Pattern - Textured Blocks Baby Blanket

Our friends, Joe and Diana, were finally having a baby - a little girl. I decided quickly that I wanted to knit them a baby blanket to keep her warm and cozy. After mulling over the fastest and easiest way to make a blanket, I decided on a series of textured squares, a bulkier yarn, bigger needles, and simple patterns.

The blanket turned out beautifully. It seems to be a reasonably big hit on my Ravelry page, so I've decided to finally make the pattern available for anyone else who wanted to knit one like it.

Recommended yarn:
Estelle Cloud Cotton
Aran / 10 ply 165 yards / 100 grams

Gauge
18 sts = 4 inches on US 8 (5mm) needles

Needles:
1 pair straight US 8 (5mm)
1 Crochet hook size H (5mm) (for border)

Colours: 106 (green), 113 (pink), 115 (white), 118 (turquoise) (1 skein of each colour)

Small amount of yellow yarn for centre of flower

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Each square is 22 sts wide and 20 rows deep

Green squares (make 7)

CO 22 sts
Slip first stitch of every row
Knit 2 rows
Purl 1 row
Repeat until finished
Bind off loosely

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Pink squares (make 8)

CO 22 sts
Slip first stitch of every row
Row 1: *K2 P2, *rep to end of row
Row 2: *P2 K2, * rep to end of row
Row 3: *P2 K2, * rep to end of row
Row 4: *K2 P2, * rep to end of row
Repeat until finished
Bind off loosely

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White squares (make 7)

Slip first stitch of every row
Row 1: K
Row 2: P2, *K1 P3, * rep to end of row
Row 3: K
Row 4: P
Row 5: K
Row 6: K1, * P3, K1 * rep to last st, P1
Row 7: K
Row 8: P
Row 9: K
Repeat until finished
Bind off loosely

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Turquoise squares (make 8)

Slip first stitch of every row
Follow chart as above. On the right side, knit the knits and purl the purls. On WS, purl the knits and knit the purls. 

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Flower (make 1)

Centre:
With scrap yellow yarn,  CO 3 sts
Row 1: Kfb, k1, kfb (5 sts)
Row 2: Pfb, p1, pfb (7 sts)
Row 3: K
Row 4: P
Row 5: K
Row 6: P
Row 7: Ssk, k3, k2tog (5 sts)
Row 8: P2tog through the back of sts, p1, p2tog (3 sts)
BO

Petals (make 5):
With white, CO 3
Row 1: Kfb, k1, kfb (5 sts)
Row 2: Pfb, p1, pfb (7 sts)
Row 3: K
Row 4: P
Row 5: K
Row 6: P
Row 7: K
Row 8: P

Row 9 Ssk, k3, k2tog (5 sts)
Row 10: P2tog through the back of sts, p1, p2tog (3 sts)
BO with long tail, do not cut
Weave in to ends on the back side of the flower

Using whipstitch, sew petals to the centre of the flower
Secure the flower to a pink square.

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Finishing

Using Kitchener Stitch, sew squares together in the following sequence, making sure each square is the right way up:

Row 1: Pink, Turquoise, White, Green, Pink
Row 2: Turquoise, White, Green, Pink (with flower), Turquoise
Row 3: White, Green, Pink, Turquoise, White
Row 4: Green, Pink, Turquoise, White, Green
Row 5: Pink, Turquoise, White, Green, Pink

When all rows are complete, using size H hook and White,  DC every 2 sts around border of entire blanket

Weave in ends

A handful of FOs

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted. BUT, it's good! I have many finished objects to show off!

1. A hat for Nick made with leftover Elann Peruvian Highland
2. Christmas Ornaments made with various leftover bits of yarn
3. Cabled Capitain hat made with Noro Silk Garden Chunky
4. My first adult sized sweater made with Cascade Eco
5. Cabilrimetry made with Red Heart Soft Touch
6. Cotton Coasters made with mystery cotton yarn

Yeah, yeah. I've been lazy with posting. But at least I make with the awesome FOs! :D

FO - Pinwheel blanket and matching booties

I actually finished this on March 30th. I've just been so busy lately, I haven't posted about it. It turned out quite nicely, and I had enough yarn left over to make a pair of booties for baby to be.

Note: this is not for my baby to be because I am not pregnant again :P When that happens again, I will be sure to be knitting away merrily.


I have started another baby blanket for our friends Joe and Diana who are also expecting. Their baby is due in May, so I have a tight deadline to finish the next blanket. I have opted not to do another pinwheel blanket because I like a little bit of diversity. The new blanket will actually be a nice baby's textures blanket. Four different colours and four different textures. I hope it looks nice when it's done.

Pinwheel Blanket

Update on the WIPs

Well, I have a few things on the go now. Nothing that's really lit a fire under my arse until now.

First off, I have finished my first sock and have gone a little bit into the second sock.

I have also picked up Kat's bag and finished the purse part. The strap part is now in progress.

Third of all, I decided to make a couple baby blankets for friends who are expecting. I picked up some super gorgeous organic cotton yarn and am making a pinwheel blanket and a star blanket. I will start on the pinwheel today and hope to get it done in a couple weeks. I think I'll set down all other projects to see just how much I can get done in a week. It looks like a pretty easy pattern overall. We'll see how it goes.

FO - Toddler Hoodie

This was a quick and easy knit. Took 3 days of knitting, a couple hours each time. Probably less than 10 hours, total. It's soft and warm, and Nick loves to wear it. An overall success.

FO - Nick's Pirate Sweater

I started this project on November 11th and finished today (December 5th). I spent many of these days actually not knitting... and probably did most of the work over the span of two weeks or so. The last couple of days have been spent knitting nothing other than this sweater, and the results are pleasing.

It's a bit big for Nick for now. You can't really tell in the picture, but it's almost like a little dress. Good to know that I actually made something for him that he'll end up growing into :)

FO - Baby Kimono Gift

I knit this for my friends Mark and Nicole, who are having their second child sometime in November.



I also picked up a bunting bag for the newborn, to help keep her cozy in their house this winter. I usually find it a bit on the chilly side, so maybe this'll help keep the little one toasty. :)

Gift Update

So, I was finishing up the second sleeve of the Baby Kimono I am working on for Mark and Nicole's baby, and I just realized I won't have enough yarn to finish it. Piss. Looks like I'll have to grab another ball of Easter Basket from Michael's this weekend and sew everything up before the baby comes. That's okay though.

In the meantime, I've decided to start working on that Christmas stocking for Nick. I need to figure out which charts I'd like to include on the stocking and how large it's going to be. Obviously, I don't want to make it too big because I don't want to spend a zillion dollars every year on stockings... but it can't be too small, either.

More on this later. Thought, in any case, that it was time to make an update.

FO - Baby Kimono

I can't believe I didn't write about the construction of this sweater. It is SO easy to make! I only had to unravel small parts of the sleeve due to miscounting, never due to stupid mistakes. In fact, I made NO stupid mistakes while knitting this. It is soft, and it looks beautiful on him. He's just too adorable :)

Here are the finished object pictures:

Stash!

Picked up a bit more yarn today. Not anything too too yummy, but definitely some things that I am excited about.

Picked up 4 ginormous balls of acrylic yarn in red, green, white, and navy. Christmas stockings! I figured that for something like that, I wouldn't need anything fancy. Might as well buy in bulk so I can make as many as I can for as cheap as possible.

Secondly, I picked up 4 skeins of Stretch Socks by Patons. I got 20% off, so it was a smart move :> I'll be making my first real pair of socks with that stuff. I'll have to consult my new 2 at a time socks book for it, but that's all good.

I'm taking the baby dress and booties off my queue and replacing them with a simple and cozy baby kimono. Mark and Nicole's baby would be better off with a machine washable item instead of super delicate wash material that'll definitely get ruined by food or poopies. Thinkin' ahead! Anyway, I got some Baby Jacquards Easter Basket for that project. It'll essentially be the same thing I'm making for Nicholas, only smaller.

FO - Nick's Sweater

More pictures:

FO - Nick's Sweater

All done! I finally got off my lazy ass and sewed this all up, and added the buttons. I may still add a lining, just in case it's a little itchy... and I have a tag to sew in that says "Hand made for a special little boy". For all intents and purposes though, this sweater is finished and Nicholas can wear it.

FO - Pacifier Clip

This is probably one of the easiest things I have ever knitted. Very cute, very fast, and I used leftover elann sonata yarn. Nicholas kept spitting his pacifier out, and it's always a pain in the arse to find, or it falls on the floor and gets dirty. Why use the store bought cheaper stuff when I can make something awesome? :)

WIP - Nick's Sweater

I'm hoping to have it done at the end of this week. Just one more sleeve to go, some trim, blocking, and buttons. Buttons will have to be last. I want to make sure to get some that will fit the buttonholes I'll be making for the sweater. I'm hoping to pick up some wicked cute duck buttons from Linda's store.

Progress

Nick's sweater is coming along nicely. I'm finished the body of the sweater, and only have the arms left to do. Just have to relearn how to do the purl increase so the sleeves actually fit his little ham-hock arms.

I think I'll pick up a couple of balls of Bernat Baby Jacquards to make a little kimono sweater for him. It comes in a really nice blue and green blend called I'm A Big Boy. It's only $5 per ball, so the price is right. I got the pattern for free at the stitch 'n pitch.

More WIPs

Started a sweater for Nicholas:


And am almost finished the hat for Hong:


Still working on Kat's purse.

Got some new yarn in my stash too! Got these yummies at the Stitch 'n Pitch:


I have plans for the sexy green yarn, but haven't decided what to do with the soft touch yarn. I also got 3 more skeins of that beautiful malabrigo merino wool. I'm going to use that to either make myself a shrug, or make myself a winter set. (hat, scarf, mitts)

What do you think I should make?

FO - Viking Hat

It's a little bit big right now, but it'll be perfect in the winter.

Plus, it's stretchy, so hopefully it'll have some longevity.

fo - totoro hat!

Had a pattern to follow for this hat, but after many unsuccessful attempts and complete disassembles, I decided to make my own damned pattern for it. This proved much less frustrating, and the end product isn't that bad. I don't feel ashamed dressing a child in this.

FO - Animal Blanket

I think a good way to start off a knitting blog is with a FO -- what do you think?

Ravelry Link

I started this project March 17th. It was my first real experiment with multiple colours using fair isle, and it also tested my adept swearing abilities. I think I swore more at the lions than at any other type of square worked on.

Here are some pictures: