Category Archives: baby

baby, Crochet, Knit & Crochet, Patterns, Uncategorized

Oliver baby blanket

November 5, 2016 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I’ve said it before – I’m a short-attention-span crafter. If I can’t finish something in a few hours, I probably never will unless I’m really determined.

When my friend Kasandra had her first son, she asked me to knit him a blanket. It took me months to make and although it’s been much loved I vowed I would never knit another blanket. It’s just too monotonous.

So when Kasandra told me no one had yet made her second boy, Oliver, a special blanket, I decided to keep my vow and crochet him a blanket.

This pattern was simple and quick. I made the whole thing in a couple of weeks. The vertical stripes are unusual and the gaps between the crocheted spaces aren’t too big so it’s a nice piece of fabric.

Continue reading Oliver baby blanket →

baby, Crafts, DIY, Knit & Crochet, Knitting, Patterns, Tutorials

Little lady scarf — a free knitting pattern

February 6, 2016 alaskaknitnat 10 Comments

Last week a friend asked me if I could make a toddler scarf for her little niece, Amelia. The idea of a toddler wearing a scarf is funny to me. I can’t imagine it staying on a wriggling little 2-year-old. But that got me thinking: why not make a scarf that will stay put?

I searched Pinterest and came across the most adorable scarf pattern that uses a bow as a button. This was definitely the right idea. Create a buttonhole near the end of the scarf and secure a knit bow in the buttonhole. That should keep the scarf in place on a hippitty-hoppity hyper toddler.

I love the look of seed stitch, a.k.a. moss stitch. It keeps the knit piece from curling on the edges and it looks attractive on both sides of the fabric. And it’s a little fancier than garter stitch.

This is a simple weekend project that’s bound to keep your little lady cozy and warm.

Little lady scarf with bow

Materials:

1 skein Lion Brand Woolspun in Fisherman
1 skein Lion Brand Woolspun in Charcoal
Size 10 US needles
darning needle

Seed stitch:

Row 1: k1, p1 across all stitches

Row 2: p1, k1 across all stitches

Essentially, you knit where there’s a purl and purl where there’s a knit on the previous row.

Note: I slip the first stitch of each row, knitwise, and purl the last stitch of every row regardless of where I am in the seed stitch pattern. This creates a neat edge. It is not required and therefore I haven’t included it in the row-by-row instructions below.

Instructions:

Cast on 20 stitches.

Seed stitch for 18 rows.

For the buttonhole:

Row 1: Slip 1 stitch, seed stitch for 9 stitches. With the left needle, pull one stitch over the other stitch, *knit one, pull the second stitch over the knit one; repeat from the * twice more. You have now cast off 4 stitches. Continue with the seed stitch for the rest of the row. You should have 8 stitches on either side of the cast-off stitches.

Row 2: Slip 1 stitch, seed stitch to button hole, cast on 4 stitches, continue the seed stitch for the rest of the row. – 20 stitches.

Continue the seed stitch pattern until the whole piece measures 25 inches. Cast off and weave in ends.

Bow: Cast on 10 stitches and knit in garter stitch for 10 rows. Cast off and weave in ends. Wrap grey yarn around the middle of the strip several times and tie the ends in the back of the bow.

Using the fisherman color yarn and darning needle, sew the bow to the end of the scarf opposite the button hole, the same height as the button hole (about 4 inches from the edge).

I don’t have a little lady, so my little gent got to be the model. Kind of looks like a bow tie, right?

The top can be folded down a bit like a collar to make it a little narrower and warmer.

baby, Crafts, Knit & Crochet, Knitting, Patterns

Choose Your Own Adventure Hat

November 7, 2015 alaskaknitnat 25 Comments

This morning I found a stack of hats I knitted for my son that he has worn from birth to present.

It’s hard to believe he fit into that teeny green hat! The biggest, most worn hat is definitely too small so I decided it was time to make him a new one.

Since Jack is 3 and has all the opinions in the world, I thought it would be fun to let him choose the colors for his hat. I opted for an ear flap hat to keep his body warm during recess.

We had a really fun time together today picking colors as we went along. When I sent a photo to a friend she said, “It’s like a Choose Your Own Adventure hat!” We have a title, folks!

Continue reading Choose Your Own Adventure Hat →

baby, Crafts, DIY, halloween, Holiday, Tutorials

Babe in Shining Armor

October 27, 2015 alaskaknitnat 1 Comment

It’s been a busy month here in Alaska blogland. Akshopgirl, Tessie Style, DJ Spencer Lee, The Sawbuck, Fernanda Conrad and I have been providing tips, costume ideas, music mixes, cocktails, decor projects and more for the Halloween season.

This week is dedicated to all those procrastinators. We’ll be featuring last-minute Halloween ideas, but today I wanted to feature a costume that if you have a few hours to spare this week you could still pull off.

My friend Kait sent me photos of her daughter’s costume and it was too darn cute not to share.

Little Bea’s armor is constructed out of soda pop tabs and jump rings. Kait said she used about 350 tabs. Construction wasn’t the hard part, she said. It was collecting the tabs themselves.

“That’s the long game part of it,” she said. “You have to start collecting and asking around if people will help.”

Luckily she was able to find a friend with a whole bag of tabs.

Kait used 10cm jump rings to connect the tabs, but if she were to do it again she said she would use 12 or 14cm instead so it would use fewer tabs and take less time to make.

The dragon emblem was part of a handmade birthday card her husband received in the mail and the belt and crown are made from a belt purchased from a rummage sale.

Bea’s costume doesn’t stop here. Bea’s father is going to be her damsel in distress and Kait will be dressed up as a dragon.

Kait is already planning for next year.

“I’m thinking famous scientists.”

baby, Crafts, DIY, halloween, Holiday, Tutorials

Super quick baby gnome costume

October 15, 2015 alaskaknitnat 3 Comments

It’s week two of our Halloween Blog Party and the theme is “Woodland Creatures.” So far we’ve had fairy flower crown and forest garland tutorials, a woodland fairytale mix by DJ Spencer Lee and today I’ve got a super quick baby costume that requires minimal crafty skills and a shoestring budget.

This was my son’s first Halloween costume and I love it so.

Super quick baby gnome costume | a DIY Halloween craft from alaskaknitnat.com. — “Step off. Don’t make me sick my Jeremy Fisher on you.”

A while back AK Shopgirl was inspired by our little gnome. She decided to dress up her twin baby boys as more traditional David the Gnome.

Here’s all you need to achieve a gnome-tastic baby outfit:

1 piece of white felt (24 cents from Wal-Mart)
A large mug
pen
scissors
safety pin
a dark-colored onesie
pants
booties
gnome hat (knitting pattern here)*

*If you aren’t a knitter, I suggest making a gnome hat the way AK Shopgirl did using a sheet of red craft foam fashioned into a cone, adhered with a hot glue gun. Ohhappyday.com has a free template here, if you want to get technical.

How to make the beard

Place the mug upside down in the middle of the white felt, 1.5 inches down from the top edge. Trace a circle for the neck hole.

Use the mug to shape the corners of the beard bib.

Draw a line at the top of the neck hole to the top edge of the felt. This will be the opening of the beard bib. I just love saying “beard bib.”

Freehand the shape of the beard. Cut out your beard bib.

Dress up baby of choice in the onesie, pants and booties. Use a safety pin to connect the back edges of the beard bib. Place pointy hat atop baby.

Presto. Baby gnome.

baby, Knit & Crochet, Knitting, Patterns

Preemie Football Hat — Free Pattern

January 13, 2014 alaskaknitnat 6 Comments

My friend Laura asked me to make her new little one a tiny football hat. I was definitely up to the challenge. I was surprised how few knitted patterns there were floating around Pinterest. Most of the patterns are crochet, which can be made very quickly, but for a football hat I think knit has more room for detail.

This hat is so cute and teeny! It’s based on a tiny Steelers hat I made Laura’s second child a couple of years ago.

Preemie Football Hat -- Free Pattern | Alaska Knit Nat — Photo courtesy of www.laurastennetphotography.com

Materials:

Red Heart Brand worsted yarn in white and brown

size 8 double pointed needles

darning needle

Abbreviations:

k1, p1 = knit one, purl one ribbing

k2tog = knit two stitches together

Directions:

With your double pointed needles, cast on 56 stitches (14 stitches per needle) in brown. Join your work, being sure the stitches aren’t twisted and k1, p1 rib for three rounds.

Knit two rounds regularly and switch to the white. No need to cut the brown yarn. Knit two rounds in white and cut leaving an 8-inch tail. Bring up the brown and knit 15 rounds. Knit two rounds white without cutting the brown. Cut the white leaving an 8-inch tail and knit one round in brown. Decrease as follows:

*k2tog, k6* Repeat * till end of round
K one round
*K2tog, k5*, repeat * till end of round
K one round
*K2tog, k4*, repeat * till end of round
K one round
*K2tog, k 3*, repeat * till end of round
K one round
*K2tog, k 2*, repeat * till end of round
K one round
*K2tog, k1*, repeat * till end of round
*K2tog*, repeat * till end of round.
Cut yarn leaving an 8-inch tail. Using a darning needle, weave in all ends.

For the football stitches, thread a darning needle with a 24-inch length of white yarn. On the front of the hat, whipstitch the vertical line using short diagonal stitches stacked on top of one another. Then run three wide stitches perpendicular to the vertical line. Tie off the yarn and weave in the end.

To make this hat for a newborn-3 month size, cast on 64 stitches and follow the same pattern.

baby, Knit & Crochet, Knitting, Patterns

Retro Baby Ski Hat — Free Pattern

December 23, 2013 alaskaknitnat 8 Comments

I’m getting down to the knitty gritty here for Christmas presents. I just had one more hat on my list and that was for my best friend’s new baby.

I knit this up in just a couple of hours — and you can too with this simple pattern.

Retro Baby Ski Hat — for a 3-6 mo. baby

Materials:

Vanna’s Choice worsted weight yarn — mustard, teal and light blue

Size 9 circular needles

size 9 double pointed needles

darning needle

large fork or pom pom maker

Abbreviations:

k1, p1 = knit 1, purl 1 ribbing

k2tog = knit two stitches together

Directions:

With your circular, cast on 64 stitches with mustard color and knit last stitch to first stitch without twisting the stitches. K1, P1 for six rounds. Knit 8 rounds in stockinette stitch.

Switch to teal and knit three rounds. Do not cut mustard yarn.

Cut teal yarn with an 8-inch tail. Switch to mustard yarn and knit two rounds.

Switch to light blue and knit two rounds. Do not cut mustard yarn.

Cut light blue yarn with an 8-inch tail and knit 10 rounds with mustard.

Begin decrease as follows:

Place a marker if you need to, but I can tell where the beginning of the round is based on the stripes.

K2tog, K6, repeat till end of round

Knit one round

K2tog, K5, repeat till end of round

K one round

K2tog, K4, repeat till end

K one round while transferring to double pointed needles. Or knit the round and transfer stitches — whatever’s easier for you.

K2tog, K3, repeat till end

Knit one round

K2tog, K2, repeat till end

Knit one round

K2tog, K1, repeat till end

K2tog, repeat till end.

Cut yarn leaving a long tail. With darning needle, draw up remaining stitches and weave in all ends.

For the pom pom:

Take both the teal and light blue yarn and wrap them around a large serving fork till it’s pom pom sized. With a doubled piece of yarn about one foot long, tie the yarn around the middle tine and remove from the fork. Cut the loops and trim pom pom to your liking. Using a darning needle, attach to top of hat. To better secure pom pom, run the yarn back up through the pom pom and back down into the inside of the hat.

baby, Knit & Crochet, Patterns

Simple Fox Hat — Free Pattern

December 22, 2013 alaskaknitnat 15 Comments

In case you haven’t noticed, foxes are really in right now. This season I’ve already crocheted a nifty fox basket and sewn several felt fox ornaments. I really wanted to make a fox hat for a friend’s baby, but I’m pretty terrible at fair isle and halfway through my first attempt, I scratched the whole thing. The snout was all scrunched and I didn’t like the look of it.

I decided on something much simpler — my regular old hat pattern with some ears sewn on top. I winged the ears, but I really like how they turned out. For this project I used some Montera Classic Elite llama/wool chunky yarn I’d been coveting for some time. This hat is fuzzy, warm and downright delightful.

Here’s what you need:

1 skein of orange chunky yarn (I used Bolsita Orange from Montera Classic Elite)

size 9, 16-inch circular needle

one set of size 9 double pointed needles

darning needle

Size: This pattern fits a 12-18-month baby. For a larger hat (2T-3T), cast on 72 stitches and follow the same pattern. For a smaller hat, knit this same pattern on size 8 needles.

Gauge: I do not gauge my work, but according to Montera yarn’s website, it should be 3.5-4 sts/inch on size 9 needles.

Abbreviations:

k2tog= knit two stitches together

For the main body of the hat, cast on 64 stitches on the circular needle and knit last stitch to first stitch without twisting the stitches. Knit 1, purl 1 ribbing for five rounds. Knit in stockinette stitch for 22 more rounds, or until piece measures about 5.5 inches.

Decrease as follows:

Place a marker at beginning of round.

K2tog, K6, repeat till end of round

Knit one round

K2tog, K5, repeat till end of round

K one round

K2tog, K4, repeat till end

K one round while transferring to double pointed needles. Or knit the round and transfer stitches — whatever’s easier for you.

K2tog, K3, repeat till end

Knit one round

K2tog, K2, repeat till end

Knit one round

K2tog, K1, repeat till end

K2tog, repeat till end.

Cut yarn leaving a long tail. Run the yarn through the remaining stitches with a darning needle and draw up the hole tight. Weave in ends.

Ear (make 2):

With three double pointed needles, cast on 16 stitches (5, 5, 6), leaving a 12-inch tail. Connect last stitch to first stitch and begin knitting in the round. Knit 3 rounds.

K2tog, k3, K2tog, k3, K2tog, k4

Knit 2 rounds

K2tog, k2, k2tog, k2, k2tog k3

Knit 1 round

K2tog, k1, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k2

Cut yarn leaving a 6-inch tail. Run yarn through the remaining stitches and draw up tight. Weave in the end on the inside of the ear.

With your darning needle and the long cast-on tail, sew the bottom of the ear closed.

As for sewing on the ears, I folded my hat in half and determined the best placement of the ears. I sewed each ear on with the remaining length of cast-on yarn. I didn’t use any special technique for sewing, so I recommend whatever you feel most comfortable with. I actually didn’t have enough cast-on yarn so I did some touch ups with extra yarn.

Now it’s up to you whether to stitch a little nose and eyes on the front of the hat. I decided not to as I figured the child’s face would be the fox’s face. Either way would be cute!

baby, Crafts, Tutorials

Quick Craft — Felt Christmas Tree

December 13, 2013 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

We recently put up our Christmas tree and I’ve discovered that my year-and-a-half-old son enjoys dismantling the lower part of the tree as often as possible.

So I made him his own tree for about $5. His tree is 2-D, felt and has occupied about 30 minutes of his attention — which is a lot!

Here’s what you need:

1 yard green felt

chalk

scraps of felt in many colors

fabric scissors

masking tape

pinking shears (optional)

Directions:

Fold your green felt hotdog style and make half a tree shape along the fold. Cut out your tree shape and tape to a wall at toddler height.

Cut out various shapes from the other felt — hearts, diamonds, circles, ovals, stars, etc. Use pinking shears for decorative value.

Hand the shapes to your toddler and watch him go to town. The felt sticks to the felt.

Obviously not decorate by a toddler. — Obviously not decorated by a toddler.

baby, Knit & Crochet, Patterns

Baby Candy Cane Stocking Cap — Free Pattern

November 28, 2013 alaskaknitnat 27 Comments

My photographer friend commissioned me to make a cute stocking cap for her holiday baby photo shoots.

I’ve never made anything so tall and pointy, but I think the effect is perfect. Could a baby look more like an adorable naked Christmas elf?

This pattern is for a 3-6 month head. It’s also a great introduction to knitting stripes.

Ho ho hope you enjoy it!

Baby Candy Cane Stocking Cap

Materials:

One skein of red worsted weight yarn

One skein of cream worsted weight yarn (I used Red Heart soft)

Size 9 circular needles

Set of 9 double-point needles

darning needle

pom pom maker or large fork

Abbreviation: K2tog = knit two stitches together

Directions:

With the red yarn cast on 64 stitches on your circular needle. Join with first stitch being careful not to twist the stitches. Begin ribbing in k1, p1 for six rounds.

Switch to white yarn and knit 2 rounds. There is no need to cut the red yarn as the rows are so narrow you can easily bring up the other yarn when you need it.

Continue knitting in stockinette stitch for 25 more rounds changing colors every 2 rounds. Transfer stitches to double pointed needles and begin decreasing as follows (while continuing to switch colors every 2 rounds):

*K2tog, k6, repeat * till end of round

knit 3 rounds

*K2tog, k5, repeat * till end of round

knit 4 rounds

*K2tog, k4, repeat * till end of round

knit 6 rounds

*K2tog, k3, repeat * till end of round

knit 15 rounds

*K2tog, k2, repeat * till end of round

knit 16 rounds

*K2tog, k1, repeat * till end of round

knit 5 rounds