knitting for my wee ones
By some miracle, both kids are sleeping, both my arms are free (Anya, bless her, wants to be held all the time and does not take kindly to being put down for more than 30 seconds), the dishes are [mostly] washed, the laundry is drying, and I have a few minutes to myself. As if my offspring didn't take all of my time already, I'm knitting them some things. This is partly because it's the middle of January, it's bloody cold outside, and they needed winter accessories two months ago (well, Anya didn't while she was in utero, obviously), and partly because making little things for little people is great instant gratification. I'm not ready to tackle a major project yet, so it works out nicely for everyone.
Firstly, I made Anya a hat:
The pattern is my own. The only semi-original thing about it, actually, is the ruffly part around the brim, but it's not like I'm the first to make a ruffle, what? It's just that I didn't consult any stitch dictionaries or other references for instruction. I just sort of did it. I'm sure Nicky Epstein could knit ruffly circles around me, since she is the queen of borders and edgings and all manners of knitted adornments. In fact, I want to add some flowers to the hat to make it extra girly, so I checked out her book Knitted Flowers from the local library to do just that.
(By the way, what's happening to me? I'm not the ruffly-flowery sort at all. Then poof! I have a baby girl and one month later I'm going all bananas and making her frilly accessories that don't even bother to stay on her head half the time.)
Secondly, Daniel's new hat is a hit (by that I mean he agrees to wear it when we go outside), but it's getting awfully lonely. There was plenty of yarn in that skein of Twizzle, so I'm making mittens to keep it company.
I was, of course, inspired by the EZ mitered mittens over at Brooklyn Tweed. This is the May pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac, and I'm enjoying it immensely.
I measured around Daniel's other mittens, a flimsy pair of thin fleece things from Land's End, and decided a 6" circumference would be about right. My gauge is 22 stitches for 4", so a plain st st mitten would require 33 stitches. EZ suggests increasing the stitch count by 1/3, since the miters tighten the overall work significantly. For a six-inch mitten, this comes to 44 stitches, which is perfect, since you need a multiple of 4 to make everything come out right. I'm zipping right along, especially since I'm ignoring the thumb (I plan to do an afterthought thumb when it's all done), and I like how it's looking so far:
Firstly, I made Anya a hat:
The pattern is my own. The only semi-original thing about it, actually, is the ruffly part around the brim, but it's not like I'm the first to make a ruffle, what? It's just that I didn't consult any stitch dictionaries or other references for instruction. I just sort of did it. I'm sure Nicky Epstein could knit ruffly circles around me, since she is the queen of borders and edgings and all manners of knitted adornments. In fact, I want to add some flowers to the hat to make it extra girly, so I checked out her book Knitted Flowers from the local library to do just that.
(By the way, what's happening to me? I'm not the ruffly-flowery sort at all. Then poof! I have a baby girl and one month later I'm going all bananas and making her frilly accessories that don't even bother to stay on her head half the time.)
Secondly, Daniel's new hat is a hit (by that I mean he agrees to wear it when we go outside), but it's getting awfully lonely. There was plenty of yarn in that skein of Twizzle, so I'm making mittens to keep it company.
I was, of course, inspired by the EZ mitered mittens over at Brooklyn Tweed. This is the May pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac, and I'm enjoying it immensely.
I measured around Daniel's other mittens, a flimsy pair of thin fleece things from Land's End, and decided a 6" circumference would be about right. My gauge is 22 stitches for 4", so a plain st st mitten would require 33 stitches. EZ suggests increasing the stitch count by 1/3, since the miters tighten the overall work significantly. For a six-inch mitten, this comes to 44 stitches, which is perfect, since you need a multiple of 4 to make everything come out right. I'm zipping right along, especially since I'm ignoring the thumb (I plan to do an afterthought thumb when it's all done), and I like how it's looking so far:
Comments
I am chortling!