FO : Baby stroller blanket

Yes I finally finish THE blanket for my daughter and I am very proud of it ! So I also decided to publish my pattern, not that it's so complicated but it may be useful for any knitter that what it and likes my work on this one. So here are the instructions for my first free pattern ever !!

Pattern : Stroller baby blanket by Sophie Bergeron

Needle : 3.5mm

Yarn : Bernat Baby Sport in white and popsicle blue about 150 gr of each color (478 yard of each color)

Pattern :

The blanket has been created to be perfect size for a stroller, a car seat or also to carry around in little hands. I choose acrylic yarn to be easy on care and mom budget too ! Contrast colors are also great for our kids eyes and are easy for them to focus on. Also with two different texture it will be a great exploration for the little hands as well.

The little story behind this blanket is that the day that my love, Nicolas, and I found out that we were having a little girl at the ultrasound, we bought the stroller in a turquoise color that we both love and then my boyfriend came back from the end of the row at Walmart with two huge balls of Bernat Sport Baby and his best smile asking if I can do something for our daughter to go in the stroller. So I cast on for a blanket without any other though and I finally made something from my mind completely.

Finished size is : 24 inches 1/2 by 24 inches 1/2

Squares instructions :

Using 3.5mm needles, CO 72 sts

Row 1 : k 36, place marker, k36

Row 2 : k 2 sts before marker, ssk, k2tog, k til the end of the row (70 sts)

Row 3 : k all sts

Repeat row 2 and 3, 2 more time (66 sts)

Attach contrast color

Stockinette section

Row 1 : p until 2 sts before marker p2tof, p2tog, p til the end of the row (64 sts)

Row 2 : k all sts

Repeat row 1 and 2, 3 times (58 sts)

Continue with main color

Garter section

Row 1 : k 2 sts before marker, ssk, k2tog, k til the end of the row (56 sts)

Row 2 : k all sts

Repeat row 1 and 2, 3 times (50 sts)

Repeat stockinette and garter section one after the other alternately until there are 10 sts left on needles. Using main color.

Row 1 : k3, ssk, k2tog, k3 (8 sts)

Row 2 : k

Row 3 : k2, ssk, k2tog, k2 (6 sts)

Row 4 : k

Row 5 : k1, ssk, k2tog, k1 (4 sts)

Row 6 : k

Row 7: ssk, k2tog (2 sts)

Row 8 : k2tog

Leave a long tail to sew squares together later on.

Using any color contrast you like, make 16 squares and sew them together. I begun with 4 bigger squares together and then I assemble the 4 big squares together and weave all ends in too.

You can add a liner to hide the wrong side, personally I will buy white polar fleece to add some comfort to the blanket and made it easy for me to wash it as often as needed... :)

Let me know if you do this little blanket for your own little kids !!!

Only thing left for me now...have my own bundle of joy and be super hot with my matching blanket and stroller ! Hip mama, watch out I'm coming !

FO : Citron vert

Yes yet another FO in my knitwear collection 2010, already have completed 15 projects in 2010, not so bad ! :) Here are the spec :

Pattern : Citron by Hilary Smith Callis

Needle : 4 mm

Yarn : Malabrigo yarn Lace, almost exactly one skein, less than one yard left after stretchy bind off at the end in color Verde which is a very deep green.

Cast on : June 13th

Cast off : June 19th

Mods : I did add 2 rows in the ruffle section of the fourth and the fifth repeat and then follow the pattern but use a yarn over bind off like for my last FO Haruni shawl/scarf.

It was fun and mindless, perfect project to begin my maternity leave without thinking too much in a complicated pattern. Yes you read well, I finally took my maternity leave and it's a real joy to be able to relax at home and enjoy my free time before being a full-time mom in a few weeks.

 

Destash project : 4301 before this project before reducing stash before 2010 level minus 470 yards today, have 3831 yards left.

First day of summer 2010 !!!!

Today it's the first day of summer and I am thankful for many things :

- Perfect weather
- Being 34 week and 4 days pregnant
- Having great plans for tonight with my love (cooking together a wonderful strawberry cake- picture to come later on this week)
- Seeing my fine herbs growing and gosh it's smell so good
- Being on maternity leave (Yippee!)
- and so many more...

Have a wonderful day everyone !

travel contest

Little contest to travel around the world...

I just suggest you to participate in a contest that can makes you fly around the world to a dream destination with 7 of your friends...tempting no ?

I personnaly choose India as my dream destination, what's yours ?

Travelalerts.ca

WWKIP day in Quebec city

Last Saturday we had our WWKIP day on the Plaines d'Abraham here in Quebec city and it was so much fun !!! Last year I missed it because I was busy moving but I made my family came with me even if I was the only one knitting and we add a little picnic to enjoy the beautiful weather we had.

Here my belly  at 33 weeks and 2 days

I wish everybody enjoyed it as much as we did and you all showed the world our talents in knitting and how proud we are !!! :)

FO : Haruni

Yes finally presenting my new addition to my collection of knitwear 2010, here are the spec

Pattern : Haruni by Emily Ross

Needle : 3.5 mm (with a needle broke on my harmony set so sad)

Yarn : Malabrigo Lace in an unknown colorway, about 70% of the skein (329 yards), will confirm when I get my scale!

Cast on May 22nd and cast off June 13th

Mod : none but I wish I made it larger to use most of the skein and made it more like a shawl than a scarf/shawl.

Anyway I still love it and enjoy knitting it, I did great knitting and un-knitting many time the same row ! I knit the row 17 of Chart B 4 times, after that I put work aside and continue next day and made the whole knitting part except for cast off.

For the cast off, I used the yarn over cast off to have a stretchy bind off while having no need to use a crochet as suggested in pattern. Since my crochet skills are not so great I wanted to avoid a mess on finishing and It's perfect cast off for a shawl, stretchy and neat too.

About my cold sheep goal : I said I have 4630 yards to knit before reducing my stash from what it was before 2010...

So after this project I still have : 4301 yards to knit before being in the target !!!

Progress on secret knitting

Still working on my secret project, I need to work on it more and more because it have the same "due date" as my growing belly : July 29th. So far I am at 15'' on 16'' before working on sleeves and I love it ! I was smiling today because Nico kept asking if I was doing him a sweater soon and that he would like to have a dark gray one !! LOL I think I took the best color for him and I know him well.

And so far I used 4 balls on the 12 I bought originally. I think I will have plenty and maybe a little leftover too. I will kept you posted when I am home alone and since I still work it's not that often, almost 34 weeks pregnant I will be more than happy on maternity leave, soon, very very soon...

Almost FO...

Almost done with my Haruni shawl/scarf... it's currently blocking in my living room. I am pleased with it but it's a bit too small and I have plenty of yarn left on my skein. So I will find a way to use it as well and I will take a note to myself about these kind of pattern : listen to myself when I want to make a shawl larger : just do it ! They do sell yarn anyway if I run out of yarn and even I had made one more repeat I am pretty sure I would had enough and leftovers too.

This project was a bit of pain sometimes because I couldn't knit it while tired or not concentrate on my knitting or I would mess everything also I broke one of my needle tip in my Knit Picks Harmony needle set, so now I need to order a size 4 needle to replace it but again... little problem : I am currently in a yarn diet AND it cost the same to order for 5$ or 50$ in shipping from them :( Will think about it and maybe wait to combine my order with other items.

At least I have my almost FO to comfort myself on my knitting habilities...

Stash management

Do you ever bought yarn without knowing what project you are going to make with ? It happens to me everytime I buy yarn in a LYS unless it's sock yarn, not too difficult to choose a project after buying. When going throught my yarn I do discover yarn that I have no idea what to make with and it's a little problem when you try to reduce the amount of yarn waiting to be knitted.

 

So in my reduce that stash year, I have more time to think about yarn management and also with my little one on the way I also needed to move my stash from his previous emplacement (now converted from a office/craft room to a girlie baby's room). After 5 months this is how it goes...

New additions :

- 14 skeins of Cascade 220 that I bought myself (3080 yards)

- 2 big balls of Bernat baby sport from my BF (2228 yards)

- a big bag of unknow fiber from my BF (approx 1200 yards)

- 7 balls of Bergère de France Merino from my mother-in-law (798 yards)

- 2 balls of Bernat Cottontots from mother-in-law too (300 yards)

- 2 skeins of wool from Laine douceurs from my BF (860 yards)

- 1 skein of Kiss and Curl (Fleece Artist) from my BF too (547 yards)

total of 9013 yards

and that's all... I made not so bad if I look at what I pay or not, but the 3 last skeins are totally on my head because even if he insist and pay, I did choose the yarn myself and enter in the LYS by myself too !!!

I did use :

- 476 yards for the Trellis toddler sweater

- 626 yards for my February Lady sweater

- 1144 yards for my Tilted for the Olympics

- 93 yards for the Hodge Boy

- 70 yard for the Hodge girl (I made them smaller)

- 303 yards for the Easter's BSJ

- 176 yards for my Rose Red

- 231 yards for my Bird in hand

- 287 yards for the Pea Pod baby set

- 460 yards for my dad's sock

- 363 yards for the Baby girl jacket

- 88 yards for the Aviatrix hat

- 66 yards for the Flakey socks

not counting the WIP I have on needle I used up : 4384 yards so far in 2010

 

 

So if I want to be cold sheep by the end of the year I need to knit at least 4630 yards of FO by the end of 2010 to be reducing my stash...at least with my 3 current project I will used more than 2000 yards so as usual, just keep knitting.

 

Happy knitting dear readers

Mister I do accept your excuses

My lovely and tender boyfriend went on a business trip to Toronto last week and came back soon but with empty hands. It didn't matters to me, it was way more important to have him back in my arms than having any kind of gift but on Saturday he wanted to make apologies for his lack of time to shop on his trip for a little skein of yarn... did I ever mention this man is PERFECT... he think about buying me yarn on a business trip. Even though he hadn't the occasion because he was too short on time...he thought about it.

So we went for a little walk to bakery on Saturday morning and it happen to be next door from a LYS and he bought me 3 fabulous skein of yarn all Canadians products. The first two are from Kamouraska, Quebec. The barn's name is Les laines douceur and it's the first I saw this yarn so I bought 2 skeins one black and a turquoise. They don't have color name and strange weight it will be fun to work with. The third one is from the well known Fleece Artist, Kiss and Curl.

Let just say I am one happy girlfriend !