Decisions

Which hat is better for a little boy who is just turning 2 years old? I'm not sure if they are too girly, or if one is better than the other.... Help!

Tumba Shawl Jacket

This was my second sweater project and it was so much fun! I love this pattern and it went quickly on the larger size needles. This pattern is free and can be found here at www.naturallycaron.com

I used the specified yarn in a different color, Ocean Spray, and made the 18 month size. I love the way the collar looks and was happy I didn't have to pick up and knit any stitches at all! I wonder a little about the yarn. Personally, I really don't like working with Acrylic, although this had some Merino Wool in it too which helped to soften it.


If you have not made a sweater before than this one could be a really fun first attempt. You'll learn a few new techniques that I think any intermediate knitter could pick up with the help of some you-tube videos.

The Bad Juju Blanket

I am obsessing. I have started and then pulled out a blanket at least a dozen times. So many times that even my husband commented that I've been "working that yarn for awhile now." Sometimes it's impossible to find the right balance of fun and relaxing with challenging and interesting. Sometimes the cheap, junky yarn you bought just doesn't help things either.

When I was a kid, I was addicted to the Legend of Zelda video game. I would play as much as I was possibly allowed, and then lay awake in bed thinking about it most of the night. Strategizing. Figuring out how I was ever going to be able to beat that leader of the fifth underworld or whatever the current dilemma might be. And this sort of reminds me of that game. Will I do a chunky cable-knit, or a simple lace? A complicated knit and purl pattern, or just a stripe or rib? What is 8 times 4, plus 16 times 2, plus an extra 10 for the border stitches? Maybe I'm just really OCD, but each time I'd get about 10–15 rows into it, I would rip it out and start over.

So I give up. I'm making a diagonal garter stitch blanket and that's the end of it. I need to get this yarn out of the house and never think about it again!

Sweater Pattern Search

I am completely in love with this super chunky Twinkles sweater from InStyle, but cannot seem to find a similar pattern anywhere. Has anyone seen anything like this lately?

Custom Labels

In a past post I showed my custom hangtag, which gives washing instructions and shows the yarn content. When I started making sweaters, I was bothered by the fact that there was no label, like normal clothes would have. I began looking into ways I could get a custom tag made at an affordable cost.

Turns out, the cheapest and nicest option I found was getting a custom ribbon made. Usually these are used for weddings or parties, but if you order a roll for your tag, you can just snip one off at a time and sew them in place. There are lots of color and font options as well and mine happens to have the decorative loops along the edge.


One tip that helps is to slightly coat the edges with some sort of Elmer's Glue so they will not fray once cut from the roll. Then I sew each edge under to give it a neat look, and sew it into the piece, being careful not to let those stitches show though to the back of the sweater. These would also be nice for the corner of a scarf or blanket as well.

Check out www.namemaker.com for a really good selection. I chose the 3/8" satin loop edge shown here. You can often find coupons online for this company as well, so my order ended up costing about $17 including shipping.

First Baby Sweater

I know it's been awhile, but I've been obsessing over sweaters and am now finally sitting down to post them. I was originally terrified of the finishing work that sweaters require, so I decided to take a basic class. But guess what? It really isn't so bad, and it's fun seeing all your pieces come together to make an adorable little sweater.

The key is learning the mattress stitch and maybe the three needle bind-off. Once you can do these techniques, you can pretty much make any basic sweater.

This pattern was assigned to us for the class, although I think there are better first sweater patterns out there, that I will post. This one is more tricky since it involves picking up stitches to knit the ribbing around the neck and buttons, and adding the button holes within the ribbing band.

This pattern is called the "Classic Baby Cardigan" for double-knitting weight yarn. It is by Theresa Gaffey Designs, #46 if you are interested in making this sweater. I'm not really supposed to post it, but the other patterns I made following this one were free and online. I used Sublime baby cotton kapok dk in yellow no. 0152 which is a really soft yarn to work with.


One of the more interesting things we learned in the class is how to make a gauge swatch. It's actually much easier than I thought it would be. Turns out, I'm a pretty tight knitter so I now I know that I have to go one size bigger in needles to make my pieces the correct size.

Blanket Put to Good Use

Wow, a baby is actually getting some use out of one of my blankets! This is the first pattern on here, the basket weave blanket. Little baby Alexander looks nice and comfy for his car ride :)