• Of Baby Socks and Knitted Blocks •

Well, actually, there is more to this post than just socks and blocks, but I couldn't help giving the post that name. I've been plotting it for some time. ;)

I'm going to be an aunt again! (for the 9th time!) My brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first baby in October, so my mom and I couldn't help but whip up a few gifts to send to them.

It was hard finding fabrics and colors that could go either way (boy or girl); everything seems to be starkly pink or blue! The gifts came out pretty cute though, so I'm not complaining. :)

This post addresses the knitted parts of the gifts; next week I'll post about the sewn parts. First off is: the socks!

A few weeks ago I had mentioned the fact that I had been doing some machine knitting. This is what I was up to! My mom decided to make a sweater, so I caught the knitting bug from her for a little while. I found this pattern for machine-knit baby socks, and thought I'd give it a whirl! They came out really cute, and they are in fact very easy to knit! The only hard part is sewing up the side seam, which can be very tricky depending on what kind of yarn and cuff you use.

For these socks, I did the mock rib cuff, and it came out really cute! I made a couple of other pairs using a fairisle cuff and a lace cuff, but they are still waiting to be sewed up.

In any case, I really like the pattern, and will definitely be using it again soon!

These blocks are SO fun and easy to make! I made them on the knitting machine, once again, but I have done them by hand before as well. I used a single strand of bulky yarn or two strands of thinner yarn on our bulky machine. 

CO 6-0-6. K 18 rows in main tension (I did T3). Change tension to 10, K 1 row. Latch off.

Make 6 squares and sew them together, alternating the knit and purl sides if desired.

I stuffed them with poly-fill. These little blocks are so much fun! They are just round enough to roll, but still square enough to look like a block.

I inadvertently ended up making one of the blocks match the afghan really well!

Ahh. The afghan. I wanted to make one that didn't look too boyish or girly, so I decided on this pretty herringbone pattern in a beautiful mint-y green yarn.

Unfortunately, about 1/4 of the way through knitting it, one of the needles on my machine randomly decided to stop working. What that translated into was me having to hand-manipulate that stitch every 4-6 rows. And I knitted 754 rows. Grr. And that wasn't the only bad part - it made a bit of a flaw on that particular stripe of the blanket. Oh well. At least it was the machine's fault and not mine!

I used Baby Bramwell yarn, approximately 13-14 oz.

CO 100-0-100. T2-2. I used punchcard 6G on my knitting machine, a herringbone-type pattern.

K 754 rows, total.

For the edging, start in the 3rd stitch from corner. ch 2, 2dc, skip 2 st, sc in next st. *3 dc, skip 2 st, sc in next st. Repeat from *. This edging has enough "give" to it to go around 90 degree corners.

I like the effect - it's small but noticeable, easy, and it doesn't detract from the pattern of the blanket.

I hope they enjoy the gifts, and I can't wait to see that new little one!

I'll be back Monday with a Mother's Day-related outfit post. See you then! :)