Just Ducky!

My hairdresser, Tina, recently asked me if I would be willing to knit a baby hat for a little girl.  She needed a gift and thought a baby hat would be perfect.  Hmmm, let's see.  Do I want to knit for a little girl?  You betcha!  My problem was trying to decide which hat to make.  At first, I thought I would just go for my standard little berry hat.

This is such a sweet little hat and knits up so quick.  It's a free pattern on Ravelry called "Berry Baby Hat".  It's also available here.  It uses worsted weight yarn, like the Cascade Superwash 220 pictured above.

I knew Tina would like it, but I also had this ball of Crystal Palace's Mochi Plus in "Baby Face" that I thought would be cute and why not give her a choice?  The problem was finding just the right hat.  Ravelry came to the rescue again with Sharon Mooney's "Just Ducky" hat pattern.

I love, love, love this pattern.  It's my new favorite!  The brim is ribbed so it will stretch as baby grows and that ruffle is just too cute.  I did modify the top of the hat.  The pattern calls for it to be purled and so the decreases are obviously purled too.  I decided to knit the top instead.  Also, the original pattern has a "ball" on the top and I decided to do an I-cord loop.

It looks so much cuter in person, trust me!  Sharon sells the pattern download on Ravelry for $4.00 and it includes instructions to make some matching booties, which is more than reasonable, in my opinion.  The hat pattern alone is worth every penny!  I first discovered her patterns on ebay a few years ago and always found them to be very well written.  I've knit quite a few of her designs over the years, so I was delighted to come across her again.  The fact that she is also a nice person is just a bonus!

Remember the owl mitts from a few posts back?  Well, I've redeemed myself with the other two boys.  Here are the latest ones to roost in Connecticut:

Oh, guess which hat Tina choose?  Both!! Wouldn't you?

Hearbeat Errata

Why is it that every time I post a pattern that hasn't been checked by one of my terrific test knitters, an error always pops up?  Such is the case with the Heartbeat Cloth that I just published.  There are two glaring errors that even the newest knitter would spot!  I've corrected the pattern and highlighted the changes in red, so if you downloaded the pattern before February 12, 2011, you'll need to do it again.

Thank you to Maria in Norway for pointing them out to me!  I was surprised that the eagle eyed, Tim, wasn't the first to contact me.  Usually, if there's something wrong (and there always seems to be something wrong if I don't use a test knitter), he'll find it.  This time, he was slow.  Shame on you Tim, you're slipping! ;o)   By the way, if you'd like to check out Tim's blog, here's a link to a really cute camel bib that he made.

Heartbeat Cloth

It's taken me awhile, but I've finally written up the companion cloth to my Heartbeat Bib.  I know a lot of you have asked for it and with Valentine's Day right around the corner, this seems like a good time to post it.  It's a really simple knit and goes pretty quickly.  I don't know why I didn't do a cloth when I did the bib, because it's a very sweet cloth. Don't you think?

I used Peaches & Creme in Abby Rose.  This is the first time that I've ever used that color and it sure is vibrant, but in a good way!  Speaking of Peaches & Creme, I'm just devastated over their closing.  As most of you know, this is pretty much the only cotton yarn that I use.  I've tried to stock up on cones of most of the solid colors, but there is a limit to my budget!  I would have liked to have ordered three of every color!  I don't know what I'll use when my present supply runs out, but I'm hoping that when that times comes, I'll be too feeble to even hold a knitting needle!  They were always such a great supporter of the Dishcloth Calendar and Flo, their outstanding employee, is a sweetheart.  It's so sad to lose such a great company, not to mention all those poor employees who will be out of a job.  As I said, I'm just devastated.  Perhaps the new company will continue to produce the same yarn, but I don't hold out much hope.  On that final note, here's the pattern, but remember that I also have it my sidebar as a pdf file.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Heartbeat Cloth

Copyright 2010; 2011 by Elaine Fitzpatrick. Permission is granted to make and sell items from this pattern provided that credit is given to me as the designer.  Permission is not granted to reproduce the actual pattern, or post it, or distribute it, without my express permission.  Please respect my copyright and play nice!

Size:  approximately 8" X 8 ¼ ".

Materials:  One skein of worsted weight cotton in a solid color.  The cloth pictured was done in Peaches & Crème in Abby Rose.

Needles:  U.S. Size 5/3.75 mm or 6/4.0 mm  Because this is a “picture” cloth, you want your fabric to be fairly dense so the design will pop out.  If you are a loose knitter, then you might want to drop down a needle size.

Gauge:  4.5 sts. per inch, not critical. 

Abbreviations:

k = knit

p = purl

sts. = stitches

Pattern:  Cast on 37 sts. 

Rows 1 – 9:  k1, p1 across row.

Row 10:  (wrong side) (k1, p1) x8; k1; p3; k1; (p1, k1) x8.

Row 11:   (k1, p1) x8; k5; (p1, k1) x8.

Row 12:  (k1, p1) x7; k1; p7; k1; (p1, k1) x7.

Row 13:  (k1, p1) x7; k4; p1; k4; (p1, k1) x7.

Row 14:  (k1, p1) x6; k1; p4; k1, p1; k1; p4; k1; (p1, k1) x6.

Row 15:  (k1, p1) x6; k4; p1; k3; p1; k4; (p1, k1) x6.

Row 16:  (k1, p1) x5; k1; p4; k1; p5; k1; p4; k1; (p1, k1) x5.

Row 17:  (k1, p1) x5; k4; p1; k7; p1; k4; (p1, k1) x5.

Row 18:  (k1, p1) x4; k1; (p4, k1) x4; (p1, k1) x4.

Row 19:  (k1, p1) x4; k4; p1; k11; p1; k4; (p1, k1) x4.

Row 20:  (k1, p1) x3;  k1; p4; k1; p5; k3; p5; k1; p4; k1; (p1, k1) x3.

Row 21:  (k1, p1) x3; k4; p1; k15; p1; k4; (p1, k1) x3.

Row 22:   (k1, p1) x2; k1; p4; k1; p6; k5; p6; k1, p4; k1; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 23:   (k1, p1) x2; k4; p1; k19; p1; k4; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 24:   (k1, p1) x2; k1; p2; k1; p7; k7; p7; k1; p2; k1; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 25:   (k1, p1) x2; k29; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 26:   (k1, p1) x2; k1; p2; k1; p6; k9; p6; k1; p2; k1; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 27:  (k1, p1) x2; k29; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 28:   (k1, p1) x2; k1; p2; k1; p5; k11; p5; k1; p2; k1; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 29:  (k1, p1) x2; k29; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 30:   (k1, p1) x2; k1; p2; k1; p4; k13; p4; k1; p2; k1; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 31:  (k1, p1) x2; k29; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 32:   (k1, p1) x2; k1; p2; k1; p3; k15; p3; k1; p2; k1; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 33:  (k1, p1) x2; k29; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 34:   (k1, p1) x2; k1; p2; k1; p2; k17; (p2, k1) x2; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 35:  (k1, p1) x2; k29; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 36:   (k1, p1) x2; k1; p2; k1; p2; k17; (p2, k1) x2; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 37:  (k1, p1) x2; k29; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 38:   (k1, p1) x2; k1; p2; k1; p3; k7; p1; k7; p3; k1; p2; k1; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 39:  (k1, p1) x2; k29; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 40:   (k1, p1) x2; k1; p2; k1; p4; k5; p3; k5; p4; k1; p2; k1; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 41:  (k1, p1) x2; k29; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 42:   (k1, p1) x2; k1; p2; k1; (p5, k3) x2; p5; k1; p2; k1; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 43:  (k1, p1) x2; k4; p1; k19; p1; k4; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 44:   (k1, p1) x2; k1; p4; k1; p17; k1; p4; k1; (p1, k1) x2.

Row 45:  (k1, p1) x3; k4; (p1, k7) x2; p1; k4; (p1, k1) x3.

Row 46:  (k1, p1) x3; k1; p4; k1; p5; k1; p1; k1; p5; k1; p4; k1; (p1, k1) x3.

Row 47:  (k1, p1) x4; k4; p5; k3; p5; k4; (p1, k1) x4.

Row 48:   (k1, p1) x4; k1; p9; k1; p9; k1; (p1, k1) x4.

Row 49:  (k1, p1) x5; k7; p1; k1; p1; k7; (p1, k1) x5.

Rows 50 and 51:  (k1, p1) x5; k1; p5; k1; (p1, k1) x2; p5; k1; (p1, k1) x5.

Rows 52 – 58:  k1, p1 across row.

Bind off in k1, p1, and weave in ends.

Happy Birthday Marty!

This past weekend, my little grandson, Martin, turned 3.  I'd love to show you a picture of how cute he is, but thanks to all the crazies in this world, we don't post pictures of the boys on the Internet.  I guess you'll just have to take my word when I tell you he's adorable.  Not that I'm biased in any way! (wink, wink)

For his birthday, I wanted to make him these cute mittens I found on Ravelry.  They're called "Nemo Mittens" (what else?).  Unfortunately, I can't find a link outside of Ravelry.  It is a free pattern though.

Marty likes fish so I thought he'd like these.  I'm not sure if he did, but I know that I loved them !

 I used Knitpicks Swish Dk.  I had a hard time finding the right shade of orange, so I'm happy I was able to find all three colors in this weight.

For a matching hat, I used Cabin Fever's Whale of a Tail. 

I've knit this hat before, so I knew it would fit him. The neat thing is, if he wears it one way, it looks like a whale's fluke, but if you turn it, it looks like a fish tail. 

Back when I was buying the Lorna's Laces Green Line for his brothers' hats, I also bought some green to make a hat and mitten set for him.  I'd been trying to decide what to make when I remembered that he likes pandas.

The hat is made exactly the same as the "Shaun the Sheep" hat from my earlier post, only I used smaller needles.

The mittens are just the basic mitten pattern that my grandma gave me years ago.  I found this link that is almost identical to the one I use "Classic Mittens".  I charted the design and then duplicate stitched the pandas.

I knew he liked this set as he immediately wanted to try it on.  They didn't stay on long though, as it turns out, you can't open presents very well with mittens on!

Next up, I have more owls to make.  Remember my last post?  Well, once the boys saw that one pair of owl mittens, they all wanted one of their own!  Marty also wanted to know if I had a pair of socks for him.  I'm hoping that will all his new mittens, he'll forget about his feet....for awhile anyway!