on the double!

just recently, this chickadee was stuck securely in an unfortunate knitting slump. something as simple as a sweet little baby blanket had me baffled. the cast-on/rip-out cycle was repeated enough to be totally discouraging. the yarn didn't fit the pattern, the pattern didn't seem to fit the yarn, the deadline was looming! desperate times called for desperate but delightful measures.

the original yarn was ditched in favor of a favorite, miss babs yowza! whatta skein. just one huge hank packs a 560+ yard wallop. it is a super soft superwash merino to certainly holds up in the machine...and dries quite quickly on its own. the new patterns picked were also personal favorites. and with a few modifications, they made the most of the entire skein!

for detailed details, click the picture to see the ravelry page. otherwise, look out below!

pattern: heirloom by madelinetosh

pattern: baby chalice blanket by lykkefanten

baby blanket factory

this spring it is raining babies! this chickadee's needles have been on a tear trying to keep up with the booming bundles of joy population. any time not spent knitting has been dedicated to finding that go-to pattern...something that would be pleasing to the maker and the receiver...and not take ages...but not look like it was thrown together at the last minute.

one contender is brickstreet by steven west. it is in his second collection of patterns, westknits book two (which doesn't seem to be featured on his site at this time). his version is a chunky classic. a large, over-the-back-of-the-couch sort of throw that would be completely overwhelming to a wee one. but one of his test knitters made a smaller version that is stunning.

inspired by her stitches, this chickadee cast-on. here the the results:

yarn choice is an important factor too. softness is of supreme importance, but sometimes that is sacrificed to the machine...the washing machine that is. many of the most luxurious fibers are labor intensive, that means hand washing. and after their own labor, moms are often overwhelmed and pressed for time. so a machine washable wool or wool blend is a thoughtful choice.

the blanket above was made with spud and chlöe sweater, an organic wool and cotton blend. it is machine washable! and still soft and cozy. you get the best of both worlds thanks to the combination of fibers and the baby gets an all-seasons weight blanket to snuggle in.

you can find more details on the project on the chickadee ravelry page.

blue

here's another dispatch from the land of night knitting...

a big blue beauty! this is the hemlock ring blanket made famous by jared flood of brooklyn tweed. basically, it is an old doily pattern revisited. instead of topping a table, it is made to be thrown over the couch or on top of the bed. the chickadee version, worked in magnificent malabrigo merino, is a cuddly cerulean circle.

nuts for hazel

friends recently added a beautiful baby girl to their family. here's the chickadee contribution to the welcome wagon:

the blankie is a blue sky alpacas pattern designed by kristen rengren. it is a series of slip stitches and color changes that knits up to a pretty, speckled, and soft fabric. the softness was thanks in part to knit picks comfy, a cozy cotton blend with just a touch of acrylic. to speed things up a bit, i went with the bulky version of the yarn, larger needles then called for, and an abbreviated stitch count.

but with a new embroidery enchantment, it didn't stop there. this little onesie was stitched up using some new skills (thanks jenny hart!), fabric stabilizer and an old aunt martha transfer pattern.

whirlwind weekend

hello craft's first ever summit of awesome is now one for the record books. a great event full of fantastic people and fun times, it flew right by faster than a speeding bakelite bullet. ah, the crafts! the camaraderie! the cake! the new friends and familiar faces! a great big thank you to the brainy broads behind the event: kelly, sara, kim and tina. they took a chance and put this chickadee on the program as a speaker. it was a blast and hopefully informative for those in the audience.

thanks also to the two talents that this chickadee was paired up to present with: caitlyn phillips of rebound designs and ali dryer from pistol stitched. ladies, it was a pleasure! hopefully our paths will cross again soon.

alice the camel

it is slow going with the sewing at the moment...a combination of too much hot chocolate and too much time spent watching snow fall. the white winter blanket outside reminded me of the warm indoor blanket just bound-off and bound to be a prezzie. the lacy chunky throw by wenlan chia of twinkle knits had me at "hello i look so very soft and warm and luxurious." knit with size 19 needles and yarn that looks like dreadlocks, the toughest part of the pattern was tackling the bigness of it. once you get used to the super sized silver needles and the creepy feeling of knitting with nappy dreads, the rest is a breeze. the lace pattern is quite forgiving and friendly for those of us who sometimes forget to yarn over.

and best of all, the pattern is free! classic elite manufactures the suggested yarn for the throw, twinkle soft chunky. and they are offering a free download of that pattern from their website. this chickadee wasn't able to track down the twinkle soft chunky around this town, so i settled for cascade magnum. four skeins and just about four nights later, voila! the lap of luxury.

finally finished

no new sewing to show you just yet, instead take a look at a knit project that seemed never-ending. the knit centerpiece treasure throw from lion brand was indeed a treasure to behold on their website. and early knitting was a breeze thanks to the small circumference. but as the stripes broadened the project became tedious, taking hours to complete one round! (also, the pattern wasn't too precise and there wasn't enough yarn to go around at least twice.) patience and perseverance won out in the end and now this throw is ready to be the belated wedding present it has always wanted to be.

knit 1, purl 2, make many

the end of the 2008 craft show season also brought a temporary end to the sewing around here at chickadee central. the new machine that joined the family has been sitting idle, a victim of overbooked obligations and happy holidaying. that doesn't mean that all modes of creation have ceased. in fact, the urge to make some last-minute prezzies started a knit storm that's still raining needles and purls.

here's a current project that's yet to reach completion. started way back on november 28 (see the first post here), the centerpiece treasure throw has been quite a project. this circular coverlet is worked from the center out, which means that each round includes an increased number of stitches. in the beginning it was a treat, now it is quite a timely undertaking. rounds that once were worked in twenty minutes now take nearly an hour to complete. and, from reading what other knitters had to say about this pattern on ravelry, it seems that the folks at lion brand might have given a low estimate of the yarn usage. i ran out of yarn two times and cut it pretty close twice more.

this one was put on the back burner for the sake of smaller, cuter projects that you'll soon meet. but hopefully soon the cast-off will begin and the never ending circular knitting will come off the needles and show itself off. hopes for this one are still high.

something tells me i'm into something good

blanket beginnings...


when one blanket door closes, another opens

pilgrim's progress

happy tofurkey day! today this chickadee is thankful for double crochets that are done. on this day of never ending sweet potato casserole, it seems fitting to share the conclusion of a pretty time consuming project. the crochet granny square baby blanket is finished and fantastic! although the actual making was tedious at times, the final result was well worth it. what started out as daunting and dubious turned out to be one of my most favorite makings. hopefully this makes one sweet little baby happy and keeps him warm.

if you missed the background on this blanket click here to see the last post and links to more!

greetings earthlings

more progress on the never-ending granny square blanket! earth meets sky with the latest round of double crochet. the baby that cuddles up under this fluffy coverlet will have their feet on the ground and be reaching for the stars at the same time. the addition of a calming cocoa brown grounds the blue sky cloaked with white cumulus clouds. a fitting color scheme for a collection of organic cotton yarns. next step, stitching one hundred of these squares together!

(want to see how it all began, see previous posts here and here)

sky blue sky

there's progress in the air! a second round of crochet has been added to the itty-bitty blue squares seen here earlier. now they look like fluffy white clouds surrounding a calm blue center. this is a bit of a change from the previously posted pattern, as this chickadee has decided to try something a tad different. how will it work? not a clue at the moment. so stay tuned to see what happens on the hook.

it's the time of the season...

...for knitting.

ah, fall. the chill in the air. the warm apple cider. the hay rides. the crinkling of leaves underfoot. the click-clacking of knitting needles, yes indeed. it is the perfect time of the year to pick up forgotten projects or to start brand new ones. this chickadee has gotten into knit one purl one spirit after a short summer break. one project is already underway and there are several more to come, as it is well past time for plenty of people to receive prezzies. better knit than never.

the pattern that cast-on this knitting craze is from the book classic knits at home by erika knight. the cabled throw is a perfect project for the fall. as the temperatures drop lower in the evenings, the throw grows longer to keep you warm while you rib and cable your way to a lovely, luxurious looking lap afghan. here's how the garden is growing:

as shown above, the yarn is from knit picks. it is their bulky weight cadena in tree frog, which is a richer green in person. it seems washed out in the photos.

if you want to get your knit on but need a little encouragement, grab your sticks and strings and head on over to redeem tonight. it is the first thursday of the month, that means knit night from 6:30-8pm.

summer babe

being small in stature and a terrible thermoregulator, this chickadee can sympathize with the plight of the summer baby. frozen by frigid artificial air and in need of a cozy cuddle despite the high heat and humidity, what's a poor baby to do? don't despair tiny tots, a friendly and compassionate chickadee has crocheted you an airy alternative to winter woolies.

a sprightly 30" x 30" square of colorful cotton yarn that's light as a feather and a friend of the warm water washing machine, the summer babe blanket comes to the rescue of chilly children everywhere. soft gets softer with each cycle in the spinner but the tenderness belies a tough yarn that will stand the test of time. it took one cone of peaches and cream ombre to complete this compact composition. the living is easy for a summertime sweetie swaddled in this chickadee creation.

wise old quilt

(designed by barbara brandenburg of cabbage rose quilts)

this chickadee recently became a member of the joint owl quilt task force, an organization dedicated to creating the 45" x 45" flight of fancy that you see above. membership is exclusive and limited to myself and my mother, the team previously lauded for their work on the top secret watermelon apron project of 2004.

our first official day on the job was this monday, 25 february and we made great progress in a short amount of time. those cute little owls were our focus for day one. they are appliqued to the quilt and required a bunch of tracing, cutting, peeling, placing, and more cutting.

the task force plans to meet several times over the coming weeks and/or months. we will not rest until these owls nest! updates of our progress will be published at this location and readers will be informed on a need to know basis.

they're all bold as love...just ask the axis

happy valentine's day. this chickadee loves all of you! a great big gracias for the support and kindness that you've shown a little bird like me and my little baby blog. let us celebrate this day of love with the highly anticipated debut of our very own axis: bold as love blanket. this was an exciting project from start to finish. i am truly tickled by all of the interest in this project and the encouragement from everyone. and while we're throwing around thanks, i'd be remiss if i didn't give credit where credit is due. this all started when a love of knitting became tangled up in a soulful song by jimi hendrix. my complements to the composer. also, a debt of gratitude is owed to my gramma. she's the one who started me on the road to short rows in the first place.

hooray! the axis turned out to be a great blanket. it is a bit larger than expected but it is the perfect size and weight for snuggling.

now for some details: this blanket is knit with the same short-row technique that is used to make dishcloths. the yarn is knit picks shine worsted (60% pima cotton / 40% modal) and as the name suggests, it does have a bit of a sheen.

update!!!! axis: bold as love blanket

behold the majestic purple piece of the patchwork puzzle. four sections down, one more to go before this treasure is complete!

update!!! axis: bold as love blanket

turn off your mind, relax and float downstream on the relaxing blue ripples of the latest addition to the psychedelic love snuggle. listen to the color of your dreams and imagine that love is all and love is everyone. this is the end of the beginning...

(thanks to the beatles for the lyrical inspiration)

axis: bold as love blanket

an old roommate introduced me to this album and i love it. especially the title track with its lyrics that explore native american color theory.

My red is so confident that he flashes trophies of war,
and ribbons of euphoria
Orange is young, full of daring,
But very unsteady for the first go round
My yellow in this case is not so mellow
In fact I'm trying to say it's frightened like me
And all these emotions of mine keep holding me from
Giving my life to a rainbow like you

i was thinking about this song and knitting when these two images smashed together to form an idea! why not make a blanket inspired by the song? why not indeed. i'm pretty sure that it is going to take a while to finish so i'll update you as progress is made. let's start at the very beginning. it's a very good place to start:

green bay baby

my cousin sarah writes a blog called bringing up baby bilingual, a site she started to share the experience of teaching her one year old nephew to speak french. she's also expecting her own bilingual-to-be bundle of joy in january. her mother and my father hail from the great state of wisconsin. (her parents live in green bay, about five solid baseball throws from lambeau field) that makes us and any of our progeny packer fans. to welcome her baby boy, her petite croissant, i knit some packer pride into this ensemble.

clockwise from top left:

• baby blanket knit with sierra quattro yarn (find it @ helloknitty)
• detail of blanket
• bucky bundles up in hat and bib atop blanket
• hat and bib set