BeBa

Show us something[s] you made yourself.

The other day, HM called me out. "YOU are not a crafty mom," she accused.

(This after spending the weekend with her dad and soon-to-be stepmom, whereby said stepmom did – I mean helped with - B's school project. And it was a fabulous project, seeing as how said stepmom did helped out so much. B did work hard on it, too, though. By all accounts it does sound like it was very much collaborative.)

(HM was jealous. Because I don't help much with my kids' school projects and so they are probably just about the saddest looking projects in the class, seeing as how they are done by a child. She thinks I should be involved in their future projects such that they look more adult-like to match what the other kids "do.")

(And to clarify: I like their stepmom-to-be. I think she makes a tremendous effort to be a good parent. I also think it's cool that she helped B so enthusiastically with her project. But such things being complicated, it's true: I'm just a teensy-weensy little defensive that she came off like a better mommy than me. <pout>. However, they had a lot of fun and B got an A on her project and I want all of my children to have good relationships with all of the people parenting them. Of which there are many…)

Anyway.

I AM SO CRAFTY! See all those finished objects?????

(But really, HM was right, I'm not crafty much. I just like knitting and sometimes cross stitch. And then, only easy stuff.)

From top, here are some things I've knitted:

1. Einstein Coat I made for HM (ungrateful child!) in a bright fuchsia Lopi yarn. She's modeling it for you in this photo. She's actually very proud of it.

2. Felted bunny slippers. I made these for my toddler-age niece last Christmas. Aren't they the most DARLING things?? Incredibly easy and fast, too.

3. Everybody has to make a Booga Bag! (Especially since the pattern is free.) Knit with gorgeous Noro Kureyon color 95 on size 10.5 DPNs.

4. A Baby Albert Sweater, which is basically the same pattern as the Einstein Coat, but in infant size. I made this for another one of my nieces when she was born.

5. Joel's Scarf. I actually have made three of these – two for friends and one for Scott's mama. It's so fun and easy to knit and the color changes help keep from being overly tedious.

6. Bucket-o-Chic hat I made for myself (modeling). Regrettably, I used a wool/acrylic blend for this and it turned out a little too big. It needed to be felted down a bit – then it would have been cute. As it is, too big, and I don't like it. But still, I MADE IT MYSELF.

7. Felted mittens I made for B (modeling) – probably one of the more complicated patterns I've ever tackled (and they were still pretty easy). First outing using DPNs. This project predates our move from Ohio to Arizona…

8. Long skinny scarf I made for myself. It turned out very pretty. But I've since decided I don't like knitting with fancy fibers like that. It's just too much of a hassle to work with.

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I want to knit a keepsake for the new baby and I'm considering the following possibilities…

I would love some feedback and/or other suggestions! I'm looking for a pattern that calls for soft, natural fiber and mindless knitting. I know I'll never finish this if I have to concentrate on a complicated pattern! Even though I think they make adorable baby blankets, I will not knit with chenille or fleece or novelty yarns. I'm not a good enough knitter and past attempts with those fibers have been a  d i s a s t e r.

Also, I tend to like kits because shopping for yarn overwhelms me. I know, I'm pathetic.

I'm leaning towards a baby blanket. I've narrowed my options down to the following (but am totally open to other ideas!):

Blue-sky-organic-cotton-eyelet-baby-blanket-knitting-kit

Eyelet Baby Blanket
First, this one caught my eye right off the bat! I adore that scalloped border. Question -  because I haven't done anything like that before – how hard is it? I'm thinking I can handle it, but feedback wouldn't hurt. Before I just dive on in.

This is the cutest little baby blanket – and we use super soft Blue Sky Cotton to make it. You will need a US 10.5 knitting needle in a 24" or longer. Knitting kit includes Blue Sky Organic Cotton or Blue Sky Dyed Cotton (your choice) and Blue Sky Eyelet Baby Blanket pattern.

Plymouth-encore-colorspun-baby-brights-baby-blanket-knitting-kit

Baby Brights Baby Blanket
The second blanket I'm considering is truly a mindless knit lol. I really do prefer the natural fibers, but I enjoy working with wool/acrylic blends and, frankly, this one would certainly be more practical and likely to actually be used seeing as how it's machine wash/dry.

This adorable baby blanket is easy to make, and one that you'll treasure forever. We use Plymouth Encore, a wonderful blend of wool and acrylic that is machine wash and dry. This kit requires size 7 US knitting needles, in a 29" circular. Knitting kit includes Plymouth Encore Colorspun yarn and Fiber Trends pattern CH-33. Finished measurements are 34" by 40".

Just for fun – a cool memory of knitting with some of of my Internet friends (we've been hanging out online for over 10 years!) at one of our many IRL get-togethers. And, oh, look – this was a few years ago and I was working on my chenille disaster (a throw blanket that I ended up frogging because it was turning into a trapezoid. So wrong.)

Knitting: Polli, me, Jen (Gilligan sprawled on the floor)

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