Super Scarves

 

Football fan or not, if you live in Indianapolis as I do, you can't help but be aware that the city is hosting Super Bowl XLVI in 2012. Soon after the City of Indianapolis won its bid to host the big game, I heard about the Super Scarves program. The goal is to outfit over 8,000 volunteers and hospitality employees with hand-knit or crochet scarves in Colts blue & white. The current count is up to 8,432 scarves! I told my mom about the project and she thought it would be a fun break from all the sock knitting she does for orphanages. And after she finished her scarf, I decided I might as well make one too, not only because I've called Indy "home" for 9 years now but also because she had plenty of blue and white yarn left over (score for me!).



My mom made up her own cable pattern -- I think it looks a little like an ocean wave running down the center. It took a lot of steam blocking to get this one to lay flat, but I think it looks fab.



And here's my scarf, made with a free pattern called Hash Marks from Verdigris Knits, a fellow knitter and pattern designer in Indianapolis. She dove right into the Super Scarves project and has posted numerous free patterns using two colors of yarn in really interesting ways. I was afraid I'd have to settle for a boring two-color stripe -- I'm so happy I found something much more interesting.

More Kanoko Baby Pants

I recently gave this set of Kanoko baby pants and matching floursack hat to an expectant friend. I think I'm getting pretty good at these pants, after knitting them in blue and purple. There's a rosy pink pair on my knitting needles right now.



The hat is so easy that I've already made three or four in different colors and sizes. It's a quick and easy project to use up some of the leftover cotton blend yarn from the pants. What I like most about the hat (other than the little ears) is that it's knit in the round and closed up with a 3-needle bind-off, which means no need to sew up a seam and you get a really clean finished look. The pattern is from Baby Beanies by Amanda Keeys.

Houndstooth Crib Sheet in Grey & White

My friend is expecting Baby #2 later this month, and lucky for her my repertoire of handmade baby gifts has grown since Baby #1. The baby's room is grey & yellow, and when I saw this grey & white houndstooth fabric I just had to try my hand at a crib sheet for the little one.



My mom and my aunt vouched for this tutorial, so I dove in. With a few modifications (added width and a cleaner approach to the casing for the elastic) and phone calls to my mom for help, I ended up with a very cool houndstooth crib sheet. Here it is in a tidy little package ready for gifting.