Third Easy Peasy Newborn Sock Hat

June 19: Cast on for yet another of these hats. This time I’m trying out 12” circulars instead of DPNs. Seems to be going pretty well so far!

June 20: Working with the 12” circulars went really well, so I’ll definitely keep using them (which means I’ll need to expand my needle collection). And I love the way the hat turned out. Such a quick, yet satisfactory, project!

 
Pattern: Easy Peasy Newborn Sock Hat by Keri McKiernan
Yarn: JulieSpins Merino 370 in Christmas Cactus

For sale in my etsy shop (with matching pair of socks)

Baby Socks #3

June 18: Should have just enough yarn leftover to make this pair of socks to match the baby hat. At least I’m hoping there will be enough. Just in case, I’m shortening the cuff just a tad.

Finished the first sock and got through the heel flap on the second. I’m now thinking that there’s not going to be enough yarn to finish, but I”m going to keep on trucking for now and cross my fingers.

June 19: Okay, so I apparently am not good at calculating how much yarn is needed! I ran out while I was still decreasing the gusset stitches on the second sock. I had a tiny bit of the Malabrigo Sock in Impressionist Sky leftover, so I continued with that. And I ran out just as I got to the toes! So I looked through my stash and thought that the JulieSpins in Night Heron seemed a decent match, so I finished out the toe with it. If you look carefully, you can definitely see the different yarn (three different!) but from a distance it does actually blend together okay. But now I’ll know a little better about how much yarn is really needed, even for a tiny pair of socks!

 
Pattern: Easy Baby Ankle Socks by Hattie Adkins (free Ravelry download)
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Harmony Mist

Second Easy Peasy Newborn Sock Hat

June 17: This pattern was indeed “easy peasy” so I’ve decided to make another one. I measured the yarn and I should have enough leftover to make a pair of baby socks to match.

And finished! I’m really enjoying making baby-sized projects. They go so quickly so are very fulfilling and they are just so darn cute!

It’s going to be cutting it close to get the socks out of this yarn (if my measurements are right, I’ll be 1 yard short), but I’m going to give it a try. (Hat modeled by Cabbage Patch doll Parker Jed.)

Pattern: Easy Peasy Newborn Sock Hat by Keri McKiernan
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Harmony Mist

Simple Skyp Socks

January 5: I wanted a simple sock project to take with me on my trip and although this is indeed simple, I didn’t have as much time to knit as I had thought, so I really only finished just the cuff on my trip.

May 20: Finally picked these back up again. Gosh, I didn’t realize that I had started them back in January. Yikes!

May 22: Finished the first sock. It’s an excellent fit and I look forward to having the matching pair, so I’d better get started on the second sock right away!

June 10: It took me a little while to get started on the second sock, but I finally did tonight. I’m about 2 inches into the leg.

June 15: Today I finished the leg, turned the heel, decreased the gusset stitches and am now working on the foot. I don’t know why I let these socks linger for so long; this is a super quick pattern!

June 16: And done! I think I’ve fallen in love with this yarn; it is so incredibly soft. (The picture of the single sock is more true to the actual colors of the yarn.)

Pattern: Simple Skyp Socks by Adrienne Ku
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Harmony Mist

Frog Button Baby Cardigan

June 7: This pattern seems fairly easy and the cardigan is cute. I picked the colors based upon what I have in my stash that I wanted to use up, but I think they look nice together and the dark green of the Vaa cancels out some of the pinkish/peachish of the other to make it more boyish. At least I’m hoping that will be what happens!

Finished a few rows after the sleeve division today. I really love the way the two colorways are working together and I think it looks just fine for a little boy.

June 8: Finished the body today.

June 9: Finished the sleeves today. I used a sewn bind off for the sleeves to make absolutely sure they weren’t too tight.

June 10: Right side button band finished. I picked up 64 stitches and it was quite easy (after a little bit of math) to figure out how far apart to space the button holes, which were simple yo button holes. Managed to evenly pick up exactly 64 stitches on the left button band as well. Whew!

Went to Joann’s to look for buttons. I had in mind some in a dark wood. But then I started looking at some of the fun buttons and fell in love with these frog faces, so I decided to go with those instead of my original idea. I think it gives the cardigan a whimsical side. Now I’m really looking forward to seeing this on my little guy, but I’ll have to be patient for now.

Pattern: Little Coffee Bean Cardigan by Elizabeth Smith
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Vaa and Novembrie

Skew Socks

May 10: Started these during a class at my LYS tonight. The homework for next week’s class is to finish up through the foot. So far so good!

May 24: In tonight’s class I got up through the grafting together part of the heel construction. This is a really intriguing design and the way the colors are coming out with the yarn just makes this a fun project to knit to see what happens next!

May 30: Finished all the way except for the bind off. Class is tomorrow night and we’ll be doing a sewn bind off which I’ve done once or twice but will wait for class to refresh my memory on how to do it.

The leg goes really really quickly with the short rows. I was expecting it to take longer (guess I was thinking about a traditional sock construction), so I was quite surprised to get through it so fast!

I did have to break into the second skein of yarn to finish off the sock so it looks like I’ll need to pick up another skein when I go to class tomorrow (last time I was in my LYS, there were a couple of skeins left, so I hope one is still there!).

May 31: Bound off the first sock and started the second. The sock looks so weird!

June 2: Working on the foot portion of second sock.

June 6: The nice thing about this pattern is that it seems to go quickly. Perhaps it is the whole skew part but especially once you get to the short rows on the leg, the socks just fly off the needles. So the second sock is done. The socks are a tad big (the heel pokes out in a little point and there are some baggy places), but they are close enough of a fit. But very very odd looking!

Pattern: Skew by Lana Holden
Yarn: Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett 6-ply (colorway 05950)

Akimbo

April 23: I wanted to try to clear out some of my WIPs before starting new projects, but I just couldn’t help myself today in starting this shawl. The very beginning section was a little tricky (although I’ve done similar starts before), but I just tried to cast on loosely so I could more easily pick up those stitches. I also used a k1fb instead of M1 for the set up row because I had trouble finding the bar between stitches to pick up to make the new stitch.

April 26: I finished the garter stitch part and am ready to add in the contrasting color and start the chevron section.

May 21: The chevron section is rather slow going. It’s taking me around 30 minutes for each row so I’ve been trying to do a little each day instead of one massive knitting session. And after today’s little bit, I have just four rows remaining. Almost there!

May 22: And done! Needs to be blocked, which I’m about to go do. I really like the colors together.

May 24: All dry and ends woven in. I’m really happy with how this turned out.

Pattern: Akimbo by Stephen West (available to buy on Ravelry)
Yarn: JulieSpins Merino 370 in Garnet and Black Beauty

For sale in my etsy shop.

Fresh Picked Baby Hat

May 17: This looked like a really simple hat pattern and I mostly wanted to use it for the numbers. I started with the middle size, but quickly ran into problems--with the numbers.

Cast on was 114 stitches and a 2x2 rib was an option. Well, with that cast on, it would be uneven. So I cast on 116 stitches instead and did a 2x2 rib. After I started the stockinette portion, I decreased back down to 114 stitches.

As for the decreases, I’m not there yet, but the numbers don’t add up there either. So instead, I’ll start with a K4k2tog decrease, then go to K3K2tog, and so on. Looking at the numbers, that should work okay.

May 18: Okay, so apparently I read the pattern wrong. (Honestly, I think it’s a poorly written pattern.) The decrease as written: “On your next row, knit 3 stitches, knit two stitches together, continue with all stitches on needle.” I originally read that as continue doing K3, k2tog along the needle, but the more I looked at the pictures, I realized that the decreases weren’t happening that often. So what it really means is do one decrease and then continue just knitting for the rest of the needle. Once I got that figured out, decreasing was a lot easier, but the ending bit was off count so I just winged it at the very top. I really think that the pattern could have been written more clearly.

I did not include the little bit at the top, just made it a flat (well round) top.

Pattern: Fresh Picked Baby Hat by Leslie Clarkson (free Ravelry download)
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in Lettuce

Another Baby's Hat

May 1: I was going to make a pair of baby socks from this yarn but I decided to do a hat and see how much is leftover afterwards. I’m not following any particular pattern, just trying to do a very basic hat.

I cast on 88 stitches and started a 2x2 ribbing. I’ll probably keep that up for an inch or inch and a half. Then I’ll switch to stockinette (will increase two stitches so I get up to 90, which will help even things out when I get to the decreases for the top) and do basic decreases around the top.

May 7: Finished. The yarn has a lot more pink in it than I first realized, so I’m thinking I’m going to have to save this one for a baby girl rather than my own little boy.

Pattern: Improvised
Yarn: Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Fingering in Just Plum

Baby Socks #2

April 28: Finished first sock and up through heel flap on second sock. Super easy pattern and quick to knit up!

April 29: Second sock finished. So cute!

Pattern: Easy Baby Ankle Socks by Hattie Adkins (free Ravelry download)
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in Impressionist Sky