Baby Bits

First up, suddenly I can't use the Ctrl key to select more than one photo.  Anyone else?

 

I've been working on small knitting projects for the photographer I met.  She showed me some pictures she liked, and asked for a few specific things.  I will admit I got a little sidetracked with a photo or two from the "like" pile and got a late start on the "want" list!  I also got sucked into ebay, and etsy, and ravelry a few times!  I posted about the gorgeous multi-textured stocking cap already.  As hoped, she loves it!  I hope to get more orders for that style as I really enjoyed putting it all together.  I can't wait to try other colour combinations!

 

One item she wanted was a fairly basic white set.  The picture she showed was really basic, and I had actually been working on a hat in that pattern already, but in blue/pink/white.  Another picture she showed was from ebay and was a chunky knit hat, with a cable going around, garter stitch top, and the tiniest amount of a brim.  The seller is a Chinese company and the hat is available in several colours, and less than $5 with free shipping.  I looked extensively through Ravelry's pattern data base, and could not find the pattern.  I knew how it was made, but I was hoping for a pattern, mainly just to confirm, or give me the numbers.  Oh well.  I looked through my stitch dictionaries and found a braid cable and started a strip long enough to go around a baby's head.  It turned out to not be the exact cable I wanted, though it still worked.  The problem however, is that the repeat is 1 1/2" and that could take a hat from "too snug" to "too big".  Now, every baby is a different size, so there's not much I can do about that.  The next hat, I will use slightly smaller needles and one more repeat.  Hopefully that brings each repeat to 1".

 

The diaper cover was another issue.  The pattern I had been working from was worsted weight.  So, a bit of math (luckily I had one here to measure as the pattern gave body measurements, but not finished measurements).  I decided to handknit the cover since I needed a project for out and about and it would be quick enough in the chunky yarn anyway.  I got it all finished, the crotch grafted, the ends woven in, and smoothed it out on my lap.  Something was not right:

 Oh man.  Even though I had told myself to make sure I line the leg holes up right....I forgot.  I spent about 12 hours thinking I had to totally re-knit it, and actually started one on the LK150 but it wasn't going well.  Then I realized I could do the most un-knitterly thing and CUT off the short rows and ribbing and knit upwards.  Yup.  Scissors, met the diaper cover!

 Doing this doesn't really scare me, esp. in a chunky acrylic blend.  In no time I had it re-knit the right way!

Then I put the set down next to the ball of white yarn I was using for another project.  Ummm.  The set didn't look quite so white anymore!  I wouldn't call it cream, but it's definitely a soft white.

 A leisurely stroll through Michael's yielded the perfect buttons.  I intended to put them on safety pins so the hat could be changed up, but thought better of that when I got home.  This set weighs 63grams (of course, the yarn comes in 50gr balls).

Many thanks to Jennifer Bel Photography for the pictures!
The next set was to be a football hat and diaper cover.  I will admit I know next to nothing about footballs.  What shade of brown?  Most seem to be a reddish brown, but that doesn't seem to be in style in the yarn world.  And there is a distinct lack of free knitted football hat patterns.  There were a couple crochet ones, but I wasn't feeling the crochet love this week.  Most hats did have a more rounded top, but I saw one that used four double decreases to create the strong seam lines.  I copied this on my knitting machine.  The first hat was more elf than football, but the second one did much better.

 The diaper cover was also done on the machine, though this time I opted to not do ribbing at the legs.  It just didn't seem to need it.  I did however, put stitching on the bum :)

I was so concerned about the stitching, I wanted it authentic.  I figured it was some complex embroidery pattern for seaming the ball.  But no, every football image I found showed a very simple lacing, I guess just for gripping the ball?  This set is exactly 50gr.  I did already have a 50gr ball of brown, but was sure I'd need more.  Guess I can make another set now!

Yarn In:  18 482gr
Yarn Out:  113gr + 15 252gr = 15 365gr
Balance:  3117 grams more brought IN, than out
Costs:  $449.33/330 days = $1.36 per day