Tag Archives: Kirsten Hipsky

Small stuff

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Let me try that again. Stuff for small ones.

This is another Welcome Home Blanket by Kirsten Hipsky. It’s such a simple classic design. A very easily memorized feather and fan motif. The first time I made it, I basically used the color scheme the designer intended. Actually I did it in 5 of the 7 recommended colors. This time I worked for a match to the baby’s bedroom, done mostly in spring green and gray. I really like the way it came out. More importantly, so did Cecelia’s mom and dad. They even honored the work by using the blanket to bring this late December baby home from the hospital.

As before, I used the yarn called for in the pattern: the Webs “house” yarn, Valley Yarn Superwash Bulky.

Here’s another look.

Toss in the wash and toss in the dryer. Easy care’s a must.

This next one really is a small stuff.

It’s Sleepy Sunday Hat, a pattern by Aimee Alexander. I knit it in Michigan’s own, Stonehedge Fiber’s Shepherd Wool DK. Such a nice weight for a little one. Warm enough without being weighty. Alexander’s pattern is very clear and easy to work up. In case you’re liking this one and thinking it would be great for larger heads, the pattern includes 5 sizes: baby, toddler, child, adult small, and adult large.

But it’s winter around here (even though it reached 58 degrees yesterday!) So little ones might need to be bundled a bit more. This next hat is the The Thinker, by Susan Villas Lewis.

This version is knit in Plymouth Yarns Worsted Merino Superwash Solid. I made the toddler size, in terms of number of stitches. But I worked at a slightly smaller gauge. This isn’t the first time I’ve knit a Thinker. These two and these two (at the end of this post) also worked out really well. This is a Tony Tiger “GRRRRREAT!” pattern, for sure.

Welcome Home Blanket

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welcomehome1

This is Kirsten’s Hipsky’s “Welcome Home Blanket” knit in Valley Yarns Valley Superwash Bulky, the WEBS “house” brand. Great pattern. Great yarn. WEBS calls it “delightfully soft and irresistibly squishy.” And it is.

My blanket is a modification. It uses 5 colors rather than the 7 that the pattern calls for. The missing colors are tan and white. They’re supposed to be added onto the yellow end of the blanket. I wish I could say that modification was my plan right from the start. But I have to ‘fess up on that. Hipsky’s pattern is incredibly simple: three choices of sizes and a 4-row repeat to create the feather-and-fan effect. I realized I’d misread the easy peasy direction for my size to knit “six inches or until almost out of yarn” after I was half-way through the second stripe. Um, I knitted until I was almost out of yarn. So my stripes are about 9.5 inches wide instead of 6 inches wide. I’d have had a powerfully skinny long blanket if I’d added in the remaining two colors (four skeins).

But I’m actually quite pleased with the modification. The white would have looked great. But I wasn’t positive about that tan.

welcomehome4With my modification, the blanket is 35″ by 47″ (instead of 36″ by 42″).

The 10 skeins were remarkably close on yardage. I was able to make 11 pattern repeats, at 9.5 inches each, casting on for the medium size on 10.5 needles (US). I had one ball left with 14 grams, three with 16 grams, and one with 20 grams.

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All that remains is to gift my creation to a sweet little one who is still too young to sleep with a blanket. I think a spring-colored blanket gifted in December would be perfect. Evelyn can use it in her carseat or both she and her mom or dad can cuddle up under it while Evelyn is being fed her bottle.