Baby B's Flame Chevron Blanket

I've finally finished this Flame Chavron blanket I started in June for little Baby B. The lace pattern creates a really cool flow and is easy to learn once you get going. I think it's just the needle size that makes it take awhile.


FINAL SIZE: 34" long x 24" wide
YARN: Linea Pura, Lana Grossa, Organic Soy, Cotton and Bamboo
AMOUNT: Approx 4 balls (they are 50g, 110m each)
NEEDLES: US 8


CO 95 sts (pattern is worked over a multiple of 7 sts + 4, + 14 sts for border)

Start by knitting 10 rows of Seed Stitch (K1, P1)

(K1, P1) for 7 sts, place marker. Follow chart below for Row 1. Place marker, (K1, P1) for 7 sts.

Only RS rows are shown on the chart. When working WS rows, P all sts.

Continue to follow the chart starting and ending each row with 7 sts of Seed Stitch for border.

I followed this complete chart a total of 7 times. Once you finish the last row, Seed Stitch (K1, P1) for 10 rows, BO and weave in ends.

Make sure to block the finished blanket to open up the lace pattern.

TIP: Only the red section repeats which I couldn't see very well in my printout on my first row. Make sure you highlight that somehow if you print out the chart to carry with you. The chart can be found here.


Thanks to Barbara G. Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns and Laura Chau at Knitty

Linda's Baby Kit

This cute little baby kit was made by my mother-in-law, Linda for an upcoming raffle. She did an amazing job, especially after not having knit for many, many years.

For the blanket she followed the diagonal garter stitch blanket pattern on this blog by pulling from two balls of yarn on size 11 needles.

She embellished the other pieces with some crochet and found the two patterns on Knitting Pattern Central.

Click here for the hat.
And here for the cute little booties.

I think I'm going to have to try and make these as well!

Snowball the Alpaca

Meet Snowball. The cutest Alpaca in Maine, at least she looks like she would be. I haven't gotten to see her in person, but when my parents took a trip up to Maine from Boston last month they happened to pass by Winters Gone alpaca farm and store. Knowing of my yarn and knitting addiction, they decided to stop in and pick up a couple of skeins for me (nice!).

This farm is neat in the way that each yarn is labeled so you know exactly which alpaca your yarn came from and it is all the original animal's coloring. The yarn is so incredibly soft, I can't wait to knit something with it! Thanks mom!


Winters Gone | Bath, Maine | 800.445.2404

Ribbed Baby Hat

To match the ribbed baby jacket I made, I thought this ribbed hat would go perfectly.

CO 48 sts on 16" size 8 circular needles
Join in the round, careful not to twist sts
*K2, P2* around and around until the work measures 4.75"-5"
If you want to fold the hat up at the bottom and have a little cuff, make it even longer.
*K2, P2TOG*
*K2, P1*
*K2TOG, P1*
*K1, P1*
*K2TOG*
Pull yarn through remaining 12sts and pull tight.
Weave in loose ends.

Baby Julia Sweetie Pie

For baby Julia I decided to make the Sweetie Pie Kit (minus leggings) from the Pickles website. I used Rowan pure cotton in three colors. The thing is, something is very amiss with this pattern that I never could really figure out.

The little dress and hat is so very cute, but be warned if you attempt this pattern! I tore it out 3-4 times before I remembered I could use a "life-line" to hold my spot just before I got to the problem area of casting-off for the sleeve holes.

In order to use a life-line, simply take a sewing needle and some contrasting yarn (preferably thin) and carefully thread it through every stitch you are working. Continue knitting as normal and hopefully you don't need to use it. If you do, just take the work off the knitting needles and pull out all of the stitches until you get to the contrast yarn. It will not allow you to pull out those stitches, so you just pick up all the stitches with your knitting needles again. As you continue to work on a project, you may want to add a new life-line every few inches so you don't have to pull out so much of the piece if you mess up later.


Here is the link if you want to give it a go:
http://www.pickles.no/sweetie-pie-kit/

Good luck!

Baby Billy Kamanaolana

This cute little set just went out in the mail today, destined for beautiful O'ahu and undoubtedly a beautiful new baby boy! Hope the mom-to-be enjoys her knit kit.

How to Sew a Button on Knits

This seems simple, but sewing a button onto something made of yarn can be much trickier than just a regular piece of fabric. Here is a step-by-step guide...

Start with threading decent size needle and doubling up the thread. Tie an overhand knot at the end of both threads together. Now you have a double-thick piece of thread through the needle you will be sewing with.

1
Decide where you need to have the button align and then on which stitch you want to attach the thread.

2
Bring the needle under the knit stitch, but only pull it through halfway. Then take the needle through the loop sticking out at the end, where your knot is from tying the thread together. This attaches the thread to the yarn before you add the button.



3
Thread the button hole and align the button where it needs to be. Sew the button on as normal, around and around through the holes.


4
When you've done this 10 times or so and it feels secure, bring the needle down through one button hole, but NOT through the knit. Your needle will pop out in the space between the button and the knit item.



5
Wrap thread around and around the base of the button 4-6 times (depending on how much thread you have left) and thread needle through all of the rounds you made into the knit item.


6
Knot the thread as usual on the back side of the knit (similar to how you attached the yarn in step 1) 2-3 times.

Done!