not a baby, but this shawl I made is almost as nice
Pattern: scrappy baby blanket / shawl, by me
Yarn: various woolies, leftover from other projects, and a couple of sweaters I unraveled
Needles: US9 circulars
Finished dimensions: 25.5" x 65"
I began this last june, intending it to be a squishy bit of blanket for the baby. I just wanted a project that consisted of rows and rows of mindless garter stitch, simple and low-key, that I could knit on any time, picking it up and putting it down whenever. So I cast on on my longest pair of circular needles and went at it, changing yarn when I ran out of one color or when it seemed like a good time to do so.
Well, it turns out I cast on a whole bunch more stitches than I was aware of. I knit this wide (the great length of it being worked back and forth on the needles), but wasn't aware how wide exactly (because the stitches were all scrunched up on the circulars and I never really had a true sense of how wide it was while I was knitting it) until I cast off. Whoa. I knew that the rows seemed to take forever to knit (I never did count how many stitches I cast on...) and I just got impatient and decided one day recently to be finished with it.
It makes for a rather silly blanket (although, folded over, it could work), but a very warm and lovely shawl. Not its original purpose, but useful still It will be perfect for snuggling the babe. And I really like the way the colors end up working together -- they sort of remind me of these two little rag rugs we had in our apartment back in Chicago, which may be where I subconsciously picked up the color pattern.
Lesson learned: check for a basic gauge before casting on for anything.
Another lesson learned: keep an open mind in defining the function of an item.
