March 16, 2005
Seamed Until My Fingers Bled
After yesterday's baby-fest, I really should mix it up and talk about my New Old Faithful cardigan or the plan for my salvaged Calmer or my pink socks or... well, you get the idea. But I have to indulge in just one more adorable baby-with-handknits picture to celebrate the fact that Syd's baby blocks are DONE.
The sparkles also make appearances in some of the other red pieces.
I think that the colors turned out great -- and they match the nursery (check out the crib bumper)! Plus, I managed to put every block together correctly for the first time in the history of knitting baby blocks . ("Correctly" means that relative to the letter side, each of the patterned squares is in the same place on all of the blocks. For example, the garter stitch square is the top, the backet-weave square is the left side, etc. It's an entirely artificial standard imposed for the purpose of satisfying my insatiable desire for order ensuring even color distribution.)
I used Tahki's Cotton Classic except for the green, which was Rowan Handknit DK. I cast on and off with 6s, knit with 4s, and chose duplicate stitching for the letters. This turned out to be way easier than my previous attempts at intarsia. Looking back at pictures, I also see that my most valuable skill acquisition since Henry's blocks is the mattress stitch for seaming -- everything is much more even and sturdy!
These blocks remain among the most labor-intensive and least knitting-focused projects I've done; I'd say that the knitting part represents well under 50% of the work. But while the process drives me absolutamente loca, the finished product is among my very favorites of all time. Oh, the irony!
Posted by shannon at 3:12 PM | Comments (1) | For related posts: For Sydney, Syd's Baby Blocks
January 13, 2005
Deja Vu, All Over Again
Her wardrobe crisis now behind her, I'd say that Sydney needs some baby blocks! I picked out the yarn colors and wound the yarn over the weekend, and I've already started making process on the squares. I always forget how fast they go.
The yarn is Tahki Cotton Classic except the sage green, which is Rowan Handknit DK. I nabbed the fabric swatch from Syd's grandma (Jason's mom), who was hemming curtains for the nursery last time we were visiting. Made color selection much easier!
Posted by shannon at 1:45 PM | Comments (4) | For related posts: For Sydney, Syd's Baby Blocks