Knit: Baby Cardigan

I started this knit cardigan back in April 2008 when Oggie was one month old and my mom was here helping out. It took me a long time to finish, but, am glad I managed to finish it by Fall 2008. I had sized it for 9-12 months per the pattern I found on the web, and didn't want his first winter to go by before I managed to get it done.

It is a standard cardigan pattern I found at Lion Brand website, except, I faced my usual problem of picking up the sleeves and knitting to finish. So, I crocheted the sleeves, and finished the edges with crochet as well.

I used Red Heart worsted weight acrylic yarn which is fairly soft but plenty warm, and size 9 knitting needles. Plus stitch holders which comes in handy for dividing and working on parts of the sweater while other stitches are held safely till ready to be picked up and knit.

Instead of doing the back and fronts and piecing them together, I knitted from bottom hem to armholes, divided at the armhole and did the neck shaping on one front, then the back, then the other front. Then joined at the shoulders, and finished the sleeves and edge with single crochet.

Knit: Baby Sweater and Hat Set

I liked the pattern for raglan sleeve baby sweater and wanted to try it. I am partial to crochet, but, I love the finish that knitting produces. Usually, I start my knit projects with super gung-ho and then somewhere around row 2 when I drop stitches accidentally, lose count, and try to improvise on the pattern, I get terribly frustrated and look for ways to take the short-cut and finish the project with my trusted crochet skills.

This sweater is no exception.

It is knit from the bottom up to armhole, then divided, and the neck shaping for the two fronts and the back are done. Then, the sleeves need to be picked up and knit. That has always been the challenging part for me - patience-wise as well as skill-wise. So, I ended up crocheting the sleeves which is so much easier for me.

The hat is a made-up pattern - sort of wanted the London Bobby look, even if the color is wrong, so, I just went along with what I thought might work. It looks like a conical hat, or maybe more like a pointy bell, but then again, I started to knit the hat and realized my pattern-making skills are not as good for knitting, so switched to crochet towards the end... explains the funny shape, doesn't it?

Anyway, I made this a while back when I was still expecting my little one, and now that I see it on him, it is not too bad... the hat looks sort of like a pixie or elf hat, and the sweater seems to keep him warm.

Knit: Baby Sweater

I wanted to knit something with the little scraps of yarn that I didn't have the heart to throw away, especially considering how pricey yarns have become these days, even just acrylic baby yarn.

The pattern is sort of made-up - extrapolated from crochet pattern I usually use for sweaters. I am essentially a crocheter, knitting is only a secondary thing for me.

I didn't plan on using any color scheme, just joined the next color as one color got used up. It is done sort of like the kimono sweater that I love to crochet - starting at the back bottom, working the back, sleeves and neck and the fronts - except rather than overlapping fronts to make the kimono style, I left it like a cardigan. The whole sweater is done in simple garter stitch with a size 12 or so large needles. I sewed the seams and finished the edges with crochet.

It is the beginning of August, supposedly the middle of Summer, but it is pretty chilly here that I decided to put on this scrap-yarn sweater for the wee one so I can let him sit out in the patio and enjoy the backyard wildlife...

I made this over the Christmas/New Year Holiday season when I was in my third trimester, so overcome with nesting instinct that couldn't sit still. It is approximately 12-18 months size, so, it is a little big on my soon to be 5-month old, but, he wears it well I think :)

knit: toddler yoke sweater

After a long time, I took up knitting again and made this sweater. For Ana. As a Christmas present. And, I was quite pleased with the result.

To be honest, I fancy myself a crocheter, not really a knitter. But, I saw a picture of a sweater my friend R's mom had knit for R's baby girl - I call it the "teal sweater" - which was gorgeous and cute. I was inspired. I *had* to knit something like that for Ana.

After some quick search, I found this adorable pattern at yarntootin', which goes by the name of "Five Hour Baby Sweater" - supposedly referring to the time it takes to complete this sweater! There are several versions of this on the web, but, of the few I browsed through, this PDF pattern at yarntootin' was the easiest to read and comprehend, so, I stuck with it.

Of course, the sweater took me about 11 hours total, working in snatches as and when time permitted. The pattern is worked yoke-down - took me 3 hours for the yoke, 1½ hour each for the sleeves, and about 4 hours for the body.

I sort of cheated, well, more like extrapolated really, in the sense that I used a pair of Size 11 (US) needles, and Worsted weight acrylic yarn which made the knit fabric grow pretty fast. Smaller size needles with finer yarn would have taken me twice as much time to finish...

Solid colors work best for this pattern, in my opinion. I had ball of pink yarn handy, leftover from another crochet project and decided to work with it.

I did make a few mistakes which I managed to cover up fairly well - unless one takes a closer look, inspecting for flaws... besides, I think such minor flaws just add to the uniqueness and charm of a handmade gift ;)

Sweaters can be knit or crocheted in several generic ways. Some of my experience has been with just these three:

• one piece from yoke to hem, with minimal seam-sewing - perhaps just the sleeve seams
• from hem to neck, working in one piece in the round for fronts and back, and then dividing the work at armhole and working the sleeves, fronts and back as needed - again minimal seam-sewing, with probably just the shoulder seams if sleeves are worked in the round
• working in pieces, getting the back, right front, left front, and two sleeves done separately and sew them all together

Ana seems to love it. She happened to be with me when I was shopping for buttons for this sweater and I let her choose - sort of - I gave her a choice between these pink flower buttons and hot pink heart buttons... I think she picked the right one for this sweater :)

Leg Warmers and Hats

My wee tot got a pair of leg warmers and a cute hat for Christmas.

This inspired me to make a set for her myself. Guess which of the above two sets is my handiwork? The red and black set looks nice, doesn't it? I agree. I didn't make the red and black set. Nana knitted it.

I sort of made-up the crochet pattern for the pink and gray set. I had never crocheted leg warmers before. They seemed simple enough that I was quite eager to try it with some scrap yarn I had leftover from other projects.

Up until now, if you mentioned Leg Warmers, I would curl up and try not to retch. The 80's were not a great period in my life. And Leg Warmers reminded me very much of the 80's. Not anymore. I think leg warmers are cutest on tiny tots. Especially when paired with a perfect hat, all hand-made.

These hat and leg warmers seem to highlight the wee one's cuteness, if I may say so myself. Her teachers at daycare and pretty much everybody we've met so far seem to have positive comments on it. Nana, if you are reading this, I hope you know how much your knitted gifts are appreciated.

All these days I was sort of keeping my ongoing crochet projects in little cloth tote bags; could never find all my hooks when I needed them as they were in multiple bags and such.

This African basket is a perfect tote for my crochet things these days. Thanks, Nana, for sending it along. It looks deceptively small on the outside. But, it seems to hold everything I want at a time, plus room for more! I am sure this would help keep my crochet projects better organized from now on.