Kelsey baby dress

Tiny dress for my newest baby niece! In a soft, dusty pink of course. I really like this little dress. It's simple and fast to make, but with enough detail to keep me interested. Lovely skirt pattern to balance the plain, but nicely structured top. Details and pattern links on my Ravelry project page.
 -

The pattern is one size only - 12 months - so I changed yarn weight and needles to make the dress a little bit smaller than the pattern. Forgot to weigh it, so yardage unknown. Other mods: Inserted slit in neckline, with crochet loop and button closure. Lengthened skirt and sleeves slightly.
-

Baby bonnet for the surprise baby shower

For the surprise baby shower that last week's card was for, I had to quickly throw together a gift as well. By a little accident, I didn't receive my invitation until the night before, so completing the already started knitting project was not an option. I must have been mad to start a new project an hour before midnight, but some intense knitting that night and the following morning resulted in this little baby bonnet.
-

The pattern is a simple 2x2 rib with eyelets and a spiralling decrease in the back. Have a look at my Ravelry project page for the details.
-

Baby shower

Baby showers are becoming more common here in Norway, and I recently attended my first! I assume this is an American tradition that's sneaking in through popular culture and this ever more interconnected world. I have no good Norwegian translation of this term. Anyone?

My good old Prismas came out again for the first time in a loooong time. I had this stamp of a bathing baby that was simply begging to be used for this shower card, and who was I to deny it? :) I'm a little bit out of practice, but it turned out okay in the end.

Reid toddler cardigan

This toddler cardigan was knitted in a frenzy so to be ready for Christmas… The pattern is uncomplicated with an easily memorized repeat, so thankfully it didn't take long!
-

My gauge was ever so slightly larger than in the pattern, so it’s a bit bigger even though I blocked it very gently, trying to stretch it only lengthwise. Better too big than too small, I always say. It’s still a little bit too short though... I also made a couple of other modifications, have a look on my Ravelry project page for the details.

Sweet girl

New baby arrival! This card isn't really baby pink, but still works, right? It is pink after all... :)
-

Sonja Benedicte

 

I've been a bit hasty when photographing my cards lately, so the colours are a bit off on this one. It's really a lovely pink, brown, kraft combo that I love. The bottom of the image has a green hue that doesn't belong here... Sorry! I really must stop taking pictures after midnight. Or make myself a proper light box. Anyway, this is a card for a good friend and her new baby girl. Congratulations!

Lady Emmeline

Hi everyone, it's been a while! Anybody still reading? :)

I've got a few things to show you. I thought I'd start with this cutie, the Lady Emmeline toddler cardigan. Check out my notes on Ravelry if you'd like to check out the details and find the free pattern. It's knitted in Mini Duett, which is 50% wool, 50% cotton.

So this is a new discovery: I love slip stitch patterns. :)
It looks like stranded knitting (which I avoid if at all possible), but knits up without a fuss and with a very tidy WS. One colour at a time! I'll definitely do a similar pattern in the future.

I knitted the 4 year size hoping that my yarn/needle combo would make it a better fit for the 3 year old recipient - while keeping the length measurements of the larger size, as this little lady is quite tall. I was, however, quite shocked when my width measurements came in under the 2 year size! Thankfully the blocking solved that without problems. This thing could probably be stretched and blocked to fit a 6 year old just fine.

See what I mean about a tidy wrong side? That's just wonderful. Hardly any floats for little fingers to catch on. In a way, I almost like the WS better...??

Mini short-sleeved cardigan

I've had a go at making the 1-2 year size in a slightly thicker yarn than specified in the pattern, hoping it would be a nice fit for a girl that’s 2,5 years old. It's probably a bit big... But better too big than too small! Because the little lady who is to receive this thing tends to become very hot when wearing wool, I decided to ditch the sleeves and just did a few rows of garter stitch to finish the arm holes. I like the look. :) Ravelry link.

Love the look of this yarn! A simple pattern was definitely the way to go - the stockinette section really shows off the changes in colour and thickness.

Pink summer tunic

My niece usually gets a knitted garment for birthdays and Christmas - I'm going to do it before she doesn't want to wear hand knits any more! We all know that time comes, sooner or later. This was her birthday gift, a fairly short tunic in DROPS Lace held double. I have so much of that yarn I can never knit it all into shawls, so clothes it is. The result is an impossibly soft and light summer tunic.

The pattern is simple and easy-going, which of course means that I inevitably get bored before reaching the half-way point. On the other hand, stockinette in the round is incredibly fast knitting! The Instagram picture below shows ALL the yarn I had left of my 800 meter skein… Phew!! Ravelry link.

A little prince

This card isn't nearly as askew as it seems. It was just the photographer that couldn't aim. Three pictures, one more tilted than the other... These simple cards don't usually photograph well, even if I manage to align the card with the viewfinder. They look better in person, and you'll just have to trust me on that one! ;)

A little baby girl

That leafy, vein-y, white thingy there was floating around my desk for weeks, trying to find its place on a card. It was failing miserably, until this card came together surprisingly quickly. It's for a colleague and her first baby. It's a girl! :)
 -

TARDIS phone cozy

My phone already had one cozy, but I couldn't resist making this one too... The design is subtle, but if you know your Doctor Who you might recognize it as the TARDIS!
There are lots of TARDIS cozies out there, but I wanted one that was more elegant, more stylish, and in a thinner yarn, and so decided to make up my own. Those who don’t watch Doctor Who (what?!?) will see this as abstract decoration, but I know better. ;)
-

I found the bead in my stash and it's a perfect analogue to the TARDIS lamp! It’s attached to the back so it won’t scratch the screen - a loop on the front side closes the cozy and brings the bead forward.
-

The seed stitch mimics the door panels and there is a slight hint of window frames and the famous sign in one panel. The effect is subtle, and that's what I wanted. Details on the construction can be found at my Ravelry project page as usual.

The greatest gift

See, didn't I tell you there would be more cards like this? :) I was in need of a baby card and wanted to see if I could translate the idea to something more soft and subtle. The recipe is the same: Base paper whitewashed with Gesso, washi tape strips on the diagonal, semi-random stamping and the oh-so-gorgeous molding paste. Love it! The text is a washi tape saying something like "So small, but the greatest on earth" - but it loses something in translation...

Water bottle cozies

The coffee machine at work broke this summer. This wouldn't have been much of a problem, except that I relied on it to supply me with ice cold, filtrated water as well. With no replacement in sight and the tap water there pretty much undrinkable, I had to solve the problem myself. So I started freezing a half full bottle of water at home and bringing it to work.
-
Now, this worked just fine, but I noticed a couple of things I knew I could find a solution to.
First: A bottle of ice water is, well, cold. No surprise there. Which made my fingers cold, which made my patients jump and twitch when I touched them, which, in turn, made taking x-rays of them a little bit tricky.
Second: If I left the bottle on a desk somewhere and didn't come back to it for an hour or so, it would collect quite an impressive puddle of condensed water. Which was merely inconvenient when the water dripped down my uniform making it half transparent, but really quite dangerous when the water gravitated towards electrical stuff (and that stuff's pretty much everywhere in a radiology ward).
Third: On hot days, there just wouldn't be enough ice to last the shift, even if I froze the bottle nearly full.
-
The bottle cozy not only keeps the water cold for longer, but is also nice to the touch and completely eliminates condensation. I brought it along on a canoe trip this summer, and enjoyed ice cold lake water the whole day, to the slight envy of my friend. I made her and her husband one each for christmas. :) Also, my cousin got one, but I seem to have forgotten to photograph it... Not a very exciting object, I suppose. I've got two myself, one for the 0,7 litre Imsdal bottle, and one for the 0,5 litre bottle.
-
How to make them, you ask? Well, it goes like this. Find a medium to thick yarn of 100% new wool, a hook that's one size smaller than recommended for the yarn. Make a tight spiral for the base, and just stop increasing when you start the wall. The cozy should be slightly wider and taller than your bottle (that's a precise technical measurement term, that). Hand felt in soapy water until snug (testing the fit regularly) and allow to dry on the bottle (refilling the bottle with warm water now and then speeds up that process). Ta-da, enjoy ice cold water anywhere. :) Ravelry links one, two, and three.
-

Cute toddler tunic

When I saw this pattern, I knew I had to make it immediately - the largest size given in the pattern is two years - although it wouldn't be too difficult to scale it up. Isn't it pretty? :) So soft and cute and pretty... It practically oozes of country chic.
-

The lace border at the top gave me some headache, and it was clear that I wasn't the only one (Ravelry is great for spy work). When I realised that the lace border will fold down and therefore right side becomes wrong side, the whole thing made more sense…. This bit was still a bit tricky to figure out. Details on Ravelry.
-

Autumn leaves baby cardigan



I've finished a few knitting projects lately. Although, strictly speaking, I'm not sure September last year qualifies as "lately"... Ahem. The finishing of knitware can be the most time-consuming part of it all, whether it's weaving in those ends, or finally getting around to those pictures. In fact, this grey and purple cardigan was knitted in just two days, proving my point nicely.



-

It was a gift for a friend of mine's new little girl back in the aforementioned September, and I have since seen it in use - it seems the size was just right for this winter. This is wool, making it a nice add-on on a cold day. This is really a one size only recipe, but it provides three gauges that will yield cardigans of varying measurements. My particular yarn - needle combo gave me a gauge of 19 sts over 4inches, which corresponds nicely to the medium size. Please see my Ravelry page for details.

 -

Panda hat

A good friend of mine sent me a picture of a panda hat and I suggested we did a trade - hat for embroidery. This is my end of the bargain! Cute, eh? :)

I did a search for panda hats and only found a couple of recipes, none that worked for me. The result was to improvise the whole thing. I made a grid in Excel and fiddled around until I got something that resembled a panda face. It took two tries, as the first one used too many stitches. The decreases are worked along the sides, where the ears were knitted on later. It's also on my Ravelry page.

Pink&green

Just a quick and easy card to get us started again. I still have a bug in the image uploading, but have found a different workaround that isn't too complicated. Possibly even easy enough to live with in the long run. :)

The layout is clean and simple, with not too much fuss. Just enough to give it a little bit of texture. It's actually a baby card, although that's quite understated. The baby feet and princess crown is all that gives it away...

Nordic style dress and bolero

There was talk of a "bunad" dress. Something knitted, that resembled the Norwegian national costume. When this was first mentioned, I had already just started knitting this dress. What to do... Was it similar enough to what she was looking for? Should I keep it a secret or reveal my plans? But as the bunad recipes were few and their decision dragged out, the choice was easy. I finished this one and gave it as a surprise for her birthday! It has a few traditional elements, although it doesn't exactly resemble any particular bunad. The original recipe uses bright reds, but I went with neutrals because I thought that would be more to their taste. Here's my Ravelry link.
-
The previous dress I knitted for this girl was smaller than it’s intended size - this one’s on the large side. And that’s despite my sincere - and successful - attempts at obtaining the correct gauge. Also, I have almost two skeins of dark brown Alpaca left over…! How did that happen?

 

This was easy peasy, mindless knitting. I might do some things differently next time (as always), but overall it's a nice project and a pretty result.

I might have chosen a sturdier yarn than Alpaca to go with the Fabel, because the fairly heavy skirt pulls and stretches the waist border and yoke quite a bit. Also, doing stranded knitting might be easier with a less slippery yarn. Other than that, the recipe is nice and easy - but man, am I sick of garter stitch… ;) At least the skirt was done in a painted yarn with gorgeous blue, white and brown colours and something was continually changing there, but that bolero was a trial. I need lace!!!

 

The bolero is constructed in a strange way… But it seems to work anyway. It's knitted flat in garter stitch and sewn together under the arms. It looks like I've knitted a poncho and forgotten the hole for the head! :) But as you can see, it's not too bad really.

Pink&purple baby card

I don't think I've shared this card yet? Life has taken the front seat around here these days, so updates here have been scarce. But I have a few cards and a knitting project to share - soonish. This one is clean and simple. Basic Grey pattern papers and some random stuff from my stash. Easy peasy!