Spring is blooming ... and so is this baby blanket!

Just finished this beautiful baby blanket for a dear friend who just gave birth last week to a gorgeous baby girl.  

Spring is Blooming is knit with Dale of Norway's Falk (a washable, sport-weight wool) but could also be done in a sport weight cotton!  The design starts in the center with eight stitches and you keep working in circles, increasing as you go (and some of those increases are cleverly hidden within the lace panels) until you end up with 280sts and a 30" diamater baby blanket.


Spring is indeed Blooming!  


NOTE:  You must be able to knit from charts for this bounteous bloom.  


If you'd like to download the pdf of this design, here's the link:

Spring is Blooming ($7.50) 

or check out all my designs at my Ravelry store ....

Enjoy the journey

Mary C. Gildersleeve

By Hand, With Heart -- hand-knit designs

bhwh.mary@gmail.com

Snow makes for GREAT designing/knitting time!

We are having some wonderful snow days .... starting on Friday, the 5th, we are now on our 5th day of lots of snow on the ground.  We were only off-power for about 24hours (when we high-tailed it to Raleigh to stay with dear, dear friends) ... so now all is good.  The kids are building an igloo and a "luge" run in the back while dh shovels the latest snow-fall.

Me?

I'm doing what any self-respecting mom/wife would do -- baking bread, cookies and cakes; keeping the house cozy warm; and, of course ... knitting.  Knitting up a storm, as it were!

Our last snow-filled weekend, (January 30-31), I designed and knitted a few things for a niece's first baby. 

Introducing, the "Eliza Collection" ...

A bevy of booties!  These five pair of booties ... in graduated sizes ... are all knit in Dale of Norway's Falk - a washable 100% wool that knits up beautifully and will hold up nicely to lots of washing.

Ruffles

Heart sox

Baby-tears

Lavender and Lace

Ballet Flats

But the piece de resistance ... the real glory of the "Eliza Collection" is

Miss Bellissima Bunny the Ballerina.  Inspired by a design by Lucinda Guy in her book, And So to Bed, mine is knit all in one piece (except for the removable circle skirt).

Wearing a knitted-in pink leotard, Bellissima is 15-inches long.  She is a very cuddly bunny with her stuffed belly and her flat appendages.

Her full-circle dancing skirt is fun to knit -- all garter, short-row shaping making the circle with eyelets for a drawstring waist.

A sweet face, embroidered before stuffing, completes are little ballerina.  She is knit in a washable cotton-blend yarn and is made to withstand anything Miss Eliza does to her.

So what do you think of the "Eliza Collection"?

Happy knittin'

Mary C. Gildersleeve

By Hand, With Heart -- hand-knit designs
bhwh.mary@gmail.com

Designs: latest off the needles ...

Well, I just finished off these Julenisse socks ... literally, just tucked in all the ends and they are ready to wash and block.  I just couldn't wait to show 'em off, though!  I do toe-up, 2-at-a-time on circs ... this allows me to change the pattern as I go.  These have a striped toe (yellow and cream), a solid, smooth charcoal grey foot, short-rowed garter stitch heel, cabled leg and then a bit of two-color patterning on the cuff.  The red in the cuff design remind me of the Norwegian knitting during WW2 -- to thumb their noses a bit at the occupation Nazis, the Norwegians added a bit of red to all their knitting!  BTW, the name "Julenisse" is Norwegian for "Christmas elf".

One of the problems that often occurs with cables in socks and two-color knitting is the need to increase neatly so the cables fit the leg.  Here, after finishing the heel, I increased from 48 to 60 sts to accomodate the 6-stitch cable pattern (4 cable twist sts + 2 purl sts).  The purl sts make a "rib" that helps form to the leg.

The two-color knitting portion is started right after the 6th twist; I then do a final charcoal purl row, increasing 8 sts for a total of 68 sts for the cuff.  Since these socks will come up about mid-calf, I need a bit more and the two-color knitting will pull in slightly.  Note, I REALLY need to work on my round joins on the two-color portion (lower sock in the above picture) -- hopefully, when the socks are worn, no one will notice the "jog" as I'll wear it the socks so the jogs are on the inside as I walk.

A further consideration when knitting socks like these is the finish work:  make sure the inside looks as neat as the outside:  all ends should be tucked in, the carrying for the two-color knitting should be even and NOT tight.  All bits and pieces need to be as smooth as possible to ensure a comfortable wearing.

These socks are knit with Dale of Norway's Falk -- a washable wool -- knit on #2s.  48 sts for the foot; 60 for the cabled leg; 68 for the cuff.


Here's a close-up of the knitting on the cuff  ... loose but not too loose, ends tucked in and out of the carries to ensure a smooth fit.

Another project, that I had to put these aside for a bit to complete, were NINE hair-bun covers for String Bean's ballet class in co-op.  I needed to finish these in time for Wednesday (12/2) dress rehearsal, with the performance on the 9th.  This is our Christmas gift to these wonderful girls ... the design was fun to create and the knitting went pretty fast -- just something that I had to do at night when I could make one in about 2-hours worth of movie-watching.

They came out nicely ... I'll post pictures of the performance -- making sure to get pictures of the girls' hair!  These are knit on #4 dpns using Vanna's Glamour from Lion Brand -- an acrylic yarn with a bit of sparkle twisted with the yarn.

So, what are you knitting?

Happy knittin'

Mary C. Gildersleeve

By Hand, With Heart -- hand-knit designs
bhwh.mary@gmail.com