Madhu Knits and Cooks

Journey to the Stars - Out of this World Baby Blanket for Baby Wali

Baby Wali was born to parents, who among their journeys, have visited a space shuttle launch in Florida and toured NASA in Houston.  

Not surprisingly, when his parents were planning for his arrival, Wali's nursery was planned around a space theme.  At first, this decision threw me a little (though clearly from above, it shouldn't have).  I had had my eye on another baby blanket pattern for some time, and so had to readjust a bit.  I ultimately found a delightful  - and adaptable - pattern on Ravelry for an Outer Space Blanket.

The pattern is knit via individual squares that are grafted together.  As I was making the squares, I was able to adjust my efforts based on the size and design that I wanted.  I ultimately landed on six squares, three with a stars / space background and the other three with different space-themed patterns.

I was really happy with the result, though the number of colors used and the intricate intarsia required a fair amount of effort.  In particular, the weaving in of the ends was quite laborious.  For my first block, I left the weaving in to the end, which resulted in a mess of tangled strings.

 

From that square on, I then wove in the ends as I went, using this technique from Eunny Jang.  It took some time before I felt like this approach truly hid the ends (especially when sewing in white yarn ends on a black background), but it really worked.  I will definitely use this technique moving forward.

However, given the likelihood that some of the ends would unravel a bit with use, I decided to sew on a fabric backing on the back to avoid the baby getting caught with any loose fibers.  I went to Metro Textile Corp in NYC, and they were able to direct me to a black, stretchy and soft fabric that worked perfectly.  I didn't quite measure it the right way, but all was good with the final result.

Full details and additional pictures are below!

Wali's Out of This World Baby Blanket

Pattern:  Modified Outer Space Blanket by ShoeDiva Designs.  I knit three stars squares, one UFO square, one red rocket square, and one spaceman three space.

Yarn:  Cascade 220 Superwash - 1.5 skeins in 815 black, and smaller bits in 809 really red, 871 white, and 227 bachelor button.  I also used some orange / yellow leftovers from another project.

Needles:  US 7 circular

Measurements:  Pre-blocking measurements of 8 1/2 inches long by 9 inches wide per square.  Post-blocking measurements by 9 1/2 inches long by 10 1/5 inches wide per square, and 22 inches long by 20.5 inches wide for the full blanket.

My Newest Knit Socks - Kellswater

I seem to always face difficulties finding sock patterns for variegated, or multi-colored/striped, yarn.  The basic issue is that variegated yarns can make it hard to discern intricate patterns knit with fine or thin sock yarn because the striped colors can obfuscate fine patterns.  

The two obvious answers to this issue are to either buy monochromatic yarn or to knit simpler patterns.  But of course I don't want to compromise, so instead I'll spend an inordinate amount of time looking for patterned socks that can really feature variegated yarns each and every time I start any new sock project.  

My most recent project was no exception, though thankfully, the answer found itself in the Kellswater pattern I already owned, in the Spring 2012 Interweave Knits magazine.  

The pattern knit up pretty well, even though I put the project down for almost a year and a half before completing it (granted, I was probably only a few rows in when I put it down).  The yarn, from Lorna's Laces, was really wonderful and the socks have a nice plush feeling to them when I put them on.  

My favorite part of the pattern is definitely the relatively long cuff at the top of the leg, which adds greater complexity to the sock.  I also like the front ribbing and cables, but the back part of the sock, the anchor and tree pattern, I have to admit, I am not sure what to make of.

These socks also gave me the opportunity to finally try Jeny's stretchy bind-off, a technique I heard about on Brenda Dayne's awesome podcast, Cast On.  After trying this technique, I definitely not going back.  It's a perfect way to complete toe-up socks, with a cuff that isn't too tight on your calf.  I may even go back to some old socks and try to re-do them with this new bind off.

Kellswater Socks for Me

Pattern:  Kellswater Socks by Sara Morris, published in Interweave Knits, Spring 2012

Yarn:  Shepherd Sock by Lorna's Laces, 0.9 skein in color 709 Hermosa

Needles:  2 US 1 circulars

Measurements:  For the foot, 10 inches from toe to heel and 7 inch circumference.  For the leg, 9 3/4 inches from bottom of the heel to top of leg and 6 3/4 inch circumference.