Domestically Challenged

SoCal Car Seat Blanket

The third thing I knit my baby was a small car seat blanket.  For my birthday this year, my friend Sylvia gave me two skeins of Plymouth Yarn Dreambaby DK Solid.  This yarn isn't something I would normally buy myself (as it is acrylic and machine washable) but it was really, really, really soft.  I could imagine snuggling my baby in it and started to think about baby blankets.  After knitting 4 blankets for my nieces, I didn't want to knit anything too big.  I was in the market for a small blanket.  A car seat blanket. I trolled through Ravelry, but didn't see anything that really did it for me.  The yarn languished in my knitting basket as I mulled over what to do.

When my husband and I decided to drive to the Grand Canyon for Memorial Day weekend, I knew this was my chance to make a major dent in the baby blanket.  I still wasn't sure about the pattern but packed up the two skeins and one US 7 circular needle anwyay.  I didn't have any other knitting with me so I hoped the gauge would work out.  I imagined something drapey. 

After fiddling around with stitch patterns on our way to Laughlin, I settled on the pattern below.

SoCal Car Seat Blanket

Using US 7 needles and Plymouth Yarn Dreambaby DK, cast on 130 stitches.

Knit moss stitch for 9 rows.

Repeat the next two rows (Row 1 and Row 2) until the blanket is the desired length.

Row 1: Knit moss stitch for 5 stitches.  *Knit 5, purl 1*.  Repeat ** to last 5 stitches. Knit moss stitch for 5 stitches.

Row 2: Knit moss stitch for 5 stitches. Purl to last 5 stitches. Knit moss stitches for 5 stitches.

Knit 9 rows in moss stitch. Cast off.

 

My blanket ended up being 24 by 27 inches and I find it an ideal size for cuddling my baby, even now that he is 2 months.  Obviously, you can knit a larger or smaller blanket by changing the number of repeats of the *knit 5, p1* motif or even by using a different weight yarn.  Even though I originally intended this to be a car seat blanket I'm finding it to be very versatile, especially because it doesn't take up very much room in my diaper bag.

DNA Armwarmers

My friend Eden just finished writing her biochemistry PhD thesis and is now studying for her defense.  To help her through this phase, I knit her a pair of armwarmers with a fetching DNA cable.

Here is the pattern:

 


DNA Armwarmers

This pattern uses the cable from Denature by Margaret Mills.  Go here to download the pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/denature.

 

Materials:

Fingering Weight Yarn (I used Malabrigo sock)

US 1 and US 2 DPNs

Using US 1 DPNs, cast on 56 stitches.  Distribute the stitches as follows: 14 stitches on Needles 1 and 3 and 28 stitches on Needle 2.

Join in the round and continue in K1, P1 rib for 10 rows.

 

Begin DNA cable:

Switch to US 2 needles.

Knit across all stitches on Needle 1.  Knit 7 stitches on Needle 2, over the adjacent 14 stitches, complete row 1 of the DNA cable, knit last 7 stitches.  Knit all stitches on Needle 3.

Continue as described above, progressing through the DNA cable chart over the middle 14 stiches on Needle 2 until the armwarmer is the desired length.  Two cable repeats were completed on the armwarmer shown in the photograph before the thumb increases were started.

 

Thumb Increases – Right Hand

The following round is to be worked on the first and every subsequent third row until 25 rows have been completed.

Needle 1: Knit

Needle 2: Knit, continuing in DNA cable pattern across the middle 14 stitches, until 1 stitch from the end of the needle, M1, K1.

Needle 3: K1, M1, knit to end.

All other rows are knit, continuing across the DNA cable on Needle 2.

Row 26: Work across Needles 1 and 2 until 9 stitches from the end of Needle 2.  Slip last 9 stitches onto a holder with the first 9 stiches from Needle 3.  Cast on 4 stitches and work across the remaining stitches on Needle 3.

 

Thumb Increases – Left Hand

The following round is to be worked on the first and every subsequent third row until 25 rows have been completed.

Needle 1: Knit to last stich, M1, K1

Needle 2: K1, M1, Knit remaining stitches, continuing in DNA cable pattern across the middle 14 stitches.

Needle 3: Knit all stitches.

All other rows are knit, continuing across the DNA cable on Needle 2.

Row 26: Work across Needles 1 until 9 stitches from the end.  Slip last 9 stitches onto a holder with the first 9 stiches from Needle 2.  Cast on 4 stitches and work across the remaining stitches on Needle 2 and 3.

 

Hand

Knit across all needles in pattern to the desired length. Fourteen rows were completed on the armwarmer shown in the photograph.

Switch to US 1 needles and work in K1, P1 for 10 rows. Try to align your ribbing so that the DNA strands end in knit stitches.

Cast off using a tubular bind off (http://www.knittinghelp.com/video/play/tubular-bind-off).

 

Thumb

Join yarn and using US 2 needles, knit across the 18 stiches on the holder.  Cast on 4 stitches and continuing working 3 additional rows.  Switch to US 1 needles and continue in K1, P1 rib for 6 rows.

Cast off using a tubular bind off (http://www.knittinghelp.com/video/play/tubular-bind-off).

 

Sweater Woes

A while back, I became completely obsessed with the Tea Leaves Cardigan by Melissa Labarre and even more obsessed with acquiring a sweater's amount of Madeleine Tosh Merino in the Dahlia colorway; something that seemed impossible at the time. Though once I found the yarn and made a swatch, I suddenly had no time to knit.

Fast forward a year (almost two) and here I am with the yarn and enough time to knit but with body I'm not keen on spending hours knitting a sweater for. To make matters worse, by the time I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, my maternity leave will probably be over and I won't have any time to knit. Is it foolish to cast on for the size I wish to be in hopes I'll be that small by the time the sweater is done? It seems like a recipe for disappointment.

To make matters worse, I've been fantasizing that my sweater will come out as beautifully as this one by soulemama on Ravelry.

(I want to live inside this photograph. Something about it is so romantic.)