Smocked Dress

 This is the "Smocked Dress" from Mel Clark's book titled "Knitting Gifts for Baby." I knit this in a butter yellow sock-weight yarn, and it is very simple to knit, and would make a very nice baby shower gift, or as I have done here, I made this for a grandchild. This little dress takes about 420 yds of fingering or sock-weight yarn using a size 2 and 3 needle. The construction is top down and knit in one piece. You will need to pick up stitches along the front for the button bands. If you want the dress to be a little longer, you might need 2 skeins of yarn. After washing and blocking, this dress measures 13.5"inches from top of shoulder to bottom hem, (size 3-6 mo). This one is worth doing again and again, it really is a fun knit. Check out Mel Clark's book, there are other fun knits in her book.

Ruby Redmond Cardigan

This Cardigan is from the book
"Mom & Me Knits" by Stephanie Japel. It's the "Baby's Lace Cardigan" on page 17. Sizes are from 3 months to 24 months. This one turned out a little bigger probably due to my yarn being a heavier DK weight. The yarn I used is called "Cashmara" by flydesigns.com. The yarn is 80% Superwash Merino Wool, 10% Cashmere, and 10% Nylon, the color is Ruby Redmond.The skein has 290 yds, and I used almost every inch. I had 23 inches of yarn left over. Wow! that was close.

Pretty in Purple

I knit this easy top-down sweater, and then decided to make a little dress to go with the sweater. And here is my finished ensemble. The sweater is a pattern I purchased on Ravelry. It's called "Lilliputian" by Diane Conroy. Sizes are 9 to 12 months. However, I used a DK weight yarn, that ended up more like a worsted weight, almost. So because of that, this sweater is more like a size 4. But it turned out fine, and actually my granddaughter will be able to wear it. I went through my fabric stash and found this wonderful purple toile (sp?) (pronounced, twall) fabric, which I bought about 12 years ago. I think it goes very well with the sweater. The dress pattern is a Butterick pattern, and quick to make with a zipper in the back.

Baby Dress

 I found this sweet and fun to knit baby dress on senimengait.com
It is a free pattern, and is knit using one skein of yarn as long as the yarn has 365 to 370 yds. It is knit in any DK weight yarn. I used Berroco  "Boboli Lace", 42% wool, 35% Acrylic, 23% Viscose, 350 yds. I really wanted to use the entire skein, even if I cut the lace repeat and the bottom of the dress to only 2 or 3 times, pattern suggests doing the lace repeat at least 6 times. But I found that 3 times gives plenty of length for this size pattern. If you want more length or want the dress to be at the ankle, then you would need more than one skein of yarn, or a skein that has about 400 yds. The dress has a one button closure in the back.

Simple Fair Isle Sweater

This simple sweater pattern is from "Knitting Pure & Simple" pattern #214 Baby Pullover. It's knitted from the top down and is a one yarn pullover. I like these basic patterns, their like a blank canvas ready for your design ideas. You can add your own elements, such as adding this simple fair isle pattern, as I have done. I knitted this sweater in Lion Brand Yarn, "Wool-Ease." The Main color is Denim Twist, and the fair isle pattern uses, Denim Twist, Avocado, and Natural Heather.



Fair isle pattern from
"200 Fair Isle Motifs"
by Mary Jane Mucklestone.

Brush Baby Alpaca Sweater

This little sweater pattern is from the Skacel Collection, inc. It's the "Kittenish Pullover" and you can find the free pattern download at www.skacelknitting.com. This is a top-down, knit in one-piece sweater, requiring heavy worsted or bulky yarn. I used "Baby Alpaca Brush" by Plymouth Yarn, 110 yd skeins. However, I added the lace panel in the front. The original pattern has no lace panel, just plain stockinette stitch.  The smallest size is 26" chest, This is the size I knit, and it took 2 skeins in Pink, and one skein in cream for the contrast collar, cuff, and bottom edging. The Original pattern is done all in one yarn, with no contrast. The yarn recommended for pattern is "Simpliworsted Marl by HiKoo.            
This sweater has not been washed and blocked yet, so once I do that it will look better and lay flatter.

Little Blue Shrug

It's been a while since I have posted to this knitting blog, but it hasn't been because I have not been knitting. On the contrary! I have been knitting like mad.... I just have so many projects going that I haven't quite finished them, except for this one, and a few more that I am almost done with.
This little shrug is quick and easy to knit, and would make a great baby shower gift. The pattern is #288 "Little Girl's Shrug" by Knitting Pure and Simple. I chose a different lace pattern for the bottom of the sweater, just because I wanted to. The yarn I used is from Plymouth Yarns and it's called  "Cleo." It's a 100% Mercerized Pima Cotton yarn, 125 yd hanks, and comes in a lot of beautiful colors. I used a size 7 needle, and this size will fit 18 months to 2 years.