Babies are tiny, blankets are big and socks are random

I have had a very busy knitting week mostly because a very close friend of mine told me on Friday that she is pregnant and expecting the baby in November! I am SO excited for her as not only is she a really great friend and a wonderful person, I’m sure she’s going to make the best mother. I’m one of the first people she’s told and I am so happy that I just needed to do something for her right away. So I ran out to my LYS and bought some adorable buttons to knit up some booties for the baby. They turned out SO cute and SO tiny, I can’t even believe it! I mean, I’ve held babies before and have been around them plenty, but I guess you always forget how small they are when you don’t have one in front of you! I call these Rainbow Booties. It’s the Saartje Bootie pattern (free pattern link) knit up using Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Select. It was a super quick knit and I love how they turned out! I think they’ll be awesome on a boy or a girl and they aren’t the usual pastel colors, which I think my friend will enjoy.

And how awesome are those buttons? They go really well with the yarn too! Since I finished the booties so quickly (about 3 hours – should take only 2 but I messed up a bit in the beginning because I can’t count, haha!), I also made a baby Rainbow hat (for 0-3 months) which is also tiny tiny tiny. I used the Magic Loop method for the first time ever. It’s a very easy method and so helpful! The only thing I need to keep in mind, I think, is to make sure to really tighten the stitches at the ends (between the loop) as some of those stitches came out a little loose. It’s not that noticeable, though and I’m sure my friend won’t mind. Plus, it looks very cute together with the booties anyway!

I’m giving these to my friend tomorrow and I hope she’ll like them! I love giving people knitted gifts, especially when you know they will appreciate it, and this friend always does.

Moving from the completely tiny, I’m going to show you my huge Girasole blanket, which is finally finally done! I’m not going to block it, though, as my apartment is tiny and I don’t really have the space except for the bed and then I’m afraid it won’t dry in one day and then where are we going to sleep? The husband really doesn’t mind my knitting being everywhere, but I’m pretty sure he’d draw the line at sleeping on the couch in order for a blanket to dry! Though really, I don’t see why? It’ll only be one night… probably… Anyway, my mom, the recipient of the blanket, has graciously offered to block it at her place as she has the space to do it. So it’s heading off to California and she’ll take some pictures after she blocks it to show it off. I think it looks good even pre-blocking, but I’m pretty sure it will look much more amazing post-blocking. I still love it, though!

The blanket is not only big, but heavy so it really does its job keeping you warm! I think my mom, who is constantly cold, will get a lot of use out of it! Plus, although my mom has made dozens of knitted gifts for people (she’s an amazing knitter and has been knitting for more than 30 years), she apparently has never ever received a knitted gift from anyone, so this is her first knitted gift! I’m so happy that she’s getting this from me as it’s one of the best projects I’ve ever made, so it’s definitely deserving of her. Yes, I love my mother, why do you ask?

Since I finally finished the Girasole, I had the time to work on my Monkey sock (the needles did NOT break this time – I am convinced it’s because they weren’t as cheap as the other ones) and I was able to finish one sock! I still have to make the second, but I am totally addicted now. I can’t believe it took me so long to make a sock. Not only were they easy to make, the heel wasn’t scary at all and worked really well. I also can’t believe how fast they go. It’s pretty awesome to be able to have a finished object in such a short amount of time, so I can already feel the socks sucking me into sock mania. Yes, I was forewarned about this but I couldn’t help it! They sucked me in I tell you!

I love the pattern and the stitch definition of this yarn is awesome. Plus, the colors are amazing and they are so comfy. I am beyond excited about having “found” socks!

Close up of pattern (if you go to flickr you can see it bigger):

Not bad for my first sock ever, no? Thanks to all of you who encouraged me to take the plunge into the world of socks! You guys are my enablers, and I mean that in a good way, I swear!