knit gifts – Yards of Happiness

FO: Birthday Brioche

I went back and forth on what to make my sister for her birthday this month. I knew that whether it was a full sweater or a vest it would be white but something just kept telling me I needed to knit her the Pommier Vest…so I did!
Birthday brioche
I think I really wanted to put my newly learned brioche skills to work. And despite having a little mistake at the very bottom in the beginning (that I left because only a knitter would notice), I think this was definitely the right project to make for Anne and I know I’m going to have to make this for my other sister and my Mom (and maybe myself too).
Birthday Brioche
You can’t tell as much as I would like in these photos but the contrast color yarn is actually pink and yellow. It’s Knerd String in the color Tang. The white yarn is the Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepard’s Wool Worsted that I bought to initially make my Happy Little sweater but decided yellow was much more my speed. I saved it know it would be perfect for a project for my sister who loves a white sweater.
Untitled
Here’s a better shot of the yarn so you can see all of the wonderful flecks of color in this. When I asked my sister if she wanted pink or yellow (her two favorite colors) in her gift, her response was pillow – pink AND yellow. Alrighty then, I knew I could make that work.
Birthday Brioche
I think this could be a really good starter brioche project if you’re trying to dip your toe into brioche knitting like I was. The vest is small and is super quick to knit since the front panels are so narrow. You’re going to add 7 inches (or more) of brioche stitch to the front by picking up stitches for the button band – why is picking up stitches my favorite thing? I didn’t go overboard on the brioche band because my sister leans on the petite side and I didn’t want it to overwhelm her or appear to swallow her up. I think this was just enough and she can flip the collar down if she wants. All in all this was a super satisfying knit and you’ll totally see this one being knit again.

FO: Wasabi the Whale and the Sea of Chevrons

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.
Matzah' 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.
Matzah Ball's blanket
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!
Matzah Ball's blanket and whale
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.
Matzah Ball's blanket and whale
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.

June 12, 2017 by IamDWJ Categories: Baby Blanket, blue, Caron, Color, FO: Finished Object, green, Knit Picks, Knitting, neutral (black/grey/white), Toys, YarnTags: #yardsofhappiness, Baby Blanket, baby gifts, green, knit gifts, knit toys, wasabi the whale 9 Comments

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.
Acid Rain
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.
Acid Rain
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).
Acid Rain
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.
Acid Rain
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.
Acid Rain
And in the end I’m just happy I was able to give a great gift to a friend.