Remember the baby blanket I was talking about last week for the baby we thought would get here this week? He arrived Friday night. Clearly he was too excited to join us out here in the real world and Matzah Ball (as he was known in utero) is now Eli! I like to think as I was finishing his blanket on Friday night he was so excited about it he decided to be born but clearly I had nothing to do with it…or did I? So before he was born my girlfriend sent this picture of his room.
I actually had a bedroom floor to ceiling in that shade of green and it was my absolute favorite. So clearly since she was going with a favorite color palette of mine I was happy to knit him something. So I went with a trusted pattern and did the Chevron Baby Blanket (a free pattern from Purl Soho) but decided to make the green the accent color on the ends and have two row wide stripes in alternating grey and navy blue.
The end results I love, it’s a great blanket knit in Knit Picks Mighty Stitch Bulky on size 13 needles so it went super fast. But she also told me she was ordering navy blue curtains with whales on them for the window and the next day I was scrolling through Instagram and saw this post from @NoKnitSherlock of Wasabi the Whale.
I had to make a whale for the baby, right? It was fate!
Of course I had to make one! I whipped this up in a couple of hours on Saturday after walking in a 5k for Pancreatic Research. I was tired, it was hot and I figured I could knock this pattern out that afternoon while I rested. I started around 3pm and by 7:30 I was sewing on the last fin. I think since I used child safe doll eyes I already had he looks a bit more like a manatee than a whale but either way he’s still a cutie.
And he looks like he’s swimming in a sea of chevrons! I’ve said I want to make more knit toys for the little kids in my life but just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. This might be the motivation I need to pull out my fun colors in my yarn stash and make a few toys for the kids I love so much. Oh and in case you were wondering, I knit Wasabi out of the Caron Simply Soft that I knit Eli’s matching hat with last week. And in these photos he has already had a run through the washing machine and dryer and looks marvelous. He should hold up to years of hugs and kisses.
Category: neutral (black/grey/white)
FO: Acid Rain
Thanks for all the well wishes on Monday you guys. I’m still sick and I think this cough is going to linger for a bit but I’m hanging in there. I took the day off of work on Monday but still had class that afternoon. Fortunately for me I had a guest speaker, the Global Digital Communications Director for Christian Louboutin. I met her years ago with my old blog and we’ve always stayed in touch and when I asked her if she’d be willing to talk to my class she quickly said ‘sure!’ She gave a great talk to my students, they asked insightful questions and it was a strong finish to my series of guest lectures for the semester. And since she came all the way down from NY I knew I wanted to knit her something as a thank you for doing this for me. So I made her the Rain Outside Shawl.
It’s funny, I was kind of nervous to make this for my friend. We’re internet friends who haven’t seen each other face to face for years so I don’t know her like I would my BFF Jess, but I know she’s stylish and cool but I worried she wouldn’t like it. And then my BFF Jess reminded me, everyone loves a beautiful hand knit item. And she was right. She loved it.
For this shawl I did one thing different than I did before, I made a swatch. LOL The previous two came out smaller than I expected, they still work but I wanted this to be a bigger shawl and I got that but think I’m still slightly off on gauge. It’s not as big as some but this one definitely was bigger than my previous two versions (shawl one and shawl two).
For the main color I used two skeins of the Madelinetosh DK Twist in Clap Your Hands I still had in my stash (I’ve got one skein left…what will it become?). And for the contrast color I went with Berroco Weekend DK in black. In my first version I loved the contrast of the metallic yarn with the matte grey yarn so I wanted to play with the matte black and vibrant rainbow of the Clap Your Hands. And with the rainbow and all of the black, it kind of makes this shawl a neutral in my book but it also has a great striking contrast so it’s still a bold accessory.
I really do love this shawl and the pattern. The lace panels break up a lot of garter stitch to give it interest and it just has a unique look and feel to it. It’s not an old school shawl, it’s kind of like a work of art. I’m sure I’ll make another as a gift for someone in the future.
And in the end I’m just happy I was able to give a great gift to a friend.
Stitching Status: Acid Rain
Despite being a little under the weather lately (I can’t tell if it’s allergies or a cold) I’ve been in a really good mood. Work is the same and nothing special has really happened but I’ve just been happy and I’m not complaining about that. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been working with one of my favorite yarns lately?
I could write a love letter to Madelinetosh and all of her amazing colorways. One of my favorites it ‘Clap Your Hands,’ this is it in DK weight and you may remember it from my Under the Graffiti Bridge cardigan. It’s like a beautiful rainbow that’s a little gritty and dirty. I love this color. I want to be a yarn dyer that’s as awesome as Madelinetosh is to me.
I’m working on another The Rain Outside shawl (view my first and second) as a gift for a friend and decided to use Clap Your Hands as the main color and a matte black of Berroco Weekend in DK weight. I’m loving the contrast.
The black is so strong against the white/rainbow and the lace panels are all black. I’m contemplating doing the last panel is a super bright pink but I think I may just leave it as is. I always fear I don’t have enough of the contrast color but it’s making it’s way to the end. I have to trust myself more and stop worrying. I’m so excited to get this one off my needles (should be finished over the weekend)…
If I could just get Cher to stop sitting on it. We shall see. Have a great weekend!
