Rough & Tumble Baby Blankets Tutorial

Last year our cousins started having babies.  The first of which (shown above) just reach his first birthday a couple weeks ago.  I originally was going to tackle the challenge of the first baby shower I was ever invited to by making a sweater - possibly something like the Baby Sophisticate that I later made for my husband's cousin.

When I suggested this, I was overruled.  Babies grow out of sweaters, I was told, but blankies are forever.  One of the boy's aunts still has her baby blanket even now as a graduate student.  She insisted that every child needs one.  And I'm sure Linus agrees.

After the jump, I'll do a quick walk through of the Rough & Tumble Baby Blanket pattern I created for this first blanket.  It includes some information on how to customize it for your own preferences  like I did with the other blankets that followed in the next year.  This way you can continue to make unique baby blankets for all the new little ones in your life.

Owl Scarf

My cousin loves owls.  So when I drew her name in our Christmas swap, I came up with this quick scarf project for her.  I created this chunky scarf with Tahki Yarns Montana.  It has two owls with button eyes on each end with k1, p1 ribbing for the middle. 

Below are instructions to make your own.

The Baby Sophisticate

Sometimes this blog will be a place where I tell stories.  Sometimes I will try to teach you something to do at your home.  Sometimes, like today, I just want to share someone else's great idea. 

Our cousins started having babies this year.  For me, this means it's a great time to practice.  No, not on my mommy skills, but on smaller projects, baby-sized projects.  I made the above sweater a couple months ago for one of our cousin's new baby for Christmas. 

I've wanted to try knitting a sweater in one piece for a little while now, but wasn't ready to take on such a project on a me-sized scale.  The newest baby on my husband's side benefited from my learning on the Baby Sophisticate Pattern. 

I used Classic Elite's Sprout Yarn - which is soft, eco-friendly cotton and also machine washable - for this top down project.  After completing this short, but satisfying project, I think this may be my new favorite way to knit a sweater.

The Stash-Burning Project of 2010

Last winter, craving something chunky and warm to knit, I engaged in an epic stash-burning project.  One of my favorite wools for thick and quick knit scarves is Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride.  I don't love this wool only for the quickness with which it knits up, but also due to the vast array of colors available.

As you get to know me, you'll learn that color is something I crave.  Rich, vibrant colors, like those offered in the Lamb's Pride wool is exactly the kind of thing that excites me about new projects and over the years I managed to accumulate quite a number of not-quite skeins of this wool.  I kept buying it for scarves, hats, and other projects and the leftover yarn sat in my closet waiting for the right project. Last winter that project came.  After all my Christmas sweaters were complete I was looking for something with a shorter sense of gratification and started this granny-squares blanket project.