Fliptop Mitts

New England is officially thawing out.  Today's temp is a balmy 50 degrees! It seems that the weather gods are finally showing us some love.  After our worst winter in decades, with snow up to our ears (literally), it is pretty nice (if not somewhat strange) to see grass again, poking up through the melting snow.  I'm going to reserve comment on all of the mud - beggers can't be choosers, right?

Despite the warming trend, it's not exactly tropical out there.  There's nothing worse than chilly hands when you are trying to enjoy the great outdoors for the first time in months.  Then again - sweaty hands tucked inside wooly mittens aren't much better (yuck!).  Fliptop mittens are the perfect solution to this metacarpal conundrum; everyone should have a pair. 

I bought my first pair of fliptop mittens while traveling in Estonia as a college kid.  I still cherish the grey wool fliptops that I bought there at a local market for something like the equivalent of $3 - they're practical and stylish, but also a reminder of a simpler time in my life when I thought nothing of doing fun and adventurous things like, well, traveling to Estonia!  Over the years, my Estonian mitts have worn thin at the thumbs and palms and slowly but surely are facing retirement. 

This season I went a little nuts with the fliptop mits - they made great holiday gifts, and were a fun way to learn some new knitting techniques.  Some people have the patience to knit fingerless gloves under the fliptop - not me.  I stuck with patterns that had a cuff opening for all 4 fingers, and then a full thumb.  These knit up faster, and I haven't had any complaints (:

My first attempt was with Ysolda Teague's pattern called Snapdragon fliptops - I really enjoy Ysolda's patterns and was enticed by the funky cable pattern on the wrist of this one.  I used Spud and Chole Sweater, in "turtle" - it was a good choice.  I think they came out just great.

They're a smidge too big - a common phenomenon for me (despite checking my gauge and going down a needle size on most projects...) so I'm holding on to them and waiting for the perfect gift-giving opportunity to come along.

I thought these would make perfect gifts for some special gals in my life, but wanted to eliminate the cabling - both to make the construction a bit quicker, and to show off the variegated yarn that I chose (Farmhouse Yarn's Andy Merino), so I tweaked the pattern just a bit and came out with these:

I wanted to try another version of a fliptop mit and stumbled upon a pattern called Frances, by Jane Richmond, another awesome knitwear designer.  This pattern has a larger gauge (i.e. fewer stitches per inch) and worked out beautifully in Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton.   They looked like they needed a little embellishment, so I made duplicate stitch snowflakes on the fliptop of each.  A tiny snap is sewn in to keep the tops fastened away when fingers are needed

Bottom line: Fliptops are fun and functional - try 'em!

Birth Day Buddies

If I am blessed to have a kiddo of my own some day, I wonder if I'll take the plunge and learn the baby's sex at that second trimester ultrasound.  I've had friends who have done it and friends who haven't, and I'm sure a quick stroll through baby blogs would confirm my suspicion - there are pros and cons, ups and downs, pluses and minuses, to each side of the story. 

What I DO know is that knitting for a gender-yet-to-be-determined bambino takes some serious thought.  Little sweaters and booties are often quintessenially BOY or GIRL, even if you play with the colors.  And if you don't have the time to commit to a neutral throw or baby blanket, what's a girl to do??

I encountered this conundrum recently.  One of my most-specialist friends spent most of 2010 (and part of 2009) wondering if the little nugget in her belly was a boy or a girl.  We all waited with bated breath on the big day, pacing back and forth in our little corners of the world, awaiting the text or call or email with the news.  When little L. made his grand entrance, exactly 50% of us bragged, "I KNEW she was having a boy!".  Funny how those odds work out!  Now rewind several months, again to me pacing, but this time around my LYS...wondering what the heck to knit for this mysteriously gendered baby.  If I had only known then what I know now!  Every baby - boy, girl, big, small, premature or late-to-the-party - needs a snuggly little friend to enter this world beside.

Then I found this: Knitted Toy Tales: Irresistible characters for all ages by Laura Long.  What a life saver!  It is full of patterns for lots of quirky little friends - a frog prince, three adorable babushkas, the owl and the pussycat.  I thought that baby L. would probably like a piglet and a teddy bear, so I set to work on my first attempt at knitted "toys".  I was pleasantly surprised to find how simple the knitting and construction was.  I chose baby-safe yarn and made sure to sew the seams securely, to prevent little hands from beheading or de-tailing his new pals.  Here's what was born:

I nestled these guys in a vintage-looking tub that can be used to store toys or laundry once unwrapped.  They were accompanied by a baby sling that I made using this tutorial, and an incredibly soft baby blanket I bought at Sprout Baby Boutique (if you are ever in Pacific Grove, CA - you must go!).

Piggy's head shot

I used scraps of funky quilting cotton for the paw pads and inner ear lining.  I hand-sewed them in place, and then finished off the facial details (and belly button) with embroidery floss.

Voila!

To little LMH, the newest little Schmicky - I love you and can't wait to meet you in September! 

xoxo.

Baby Uggs

They've been gifted, now they can be posted :)  For all the deets, see my "Pacific Grove" post...

Peaches is going to be the coolest chick on the block in these things!

xoxo.

Baby Sweet-Pea

Thanks to bekahknits, the Baby Moc-a-Socs have a girlfriend...

(Baby Sweet-Pea).

Despite the blackberry-quality photos, still quite cute, I think.

Knit in the same fashion as the Baby Moc-a-Socs...and with the same yarns, Baby Sweet-Pea can be adapted for different sized tootsies.  And since the inner sock has all of that ribbing, I'm hoping they'll stay put.  A wise friend recommends sewing a elastic inside the top edge of the sock to keep these anchored on little feet.  I forget sometimes that baby knits are made for real, live, squirmy infants.  You mean babies don't lay around all day sleeping soundly and looking angelic?  WTF!  Auntie Mands has a lot to learn...

xoxo.

Pacific Grove

Yikes!  I guess I've had Blogger's Block! A whole month with nothing to share??  One would have thought that May 2010 was a horribly boring, uncreative 31 days of my life.  But actually, it was quite the opposite.  I have been knitting up a storm, and have even taught myself to crochet (although that was technically a June event...more on why it's been classified as an "event" later). 

A highlight of my May was a trip to California to visit some very special friends and celebrate the upcoming delivery of a very special baby.  Here are the deets:

Pacific Grove, California - "PG" to the locals - is the hometown of my wonderful friend C. (who happens to have an *amazing* food blog).  I've been so lucky to have C. on the East coast for the past 7-or-so years - her friendship is a true blessing in my life.  I've also been lucky to have the opportunity to travel to "PG" once or twice to see her 'hood and celebrate some important events. If you've never been to PG or the Monterey peninsula, you should probably just stop reading right now and hop onto orbitz or travelocity or kayak.com or...something!  You are totally missing out.  It's beyond ridiculously gorgeous...blue water, rocky coastline, abundant succulents of all shapes and sizes.  And the people - creative, friendly, open-minded.  I mean seriously - take a look:

Heaven!

PG is also home to Monarch Knitting and Quilts, a great yarn shop nestled into downtown with a huge supply of cool stuff.  C. has asked me to knit/crochet her a pair of these, which she found on etsy (twist my arm!!) - they are baby versions of these knitted Uggs...and are so irresistable. Her little girl is going to look so freaking cute sporting these things!  I like the crocheted version MUCH better than the knit version (hence the crochet "event" that pretty much consumed my life last week) and have been committed to producing them with perfection since I was charged with the task.  I'm happy to say that after several botched attempts, and a few sleepless nights, I finally have a finished product and can now call myself a (beginner) crocheter!  (And certifiably OCD).  I will post the pics in a few weeks, after the mini-Uggs have been gifted to my dear C. (and baby Peaches).

C. and I spent some time together at Monarch the morning of her baby shower and she picked out the coolest yarn for these booties.  It is made by women in Bolivia and distributed by a non-profit called Frog Tree Yarns - a company which imports eco-friendly, fair trade, hand crafted items from South America, primarily Peru and Bolivia.  Their website tells their story - check it out, and ask your LYS if they carry their stuff.  If they don't, they should.  We found a blue-ish gray sport weight Alpaca which worked out perfectly.  C. also picked out some adorable buttons that give the booties a girlie twist but keep them funky. I can't wait to post the pics!!

The trip to Monarch was only one highlight of my California adventure. I got to spend lots of quality time with my friend P., who recently relocated from Boston to Santa Monica (and whom I miss dearly), and C.'s baby shower was beautiful, fun, and so darn creative!  Her friend A. hosted the event and is brilliantly creative - (check out her stationary company) so the shower was full of clever details.  So inspiring!  The icing on the cake is that I even got to make a pit stop in Chicago (thanks to an airline snafu) to see N. and baby Lilah!!!  What a treat!!!  I'm still buzzing...

I certainly didn't think that this blog would evolve into being all about baby knitting, but that's just where I'm at right now I guess (er...I mean where my friends are at! Don't get too excited yet Mom!!)

I'll leave you with this:

xoxo.

Baby Benton in a Pea Pod

Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?  This is Benton, the newest addition to my dear friend Kate's family.  I can't wait to meet him!  Here he is in a "baby pea pod" that I knit for his mom's shower...he's the perfect model!  So snuggly! 

There are many versions of the baby pea pod by many different designers - if you do a quick search on google or ravelry, you can find one you like best.  The pattern I used is by Paige Marecle - I found it on Ravelry but you can also purchase on Etsy by clicking here.  It's a piece of cake, with some simple decreases to create the pod shape.  I used a neat yarn called Blizzard by Reynolds.  It's a soft alpaca blend that can be hand washed without too much trouble.  Try it, you'll like it!

Dragon Skin Wrap (for babies)

One of my VBFFs (very-best FF) is having a little girl!  I can't wait.  She lives in Chicago, so I haven't been able to see her much but she sends picture updates so we can keep tabs on her growing belly...and her absolute *glow*!  I wanted to make something sassy and stylish for the little lady, and the Dragon Skin Wrap has both written all over it.

The pattern is from Interweave Knits, and can be seen and/or purchased here.  I used a soft, yummy baby yarn called Baby Boutique from Plymouth Yarns.  It's machine washable (always a plus for baby gear) and was great to work with.

It's a fun pattern, but definitely kept me on my toes.  I knit up a few swatches until I was comfortable with the dragon skin pattern repeat and that was a big help.  I also consulted the web more than once - there is an error in the original pattern that needed to be corrected and a few techniques were new to me.  The decrease on the front edges was tricky and certainly requires undivided attention!  There was a lot of counting and a lot of adjusting in order to keep the pattern intact while getting the detailing accomplished.  The end product is worth it - and I hope that the little lady likes it!  Her mommy looks beautiful in bright colors like this - and I know that baby O will be just as much of a stunner.  Like-mother-like-daughter!

Love you NMO!!  Can't wait for the littlest schmicky!

Moc-a-Socs

If "adorable" could walk around on two feet, it would definitely wear these booties!  I was hoping that my finished product would be as precious as the photograph on the pattern...and I think I got pretty close!  This pattern is from bekahknits.com and can be downloaded for a small price - totally worth it!  I'm going to start a baby girl version today...stay tuned!  I love that my friends are expecting little munchkins.  Knitting for babies is tons of fun.

These were made on US 2 needles and are started by knitting flat, then seaming up the back and bottom.  The inner sock is added by picking up stitches around the moccasin opening and knitting in the round with 4 dpns.  I used a machine washable sport weight wool from a Norweigan company called Dale.  The sock is made from a fingering weight yarn so that the gauge is a little bit tighter.  This way the little suckers don't fall off your baby's kicking feet!  So smart.  So cute!

Presto Chango

A co-worker of mine is having a baby.  Soon!  We are scheduled to "shower" her in a week or so...and I've been knitting away on the Presto Chango (free download!)...quite possibly the cutest baby sweater I've ever seen.  I love it because it looks like a mini-grown up sweater.  And the concept of a detachable/interchangable front panel is so cool.  I wish I had come up with it!  You can actually knit different panels that button-on when you want a new "look"...for your very stylish baby.   

This is the back...

The front panel has a lovely yarnover (YO) pattern.

The buttons are very simple - I bought them at Michael's.  (P.S. the baby's a girl, don't worry...) 

I used organic cotton from Debbie Bliss's ECO Fairtrade Collection.  The gauge is 4 stitches to the inch, and I achieved this on size US 8. 

I hope baby and mama like!

Star Crossed Slouchy Beret

Have you noticed how H-O-T the knitted beret is right now??  If not, look around.  I like a knitted beret because it keeps you warm now, but can transition into the spring and still be stylish and appropriate.  Natalie Larson has a great beret pattern on ravelry called "Star Crossed Slouchy Beret" (it's a free download).  It knits up beautifully with worsted weight yarn and is a nice pattern for practicing all sorts of knitting techniques: ribbing, increasing, decreasing, and cables.  Try it!

The top is like a pinwheel, made by doing a simple decrease with double pointed needles (dpns) or by using the magic loop method.

I followed Natalie's advice and used Malabrigo worsted yarn.  It is a scrumptious kettle dyed merino wool that is soft yet durable.  The colors are so vibrant and earthy.  I literally couldn't stop buying skein after skein.  Each beret used about 2/3 of a skein.  Here's what it looks like on your (my) head...

Have you ever tried taking pictures of yourself in the mirror with your cell phone?? Not easy!

Fake-a-gamo

My mom's friend Anna is a knitter, like me.  She's cute as a button and sharp as a tack, like my mom.  Anna knits beautiful purses and has a friend who sews the linings.  Her final products are really somethin'.  Last summer she shared a pattern with me, and it's one of my favorite projects of all time.  It's for a knock-off of a Ferragamo handbag, appropriately dubbed a "Fake-a-gamo".  The pattern I followed was once posted here but I can't find it anymore!!  This link gives you some basics, and this has some FAQs.  If you go on ravelry and search for Fake-a-gamo, you can probably find a more complete pattern.

Mine came out like this:

I loooove it.

A closer look at the stitch pattern:

When my fiance and I were in San Fran this summer, I found a vintage fabric shop in Haight-Ashbury where I bought the material that I used for the lining...

I found the bamboo handles on etsy.  I'm working on a second, in midnight blue.  It's gonna be a gift, but I can't say for who.  Big secret!