Sunday, January 19, 2020

a year of baby gifts

I accidentally left my laptop at my parents' house when we visited before Christmas, and I finally have it back. Reunited and it feeeels so good! Now I can catch up on sharing all my recent crafty endeavors. This post is a wrap-up of the baby gifts I made last year.

Let's jump all the way back to April. I finished this Notre Dame baby blanket in a little over 2 weeks last spring! I couldn't find a pattern online so I made my own grid in excel by tracing an interlocking ND logo. I knit the background and purled the logo part. The border is garter stitch. The dark green yarn is Cascade Anchor Bay (machine washable wool/cotton blend) from my local yarn shop. They had just the right amount to make this blanket!


This blanket went to my friends Erin and Matt, who welcomed baby Patrick over the summer! I hope this blanket brings the luck of the Irish. Congrats!


Next up, this Meredith Baby Cardigan for my friends Lauren and Zach. I managed to make zero notes about this project while working on it, which is very unlike me. Here's my guesses. Yarn: pretty sure I used the actual yarn recommended by the pattern for once (gasp!), Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, purchased at a local yarn shop. Color: spearmint? I think? Size: I know I debated this for a while, but I think I settled on 18-24 month. Seems like babies don't grow out of their clothes quite as fast once they're past the one year mark, so they get a little more wear out of a handmade item!


I hope baby Adeline stays toasty warm in her sweater (next winter)!


In the fall, I made these felt mobile pieces for Stacey and Raul's night sky themed nursery for baby Bode. I used the same technique for cutting the shapes as I did for my felt birds, Harry Potter mobile, and Avengers mobile. I designed the shapes on the computer, printed and traced them onto freezer paper, lightly ironed that to the felt, and then cut out the shapes along the template lines. Instead of hand-stitching these pieces, I sewed them on my machine, which worked out much better than I expected. I trimmed the shapes after sewing to get a nice, even edge. Ben and Jen assembled these into a mobile, which looks very cute in Bode's room!


Lastly, I knit this Guernsey blanket for Laura and Andy's little boy Connor. Apparently I have a thing for teal baby items. This is a modified Guernsey Wrap pattern, re-sized to make a baby blanket and knit in aqua Anchor Bay. I managed to take zero photos during the baby shower, probably because I was having fun catching up with my high school friends and their kiddos! We're just starting a cold snap here, so Connor will definitely need some snuggly blankets to stay warm this winter!


I think that's all the baby items I made last year, but I still have a few more knitting projects to share. Stay tuned!

Details for the ND blanket, Meredith Cardigan, and Guernsey blanket are available on my Ravelry page.