golden bird knits: September 2011

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Faux Fair Isle Baby Hat

This is my second attempt at knitting a hat in the round and it turned out quite well. Instead of struggling with my arch enemy, DPNs, I used my lovely Harmony circular needles and only switched to the [stupid] DPNs when I absolutely had to.

Inspired by this KnitPicks video, Learn to Speed Knit!, I used the continental style and completed it faster than I would have using my standard slowpokey style. The tension is even, too, which is nice for a change.

I love the Fair Isle effect of the Snuggly Baby Crofter yarn and look forward to knitting more projects with it.

This hat pattern is based on another KnitPicks video, How to Knit a Hat. I'm just getting into knitting videos and have been surprised at how helpful they are.

Hope you are enjoying the change of seasons. It's beautiful here in Northern California with the first touch of autumn in the air.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

About that little knit jumper ...

Remember this jumper from my last post? The size was supposed to be for a one year old, but it turns out it fits three month old Lily now. In fact, it could be a couple inches longer.

My friend Rachel left a comment on that last post saying that a "one year old size" isn't really meant to fit a one year old baby. Sure enough she was right.

It was hot out last Sunday when this pic was taken, so Lily is wearing it as a summer dress.

Isn't she the most beautiful baby in the whole wide world?

I wanted to mention I've fallen in love with Knit Picks Harmony Wood Circular Needles. My local yarn store just started carrying them, so I took them for a test drive. Oh my. Not only are they cool-looking with waves of color, they are lightweight, sharp, and seamless.

I am really enjoying knitting in the round these days.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Summer Knitting Projects

It seems like I did lots of knitting over the summer, but when I looked through my bag of finished projects, there wasn't all that much. (But I actually have a bag of finished projects, so that is something!)

Just today I finished knitting this jumper for my niece Lily. Like most of my projects, it looks better photographed than in real life. But it does feel good to have seen it through to the end, even if the tension is uneven and there are holes where I switched colors. The pattern is Little Girl's Jumper or Sundress. Lily will have to wait until she is one year old to wear it.

By the way, here is Lily. She is three months old now and so beautiful.

I taught myself new stitches this summer, and this one worked out well for a kitchen towel. It's a little scary, but I can't remember which stitch this is and where I got it from. Yikes.

These are cotton swatches knit in new-to-me stitches from my Vogue Stitchionary. I'll probably give them to my sister to use as baby wash cloths.

What did you make this summer?