Monday, January 29, 2007

First FOs for 2007

My first FOs!

Two blankets... one for a little person and one for a big person, plus a whole lot of stash-busting! Little Person Reversible Blanket
Remember this? I still had odd balls of orange, pink, green, yellow, lavender left over and another baby blanket deadline. With the aid of the knitting machine, I whipped up the random stripes blanket in a few days. Then, I hand knitted a picot edging and sewed a flannel lining. Although the lining acts as a cosmetic enhancer to hide loose ends, I actually spent time weaving them in! Now my friend HK's newborn daughter has a new reversible blanket! The only complaint I have with the knitting machine is that it can only handle a maximum of 100 stitches (without purchasing extra hardware). Luckily, 100 stitches is satisfactory for a baby blanket.
Big Person Blanket
Someone asked me when I buy sale yarn whether I have a project in mind. I do, sort of. I google like mad until I find the perfect project, then I buy the suggested number of the recommended yarn or calculate yardage for substitution yarns. :) This blanket is an example of those. I had a bag of frogged Patons Shetland Chunky recycled from a previous project. When Lewiscraft had their liquidation sales, I found this pattern online, and I knew it was the perfect way to get rid of old yarn while maximizing a good yarn sale! It's machine washable and a super quick knit, which are all added bonuses.

I modified the pattern. Instead of continuing the garter stitch border along the sides while knitting the body, I picked up and knit the garter borders for the sides after I was done. I think it looks cleaner this way. Stashbusting Meter:
Little Person Blanket:
Bernat Berella orange, yellow, pink, green, lavender left overs from Bernat baby blanket kit.

Big Person Blanket:
4 skeins Shetland Chunky (green), 4 skeins Patons Divine (frosted green 06206), 4 skeins Patons Divine (soft slate 06044)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a good way to use up the leftovers! Love the baby blanket, stripes always get me :)

Vivian said...

The little person blanky looks so lovely. Love the colours combination.

opportunityknits said...

I love love the little person blanket! I'm in a mad about colours and stripes phase right now, so don't mind me if I keep coming back to oogle your blanket :)

Sue said...

What a great stashbuster. Both blankets look fantastic, and the baby blanket looks so adorable in all those wonderful colors too.

Maryann said...

Both blankie look great! Especially the cheerful colors for the baby! BTW, how good is the sweater machine?

Anonymous said...

Beautiful blankets. Great use of colour.