Baby Love

Another work colleague and friend of mine is expecting, and rather sooner than I was expecting (as if I had a say in the matter), so I had to knuckle down and try and get this finished ASAP. And that was today.

The Baby Love Blanket pattern is designed by Meg Hollar. It's sweet and simple, but a bit time-intensive. It's knit in sport-weight yarn on pretty small needles. I used size 3.25 (US3) needles. It took 10.5 balls of Knit Picks Shine Sport in a color called Wisteria -- a pretty pale purple. It's a 60/40 mix of cotton and rayon, so it has no give and isn't kind to the knitter with lapses in tension consistency. It can also cause a bit of hand strain. But, I love the beautiful shine on this yarn and the cool shading effects that happen when viewing the knit and purl panels from different angles. And, it's going to easier to care for than many of the other baby blankets I've made in the past year. I've already tossed it in the wash and dried it and it help up just fine.

It's a fairly simple pattern, all knitting and purling, with no shaping to speak of. The nature of the little heart motifs mean that the blanket is totally reversible. And after the first row or so, it's easily memorize-able, especially with the liberal use of stitch markers. I used different color stitch markers for the panels in which hearts were to appear, switching them out and re-position as I moved from row to row. I always forget how heavy cotton is. This is not a huge blanket (36"x36"), but toward the end, I was amazed at how much weight was pressing down on my lap. It should keep a squirmy little one quite contained. Now to box it up and get it delivered before the baby is.

A note on the color. This overcast day got away from me before I thought to take some pictures, so the pictures taken indoors make this blanket look way grayer than it is. While that's not a bad thing, the more purplish-looking image is the one that's closest to the true color. Maybe just a tad more vivid than real life.

Coming up, I'm going to be making a version of the Marius sweater (or  Mariusgenser), a design that was popular in the 1950s in Norway. We're planning to go skiing with my siblings and their families this next December, and I'm going to need something for the slopes. Or at least something to lounge around in après-ski.

I won't be using this exact pattern, but it is one from Sandnes, the company that owns it. And I've ordered Peer Gynt yarn too for that extra bit of authenticity. I had to get it from the UK -- couldn't figure out a source in the US. Traditional Marius sweaters are made in the colors of the Norwegian flag -- blue body, white stranded patterning, and red around the collar and joining the sleeves. I'm going to be making a version with black, white and gray. Because that's me. I have the pattern already, and although it's been translated from Norwegian, some of it is a little sketchy on the details. This is going to take some careful reading and planning.

Skål!

Blog posting has been on hiatus while I worked on some super secret projects. One is now out of the bag -- so I can finally write something about it!

My good friend from college, Tom, wanted to have a Viking-themed birthday this weekend. When I first heard about it, I started planning a little something for some of us guests to wear. Viking helmets! There were plenty of free patterns on Ravelry, but I settled on one by Becky Veverka. Inspired by some of the pictures on Ravelry, I followed modified instructions by Ruth (KnitNannyRuth).

I got some Berocco Vintage yarn at the newly moved and re-opened Hill Country Weavers. My original plan was to make three hats with three different-colored detachable braided beards. In the middle of last week, I'd realized I'd been a bit too ambitious and ditched the beard idea. I did make one prototype, but it was too heavy, too hot, used to much yarn and ended up looking like a dead muppet. It was just wrong. So hats only it was.

The hats were pretty easy to knit up. One hank of gray yarn made exactly two hats with just a little left over. Then one each for the gold and ivory on the horns -- I could make a whole herd's-worth more of those. I did one fewer series of 9-row repeats up the front of the hat, so that the decreasing started after two bobbles/rivets instead of after three. I wanted to these to look more helmet-like than hat-like and didn't want them to come down too far down the side of the head. I found the circumference worked well for a big melon like mine. The horns were pretty easy and quite clever, using the natural curl of the stockinette stitch to make the gold rings that attached the horns to the head. Short-row shaping made the horns curve naturally. It's really a pretty simple design with a lot of wow factor. So fun to make!

They were a big hit last night. We met at the Ship & Shield in Houston, played some games, and feasted on all kinds of tasty things like pickled herring, wild boar and, of course, drinkables. Tom had a good time and guests enjoyed passing the hats around for photos. In the above photo, Jeff, Shelly and myself model all three. I hope the staff at the pub wasn't too offended. As many of you may know, there is little evidence that Vikings actually wore horned helmets. But really, when you picture a Viking, what comes to mind?

If you're looking for something fun and easy to knit, I can recommend this highly. Perfect for the young and the young at heart. Happy birthday, Tom!