Ken

Isn't he just adorable?  This is a relatively new acquisition from a local thrift shop - a vintage Ken doll from the early 60s. 

He was laying in a bin, on top of a bunch of tired looking Barbie dolls.  He was like a shining piece of doll history - looking perfectly unplayed with in his pristine original sweater.  His one flaw?  He was pantless!

I won't show photos of the state I found him in.

I quickly remedied his predicament by knitting him up a pair of cream coloured short shorts - very much in keeping with the look of the early 60s.

Are you happy to be fully clothed, Ken?

Knittings of a Neon Granny

Check out those Neon Granny socks!  I doubt I'll ever lose these in the wash.  The pattern is the Vanilla Toe-Up Sock by Carle' Dehning.  I like this pattern a lot, the heel is done afterwards (that's what the row of purple yarn is in the middle of the unfinished one in the snap).  I've never finished a pair of socks so quickly - just 9 days start to finish.  I'd definitely make these again.

Also off the needles recently is this very quick to knit child's shrug:

Designed by Schneckenstrick it's called Mini Ballerina.  I knit this up in Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK in the Silver colour.  I chose the soft silver to co-ordinate with an Olivia Rose tutu I found on sale after Christmas at Chapter's.  I bought the size 1-3, so made two shrugs, one in a size 18 mos.-2 years, and one in a 3-4.

I hope this child likes big frou-frou tutus!

The Bassinet

More bassinet snaps!

I bought this bassinet a few years back, and it's been sitting in the basement ever since.  I must have thought it might make a good display for dolls (who knows?!) but it's going to work just fine for an infant.

Elly announced she was expecting in the early autumn, so I pulled the bassinet out of storage and scrubbed it with Murphy's Oil Soap and a bit of bleach out on the deck, hosing it down afterward and letting it dry in the sun.

I made two sheets, one in the little foxes pattern I showed you in the last post, and one in this yellow and grey chevron pattern.

Both equally adorable.  I had a terrible time making the sheets.  I'd originally thought I could make them just like regular sheets, but the mattress is too fine, and starts to curl when you have elastic under the flannel, so instead, I made them like pillowslips (same fabric on both sides) - worked much better!

And the first item I knit for the new little stranger (before I started the shawl), was a pair of booties and a Leti hat by designer Irina Poludnenko.  I made the hat and booties back in October, the same week as my 50th birthday.

Aren't baby projects fun?!    

A Very White Winter and Some Very Big News

Though this winter hasn't been especially white outside (far less snow than usual around these parts), all things on the needles were very much shades of white.  Back in November I started the White Caps Cowl by Purl Soho, and it went on, and on, and on...

I purchased the fancy yarn called for in the pattern, which was a fine silk ribbon and a delicate cotton slub, both in the natural colourway.

It's knit in the round, starting at the bottom, 12 rows slub, 4 rows ribbon, for what seems like an endless amount of time.  In fact, the pattern called for 9 repeats of the 16 rows, but I opted for a mere 7 - I'd had enough by that time and it looked sufficiently slouchy at that point.

The overall effect is very pretty, but I found that the first cone of the cotton slub broke far too often for my liking.  The second cone didn't break at all - shame I didn't start with that one!

But now, what could the big news be?  Well, I'm due to be a Grandmother in May!

In honour of the big event I knit a circular Shetland baby shawl (also started in November).  This is an old pattern by Martin Cavendish from the 1970's book "All You Can Knit for Babies".  It's an interesting pattern, first you knit the circular edging which has  two garter stitch cables and a lace panel (see in the photo above).

Then, you pick up stitches and knit into the center, decreasing as you go.  It came out very well, my only regret is that I used an acrylic baby yarn instead of a superwash wool - no idea what I was thinking there!

Isn't it sweet in the vintage bassinet?  I made the sheets for the bassinet out of flannel with little foxes all over (click on the photo to get a better look).  Adorable!

After those two very big projects I didn't want to look at any more colourless yarn this winter, so...

I made a Baby Sacque out of bright apple green Cascade 128 Superwash.  A very quick knit, this took an evening or two, worked over 9mm needles.  I added the long tail on the end and sewed it into a little fiddlehead.  Too much!

And for myself, I bought this yarn to make a pair of socks:

and yes, it really is that eye-blindingly bright.  Neon Grandma!