Bean's Baby Blanket

I made this blanket for my first son during my first pregnancy. I'm not huge into baby blues and pastels, maybe because I reject those colors when it comes to my own wardrobe. Earth tones and jewel tones are more friendly to me, and figured my boy would have a similar complexion. I liked the earthiness of these colors--the mustard yellow especially.

I've never used 100% cotton yarn before and I'm happy with it--it's very soft and it washes well, but man, it takes a long time to air dry because it's so absorbent. I washed it on a delicate cycle with the blanket in a mesh bag to keep it from stretching. Laid it flat to dry fearing the dryer would destroy it.

Even though this cotton is pretty washer-friendly, a polyester might be more durable in the long run and keep it's shape better--but it definitely wouldn't be as soft and warm. I'm pleased with the cotton overall. There's something pleasant and warm and natural about cotton.

I was also excited because I wasn't sure if the blanket would be wide enough or too long. But, incredibly, when I ran out of yarn and tied the project off, I was amazed to find that that it's the exact dimensions of a standard crib. Crazy!

So happy knitting season! It's cold out there.

Vogue Baby Mittens

I can say these are Vogue baby mittens because I learned how to make them from my handy dandy Vogue Knitting on the Go! Beginner Basics book.

Two reasons these mittens were a big step for me in my knitting career:

1) This is the smallest yarn I've ever attempted knitting with--Patons Kroy Socks super fine for 3.25mm needles (does that mean anything to anyone?). I guess you can't tell how big the yarn and needles are from the picture, but they're tiny!

2) Even though I've been knitting since I was 8, making blankets and scarves and hats, I've never used a pattern. I like doing my own thing and have rejected patterns most of my life (in more than one way)--maybe that's why piecing quilts is so tedious to me. I didn't even know how to read a knitting pattern until looking it up in this little Vogue knitting book, which is the most clear and helpful knitting book I've ever referenced. Highly recommend.

However, I did adjust all the numbers in this pattern because I used finer yarn and smaller needles to make the mittens 0-3 months size instead of 6 months.

3) My whole life I've just knit knit knit in the garter stitch. I actually used a stockinette stitch for the mittens with ribbing around the cuffs after practicing pearling while making a blanket. Progress! After 16 years of knitting, I have finally learned something new. Revolutionary, isn't it?

Because this yarn is so freakin' small, I thought these would take forever, but then I realized, the mittens themselves are also very small. They didn't take as long as I thought, so I proceeded to make several pairs that were never worn because baby's don't like wearing mittens. Who knew?