Tragedy (and another FO)

I've posted before about the blanket I knitted for our llama while I was pregnant here.

I like to think he loved it. It was a lovely size for a pram, and being knitted, he liked to suck on it when feeling a little sleepy, or whenever he got his hands on it. (Elijah's ears a looking a little worse for wear because of his taste for knitted objects) It was special, cause I made it just for him, before I knew him. I took the squares along to appointments with the obstetrician, in the car on road trips, whenever I needed a project that I could grab and take with me at a moments notice. And with all the grafting involved I'm ever so confident whenever I come to a sock toe, or soaker gusset.

Alas, the blanket is lost.

Probably in Target at Shellharbour. But nobody has handed it in.

So after a day or two of mourning, I started thinking of a replacement. I'm now thinking something blue and cabled. I've had a look around, and nothing is quite what I fancy, so it looks like I shall have to design one myself (not so hard, it's just a rectangle with some cables running around).

While I've been pondering this future blanket, I have actually finished a cardigan (buttons and all).

This baby cardigan will either go to a friend's son, or enter the stash of 'cardigans to be distributed as babies arrive'.

The construction is really interesting. Starting at the bottom front, you knit up and over (splitting for the neck, then rejoining at the back). The sleeves are made by casting on then casting off stitches, with the cuffs picked up at the end. Only 2 seams and 3 buttons. What a lovely pattern.

While I remember I have been meaning to thank RubyGirl for asking if the striped jumper was a top down raglan (on account of the stripe alignment). What a compliment! As there are seams lurking in there ... very carefully counted mattress stitch seams.

And on the matter of baby socks. Charmaine should recognise those socks keeping his feet warm. Such a useful baby present. Right when he was big enough that most outfits no longer had feet, and the weather turned cold, there was a stash of socks to keep those tootsies warm. They're probably a little small now (we have a large-footed llama), but I can still squeeze them on in a pinch. Of course the ability to find only one sock of a pair is seriously exacerbated when they are so small, and can lurk in all manner of places.

Quick cheap knits

A week or so ago Spotlight was selling off their cotton blend summer yarn. At 50c a ball it was too hard to resist. Especially when I had these projects in mind.

Owl Baby Vest (rav link)

Yarn: Patons Serenity

Needles: 3.5 & 4.0 mm knitpicks options

Mods: Worked in a stripe around the bottom, neck and armholes. The armhole stitches are picked up in the contrasting colour but the neck stitches in the main colour (before knitting the next row in the contrast). I think I prefer how the armholes look (not as many reverse stitches visible).

This was a quick and easy knit, with enough going on to avoid monotony.

And with the left over contrast yarn I was able to knit this:

Pattern: Based on a hat owned by a friend's daughter

Yarn: Patons Serenity

Needles: 3.5 & 4.0 mm knitpicks options

I'm currently working on another version of this hat, trying to adjust the size, and see if it looks better worked completely on the smaller needles (I forgot to change, so decided to experiment).

And for a friend's daughter:

Puddles Bib.

Yarn: Patons Washed Haze

Needles: 5.5mm knitpicks options

No mods made, knitted as written. The designer has a number of other bib patterns that I'm likely to work my way through. I like the pattern, and the bib is nice and large.