Green Baby Dress

This year, I find myself drawn to little baby dresses to knit. I am currently knitting one of my youngest and I got one off the needles recently. This post is about the latter.

 Like several knitters on Ravelry, I took the hybrid approach for this dress, taking the yoke pattern from one pattern and the body pattern from another. As I was using finer yarn, I had to do many modifications to the yoke, adding rows to the leaf pattern and simultaneously increasing the stitch count. For the body, I did eleven repeats of the flora dress pattern. I ended up doing rib border instead of moss stitch one, as it looked neater in this acrylic yarn. It all sounds quite complicated but it turned out quite easy to execute. I think it is a fine dress, though I am not sure about the color and acrylic is not the best choice of yarn for this dress.

Belated Spring Sewing 2015

My excuse, for neglecting this blog for a month or so, is my being out of sorts. The burn-out left me with little inclination for craft of any kind. However, I had managed to do a few sewing projects prior to that and also cast-on a small knitting project. I will share to sewing projects here. I sewed a couple of tops for my eldest daughter. No pattern, nothing fancy, just a couple of simple cotton tops, embellished with some trims.

 The second one has a gather below the front placket and a box-pleat at the back.

 And, because I had some fabric leftover, I stitched a top for the youngest. (A similar pattern/tutorial pinned here.)

 I am working on another dress at the moment. Hopefully, I have enough fabric to complete it.

Another Baby Cardigan

 

This baby cardigan got done this week. I found it hard to decide on a suitable pattern for this variegated yarn. Finally decided to improvise with this design, not sure if it worked. And as I winged the size, it turned out a bit larger than the intended 1-year size. It is more like for 18-24 months bracket. I still have some more variegated yarn to try and knit a toddler sweater with. Hopefully, that will turn out better than this one.

Striped Baby Cardigan

This week, I worked on this baby cardigan. You can probably tell that leftover yarns from some previous projects were used in this project. The short sleeves, with different color ribbing and underlying plain, full sleeves, might look like clever design elements, but are in fact improvisations on my part, as I ran out of yarns.

The pattern I started with, was Little Coffee Bean Cardigan, but these necessary, impromptu changes turned it into something else. Nevertheless, I still think it turned out quite cute.

Spring / Summer Sewing 2014 - Part 3

The clothes for my 6-month old are done. I managed to get them done, before the deadline I set myself. The first one is a dress full of ruffles. There are ruffles at the bottom as well as at the armholes. It is a heavily modified version of one of my tried and tested pattern, from an old Burda magazine. You can see the my earlier project with same pattern here (the baby dresses).

 The second one is a two-piece outfit, a top with coordinating bloomers. This one is self-drafted. The yoke could have been neater, but it is still cute, nevertheless.

This post rounds up my sewing projects for this summer. I also sew a couple of shorts for my son, which saw a lot of rough use before I could do a post about them. And a few outfits for myself but those do not make for an interesting post.

Introducing...

...our newest family member. Our daughter was born on December 20, via c-section, alhamdolillah. We both are home now and getting a much needed rest.

Intarsia Preview

I did start a little intarsia project to appease the unusual craving I had for some more color work. It is a cardigan for my toddler. It is nearly done, however, I still have to find the right buttons for it. So it will be a few more days before I have a FO photo. Here I leave you with a small preview:

Initially, I was planning a hat to go with it but all this color work has apparently taken care of my craving rather too well. And I can not wait to get it finished and start something new and different.

Fair Isle Baby Set

 

 This baby set winds up my baby knitting, unless I decide to knit a random vest or two. I took my time with knitting this set but still it got done pretty fast. The jacket, cap and socks are one DROPS pattern and the pants are another DROPS pattern. I have knit the later twice before, in fact the last baby pants were also made in this pattern.

The yarn is all our local acrylic in DK weight and I love how it is far softer than the usual stuff, and has a nice variegation to it.

This little fair Isle project has put me in the mood for some more colorwork and I am contemplating an intarsia project next.

Sewing: Baby Snugglers

 On a related note, I did some more baby projects, only these are sewing rather than knitting projects. I sewed a couple of baby snugglers using this excellent free pattern. Even though the practicality of these is yet to be tested, in my opinion, these look to be a far superior option to the swaddling wrap that keeps coming loose every so often.

I used the same print for both layers of each snuggler. Both fabrics are flannel. It was a bit tricky to get all the pattern pieces taped together, but the pattern itself was a breeze to sew. Each snuggler got done in under an hour.
In knitting news, I have a baby sock on the needles right now. Hope to have a finished baby set soon.

Nothing Much...

...has been done in the way of knitting. Summer heat has decided to linger on so knitting with sweaty hands is not much appealing. However, I have managed to do two rather small projects. First one was a little baby vest. No pattern, just an old, winged design.

And second was a pair of baby pants. It is a quick and easy DROPS pattern that I have knit before.

I wove in several rows of elastic thread to the waist ribbing to ensure that the pants stay on. These complete the baby set I knit earlier.

It is about time the recipient of all these baby knits was revealed. We are expecting a addition to our family in winter, inshaAllah. Being a winter baby, it will need a lot of warm clothing, so stay tuned for more baby projects in the coming months. 

Baby Surprise Jacket III : Jewel Tones

Last week, I finally got down to the long-procrastinated task of cleaning my craft closet. It was really a mess, especially since the older kids have recently gained access to my paper supplies and scissors. But most of the mess was my own and it took me a while to put everything to order. I got two bags full of leftover yarns with the clean-up and decided to use up some of it before starting anything else. What is better than a Baby Surprise Jacket for small amount of leftover yarns. I have already made two such jackets in the past. (Blogged here and here).

For this one, I used the warmer colors and it turned out far better than I had hoped. It is a good size too, with 4 mm needles and DK weight yarns. I keep forget how knitting stripes with so many colors means frequently tangled balls and a lot of weaving of ends when the knitting is done. But it was so worth it for the final cardigan and some extra space in my closet.

 

 Then of course, I had to knit a matching hat too. I have a feeling, it is a bit smallish and not very anatomically fitting, but the pattern was easy and it got done in a day.

Complete Set

 So I managed to overlook the color and texture difference between the two balls of yarn and used the remaining yarn to knit the matching bonnet ...

 ...and a pair of booties to accompany the cabled bay jacket.

 

I am glad that I did it because a complete set looks far cuter and is way more useful than a lone cardigan.

Cabled Baby Jacket

 

This one turned out far better then my last baby cardigan. But then, I have always had good experience with DROPS patterns, even though the instructions can be a little tricky and hard to understand. This was a joy to knit and so cute to boot. However I got unlucky with the yarn as the second ball of yarn turned out to be a shade different in color and also texture. You can pick out the difference if you look closely at the collar. That put quite a damper on my knitting spirits and I am now debating if I should continue with the matching bonnet.

Feather And Fan Baby Sweater And Bonnet

Eid festivities being over, I am back with a couple of little projects as promised. I knit a little baby sweater with feather and fan pattern and then knit a bonnet to match. Knitting for babies has to be the easiest kind but my skills must be a bit rusted because I had a hard time finding right enough patterns for this yarn. And even though the finished objects are nice, they haven't turned out as good as I had hoped.
  The cardigan is a Lion Brand pattern. The neckline is a bit awkward, but the rest is simple enough. The bonnet pattern was a pleasure to knit, even though I changed the lace pattern to be identical to the cardigan.
  Next up is going to be another baby set, inshaAllah. Much nicer, I hope.

Knitting Comeback

 

After a two-month knitting hiatus, I'm back with a knitted object...a baby sweater. It was the perfect project, small, and fun and I got to use some of my stash. I may make a set out of it, with coordinating trousers. The pattern is very easy and pretty straightforward. I may make a set out of it, with coordinating trousers.

Gradient Cardigan

 

This is the second small project in my recent small project series. I intended to use the yarns left over from the recent projects into something nice and useful, so went the top-down, raglan route and a knit a cardigan for my toddler in worsted weight yarn. I am working on the pattern right now, but hopefully will be able to make it available (free and in a number of sizes) in a week's time, inshaAllah.

Pink Baby Set

This was one deceptive little (!?!) project. Despite being for a toddler, it required almost as much work as an adult sweater.  But I think it is worth the effort as it turns out so cute.I made a similar one for my older daughter in my pre-blog era. It was a big hit. The pattern was easier to follow, second time around.Knitting more rows of ribbing at the leg cuffs as in the pattern, would have made them a bit narrower but I ran out of yarn. The yarn is our local acrylic, which works beautifully for kids in our climate.

Fingering weight and 2.5mm needles for the last 6 weeks, I think I need a change now. Most probably I will be casting on a vest in worsted weight.

Spring Sewing

I have spent the last two weeks sewing a few spring summer dresses for my girls. I also have plans for sewing some shorts/pants for my son, inshaAllah. Coming to the dresses, these first two are for my older one. I did my own drafting for these.
 I got some polka dot fabric to go with a lawn piece leftover from my old dress. I hope the big fat bow will hold up well after machine washes.

 The second one has gingham pockets!!  

 And then there are two for the baby. I did some embroidery at the yoke. It looks very cute up close.

 The second one is a plain floral dress with a ribbon bow at front. These two are drafted from a burda pattern.

 And lastly, some action shots:

Anouk with Hearts

 The baby pinafore I was working on is done, except for the buttons, which I have been too lazy to pick out and sew yet. The pattern was fine, kind of confusing for me, especially the neckline instructions. But I did modify it a bit, adding the stranded work hearts above the hem, instead of pockets and also sewed on a separately knit heart to the front of the bodice. (That one is a bit lopsided but again, I was too lazy to resew it.) The yarns are Rowan All Seasons Cotton (natural) and  Rowan Cotton Rope (pink). This is the heart chart I knit:

I have already started with my next project, and for a change it is a crochet project.

On The Needles

Life has been busy and I have not had much time to knit lately. So today, I do not have any finished project and will be sharing two of my ongoing projects instead. The first one is the Paper Moon Socks I blogged about previously. I finished the first sock but am bored with the pattern and it will be some time before I start the second one. This pattern takes a long time to grow and I was totally lost in the heel section instructions.

The second project is a pinafore, anouk for my littlest. I am just about to finish the back. I was inspired by some ravelry projects to add stranded colorwork hearts, instead of the original pockets. Hopefully, I will have this one done during the next week.