Beyond In Threes

This week I’ve been trying out a new baby pattern, Beyond Puerperium by Kelly Brooker. I’ve knitted several In Threes by Kelly Herdrich for various babies. But I waiting until this baby was born, and being a boy, I decided that In Threes was perhaps too ‘girly’. I hate this concept of ‘boyish’ and ‘girly’, I know that men and women are different, but the differences are not binary, not blue and pink, the differences are on a spectrum.

Anyway, for this little boy I decided on Beyond Puerperium. What I love about this pattern is that instructions are given for a number of yarn weights in a number of sizes. I found some superwash DK in my stash in purple and green. It knit up really quickly and is super cute. I don’t know very much about babies, but I’ve been told that the buttons down the side make it easier to dress the baby, rather than having to pull a jumper down over their heads.

There are a few things I’ll do differently next time (and there will be a next time). The first is the buttons. I don’t know if I placed them too far apart, but the buttons along the yoke are pulling a bit. If anyone has any suggestions on how to fix this I would love to know in the comments. Do I need to place the buttonholes closer together? Or do I need sew the buttons farther from the edge of the fabric?

The second thing that I would do differently is that I would knit the button band in the same colour as the cuffs, rather than having a striped button band. By slipping the stitches you get a really neat edge, but the colours kind of bleed a bit on the stripes. This isn’t a big deal, but I think it would be neater if it was a solid colour.

Cute baby stuff

The title of this post is fairly self explanatory. I finally finished my  the bulk of my Christmas knitting and it only took me until January 2nd to get it all done. I didn’t even have that much to do but it seemed to take longer than I expected.

First up is a cardigan I began at the beginning of November. This was knit for a friend’s sister who had a baby at the end of November, but before I managed to finish it I was distracted by the Santa coat for Mia. I finally finished it last night. It seems quite small so I hope it will fit the little boy in question. The Baby Sophisticate cardigan wasn’t meant as a Christmas present, it just ended up that way. I love the collar on it, as the name suggests it looks so sophisticated.

The second project is a pair of mittens for a toddler. These were knit using leftovers from my own mittens and knit at a pretty tight gauge. I had hoped I’d have enough yarn left to do an icord string that could connect the two mittens but I barely had enough to finish the mittens themselves. They look so small and I really have no concept of how small a toddler’s hand is so, again, I really hope they fit.

Lastly is a hat for a newborn. I had seen this pattern on Ravelry many times, but wasn’t sure I liked this pattern until I saw it on a baby’s head. Then it looked so cosy and cute. The hat is designed using short rows to create the curved shape of the head. It’s really clever and very effective. It’s also designed to cover the ears and there are a few options for fastening it. I chose icord strings and I wasn’t mad about the button to the side option. It’s also really tiny but I got to see it on the recipient this afternoon and it fit her snugly. I’m not sure how long it will fit for, but she’ll be a super cosy baby while it does.Phew, after all that I’m knitting only for me for the whole of January at least.

In Threes Take Two

Wow, I have really been neglecting my blog recently. I’m putting it down to having started an internship recently (more on that in a later blog post, if I get around to it). It’s also getting more wintery by the day here so trying to get daylight photographs is difficult, even on the weekends, gah.

But I’ve been knitting up a storm even if I haven’t been writing about my projects. At some point I’ll have three hats, a pair of mittens, another baby cardigan, a shawl that is destined to be ripped out any day now and some knitted jewellery to share with you. I also need a new notebook, but I want a pretty one so I’m working on an idea for that.

But today I have a baby cardie to share with you. This is the second time I’ve knitted this pattern and I’m still as much in love with it as the first version. There are no sleeves to be knitted, it’s top down and seamless and the button band is knitted as you go so once you’re finished, you’re finished. All I had to do was sew on these cute buttons and it’s ready to send off to the latest member of my extended family.

This is now officially my go-to pattern [In Threes by Kelly Herdrich], but I would love to know what baby pattern you find yourself knitting over and over again. Let me know in the comments!

In Threes

I think this may be my new favourite baby cardigan pattern. It’s supposed to be knit using Aran weight yarn, and I suspect that makes it an incredibly quick knit. I had some lovely yellow DK (machine washable) yarn in my stash, so although I was knitting for a two year old I chose the 3T size.

This is the perfect pattern because it’s super cute (!!!!) and it’s knit all in one piece. The cap sleeves mean you don’t need to use DPNs for the sleeves, you simply cast off the stitches and you’re done. And the button band is also knit as you go along, so there’s no need to pick up any stitches. Plus, did I mention how cute the garter ridges are? Very, very cute.

I used a bit over two balls of the Jaeger Baby Merino, so I just have just under two balls left. I can definitely see another of these yellow cardigans (in a smaller size) in my future. I’ts a really quick knit and will make another great gift for someone in the future.

FO: A Tale of Two Cardies

Two of cousins had babies in May of this year, a boy and a girl. Cue much baby knitting. I had some lovely cotton that I bought at HandmAid last year, three balls of Rowan Handknit Cotton in a lovely soft green and three balls of Debbie Bliss Cotton DK in a gorgeous rich stone colour. I prefer to not to use pink for girls and blue for boys so these colours were perfect. I didn’t quite have enough of both colours so I decided to use Debbie Bliss Cotton DK in Navy as an accent colour.

These are my Hannah and Tiernan cardigans. The pattern is the Garter Yoke Baby Cardie by Jennifer Hoel. I adore this cardie because it’s quick and easy. It’s a top down seamless pattern so no sewing up. I used DK weight yarn and 4.5mm needles to give a bigger cardigan, and I’m delighted with the results.

I’m really confused though because I needed an extra ball of navy yarn with the stone cardie. I used about 4.5 balls in total for the stone cardigan and 3.5 for the green one. I know they’re two different yarns but wasn’t expecting such a difference as they turned out about the same size. I continue to learn something new with each project.

Ok, one last photo, I just HAVE to show you these gorgeous red car buttons that I bought in La Droguerie in Paris. I think they’re just about the dotiest thing I have ever seen. I’m almost sorry to give them away but they are going to a very special cousin, who I know will love them as much as I do.

FO: My First Ever Wearable

Ok, so I have finished *a whole cardigan*, but it’s not for me. It’s a teeny tiny cardie for my new most favourite baby in the world ever – Holly.

Last year I was watching the BBC program Mastercrafts and I was inspired to go back to some type of craft. I was particularly taken by the program on weaving, but our house is too small for a loom. That’s when it hit me – knitting. You’re still creating something both beautiful and practical but on a much more practical scale.

A bit of online research revealed a wool shop (which I now know should be termed Local Yarn Shop/Store or LYS) in Rathmines, Knit ‘nd Make. For my non-knitty fiends, a FO is a Finished Object, there was a world of new terminology to learn. I bought yarn and needles and the rest, as they say, is history.

When Lidl had a special on yarn in July I bought some Lima cotton [Ravelry link] in peach and in teal in anticipation of my best friend having either a girl or a boy. That’s me, I’m prepared for every eventuality.

It took me exactly two weeks to knit. I used just over two balls, only starting the third for the button band. The yarn has beautiful stitch definition, but I found it a bit… crunchy. I hope it will soften with washing.

After really pushing the boat out on the yarn (which is sarcasm as the yarn cost €1 per ball) I splashed the cash and picked up really cute buttons in A. Rubanesque in the Powerscourt Townhouse. If little H is like her mum (and me) she will be a bit of a magpie.

Here the Ravelry link to the project page.