Poppy II

So the first finished project of 2017 gets to be a hat. More specifically a school hat for mu pre-schooler. She would wear no hat except her older sister's Poppy, so I decided to make her one of her own. This one too, is in DK weight, yarn probably being some ancient wool blend, I got from my mother-inlaw. It got done well before the preschool reopens on Monday, just right in the chillest and rainy part of our winter.

Gretel

This week, I decided to put aside the slow-growing sweater and instead cast on a hat. A hat is a much smaller project than a sweater, even if it has a lot of cabling and it seemed to fly after so much time on the pullover, which continues to be bane of my knitting existence. Anyway, I got the hat finished in four days, which is saying something these days.

  The pattern is Gretel. I had the book version of the pattern, which is only in one regular size and only comes with written instructions. The instructions are a bit vague at certain points, but still I managed to complete the hat without any major hiccup.

 

This is for my eldest daughter and goes with her cable yoke pullover. It fits nicely and looks really well. I was ready to knit another for her in her school color, when she misplaced her old one, this week. But then, the old hat turned up the next day, and I have now resigned myself to go back to the miserable sweater.

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.

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.

Koolhaas

My son needed a new school hat so I knit him Koolhaas. The visually stunning lattice pattern is quite simple and was a joy knit.

Red Hat and Eid Mubarak

Here is a hat to go with the red coat I recently completed for my daughter. It was a breeze to knit though I procrastinated with the photo shoot. The design is my own quick version of a beret with an two-buttoned overlapping band to match the coat.
   We have Eid al-Adha today. It will start with Eid prayers, folliwed by sacrifice and distribution of meat and three days of celebration. Eid Mubarak!

Poppy

I took a break from Month O'Socks to knit a hat. This is to be my daughter's school hat this year. She had grown out of her old, generic one and I thought a little variation from the plain uniform hat was in order. Happily, her school is very appreciative of hand knits. It has a lovely shape, covers the ears and has enough stretch to accommodate the ponytails! And the crochet flower adds to the cuteness.

 

As for the pattern, it is a variation of the Aviatrix baby hat. I had knit one of those for my younger daughter and loved it. The pattern covers many sizes and yarn weights. I knit it in DK weight. The yarn is local acrylic.

Another Baby Set

 It took about a week to get done but it was such a pleasant knit. Smooth-sailing through out and turned out quite nice. The yarns again are our local acrylics, Bally DK and Parley.

The sweater is this Side to Side Jacket by DROPS. The pattern is pleasantly easy to follow and brilliant. 

The pant is yet another DROPS design, which also was quite simple and gave nice results. I plan to add a fabric casing for the elastic at the waistband.

Lastly, the hat is one of my favorites, the Aviatrix Baby Hat. It is the second time I've knit it, doing it in two colors this time.The flower embellishment is a simple I cord folded into a flower shape and sewed in place.

DROPS Cabled Jumpsuit and Basque Hat

Here goes the first set for the baby. It is a DROPS pattern, which was a bit hard to decipher, leading to small bursts of frogging. Especially the part where the cables start, the stitch count seemed off and I had to work it out on my own. Other than that, it was a quick knit and seems to be well-sized. I knit it in 6/9 months size. The hat is the one modeled with the jumpsuit, though it does not exactly match, with no cables and all garter st. It turned out a bit too large, a toddler size. I have tried to fix it by running a couple of rows of elastic sewing thread through the head band. The yarn is Bally DK, our good local acrylic.
  Next up is a baby sweater, another DROPS design and thankfully, it has been a breeze to knit so far. Hope to post the FO during the next week, inshaAllah.

A Baby Set

I knit this set of a baby sweater and hat for my cleaning lady's granddaughter. The hat pattern is Aviatrix Baby Hat. It is an excellent pattern, very quick to knit up and the short rows keep it interesting. The sweater pattern is Baby Boy 5 hour Sweater. I chose it because the purl ridges on the yoke went well with the ridges on the hat. To make them baby girlish, I embroidered some pink flowers (lazy daisy and french knot). It best thing about baby stuff is that these are so quick to make and so very cute.

Turn A Square

Over the weekend, I knit up this hat for my father but it turned out too unconventional for him. So it is going to my husband who though not a hat person, has promised me to wear it someday.

The Tutu Pullover

I finally weaved in the ends on the pullover I was knitting for my daughter. I restarted a project a couple of times to get the design right. Initially I was trying bottom up but later settled for top-down knitting, starting with the turleneck. In the end, it turned out to be a perfect fit and I am very happy with it. I might be writing down the pattern for it.

Last week I also knitted up a hat to go with my daughter's sunburst coat. I was a bit short on yarn and just barely managed it. However it turned out nice and goes well with the coat.

School Hat

With two sick kids on my hands, I needed a simple small project to work on. A school hat for my son was the perfect project for the occasion. It took only two days to knit and my son has a new hat to replace his old misplaced one, once he starts going back to school, inshaAllah.

The pattern was straightforward. As mine was intended for a six year old, I cast on only 100 sts and adjusted the decreases at the top accordingly. Also, I used ssk decrease instead of the prescribed kks. I love how the decreases line up on the top of the hat. Also, it has room for adapt to a growing head.

As for the kids, they are doing much better now, alhamdolillah. Their fever is down and cough much improved.

A Hat For My Father

After making a sweater for my mother, I wanted to make something for my father as well. The one thing he regularly wears during the winters is a hat. He normally wears a traditional fabric hat common to our part of the world. I thought it would be a nice change for him to try a knitted hat. So with my hausband to help me pick a pattern, I searched Ravelry and we choose this pattern. The beret shape is quite similar to his current hat style and moss st give it a nice texture. The yarn I used is Red heart with wool in charcoal color. I made no modifications to the pattern.

I had DH model as my father does not like his picture taken. The dark color makes it hard to get the details in photos.

Baby Gift Done

The knitting for the baby gift was finally done today. I finished the jumpsuit before Eid. It is a Drops design ,which I think is a bit too large for the 6-month size. But still, the babies do grow and it will fit at some point of time.

Then I knit a hat to match the Baby Surprise Jacket. It is also a Drops design, simple in garter st. I finished it today.

So all the gift items put together look thus:

I should be giving this to the new mommy this week.

Ravelympics Warm Up

With 3 days to go before the start of Ravelympics, I am starting my training. I had decided to take pat in two events, Baby Dressage and WIP Wrestling. Now I am also part of a team, thanks to my Ravelry friend Shells, who invited me to be part of her Team Sporum.

As for WIP Wrestling, I will try to finish my Lilac lace cardigan.

For baby dressage, I have decided to work on four projects. Three of these are to be for cousins' soon expected son. I have decide to knit Sheep Yoke Cardigan as well as a Jumpsuit and a hat. I have made my things ready for the cardigan. I did a swatch as well. I am aiming for a slightly larger size than the pattern.

I have yet to decide on patterns for jumpsuit and hat.
The fourth project to be (inshallah) is Baby surprise Jacket for my daughter. I did a swatch for that too, however I am a little nervous about this one because the original pattern is for much smaller size. Also I have read mixed reviews about the pattern. Also from what I understand, it's difficult to determine what is going on till the sweate is all done, so there can be no instant frogging back.

None of these on its own, is a big project but it sure will be a challenge to finish then all within 17 days.

On the fitness front, I strained some neck muscle yesterday and also have a bruised right elbow, (such a great athlete that I am, I strained the muscle during sleep and banged my elbow on a metal door, LOL). But hopefully all will be well in a few days, inshallah, in time for the ravelymics. Can't wait!

A Quick Summer Hat

With her head shaved at the moment, my daughter was more than ever in need of a hat, esp when out in the sun. So I crocheted up this quickie in one evening.The yarn is cotton (Peaches and Creme).

Mohawk hat

Seeing a couple of such hats at crochetville, I was tempted to make one for my son. So here is mine It has had mixed success. My son is undecided whether he likes it or not while my husband thinks it's "funny" but "ok for a kid".

Currently I am working on a bag (yeah) and a pair of socks.That would be my first pair for adults.

Toddler poncho and hat

I made this poncho and hat for my daughter. The poncho is poncho#2 of Aggie May's. The hat I made up myself. These are quick and easy and poncho pattern is great. This was my first baby poncho and I am very happy with it. I used up scraps of yarn from my little stash and it ended up very bright and eye-catching, a sharp contrast from the baby pastels that I had made uptil now for my daughter.