Wildcats Scarf

My father-in-law is a huge University of Kentucky fan, so for Christmas I knit him up a simple blue and white striped scarf. It's a 1 X 1 rib, with 19 24-row stripes.



I did learn a couple of new tricks while knitting this. My favorite is the tubular cast on, as described in the Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques. It creates such a professional-looking edge, and it wasn't really that hard. I used the kitchener stitch cast-off to create a matching edge on the other side, and that worked out well too.



I also slipped the first and last stitches of every other row to create a nice neat vertical edge as well. I got the idea for these tricks from ogling the beautiful Noro striped scarves on Ravelry- I know I'll eventually get to one of those, too. Sometimes it's just the simple stuff, right?

Tab Blankets

I'm knitting like crazy, but there are sneaky eyes out there trying to get an early peek, so I can't post anything about it. My brother-in-law has actually put himself on Ravelry's waiting list to try to find out what he's getting for Christmas.

But I can show you another little project my Mom and sister and I worked on this weekend. I didn't know this, but apparently babies really love tabs. Pulling them, feeling them, trying to eat them, etc.- they just love them. There are these little soft blankets covered with tabs made out of ribbons that babies just can't get enough of. In the store, they cost at least $10 or $15, but my sister had the brilliant idea of whipping up some at home for much, much less.



For each blanket, we cut out 2 16" squares of fleece. Then I cut 28 4" pieces of ribbon (4 ribbons each of 7 different types). I pinned all the ribbons to the ducky blanket about 2" apart (which took FOREVER) and then sewed them on. Then Mom sewed the 2 pieces together (inside out) and they were set.



I love that they are super soft, and reversible, and colorful. If the babies love them half as much as my nephew loves his taggy blanket, then I'll be happy.



Blankets with tags- who knew?

Early Present

It's getting pretty cold and snowy here in Cincinnati, so I got a special request from my sister for a hat for my nephew. She wanted something that would cover his ears, so I searched around for an earflap hat for a baby and went to work.

I used Hey Julie's pattern, with just a few mods. First off, I put a little snowflake pattern on there. I found the chart for it somewhere online, but I can't find it again now. I was using worsted weight yarn (Cascade 220), so I did a little math and ended up making the hat 80 stitches around. It fits that baby perfectly!







I took three strands of yarn and crocheted them on to the back of the hat. Then I took 3 strands and crocheted it to the front of the hat. That left 6 strands of yarn hanging down on each side of the hat, so I divided them into 3 sections and braided it down to the end.



Okay, okay, I know I'm ridiculously biased, but how freaking cute is this baby in his little woodsman outfit? I got that outfit for him before he was born when I was visiting the Smokey Mountains. I remember staring at it, wondering what the little guy who wore it would be like. Now he's here, and man am I crazy about this kid.