Up to now he's been wearing a number of handknit hats, including two I knit myself, and one Danielle knit for him. The Top Down Bonnet proved to be the most popular of the three, since the ties under the chin prevent the hat from slipping off. But it became woefully small about a month ago, neither covering his neck, nor his ears. So I decided to knit another!

Easier said than done. Somewhere between a yarn with a different gauge and slightly altering the shaping to make sure Gregory's neck and ears would be covered, I ended up with a sunhat-ish gnome/hobbit hat. Or something like that.

I ripped and reknit at least 4 times, and I'm generally pleased with the final result. The shaping is perfect for Gregory's head - the benefit of having the intended recipient on hand at all times - and the hat fits almost like a little helmet.

On the minus side, I think the hat could be just a tad shorter, but I didn't have it in me to rip and reknit yet another time. Motherhood: killing perfectionist tendencies, one knitter at a time.

Pattern: Petite Facile Pullover by Meghan Jones from the Winter 2011 Interweave Knits. I knit the smallest size, 3 months, to fit a baby born this winter.

A few thoughts about this pattern:

• Super clever construction. A little garter stitch, a little stockinette, knit in one piece with just a few seams to put it together. Love the short row technique to shape the sleeves, as well as the offset sleeve seam.
  
• I knit this without a single modification, but I think if I knit this again, I would lower the front neckline a little bit. I think the sweater is going to ride up over the chin the way it currently is. A few short rows in the front would make a nice curve, and match the sleeve short rows in the back!

Yarn: superwash merino 3-ply handspun from Pigeonroof Studios, squall colorway. This is my first time using a 3-ply handspun yarn, and it's very different than 2-ply. It's rounder and denser, and creates a fabric that's perfect for outerwear. One of the skeins I had was a bit unbalanced, so the front stockinette panel biases, but overall this was a lovely yarn with a beautiful denim look. The sweater used up about 220 yards, I'd say.

Needles, gauge, and finished dimensions: US 7 addi Turbo needles gave me a gauge of about 4.5 stitches and 7.5 rows per inch in stockinette. The sweater measures 18" around the torso, 10.5" from shoulder to hem, and 5.75" from armpit to cuff.

Ever since having a baby, I've become keenly aware that I roll up shirt and sweater sleeves 95% of the time. I now tend to knit sweater sleeves shorter than patterns specify. But I didn't change this pattern - 5.75" armpit to cuff for a 3-month size is pretty good! The standard is 6", and I've seen sleeves as long as 7" for this size!

Lastly, the finishing touch is a pretty shank button I picked up at Gather Here - love that shop!

My baby boy is 7 months old today, and he wishes all of you a wonderful week!

Only two projects have really stuck. Not surprisingly, they are the simplest, most transportable ones of the bunch.

Yet another one of my honeymoon blankets, using an eye-searing Katia Jamaica #4004. It's completely brainless and I absolutely love watching the colors transition. I am managing to knit a few rows between this and that, and am actually about halfway through!

This is the Petite Facile Pullover from the Winter 2011 Interweave Knits. I'm using some SW merino 3-ply handspun from Pigeonroof Studios. It's knitting up into a lovely denim-colored fabric. I think a bright, sunshine yellow button will finish it up perfectly. I started this project very recently, but I think I'll actually finish it (unlike baby sweaters which are cabled all over or call for fingering weight yarn, ahem).

For the Gregory fans in the crowd, here's my cutie wishing you Happy Holidays!

Wearing a gorgeous handspun Baby Sophisticate knit for him by earthchick Stacey. The sizing is just right for my 6-month old (when did that happen?!?) to wear this sweater during this winter as an outer garment. Thank you, Stacey!

He's wearing his Knitting Pure & Simple Babies Neck Down Cardigan, and a hat that Danielle knit for him using the Top Down Bonnet with Anime Character pattern (I've used that pattern as well before).

The sweater is nice and roomy, and I agree that it should fit him well when he's about 12 months old. With rolled up sleeves, it fits nicely now, too. He's almost outgrown the hat, however. Fortunately the Anemone Hat should fit nicely through the rest of the season :).

Pattern: Anemone Hat by Cat Bordhi, smallest size (baby).

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Beverly. I thought this blue-green-turquoise colorway was perfect for making a hat resembling an anemone!

Needles: US 8 circs.

I knew I needed to knit this hat as soon as I saw it profiled on the Lorna's Laces blog. It's just obscenely cute, don't you think?!? I knit the pattern exactly as written, opting for the simple brim rather than the moebius one.

The pattern advises to machine wash and dry the hat to plump up the tendrils, and make them bouncy. I did just that, but found that the plump and bouncy tendrils also shrunk a bit and now don't stick out as much. Were I to knit this pattern again, I think I would machine wash the hat, but skip the dryer, or make the tendrils much longer in anticipation of the shrinkage. I snapped a cell phone pic of the hat before it was blocked; take a look:

On the plus side, the yarn machine washed and dried extremely well, and the hat used up only half a skein of yarn - so I can make another as a gift! And of course Gregory has been getting many compliments on his awesome new hat :).

A few readers asked about the pattern I used. I actually followed the Little Pumpkin pattern from Itty-Bitty Hats, more or less. I used the instructions for the 72 stitch version, but worked even for only 5" instead of 6". Also, I worked the decreases a little differently and omitted the leaf. But the basics are there, and you can certainly use the pattern in the book to make your own cute pumpkin hat!

For once, the timing worked out perfectly - fall is here for good!

Just a simple pumpkin hat knit using US 8 needles and Berroco Comfort in Kidz Orange/9731 and Gooseberry Heather/9791 (recycled from this project, which never came to fruition).

The fit is perfect - covers his ears, and isn't too tight. It's nice to have the model on hand at all times! The only interesting construction note is that I knit this hat in stockinette to the decreases, then dropped stitches and made neat, tight ribbing (per TECHknitter).

We've had quite a week over here - little Gregory had surgery on Wednesday. We were understandably nervous, but he is recovering well, and seems happy to have mom and dad fawning over him 24/7.

Already four months old, can you believe it? Developing quite the personality, too :).

Pattern: Preppy Cardigan from 60 Quick Baby Knits (my review here). The pattern in the book is completely incorrect, but I received a corrected copy from the publisher and followed the directions for the smallest size.

Yarn: Berroco Vintage, 2 skeins of 5175 (fennel) and 1 skein of 5101 (mochi). As I mentioned before, I really enjoyed knitting with this yarn. It blocked beautifully, and the fabric is very soft and squishy. The fennel colorway, in particular, is gorgeous - bright, heathered, and multidimensional.

Needles: US 5 and 7.

Finished dimensions and gauge: 21" chest circumference, 8" sleeve length to underarm, 12.5" shoulder to hem. Similar to the Jasper Diamond Hoodie, this is in the 6-12 months range. My gauge using the larger needles was about 5 stitches and 7 rows per inch of stockinette knitting.

As you can see, I knit this cardigan in the exact same color scheme as presented in the book. The eighth month of pregnancy wiped out my imagination, it seems, haha! So, I wanted to match the buttons, too, but my local fabric store didn't have any matching green buttons :(. I went with classic horn-looking buttons. I figured they would be okay for a preppy cardigan.

Here's a finishing tip: when you knit a cardigan with horizontal motifs, such as stripes, make sure to line up these elements on the cardigan fronts before sewing on the buttons, installing the zipper, etc. This small adjustment can make your project look professionally finished!

How about a picture of Gregory to wrap up this post? I can't believe he is already three months old!

It won't take me long to update you on what I knit this summer, because I've only worked on a few small things. Mainly I've been knitting projects from 60 Quick Baby Knits (my review here).

First, before Gregory was even born, I finished the Fair Isle Hat using some Cascade 220 (not superwash) that I had in the stash. I wasn't super pleased with the finished product, to be honest. The hat is sized for a 6-12 months old, according to the book. I knit the hat without modifications, and so the finished circumference of my hat matched the one listed in the book. However, the hat fits my giant 24" noggin. Hmm. I'm setting it aside until a proper (non-baby) recipient comes along.

Next, I started the Preppy Cardigan using some Berroco Vintage. It's my first time using this yarn, and I love it. The color is fabulous, it feels so silky and smooth, and knits up into a lovely fabric. The price tag is very reasonable, and it's machine-washable. For this pattern, it was a great substitute because my gauge using Berroco Vintage was exactly the same as the specified Cascade 220 Superwash. However, once I finished the yoke of the cardigan, I realized something was off: it seemed that the neck opening was too small, and the yoke too deep. I got in touch with the editor, and indeed the pattern has errors in the yoke section. I have a draft of the revised version, and I will need to start from scratch to incorporate the corrections.

Nowadays I'm working on the Sweet Pea Cardigan also using Berroco Vintage, and I have only praise for this pattern! The construction is very clever, full of great shortcuts, and the instructions are crystal clear and error-free! I am nearly done with the knitting.

I picked up some yellow ribbons and buttons to complete the project. I haven't figured out yet how to add the ribbons, but I've been folding them this way and that, and have some ideas. Hopefully sewing on the ribbons won't hold me from finishing the cardigan!

Pattern: Jasper Diamond Hoodie from Kristen Rengren's Vintage Baby Knits (my review/preview here). I've lost count of the number of projects I've knit from this book; this is certainly not the first or even third or fifth. It continues to be my "go to" book for both creative patterns and sizing information, which is in the appendices.

I followed the pattern exactly, down to binding off the shoulders and then seaming them together (I would typically work short rows and do a three-needle bind-off instead). With a newborn in the house, I can't be bothered to think more than I have to. The only thing I did differently was to work the button bands after the body of the sweater was completed instead of simultaneously. That's because when I started this project (pre-baby), I had high hopes of figuring out how to install snaps; even bought a bunch of supplies from joann.com for the purpose. The bands for the snaps were going to wait until I was done with the sweater: I didn't want to commit to any specific band pattern until I saw how the whole sweater came together.

Needless to say, the box from joann.com is still sitting unopened under my desk. I defaulted to the tried and true button band with button holes, which I can knit in my sleep.

I originally wanted light yellow buttons for this sweater, but at the end decided that these cool white ones looked better against the teal fabric.

Yarn: Cascade Yarns Ultra Pima 100% cotton, #3734, about 2.5 skeins. I enjoyed working with this yarn, and it's machine-washable and dryable to boot! It did not bleed, fade, or fuzz up after washing, so that's great. I am extremely saddened that I could not capture its true color, however :(. It's a little bit more accurate in this post, though it's even more saturated and vibrant in real life!

Needles, gauge, finished size: I used US 4 needles and followed the directions for the second smallest size. My gauge was exactly the same as in the pattern, 24 stitches and 32 rows per 4" in Diamond Pattern. The finished dimensions of the sweater were closer to the smallest size, however (probably because I didn't stretch it much during blocking): 21" chest circumference 7.5" sleeve length to underarm, 10.75" shoulder to hem. I think this is in the 6-12 months range, depending on the baby and how many layers he's wearing underneath the sweater.

Another lovely little knit from this book! I am never disappointed with the designs or the quality of the written patterns ;).

I've been able to do a little bit of knitting, but before I show you my new projects, I have some pre-baby things to clear off my plate. For starters, remember the 2011 Potholder Swap (on Ravelry, on Flickr)? I crocheted the Pinwheel Rose potholders, and here are the potholders I got in exchange!

Top row: from Kelly, Shannan, and Maryse. Bottom row: from Amy, and Natasha from London, U.K.

These are absolutely wonderful! I'm not sure what's better: crocheting potholders for the swap, or receiving an always surprising collection of potholders in exchange. I love both! Huge thanks to the five ladies who crocheted these beauties for me!

Next up: some baby knits! I know it won't be a shocker that they are actually not for my baby - some things never change, I will be a process knitter forever :).

Baby Gregory
Born June 8, 2011, at 9:29 a.m. Greg shares his birthday with his grandpa, my dad!
7 lbs 5 oz., 19.5" long
We are all doing very well :)

Pattern: #982 Babies Neck Down Cardigan from Knitting Pure & Simple. I knit the middle size - 12 months.

Not too many noteworthy modifications. As usual, I knit 2X2 ribbing instead of 1X1, because I strongly prefer the way 2X2 ribbing looks. I also didn't work the garter stitch edging on the hood, nor the buttonbands. Instead, I knit a continuous i-cord around the entire cardigan opening.

Yarn: Hand-dyed 70% cormo wool/30% nylon blend yarn from Foxhill Farm. I bought two skeins of this yarn a year ago at the Massachusetts Sheep & Woolcraft Fair. Even though both skeins were marked to be the same dye lot, I could tell that one skein had much more indigo in it than the other. So, from the very beginning, I alternated the skeins every two rows. I used a total of 132 grams of yarn, or about 400 yards to knit this sweater. This is a little bit less than what the pattern specifies.

This yarn has some kind of magic properties. It is very soft in the skein, but becomes even softer and more terrycloth-like after washing. It also blocks fantastically - all stitches even out, the fabric becomes nice and smooth and squishy. I'm glad I have enough left over for another little project!

Needles: US 6 and US 7 circs. Using the larger needles, my gauge was about 5 stitches and 7 rows per inch.

Finished dimensions: about 21.5" chest circumference, 7.75" sleeve length to underarm, 11.75" shoulder to hem. Not as long and skinny as the green zippered cardi.

The zipper came together as before. I once again fully lined the back, to protect the baby from any chafing and prevent snags.

Someone asked last time whether the line of stitches closest to the zipper teeth is machine-stitched or hand-stitched. Of course it's machine-stitched! My hand stitching is not that perfect ;). That line of stitches is where I sew the grosgrain ribbon to the zipper tape. After those two are sewn together, I hand sew the now-lined zipper into the knitted fabric.