Spanish Baby Blanket

Well, sort of. I knitted this for my friends Morgan and Dom who had a baby girl in October. The pattern calls for you to knit width-wise, and I completely overestimated the width. I wanted to get the blanket to them sooner than later and didn't want to knit the thing forever, so the blanket is more rectangular than I would have liked. I used this fan and feather pattern I found on ravelry. And I used yarn I bought while traveling in Madrid a few years ago. The yarn is Valeria di Roma Topacio, and I used some old Caron Simply Soft for the cream parts. Despite shaping issues, I'm pretty proud of this one.

Another Blanket, but not for a Baby

I am making this blanket for a friend. I don't want to get too descriptive because I think they may actually read this blog. When I got the yarn, B said, "Why did you get a puke green color?!" I don't think it's puke green. I think it's a lovely dusty green. I'm using Vanna White for Lion Brand yarn. Laugh all you want, but I'm a poor student now and can't afford to be a yarn snob. This pattern is done in panels, which I do NOT like. I'm not a fan of finishing (meaning, I'm not a fan of sewing with yarn to complete a project). It's annoying and time consuming. But this friend is worth it so I'm excited to work through this pattern. I'm setting my deadline for this blanket at Valentine's Day. Hold me to it! I need extra time because, if you haven't noticed, school owns my life plus I have tons of time-sensitive wedding stuff to do. So, V-day it is.

Sending Love

A friend of mine needed some love in the last few weeks so I Fed-Ex's him some brownies. I used the all-edge pan, of course.

I used Ghiradelli double chocolate mix and it was delicious. It traveled pretty well, or so I hear. Circle containers, like this take-out container from an Italian place in my neighborhood, are good for traveling brownies or other baked goods because you can arrange things to not shift too much but they also have room to breathe and won't stick to each other. You can't mail anything US mail more than 13 oz., which is annoying, and which is why I had to Fed Ex. As I left the store, I briefly wondered why I didn't just sit in the mailing place and ate brownies until the damn package weighed 12.9 oz. Oh well, lesson learned.

Baby oh Baby

I got home Saturday, and that's when he proposed - right at the airport! It was amazing. Rest assured that you'll hear about all the painstaking decisions on this blog. I plan to have a wedding that reflects me - very DIY in some respects but with some high-end taste, too. Expect the shoes to cost almost as much as the dress. I'm just sayin'.

So, Greece. It was amazing and I highly recommend it. I suggest that if you go, you pick two islands and spend a good amount of time at each. My favorite was Crete. Rhodes and Lindos were awesome - the water was so clear. Mykonos is definitely a party and beach spot, and Santorini is just so picturesque. I'll have to go back in this lifetime.

Throughout the entire trip, on every plane, ferry, and bus, I knitted this baby blanket for my co-worker's son due in July. Her shower was the day after I returned so it was essential I get my act together. I didn't wash it, she'll have to do that in whatever special baby detergent she has, but I did get a chance to add a hood and do a nice border. The blanket is worked in stockinette stitch and the border in garter. Boring, I know, but I did put a little ducky in the corner (thanks for the suggestion, Annie!) that I think adds a little something. It's a little lumpy because I didn't wash it, but also because I didn't follow exact dimensions and didn't follow instructions as to how many stitches to pick up on each side (I did 1:1). I sed Vanna for Lion Brand Yarn in Aqua and Lamb. What do you think?

Baby Boy Blanket 2.0

A co-worker and friend of mine is pregnant and I promised to make her a blanket. I am using this pattern from the Thrifty Knitter.

It is super cute with a hood built in for Baby's head and a nice contrast border. As per usual it is s l o w coming. I want to add an image, like a lamb or something, in the corner. If you haven't yet, check out the Knit Pro website. You can upload a photo and it puts it into a graph paper pdf file. No more coloring in graph paper! I haven't intarsia'd anything in a while (Intarsia? I hardly know ya. Yes, I had to say it). Lambs are cute and very gender-neutral (in my opinion). She knows it's a boy but I don't want to put something overtly masculine like a basketball or bat or some shit. I don't know, any better ideas? I was also thinking initals or something. But I wouldn't put it past my friend to change her mind about the name so...no. It's not like I'll be anywhere near the end of this thing soon anyway so I have time to decide.

Good Thing it's 75 Degrees and Sunny

I am typically inappropriately dressed for the weather, but for me to impose this super late gift of a scarf on Boyfriend's sister is just wrong. But oh well...a gift is a gift. The scarf was done in Rhode Island colors, where Boyfriend's sister has just finished her second year. Their parents are in town this weekend en route to URI, so this will be one more thing they get to pack up and bring back to Michigan. I did it in a simple 1x1 rib, using Brown Sheep Company's Bulky in Creme and Winter Blue. Turned out nicely. Should be super warm and will match the mittens I knitted her back in December.

Also this weekend: the Handmade Cavalcade at the Bell House in Brooklyn will feature over 30 vendors selling handmade stuffs. I'm going on Sunday. Would go Saturday but that's my big trip to Woodbury Commons. It's like the mothership is calling me home.

Done and done (and on to the next one)!

Finished the Detroit baby blanket last night! Seeing as I dragged this thing all over New York on the subway, in other people's houses, and in my work office, I wanted to clean it before giving it to the proud parents but was afraid the colors would bleed. The white on the blanket is really, really white. I don't care if it bleeds when they wash it, I just want them to see it in all it's glory before it gets crumpled up, thrown around, and stained with all sorts of baby goo. So, this morning I took it to the drycleaners on the corner. Maybe it was because I needed it back in only 24 hours, I don't know, but it costs $15 to dryclean the damn thing. And it this blanket it super-tiny. Wtf. Grrr oh well. I'm pretty happy with it.
The details: Like I mentioned before, I used this pattern which is super easy and I didn't modify it one bit. I worked with Feza Iplik Baby Solid (a Turkish yarn) in blue and white. Detroit's colors also include black and silver. I didn't really want to put any black in this baby blanket, and didn't see any colorways close to silver in Feza, so I just picked up some Caron's Simply Soft. I bought one skein of each and have plenty leftover. Used size 8 circular needles. Everything was purchased from my favorite LYS, Knit-a-Way of Brooklyn.

Now, back to the scarf I'm knitting for Boyfriend's sister. It would have been finished long ago, but I had to order a single skein of Brown Sheep Company's Lamb's Pride Bulky in Winter Blue from Knit-A-Way, then I got sidetracked with this baby blanket. I'm 75% there, so pictures to come soon.

Detroit Rock City

I am a terrible knitter-procrastinator. A knitcrastinator, if you will. This is odd, since I typically don't drag my feet for school work, work work, etc. Anyway, the last time I knitted baby stuff, the kids (adorable twin girls) were a few weeks old by the time my booties arrived in the mail. My friend Andy and Alicia's baby is due today (!!!) and I am less than 1/3 done with this receiving blanket. It's a pretty simple pattern done in Detroit Lions colors. The couple, like my boyfriend, is from Michigan, and we are all in a football pool together. They are Lions fans, of course (and unfortunately!). I'm an Eagles fan myself, boyfriend is a Browns season ticket holder. I digress...I'm going to knit like a maniac for the next few days. On the subway, during lunch, on the couch. I'm giving myself two weeks and if it's not in the mail, I'll inflict some kind of punishment on myself. Like pay $200 towards my credit card. Or make myself run 4 miles. You know, things I should be doing anyway.

Speaking of mommies-to-be, I hung out with some today. I work in a hospital, and on Monday afternoons I volunteer on the maternity ward, teaching women on bedrest or with pregnancy complications how to knit. I've only ever taught kids to knit, and enjoy working with adults because they are much more dexterous and have longer attention spans (most of the time). Volunteering is awesome, not to mention the fact that it gives me time to work on my own projects. I'm getting in my karma hours now before the summer and fall, where I'll probably be way too busy to volunteer anywhere. But I figure a career in human services makes up for not volunteering for a while. If you can, volunteer at your local hospital, soup kitchen, after school, whatever. If you can't, just be nice to people...baby steps. :o)