All of my girlfriends are pregnant it seems and so my knitting needles have been quite content at clicking away on baby blankets for each of my wonderful friends.
Each gift is lovingly wrapped in tissue paper and tied off with ribbon from my craft supplies. I love finishing these gifts off and giving them all of the work and love I have put into them. It is quite an incredible feeling, particularly because I have only been knitting for a year. I would have never dreamed how much I would be able to do with this little hobby and how much it would enrich my life. Truly, if you have a friend who can teach you such a hobby or a class in town that you can take, I encourage you to give knitting a try.
If you are a knitter, I would love for you to be my friend on Ravelry. My username is momadvice and I try to keep my little notebook updated with the current projects.
Here are a couple of the projects that I have been working on:
Lemony Bon Bon Baby Blanket
Pattern: Sweet Bon Bon Blanket by Suzanne Middlebrooks (available as a free download for Ravelry members)
Needle Size: US 9 Needles
Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby Solids (in Lemon) & Baby Bee Lambie Pie (in Snuggle) for smaller pattern between the solid yellow. Only one skein (455 yards) was needed of the yellow and I used only 1/4 of a skein in the Baby Bee yarn.
Notes: I absolutely love this pattern and am planning to make more blankets with other colors like it. It is very easy to follow and also easy to see where you get off track because of the way it comes together. The furry yarn adds texture between the different pattern rows, but it was difficult to work with and stay on track for the kfbf combination when weaving back into the regular yarn. I still would do it again though because I love the texture that it brings to the blanket.
This pattern is still a great one for a beginning knitter and the only stitch I did not know was the kfbf combination, which I found how to do on You Tube. Because of the width of this blanket (a cast on of only 96 stitches) it comes together very quickly and it makes a beautiful chevron pattern with a garter edge.
Project Linus Security Blanket
Pattern: Project Linus Security Blanket Pattern found in, “Knitting for Peace“
Needle Size: US 9
Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby Solids (I don’t have the color name, but it was a baby blue with white mix)
Notes: This pattern has been highlighted before, but I couldn’t resist sharing another blanket that I made from this pattern. My best friend is expecting her third child and specifically requested this pattern after seeing my pink version for another dear friend. This is the world’s best pattern for a beginner in teaching how to do yarn overs. Although it looks complex, there is only one row of “pattern” and then it has a row of purling and a row of knitting. It adds a beautiful scalloped edge to the blanket and looks far more impressive than it really is. It is a larger blanket (with a cast on of 144 stitches for the smaller size) so this one does take a bit of time, but it is an easy pattern to do while watching television because of the two basic rows within it.
Below is the video that I used for figuring out how to do the kfbf combination:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaHOAxx2hqE]
Amy,
Your blankets are beautiful! Knitting is at the top of my list of things to learn to do. This has made me want to that much more! Keep the knitting inspiration coming. I’d love to see some links to free patterns!
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Gosh you are so talented! And I wish I knew how to knit.
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Very nice! What thoughtful gifts those will make.
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I love the detail of the second yarn in the yellow blanket. I can also imagine cuddling a baby in the second one with fingers poking through the holes. That was my favorite thing about my grandma’s afgans, sticking my fingers through the holes. I’m new to knitting and would love to do a blanket. Maybe I’ll try this pattern!
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Your baby afghans are so pretty! What special gifts!
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Do you sell these online by chance? They’re beautiful!
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Thank you guys so much for the sweet compliments! I will keep sharing the free patterns I run across. I am working on a shawl that I hope (fingers crossed) will turn out so I can show it to you!
I don’t sell anything at this point since I am a newbie knitter, but am COMPLETELY flattered you asked.
Thank you so much for that! Maybe when I get quicker and the kids are in school full-time. For now, it is just a little hobby!
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These are so pretty! I really want to learn to knit.:-)
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Just darling!
Sadly, I do not have the attention span for anything bigger than a child’s sweater. I have many-a unfinished blankets lingering in the stash.
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