Recently in Gifted Category

After I admired it, a friend of my SO's family gave me a lovely crocheted large doily (or small tablecloth) for a round side table. 

It's a pretty piece, though not something that has a place in our house, given our current decor.  In return, I wanted to give her something handmade.  Since she's not a knitter, I wanted to knit something for her.

I bought some cotton yarn to make potholders, but that didn't end well.  They were too stiff and the cream, beige, and green of the yarn didn't show off the knitting to the extent I wanted.  The potholders were too simple and just not worthy of her.  I gave up on them and I'll repurpose the yarn into some thing else later.

In the local yarn store, I saw a dark grey superwash (non-felting) Merino wool in the same brand I'd used before to knit a scarf in red.  I ordinarily wouldn't make something out of wool for a gift, but this wool is machine washable which makes me feel a little better about it.  Also, my SO assured me that the recipient of this particular gift would have no problem hand-washing a scarf if she needed to.

The finished product is about 6 1/2" wide and 57" long, excluding 3" of fringe on either end.  I usually don't add fringe to scarves since it gets ratty and messy pretty easily, but the edge of this scarf needed it to visually smooth out the wavy edges of the cables.  It took me about an hour to add the fringe and I think the result is well worth the time.  If (when) I make this scarf again, I'll add a couple of rows of crochet to the short edges to further smooth the transition between the cables and the fringe.

I'm quite pleased with the way it came out and I hope she enjoys it.

Note to self: never admire anything aloud.

Materials:
5 - 50g (1.75oz.) skeins Zara Merino yarn (gray - color 1468)
size 4 (3.5 mm) knitting needles
size E (3.5 mm) crochet hook for easy bind off and fringe application (optional)
1 skein of yarn for fringe (optional)

Stitches:
C4(6)B = Slip next 2(3) sts onto cable needle and hold at back of work, K2(3), then K2(3) from cable needle.
C4(6)F = Slip next 2(3) sts onto cable needle and hold at front of work, K2(3), then K2(3) from cable needle.
 
Instructions:
Cast on 70 sts.
Row 1 (Right Side): P2, K4, P3, K4, P4, K9, P5, K8, P5, K9, P4, K4, P3, K4, P2.
Row 2 and all even rows: K2, P4, K3, P4, K4, P9, K5, P8, K5, P9, K4, P4, K3, P4, K2.
Row 3: P2, K4, P3, K4, P4, C6F, K3, P5, K8, P5, C6F, K3, P4, K4, P3, K4, P2.
Row 5: P2, C4F, P3, C4F, P4, K9, P5, C4F, C4B, P5, K9, P4, C4B, P3, C4B, P2.
Row 7: P2, K4, P3, K4, P4, K3, C6B, K3, P5, K8, P5, K3, C6B, P4, K4, P3, K4, P2.
Row 9: Repeat Row 1.
Row 11: P2, C4F, P3, C4F, P4, C6F, K3, P5, C4F, C4B, P5, C6F, K3, P4, C4B, P3, C4B, P2.
Row 13: Repeat Row 1.
Row 15: Repeat Row 7.
Row 17: Repeat Row 5.
Row 19: Repeat Row 3.
Row 21: Repeat Row 1.
Row 23: P2, C4F, P3, C4F, P4, K3, C6B, P5, C4F, C4B, P5, K3, C6B, P4, C4B, P3, C4B, P2.
Row 24: Repeat Row 2.
Repeat Rows 1-24 until approximately 57" from beginning (or your desired length).

Finishing:
Bind off. 
Weave in all ends. 
Optional fringe:

• Wrap the yarn around a piece of sturdy cardboard cut to the desired finished length of your fringe.  (Don't wrap too tightly, as the suggested yarn will stretch.)
• Cut along one edge of the cardboard to yield pieces twice the length of your cardboard's width.
• Starting at a corner of the short end of the scarf, insert the crochet hook from back to front.
• Fold two strands of your fringe yarn in half and pull the loops through the scarf.
• Insert the ends of the fringe yarn through the loops (forming a lark's head knot) and pull tight.
• Repeat for every other stitch along both short ends of the scarf.

The free pattern above is for your personal use only.

About a month ago, I was notified that this summer, I'd become an aunt for the first time.  After offering my congratulations to the expectant pair, what did I do? 

Like any good crocheter, I got to crocheting.

But not so fast. 

First, I had to figure out what I was going to make.  This wasn't so hard, since I wanted to make something useful, but also not too simple.  I wanted it to be an item the child would treasure when it was old enough to treasure items handmade by a relative for them.  This would be some time in coming, hence the usefulness requirement.

I browsed my pattern books and dragged the SO to the local Michaels to browse their pattern books and yarns.  I went to that particular store because I wanted to get some good (read: machine washable) utility yarn.  The interest in the item would come from the stitches. 

We found a booklet which had a pattern for a blanket with a dense pattern stitch body and a wide, lacy border (Leisure Arts' Baby Layettes and Afghans--the afghan with set 3 beginning on page 21, Lacy-Soft Layette).  I like a solid body for a baby blanket because there are no holes for fingers or appendages to leak through.  I think it just makes using the blanket easier because it simplifies the baby-unwrapping procedure. 

At least in theory, it does.  I haven't made holey baby blankets, so I haven't been in a position to receive the kind of feedback that would confirm my supposition.

Next, I had to decide on a color for the project.  My philosophy when making an item for a baby is to choose a color or colors that appeal to the baby's primary caregiver.  After all, even if the baby has a preference, the caregiver's overrides it, since the adult is the one who's going to have to look at it all the time (including during washings).  Also, in cases where the baby isn't born yet, the gift is as much to the mother/parents as to the child.

The soon-to-be mother of my soon-to-be niece is partial to purple.  Easy enough.  I chose a purple worsted-weight yarn (Caron Simply Soft in Orchid 9911) because I had a bunch of it at home already.  I love using yarn from my stash and it seemed it would work well with the pattern.

It did, but it didn't.  The pattern is pretty and relatively easy to do, but it resulted in a very stiff, thick fabric.  I worried, but my SO said it could be used as a floor blanket for the baby to sit (when it was old enough to sit) and play on.  Even if it couldn't, I knew it was only one of the items I was going to give to them.  At the very least, it would be impressive and go on a shelf to be passed down as useless "heirloom" things are.  Not my intent, but not a terrible fate for it.

Since I figured it wouldn't get used, I made the lacy border pretty big.  The one use for the blanket I could think of would be to put the baby on it for a photo shoot.  The purple is pretty but not overwhelming and the pattern stitch and edging would make a nice frame for the baby. 

Time will tell.

I found out late about friend's advanced pregnancy.  The baby is due in the middle of March.  I wanted to give her something handmade, but didn't have time for anything complicated. 

I looked through my commercial pattern books and also asked my SO's opinion about which would be nice.  We decided on this one (Set 3's blanket from Coats and Clark's Sweet Baby Crochet, which isn't listed on their site anymore, ISBN 073650773303), in a different color than pictured in the pattern. 

I was concerned about the bobbles -- would they bother a baby?  My SO assured me they were fine.  They're not too lumpy (and even a little hard to see in the pictures).

Speaking of pictures, I need to start taking full-blanket pictures.  There are nine bobble panels in the blanket, but each is rectangular the long way, as is the blanket itself.  I need to start measuring finished blankets, too, so I can give some idea of the scale.  It's sometimes hard when you're just seeing a photo.

It took about a week of evenings to finish.  When I was about a third of the way through, I noticed that I'd pulled bobble panels too tight, so the blanket wouldn't lay completely flat.  I hoped a washing would even things out a little, but washing doesn't help acrylic yarns too much in that way.  I should have done a bigger gauge swatch, including the bobbles, but I wanted to get it done and mailed as soon as possible.

I used acrylic, machine-washable yarn because it's cruel to give a new parent something that requires handwashing.  That's fine if it's an heirloom item, not meant to be used by the child (and the parent understands that), but it still needs to come along with a usable blanket.  This isn't a time to be messing around.

I wrapped it up with a wide ribbon and had the presence of mind to take a picture of the wrapping.  Go, me.  Then I nested it in a box with some white tissue paper and washing instructions (always give these with gifts), and off it went. 

I know it'll be appreciated and I hope it gets some good use.