Bunny Ear hats

I happened on a pattern for Bunny Ear hats before Easter, and of course this inspired me to make some of my own. I used a simple roll hat pattern -- 60 stitiches (for a small hat to fit up to about a year old, and 78 stitches for a 1 to 3 year old) knit on size 6mm circular or double pointed needles. I bought the fuzziest pink yarn I could find ... sorry, did not save the label. It was hard to work with, to be honest, and I would not make an entire garment from it, but it was fabulous for the ears. White side of ears .... 10 stitches knit in st st for about 13 rows. Next row, k2 tog at each end. Purl row. Next row k2tog each end. Purl row. Continue to shape point of ear by dec at each end until you have a point. Tie last stitch tight. Make 2 of course ( I make 2 on the same needle at the same time by winding a small ball of yarn to use for the second ear ... saves looking at directions twice). The fuzzy yarn was much thicker, so it needed fewer stitches and rows. It will depend on what you find for it, but it has to match the white ear when you are done. For mine, it took 6 stitches, and 12 rows. For this dec pattern, I knit 2tog in the centre each row. No need to use st st, just knit every row. The fuzz will hide the stitches anyways. Use the fuzzy pink yarn to sew the ears together, with right sides out. No need to try to do an invisible seam here. I put the hat on a large roll of toilet paper or empty coffee can to place and sew the ears. It makes it much easier to place them this way. I put the slightly forward of centre, and close to the centre of the top. Use white to sew the ears in place. They will stand up when the hat is on a baby! ( or you could make the hat a little larger with bigger ears and wear it yourself!)

Marble Chunky Pullover

I have expanded my repertoire to include sweaters for children. This is my first project. It is size 4, knit on 5.5mm and 6 mm needles. Finished dimensions are chest 26 inches, length 16 inches and arm length to underarm 11 inches. I used Ketzer Marble Chunky  200 gm unsure of colour number. Pattern is Bernat Chunky - Kid's Pullover http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=3827 You may have to join the site to view the pattern. Knit in size 4 and took about 14 ounces of yarn ... 2 of the balls. It is also called James Brett now, rather than Kertzer. It is a great yarn to work with and I am very pleased with the finished look of the sweater. The yarn looked so appealing that I really wanted to work with it, and I am glad that I did. It is machine washable and since it is a chunky yarn, it will be warm as well. I think it is suitable for either a girl or a boy. The colours speak to me of autumn leaves!

For a change, a little dress!

One of the sites I subscribe to featured a little dress a few weeks ago, and I was eager to knit it up and see what it was like. It is called Darling-Dress from www.pickles, should you wish more information. It is sized as a newborn to 3 months, but I think it is more of a 3 month size. The finished dress, using 5 mm needles, measures  10.5 inches shoulder to hem, waist circumference is 14 inches. I used a sport yarn for this but I did not keep the label for the colour or specifics of the yarn. Rereading the directions, perhaps they meant to use size 5 needles, meaning 3 3/4 mm??? hmmmm. That would indeed make a newborn size dress. I made it a little shorter than the pattern specified, which was not intentional. The dress kept rolling up and with all the bumps I kept getting a different measurement. It really needed to be blocked when it was finished to get it to lay flat.

I made some tiny shorts to go with the dress, as you can see. These are just called baby shorts, and they turned out large as well when made as the directions specified. I would use a smaller needle for them next time, and not make the waistband and cuffs so long. The cuffs are fine when turned up, but I don't think that is the intent. Directions for 2 sizes were given, and I made the larger size as there did not seem to be much difference. Using 4.5 mm needles for the body and 4 mm needles for the cuff and waistband gave the final measurement as the directions stated ... 15 inches around the hips. Plenty of room for diapers in there I think! I would not make the body as long next time, unless I find a baby to try them on and find that they actually fit!

Same old bootie pattern, using size 5mm needles. The finished length of the bootie is 4 1/2 inches.

If I decide to make this again, I would alter the pattern of the stitches on the dress. I don't like the bumpy look of the garter stitch rows. Stripes are okay, but I don't like the bumps. Also, I think I would make a picot edge on the bottom rather than have it do the roll. It would be easy to alter the pattern to make it wider, and of course longer if a larger size is needed. I had to learn the Kitchener stitch for the shorts, in order to close up the gusset. I had to keep the computer page with the directions up to follow along each time I did anything, so I certainly need more articles that use this stitch to really perfect it! But it turned out quite well for a first try. Another thought I have, with the finished dress, is that the baby really does need to wear a tiny tshirt or undershirt under the dress. It looks like a sundress, but a knitted sundress would be too hot in parts and the shoulders would be cool. They do show the baby in the illustration wearing a little tshirt under the dress.

New project to start tonight! It will be time for American Idol soon and that is prime knitting time for me!

Patterns, patterns and more patterns!

I do like to browse yarn stores looking at the yarns and pattern books. The patterns are very expensive, and come mainly in just one pattern in a leaflet now, compared to the old books  I used to have which were chock full of patterns. All things change!  I will have a look at the used book sale here next month to see if I can find a few of the old pattern books. I was lucky last year to find a Jean Greenhowe book there for the bargain basement price of $1.50. I had been looking for one of her books for several months without success. More about the things I made thanks to this book in another post! If you have thrift stores near you, that is a good place to have a look for old pattern books as well.

The big yarn companies all have some free patterns on their web sites, and I have taken advantage of some of them.
Lion Brand patterns

Paton's Patterns

Bernat Patterns


And there are sites made by people who just enjoy the hobby and create and share their own patterns. This is one that I especially enjoy, and it has been the inspiration for many of my projects. They do send emails often, but I imagine you could opt out of receiving them when you join the site if you do not like to get a lot of mail. I enjoy seeing what the latest projects are, myself!  There are hundreds of patterns here for almost anything you might want to create. A small caution, the patterns are not written by professionals, and sometimes you have to use your own knowledge to sort through and discover what it is you should be doing. But that is part of the joy of creating, isn't it?

AllFreeKnitting pattern site

This is another site full of patterns, not just for knitting but for many crafts. They only send 1 email a week or so, and I believe you have to register to view the patterns. I have also found some interesting ideas browsing here.

Craftsy pattern site

It is fun to look through and see what others have made, and to get inspiration for yourself along the way. The patterns range from beginner to advanced, so you should be able to find something there that strikes your fancy. I hope that you have fun looking through the sites!

What size should I make?

Perhaps you are lucky enough to have the baby you are knitting for handy enough that you can get the correct size made. I do not create for any particular baby, generally, so the size does not really make much difference. If you are like me, you have to study all the babies you see while you are out and about to try and determine their size and age. I find this chart to be a good reference point for judging sizes. It is quite comprehensive in giving the measurements for various ages. From head size to feet and everything in between, you will most likely find it on the chart! For older children, there are measurement and sizing charts on almost every site that sells finished clothing. Happy knitting!

Sizes of clothing and babies

And all the other measurements!

The other sweaters in this pattern

I have made several sweaters using this basic pattern. I did not think to take pictures of all of them. The first two were gifts for Christmas, one for a baby girl in pink with the yoke done in variegated pink and purple. It was about a 9 month size,and it was the prototype of the larger size. The other was for a baby boy, using the smaller version of the pattern. This sweater was knit in cotton, in variegated blue and white. I had not advanced to hats and booties then so they were just little sweaters. I do have a picture of one in the pink variegated that I experimented on, putting a lacy border on the sleeves and hem. I am not really happy with the buttonhole bands on it, but I have found better ways of making them now so the experiment was useful. The last two became sets with a hat and booties and they are both newborn size. I have no idea of the yarn or needle size. And those are all the 5

(or is it 6?) hour sweaters I have made to date!

Top picture is the blue variegated. Next is the pink with lacy edges and the last is the sweater sets for newborns.

Sparkling White Set for a New Baby Girl

This is another of the same basic pattern, but in newborn size. It was made in white with pink buttons by request for a soon to be born baby girl who has 2 big brothers! White is not my choice with so many really really nice colours available now. I think babies want to be surrounded in colour! But, I suppose 32 years ago I was a pretty strong traditionalist as that is what my babies got ... white, blue or yellow when they were small babies! :D All things change! I do like the fancier colours more now. The yarn I used for this set was Bernat Baby Sport Sparkle, and it is more of a true baby yarn as it is quite fine. After I started working with it, I knew it would be too small as it was, so I actually used the 44 stitch modifications that I had worked out previously. The resulting set was the same size as other newborn sets that I have made using the 39 stitch starting base. I also adjusted the number of rows in the length to make it the proper proportion that way. The ball of yarn that I purchased for this set had many flaws in it, and I do have a letter of complaint in to Bernat about it, but have yet to hear back from them. After I had about 5 cm knit, the yarn diminished to only a thread in width for about 30 cm. I had to tear out some to cut the yarn, tie a knot and then start up again. The same thing happened again after I had gone another 5 cm or so. I was disappointed to have so many knots in something that I was making for someone else. I ended up winding up the entire ball myself so I could find any other flawed lengths and cut them out before I hit them as I was working. There were at least 4 other chunks that I had to cut out. Very disappointing, and also disappointing that I have not had a reply to my email after an entire week either. Big company, I guess, and one bad ball of yarn does not seem to matter to them. Anyways .... the finished set was quite cute. I used 3 3/4 mm needles, sweater measured 21 cm across chest, 19 cm in length, arms cuff to underarm 12 cm. Booties 9 cm long, and the hat is 17 cm across (laid flat for all items, not the measure going all the way around) and 12 cm bottom to top. I am not sure how much yarn it took as I had that rewinding issue and had to cut some out. I have enough left for another garment, but it was a large ball to start with, 300 g. I did finally receive a reply from Bernat, after a follow up email due to the lack of response from the first. Apparently, they did not receive my first email, so it is a good thing I kept a copy of it for myself. Normally, they want you to return defective products to the store from which you purchased them, and they will replace it for you. As it had taken them so long to respond to my 2 emails, they graciously sent me 2 new balls of yarn of the same type. That was greatly appreciated by me. All I really expected was an apology and thank you for letting them know, to be honest, and some direction as to how to get the faulty yarn replaced. Now I know!