Alphabet Baby Blanket - Free Crochet Pattern

With a coulpe of friends expecting I wanted to create something special for them, both are keeping the sex a suprise so it needed to be neutral,  and I wanted it to be a keepsake and for that a baby blanket it perfect!

I discovered the C2C method last year so thought this was a perfect opportunity to design my own, and this is what I came up with, my alphabet baby blanket;

C2C basically stands for corner to corner as that is how it grows! its is made by creating small squares, these squares are created by doing 4 DC stitches, if you have never tired it before it is so simple, give it a go, you will be hooked!

I have put a link below to some great instructions available on craftsy, but YouTube is also a great resource, just search C2C and you will find loads of video tutorials!

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2015/09/corner-to-corner-crochet/

Couple of things to note that I didnt get at the start - the odd rows are the right side and the even rows the wrong side.
You read the chart from the bottom right corner working the odd rows down and the even rows up

My alphabet blanket is made up of 30 small C2C squares which are then joined, 4 are plain so if you have never tried it before they are great to start with and practice,  then the other 26 each have a letter of the alphabet on!

Any standard Double Knit yarn can be used and a 3.5mm hook.

Here is the chart to follow for each square:

The squares are finished with a single chain stitch around the edge and it is this edge that neatens then up and is used to join them.

When you join the squares there are lots of different options, but I have used the matress stitch method as I wanted a flat join:

You basically pick up the bars In between the edge chain stitch

Once they are all joined I finished it off with a DC in to each of the edge stitches, when you get to the corner do 2 DC in the 2 stitches on the corner so it goes round smoothly

The finished blanket is 55x65 cm

I have now started to blanket number 2 but with one is going to be all white with each letter a different colour, its a great stash buster to get rid of some odds and ends of colours, and against the white the colours really pop, here is the start;

if you give this a go i would love to see the results, you can find me on ravelry or if your on instagram use the hashtag #owlinstitches

enjoy xx

A Friday Note

Hello All,

So my last post was this time last week, on one hand it feels like yonks ago on the other i cant understand where the time has gone...one thing i will never understand the concept of time! the old i get the quicker time seems to go, im 30 this year as well so i am in no rush tomove in to the next decade!

So my last post was on my latest published pattern, the flowerpot doorstop and after writting that i spent some of the evening and weekend working on my latest design submissions for KnitNow which i sent off on Sunday, i am still waiting to hear back from them but hopefully they like my ideas, i always find this time a mix of excitement and annticipation its never nice when you get rejections but a rejection doesnt mean they dont like it, it may just mean it doesnt fit the theme of the magazine or there are other designs similar they prefer, it took me a few round of submissions before i had anything accepted.

Yesterday i received the PDF for the pattern i have in next months KnitNow magazine, so this wkends job is to proof read that and ensure it is correct, i must say the photos that have been taken of it are just fab and i cant wait for you all to see it :)

I think i also mentioned in my last post that i was planning on casting of some baby booties for a close friend who is expecting, well if you dont follow me on instagram here they are!

i have done this pattern a few times, its an old favourite of mine. i love the picot edge around the sole. unfortunatley i cant share the pattern source with you, all i have is a black and white photo copy it looks like its been taken from a book but with no detail on the pages i have, so it is a very prescious one!

On the sticks now is a request from the Husbean, which is rare indeed its not often that he asks me to knit him something which is a blessing really as being 6ft5 a jumper is no quick job for him, anyway its an accessory but not the usual sort, its a cleaning accessory, a dusting mit!
I knitted one years ago, i think it may have been one of the first things i did and i must say it was great but i never realised at the time Ad was usng it too, our home must have been spotless, anyway it soon went all tatty, and i threw it out, much to Beans's disappointment so finally i am getting round to making him a new one and in his requested Steelers colours. The pattern is from Rachel Matthews, Knitorama; 25 Great & Glam Things to Knit.

So thats my plans for tonight, continue with the dusting mit so Beans can get on with someSpring Cleaning :)

I have my fingers crossed for some nice weather tomorrow, its been so mixed this week one minute dry with the sun breaking through the clouds and the next its smashing it down with rain, but i am hoping for a fine day, it doesnt have to be warm just dry so we can get out for a long walk down the canal and old train line to work up an appetite for a nice pub lunch, and then work it off with a walk back, but we will just have to wait and see....

And next on the needles....im not too sure, i have a few personlal ideas i would like to investigate and self publish but also an endless wish list of patterns...i might swap the needles for a hook for a change who knows, once the dusting mit is done i will have a look through my stash and see what i fancy

Enjoy your weekend, i hope it filled with lots of relaxing, fun and KNITTING

A Happy Customer

I received a lovely picture the other day from a friend, I had knitted her sister a teddy bear hat for the arrival of her son and here he is wearing it! a perfect fit :)

It is so lovely when you knit something to see it being used.

The pattern is available of Etsy, Craftsy and Ravlery.

Toby and Tina the Teddy Bear Hats

Sometimes my designs come from a set of requirements, or inspiration in things I see and other times I see the wool first and just think this would be perfect for. . . . .  and that’s what happened when I saw this SIRDAR snuggly speckled DK baby wool.

 

It is so soft it is just lovely to knit with and when I saw the beige speckled colour the first thing it reminded me of was teddy bears! And although not one of the most original ideas I have had I just had to knit a teddy themed baby hat!

 

My Design – Toby the Teddy Bear Hat;

I wanted to keep it simple, rather than a rib edging I decided to do purl stitch and then the ears with the purl stitch for the inner ear. Doing this purl stitch on both ears I think would tie it in nicely with the edging.

 

It was now time to bring Toby to life!

Once I started knitting with the wool I was really pleased with colour effect, it was just how I thought it would be. The wool also offers a nice stretch to it which was perfect considering I did not do a rib edging.

 

 

 

Once knitted a sewed the seam up using mattress stitch – for me the finishing is just as important if not more than the knitting – there is no point spending hours knitting and the rushing the making up!

Mattress stitch means two pieces of knitting can be sewn up and on the outside the join becomes invisible – it’s just a matter of picking up the bars between the knit stitch at the edge;

 

Pick up the bars between the edge knit stitches

And Ta-dah the seam is perfect!

 

 

When it came to the ears I was expecting it to take a few attempts to get the perfect size but I got it on the first attempt!

 

 

 

Once both ears were done a fastened them in place with a needle to check the positioning – I actually used two of the decrease lines to position them and counted the same number of stitched from the top for both so they are symmetrical! 

 

And Ta-dah the hat is done!

 

 

 

Perfect for a baby boy but for a baby girl I felt there was something missing . . . . a bow!!

 

Introducing Tina the Teddy Bear Hat . . .

 

 

 

It’s such a simple but effective pattern and I really think this wool adds that extra special touch and a perfect gift for a new born. If you are unsure of the sex you can make it in advance and then just add a bow if it’s a girl!

If you want to have a go at making this the pattern is available on both Etsy and Craftsy - the pattern has instructions for new born, 3-6 months and 6-12 months.

 

Baby Bunting and Bobble Bugs

Being on call over the weekend meant I could not venture to far from home so not only was I able to create some new knits I also had the time to write up the patterns and load them on to Etsy and Craftsy to see my patterns click on the links to the left!
 


My first design is this really cute baby bunting, inspired by the number of friends and family currently pregnant and expecting girls, its perfect for decorating a nursery; hanging on the cot or in the window.

My next design is one I have had on my to do list for a long time now and I am really pleased to finally see it in wool :) it took a while to get my head around the decreasing whilst still keeping the spider web pattern but I am pretty pleased with the results! It is knitted to fit a toddler (age 1-3 years) and I think it would be perfect to keep heads warm whilst trick or treating!

What a whirl wind 4 weeks!

What a whirl wind 4 weeks . . . our wedding is now booked!!

 

After lots of searching we settled on our venue and luckily it was free on the date we wanted and so was the Church so its set 25^th May . .  .NEXT YEAR!!! Just under 11 months away! Now its straight in to hunting for cars, entertainment and of course the Dress!! I don’t know where to start so have decided I won’t . . . not until after my holiday anyway J

 

All this wedding planning has meant the knitting needles were swapped with scissors and a pritt-stick to make our save the date cards but I was able to design a flower pot baby hat and a cute owl egg cosy and I

have put the pattern for this on the blog for free – check out the free patterns section which I will keep adding to! Would love to hear from you if you have a go at knitting any of my patterns!

 

I still have on my to do list to write up the patterns for the various hats I have made and will hopefully get round to these soon!

 

Since putting the ring on my finger J it’s been a real hectic time and it’s not going to stop, in a couple of weeks we will be having a party for my Fiancés 40^th at our home where we plan to give out our save the dates (I am sure Ad wants to do this to take the focus of his age J ) and then the week after we are off to celebrate his birthday in style in LAS VEGAS, so excited! This will be our second trip there we just love it!  

 

I may go for a couple of Vegas inspired knits next . . . . watch this space