Fiber Fool

It has been baby central around here. Water aerobics classmates, neighbors, and multiple cousins. I don’t always knit for babies, but with it being summer baby things are much more pleasant to knit. They are small so they don’t make me hot. They also give me a great sense of accomplishment because they are so quick to knit.

Last Thursday I gifted the neighbors with a Katja from Knitty. As I often do, I bastardized it. I knit it from the bottom up in the round with a picot hem. Then, I took a hint from Mason-Dixon Knitting and I hit the edges of the picot and the purl bumps with a bleach pen. Because I didn’t want it to go completely white most of the effect is *very* subtle because where you put the bleach first is what gets whitest and that was the picot bumps. The rest just lightened enough that you aren’t even sure if it lightened or if the light is just hitting the purl bumps differently.

This is knit from the discontinued Lion Brand CottonEase. I have to say I’m really disappointed that they discontinued it. I hope they bring back an equivalent with a better color palette. It is a bit splitty, but it is a nice blend that lightens the weight of the cotton and it softens so nice with each wash. Best of all, this top in the 3 mo size used only 1/2 skein so it makes for very economical baby gifts. It also counts as a Project Spectrum knit too!

I gifted this to the neighbors last Thursday and it was met with very positive exclamations of cuteness. The recipient is only 3 weeks old so it is a bit big for her yet, but come August it should be a cute fit. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a modeled photo sometime.

Since I had changed the construction of Katja so much I decided to jump off on my own and knit one with a lacey bottom for my cousin’s baby who is also about 3 weeks old and lives in Hawaii. There were some additional changes I decided to make. I figure since this baby is in Hawaii the longer time she can wear it, the better. So beside knitting it in the round from the bottom up I put in a row of eyelets before the “cups” of the halter so a ribbon could be run through to snug the top up now while she is really little. I suspect she may be able to wear it until 4 or 5 months with the give of the fabric.

I then still had half a skein left and no summer baby girls coming up so I decided to knit a little coordinating diaper cover. It too has eyelets for cinching the fit a bit better and I used matching ribbon. I also added a smaller version of the lace that is on the bottom of the halter top around the leg openings. I think it gives it a bit more of a girly, frilly look which I think mom will like since this is baby number two, but girl number one :-) I’m guessing the diaper cover may not fit as long as the top does, but I couldn’t go up a size or I would have run out of yarn.

This set is also knit from the discontinued Lion Brand CottonEase. One skein made the entire playset. Again, I’m hoping mom and dad will send me a modeled shot at some point. It will be winging its way to Hawaii next week. I know one grandma and one aunt are knitters so I know the work will be appreciated.

Anyone have any recommendations for a cute summery knit for a baby boy? My streak of girls has been officially broken!

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On a slight side note, does anyone have any first hand experience with placing phone orders from any knitting shops? My mom wants a few phone numbers for some yarn shops who will be able to help her over the phone to order needles and/or yarn. She’ll want people who can describe color well as she remembers colors and really likes being able to visualize that. Also people who can ship quick. She is in Minnesota so mid-west shops would probably be preferred for lower shipping costs, but as long as they are helpful I don’t think she cares too much. She’d probably want a shop that has a nice range of yarns as well, from economical (i.e. Encore) to utilitarian (i.e. Cascade 220) to just plain really nice to work with in a wide range of weights as well. Leave a comment with any suggestions you have.

Have a great weekend everyone!