Free Pattern

My knitting pals were interested in me writing up the pattern I am using for the baby blanket I have in progress. Here it is!

Sailor’s Rib Baby Blanket

Worsted weight yarn and U.S. # 7 needles. (Gauge is not crucial in this project.)
(I am using 5 skeins of Caron’s Simply Soft in baby colors.)

CO 153 stitches using crochet cast-on.
(Pattern is multiple of 10 plus 1 - extra stitches added for garter stitch border)

Begin with 12 rows of garter stitch to form bottom border.

Every row in the pattern will begin and end with K6. This will form a garter stitch border along each side. You may want to place markers to separate these six stitches on each side so that you remember to always knit them.

Pattern:

Row 1 (right side): K6, place marker; K1tbl, *p1, k2, p1, K1tbl* repeat pattern between ** until six stitches remain; place marker, K6

Row 2: K6; p1, *k1, p2, k1, p1*, repeat pattern between ** to marker, K6

Row 3: K6; K1tbl, *p4, K1tbl*, repeat pattern between ** to marker, K6

Row 4: K6; p1, *k4, p1*, repeat pattern between ** to marker, K6

When blanket reaches desired length or yarn is running low, end with 12 rows of garter stitch to match bottom border. BO

K1tbl = knit one through the back of the loop (this causes the vertical row of knit stitches to stand out in a more pronounced way.)

Love & Marriage . . .

. . . often lead to the baby carriage!

You may recall that I photographed my nephew's wedding last November.



So it seems that now they are expecting early next year. So, I did what any knitting great-aunt-to-be would do; I cast on for a baby blanket!





It's Caron Simply Soft yarn, and it lives up to its name! It's also 100% machine washable which is super important in baby stuff. Not having any idea if it's a boy or girl, I went with the "all inclusive" colorway.

The pattern was found in Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. It is about 34" across and will be however long 5 skeins takes me!

I'm not sure when my nephew will be back from Afghanistan, but it should be before the baby's arrival. Hopefully the blanket will be done by then as well!

Love's Limits

If you look back to May 6 you'll see my initial post regarding the Elizabeth Zimmerman blanket I intended to knit.

It started out swell! I was so full of enthusiasm and love for all things EZ, after all Elizabeth is one of the knitting elites....a pioneer, an inspiration, a revered oracle of all things knitted.

Well, I can tell you, row upon row of nothing but garter stitch is d@mn boring!

Over the summer my love for the project waned.

The blanket languished at the bottom of my WIP(works in progress) pile.

Until one day in November I realized that there really were a limited number of days left until Christmas and if I truly intended to give the #$@^& thing as a gift, I'd better pull it out and get busy.

So here it is, finished at long last!




I'm afraid only a knitter is going to look at it and realize how much time went into the thing. But I do hope when my nephew cuddles up with it he might one day realize his Aunt Kim's love for him has no limits, not even endless rounds of boring garter stitch and more finishing work than she's ever put into any other project!

I decided I can't leave my niece hanging when it comes to hand knits for the holidays, so I started a quick pair of socks for her as well. Fortunately six year old feet aren't all that big and this pair will take me about 4 evenings of knitting while watching t.v.



Do you suppose I should've been making something for my own kids??

Doing the Two Step

As in two steps forward, one step back!

Believe it or not, this mitten's entire hand was knit by Friday evening last week.
As I neared the lovely, pointed tip I had the sneaking suspicion something was wrong.
(That, and the fact I kept trying it on as I knit the decreases.)




WHEN will I learn to trust my gut instinct? (And the plain facts of what is sitting there on my body, clearly not fitting??!!)

The hand section was not long enough before the decreases began and thus the mitten did not fit.

While these mittens are lovely, and fun to knit....they're not exactly easy to frog.
I spent two hours Saturday evening tinking (that's unknitting, stitch by stitch) them to the point of where the decreasing had begun. It was tedious! (I've gotten good at wrapping stitches to ensure short carries on the back!)

Since then, they've been sitting and waiting for me to have a brainstorm on exactly how to lengthen them without overboard the other direction and ending up with palms which are way too long.

In the meantime, I've gone back to knitting on the endless garter stitch baby blanket from EZ's Opinionated Knitter. Bleh.

Happy Knitting!

EZ Blanket

(In the interest of full disclosure: it's very possible I haven't laid this out correctly! This photo is for demonstration purposes only and should not be confused with whatever the finished object looks like. Thank you.)

Here's what I have so far on the baby blanket I'm knitting from Elizabeth Zimmerman's The Opinionated Knitter. I am really loving the feel of the organic cotton yarn from Knit Picks. And the colors.

While I was knitting with my knitting pals this morning one of them was looking at the thing quizically. When I showed her the design sketch for the finished project, she drew in a quick breath and said, "That would be perfect for my autistic grandson! A puzzle piece is the emblem for autism and that looks like a puzzle pieced together to me!"

One regret. I wish I had gotten the worsted weight yarn rather than the sport. Other than that, it's good, mindless knitting whenever I get a few moments. (May is VERY busy!)

Happy knitting!


ps...I also find "vacuuming" with photoshop highly entertaining!

Spinning

I tried to figure out who wrote/sang the song with the lyrics:

"I'm so dizzy, my head is spinning..."

but a quick Google didn't turn up the answer.

The fact is, the lyrics are true for me today.

Literally.

Woke up with vertigo/spinning.
I think it's due to congestion in my right ear.
It's not fun, this much I know.

So I'm laying kinda low today. Trying not to turn my head much.

I needed something simple to knit, so I'm making Elizabeth Zimmerman's baby blanket which is knit in four sections. (I found the pattern in my copy of The Opinionated Knitter.)

I'm making it from this:



It's Knit Picks' new organic cotton which comes in these lovely natural colors.
Handy that there are 4 colors. And EZ's blanket is knit in four sections.

It's all garter stitch and I don't have to watch my hands move to do it.

Typing on the computer, however, is making me nauseous, so I guess I'll sign out and go back to the couch.

Hopefully I won't be spinning tomorrow!