started/Completed: November 15/November 16

I followed this pattern pretty much as written. I think I joined the green for the leaves in when the hat measured about 4.5" from the cast on.

Pattern: Saartje's Bootees, smaller size, with saganaga's modifications found here
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool in color 7824 (orange) and Cascade 220 Heathers in color 9461 (green)
Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) dpns
Started/Completed: November 17

Obviously for these I used only one color for the bootee part, and I finished the second one with only inches to spare. (I was even ready to cannibalize some yarn from my New Pathways learning socks.) I whipstitched the I-cord with the leaves to the back of the bootee and used a few running stitches in the leaves to secure them to the front. Easy peasy, and well worth the effort of having to weave in what seems like a lot of ends for something so small.

I'm so enamored of these projects that I just about cast on right away for a hat for Rainbow, in a "tomato" version, until I discovered that I'd lost my printout of the pattern. It must be with the sleeve for my size 2 Addis and the two pairs of black socks that disappeared from last night's laundry. Pregnancy brain strikes again!

A Miniature and a Do-over

I've made Rainbow quite a few sweaters and pairs of socks, but lately I've been focusing on outwear for winter. I thought I'd start things off with a hat so that we can match (sort of) when it's time to go home from the hospital.

Pattern: Koolhaas (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Super Sport (100% superwash merino), colorway Winterberry, approximately half a skein
Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) Knit Picks circs, magic loop
Started/Completed: November 2/November 5

I'd seen a couple baby-sized Koolhaas hats on Ravelry, so it seemed possible to size it down. I followed the pattern exactly for the woman's size but knit the whole thing with a size 1 needle. As far as I can tell, it worked out perfectly -- though I think it'll look a lot cuter on a baby's head than it does on a pair of my socks!

There was plenty of yarn left over (this was a skein I'd received in a swap several years ago that had been sitting in my stash ever since), so I thought some thumbless mittens would use it up. I ended up making three sizes, the idea being that Rainbow can grow into them in her first few months.

The "pattern" for these was totally off the top of my head -- twisted 1x1 rib for the cuff, stockinette for a certain number of rounds, and then decreasing every round as if for a sock toe and grafting the last few stitches together at the top. I still have some yarn leftover, so perhaps there will be a matching pair of booties in the future as well.

Now, as to the do-over. I know many of you thought that I should make a mate to the enormous Ugg bootie, but I'm not sure you realized just how big the thing was. I seriously don't think it would have fit Rainbow until she was well into elementary school, at which point I don't think she would want to wear baby booties. I also wasn't very happy with the floppiness of the fabric; it just wasn't what I had in mind. But I still liked the pattern, and I remembered that I had some yarn leftover from my Ivy League Vest in similar colors. I got it out, along with some much smaller needles, and I think you'll agree that the result is much better:

These booties will actually fit a baby! Much, much better.

Blocking Fail

I had hoped to be able to post some modeled photos of my finished Mommy Snug this evening, but, unfortunately, it's still a bit damp and probably needs another day on the drying rack. Would you settle for a photo of some uber-cute baby booties instead?


These were done a few weeks ago, but I didn't get around to sewing on the buttons until the other night, when I pulled out my button collection and sewing box for the sweater. These, of course, are the famous Saartje's Bootees (pdf link) that I think everyone's made at least once by now. I used some of my rainbow handspun and size 2 (2.75 mm) needles and knit the larger size. They came out a little on the big side and the wool was a little scratchy, so after they were sewn up, I fulled them a bit by hand. They're now little bit smaller, much fuzzier and softer, and have a nice bootee shape to them.

The Mister and I have another road trip this weekend (this time to D.C. for a bridal shower), and my brother's scarf will be making the trip with me. Expect to see a finished -- and dry! -- sweater when we get back!

Purple Is the New Green

If the theme color for last year's projects was green, this year it's all about the purple.

For starters, there's my Mommy Snug, which I started at Natural Stitches last Saturday and on which I've been working diligently ever since.

While the 2x2 ribbing does get a little tedious, I'm really enjoying this sweater. The design is very clever, and I think it'll be a very flattering sweater when it's done. For starters, that ribbing is incredibly stretchy, so it'll hug my baby curves nicely. Also, you may not be able to see them very well, but there are four buttonholes on each side near the bottom, which will allow me to "let out" the sweater as the baby bump gets larger. The front piece is definitely the most complicated, so if I'm able to knock this out in a week, I'm hoping I'll have a finished sweater in a month to a month and a half -- which should be just in time for it to be cool enough to wear it.

What else is purple? Well, Rainbow's newest pair of socks:

I'm not sure what yarn this is; it came in the care package from Jess and didn't wind up making it into either of the purple blanket squares. Judging from the yarn base, I'm guessing it's either Koigu, Cherry Tree Hill, or Shibui Sock. Or I could be completely off. These are the usual pattern but modified to be a newborn size (size 0 needles and fewer rows on the heel flap and gusset).

Finally, while these aren't purple, they do have purple in them:

A pair of Saartje's Bootees (pdf) for Rainbow, knit with the yarn leftover from her hat, done but for sewing on the buttons. Amazingly, there's still some yarn leftover, so I'm doing a long strip of I-cord until it runs out and I'll use that for some embellishment on something or other one of these days.

On tap for tonight? Untangling some purple yarn and then getting back to the purple sweater.

Little Things

On Saturday, Yvonne had a group of us over to her house for lunch and some knitting. I didn't want to take anything too big or complicated, knowing that we'd be talking and I'd be easily distracted, so I took some sock yarn scraps. A couple hours there, along with a couple hours last night, and I had a pair of bootees.

Pattern: Saartje's Bootees (pdf link) by Saartje de Bruijn
Yarn: scraps of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock lightweight (100% superwash merino), colorways Lenore and Flower Power
Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) dpns
Started/Completed: November 15/November 16
Mods: none

These are for a friend to give to her newborn niece, by her request. They were on the needles such a short amount of time, I'm not even sure they counted as a WIP. They were fun as always, even with all the ends to weave in.

Speaking of small things, I've been knitting with some very skinny sock yarn. It's actually some rather special yarn -- recognize it?

I'm discovering that I love knitting with handspun sock yarn almost more than I love knitting with any other sock yarn. I especially love the subtle color changes. These are, unfortunately, going to be some very delicate socks because the fiber was superfine merino; the knit fabric is extremely soft but also rather flimsy. I don't think reserving them for bed socks is such a bad thing, though, because I'd hate to spend all that time prepping the fiber, spinning the yarn, and knitting the socks only to have them wear out right away.

Thanks again for all your opinions and words of advice regarding the swatch and my vest. I still have to do a few calculations to be sure, but I think I'm going to go with the smaller needle and the fabric I like. I can't see spending all that time on something only to have it come out fitting me but with poor stitch definition.