Knitting Baby Gifts

Oh, what fun I have been having this week knitting up some baby gifts for a friend who is pregnant.  I mean what's not great about knitting baby items?  They are small and quick to knit, they are so so cute and they are for a sweet little new babe.  Also, I used stash yarn for these projects making the experience even better.  As you can see I'm not quite finished with the stuffed Elephant who is presently armless and the sweater needs buttons, but that's all that's left to do - oh and maybe some booties as I can't seem to stop.

The yarn I used is some lovely natural grey angora from here, and the pale yellow is a mix of two strands:  Malabrigo Merino Lace in the butter colorway and Tilli Tomas Raw Silk Warmth which is now discontinued (on a cool aside note Ravelry used my picture of the yarn on that page.)  Funny thing is my friend who is having the baby gave me the silk yarn, so it seems only fitting to use it for a gift for her.  I'm really loving the grey/yellow combo, but I have used it before as you can see here.  I was hoping to make angora booties, but I ran out of that yarn while knitting the hat (which looks a bit big to me.)  On the other hand, I do have lots of the yellow silk and merino leftover.  Maybe I'll double/triple up the lace weight merino and make these or these.

The patterns I used were Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Sweater (which there is a great YouTube video series for), Sweet and Simple Baby Hat by Debbie Bodmer and Elephant Elijah by Ysolda Teague.  Both the sweater and hat are pretty simple, but the Elephant is not for the faint of heart.  There is lots of picking up stitches, directional make 1's and short rows.  The pattern is very clear and very well written, but this is not a knock out in a few hours project and you do need to pay attention most of the time.  I love the way it's shaping up though making all the effort worth it.  I'll finish the arms and give him some eyes today, get the sweater some buttons from my LYS tomorrow when I have a babysitter and give my friend the gifts on Friday when we go out for breakfast.  I love giving a gift right after I finish it when I'm still excited about the project so this is working out perfectly.  

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm and Craft On and Ginny for Yarn Along.

YOP Update - Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

I made a big decision today.  I decided to buy yarn for that Veera Valimaki sweater vest from her Color Wheel Knits book that I mentioned in my previous post.  My plan after writing that post was to wait since I have other projects in the wings that use yarn I already have, but then I found yarn on sale.  Yes, I used the age old "but it was on sale" excuse for purchasing more yarn.  I have been scouring yarn websites for the right sport weight yarn that suited the project as well as my pocket book.  My search concluded with the decision to purchase Malabrigo Arroyo sport weight yarn in the Prussian Blue colorway.  It is a slightly variegated dark blue, has good drape and would be under $100.  My only worry was that Malabrigo pills, like a lot.  Since the yarn wasn't going anywhere I thought I could wait - right?  Wrong, I then went to the Knit Picks website searching under "sale" and "sport weight".  What I came up with was the lovely Hawthorne Sport Multi in the Irvington colorway.  It's comprised of super wash highland wool and nylon - much more durable than a merino yarn such as the Malabrigo.  The colorway is a bit of a brighter blue, but still has that superwash shine and drape and the best part is it would only cost about $50 to knit my beloved vest.  Alas, the sale only went to July 28th so I felt I had to purchase now.  I've reset my yarn counter to begin again in the yarn buying freeze.  I made it 70 days this time, not a lot, but double my last attempt.  Maybe next time I can double it again.

Because of this desire to knit this sweater vest, a friend having a baby, and a few changes in Christmas gifts I did some trimming and adding to my YOP list which now reads as follows:

Baby:

Baby Surprise Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Garter Ear Flap Hat by Purl Soho

Cowls and Scarves:

Classic Cowl by Purl Soho knit in handspun  Finished 7/6/15

Dudester Scarf by Jana Pihota 

Dryad by Jared Flood

For the Home:

Sock Yarn Braided Rug by Martha Lazar

My Oluffa Doorstop by Lucinda Guy

Cozy Coasters by Joelle Hoverson

Hot Out of the Oven Set by Knit Picks Design Team  (making the square pads) Finished 7/25/15

Out of the Frying Pan by Amy E. Anderson  Finished 7/18/15

Socks:

Simply Elegant Cable Socks by Judy Alexander

Taylor's Orange Toe Up Socks by Jasmyn Cunningham

Sweaters and Vests:

Ground by Veera Valimaki

Glen Moir Vest by Luise O'Neill 

White Russian by Thea Colman

Glenfiddich by Annamária Ötvös

Tops:

Astonish Top by Katy Banks 

Jordan by Wendy Bernard

Mittens and Gloves:

Connnectivity Gloves by Mari Chiba

Nordic Mittens by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Double Knit Mittens by Sue Hedgecock

Felted Mittens by Joan Sheridan

Hats:

A Family Tam by Beth Brown-Reinsel

I added 2 baby items for a pregnant friend, some felted mittens for my mom and another friend for Christmas and my sweater vest.  What got cut was a couple of pairs of socks, the sweater I was going to knit for my mother (yes, I downgraded her to mittens for this year) and a cowl.  It's hard to admit that time has it's limits and I simply cannot knit everything I want as quickly as I'd like.  So, while I was hoping to fit absolutely everything in some projects had to be cut to make it a viable list.  

I did finish one item on my list this week.  In my felting frenzy I knit, felted and trimmed 12 potholders.  Yup, that's 6 pairs or as I like to think of it 6 Christmas gifts done - yay! (these potholders also brought me to the 5K Stashdash finish line!) My rug alas, did not get finished as I really needed a break from cranking out all that I-cord, but I will get back to it this coming week.  Currently though, I have a Baby Surprise Sweater on the needles which I'm hoping to finish this week along with a matching garter stitch hat.  I'm using some grey angora yarn along with a pale yellow raw silk yarn that's paired with a strand of Malabrigo lace.  It's gender neutral since she doesn't know the sex of the baby and of yarn I already own - isn't that the best!  I'm loving the look of the stripes.  It's like a little muted bumblebee.  I feel a bit bad that neither sweater or hat are machine washable, but am making up for that by including a wool wash with the gift.  Ok, this is becoming a bit of a long post so I'll be leaving you now.  Have a great week!

Check out the other Year of Projects posts here.