Other People's Knits: Blanket For A Boy

I can't believe I haven't posted about this blanket yet -- it's so incredibly beautiful and I've had it for four months. This is Henry's blankie. After spending months on a blanket for my nephew last year I wasn't too anxious to knit a blanket for my own babe. Plus I knew that my lovely mother-in-law Leena wanted to knit something special for our little guy. Naturally she chose a beautiful yarn and a great pattern made of up of mitered squares.

I can't tell you anything about the pattern and the yarn -- sorry. And I know this picture doesn't say that much about the blanket -- but it's nice and big, about the size of a crib mattress. Really, this post is just a public thank you to Leena and an excuse to show off a picture of the baby. It's the weekend, I thought you could use a little shot of the cutest boy I know.

Little Gifts, Little Effort

As you may know, I really love giving handmade baby gifts, probably more than any other kind of gift. By my count, I know about 20 babies who are due to appear in 2008, and with Henry and Ruby eating up about 22 hours of my day (the other two are for sleep/compulsive DVD watching), I am not logging in much craft time. Since there's no way I could make 20 Jess Hutch dolls or even 20 baby hats, I decided to steal a page from Angry Chicken and whip up these onesies.

Amy posted about these about a year ago and I've had them stuck in my mind ever since. So cute, so easy and I have all this kids' fabric from Reprodepot laying around, left over from Henry's swatch portraits. So, with Ruby at her Nana's yesterday I swung into the craft store, bought some iron transfer paper, picked up some onesies at the Superstore and got to work.


So easy. I got 10 of these done in about two hours and I figure a package of two (or one for a not-so-close friend) should make a nice babe gift. I have one cousin who gave birth two days before Henry came along and another who had a baby last week (I have a big family, but three great-grandchildren in a month is a record for my Grandma), so I'm going to send a few of these off a.s.a.p. That leaves me with a few in reserve, plus the motivation to easily make some more when more babies are born. Hooray for simplicity, I say.

Depending On The Knits Of Others

Well, I'm not going to pretend I've been making stuff (other than food). For the first time in Henry's life, I knit a few stitches the other day, finishing the toe of a baby sock. Not super exciting. So, I'm going to spend a couple of posts celebrating the knits of others that have come into our home.

The awesome Lucy and her sweet family came by the other day with handknits for both Henry and Ruby (and a skein of Socks That Rock for me... Hooray!). Here's Henry in a sweet little sweater that she made. It fits perfectly (better than my still pretty big BSJ pictured a while back). And I love the bright colours -- baby clothes are usually so drab in colour and they wash poor Henry's dark good looks out.


It's been impossible to capture Ruby on film lately, so I had to photograph her sweater without a kid in it. But, it does look really nice on her. I love the i-cord tie at the neck. Super cute and also fits like a glove. And, she actually is willing to wear it, unlike most of the stuff I make her.


Finally, in an attempt to feel useful as something other as a full-time milk bar, my obsession with the Martha Stewart cookie book continues. And today, I actually made a successful cookie -- the Chocolate Chunk Walnut Banana cookie (though I used pecans instead of walnuts). It's basically banana bread in cookie form. Delicious.

Baby's Surprise

So, remember when I made the Baby Surprise Jacket a couple months ago and figured that it would sadly be summer by the time the baby grew into it (I neglected to gauge properly)? Well, I didn't bargain on having a nine pound baby who eats every two hours around the clock. We needed a sweater to put over his short-sleeved outfit yesterday and behold -- the Baby Surprise fits.

Mind you, this is also testament to Elizabeth Zimmerman's design. I swear by the one-piece t-shaped baby sweater -- be it this particular one or other similar shaped designs. The really suit and infant's body type and are okay to wear if they're a little big or even a tiny bit too small. I really urge any baby knitters out there to stay away from set-in sleeves. It's all about the big T. And as you can see, stretchy little Henry feels nice and comfy in it.

My Henry

His name is Henry and he arrived early Thursday morning via C-section after about 14 hours of very valiant labour. Eight pounds, 14 ounces. Loved by all, especially me. That's all for now (can you tell I'm typing with one hand?

Family Photo Friday: Belly

I thought I'd subject you all to one last belly shot. I just got back from a very long and painful walk, but even if the baby isn't here soon, I probably won't be shooting the old belly again. It's pretty damn big, no? I'm getting to the point where strangers stare and me and ask personal questions. I'm waddling. If I need to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom I feel like I'm going to die. It's a big belly. I'm officially about a week and a half more pregnant than I ever was with Ruby and by far the heaviest I've ever been in my life. 39 weeks. I don't know if I have the mental capacity to see 40.

Ghosts Of Baby Sweaters Past

Thanks to everyone who gave me some good vibes about the pregnancy, either here or through private email, I think I'm finally accepting that I may have daily contractions for weeks to come. We were at the hospital today (baby changed positions and I didn't feel him move all morning) and I finally got some decent answers from the doctor, so I'm cool. Or as cool as a woman can be when she's nine months pregnant.

Anyway, this all does give me both the motivation and the time to get some more stuff ready for Frank's arrival. Back when I was pregnant with Ruby I tended to knit really unpractical baby items. Like, what you see above -- a baby cardigan knit out of sock yarn. It's the Diamond Seed Baby Jacket, from the Fall 2004 issue if Interweave Knits, knit in Lang Jawool. I don't remember any of the other details. From what I can remember, I started this in late 2004 and finished in January 2005 and finished everything short of sewing on the buttons. Why? I have no idea -- maybe when Ruby came out as a girl I didn't love it so much any more. Anyway, I kind of like it, despite the mis-matched stripes (I had never touched sock yarn before and didn't recognize this stuff as self-striping). So, a new sweater for Frank!


And, I also dug out this, which I'm pretty sure is the Basket-Weave Baby Sweater from the September 2004 Creative Knitting (I only know this from looking it up on Ravelry). I used Scheepjes Soft Fun. This was not a very successful sweater -- I think Ruby only ever wore it for a picture. The problem -- set-in sleeves. Not too friendly for a newborn. This may have worked as a larger sweater for a bigger baby, but it essentially is sized at about 10 lbs (at least how I knit it). I feel obligated to try it on Frank, but I'm not keeping my hopes up. Now I just have to get the kid to come out -- at this rate he's going to be way to big for any of these sweaters anyway.

*note: the Diamond Baby Jacket is actually in the Winter 2004 issue if IK. Sorry for the confusion.

Nesting Portraits

So, remember how last post I was lamenting how my kids seem to be in such a hurry to be born (Ruby was two weeks early, and at three weeks to go, I'd gone into pre-labour with Frank). Well, I jinxed myself. Five days into pre-labour and there is no sign of the baby. Now, I understand that pre-labour can go on for weeks, but since my water broke with Ruby before any labour symptoms even started, this is new for me. It's freaky, it hurts, and I'm starting to get really impatient. Every time I talk to/see a medical professional they tell me that I should be good to go within 24 hours, but it's just not happening. I finally saw my OB today who quite frankly told me that it could be weeks still (his bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired, but at least he's matter-of-fact). Ugh. Well, at least I got to see the Oscars.

Through all of this I've been in pretty hard-core nesting mode -- on Thursday alone I did about six loads of laundry. I've also put together just about every piece of baby equipment we own and even though he'll be in our room for a few months in the cradle, I've been starting to transform my office into a nursery. In a way, this is hard for me because I'm not too jazzed about losing my who A Room Of One's Own vibe, but there's so many cute things to be done.


I've been wanting to make the Swatch Portraits that showed up at Purl Bee about a year ago since they first became such a blog sensation, but haven't had the motivation until now. A couple of months ago I bought a bunch of kids' fabric from (you guessed it) Reprodepot with the intention of making portraits for Ruby's room, but once they arrived I decided that they were a bit too baby-ish for my growingly mature little girl's room. Since they weren't too girly, I saved them for Frank and voila! Three swatch portraits to hang over his diaper table.


I really love all of these fabrics (I have a similar one with a Sleeping Beauty theme that I got from Superbuzzy, also ages ago) and I see them all over people's blogs. So cute. The yellow one is a Wizard of Oz theme, the brown one an ABC/apple pie kind of deal, and the white one about counting. So cute. I want to get more of the story-driven ones, but I have no idea what I'll do with them -- I'm just coveting.


So, that's about it. Wish me luck with this whole labour thing. Like I said, I'm not in too big of a hurry to see Frank -- he's still a few weeks before his due date -- but the anticipation that comes with this prelabour nonsense is killing me. I'm at 2 cm right now -- only 8 to go.

Grand Apron #2

I really wanted to whip up another nursing apron before baby day and I managed to eek out enough time yesterday. I used the same recipe as the last time, so the sewing and cutting only took a couple of hours to do. Easy as pie. I used some fabric that I got ages ago at Repro Depot. I bought it with no real purpose and a single yard was just the right amount for this apron. Hooray.


Above is a picture of it on. I didn't really have the patience to stage a decent self-shoot, so this is the best you get.

And, it looks like I finished just in the nick of time, as I seem to have gone into pre-labour. I think it's still going to be a couple of days, but it looks like I'm going to have another February baby. Three weeks early? Why can't these kids give me a little extra time? Always in such a rush!

Grande Apron #1

After making those wee aprons for Ruby (one of which she wore to help make dinner last night... sigh), I've turned to super-sized aprons. I didn't use a nursing apron when I was feeding Ruby. In fact, I think they've only gained popularity in the last couple of years (I could be wrong on this), because in my mom's group, only one of us used one as far as I know. I found that my lack of a cover made for a limited wardrobe choice -- while I'm not shy about feeding in public, I always did so in a t-shirt that I could discreetly pull up rather than something that needed to be pulled down from the top, as to not show my goods to the whole world. I believe in being natural, but I also have my pride.

You can buy nursing aprons in all kinds of super hip fabrics, but like their cousins the hipster sling (which I did buy -- I don't trust myself to sew anything that requires safety standards), they're mucho expensive. So, I decided to try my hand making one. I used the Vintage Apron pattern from Amy Karol's Bend-The-Rules Sewing as my starting point and just made a few simple modifications. I made it about five inches longer than the pattern called for and only gathered it up to 19 inches rather than 15 inches at the top. I tucked the edges of the waistband in and sewed them flush to the body of the apron and attached the ties vertically, rather than horizontally. Not rocket science at all.


Here it is on -- I think my belly roughly simulates how much room the baby will take up underneath. I love the fabric, which is another super cheap-o deal I found at a local going-out-of-business sale. I added the pocket to stick any supplies I need in and some rick-rack to keep it sassy. I plan to make at least one more of these before Frank makes his appearance because as any mother already knows, these things tend to get covered in barf and end up in the laundry often.


I also treated myself to a new teapot, since I'll be able to jump back on the multiple cups of tea bandwagon before too long and my old teapot is all gross and flaky inside. Nothing special, I just think it's pretty.

Baby Boy In The Hood

Whew, it's been a little tough around here. After a fun, but stressful birthday party for our little lass, she came down with a horrible cold and fever yesterday. Ugh. Plus Aaron's all stressed with Aaron stuff and I've been diagnosed with pregnancy-related carpal tunnel syndrome. Ouch. It'll go away after I have the baby, but it also means that production will slow in the craft department, since it hurts to knit for more than a half hour and I'm not even going to think about hand sewing or embroidering anything.

So, you're looking at what will probably be my final baby knit before the baby moves up to a larger size. It's the Hoodie Baby Blanket from the November 2007 Magknits. Not much to report here: I used Lion Brand Cotton Ease in the green and blue colours. I kind of miss the old wackier colours, but the subdued ones are kind of nice too, in that I appreciate Lion Brand's efforts to make themselves more appealing to yarn snobs, because it makes me more comfortable in making such an economical purchase -- even though the cost isn't high, I still feel like I'm making something nice with a yarn worthy of my effort.

Anyway, this is simple as pie -- I didn't modify the basic pattern or try to do anything fancy since time was definitely a factor on this one (and I'm still hurting from NEVER finishing the baby blanket I was knitting while pregnant with Ruby). It's just a nice big square of stockinette with a little triangle attached, then edged in broken rib. Easy.


Here's Snow White modeling the blanket/towel. With Frank I'm being really careful about only spending my time making super practical things. I know that Leena has been working on a beautiful wool blanket for him, which will be his heirloom piece and I wouldn't be surprised if my mom crochets or cross-stitches something. Fancy-pants baby stuff is for gifts. Mama's gotta keep it real.

W.I.P. Friday

I'm still here. I'm still sick (coughing a lot while 7 mos. pregnant is not a fun thing) and I've been kept really really busy with a new development in my career, but I've actually been doing some crafty stuff too. The work stuff that I'm working on hasn't come at a particularly convenient time for my crafting, what with Ruby's birthday and Frank on the way, but I'm determined to get a couple things done.

What you see above is my first Frank project. In case you can't tell what this big blob is, I'll drop three words: Baby Surprise Jacket. I've always wanted to try the way of the Zimmerman, but have always been too chicken/confused. I thought that the perfect project to start with is the much discussed BSJ. So far so good -- I know others have found the "pattern" (okay, two paragraphs of instructions) confusing, but I think I'm getting it. The problem is, of course, that with this one you gotta have faith, and it's driving me nuts not knowing the pattern well enough to tweak things like length as I go. I'm also a little worried about my yarn supply -- but my fingers are crossed.


I also went to good old Michael's and picked up some Cotton Ease for the Hoodie Baby Blanket from the November Magknits. I'm feeling like with this second kid I definitely have more realistic ideas of what to knit for the babe. Don't expect to see any cute but ridiculous baby booties in these parts any time soon.

Shake It Up Baby

So, I've been feeling a little bit guilty about not knitting a baby gift for my cousin's new baby who was born in August. I'm especially feeling bad about it because it's her third kid and the third kid just seems to get so neglected when it comes to gifts, you know? But, time has been scarce and projects have been piling up, so six weeks have gone by and no gift. Bad cousin.

After finishing the Spherey for my friend's upcoming little dude/dudette, I decided to try Jess Hutch's Odd Fellow for my cousin's guy, since it was small (i.e. fast) and I'd never made one before. The problem was, once I started knitting him, I realized Odd Fellow is really really small, and hence not that fun to play with. So, I decided to stick a couple of jingle bells in him, omit the arms and legs (which were just too small and fiddly -- eight stitches on DPNs? No thanks) and voila! Baby shaker!

Because he's so tiny, I feel obligated to make a hat too. Can I finish that hat, and the hat for Ruby I have on the needles before I see the baby on Thanksgiving? Can I?

Spherey The Second

Hey, look! I finished something. After basically taking the summer off to lay on the couch and periodically throw up, I realized that I'm way behind schedule. It seems that almost everyone I know decided to give birth as I was suffering through that brutal first trimester, so I'm shamefully behind on my signature Jess Hutch baby gifts. What you see here is good old Spherey, knit up in Cascade 220 for a friend's babe due in November. I've knit just about everything from Jess's booklet Unusual Toys For You To Knit and Enjoy and I think, with the possible exception of Dolly, this one is my fave. He's just so weird looking. I love it.

I decided to start my long queue of baby gifts with this one, because I thought it might be nice to have at least one ready for a baby at the time of its birth. I have two August births to catch up on -- I think I'll still knit, but one baby will (hopefully) be getting a Thanksgiving gift and another a Christmas one. Then, I do have another kid due in a month to knit for, so I better get cracking on that one too. On top of that, I have Halloween costumes, winter gear (hats, mitts, you know the drill) and Xmas gifts... taking the summer off was not the greatest idea. With that said, I better run. I have a princess costume to make.

p.s. I forgot to add that yes, Jess's booklet is out of print. No, I will not photocopy or sell you my copy. I knit out of this thing a lot and I respect Jess's copyright rights, so I can't help you. She does have some free patterns on her site though, and there's always Kate from an old issue of Knitty.

Blanket For A Babe

Do you ever suspect that your knitting can affect fate? I do. When I heard (on Thanksgiving Day) that my sister-in-law was pregnant with the baby that would transform me magically into an aunt, I knew I had some serious knitting to do. Serious. It was time to do a baby blanket.

So, I bought my yarn and cast on a few days before Christmas. I finished knitting about a month ago and, in my typical fashion, didn't block it until this weekend. So, what happened on the day that it was finally dry and thus, officially finished? Three weeks early, the baby decided it was his birthday.


Hearts And Stars Blanket from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits For Tots
Yarn Misti Alpaca Worsted in Pumpkin (about 5 hanks, I think...)
NeedleU.S. 6 (again, I think... memory fading)
Mods Gauge, since the pattern calls for a DK cotton. Because of that I did five rows of pattern repeats rather than seven. Since the pattern is intended as a family blanket, not crib blanket, I think I would have modified the size even if it knit up in the recommended gauge.


So, there you have it. Leena (my amazing mother-in-law) made this same blanket for the baby of a family friend a couple of years ago and I noticed that she paused when I told her I was planning it for the baby and that I'd already dove into it. She later confessed that it was a very long knit. I'm glad I went for a bigger gauge and less repeats, because as fun as the bumpy purled hearts and stars were, this was a looooooong one. I worked on it fairly regularly and it ended up being about five months of knitting. But I think it looks great. The yarn is like butter -- it's so soft and beautiful. I just hope that the baby isn't a particularly messy little thing, otherwise my sister-in-law is going to have to rename me "your Auntie who seems to think that it's okay to knit a hand-wash-only blanket for an infant." But, I just couldn't resist the yarn and I've successfully convinced myself that as a heirloom item, handwash yarn is okay.


Anyway, loads of pictures here -- since it took me so long I want to bask in its glory. I added a picture of it on Ruby's bed for scale (it's a pretty huge baby blanket -- hopefully it'll follow the little tike though childhood) plus a presentation of it folded up with the matching pumpkin hat. Enjoy it, little one.

Omg. I'm an Auntie.

Pumpkin Head

Here's a teaser for the baby gift that I'll be giving my very first niece or nephew, who is due to be born in early June. Keen readers will already know that I've been spending the last four months working on a blanket for the little sucker, a blanket that needs to be blocked, but has been sitting in a ball on my work shelf for the past two weeks. Anyhow, I did manage to whip up this little hat to match and here are the specs:

Little Pumpkin from Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Worsted in "Pumpkin"
Needle: US #6 DPNs
Mods: Obviously a yarn substitution and since I was using a worsted (albeit a slim worsted) rather than the recommended DK I knit the newborn size even though I'm guessing this fits more like 0-6 mos.

Okay, I should have read the Itty Bitty errata page before today, because I now realize that the instructions for the stem are botched, but I think it still looks okay in garter even though it should be stockinette. I'm not totally crazy about how the stem/leaf looks, but that's got to do with my cruddy finishing skills. A details woman, I am not. I like these cute hats, but I think I may also make them a good old umbilical cord hat for more everyday use once we find out the sex of the baby.

And apologies for the lack of a great picture. The Misti Alpaca is so soft and lovely, there was no way this hat would take a good picture without a model to fill it out. And since Ruby's head is too big and her baby dolls' heads are to small, this Care Monkey (he came with a real name, but we call him Leon) had to step in, even though his football-shaped head kind of distorts the hat. But you get the idea.

My Petit Flower

After seeing all the cute little hats over at Bloggy Baby Bumpers, I went and bought a copy of Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats. There's a bit of criticism over this book -- mainly that she uses the same hat form over and over and simply adds embellishments or stripes. While true, there are a lot of good little ideas in this book and seeing as there seems to be an infinite number of babies in my world, I'm glad I picked it up. A girl can only make so many simple umbilical cord hats, right?

I went for what seems to be the most popular hat in the book, the upside-down daisy, intended for my cousin's little gal, who should come along any day now. I used leftover Debbie Bliss wool/cotton (from the fair isle cardigan) and the hat will accompany the Jess Hutch Dolly I made. I like this hat -- the gauge is a little looser than the yarn would like, but since it's a spring baby, it'll be cooler. Also, my petals seem to be shorter and fatter than others I've seen, making the hat look a bit more like an iced cupcake than a flower, but I still think it looks cute.

Speaking of cute, it's been a while since my little dewdrop has made an appearance. Here she is in her raincoat, making a call on her Barbie phone. I think she's talking to my sister-in-law, asking when her new cousin will be here. Hopefully not until I finish the baby blanket, right?

For The Little People

For W.I.P. Friday I've got a W.I.P. and a bonus F.O. for you -- all the abbreviation you could ask for. Last night I whipped up a little Umbilical Cord Hat (from the first Stitch 'N' Bitch book) for the aforementioned baby Aidan. Since he's a preemie and it's cold here, I figured one of these guys would be in order. I used the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in the Hawaii colourway that I had left over from my Sweet Mary Jane slippers. It's super soft and perfect for a baby hat (though I'm pretty sure that it's not machine washable) and a good colour for either a boy or a girl.

I have to say, I really love this pattern -- it's as perfect as it gets. Kudos to Jennifer L. Jones for designing it. I've probably made at least half a dozen of these things and it's the perfect baby gift, especially for Canadian babies. I made one for Ruby before she was born and we got so much use out of it. We had some feeding problems when she was new (I was a breastfeeding fascist and refused to break down and go for formula) and we had to go to the doctor every other day for the first two weeks that she was home with us. Since she was born in February and we lived in Toronto without a car, she really needed a good toque for the walks/cab rides to the doctor's office. And the Umbilical Cord Hat did the job. Plus, you can make one over the course of an evening.



And in the W.I.P. column, the beginnings of the Fair Isle Cardigan from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits For Tots. Naturally, I didn't swatch, so this may be for Ruby, or for some younger child in the future. I like living dangerously.