Abby's first knitting loom project

Some of you may have already seen this, but I was pretty proud of Abby so I'm including it here. She has since done two more which I expect to photograph next week. She plans to send one to the hospital where she was born. I have also made two that will travel along.
Pattern: No pattern, just the basic hat instructions that came with the loom. She used the basic e-wrap for a few rows, folded up the brim, continued on until it was long enough, and got help from me closing the top draw-string style.
Dates: December 15, 2006
Yarn: Bernat Baby Coordinates (75.2% Acrylic, 22.2% Rayon, 2.6% Nylon).
Color: Baby Pink (01008) (Chosen by Abby because its pink and slightly shiny!)
Loom: Blue Knifty Knitter by Provocraft.
Finished size: Fits her favorite baby. I suspect it would be about preemie sized.
Modifications: none
Comments: The yarn was obviously too thin for the gauge of this loom. There should have been two strands, if not three, in order to eliminate the "laddering" seen in the photo. The as-yet-unphotographed hats were made with a heavier yarn and look much better.

Loom knitted scarf

For those who don't know, peg knitting has been around for hundreds of years. I've learned a lot about it from the HistoricKnit group at Yahoo! that I had never realized before. It is not a new technique and nearly anything done on straight needles can be done on pegs including lace, cables, increases, and decreases. Really fine knitting can be created with nicer looms that the Knifty Knitters. The key is lots of pegs that are very close together (Decor Accents, Inc. has a wide range of very nice looms, among others).

Pattern: No pattern but I used the instructions from Knitting with the Knifty Knitter II: A New Experience in Knitting by ProvoCraft. I used the basic figure 8 style method until I ran out of yarn and method C for removing the knitting from the loom.
Dates: December 2006
Yarn: Probably Red Heart (100% Acrylic) but I can't be sure since it came out of my stash.
Color: One strand each of pink and white.
Loom: Small wooden knitting board with 11 pairs of pegs. Purchased at Hobby Lobby, but I have no idea of the brand.
Finished size: 4.75" x 24" (just barely long enough for Abby to wear). I made it as long as the yarn lasted.
Modifications: none.
Comments: This was really just a test piece to see what the loom could do. I think it has a cool texture, especially when worked with two strands. The figure 8 wrap produces twisted knit stitches which are further altered by the double strand. The bind off I used is a basic cast-off like in needle knitting, but done on pegs with a crochet hook (if that makes any sense). I think I'd like to see about a wider one to make baby blankets for the NICU. This is very thick and comparable to double knitting.

Alex's baby blanket

Pattern: No pattern, but lots of inspiration from the Log Cabin section of Mason Dixon Knitting: The Curious Knitters Guide.

Dates: March - April 2007

Yarn: Baby Bee: Little Britches from Hobby Lobby (85% Acrylic, 15% Polyamide) - about 3 skeins.

Color: child's play (#4101).
Needles: Clover size 10 bamboo flex.
Finished size: Yeah, probably about 30" x 30". Another one to ask about.

Modifications: Instead of changing colors to work the strips, I chose to use one color. Mostly I was trying to avoid ends to weave in but I ended up really liking the finished effect.

Lessons learned: I'm still not sure if I picked up the stitches correctly because I got a definite ridge on the reverse side of the blanket. When I googled looking for pictures of what other people have made, I discovered that people don't usually photograph the back of their projects! I found one example at january one and became even more convinced that mine is "wrong" (although it looks kinda cool).

Comments: This was another good mindless knitting project.

Mystery flower revealed

Those are Columbine!

Heather's baby blanket

This blanket was the largest knitted object I had attempted when I started this. I bought the pattern and needles in Lexington at the Stitch Niche.

Pattern: Ribbons Baby Blanket by Fiber Trends (CH-44x). I was attracted to this one because the description called it a Quaker Rib.

Dates: Begun in early December 2006 and finished in early February 2007.

Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby 100% Acrylic - about 2 skeins.

Color: White (02000)

Needles: size 8 bamboo double points for the center, size 8 Bryspun circulars for the rest.

Finished size: Its about 30" x 30". I'll have to check with Heather because I forgot to measure it.

Modifications: I went with the optional raised petal center and really liked it. Other than that I followed the pattern as written.

Lessons learned: The end result would not lay flat, which, of course, I didn't realize until it was off the needles. I thought the center was too loose or something but TF thinks the problem was in the border. The border is just garter stitch but I may have gotten a little tighter and the cast-off was almost certainly too tight.

Comments: This was a great pattern for mindless knitting with the kids around or while watching TV. Each strip is made of either 8 rounds of knitting or 8 rounds of purling. Every other round has an increase on the corners. I have several Fiber Trends patterns and really like them so far.

Garden again

My mom came to visit and I used her (better) camera to take more pictures of the flowers. I also got a good close-up of the underside of the flower. These seem to be one of Abby's favorites.

Cupcakes

I made these for Alex's second birthday (May 1). Mark wanted the usual yellow cake with chocolate frosting and I wanted the opposite. So I made two batches and put my fantastic cupcake stands to good use. Its hard to tell but those are tiny toothpick sized pinwheels (silver, gold, and blue) in the cupcakes that actually spin when you blow on them. Unfortunately, it looks like they have been discontinued. I wish I had been able to get more colors but I bought every pack Wal-Mart had. Also, those are star shaped candles left over from Abby's birthday party because I flaked and forgot to buy Alex his own candles.

Not quite crafty....

These are some flowers in my (temporary) yard. I'm not sure what they are though. The next ones are small irises (only about knee high).