Tag Archives: Baby

Itsy Bitsy – Knitting baby stuff

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It’s been ages since I have talked about any FO. That does not mean that I haven’t done any knitting, but just didn’t have the time to write about it. Well, what have I done during the hiatus? Lots of things actually.

It’s difficult to choose a pattern when it comes to baby sweaters. All the patterns look so cute. One pattern that stands out is Baby Sophisticate. It is cute, no doubt, but it also has a distinguished look to it which gives babies that grown-up look. I personally think kids look cute when they act all grown-up. I almost made this for Anya, Rima’s little princess, but when Rima knit the same one for her, I decided to knit something else. I am keeping this one for a baby to come along and claim it. The yarn is 3-ply yarn from Pydal. Really soft and has a nice sheen to it. The only problem is the yarn is so thin that I used 3 strands held together for this cardigan.

I decided to make this Pebble vest for Anya. Just when I was about to sew the buttons on and mail it to Rima, she too made the same vest for Anya. I didn’t want to send this vest, but since the day of Anya’s arrival was nearing, I decided to send it anyway, consoling myself that the one Rima made is bigger and mine is smaller, so can be used immediately. The DK yarn is from Pydal and is soft and squishy.

The vest looked so adorable, I made another one for Ninad. I modified the pattern to make it a bit bigger and knit the body in round. This vest looked great too, but I realized that this yarn was not the best choice only after I started using it. The yarn is so squishy that it doesn’t hold any shape at all. Anya’s vest can be easily used by a 2 year old, that’s how stretchy the yarn is. Now I am feeling guilty for using this yarn for Anya’s vest. I should have used a tried and tested yarn. Sorry Anya and Rima if the vest turns out to be unusable.

The moment I saw this pattern on Knitty, I knew I would knit it some day. Kids and ice-cream go well together, don’t they? I was waiting for an opportunity to knit it and I got it when my mom asked me to knit a sweater for my brother’s kid. I finished the front part in just 3 hours. Intarsia was addictive. It’s another matter that I took 2 days to finish the back and 2 weeks to finish the sleeves. One cute sweater and a great pattern. The only drawback is it is not knit in round, but intarsia can’t be knit in round, so that’s how it is. The 8-ply yarn is leftover yarn from Ninad’s blanket. I love this yarn. It’s strong and has good stitch definition. It’s thick, so knits up fast.

So, this is what I had been upto. I also made a adult size sweater for my husband, but that’s for another blog post, when I get to write it.

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Baby's Day Out Hat

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I wanted a good summer hat for my baby, one whose brim would stay stiff and actually be useful in protecting the eyes from the harsh sun. After looking through the patterns available, I decided to come up with my own. The result is Baby’s Day Out Hat. After uploading the project on Ravelry, I had many requests for the pattern, so I decided to write it down and make it available online.

Click on either the link or the PDF icon to download the pattern. Hope you enjoy knitting this hat and hope it is useful for your baby.

Baby’s Day Out

Knitters' meetup and knitting update

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I am now fully convinced that knitters do exist in real. After interacting with knitters  only online, I had begun to wonder whether knitters are a species which exist only virtually. Only my eyes have been trained to read knitting related words, so it was a thrilling experience to actually ‘hear’ words like Ravelry, stockinette stitch and blocking. Wow, what an experience it was.

We met at M G Road and spent some time in Hard Rock Cafe. We were a bunch of chatty knitters who loved to talk about everything under the sun – from Obama, BJP and RSS to ghost writing and pets. And of course, lot of knitting stuff too. Rima had gifts for all of us – a bag full of lovely yarn. I have been ogling at it ever since she gave it to me. I am looking forward to more such meetups!

Continuing with knitting baby stuff, I made this cute baby kimono. I loved it the moment I saw the pattern. I had some pink 6-ply acrylic yarn I bought from Raja Market. The pattern calls for 100 gms of 8-ply yarn. I had a little more than 100 gms, so I assumed it should be fine. Boy, was I wrong!

By the time I reached the sleeve separation part, I had used up half of my yarn stock. That is when I realized I am going to run short of yarn. Luckily, I had some candy floss pink yarn in the same guage and I decided to use that. I haven’t really done color work earlier, so this was a great opportunity to learn a new skill. After some head scratching and calculation, I decided to alternate 6 rows in both colors.

It was not easy to do color work, especially the sleeves. I did not want to have too many loose ends to weave in, so I decided not to cut and rejoin but to carry it up (I think that is what it is called). I don’t know if that was the best thing to do! The yarns loved to get tangled up and I had a tough time untangling them.

The only problem I have with this kimono is the neck edge. It does not have a garter stitch border and hence is curling up. I am taking expert advice from Rima and Sanhita on doing a crochet edge to fix this problem.

Looking back at the knitting experience and the finished sweater, I am glad I ran out of yarn. The kimono would have looked plain and boring in one color. I think this is the best knitting I have done so far. The individual V’s of stockinette stitch are clearly visible (which I couldn’t achieve earlier) and the kimono has a ‘proper’ finished look. The kimono is already a hit among my cousins and I am expecting requests from them very soon!

Next up is Tetris baby blanket. This is the first time I am doing intarsia and I hope I can manage it.