Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Some Baby Knitting

Baby crafting continues apace here in Surf City. Although the little guy will be growing up in Orange County, I figure every kid needs a baby blanket. This here is the Shadow Study Throw from Purl Soho, miniaturized to baby blanket size.

My version

Purl Soho's version is about 40 inches by 50 inches.


Purl Soho's version
And look at those lovely, soft colors. I fell in love with this blanket when I saw these pictures. I'd love to recreate it, but I'm way too cheap to buy the kit. Plus I don't have the chutzpah to knit an entire adult size throw.

But a baby blanket - maybe. I did a little poking around on Ravelry and it looked like most baby blankets are more in the 28 by 32 inch range. Due to my inability to do simple arithmetic (plus my failure to produce a competent gauge swatch) my version ended up more like 31 by 38. Eh, the kid can grow into it.


This pattern uses intarsia. I once knit a pair of intarsia argyle socks in high school. It was a nightmare; I had about 30 little bobbins of yarn tangling around each other, trying to strangle me. I swore I'd never do intarsia again.

This intarsia project was surprisingly fun! Purl Soho offers the pattern for free, bless them, along with a bunch of very clear tutorials on knitting intarsia with garter stitch. The blocks of color are pretty big, and you're never using more than four yarns at a time. If you think you might want to give intarsia a go, this pattern would be a nice introduction. Fair warning, though: it is a bunch of garter stitch. Like, a bunch. Good for TV knitting.



I took my friend, Jessica, with me to help with color combinations. I'm totally useless at combining colors. I was after a blanket that said baby boy without screaming Baby Boy. I couldn't find quite the color combo I had in mind, but, to paraphrase Rumsfeld, you knit a baby blanket with the yarn you have, not the yarn you might want or wish to have at a later time. I wish the yellow-green were a bit more lime. But they were fun colors to work with and I think I like how they came out.

I used Encore worsted, purchased at The Swift Stitch here in Santa Cruz. Encore is a wool/acrylic blend that is supposed to be machine washable and dryable. Plus it's affordable. Can't beat that for a baby blanket. The blanket feels nice and soft, and it's light weight enough not to give the kid a heat rash.

My sketchy Revelry notes are here. Next up, some sewing for me!

1 comment:

  1. This is just wonderful, and I had a chance to handle the springy soft blanket itself. Modern and cozy- lucky baby!

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