Saturday, October 30, 2010

Baby Golden Dome Hat, 2.0

IMG_0062




Here is a revised version of my Baby Golden Dome Hat, with a turned up brim (and made with smaller needles). (Printer Friendly Version)

Materials:
Worsted Weight yarn in White, Navy Blue, and Gold/Mustard Yellow
5 Size #2 dpns

Cast on 72 blue
Divide onto 4 dpns (18 on each) and join

For the Base: (see grid at the bottom of page, start at the arrow on bottom right)
Row 1: K1 P1 blue around
Row 2: [P1K1 7 blue, attach white, K1 white, P1K1 7 stitches blue, K3 white] x4
Row 3: [P1K1 5 stitches blue, K1P1 5 stitches white, P1K1 5 stitches blue, K1P1 3 stitches white] X4
Row 4: P1K1 white around
Row 5: P1 blue, K1P1 13 stitches white, [P1K1 5 stitches blue, K1P1 13 stitches white] X4, P1K1 4 stitches blue
Row 6: P1K1 around
Row 7: K white around
Row 8 & 9: P white around

At this point I turn the work "inside-out" so I can knit the majority and decrease easily.

For the Dome: (see grid, start from arrow on upper left)
Turn work inside out by bringing the work through the center of the needles and turn work. Attach yellow. Knit all yellow. You'll be working back the way you just came, so there will be small hole. You can tie this up with the white and yellow tails after you're done.
K1, P1, [K8, P1] around yellow.
Repeat [K8, P1] for about 4-5 inches (depending on the size of the baby in question).

Decreasing: [Knit until 2 stitches before the Purl row, K2tog, P1, SSK] until there are two knit stitches between each purl row. (24 st)
[K2tog, P] around. (16 st)
K2tog around. (8 st)

For "Statue"
Attach white
K2tog around. (4 st)
Kfb around (8st)
On 4 needles (2 st on each needle), [Kfb, K1]around (12 st)
[K2tog, K1]around (8st)
K2tog around until 3 stitches remain
Change to Yellow
Make a 3-stitich i-cord for about 7 rows.
Cut and thread end through the stitches.

Embellishment of Base:
Using a crochet hook, do a chain stitch up and down the white triangles (are the gables? are they peaks? I have no idea). For this version, I threaded the yarn through the inside of the hat at the end of each gable.


IMG_0061

**when you use one color for more than 2 stitches while switching colors, carry the other color behind by twisting the two different colored yarns. Alternate which direction you twist the yarn to avoid tangling.

For Base, start at the bottom right; first blue row indicates the cast-on row.
For Dome, start at arrow near the upper left (this indicates the turned section)


Golden dome hat 2
(click for larger image)

golden dome key


Kitchen Command Center


. . . is what my home is in need of. badly.

We have this amazing island in our kitchen, which has become a catch-all for, well, ALL! Drying paint brushes, keys, receipts, mail, dinner, dirty dishes, clean dishes. And I'm finding it harder and harder to remember things (like bringing my lunch or remembering to check if my shirt has stains on it before I leave the house), so I need a place for everything so I can put everything in its place.

Cue the Container Store!!! (and IKEA and BB&B and Pottery Barn . . .)

I love love love this thing:

It's magnetic so you just stick your keys on it.

Daily System - Espresso stain

This is the "Daily System" from Pottery Barn. I think this may be what I need. Hooks for keys, slots for wallets and phones. Pottery Barn, however, is a little pricey.

But these!

The exact same system, at Bed Bath and Beyond, for about $10-$15 less for each piece.

I ended up with the File Bin, for mail and magazines, and the three-tiered storage unit with the key hooks, for keys (obviously), wallets, phones, and iPods. I decided against the calendar, even though it would probably help; we are notoriously BAD at writing things on calendars, or even remembering to switch calendars to the next month.

Now we just have to get them onto the wall . . .

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Latest way-too-big project

Alphabet Baby Blanket

Found some great Alphabet Dishcloth patterns by "Knitting Knonsense". It has all the letter and the numbers 0--9. There are also some super cute patterns for animals, states, and holiday things. All the squares are relatively the same size, so they will be perfect to sew together into a big blanket.

Like many simple dishcloth patterns, there is a purled line every other row which shows up as a pattern (ever other row is knit across, I'm not exactly sure why).



To make it a little more colorful, I am going to switch colors for the pattern instead of purling.

IMG_0068

One issues is that the 26 letters don't make an even rectangle. So I will also include the numbers 0--9, to make it 36 blocks, 6 by 6.

blanket colors

And I think I may even have all these colors in my stash.

Last week I thought to myself, "Ok, If I make 1 square a week, I'll be done before the baby's born!" . . . and then I did some math. 1 per week X 36 squares = 36 weeks. I am currently 12 weeks along. Average 40 weeks to term - 12 = 28 weeks. hmmm . . . I may have to speed up my knitting. Good thing these are very easy.

A - done
B - done
P - half way done . . . going in order is boring.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Literary Knitting

My elementary-school teacher mother would be proud . . .


knit_very_hungry_caterpillar_mobile.jpg




After a quick Ravelry and Google search, I couldn't find many more projects involving knitting and children's books. May have to remedy that.
A Bernstein Bear's outfit? A Chicka Chicka Boom Boom alphabet blanket?

Monday, October 11, 2010

Classic Pooh

Trouble concentrating . . . too much pooh.






Classic Pooh Baby

Classic Winnie The Pooh 4-Piece Crib Bedding Set - Kids Line  - Babies"R"Us





Saturday, October 9, 2010

Red Scarf Knitting Party

Thank you to all my girls for joining me last weekend for the first (annual?) Red Scarf Knitting Party!


Background: The Orphan Foundation of America gives homemade red scarves to kids who have aged out of the foster-care system. You can find more information, including pattern recommendations and the address for where to send them, here.


And thank you Mrs. Kinne for posting some pictures!


DSC05196.JPG (1600×1200)


Red Scarf Party (2)


Accompanied by Music Choice and Season 1 of Glee, we did our part for charity and chilly kids everywhere.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Knitted Puppies!

PUPPIES PUPPIES PUPPIES PUPPIES!!!!

Crochet Puggy (1)

This is crochet version of my pug, Gipper. Can you see the resemblance?

Gipper (2)

Puggy Friends


Pattern by Lyzard and found here. It's actually for a Pitbull, but I didn't have to change much to get it to look puggy. Added a pipe-cleaner in the tail to give it a curl, and little tongue.


This was my first experiment with Amigurumi, and also following a pattern for crochet.

And it seems as though the world followed my lead:

(snagged from Craftzine)


How-To: Knit a Jack Russell Terrier

knit_jack_russel_terrier.jpg

knit_english_bulldog.jpg

"My friend, Michelle, posted a link to this awesome pattern for a knit Jack Russell Terrier on my Facebook page, and I couldn't resist sharing it. The pattern excerpt comes from the new book Best in Show by Sally Muir and Jo Osbornethat contains more than 25 different patterns for different breeds of dogs. I'm also particularly smitten with the English Bulldog, too."

I have a feeling these will be friends' Christmas presents this year.

M's dachshund?



K's kitty?



B's kitty?



hmmm . . .

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Star Wars Baby Blanket

Snagged from Craftzine

cross_stitch_star_wars_baby_blanket2.jpg

cross_stitch_star_wars_baby_blanket.jpg

Did some digging, and found the maker.

Did some more digging, and found the patterns!

I know someone whose husband, at least, would die over this.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

I want . . .

Links provided for your shopping ease . . .

NEW for spring 2010...WINNIE THE POOH and freinds inspired BOUTIQUE spring/summer pillowcase dress with FREE matching ruffle socks

Set of 6 Classic Storybook Blocks Winnie the Pooh and Friends Classic Pooh Vintage Style (NEW Larger Size)

Winnie the Pooh and Friends PDF Amigurumi crochet pattern

NEW - CLASSIC WINNIE THE POOH LETTERS AND MORE - One Inch Squares Inchie Digital Collage Sheet FOR MAGNETS BUTTONS GLASS AND WOOD PENDANT TILES 1 Inch

Sometimes the smallest things... - Winnie the Pooh Vinyl Wall Art

Winnie the Pooh Food Tray - VINTAGE

Classic Vintage Upcycled Winnie the Pooh Baby Infant Burp Napkins Cloths Free Shipping

Custom Amigurumis!!!

I LOVE THIS!!!

http://www.knittink.com/amigurumi/

online_amigurumi_pattern_generator.jpg