Recently in Kids Category

I was asked to go into more detail about the "February Hat" I made. First, the picture.

Inspired by teeweewonder's baby beanie (Ravelry link), I made this hat to go with the February Baby Sweater I made. It's Elizabeth Zimmerman's sweater on two needles.

I started CO 70 stitches, which made seven lace pattern repeats. I started with four ridges of garter stitch, then switched to the gull lace pattern from the sweater. After a total of about five inches, I decreased using a vertical double decrease (sl2tog knitwise, k1, psso) within every other repeat to continue the lace in pattern as far as possible. Specifically...

Round 1: vertical double decrease in the center of every other repeat. It's on an all-knit round so that's easier to do the decreasing.

Round 2: work without decreasing. I did the regular pattern for the repeats where I hadn't decreased and k2tog yo k1 yo k2tog in the other repeats where there were only five stitches to work with.

Round 3: (all knit round) I did another set of vertical double decreases in the center of the five-stitch repeats to make them only three stitches each.

Round 4: I did the regular stitches in the big repeats and a vertical double decrease in the smaller ones to make them just one stitch each.

Round 5+: I started the same procedure in the bigger repeats, eventually getting them down to one stitch each. Then one round of k2tog to get down to half the stitches, then close up the hat.

Let me know if anything doesn't make sense or is incorrect. I hope you find this helpful!

I just finished my second February baby sweater, this time with a matching hat. The first was blogged here.

Sorry about the funny color. It's really a lovely peach. The yarn is Dale of Norway Dalegarn Falk, which is a dk weight washable wool. I got about 5.5 stitches per inch using size 3 needles, so the sweater came out at newborn to 6 month size, I'd guess. I did the hat with a few rows of garter stitch and then the gull lace pattern, and decreased using a vertical double decrease (sl2tog knitwise, k1, psso) within every other repeat to continue the lace in pattern as far as possible.

And these buttons! Aren't they wonderful? They're from Buttons and Bows, a little shop in Marin that has since gone out of business.

For my first-ever Elizabeth Zimmerman project I chose the Baby Sweater on Two Needles from her February chapter of the Knitters Almanac. After finding buttons today I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

I used every bit of a four-ounce skein of Schaeffer's Lola. This is the 31 inches remaining after sewing on the buttons.

If I'd had more yarn I would have continued the garter stitch hem for a couple more rows. Other than that, the only change I'd make for next time is to start the button holes at the top of the sweater instead of after the yoke, which is where the "pithy" pattern instructions mention them for the first time.

The only modification I made was to include selvege stitches on the armholes for seaming. I got the 5 stitches per inch, as in the pattern, and I believe the sweater will fit a one-year-old comfortably.

Pattern: Baby Sweater on Two Needles from Knitters Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Yarn: One skein of Schaeffer's Lola superwash from By Hand Yarn in Sonora, CA
Needles: size 5 Addi Turbos, 24 inch circular

Here's another new baby hat I made from the Stitch N Bitch Umbilical Cord pattern. It's a roll-brim hat with an i-cord knot on the top. This one was for a mom in my mothers' club for whom I made a congratulatory dinner.

Pattern: Umbilical Cord hat from Stitch N Bitch. CO 56 stitches.
Yarn: Artyarns Supermerino, color 108

Here's a quick baby hat I made for a friend with a new baby girl. I used half a skein from stash and knit it up in an evening. I was a bit worried about the yarn's pooling -- the first bit wasn't swirling at all, just producing a half pink/half green hat. But after the rolled brim, it started to swirl and I like how it turned out. The i-cord top is cute and was a first for me.

Pattern: Umbilical Cord hat from Stitch N Bitch
Yarn: Artyarns Supermerino in color 105 (greens, pinks, corals)
Needles: size six Clover Bamboo