Knitters’ Row

This will be the final preemie set for the summer unless i get a good jump start on my Christmas presents and finish up some UFOs.  I finally found someone to take the items to the hospital for me.  I know they will get there safely because she works in the delivery unit.  I am not sure if all the sizes are right.  Some items are small, some are large, but I was figuring that all babies are different sizes too.

This whole set was done with DK baby yarn by Berroco.  It is super soft and will wash very well.  I think the variegated blue and the variegated pink on the blanket was a Bernat yarn, but i can’t find the colors at the store any more, they are probably still on line though.  I just used a single crochet for the booties, and a single crochet for the hat.  The hat also has a small shell stitch around the edge.  The blanket was done in Tunisian Entrelac Crochet and was very difficult to follow in the pattern book that I got, but once i got it figured out it was pretty easy.  The hard part was that the author of the pattern didn’t have the pattern all on one page or even in a set of pages.  To get the blanket done you had to flip through the book from page 3 to page 7, then to page 11, pack to page 5…..etc.  So good luck for anyone who tries this out.

This is the next in the sets that I’ll be sending to the NICU for this month. I plan on doing one more then starting some new sets next month, but I’m not sure yet what patterns I’ll use. The pattern is a diamond lace done on size 7 needles with fingering-weight yarn.

After much time with fussing around with increases and stitch counts, I finally finished my first pair of Fiber Trends felted clogs! To be able to get the correct stitch count, I had to use a “kfb” increase. Instead of two strands, I used a yarn very similar to Lopi. I was really surprised that they came out felted so completely! Although they were a size bigger than they were supposed to be, an extra felting in the washing machine and a run through the dryer shrunk them a bit. A hint would be to felt them a little bit smaller than what you need (about a half size) because they will stretch as you wear them. If you need to, you can always refelt them as they stretch later.  I used a wool very similar to Harmony (a super bulky wool like Lopi, but soooo much softer).  The yarn I used is long discontinued.  The pattern also says you can double strand two pieces of worsted weight such as Galway too.

I also worked up a pair of these in a pink and brown verigated yarn in complete garter stitch for a toddler.  They came out nicely.  They were given as a gift so I am not sure how they are wearing, but the adult ones still look like new.  I will definately use this pattern again….maybe thrumb the inside (line with roving) just for the luxury, not that they need it, I just love the feeling.

Finally! I got this pic posted of the second knit project that I did. I never did get around to using the pattern that I bought. I liked this cable pattern better. It ended up being a bit big, so next time I might take out a cable repeat on each side or something, and also not start the arm holes till later so they are not so big, but it is perfect for wearing something bulky underneath which I have done. It also keeps me super warm which I guess is it’s purpose. I designed this sweater around one that I saw in a mall. They had it for sale and I thought that $89 was a little stiff and that i may be able to knit it. Well needless to say, I ended up spending about that in yarn and supplies using Plymouth Encore worsted weight. But this was my inspiration to start knitting in the first place. I did write down the pattern, but I am not about to type it all up! Sorry