Finished In Threes Baby Cardigan

I wove in my ends and sewed the buttons on the In Threes Baby Cardigan that I posted about here and here. The pictures don't do the buttons justice. They are pale mother of pearl buttons, white and pearly pink. 

It can now go in my completed pile of baby sweaters for my aunt. 

Happy Knitting!

Almost Finished In Threes Baby Cardigan

After church and a donation drive today and being outside hauling stuff in the heat for a few hours, I got to sit for a few minutes in the air conditioning, drink my favorite ginger tea, and work on knitting my In Threes Baby Cardigan. I have only a few rows left! 

The wood from the table that I took these pictures on is over two hundred years old. You can see the grooves of the old time of wood mill on the boards. And the peaches are ripening. :)

I am continuing to investigate other patterns, mainly for boys, but also something new for the girls. Here are a few of my favorites (pictures courtesy of Ravelry). 

These two sweaters are both knit from the Puerperium Cardigan from Kelly Brooker (free in the newborn size). Aren't they darling? It is a top-down constructions and it is designed to be easy to get on and off baby so that you don't have to wiggle a squirmy baby into a sweater over his head. 

The second sweater I've been seriously considering is Baby Sophisticate by Linden Heflin (free in the smallest two sizes.)Baby Sophisticate looks perfect for any little man, so I think I will definitely be making this one.  

Here is one more pattern I'm looking at, the Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss (free download from Ravelry). 

What are the easiest handmade things to receive or make for your babies? Favorite low-maintenance baby gifts to give? Please comment below with your go-to baby projects.

I hope you all are keeping cool in this heat. Happy Sunday!

In Threes Baby Cardigan and Yarn Love

Here is the progress I have made of the first of this series of baby sweaters. 

It is a 0-6 month baby sweater from the In Threes Baby Cardigan pattern from Kelly Herdrich, who blogs at kellywithoutanet.wordpress.com. I am using a lovely worsted weight merino superwash from Plymouth Select. I just went and found my label hoping I could share with you the pretty color name, but it is just called 15. The color is a rich, winey-plum purple. The fabric created is soft and perfect for being worn on a baby. It can be machine washed and dried which is great for a new mom. 

Last Sunday I purchased this yarn at Downtown Knits in Apex, NC along with several other skeins of gorgeous yarn and a handful of buttons for these baby sweaters. 

This is another color of the Plymouth Select Worsted Merino Superwash for a baby boy sweater. It looks like a perfect blue jean color. The color is 22. 

I also got my first Spud and Chloe Sweater by Blue Sky Alpacas. It is 55% superwash wool and 45% organic cotton. The yarn is incredibly soft and handles well. I can't wait to knit with it. I'm planning on making a toddler girl's sweater. Spud and Chloe has a blog at www.spudandchloe.com/blog. It is a fun blog to peruse with plenty of color inspiration for children's knits. 

I also found some Berroco Vintage yarn in a dusty aqua for a toddler boy's sweater. This yarn is 50% acrylic, 40% wool, and 10% nylon. It is also machine washable (again, great for moms with busy, messy kids). 

These are the buttons I chose to go with the sweaters. 

I am still researching what pattern I want to use for my baby boy and toddler boy sweaters. The In Threes Baby Cardigan is precious, but so sweetly feminine. If any of you have a favorite, go-to baby boy sweater pattern, just leave a comment below!

Also, the Scrap Exchange is having a Knit Night tonight from 6:30-8:30 for all you local knitters and crocheters. I hope to see some of you there!

Thrifted Fabric and the Scrap Exchange

Yesterday, I went to the Scrap Exchange, a nonprofit creative reuse center in Durham, North Carolina whose mission is to promote creativity, environmental awareness, and community through reuse. I had an amazing experience. After looking at all the interesting pieces of metal and plastic, packages of glass bottles, an old Hammond B Organ, an out-of-tune piano, records, calendars, and "wood sticks looking for a new purpose," I found the fabric section. 

It was so exciting! The rolls of fabric were beautiful and quirky and everything in between. I found some great fabric that I bought, a vintage pattern from the 60s, a zipper for 50¢, and thread for 75¢. 

The tree fabric is a thicker, canvas-y (not quite) cotton that would be perfect for a kid's play blanket or a picnic blanket. I think I'm going to find another fabric, either waterproof, or something like that, and edge it with bias tape to make a fun picnic blanket. I imagine it would be a great blanket to take out to the mall (the central green area on campus) and hang out with friends and eat a picnic lunch. 

My friend, Martha, actually was the one to spot the filing cabinet stuffed full of vintage sewing patterns and found this beauty. This was made back when patterns came in one size, so I'll probably have to do some adjustments with that. The sizes also seem to run really small to me (even for sewing sizes). Isn't the hair great? I want to make the one in the middle, though my pant legs will probably be slightly slimmer. I think I could dress the jumpsuit up with pearls and heels and cute hair, but generally (at least now), jumpsuits are worn more casually with flip flops or sandals. 

I also found half a yard of this really fun vegetable print (I know, I'm crazy). I think it could make a sunshiney apron and could make a unique housewarming gift. The colors of the vegetables just really pop. 

This rose pattern is also about half a yard. I'll probably make an apron with it, as well. 

Right now, I'm working on figuring out how to use the sewing machine that I am borrowing from a friend, so until I get it figured out, I'll be working on my knitting. 

I'm knitting another In Threes Baby Sweater, for 0-6 months in a dark winey-purple, with new yarn from Downtown Knits in Apex, NC. Pictures will follow shortly.

Happy Wednesday!

Vitamin D

I haven't actually been crafting that much these last few weeks. Finals and papers kind of prohibit that. I am studying outside, though, and soaking up some Vitamin D. It is 75 degrees here in Greenville! I can't remember having a December this warm. I could really enjoy having a seventy degree winter, but we've already had several cold weeks. 

I'm sitting underneath this stunning old magnolia that grows outside my dorm, studying chemistry, or rather, taking a study break. 

Below is the view from my window. The porch roof of my dormitory collects rainwater, which means that many of the little birds come to drink and splash around. 

Here is a dried hydrangea from my grandmother's garden.

This is a pair of hand warmers I knit this fall from the remaining yarn from the In Threes Baby Cardigan in that lovely blue and beige variegated. The yarn was purchased at the yarn shop, Unwind, in Rhode Island. 

What's the weather like in your town? What are you making? Please leave a comment below! Merry Christmas!

Vacation and Gift Knitting

I went on vacation to the beach this past week to Oak Island, NC. It's absolutely beautiful! Besides boogie boarding, swimming in the ocean, and getting sunburned with my siblings, I sat on the beach knitting, mostly gift knits.

I knit a baby boy sweater from the pattern In Threes, that I knit many times last vacation. I was having trouble matching buttons to it, until I realized that it really isn't a "true blue" but is a beautiful tonal of purple and bluey-greens which as a whole, looks "blue." I found a set of pale green buttons that match; I have to find a thread to attach them with and then it will be finished.

I knit two hats from the book "New England Knits" by Cecily Glowik MacDonald and Melissa LaBarre. The pattern is the Brattleboro Hat, designed by Melissa LaBarre. The first hat I knit in a hand-dyed yarn in a colorway called "Autumn Leaves" from my cousin, from Greenberry House, http://blog.greenberryhouse.com. The two leather buttons are from my maternal grandmother's button collection.

The second hat I knit from Malabrigo Rios, in the same yarn for the baby sweater. For some reason, it looks more blue than the other ball even though they were from the same dye lot. Perhaps the pattern changed which colors ended up next to each other. The two buttons are also from my grandmother's collection.

I also knit a basic stockinette hat with a garter stitch brim. It's long enough to keep the wearer's ears nice and toasty.

And finally, a quick shot of two of my models. Somehow, they were a whole lot happier without winter wool hats in the July heat. :)

Baby Knits! (more In Threes cardigans)

I have now completed three In Threes baby cardigans and started a fourth. Yesterday, I was riding in the car home to North Carolina from Rhode Island for 14 hours! I knit until it got too dark to see and knit a “In Threes” cardigan from cast-on to everything minus the last two rows. I think from the time I wasn't checking road signs, exits, etc., I knit for about 10-12 hours. It is an amazing pattern that quickly becomes intuitive and easy to do while copiloting. This morning I bound off, sewed in my ends, and sewed the three buttons on. This would be a perfect pattern to teach basic increasing to beginning knitters, button holes, and casting off. 

For the sweater I left with my aunt, I made a matching hat. I knit 1.5-2 inches in garter stitch (in the round), and then knit until it measured about 5 inches total in length and then gradually decreased. It was very interesting to see how the self-striping yarn changed so much in the hat compared to the sweater. The sweater "pooled" a bit, but to me, that was okay and even interesting how there was a side that had more blue, and the other had more brown. 

When I was at Joanne Fabrics with my aunt choosing buttons for the In Threes baby sweater I was knitting for her, I found these adorable sailboat buttons. What sweeter momento could I have than sailboat buttons from the Ocean State? They looked close enough to the second In Threes sweater I had started, so I took the chance and got them. 

They matched perfectly! The sweater is knit from a swingy, 100% bamboo tape that feels perfect for summer, beach knitting and wearing. 

I also finished several baby projects I had, mainly using stripes to incorporate those little balls too small to use for an entire hat, but too big to toss. 

I also finished sewing on the arms and legs for another Wrap-Me-Up Puppy. The blanket for the puppy was crocheted from the same purple as the hat above, so I'm thinking they might become a gift set. 

Have you had more time to knit this summer? Are there any projects you've been working on? Please comment below!