(topic: knitting)
Hi Friends!
I had to wait to post pictures of this, because I’ve given a few of these to friends and didn’t want to spoil the surprise!
Lately, it seems like many of my friends have had (or are about to have) babies, and I wanted to come up with a gift that would be pretty straightforward and not take ages to make, but would be homemade and nice, and also pretty – and, bonus, I wanted it to be gender neutral (or at least, not terribly gender specific).
I poked around on Ravelry and did end up finding a free pattern that I liked! It is this Baby Shrug by Debbie Bliss. You knit the back, arms, and fronts in one piece. You then pick up around the front to add an edging, then pick up the bottom back and also the sleeve ends to do the same. Then you seam up each side/sleeve, and weave in the ends – and you’re done! I haven’t timed it, but it doesn’t take too long to make, so this pattern is good even if you only have a few days notice that you’ll be needing a gift! I didn’t worry about swatching/gauge, because they’ll fit into it when they fit… I used a standard worsted yarn, and the recommended 5mm (size 8) needles. I didn’t change needle sizes at all, and the pattern didn’t suffer. I suspect if I took a finer yarn and a smaller needle, I could have a smaller result easily – my guess is that my final product is for about a 3-month old.
The pink one at the top of the page is acrylic and washable, and the variegated ones below (made with the same yarn as the Color Pooled Scarf) are acrylic with some wool (but still washable).
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| The back, with an initial taper, worked in stockinette (smooth one side, bumpy on the other). This is before I started the sleeves. |
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| Main piece done! The sleeves taper wider, then you start the neck shaping by working each side separately, then taper the sleeves down and then the front, each side separately. Then you pick up the the stitches around the front and neck, to make the ribbed edging. You do the bottom of the back, and the sleeve cuffs, each separately. Then seam up the sleeves. |
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| Finished, from the front! |
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| Finished, from the back! |
Yours,
Sarah
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