Never enough

 

Baby boy hat and loafer set

My friend at work is having her first child -- a boy! -- due this summer. Ah, babies ... so much fun to craft for. :-)

To start things off, I made the Simply Spiky Hat and Loafers pattern designed by Britta Graham.

Cabled long fingerless gloves free pattern

These lovelies are the Pretty Cabled Fingerless Gloves by Wei S. Long -- and this is also my very first knitting project with cables. Yippee! :-)

I used to be very intimidated at the thought of attempting cables, but Wei's pattern made learning the process quite easy. Using the magic loop technique, I worked the arm ribbing in size 7 needles, then switched to the size 5 needles where the cable rows begin in the wrist.

I really love this design. It is so elegant in its simplicity. I will definitely be making more of these.

Quick lacy slouch beanie free pattern

This is the Pacific Chunky Quick Lacy Slouch Hat designed by Shannon Dunbabin.

I didn’t have any bulky weight yarn in my stash, which was called for in the pattern, so I used two strands of  Caron Simply Soft held together.

I like the pattern overall, but I’m not particularly happy with the way my first attempt turned out. It just looks too loose to me. I think it will look much better if I make it again using a single strand of yarn, which I will try doing soon.

Lotus hat free pattern

I love the gorgeous texture of this pattern. It's the Lotus Hat by UptownPurl.

It requires a bit of skill for you to know how to knit while following a chart -- but that process isn’t too difficult if you take it slowly at first and use a stitch/row counter.

If you aren’t familiar with chart knitting, it may require some practice, so I would rate this pattern's difficulty at medium. (It may not be suitable for beginning knitters, although none of the stitches are difficult to work.) In spite of how the stitches appear to cross, there is no cabling involved here.

I hadn’t previously used the yo technique for lace knitting, but this tutorial by theshizknit was the best one I found to explain it. (Totally easy, by the way!)

I made this pattern with the one extra repeat of the chart to give the hat a bit of slouch. And although I made the blue one to donate, I loved the design so much that I had to make another one for myself in gray.