A Few More: The Mommy-Made Collection

Continuing on in sharing a few more little baby knits that are done and waiting around to keep our baby boy warm and cozy, from the ‘made by mommy’ collection.  If this little guy takes after his mama at all, he will love to always have several soft and stylish knitted hats for the cold winter.  He is due to arrive sometime in October, so these little Pumpkin Hats were a Must-Have for his collection and will be so cute on him around Halloween and for the rest of Autumn.

I just love the little stem on top, the leaves, the wide rib, and these colors in Malabrigo Twist.  This yarn is so great for hats as it’s so soft and a great weight that knits up quickly.  I’m thinking this one turned out a perfect newborn size to bring him home in.  Ravelry page here.

I love the pumpkin hat so much I couldn’t make just one, so he has another that is slightly larger.  This set was knit up in Berroco Vintage, with a coordinating pair of my favorite little crocheted loafers.

The little crocheted button loafers are so tiny, definitely newborn size.  I expect they’ll fit him for about a week, maybe two, so hopefully I remember to take some photos of them on his little feet while I can.

Ravelry project page here and here.

The other baby booties made for him are the Oh Baby Baby Booties, also made in Berroco Vintage.  They’re cute, simple, practical, and will no doubt stay on his little feet and keep them warm.

I meant to share these on the blog a while ago, so now I’m almost caught up and can share the current work in progress! =)

Little Coffee Bean

I have been wanting to share some of the little numbers out of the ‘Knitted by Mommy’ collection that our baby boy has waiting for him.  I’ve shared pictures with friends so far but haven’t kept up on the blog… so thought it would be fun to post a picture a day of what I have made thus far.

At the beginning of my pregnancy I had thought I’d have a heaping pile of these cute little baby knits made by now.  But sadly, that is not the case.  I hope to still whip out a few more and catch up a little with my heaping pile of patterns.

Earlier this summer I made this Little Coffee Bean Cardigan.  I just love how little and boyish it is.  Made out of Berroco Vintage, which is a machine-washable worsted weight that I got at my LYS, the cardigan is so practical to keep him warm this winter.  The top-down, raglan style pattern is super easy and fun.

If you click on the picture you can see the cute little polkadot buttons that I think are great with the stripes.

I just love how small and precious it looks in my husband’s hands.

And the cute little baby hat to go with it…

The pattern is Bobbles for the Whole Family, and it’s a great one for a quick, cute hat in all sizes.  I’m going to have to make a few more in some other colors and yarns to keep him warm this winter.  =)

Sweater and hat on Ravelry here, and here.

Pretty Off Piste

My creamy cabled Off Piste hat is done.  It is very soft, comfy, and cute, what more could you want in a hat?  Aimee, owner of Knit N’ Needle Yarn Shoppe, really did an awesome job designing this.  The pattern is super fun and pretty easy.  I made this with Malabrigo Twist in Natural and just love that yarn.

So I had to settle for the self portrait thing for now.  I might add on a better picture later, but couldn’t wait to share…

Lately I have really developed a love for cream + cables.  I love them together, so soft and winter-y and the natural color makes the cables really stand out.

My thing for white/cream combined with cables started earlier this winter when I was watching the movie The Holiday.  There is a beautiful cabled cardigan (cashmere of course) that Cameron Diaz wears when she’s in the little (oh so perfect) English cottage and meets Jude Law’s character.  I instantly fell in love with it and googled it for a pattern to make one just like it.  I was surprised and so happy to find the Fireside Sweater that mimics Cameron’s cardigan.  There’s a beautiful Fireside Sweater on Posh Knits.  Mine will look just like that.  =)  Isn’t it the perfect winter cardigan?  Maybe I’ll be super ambitious and tackle that for my March project.  Heck, I better start on that now if I want to finish by the end of March.

Even though I finished this in February, I’m still calling it my January knit for my Knit 12 in 2012 project, along with the cowls.  I have three weeks for a February project, and I’m still stuck on hats!  I almost want to make another Off Piste but somehow make it a little chunkier.  So I have a fetish for hats.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure I’ve made up my mind on what to make this month, I’ll be back soon to show you the work in progress. =)

::Ravelry:: project page here.

My Three Cowls

At the beginning of the new year, I made a goal to knit (at least) one item each month for myself.  For my January project, I chose the Off Piste hat, since most of the knitting I did for the month was finishing a couple Christmas gifts.  Oh, and after I finished up the gift knitting I just got the sudden urge to make a few cowls for myself.

The sudden urge, or need, to make these came to me after several days of taking Jackson for walks in cold, windy weather where I about got my cheeks frozen off.  They make a pretty cute accessory, can now serve me well for all practical reasons of staying warm, and they used up some leftover yarn in my stash. =)

And now my Off Piste hat is close to being finished…

I really did want to have it done by the end of January, as I still have to hurry and decide on my February project and get that started.  There are so many things I want to make, it’s kind of hard to decide which to do next!  I might pop back in here over the weekend and show you the few I have in mind, and you can take a vote to help me decide. =)

Finished Knits

The last of my Christmas gift knits was just finished over the weekend.  What, did you expect me to have them all done by Christmas Day??  😉  It’s just like me to have one or two lingering gifts to finish up after the holidays.

My mom’s mitts were actually finished just in the nick of time, so she did get to open them on Christmas Day.  I made her a pair of Grammy’s Mitts to go with her Grammy’s Hat that I made for her Birthday.  She loves them!  They fit just right, not too big and bulky, but perfectly snug and warm.

I obviously love TFA‘s Grammy’s Hat pattern, as I ended up making nine of them.  Kind of crazy, but hey I always say, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it!  The pattern makes a great hat, and is just a simple and kind of a mindless knit to hurry up and do for all the family.

Soon after the holidays I finished two more Grammy’s Hats, one for my husband…

He loves it!  It’s soft, warm, comfortable, and the fit is just right.  This was made with Cascade Eco Cloud, on Ravelry here.

And one for my brother, made in Cascade Cloud but I chose colors that coordinate with his ski coat.  (Modeled by my hubby, on Ravelry here)…

I’m sure glad I’m done with all those projects.  Now, onto some cute accessories and such for moi!  =)

Oh Weekend, How I Love Thee

This last weekend I enjoyed a relaxing but semi-productive couple of days full of some baking, cooking, going walking with the dog, a little knitting, and celebrating my husband’s birthday with some friends and family.  (And him too, of course.)

While my man was out snowmobiling for his day I was in my comfy lounge pants making his favorite, fifth annual, Chocolate Birthday Cake.

He loves this cake.  Like REALLY loves it.  So do I of course.  I have made this amazing and oh so perfect Chocolate Cake every year for his birthday since we met, and he always makes sure to hint around the week or two prior to his day to make sure I’ll be making it.  =)  I’m kinda proud that he likes loves it so much and I’ve made it for him every year so far.

I can’t begin to try and tell you how perfect this cake is through my writing, but can just tell you that it is not your ordinary chocolate cake.  It is made with hot coffee and Kahlua, has just the perfect rich chocolate flavor, is perfectly moist, and has just the perfect crumb, structure, and density to hold up to shaping and sculpting (if you want to get that fancy), and velvety texture.  It’s not too heavy or dense, and it is not too light.  This Chocolate Cake is covered in Ganache and Italian Cocoa-Kahlua Buttercream.  The oh-so-wonderful recipe will be up and shared soon.

I also made a pot of my Potato Leek Soup.  This time just simplified it by not roasting the potatoes and leeks.  I really have a thing for soups and stews in the winter.

Also have a thing for knitted hats.  So my brother’s (late) Christmas gift was worked on a little bit…

This is my last of the hats for gifts.  After this is finished, there is a super cute one I’ve found and must make for myself before I’m done with my hat kick.  The Off Piste, pattern and design from the owner of my LYS (local yarn shop), is so cute with the cables and brim.

I thought that for my 2012 knitting goals I would plan and share my next two to three monthly projects ahead of time.  So January’s project is the Off Piste hat for me.

February is going to be the Annie’s Woolens Christmas Stocking.  For the last two years now I have really wanted to make Christmas Stockings for hubby and I, but it keeps getting bumped down the to-do list.  So I’m finally going to make one for myself in February, then make Will’s stocking.  I’m excited about these two projects and about the knitting goal I made for the year.  =)

Also got to enjoy a nice long walk with my two guys over the weekend…

Oh how I love weekends.  =)

A Hat for Mom

I’ve been having a bit of a dry spell lately with my knitting, especially over the summer, but now I’m back into it with all the chilly blustery weather we have been having at home.  Over the summer I did pick out a new exciting project, enthusiastically went to the yarn shop, picked out some yummy yarn, and immediately got to work on it… um, well we got a new puppy.  And there was work, the puppy, gardening, the puppy, and the nice summery weather that really doesn’t inspire and motivate me to get knitting.  So that Whisper Cardigan, that I still really can’t wait to make, is hibernating while I am on a roll with hats and Christmas gifts.

And there are birthday gifts too.  My mom just had her birthday last week so I made this hat for her.  I made a Grammy’s Hat for myself a couple weeks ago with some yarn from my stash, and had to do the same pattern for my mom.  She loves the hat, I love the pattern!  It’s so simple and easy, and has some good texture and style.  The ribbing in it works perfectly for making hats for gifts, since the hat gathers and fits snug on a smaller adult sized head, and stretches to fit a larger size.  And like Tanis mentions on her blog post, the bottom rim is folded up so your ears have double the warmth!  The one I made for myself even fits my husband how he likes them to fit, and that wouldn’t usually happen with just a stockinette stitch style beanie that I usually make.

So far I’ve made a Grammy’s Hat for me, my mom, my nephew, and am now almost done with one for my niece.  I’ll get around to posting pics of them soon, and a pic of mom modeling her hat rather than me!  But for now, I’m just glad that a great hat pattern came around to get me back in the knitting spirit.  =)

::Pattern:: Grammy’s Hat by Tanis Lavallée

::On Ravelry:: here