Sunflower Hat and Blanket

(Topic: Knitting, NICU donations)

Hi Friends!

This is a project I made at some point in the last three years, while I was in a knitting group that made blankets and hats for babies in the local NICU. I knitted quite a few, and I don't think I've posted this one before! This is one I had fun inventing, particularly the hat.

The hat  with petals! It has a crocheted border. This is before I added extra "leaves" to the green part.

The blanket is crocheted, but has a similar laciness to the hat.

Extra crocheted loops on the hat for "leaves". Some people still didn't recognize it as a flower, but it was intended to be reminiscent of Mary Cecil's flower fairies or Ann Geddes' photos, and I think of it as a sunflower.

The hat tied to the blanket with a ribbon so they don't get separated in the donation process.

 Donated blankets and hats are often basic so they're quick to knit, and I appreciate that, but I really get bored with that after a while. This one was fun because I mixed it up and invented as I went!


Yours,

Sarah

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Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss

White and Blue Handtowel

(Topic: Knitting)

Hi Friends!

This is a project I finished a while ago, but am finally getting around to sharing. This is the partner to the Blue and White Handtowel I told you about last May.

It's the exact same pattern, with my exact same yarns and color choices: just reversed! This is so I have a matching but alternating pair of towels for the kitchen.

This was a really soft, silky cotton to work with, and ends up drying hands really well.

Most of the blue portion. The edges are garter and the center is seed stitch.

Here the decreases in the blue section are done, and I've started the white. The decreases continue until you get to the hanging bit.

And here they are, done! The matching pair, including reversed color buttons!

This is the pair in my new kitchen! I didn't sew the button until a few months ago - this picture is actually before the previous picture but I liked it better so I wanted to end with it!

 This was a lovely quick pattern to knit, and the cotton I used works really well. I'm sure it would work with any cotton yarn but the cheaper yarns that are easy to find would be a bit harsher and not as silky. I had fun with this project!

Yours,

Sarah

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Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss

Fingerless Mitts

(Topic: knitting, Christmas gifts)

Hi Friends!

For Christmas this year, I decided to knit one present - a daring act, since I often procrastinate or take on too much, and end up with nothing done! But I picked a smallish project that ended up going faster than anticipated, so my Dad got a finished gift for Christmas!

One of his jobs is being a translator from home, which involves a lot of typing. His office is on the second floor of the house and is often slightly cool, so add having your arms extended for mousing and typing, and your hands end up cold! This was a great project to combat that without compromising his ability to type.

The project is a basic fingerless mitt, without a special thumb warmer section. It's really straightforward if you're comfortable doing ribbing, and the thumb hole is basically a horizontal buttonhole.

I used 100% wool Lion Brand yarn from my stash, in a cheery Christmas red! I warned Dad not to throw them in the dryer, but beyond that they should be pretty durable.

The body of the mitt didn't take too long to knit - just a few pleasant hours with friends or with a movie!

The original pattern picture.

One done! Just need to tuck in those ends.

The second one approaching final length.

And, done! Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of them on the recipient, but they fit him great!

Yours,

Sarah

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Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss

Pan Handle Potholder

(Topic: Crochet, sewing, cooking)

Hi Friends!

Recently we noticed that our cast iron pans with bare handles (as opposed to wooden handles) are easier to pick up when we have a dedicated potholder shaped like the handle rather than just wrapping one around it.

I figured, that would be something easy to make! So I crocheted one, using cotton yarn:

Crocheted exactly to the specs of our pan handles!

Added a loop so I can hang it up with our other potholders on the kitchen wall!

I also lined it with a double layer of cotton flannel for extra heat protection, stitched along the bottom edge to prevent slippage. It works really well!!


Yours,

Sarah

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Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss

Completed Folia Cowl (the "leafy cowl") post number 4

(Topic: Knitting)

Hi Friends!

Gosh, this one took forever. I'll check the dates on my first photos in a minute to get a ballpark of how long this took, but I'm thinking it was close to a year from start to finish.

... yep, I started it in late October 2018...

The reason this took so long was not that I'm a slow knitter, but that this project got put in timeout several times for being complicated, and slow going.
The complicated part was the lace: the lace pattern was two leaves wide and two leaves tall, so for my total width in the cowl I did: edging, 3 repeats of the lace pattern including a purl 2 border between each one, and the edging again. This meant that my row was fairly long, and the lace pattern was 20 rows tall for both leaves. I had to keep track of where I was both horizontally and vertically, and remember to repeat the row of the pattern three times to actually complete a row of my actual cowl.
Because of several factors, it was slow, too: all that keeping track slowed me down; marking where I was on the pattern slowed me down; some of the fancier stitches slowed me down - but mostly because of counting to where I needed to put them, because the pattern was impossible to memorize, so I had to watch what I was doing more closely; and the yarn was scratchy which meant it didn't glide as smoothly.
And because of both the complicated and the slow, I got bored with it fast and didn't do long sessions of knitting as often, and didn't pick it up as often because it wasn't as fun.

HOWEVER, the pattern was pretty well written (if a bit over-complicating things a few times), and the chart was easy to follow (it was actually the first chart I worked with. This pattern was geared toward "ambitious beginners" and had a written version as well as a chart version, so that "rosetta stone" helped me figure out charts! I've since done others successfully). I ended up ending the scarf when the length "felt right" but it actually matched the number of repeats the pattern author suggested! The pattern, while tedious to make, ended up beautiful, and might have been a bit more enjoyable with a different yarn - I don't feel like I will use this pattern again, but if so, I'll make something smaller and with a better yarn and see if I like the pattern better and find it less wearisome.

The yarn: This is the same yarn you might recognize from the Cedar Leaf Shawlette I finished in October 2018. Here are all the posts about that one:

WIP Leafy Shawl, Sept. 8, 2018
WIP Green Leafy Shawl part 2, Sept. 15, 2018

WIP Cedar Leaf Shawlette Part 3, Sept. 22, 2018

Cedarleaf Shawlette WIP Update 4, Sept. 29, 2018

Completed Green Cedar Leaf Shawlette, Oct. 28, 2018

Completed Cedar Leaf Shawlete, Nov. 3, 2018

Here are all the prior posts about this cowl:

WIP Leafy Cowl, Oct. 27, 2018

New Folia Cowl, post 2, Nov. 10, 2018

Folia Cowl, post 3 (work in progress), April 13, 2019

The Shawlette sits farther out on my shoulders, so the yarn is less of an issue, but with the cowl, it sits right up against my neck if I'm not careful, so the scratchiness of the yarn is a bit of a downer.

The length and pattern progressing.

Trying to figure out what length to stop at.

Testing the length.

Figuring out where to put the closure.

A close-up of the pattern. The part between my fingers is one vertical repeat of the lace pattern.

Bound off!

The finished cowl!

Spread out in the shape I would wear it.

  

How it looks on me!

And, a year later, it's finally done! I haven't worn it with any outfit yet (the picture above was a trial run), so we'll see if it ends up being a wardrobe staple or not.

Yours,

Sarah

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Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss

Pink Lacy Cowl - from Cast On to Bind Off!

(Topic: Knitting)

Hi Friends!

This project was a quick one between others, with a pattern that I could easily memorize and let my fingers work on while I watched tv or listened to music. At one point I listened to one of my sisters play in a concert via a livestream, and knit on this project the whole time! The pattern was simple and repetitive, so it was easy to automate.

The original pattern picture.

I was petting a store model, which is what convinced me to buy both the yarn and pattern. Interestingly the store model had a mistake row about halfway up, so I was super careful the whole way because I wanted mine to be right!

Initial cast on. The markers are to help count.

You can see how after joining, this ended up being a pretty tight circle.

I ended up casting on twice, because initially I used the needle size that the pattern recommended, but wasn't sure it would end up draping at all! So I went up a needle size and tried again. The gauge seemed much better the second time.

However, in hindsight, I wish I'd thought to use a very stretchy cast on. The cast on edge, and even the slightly stretchy bind off edge, are very firm and much smaller in circumference than the bulk of the cowl.

I believe this is of the second cast on.

Starting to take shape!!

You can see the lacy form taking shape. The pattern basically alternated between purl rows and a lacy row, so it was easy to memorize.

Getting close to done! The tiny bundle is my tail from casting on and just needs to be trimmed and woven in.

One of the few minor annoyances with this project overall is that my skein had a knot. That's annoying, and tends to be a large company thing. So my project has one knot in the middle, if you look really closely. Pooh.

As I got close to the end, it became difficult to know how many rows to go. I felt like I was playing "yarn chicken" for probably the last 20 rows, because the yarn was so fine I kept thinking a row would use more than it did!

I ended up trying a few different bind off techniques. I wasn't happy with any of them - all of them created a tighter edge than the lacy fabric.

Finished! This is doubled - a little tight to put on, but snuggly.

Draped version. Note that the edge closer to my neck is BOTH bound off edges... it naturally folds in half because the bind off and cast on are both much tighter than the fabric, which has amazing drape.

Overall, this was a great project because the instructions were clear (aside from not suggesting a particular cast on or bind off), and because it was easy to work and memorize. It was a great filler project between more complex items I was working on (and needed a break from!).
That said, I'm not as impressed with it as a product. I probably could have cast on and bound off with bigger needles and then used the pattern size needle for the body and ended up with a more even hand, but because I followed the pattern, it has strange edges. I love the softness, but not the style, so I'm not sure how much I'll actually wear it.

Yours,

Sarah

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Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss

Pot Scrubber

(Topic: Crocheting)

Hi Friends!

Here's a little thing I threw together recently. One of my sisters bought a pot-scrubbie at a store for a dollar or two, but I realized that it would probably be easy to make and wanted to try my hand at it.

I took a plastic net from a bag of oranges, and cut it into one long (zig-zaggy) strip about an inch wide. Using that as my "yarn", I started crocheting in a circle. I stopped when I ran out of "yarn" and ended up with about a 2.5" or 3" scrubbie!

Yours,

Sarah

To subscribe, find the "subscribe by email" note in the left column and enter your email there. Links to posts will be emailed directly to you whenever I post them! Nothing else gets emailed.

Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss

Blue and White Handtowel

(Topic: Knitting)

Hi Friends!

I have been knitting a bunch this week. This particular pattern was nice and easy - I actually specifically picked it out to be one where I mostly don't have to look at the pattern (unlike the green lacy cowl I am still plugging away at...), so it's easier to do in the car on road trips.

This pattern is called the "At Your Service Knit Cloth" by Yarnspirations, and the yarn I used was from Plymouth Yarn, called "Fantasy Naturale" and is 100% cotton.

Isn't the yarn pretty? I think the pattern really only would have needed one skein of this particular yarn, but I got 2 so I can do the color change. Since I'll have extra, though, I'm going to make another one with the colors reversed!

The bottom portion of the dishcloth, up till the color change.

Here's a close up of the decreases that taper the top of the towel. The edges of the towel are garter stitch, the center is seed stitch.

Done with the body of the towel, working on the hanging loop! The stitch marker is where the button will go.

Done with the top! The buttonhole only accommodates about a 3/4" button.

Folded over, like it will when hung up.

Ta Da! We've been using it this week, and I really like it so far!

Yours,

Sarah

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Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss

New Cowl

(Topic: Knitting)


I know, I know, I haven't finished the green leafy one. But wait till you see this yarn! I got to pet a finished cowl made with this pattern and this yarn, and it feels like a CLOUD. It was amazing!

The "Kid Seta Cowl" looks pretty awesome.

The Adriafil lace yarn feels fantastic, and is going to be sooooooo pretty!

Can't wait to show you how it progresses!!!

Yours,

Sarah

To subscribe, find the "subscribe by email" note in the left column and enter your email there. Links to posts will be emailed directly to you whenever I post them! Nothing else gets emailed.

Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss

Toddler Dress - Done!!

(Topic: Knitting)

Hi Friends,

Remember that knitted baby/toddler dress I was working on? I finished it!!!!!

It came out really well. I'm really happy with it.

I seamed using a whip stitch. I would have liked the blue stripe to line up a bit better. I think a mattress stitch would have helped, but I'm not actually 100% sure that I got exactly the same row count (since it was done flat, rather than in the round, and the instructions were "until it measures x inches", so it's possible I didn't count out rows accurately on the second side.

And here's the finished product!!! I decided to make the "ribbon" by braiding the same yarn used for the blue stripe at the bottom. Super cute, right?

Yours,

Sarah

To subscribe, find the "subscribe by email" note in the left column and enter your email there. Links to posts will be emailed directly to you whenever I post them! Nothing else gets emailed.

Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss

Folia Cowl, post 3 (work in progress)

(Topic: Knitting)

Hi Friends!

Remember this gorgeous yarn?

Look at that hand-dyed shading! Swoon!

You may remember this yarn from the leafy shawl I posted about here, here, here, here, here, and here (it took a while to finish!).

I also bought these buttons, but didn't use them on the cedar leaf shawlette.

On my current pattern, the Folia Cowl (which WILL use the buttons), I already posted here about figuring out the gauge and starting the initial seed stitch band.

Then here I posted this picture, of the first full lace repeat:

Well, I'm now well on my way! It's not nearly done (I think I'm about halfway) but the lace repeats are fitting together nicely and looking leafy and wonderful.

A drapey picture with TERRIBLE lighting. It's not this awful color.

A much nicer picture. Isn't it GORGEOUS? I think it needs to be about twice as long, and then I'll finish with a buttonhole band, and add the buttons to the end already done. And of course I'll post pics of me wearing it! At this rate, though, don't expect anything till at least fall...

I'll keep you updated. Progress may be slow, but I'm loving how it's turning out!


Yours,

Sarah

To subscribe, find the "subscribe by email" note in the left column and enter your email there. Links to posts will be emailed directly to you whenever I post them! Nothing else gets emailed.

Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss