a croqueted baby orphan

also known as a crocheted baby afghan... or a knit one in this case.

apparently at some point in the far distant past of the z family, my parents were driving somewhere and had my older sister in the car. at the time, she must have been quite young and her reading skills were somewhat less developed than they are now. they passed a sign in someone's front yard that said "crocheted baby afghans" which must have baffled my sister because she asked my mom why anyone would want to croquet baby orphans.

its become a bit of a joke in the z family that pops up every so often when someone mentions baby blankets. just in case you wanted some insight into the randomness that makes up the z life. if not, don't worry, the pictures are up next.

pattern: Baby's First Blankie from Lionbrand.com
yarn: Queensland Collection Softwave in Cream (cotton)
modifications: yarn was much thinner gauge so knit on size 5 needles and doubled all stitch counts

i actually finished this blanket back in November over the Thanksgiving weekend but since it was made as a gift, i couldn't post it until after a baby shower for its intended recipient. The baby shower was last weekend and it was a really good time. and i heard today that the baby Lahman might be on his way a little early...


i thought the yarn made for a very nice blanket. It soft, but not too heavy; and its washable... which is probably a good thing for new babies. the white might not have been the best choice for an infant, but i didn't know if it was a boy or a girl at the time. and the white seemed so clean and fresh. hopefully baby lahman likes it!

Baby knitting

I finally have a knitting project to show. I must say, I'm only moderately pleased with it. The pattern was quick and easy and I like the idea of the final product. My problem?? The yarn. I am officially a yarn snob, methinks.

Its a baby blanket/hoodie combo, and it is actually quite cute. I knit it for a friend who is not pregnant, but has another friend who is. This friend of a friend is actually have twins. So I also have a pale sage green to knit a second one, as well as enough to knit a hat and some booties for each baby.



In the quest for something affordable and baby-proof (ie washable) I went with acrylic. The original yarn in the pattern is a cotton, but all the reviews said it pilled terribly. And I was afraid anything superwash would stretch out all wonky after reading The Book of Yarn. So I went with an acrylic. Its Vanna's Choice from Lion Brand (I feel dirty just typing that). But it had the colors we liked and it was washable... and it got fairly good reviews.

In all honesty, it was fine to knit with. I didn't have any problem with the yarn splitting really, and it did soften up a LOT after a trip through the washer and dryer. And odds are the recipient will never know the difference between that and any other yarn. But I know. It just didn't feel quite right to me, it wasn't the same as knitting with wool. Don't get me wrong, it turned out fine, nice even. But I don't know if I'll ever use the Vanna's Choice again. I'm just too spoiled.

One thing I did not count on with the acrylic. Or rather I did count on it and shouldn't have, had to do with weaving in the ends. With wool, the scales catch each other and you can weave in a few inches of tail and it will usually stay put. Not this stuff, they wiggled loose a bit in the wash/dry cycle, just enough to be noticeable and had to be woven back in. But there was one join, roughly in the middle of the blanket that wouldn't stay so I tied a knot and cut the tails. The shit won't even stay tied its so slippery, I'm afraid its going to come undone and unravel itself!! I'm going to send it back through the wash once I finish the second one to see if it will stay put or if I'm going to have to reknit the second half of it...