I'm back ...

... after my two-week, self-imposed internet hiatus (did you miss me?)....

I'm not sure about whether I'll get the miracle (I'm just going to leave it in God's hands), but I do know that I had a very productive two weeks -- lots of changes ahead, some book reviews to post and two new designs ready for your knitting pleasure:

"Victoria's Tee" is available for immediate download ($4.99) and is sized from XS-5X.    Knit in a fingering-weight, cotton-acrylic blend, this is a great year-round top -- looks wonderful over something or alone!

Malcolum's Cluthar (very rough Gaelic translation for Malcolm's Cozy) with cap and toy cube is available for immediate download (4.99).  The blanket is knit in worsted weight, organic cotton and the cap will fit a baby 0-6mo.  The cube is a large, 7-inch toy with bells buried deep inside for the baby's amusement.  A lovely set for a dear friend's first baby.

Oh, and for those of you in the area (or want to come visit):  I'll be the morning speaker (as well as doing a couple of afternoon sessions) at Dog House Yarns' knitting retreat on April 9th out at Graves Mountain.  Stop by and say hi if you're able to come out and join us!

Enjoy the journey

Mary C. Gildersleeve

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

Small projects ... keeping me out of trouble

 Here are a couple of the small projects I've just finished up:

This is a baby set for the latest arrival to our dear friends ... this is their 8th baby and I always like to do something special when the family is large to remind myself just how precious each gift-from-God is!  These are knit with Knit Picks Wool of the Andes ... so they're 100% wool but are soooooo cozy.

Ballet Hair Snoods for two little friends who love ballet but hate having their hair put up.  I'm hoping these help their mom with getting the girls ready for class.  These are knit in a Dale of Norway Falk (a washable wool) which is a dream to use for knitting.

Lest you think I'm just doing little projects ... I just sent off a submission to Vogue for "Memories of Eire" vest made in washable worsted-weight wool.  It's a beautiful sage green color that my lovely MIL gave me for Christmas.  I also submitted Patrick the Leprechaun as a sample for a Santa Doll for the Holiday 2010 issue of Knit Simple .... we'll see if they like either design.

Right now I'm knitting for my niece's first child ... a girl who is due on 2/15/10.  I just wish I could knit faster (or more) as everytime I'm about half-way thru with one thing for this bundle of joy, I think of something else I want to add ....

What fun designing and knitting for wee ones!

Hope you're knitting muse is keeping you busy ....

Happy knittin'

Mary C. Gildersleeve

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

Baby Knitting: Knitted Blanket

Here's a blanket I just finished the other day for a friend. It's a fun design that I've played with before ... but I particularly like the edging on this one.

Spread out, the heart bands make a cross -- which is a very cool motif!

This was made on 10s using 2 skeins of TLC Heathers. You start at the center and work your way out ... so it's pretty fun knitting. Also, since I've charted it, I can change the edging by the time I get that far!

Here's another version of the same blanket ... this time done for a boy in "Blue Moon" (a TLC Heather color) and on 11s (so it's a bit drapier than the one above). Here you can see the cross made by the hearts.

This pattern is charted and tons of fun to do!

Baby Knitting: Easiest Ever Gift!

A very good friend is being induced this morning with her 5th baby -- this always happens as her babies always need a little noodge to greet the new day. But, when that baby does arrive I have the perfect new baby gift.

I wanted to make this 5th baby something special -- often the more babies someone has the less the new babies get. I remembered a pattern that I'd designed for my first "book", Glory of America Knits. I called it "Raggy Maggy" as it looks like a traditional rag doll ... with a bit of a twist.

So, here is a tutorial for making your own "Raggy Maggy" or teething doll:

First, as far as materials needed: #3 US knitting needles, worsted weight cotton yarn (the doll pictured here was knitted with Coats & Clarks Aunt Lydia Denim in ecru), 5 elastic hairbands (large) with no metal (you can see them in the picture, I found set of different brights from Conair).

Gauge: this is not ultra-critical but I got a gauge of 5st x 7rs. You want a tight-ish feel to the fabric. The final rectangle will measure about 13 x 20.

CO 100 sts and work 4 rows garter. Then, keeping first and last 2 sts in garter, do a stockinette center for approx. 12 inches. Finish with 4 more rows of all garter (on last round, reduce 10 sts evenly across so you'll be binding off 90 sts).

Now, for creating this little doll:

Here is the finished rectangle -- approx. 13 inches by 20 inches. Notice how it is on the table on it's short side which will be the "hem" edge (the CO edge is on the right, BO edge is on the left).

[NOTE: I used Conair's "large, no metal hair bands - a pack of 32 cost $2]

Fold the rectangle in half, with the RS out and the hems lined up. From the remaining yarn, wrap a TIGHT, two-inch ball for the head.

Place the "head" in the center of the top fold and wrap a hair-band of desired color (we know this baby is a girl so that's why I used deep pink -- you could use ANY color). You can move the fabric around a bit to get a smooth "face" while tucking the folds around the sides.

For the limbs -- do the left leg first by measuring 6" from the hem up the left side and half the hem (6-1/2"), grab this section and wrap a band around leg portion tightly. Grab the remaining 4 inches and make the arm. Repeat for the right side. Play with these wrappings a bit until you have Raggy Maggy just as you'd like her.

This makes a GREAT teething doll -- easy to grasp, cotton that softens as it washes, and easy-care: just take off the bands, remove the head and wash the rectangle and re-make. The cotton soaks up the burbles and droolings of a baby and looks just as good the 300th day as on the first day.

CAUTION: occasionally check the hair bands for any signs of fraying -- replace immediately!

Heirloom Knitting: Christening Set for the Well-Dressed Baby!

As most of you who read this blog know, I LOVE knitting. I love that I can create something from a natural material, something that wasn't there before. I love that I can design an item around a theme and make it all work together because it's MY design! I love that I can make something that's a fad or something that will stand the test of time. I love knitting and I love designing knitting.

When my youngest son's arrival was expected, I knew I wanted to make this baby something special as he was something special -- I was over 40 and in a foreign country and I was expecting my 5th child. Yes, he was going to be something special and he needed something that would set his birth apart from his siblings'.

Bam-bam was due in late November in Austria -- so a cozy Christening Gown seemed the perfect "special" baby item. I poured my love and prayers for a healthy baby into the design and knitting of this set -- that's why I used a heart-lace theme throughout the bonnet, sweater, socks and blanket. The blanket has a cross on it when spread out on the floor.

I used the same yarn but different size needles -- so the bonnet and jacket were knitted on 5s, the socks on 3s and the blanket on 11s. This gave me the loft I needed for a fluffy blanket while giving the delicacy I needed for the socks. The wool is a natural, DK weight wool from Austria.

Here's the back so you can see the heart motif on the bonnet and the back of the sweater.

This is truly an heirloom set and one I'm so proud of I even made a doll to fit the outfit. This doll will wear the outfit until I have either more children or till grandchildren start needing Christening outfits!

Don't you just love knitting?

OK, How COOOOOL is THIS?????

I'm at the public library this afternoon, perusing the "new" books shelves and I spot 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I've been waiting for this book to be published as I have a design in there! Yep, there's a picture of my "eyelet shruglet" on page 25, with the directions (and designer acknowledgment) on page 179. So, I'm grinning like the Cheshire Cat, seeing my name in print.

On a whim, I also pick-up Babies and Toddlers: A Knitter's Dozen from XRX Books (publishers of Knitter's Magazine). I look at the introduction and there's a sweater/cap set I'd done about 5 years ago. Yep, out of all the baby and toddler designs Knitter's magazine has published over the years, MINE is one of their "favorite 12" (in the book, it's the 4th pattern if that is an indicator). My "Mexicali Baby Ole" baby sweater and cap, made with self-striping sock yarn, looks as good today as it did 5 years ago.

Again, how cool is this -- I get to knit AND occasionally, see my name in print!

When you have a baby boy ...

... it's never easy to find cute but manly baby things. Even though I haven't had a baby for almost 5 years, I really wanted to design something for a baby boy -- something that would be baby-ish but not girly, y'know?

So, here's what I came up with:

A beautiful, though "manly", blue blanket (approx. 30 x 30) done with a heart lace pattern using TLC Heather in "Blue Moon" and US 11's. That same pattern is repeated in a bonnet (using a smaller needle -- a 2!)

Living Books and Living Knitting

Sometimes I like to combine something we're doing in our home school and something I want to knit.
Here's a great example of what I'm talking about. We're getting ready to send someone a "baby shower in a box" -- she doesn't live close enough to have the shower in person. Anyway, we thought a Jan Brett theme would be fun. Since the baby was born in the winter, we chose The Hat. Here's the Christmas stocking and hat I designed from Brett's illustrations (Kotch helped me chart the hat): Pretty cool, huh?