FO: Bright baby quilt

As I’ve mentioned before, I took a beginning quilting class earlier this year. I learned a few things, kept a few (possibly bad?) habits, and finished a quilt that I really love. 

Between signing up for the class and actually starting the class, I found out that a dear friend was expecting a baby. And all of a sudden, I knew exactly what the quilt would be for – her! I had browsed fabrics before and nothing was speaking to me, but when I went back with her and her baby in mind, fabric nearly jumped off the shelf at me. 

The first fabric that I really fell in love with was this gorgeous alphabet fabric. I loved the vibrant colors and cute illustrations that went along with each letter.

I picked out some coordinating fabrics, making sure I incorporated a variety of the colors that were in the alphabet fabric. I ended up choosing a white with some rain drops on it instead of going full neutral for my background color. I love that fabric, but I won’t lie, a few times during the making of the quilt I wondered if I should have gone with a plain white. But once it was all together, I knew it was the right choice. I wanted this to be a bright, happy quilt.

And so, every Tuesday, I spent two hours plugging away on the quilt and learning a few tips. By the end of the last class, I had done everything but the binding. I stalled for a bit there, undecided on what I wanted. Originally, I thought yellow, and then I thought that was too light. Then I wanted to find a solid purple that matched the purple in the quilt, but I couldn’t find the right shade. Finally, as I was driving in the car (because that and the shower are the only places genius strikes), I thought GREEN. It should have been so obvious. Green is my friend’s favorite color, and there was some green in the quilt, and it couldn’t hurt to up the green factor. So back to the fabric shop I went, and I was able to find a green that was from the same fabric line as the purple polka dot I had used in the quilt, so it was a perfect match. 

I know I’m biased since I made it, but I think it was the fantastic choice. 

We had my friend’s baby shower at our local yarn shop (of course!) last week, and I think she really liked the quilt. We had a really lovely time, and NOTHING beats a shower that is attended only by makers. I loved seeing what everyone had made. This baby will certainly be wrapped in love when she arrives. 

FO: Gramps Cardigan

When I found out one of our friends was having a little boy, I had a little dig through the baby patterns I tagged on Ravelry before I found out Baby Knitsnips was a girl (I didn’t let a little thing like that stop me – I tagged ALL the baby patterns! :-)). And the project that really stood out at me was the Gramps Cardigan. I loved everything about it. I loved all the cables, I loved the shawl collar, and I loved the old man sweater buttons. Perfection.

So I purchased some HiKoo Simplicity at my LYS, because I like the way it felt, it was washable, and I liked it was both wool and acrylic. Plus, the light grey color I chose was lush.

I started the sweater before heading off to England on our family trip. I worked on the sleeves throughout our time in England, and was able to put it all together once we got home. Working on it in both countries was really important to me, because I was giving it to another British/American couple, and I wanted it to have a connection to both countries for them.

I think it turned out really beautifully. There’s really nothing I would change about it.

The back has a nice wide ribbing to it, so I think it will fit him for a while, since it’ll have plenty of stretch. I made a 12 month size, even though he was born at the beginning of August, because I think it’s always better to err on the bigger side! He may even get two years of use out of it depending on how quickly he grows.

I didn’t really make any adjustments to the pattern – just knit it as instructed. I found the old man buttons at Hobby Lobby, and they were exactly what I was looking for.

I met the sweet little recipient about a week and a half ago, when he was only one week old. He is so sweet, tiny, and in that very newborn stage where he mostly sleeps and lets anyone hold him. And I think the sweater will suit him well.

Now, to wait for cooler weather so he can rock his cardigan. 🙂

FO: Penguin Pillow

I mentioned a few times that I was working on a secret Christmas project. Now this is unusual for me, because I have basically sworn off Christmas knitting after the Great Dishcloth Debacle of 2010. I’ve had some serious self-discussions about knitworthiness, and I’ve decided that it’s largely not worth it to me.

However, I do love to knit for my husband. In fact, I like to think that a scarf I made him was a pivotal moment in our early relationship. However, he doesn’t really want me to knit him anything else to wear. He doesn’t wear hats (though I made him one anyway, and sometimes convince him to wear it when he shovels the driveway), and he has so many store-bought scarves that he’s received from others that he doesn’t need any of those. And he won’t wear any gloves or mittens I make. To top it off, I won’t even offer to make him a sweater (I won’t make myself one for fear of it not fitting the way I want – why would I put him through that?). So I was really between a rock and hard place – wanting to knit for him and having nothing practical that I could knit him.

Then I saw the Penguin Pillow. I actually saw it in the Knit Picks catalogue last year, and thought about making it, but decided against it. But I couldn’t get it out of my mind. You see, the first Christmas we knew each other, he’d bought this penguin ornament. And since he didn’t have his own tree that year because he was abroad, it ended up on my tree. Add that to the fact that he genuinely likes penguins, and I decided I couldn’t resist any more. The Penguin Pillow must be made.

I decided to make it out of some sturdy, washable acrylic, since I know it will get used (and probably drooled on – we do have a baby). All of it, except the orange, is Bernat Satin. The orange is Vanna’s Choice (remember it from the Spider Yarn Wreath? The same skein of yarn did both projects!). I also purchased two small sheets of felt, a 14” pillow form, and took some stuffing my mom had in her stash and I was set.

My enthusiasm for the project quickly dissolved when I saw I had to make a very long 1×1 rib scarf. And then knit two large stockinette panels. And then seam them together. But I’d committed to the project, purchased the pattern and the supplies, and I must trudge on. The end result would be worth it.

Well, I procrastinated on this thing like you wouldn’t believe. I started in early September. I finished on December 20. It’s really not difficult; it was a mental game to get past the back and forth stockinette. I don’t mind stockinette in the round where you just knit and knit, but purling can really get a girl down. I don’t know why – it just does.

So anyway, I went about my penguin making and started to have some fun once I made it to the in the round part. Seaming was even kind of nice, as it turned out a lot neater looking than I expected.

I did make some mods:

• I thought it was peculiar the designer did not have you make use of kitchener, as it saves you binding off and then seaming. So I did kitchener the top of the penguin and the bottom of each wing.
• The specifications for the size of felt circles you need is clearly wrong. It tells you to cut out a larger size black circle than white circle (those would be some crazy eyes!). It’s also clear that even if you use the dimensions specified in the opposite color that it will still not look like the picture. I ended up cutting out paper circles with a circle cutter I have for scrapbooking and placing them on the penguin to get a feel for the correct size. Then I traced the best one onto the felt and cut it for the whites of the eyes. For the black, I pretty much freehanded a very small dot, and then cut around it a second time to get a match.
• There are no instructions at all for how to put the feet on. In fact, the pattern does not even mention attaching the feet. I ended up using some orange yarn and whipstitching them to the bottom in some kind of crazy way until they seemed like they were attached well enough.

Overall, I expected a little more out of a paid pattern. Not that I couldn’t figure out things like the eyes and attaching the feet – it’s just I thought they were strange mistakes and omissions.

Regardless, I think it turned out very well. And Mr Snips was very pleased. It was a good Christmas surprise! Isn’t he the sweetest little penguin?!