My Love for the Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket

The Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket is turning out to be a go to pattern for a quick blanket that works for all ages. The last few rows feel like they are taking forever but then I remember that the inner circle part goes really quickly so it evens out. I love this pattern and am sure when I can I will squeeze in more of these.

 

 

This blanket is made with an ivory, blue and a blue and white variegated yarn that looks like a light purple when viewed from far away and is child sized. The purple one is made with a lavender,  deep purple and white yarn and is adult sized. The third is a yellow, pink and white baby yarn and is child sized. The only thing that makes them different is the yarn size used, which lead to some being larger then others though they are all super fluffy and soft after being machine washed and dried (low heat). 

 

 

 



Till next time.  

Updates

It has been a crazy year of ups and downs, but through it all I was still able to get some crafting done. I hope to post more often in the future and give progress reports and insight into the construction of future projects. Seeing it come together is really weird. Some of the completed projects which look wonderful did not start out that way and many times I though they would fail. It is an interesting process.

Recently I have been trying to get caught up on all the projects I have started. I wanted to start the new year with nothing in wait, but at the moment I have 6 in the middle of being completed with 3 projects not yet started but have been requested (though none are on a time limit). There are 23 days until the end of the year for me to try and squeeze it all in. That does not include finally felting a few mohawk hats and any other distractions (cute patterns I run into that just have to be done, looked into further) that deter my attention. Wish me luck!

I made a Ripple Waves Crochet Blanket, but somehow managed to not follow the pattern. I did not do the same color repeats though I do like how it turned out in the end. When I was younger I loved the green and purple color combo and this blanket shows it off well.

 

 

This cute Seamless Tissue Cozy was quick to make and is super handy to have at hand for the holidays. I plan on trying a few patterns out but after how cute this turned out I plan to make a few more in my future. Quick side note: unattended tissue cozies will get hauled off by a cat. :)

 

 

A first for me, a knit stocking, #25 Candy Cane Stocking. I decided to pick a random magazine and make the first thing I saw and this was the winner. The pattern was easy to follow and I believe it turned out great. The true test will be when it is full of gifts for Christmas.

 

 

 

The stocking got me into the holiday spirit and I wound up making a Snowman. This is the first pattern out of a magazine on holiday gifts and I hope to get around to making them all.

 

I finished my third Chevron Love Car Seat Blanket and it turned out as wonderful as expected. This pattern is a delight to make and is so innovative. There are two slots in the middle of the blanket where the bottom of cat seat buckle fits. This way the blanket cannot fall off and get dirty! It can easily be modified to a larger size and the pattern is easy to remember and quick.

Pic of Blanket

 

There are many other things I have made this year since the socks; blankets, hats, socks, bears, mittens, owls, headbands, baby booties, puzzle pieces and more were discovered and completed and some of them even found new homes.

 

(bottom left sheep is not made by me, but it is super cute!)

 

 

Till next time.

New Year, New Socks

There are over 17,000 (over 5,500 free) sock patterns available on Ravelry.com at the moment and I needed to find out what the fuss was about! Before I read anything I set out for my daunting task expecting to fumble and make many mistakes along the way.

I went to my local yarn store and picked up the first yarn that said sock on the label (On Your Toes Bamboo) and picked up a size 4 (3.5 mm) set of five double pointed needles. I have since found out that Size 1-2 are the the most common sizes in sock patterns (at least on Ravelry.com).

Size 1 (2.25mm) - 4,016

Size 1.5 (2.5 mm) - 3,901

Size 2 (2.75 mm) - 3,221

Size 3 (3.25 mm) - 1,375

Size 0 (2.00 mm) - 1,360

Size 4 (3.5 mm) - 975

I wound up picking a pattern that called for a smaller needle and larger yarn, but since I was only trying to "make a sock", not necessarily a "wearable" one I was not hesitant on the alternate supplies. 

I started with the knit pattern Starter Stockinette from the sock shaped book Knit Socks!: 15 Cool Patterns for Toasty Feet which turned out to be a great beginner pattern. The first thing I learned is sock patterns are knit many ways but the two main are from top down (leg to toe) and toe up (from toe to leg). This pattern called for the sock to be knit top down so it started with a cuff made of rows of the rib stitch.

I cast on using even large needle and then moved the stitches to 4 of the double pointed needles and worked the sock going down the parts from top to bottom: Cuff, Leg, Heel Flap, Turned Heel, Instep, Foot and Toe. I made sure to just take it small section but section and before I know it I had one sock and then two!  In the end I like the pattern, the yarn and love the bamboo needles, but would change the yarn and needle size to match the pattern or use a different pattern with the yarn and needles. The socks, due to the large needles and smaller yarn, came out more like a slipper sock then a normal, everyday, in your show sock. They do look great and are comfy and taught me the basics of sock assembly.