Simply Adorable

It's a Girl!!

I'm very happy to tell you that I became a grandmother on Friday! I had knitted lots of baby sweaters ready for the big event. However, they are all way too big because baby came four weeks early. What's a grandmother to do? Quickly knit a tiny sweater. Knit from the top down of very soft Velvet Touch, it measures about 14" around. Mom and Baby are doing fine.

Sunny Baby Blanket

Bright yellow baby blanket for the laundry challenged mother to be, made of wear- like -iron acrylic. Sure, I know it's not organic or Eco-anything, but most likely no animals were harmed in the making of it. And it's indestructible. That's got to count for something, right?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Yarn Basket

Or basket of yarn. I am pleased with the way this turned out. It makes a good storage basket for my yarn. The pattern is the same as the one for the felted kitty beds, just with taller sides. It measures 14" circumference and 10" high. I used up a lot of my stash, but then my neighbor came over and gave me 16 more balls of yarn - enough to fill it up. I can't win.

An Assortment of Hats

Candy Corn
For Halloween, of course.

An Unoriginal Hat
A fun knit of a popular pattern in Red Heart Zoomy.

Love It Hat

Love It is the name of the yarn. I made this recently when I was in Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta. I finished it just in time for the cold weather.

I love knitting hats. They're fast and don't take much yarn. I end up giving most of them away.

This is a Baby Blanket

A small one, 23 inches square, meant to go over a car seat or stroller. Knitted in garter stitch on the diagonal with two skeins of Blue Sky organic cotton. Very soft. And in a gender neutral color too!

Basketweave Blanket

Baby blanket or lap blanket? Or maybe dog blanket. About 32" square. Pretty color, good stitch definition, but not very soft. That's because it's knit from 1970's acrylic that has been in my stash for a very long time. I'll wash it to see if it will soften up, then decide.
I like the pattern though.

Another Not a Baby Sweater

Classic Twinset for the well dressed doll or teddy bear. I knit this to test out my seamless top down teddy bear sweater pattern. It measures 13" around, knit of Red Heart sport yarn.

Blue Felted Bag

Another felted bag, it must be about the 10th bag I've knit. Yes, it is an addiction, but I always find a purpose for them. This one turned out quite nicely. The size is about 9" square, just right for a small knitting project.

A Lovely Shrug

Enough with the baby knitting! Here is something to wear over a summer dress or a sleeveless top while you are walking around a museum or an art gallery. The pattern designer called it a bolero, but I call it a shrug. Knit in Cotton-Ease, a washable cotton -acrylic blend. Very easy to knit, it's essentially a rectangle with a little seaming at both ends.

OK, I'm still going to knit baby things!

Serf Booties

Serf Booties

Or maybe SCA Booties? Knitted and felted. Pattern from Interweave Knits. The soles measure about 4". They turned out darn cute! Not sure what kind of garb would go with them.

Not a Baby Sweater

Mohair Sweater and Hat

It's an American Girl Doll sweater. Do I have one of these dolls? No. Do I know anyone with one.? No. But I had a pattern and a little bit of yarn and so I knit this. I do think the hat came out too small. I'm giving it away, if you know of any little girl with a doll who would like this, let me know.

I've been knitting a lot of small projects lately, because it's too hot to have a lot of wool in my lap

If It's a Boy

Easy Baby Cardigan

And if it's a girl, I suppose I could add lace or pink ties or something. Or just knit another one.
Latest baby knitting, made with Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, cotton acrylic blend from my stash. Pattern is free from Knitting Pure and Simple. Yes, it was easy to knit, made in one piece without seams.

Another Baby Hat

Made with bulky acrylic bamboo yarn.. A fast and easy knit. About 12" around. This one is going to charity, though.

Baby Hat

The first knit hat for Baby A! The yarn is a very soft machine washable wool bought at Yarndogs. The spiral rib pattern will stretch to fit for many months. It measures about 11" around unstretched. This is only the first knit - many more to come.

Teddy Bear Sweater

Top-Down Seamless Teddy Bear Sweater

This is my own pattern. A simple sweater made complicated by knitting it in the round with circular needles (sleeves with double pointed needles).

Size: 14" Bear
Materials: worsted weight yarn about 100 yards
Needles, #5, #7 16" circular & dp, Markers, Scrap yarn

Gauge: 18 stitches & 24 rows to 4" on #7 needles

Begin at neck edge:
With # 5 circular needles loosely cast on 41 stitches
Row 1& 3: (RS) Knit 3, Purl 1, Knit 1 rib until last 3 sts, Knit 3
Row 2 & 4 : (WS) Knit 3, Knit 1, Purl 1 rib until last 3 sts, Knit 3
Change to # 7 circular needles.
Row 5: Knit 7 (front), PM, Knit 7 (sleeve), PM, Knit 13 (back), PM, Knit 7 (sleeve), PM, Knit 7 (front)
Row 6: Knit 3, Purl until last 3 sts, K3
Row 7: (inc row) *Knit to stitch before marker, Kfb, SM, Kfb repeat from * 3 times, knit to end of row ( 8 sts increased). 49 stitches
Row 8: Knit 3, Purl to last 3 sts, K3
Row 9: Repeat row 7. 57 sts
Row 10: Repeat row 8
Row 11: Repeat inc row but at the end do not turn, join by knitting the last stitch and the first stitch together. Mark beginning of round. 64 sts
Round 12: Knit
Round 13: *Knit to stitch before marker Kfb, SM, Kfb, repeat from * 3 times. Knit to end of round. 72 sts
Round 14: Knit

Repeat Rounds 13 & 14 until there are 31 sts each for the front and back and 25 sts each for the sleeves, end round at underarm.

Body: Next round. slip left sleeve sts to a scrap of yarn, knit back sts, slip right sleeve sts to yarn scrap, knit front sts. 62 sts. Knit 8 rounds.

Change to #5 needle. Work K 1, P 1 rib for 4 rounds. Bind off in rib using #7 needle.

Sleeves: Put sleeve sts on #7 dp needles, picking up 3 sts, 1 on either side and 1 in the middle of the underarm. 28 sts. Join yarn and knit 8 rounds. Change to #5 dp needles and work K1 P1 rib for 4 rounds. Bind off in rib with #7 needle Work other sleeve. Weave in ends.

Abbreviations: dp- double pointed, inc-increase, Kfb- knit in the front and back of the stitch, PM- place marker,
SM -slip marker, sts-stitches

Pattern by OC Knitter for charity or personal use. 2008

Felted Backpack

Latest Projects

Chinchilla Hat

This is a hat exactly like the one I made for Dr. B. I gave it away before I took a picture. Very, very soft.

Mexicali Baby

This was a project from 2003. The only thing it needed was the finishing around the neckline and sleeve seaming. So, finally, it's done.

Sunset Tote

A felted bag using up stash yarn. I love felting. You could even say I was addicted. It's about 16" wide and 10" high. I neglected to put anything in the picture for scale. If I was more artsy, I would have done a photo against a sunset.

Scarf at the Beach

Kelp Forest

This scarf was a knit pattern from the book "Ocean Breezes" so I took it to the beach (BolsaChica) to photograph it during my morning walk. It's a little warm to be wearing wool, but it looks good on the fence. I like the pattern, and I think it looks nice on both sides.

White Diamonds Afghan

This is my most recent finished object, and boy did it take a long time to knit! A bed size afghan in a diamond pattern. But, this is not just a picture of a knitted afghan, it's a picture of a bed with out any yarn piled on top of it! This was only temporary due to the guest/yarn room being used last weekend.

Military Monkey

My knitting guild has a charity project called Precious Pals whereby members dress a stuffed animal to donate to the police department to give to children in crisis. I took this monkey and made him a camouflage sweater and cap. I think he's rather cute. I have been doing lots of other knitting, but I just haven't finished anything.

Spiral Hat

Just getting around to posting this hat. It's from One-Skein Designer Wonders. I really like it, it has a 1940's look to it. I used yarn that I bought at the knitting guild auction for a dollar. I have no idea what it is because it had no label on it.

Neapolitan Slippers

I gave that name to these slippers because of the color. While I was knitting, the pink, brown & white (though it's really beige) color reminded me of the chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice cream flavor called Neapolitan. Not that I've had it in many years. Knit with the same pattern as the previous slippers. They have already been delivered and are in use.

New Year's Resolution #1 - Knit From Stash

"Snuggles Pet Bed"

Knit from 3 strands of lightweight acrylic with stripes of Lion Brand Homespun. Pattern from snugglesproject.org. Very sturdy, should make some pet warm & cozy. Until then, I'll fill it with balls of yarn.

first FO of 2008

That's first finished object (FO) in knitterspeak. Another pair of slippers. Yep, the Man Booties were wearing out fast. These are made with two strands of yarn, felted of course. Wool is Paton's Classic from my stash (yea!) Pattern is Fiber Trends, with an I-cord bind off instead of a cuff. They were fast and easy to make. Barbara's been complaining of cold feet, maybe I'll make her a pair.