Good morning dear knitters/crocheters,
It’s another week and it’s time for the final part (for now at least) of the baby fever series. Like I said in other posts, I always try to find something different for each item in order to be unique. I did find a beautiful pattern on Pinterest but it was in Russian (Russians come up with such intricate and fantastic designs). However, I did find a translation into English done by a group of knitters who absolutely loved the pattern as much as I did… Sadly, it didn’t really work out…
This is the pattern I wanted at first. Tell me it’s not exquisite, I dare you! 🙂
Anyway, I bought the wool I liked in the amount I needed, which was a lot. I decided to get 7 balls of King Cole Big Value DK* in Blizzard. It’s quite a lovely colour and the little brown specs add a rustic feel to it.
So, I received the wool and I printed out the pattern. And…I was completely stumped. I could not, for the life of me, understand most of it. I appreciate the efforts of whoever translated it but it’s not the greatest job. I should know, I’m a translator by profession. Nonetheless, I did try reading it a few more times in order to understand something but it’s very complicated. I gave up in the end.
I tried to find something else which caught my eye but nothing really took my fancy, so in the end, I decided to fall back on a pattern I’ve already used before – the Sunnyside Baby Cardigan. It’s a free pattern and it’s adorable. I used the braid pattern for this one as it’s easier and you don’t have to faff around with a cable needle. (Love cable patterns but they’re a pain). You can see the finished product below. For the buttons I bought these beautiful pearl shank buttons* in cream and in a 10mm size. They come as a set of 10. I only needed 5 for this project but I gave the rest of them to my friend as spares.
Next up came the baby hat, mittens and socks. I used this pattern for the hat. It’s adorable and has a really nice pattern, and it’s also free to download. The best thing about it is it could fit for many years after. I tried it on myself and it fit me too funnily enough. For the mittens, I used this other free pattern. They’re so easy to make and so cute. I made the thumb-less mittens since babies have a tendency to scratch themselves. Mind you, I did have a bit of trouble when joining the seams for the mittens… I guess I was a bit tired and wasn’t thinking straight but it took me three tries in total to get it right! Third time’s the charm, they say. For the socks I used a favourite pattern of mine which is also knitted flat and then joined at the seam. And it’s also free. Don’t they all look adorable?
But you know what! I only used less than three balls of wool out of the seven that I ordered. I started thinking about what else I could make to add to the set since I didn’t want to waste the wool (not that it’s ever wasted, mind you). What else but a blanket to go with the set?
I hunted around for a few more patterns and found a really cute one. Again, it’s a free pattern and it has two different designs. I chose the squares pattern. In the end, I barely used the fourth ball but the blanket came out pretty nicely and big enough for the baby to use for a couple of winters or three.
Here is the set all together in one picture:
So, I guess that’s it for the baby fever series, for now at least because I already have a friend who’s pregnant for the second time – the little boy who has the star pattern set in part 1 is going to have a little sister now. If you haven’t read the other parts to this series yet, you can find part 2 here, part 3 here, and part 4 here.
Let me know in the comments what you think about this series and I would love love love to see any of your creations.
Until next time fellow knitters/crocheters. Oh and a big Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, people who have taken on the role of mothers but most of all, mothers who’ve lost their little angel(s).
Sending much love to all of you,
The Maltese Knitting Diva ❤
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