i already blogged about a good deal of handmade baby stuff this year and i'm afraid it's not over just yet. :) good friends of ours had a beautiful baby girl called toni, which was the perfect reason to get behind my sewing machine and make some handmade presents!

 

  this was so much fun from beginning to end! i had the best time picking out fabric with my boyfriend and thinking about what to make... i decided to make bunting and a blanket. it all started with the soft hot pink fleece blanket i found in the store (because those are usually a bit cheaper than buying fleece it in the fabric store - and this one was sooo soft!) and we just picked out fabrics that matched. which ended up in a girly but happy and bright colour palette, with polka dots and flamingo's. :)

 

 the letters on the bunting are a fun detail: toni's father is a graphic designer and was my closest colleague at my previous job, so i knew he'd appreciate it if i used the exact type as used on the birth card he designed. ;)

we also found a cute baby summer top, which was a perfect match with the blanket & bunting, et voila, baby gift done! :) it does look a bit excessively colour-coordinated now i see it together like this, woops! guess i'm obsessive like that. ;)

♥

somewhere last year, i somehow got my sewing mojo back! i started simple by making some bibs for babies (and never finished half of them, because i hate biais tape.) but i rediscovered how much i actually like sewing and i made some gifts for my little niece. :)

 

first of all, i made a hooded towel. i'm all about practical gifts and i like giving someting they can actually use and not grow out of too quickly like clothes. this towel is a bit too big for her now but will last quite some time!

 i picked fabrics to match the knitted blanket... (the colours are more true in the first two pictures) there was no way to photograph the hooded towel properly because i have no baby model, but you can click here  for the cute-baby-picture and also view the tutorial i used (dutch only). ;)

 

and because i felt like my gift wasn't "finished" yet, i also made colourful, personalized bunting! used some of the fabric i from the towel but also some more colourful fabrics, because bunting should be happy and fun, right? i followed this tutorial (dutch only) to make these!

hi there!

those who follow me on instagram might have noticed i've recently become an auntie for the very first time! my brother and his girlfriend had a beautiful baby girl called Olivia two weeks ago! we were all so excited since the day we knew they were expecting! so, ofcourse, i had to make some stuff for the baby! :)

the first thing i want to share is the one i'm most excited about: i made a soft, light baby blanket in 100% merino wool.  

 

why a blanket? i personally think (though i never had a baby) they are very useful: they can be used for keeping warm, in the car or in the crib, maybe even as a play mat or for lying on. or maybe just as home decor if you don't use it in any other way. ;) it seems like a sensible, useful gift that lasts long and that they don't outgrow too fast. 

 

i knew i wanted something in 2 colours (although i also love multi-coloured crochet blankets) and i decided on blue and yellow. the yarn is Woolly by DMC creative, which is 100% merino wool. (and, if we can believe the website, "sourced from Australia and 100% natural and renewable) i thought it was important to choose a yarn that was made of wool because wool gives a lot of warmth and tends to be better for sensitive baby skin. this yarn was also really really soft and gives a very nice drape when knit up. definitely a winner for baby stuff!

 for the pattern i was heavily inspired by this blanket by Lisa Kinoo. i made some swatches and decided on double moss stitch. i made some calculations and cast on a huge number of stitches and just started knitting away! after i knit a big rectangle (i aimed for a size of 140x80cm but it turned out somewhat smaller), i finished with some single crochet rows and finally a scalloped edge. (pattern found in some old thrifted crochet book.)

 i also finally learned how to hold my yarn "the right way". i knit english style and i used to "throw" my yarn, but without holding it over my index finger. knitting this amount of purl and knit stitches was very hard on my wrist, so i went to my mom for advice. she showed me how to hold my yarn this way, which is much better for my wrists!

and finally, some details:

- i started knitting in september and finished in january.

it was my on-the-train-knit until it started getting too big to carry along everyday.

- i used 9 balls of yarn (8 yellow, 1 blue. i loved working with this yarn!)

-  and some things i learned in the process:
1. i will never EVER again start a new ball of yarn in the middle of a row.

2. i should keep better notes about the amount of stitches i cast on.

3. blocking really made this blankie look 4572x times better than when it just came off the needles. :)

ahh, today is the first day of my vacation and although the weather is sunny, i felt like sharing a blogpost first. :) featuring the first baby knits of the year! (maybe there are more to come, i don't know. depends on our baby-making friends and family i guess ;))

for the first couple that was expecting a baby boy, i made an aviatrix hat and some booties. i used the brightest blue i could find (i really LOVE this colour) and finished with a white button. i really enjoyed knitting the aviatrix hat, it was a bit challenging (first time knitting short rows) and it turns out SO cute. the booties were knit using this pattern, but i made them with a p1,k1 ribbing to match the hat.

 

 

 i also couldn't resist crocheting a tractor, perfect for boys, no? 

it's not as perfect as i want it to be, but i think it's cute nonetheless.

and for a sweet baby girl i made the same set, but in grey.

to make it a bit more baby-like, i combined the grey with a soft yellow button. 

(ooh boy, do i love that button!)

 hmmm, i think baby things are my favorite things to make (next to socks, maybe!).

small items (which means: quick finish!), colourful, and so, so tiny and cute!

one thing i love about being a knitter/crocheter/crafter is that you can make original, hand-made gifts for any occasion. it always amazes me how glad friends and relatives are when receiving a hand-made gift, even if it is something as small as a pair of knit baby booties. and, since i have no babies or children myself, i find a lot of joy in knitting baby things. ;)

for our friends (who had their first baby a week ago), i made a toy! you've seen it before, only not in the finished state. (not a sweater... sorry to dissapoint! ;)) it's a huuuuge green-blue, sleepy and cuddly toy with the longest legs ever. he (or she) is almost twice as long as the newborn itsself!

they loved it and i hope their sweet baby will love it as well! this is the second donna wilson pattern i used and it's perfect, i really like her designs because they are cute and different. i love the quirky details like the extra short arms (versus the extremely long legs) and the little plush on his bottom. :)

i also made a pair of booties for another baby that we went to visit last weekend. i matched the colors with the birthcard; neon pink and white. i adore this color combination, i wish i could pull this off. ;) 

now i'm off to my christmas gifts, enjoying the process of making and drinking a nice cup of tea... couldn't think of a better way to spend my sunday evening! :)

this weekend i finished the gift i was making...

still not telling you what it is though! ;) i'll show it soon!

there has been a serious baby boom going on amongst our relatives and friends, which is why i decided to stock up on the hand-made baby gifts. i tried crocheting some baby booties and i even knitted a tiny baby-sock, but i wasn't happy with the results. i needed something easier and faster. this is when i stumbled upon this pattern by a la sascha. after that, these booties flew off my needles!

 i made three pairs so far, and i love them! i made them in various sizes and colors, embellished them with some buttons or a neon trim... a simple pattern that is quick, easy, cute and adjustable to your own taste (or the taste of the parents-to-be)... just perfect! :)

 just before we left on vacation, i received a beautiful package coming from claudia. i participated in the handmade summer gift swap organized by mina, and although i knew something nice was coming my way, it was still a very nice surprise! and i'm very glad to say my package is finally finished and sent off to my buddy!

the package was beautifully stamped with a paper boat print, i think the box itsself is too pretty to throw away, i think i might keep it to store some crafty bits and pieces. inside were some nautical-themed handcarved stamps, a pretty blue doily, some lavender and some cards. 

the blue doily matches our blue living room walls perfectly (remember my chinese money plant being just a baby? look how much it has grown!) and the stamps, oooh i LOVE the stamps. i've got a pen-pal who will definitely appreciate my letters being embellished with these from now on. :)

so thank you, claudia, for making me this great gift, and thank you, dear mina, for organising the swap! :)

thursday, i received the P.I.F from Poes P, a gorgeous grass-green crocheted bag, beautifully made! it's perfect for carrying my knitting around the house!
i haven't been this excited (those buttons!!) about something since receiving Mamasha's custom made stamps! (of which i never showed a picture, shame on me; here it is... so beautiful)


saturday i went to the fleamarket in Geel and i found alot of sewing supplies:
again a lot of fabric...curtains, table sheets, pillow cases... (must.stop.buying.fabric.)

and a lot of buttons!

my pots are getting quite full now... look how empty they were 8 months ago... i even had to get some new pots for white, yellow and orange!

next up: the progress on my socks (one and a half finished!!), the progress on my granny square blanket and when i hit 100 followers... a give-away!!

some time ago i asked my aunt (who runs a paint/curtain/wallpaper-shop together with my uncle) to save some curtain swatches for me.
well... this is what she got me:
that's a lot of fabric! lots of little pieces too (good for patchwork), and quite some fabric i won't use (too synthetic or plain ugly) but also some beautiful prints and colors! (the black tree/bird-print is my absolute favorite, so pretty!)... a "thank you" present is in the making!

also: my sock is growing! it's far from perfect, but i'm very happy with it so far!

look what i got in the mail the other day:



Kamiel and Odille's home-made pencil cases and book marks! she sent it to me including a little note, just because, which really made my day! i was (yet again) amazed by all the kindness and generosity you find here in Blogland. thanks again, Kamiel and Odille!!

also check out my new bible! 500 pages about knitting, crocheting, sewing, but also needlework, macramé, patchwork,... basic information and simple patterns (for example knitted socks and mittens, which i want to give a try this summer), it really can't get any better.



it also has some great examples of granny squares...
which reminds me: let's see how my blanket is doing:

i crocheted 36 squares now, of which i attached 32 to each other. it measures about 60x30cms already... what do you think?? :)