Fini!

Finished! All 42 squares seamed together, and about a million ends woven in. Seriously, if you hate weaving in ends, this may make you go crazy. On 9 of the blocks, I used 2 colors so that meant even more ends to weave in afterward.All that work was completely worth it. It came out even better than I imagined. The blanket is light and warm. Perfect for a car seat or stroller blanket. I am amazed at how small and thin it folds up, especially since it's made with worsted weight yarn.After all the ends were woven in, I crocheted a edging around the blanket. I love the little decorative detail that the Crab Stitch gives to the blanket.When the whole blanket was completed, I gave it a good long soak with Soak. I lightly pinned it down to block it. It practically took no time to dry at all.I have to say that I have fallen in love with weaving and woven fabrics after making this blanket. Maybe even a little obsessed. But that is the way I am about any craft I fall in love with. I immerse myself and try to learn as much about it as I can.DH has suggested several times that I keep the blanket. Probably because he has witnessed me labor over this blanket lovingly and non-stop. Melody has grown quite fond of it, too. But, no it's going to be gifted to a new mother-to-be. Besides, I am already planning the next blanket.
Pattern: All the squares are woven with the regular directions (plain weave) of a Weave-It style loom.
Loom: Arbor Loom 4" X 4"
Yarn: 1 skein each of Plymouth Yarn Encore Worsted in colors: Turquoise (1317) and Gold (1310)
Blanket Edging: I used a US G/ 4mm hook to crochet a row of Single Crochet around the blanket and then finished it off with a round of Crab Stitch (aka Reverse Single Crochet).
Size: 24" X 28"

21 Turquoise Squares
12 Gold Squares
9 Multi-colored Squares (woven with both colors)

Weaving on a hand loom.

I have been preoccupied with my new toy. After buying the March/April 2010 issue of Piecework Magazine, I became fascinated by those Weavette or Weave-It Looms. I did a little research and found a place in Michigan that carried something similar. The vintage ones are ridiculously priced right now on Ebay due to the recent renewed interest. But there are other companies making similar style hand looms. The one I got is called The Arbor Loom. It's a 4x4 inch hand-held triple warp. Handcrafted in the U.S.A. by J.B.'s Custom Woodworking in Red Oak. I got it from The Old Farm Girl in White Cloud, Michigan. The owner, who is the only one who works there, was super helpful and very nice. She shipped it on Monday and I got it by Wednesday morning.My first test was using some superwash sock yarn I had in my stash. The square on the left is using a single strand of the sock yarn. It was a bit loose, but I kept on practicing. The one on the right is using a different technique called, Rigby Weave. For the first 2 warps, the yarn is held doubled and on the 3rd warp, one strand is used for the 3rd warp and the final weaving. It made a much tighter weave. Both of the squares are not washed or blocked.Before I discovered the Rigby Weave, I had already made a bunch of squares. I didn't want to waste them, so I washed and blocked 20 of them. As you can see in the above photo, it does bloom and the weave does get tighter. But it's still a loose weave and it's very light and soft.What did I make with the 20 squares? A Doll Blanket for Melody to put her babies to bed. I seamed up the squares in 4 rows with 5 squares for each row. Then I seamed the 4 strips together.
To make the edging, I single crocheted around the whole blanket and then added a row of crab stitch. The crab stitch gave the light blanket a nice sturdy edge and a cute little decorative detail. The finished doll blanket measures 15" X 19".After playing with a variety of different weights of yarn, my next project is already underway. I am using a Worsted Weight to make a baby blanket. I have a few friends with babies due this year, so I thought I should get started with the baby gifts.

The Only Christmas Gift I Made.

I decided not to stress myself out over handmade Christmas gifts for last year (2009). Instead, I concentrated on making a blanket for my niece's first Christmas. She was the only new baby born last year in the family, so it made my task easier.If any of you have made any blankets before, you know that it takes a good amount of time and dedication to complete one. I chose to use a free crochet pattern I found on the Internet, but sadly it is no longer available when I checked tonight to link to it. The blanket is crochet diagonally all in one piece. You increase until the desired width and then decrease. The stitch is called Diagonal Box Stitch and there are free tutorials if you do a Internet search. I found this one on Ravelry that is the same stitch.Although the blanket doesn't need an edging to finish it, the pattern had an optional edging. I thought the edging added a nice finishing touch to the blanket. With the edging, the blanket measures 30 inches by 35 inches. It's a good size for her to grow into and it can be used for quite a while. She is only 11 months old, but she is in the 97% growth rate, so I am glad I made the blanket bigger.
Here is my niece, Celina, being wrapped in the blanket by her mother. My sister-in-law squealed in delight when she opened up the box. Both my brother-in-law and sister-in-law loved the colors of the blanket. I felt truly happy when she told me that it will be an heirloom and something Celina can treasure for a long time.

Pattern: Diagonal Box Stitch Blanket
Hook: 5.0 mm (H)
Yarn: 7 skeins =1050.0 yards of Plymouth Yarn Encore Colorspun DK in color : Pink, white, gray 7990. 1 skein = 197 yards of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solids & Heathers in color: Grey Heather
Size: 30 inches by 35 inches

Mirabilis, the spiral blanket.

I can knit way faster than I can blog, so I am still catching up on blogging about Finished Objects. Little Melody consumes all my time and energy these days. She is like the Energizer Bunny that you see on the TV commercials. On our last trip to Boston, DH's family got to see her in action. And they commented on how she never sat still for more than 2 seconds.This blanket was completed in January and it was a test knit for Daniel of Molting Yeti. He let me choose any of his patterns and I chose this spiral baby blanket called Mirabilis. As you know, I have a thing for blankets. I think that his baby blankets are quite unique and eye catching. None of those standard squares or rectangles.The blanket begins in the center with DPN's. I have to say that I had trouble with the cast on. It's called Casting on in the Middle and it was something I have never done before. The main problem was that I would almost finish the cast on and lose half the stitches because they slipped off. He has a very good tutorial on how to do it, so it wasn't for the lack of instructions. It was just very fiddly and awkward in the beginning.The great thing is that it is pretty much smooth sailing after the set up rows. You just keep knitting the spiral until it is big enough.Look how pretty it is! I chose not to block it because I loved the natural ruffle between the stockinette portions and the lace. It's very organic that way.And the border for the blanket was quite neat. There is no need to bind off because the border is knit separately and attached along the way to the live stitches of blanket.Here is the Energizer Bunny showing the scale of the blanket. This was the best picture that I could get of her with the blanket. Every shot was blurry because she was in constant motion.

In case you are wondering, this blanket is NOT for her. It's going to be saved for a future baby gift. I didn't give it to my niece, Mei Mei, because her mother likes girly colors. I had asked her while she was pregnant and she said, "Any girly colors like pink is fine." So, I rather save this for someone who would love orange.

Pattern: Mirabilis Baby Blanket by Molting Yeti. Also available on Ravelry.
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease, 2.25 skeins = 443.3 yards of the color, Gold.
Needles: US 9 / 5.5 mm

Baby Knits from Christmas 2008

I am finally getting around to posting about some of the baby knits I made for last Christmas. I forgot about some of them and the others I couldn't show until they were gifted. I debated whether to do one giant post or to break them down. I chose the latter.

There was a new arrival in my family this past Summer (July), a baby girl named, Juliana. Normally, I stick to one color knitting, but I wanted to branch out this time. I am not a fan of pink, but I think it can look pretty good paired with another color. Pink and green were the colors for Juliana's blanket.
This blanket took me 2 Weeks of monogamous knitting. My fingers paid the price, but I am so thrilled with the finished blanket. I love it. If it wasn't pink, I might have been tempted to keep it for Melody.It was not as hard as I thought it would be. The colors are slipped stitched, so it's not like Fair Aisle knitting where you have to carry the yarn in the back. And there were hardly any ends to weave in because the unused color is carried up the sides. Normally, I prefer a blanket with no wrong side, but I was surprised that I didn't mind. I thought the back looked pretty interesting.And here is little Miss Melody posing on top of the blanket to give you an idea of scale and size. The mother of the baby was really impressed with the blanket when she opened it on Christmas Day.

Pattern: Chocolate Petite Fours by Deborah Robson, from Knit Along with Debbie Macomber - The Shop on Blossom Street
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice; 2.77 skeins = 470.9 yards in Dusty Rose and 1.66 skeins = 282.2 yards of Dusty Green
Size: 31 inches by 31 inches
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Penny's Blanket
This cheerful baby blanket was made for Penny, my friends Jen and Jason's new arrival (born in Oct). I didn't get to see them until after Christmas, so we exchanged Christmas gifts at Melody's birthday party. Yellow is the theme color they chose for her, so I made the blanket in yellow. The color came out much brighter after knitting than when it was in the ball form.
I love the cute checker board pattern that borders the blanket. And it got bonus points from me because it looks great on both sides, no wrong or right sides.
I forgot measure the final size of the blanket, but I know it's huge. If I had to estimate, I would say 40 inches by 36 inches? It took even longer to knit this one. At one point, I thought it would never end.

Pattern: Baby Blocks by Ann Norling, from Knit Along with Debbie Macomber - The Shop on Blossom Street, but this is also available for FREE from HERE.
Needles: US 9 / 5.5 mm
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Baby, 5 skeins of Duckie

She had fun.

So this was my first time Trick or Treating in an apartment building. I grew up in the South Shore of Massachusetts and had always Trick or Treated in my neighborhood on the streets by going door to door. This method wasn't bad at all. Everywhere we went was brightly lit and we had a list of which apartments were handing out candy. It was very safe.

I think Melody found it amusing that people were holding out bowls of shiny wrapped things for her to grab. She was actually quite timid when she was offered the bowl. Which is is funny since she can grab anything from the shelves of a super market before you can even blink. The people encouraged her and she chose a Mini Snickers with the shiny gold wrapper. Oh how she clutched onto that little chocolate like it was a prize. She loves wrappers of any kind and was far more interested in the packaging itself than what was inside. Hehehe..if she only knew what delights that the inside held.She didn't cry, but she was wary of this masked man.
Veronica was very cautious of the masked man. The masked man's little girl was dressed as a fairy and handed out the candy. So, Veronica chose to interact with the fairy, but she kept peeking over at the masked man to keep an eye out on him.

Veronica was the leader for this Halloween and we played by her rules. We went to a few floors and a few apartments, but she soon tired of it quickly and asked to go home. She had a cute costume, but had refused to put it on when the time came. But I think the pumpkin t-shirt was just as cute. Life has been difficult for Veronica and she hasn't been getting much sleep. That led to a cranky kid.This is the reason for Veronica's distress, the Usurper! My friend, Jen, gave birth to a baby girl on Oct 26th. She had only been home for a few days before Halloween and Veronica was still adjusting to the Usurper. They think that she is semi-traumatized. She ignores the baby like it's not there. And if you are holding the baby, you will be ignored also. She also has been waking up at night crying, so she is super tired on top of getting a new baby sister.The Usurper's real name is Penelope. They are calling her Penny. Isn't that cute? She is so tiny! I can't even remember when Melody was that small. After handling a baby for the last 9 months, I had no trouble picking up Penny even though she felt like a ball of dough.
What's this you say?Peekaboo! She loves that game.This is actually my latest FO, a new knitted blanket for her. She loves blankets. It's a comfort thing for her. Did any of you ever notice how she never has a picture of a pacifier in her mouth. She never took to it. During her horrible colicky stage, I tried and tried, but she would just spit it back out and cry harder. I even tried different styles, but I eventually gave up. Blankets are like a pacifier to her. She will clutch it and snuggle with it. When she drinks her bottle, she clutches it and plays with it in her hands. When she is tired, she will put it in her mouth. This leads to stinky blankets so the more blankets, the better. And she is not particular to one blanket, any kind will do.The pattern is called Easy Eyelet Blanket from Knitting for Baby and it really couldn't have been easier. You start off at one corner and knit and increase until it's half the size you want and then decrease and make the other half. You are making a triangle at first and then the other half to form a square. The eyelets formed by the YO's gives the simple blanket a decorative touch.

My friend, Betty, had given me the book, Knitting for Baby, as a birthday present the year after I got married. I think it was a hint, but who knew that it would take many years before DH and I decided to have children and for me to utilize this book. I have the old cover or version of the book, but I am sure the inside is still the same. It has many different baby projects for any level knitter, so it's great for beginners and for advance knitters. And you can work your way from the simple projects to the more advanced. I already have my eye on several of the sweaters in the book.The yarn is a discontinued Lion Brand Yarn called Color Waves. The yarn is very soft and lofty which makes the blanket very light and not heavy feeling at all.
Pattern: Easy Eyelet Blanket from Knitting for Baby
Needles: US 10 / 6.0 mm
Yarn: Lion Brand Color Waves, 4 skeins = 500.0 yards (457.2m) in Sunset Red
Size: 37 inches square

The Last Thing I Knit

This is the last project that I worked on before I gave birth to that cutie pie in the picture. Seriously, on the morning that I woke up with contractions, I knit a few rows trying to distract myself while waiting for the doctor to call me back. No, I didn't take it with me to the hospital. I'm not that crazy!

A lot of you will remember that the baby was late in arriving for her big debut and I was suppose to be induced on a Tuesday night if she didn't come on her own over the weekend. To help ease my frustration, DH had taken me out on Saturday for some shopping and spicy Mexican food. I had seen this color yarn a few times when I went to Michaels, but never bought it because I didn't have a project in mind. The color is called Seafoam and I thought it would look good made into the Eyelet Baby Blanket by Blue Sky Alapacas. Somehow, I got it in my mind that I could try to start and finish a baby blanket before the baby arrived. I blame the hormones. I think that I was bored out of my mind waiting for the baby to come, so a challenge was needed.I started on Saturday night when I got home and knit like a crazed woman. By Sunday night, I had the body of the blanket done, but decided to add an extra eyelet row to lengthen the blanket. I figured that I would finish that extra section and get the ruffle border done the next day, Monday, and have it done in time for me to get induced on Tuesday night. Well, the contractions started the next morning.The blanket has been sitting around until I picked it up 2 months ago. It took me over 3 weeks to get the ruffle border done and then it sat for another 3 weeks before I got the motivation to seam the corners of the ruffle border and weave in all the ends. I felt like the border went on forever because each side is done separately. Well, and also having a baby around will slow you down.I love how the blanket turned out. The ruffle gives the otherwise plain blanket a feminine flair. It's very soft and cuddly, perfect for a baby. I think it's cute that Melody is fascinated with the eyelet holes in the blanket. She kept sticking her fingers in the holes when I was taking these pictures.
Pattern: Eyelet Baby Blanket by Leslie Scanlon (from Blue Sky Alpacas)
Needles: US 9 / 5.5 mm circs
Yarn: 3 skeins of Red Heart Soft Yarn in Seafoam
Size: 27" by 30"
Mods: I added an extra row of eyelets and picked up 89 stitches for the vertical rows of the ruffle border.

Baby Gifts for Isabelle

Are you sick of my baby knitting yet? Well, I am sorry to say that there will be more. Don't say that I didn't warn you. This sweater and blanket is made for a friend of my family. I was hoping to knit a toy to go with this set, but she gave birth a week early so I had to send this off right away.The blanket is a feather and fan pattern with only 3 rows to memorize, so it's easy. The pattern is from the book, Knitting for Peace. It took me about a week of mad knitting to get this done. I like the fact that the blanket doesn't have a wrong or right side, so it's reversible.I had Melody try it out and she liked it. I think the bright color really attracts her attention. The pattern produces a cushy textured blanket, so it's perfect for kids. I really love how this blanket turned out and I would love to make another one for Melody, but blankets are a lot of work. For those of you that have been reading my blog while I was pregnant with Melody know that she really doesn't lack in any handmade blankets from me. But I love the idea of handmade blankets wrapped around babies.I know I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but Knitting for Peace is a beautiful book, inside and out. The book has a cloth spine and the cover has peace symbols covering the entire book, like it's embossed. You really should take a look at this book if you enjoy charity knitting. The stories that follow each project had me in tears. There are a total of 15 projects in the book, socks, hats, afghans and more. I like how they included the requirements and addresses for each Charity Group they featured in the book. I have done some charity knitting in the past and I plan to do some more when I have a little more time. I don't think that anyone can read this book without feeling motivated to do some knitting for peace.
This is the second "5 Hour Baby Sweater" that I have knit. I think this one went even faster than the first. Again, the important thing is to knit the sleeves in the round so you don't have to spend extra time seaming the sleeves. This was a 2 day project for me.
I used a green ribbon to contrast against the magenta colored yarn. The yarn I used is called Red Heart With Wool. I can't seem to find any information on it, so I think that it's discontinued. I bought it a few years ago at the annual Manhattan Yarn Riot held by Smiley's Yarns. It's made of 20% wool and 80% acrylic and is machine washable.

Patterns: Quickie ("5-hour") Baby Sweater (Free Pattern), Project Linus Security Blanket from Knitting for Peace
Yarn: 2 1/2 skeins of Red Heart With Wool (20% wool & 80% acrylic) in color: Magenta
Needles: US 10½ / 6.5 mm (Sweater), US 9 / 5.5 mm (Blanket)
Size: Blanket is 24" wide by 32" long