Little Leggies: An Update

Baby Leg Warmies for Maggie

Friends in North Dakota welcomed a baby daughter, Magdalene Esther Montgomery Schmidt, in mid-October. (Good name, right?) And I thought, what a great opportunity to do some knitting for someone who'll need lots of cold weather clothes! It took awhile to find the perfect project, but finally I came across these striped leg warmers, which should keep Miss Maggie's little knees warm through winter and spring. Since the pattern size was for 9 month olds - 2 year olds, I made one pair as instructed and then followed another knitter's directions for making a tinier size, too. That way one pair should fit her very soon, and the other she'll just have to grow into. (I hear they do that.)

Fellow knitters, I was also directed to these fantastic instructions on how to knit stripes in the round so that it barely shows when you switch colors. Thanks, TECHknitting, for the new technique. That's why you can see a faint spiral on the backs of the turquoise and pink leg warmers below.

I can't wait to get these in the mail!

Pink Elephants for Marley

I knitted this sweater for a friend's baby in September, but had to wait for her shower before posting pictures on the interwebs. It's my first Fair Isle pattern, in which you follow a grid that tells you which color yarn to use on each stitch to make the design. I just fell in love with the little elephants when I saw a version (in green) at The Knitting Nest, an local Austin yarn shop. The pattern, available on Ravelry, is called Ella Funt after one of fictional young heroine Ramona Quimby's stuffed toys. My rendition is on there, too.

Baby Marley also received a homemade card inspired by the lyrics of Old Crow Medicine Show and the super-cute vintage nursery paper from JourneyLane in Fredericksburg, TX.  

She should be arriving in a couple of weeks. : )

Birthday Week

I got to celebrate three birthdays over the past week, including my own. What a treat!

Winter Wheat Cowl

I guess I'm on a cowl kick.  

This time, wanting to make something that is indisputably autumnal, I found a bright, leaf-orange hue and used the gull lace pattern that seems to be public domain. With the thick texture and large needles, the lace looks like a cross between wheat grains, fallen leaves, and tall branchless trees -- all things fall.

I used some of the softest, thickest, lightest and cutest yarn made from the wool of baby llamas, picked up at The Knitting Nest in South Austin. Sadly, I don't think it is made anymore, and I had to pay a pretty penny (on shipping of all things!) when the project needed a second skein.

Winter Wheat Cowl

Materials:

2 skeins Elsebeth Lavold Baby Llama Yarn

Set of five US #10 double-pointed needles

To begin:

Cast on 112 st. in the round, on US#10 double pointed needle. (That's 28 stitches per needle.)

Purl one round.

Knit one round.

Body:

Work rounds 1-4 of the gull lace pattern for 10 inches, ending with Round 4. 

Round 1: K1, K2TOG, YO, K1, YO,SSK, K1
Round 2: Knit
Round 3: K2TOG, YO, K3, YO, SSK
Round 4: Knit


Ending:

Purl one round. Cast off with knit stitches.